Chicken Enchiladas!

I am just posting the recipe quick so I can pin it and find it as needed... maybe someday I'll do a real post on it.

Chicken enchiladas recipe

You will need 3-4 cooked chicken breasts 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or homemade equivalent) 1/2 tub of sour cream 8-10 tortillas Shredded cheese

Warm soup mix and sour cream on stove till smooth. Can add a little milk if it is really thick. Add in chicken. Either spray bottom of pan with Pam or put some sauce in pan 9x13 Fill tortillas witch chicken and soup mix and roll into pan. Cover with cheese Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Pull off foil and let cheese melt. Let sit for a few minutes and then serve. I have added peppers to the process before too.

The King of All Banana Bread Recipes

Please tell me you NEVER throw away your browning bananas. Those babies are worth their weight in gold.

Let 'em get good and brown. Leave 'em there for a few days, as long as you don't have fruit flies (like we do; long story). Then, when they're nice and dark, make that 'nana bread. Of course, if you don't have the time right now, you can always freeze them and save them for next week. Or month. But you really don't want to wait that long. And be sure to pin or bookmark this recipe so you can find it later.

Forgive the horrid pictures.

This is my mom's tried and true recipe. I hope she doesn't mind me posting it here, because you're all going to steal it and pass it down to your children, and your children's children, and you'll take all the credit for it, because it's that good.

 Oh, and don't feel bad if you taste the batter before it's even in the pan and you can hardly stop. It's just so yummy! But beware, if you eat a lot it will expand in your stomach and you'll be so bloated you'll just want to die.  But you'll have to balance that knowledge with knowing if you don't eat it now, you might die anyway...

1 C white Sugar
2 C (2 medium) mashed bananas
1/2 C  butter, soft
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (substitute 1/4 C plain applesauce per egg... just do it.)
2 C flour
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional--but I never use them)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a bread pan. Blend the first 6 ingredients (sugar, banana, butter, milk, vanilla and eggs or applesauce), beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until moistened. Batter will be thick, almost doughy. Pour into bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan; cool on cooling rack.

I really suck at taking pictures.

Variations:
I can't have egg, so I use applesauce instead (in banana bread). The bread is super moist and has excellent flavor. 
Add chocolate chips.
Put oats and brown sugar on top before you bake it.
Use apples instead of bananas. If you use apples, add a little oil and cinnamon to the batter, and put brown sugar and oats or raisins on top.
Use oat or half white/half wheat flour instead of plain white for a healthier alternative.

GAPS Update: Day 4

I love a good farmer's market.

My sister and I went to our local farmer's market today and I spent 40 bucks! Do you know how much you can get for $40?

A cabbage: 

5 Butternut squashes:

 Something like 9 heads of broccoli:

 What must be close to 5lbs of carrots:

 A bunch of dill:

 Some Sage (this smells so good!):

 Some parsley:

 And a pie pumpkin!:

 That's all of this! (not pictured: Pie Pumpkin):

Can you believe it? That's a TON of food. Oh. And I didn't get a picture of the cauliflower. But you can see it there all snuggly with the broccoli and sage. I got 3 heads of cauliflower. I hope this will last us until next weekend! Haha. When that, broth, and boiled meat is all you can eat though, you go through it quick.

Today was pretty good. I was weak and tired this morning, and I didn't want to go to the farmer's market, but we needed the food.  After I got back I spend several hours chopping carrots, making soup and cooking carrots, and chopping and bagging broccoli. I didn't get to the cauliflower before my friend Andrea came over for a visit. Tomorrow I'd like to get the cauliflower and squash chopped and in the freezer. I need to figure out how to eat the pumpkin... I guess we'll see what happens. The cabbage is for sauerkraut; we can't actually eat it yet. (Next stage we can have that and the herbs though.)

I did feel like this, all day today, though:

My menstrual cramps are really bad. I thought no sugar = more mild cramping, but nope... just as bad as usual. Only I don't want to take pain meds because I've been reading in my Gut and Psychology book and those wreak havoc on your gut. So, that's been fun. (Note: this picture is not mine. I found it at Agent 3Z via Pinterest.)

I haven't cheated. Even though I was offered a cheese curd and I'm craving oreos. I know if I give in I'll just crave them longer. Did you know there is no milk in them? That just is wrong, since they have the cream in the middle. But they taste ssssooooo good. Okay. Enough ranting. I can't have them, and that is that. (Where did all this self control come from?)

I have no clue when we'll be moving to the next stage... bowel movements are supposed to be your indicator, and I haven't had much of a problem in that regard, but I also don't want to move too quickly... So, we'll see.

Anyway. That's my day. Fun, huh?

GAPS Update: Day 3

You know you're on the GAPS diet when you're deboning a chicken at 10 pm. I wish I had a picture.

Yes, ladies and gents, I got to debone a chicken last night. Thankfully it took all of 10 minutes. Then I was off to bed.

Apparently, mid-day is the hardest for me. I'm hungry and I get really tired and weak, and my muscles feel heavy and like I can't use them. Today I could barely stand; my legs felt like jelly and were shaky. I feel pretty good in the morning and evening, though.

Today was good! I went and bought some chickens for stock (couldn't get the feet... dang it! Who buys just chicken feet? I guess I'll have to... since I'm going to be making some calls next week about me getting some!)

I noticed that when I get really hungry is the worst for me, in terms of wanting to cheat. I did well today, though, and was able to stand fast! I know that if I cheat, it will just take longer for me to get healthy. And my cravings aren't bad at all, I just want to eat when I'm hungry. And I get hungry FAST. Like, I'll be fine one minute, the next I'm starving. So I need to come up with some snack ideas I can take with me when I go out. Mashed carrots would be good; they're delectable cold or warm. Or even some cooked, unmashed carrots could work. I'll have to think about that.

Tomorrow is officially Farmer's Market Day. I'm going to buy out every single vendor and spend all weekend figuring out where to put all that food. Our freezer is not very big.

I found out there's a farmer's market all winter long, too! And indoors, so we don't freeze our butts off! I will definitely be checking that out, too. I'm not sure what they would sell in the winter...

Jon said he felt pretty good today, to. I'm actually surprised at how good we're feeling, considering. I may need to plan some mid-day naps, though, as my body heals. I'm assuming that being unable to move is my body's way of telling me to rest and heal.

So that's it. Boring update. But I guess that's good. I'll post some recipes soon. They're all pretty straightforward, though... "Cook [squash, carrots, onion, cauliflower, broccoli or meat] in stock until very tender. Puree, mash, or leave whole as desired. Salt. Consume." Yeah. Sounds great, right? Ah, the things we do to heal our bodies! But you wait. I'm gonna be healthier than 90% of ya'll! Just you wait [Henry Higgins]!

Getting Ready for GAPS

Pretty colors at Hoffman Hills

Frustrated. Irritated. Mad. I'm not sure irate would be too far. Okay, yes it would, if only just a little. I bought Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride ON SEPTEMBER NINETEENTH. I got an email on the TWENTY-EIGHTH saying that it had been received on the TWENTY-FIFTH in NEW JERSEY. I have still not received the book! Maybe irate is a good word here. WHERE IS MY BOOK!? I wanted to read it before we start, but now I don't know if that will actually happen or not. Bah-humbug.

We have decided to go ahead and start the GAPS diet this Wednesday, October 3rd. I plan on taking a pregnancy test that morning, and if it's negative will go ahead with the diet. Tomorrow I am going to go through our food stores and get rid of everything we can't have. EVERYTHING. We will have bare-bones cupboards. I've already been working on using up what we have already. (Plus we ran out of food money for the month... no comments on how much of a pig I am. [Except that one.])

My camera is zoomed in all the way here. That farm was waaay far away.

SO. I am frustrated. I'm scared. I'm so looking forward to this. I know it's going to be hard. I know I'll be grumpy. Irritable. Heck, I'll be a witch with a capital B (bwitch. bahaha. I'm so clever). But I want to be healthy. I want to lose weight and get in shape. And I KNOW this is going to be beneficial for both Jon and me.

Jon at the top of the tower using our binoculars.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention this! (And I totally forgot to take pictures... AGAIN. Maybe I won't ever learn...) I made beef stock! It smells good. Haven't tasted it yet. But I will need to make a LOT more. And I'm not sure where I'll get all the meat! I plan to get some chickens (Knelly!) and make some chicken broth, too. We'll need to stock up on veggies. Bam. Our food for the rest of eternity (just kidding. Kind of. Mostly.)

My ham of a husband, "whom I absolutely adore!"

From the top of the tower on the top of the hill.

You can see why I need to lose weight!

Okay. There you are. and in parting, these are the pictures I took when Jon and I went to Hoffman Hills (a county park) and walked through the gorgeous woods and up murderous, 174 degree hills (lies and propaganda. They weren't that bad. But I'm out of shape and it was hard! My calves are so stiff today!)

All Is Going To Change (Come October)

This last weekend was sad. Dearest Elaine, my cousins real grandmother, and my "adopted" grandmother, passed away on Saturday, the 15th of September. Only in her 70's, she was quite young, but she had so many health problems it's a relief she's not suffering anymore. Her passing is made much more bearable by the fact that Grom, as we liked to call her, loved Jesus so much, there is now no doubt where her eternal soul came to rest--in the bosom of her beloved Savior.  Grom, you will be missed. 

But that wasn't the only thing that made the weekend sad. At least, not for me. 

To start off, you should know that this month Jon and I are trying the Sperm Meets Egg Plan. 

Sunday night I made a big decision, and was in mourning Monday. (Today I feel better about it, but it will still be difficult.) Sunday night I was praying to God. I told God that we would continue to try to get pregnant this month, but that if we didn't, I would take it as a sign that I need to lose weight first. Meaning that after this month of trying to get pregnant, if we are unsuccessful,  attempting to achieve pregnancy will be put on the back burner for a while while I lose weight.

I have long been overweight and sick of it, but it's gotten to the point where I need to do something about it, not only for myself (eczema, embarrassed to be in public, feeling distinctly unattractive, etc) , but for my husband and future children as well. Hence, we will be starting the GAPS intro diet in October (if I don't get pregnant this month). The goal of this diet is to cleanse out our innards; to heal our bodies; to gain health; and for me, to lose weight. Once we complete the intro diet, we will move on to the full GAPS diet, and go from there. I don't know how long it will take us to heal our bodies. But I am committed, despite the Holiday Season coming up, that I will do this, that I NEED to do this. And it's now or never. 

SO. My plan is to lose at least 80 pounds, then wait 6 months, before we try to get pregnant after this month. I am anticipating that it will be at least 18 months, then, when we can start trying again. I am giving myself a year to lose the weight (that's only 1.5 lbs a week! Doesn't sound so bad, then! And I'm thinking I'll probably lose quite a bit right at first) and then I want to wait the 6 months after losing the weight to allow all the toxins to be flushed out of my body. (Note: if I lose more than 80 lbs, I wouldn't mind... wow, I'm fat! But that is ALL GOING TO CHANGE.)

This was a surprisingly easy decision to make on Sunday, but I was really depressed Monday, thinking that I will have to wait so very long for my dream of a family. But then I realized: I'm still working toward achieving that dream! I could sit here, over weight, trying (in vain, more than likely, as I believe my weight is what is hindering pregnancy) to get pregnant each month and then being depressed it doesn't happen, OR I can do something about it! It won't be easy, but I feel good about having a plan and knowing that this has so many AWESOME repercussions. Not only will I start to feel better about myself, but healing your gut helps with anxiety, depression, IBS, and moodiness (all of which we both suffer from) , as well as joint pain, eczema, food allergies and intolerance, and increasing energy levels. It can also minimize the symptoms of autoimmune diseases (which Jon has not been diagnosed with, but his mother has, and he has many of the same symptoms as she does).  

I am not looking forward to going grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but I know this is what I need to do. I doubt it will be permanent. I like my rice and bread, my cheese, and cookies, cake, cupcakes, cheesecake, brownies, pies, and bars way way WAY too much. But for now, that's where we are. I will do updates weekly on how I'm doing weight-wise (we weigh ourselves Sunday morning, so it will probably Sunday that I update) .

I AM USING THIS BLOG AS MY ACCOUNTABILITY.

 ENCOURAGEMENT ENCOURAGED. 

Please pray for us. 

"How My Brain Works"

This is me. And I am currently obsessed with healthy foods and going back to foods not riddled with hormones, antibiotics, homogenization, pasteurization (I spelled those two right the first time! Go me!), synthetic additives, and myriad other disgusting stuff I'm sure you've heard of.

Two websites that I've recently stumbled upon and have led me in this new obsession are mommypotamus.com and foodrenegade.com. Mommypotamus talks a lot about natural supplementation and remedies, and more. Food Renegade has posted articles on how your honey is fake and how most olive oil isn't really olive oil and what real food really is. The best part? Well, besides learning that all this food we ingest is rancid and/or has absolutely no nutritive value so after they homogenize and pasteurize the foods they add back in the [synthetic] vitamins and minerals. Yeah, besides that, these people actually source their posts! They're not just he said/she said, they actually post links to their sources. The geek in me loves it.

My inner geek also loves taking this information and actually applying it. My husband isn't so keen on this side of the equation, because in order to get quality food and supplementation (fermented cod liver oil anyone?) we have to shell out lots of dinero (no, that does not mean dinner!) So we'll go slow. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are part of a CSA co-op this summer, and although slightly disappointing, we have gotten some nice goodies. My parents are moving to a hobby farm in the next month or so, so we'll hopefully be getting fresh eggs, buffalo, goats milk, and who knows what else, from them in the near future. Plus we're cutting back on a lot of processed foods and going the more natural, homemade route. It's a big change. It's expensive. But in my mind, it's worth it. For my health, for my husband, and for our future kids, I want us all to be as healthy as we can. And eating junk is not the way to do it.

So I'll keep you updated on how this all goes. What we do and how we do it. Our journey to eating healthier. To whether or not this healthier eating enables, or at least aids, us in achieving our much-desired pregnancy. So stay tuned. I hope you're as interested in this as I am!!

Parmesan Encrusted Chicken

So, last night I wanted Parmesan-encrusted Chicken. So what did I do? I hopped on over to Pinterest (figuratively; I don't really hop anywhere. Ever. At all.) Looked up a bunch of recipes. The ones that didn't use bread crumbs or non-fat Greek yogurt (which we don't have) used egg or mayo (yes, mayo. And I can't have eggs OR mayo, since mayo is mostly egg). So, what to do, what to do. Why, experiment, of course! So after asking Jon's permission, this is what I came up with. And sorry, but I didn't really measure anything... I'll give approximate amounts, but they're not perfect.

Parmesan Encrusted Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I only used 3; you can use more or fewer.)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (save some to put on top of chicken before you bake it, or use extra for that...)

1/2-1 cup breading, potato flakes, flour, what have you (I didn't measure this, but I probably used 1-1/2 cups and it was WAY TOO MUCH.)

Olive oil

Instead of egg, mayo, or yogurt, I used sour cream. Ours had onions and chives in it. I figured that'd be fine; just adds more flavor. Then I added a bit of brown sugar to sweeten it a bit, since mayo and yogurt are pretty sweet. Honestly, I'm not sure the brown sugar was needed. But I have a hard time passing up using brown sugar. I love me some sugar. Anyway. Back to the recipe. I mixed some Parmesan cheese into the sour cream/brown sugar mix. I used shredded cheese. The powdered stuff would work fine. Or the flakes. Use what you have. Don't have Parmesan? I bet Feta would taste pretty good, too. Next I took some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them in half (so the goodies-to-chicken ratio was higher!!) and dried them off, so they were kinda sticky. Next I dunked them in the sour cream mixture. So, remember how I said we had no bread crumbs? I'm sure flour would probably work, but I used dried instant potato flakes. Frankly, I thought these were bland and in the future I'd probably use bread crumbs if possible, but the potato flakes worked. In fact, husband loved them. So, after the chicken is coated in sour cream, put some coating in a bag, add chicken, and shake, shake, shake your booty. Just kidding. Sort of. Pull chicken out of coating, making sure they're coated well; place on a baking sheet lined with foil. I had extra sour cream mix, so I put a dollop on top of the chicken and then pressed more flakes into the top. Drizzle some olive oil and some more cheese on top of chicken. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 or until chicken is done all the way through. I ended up having to put the oven on broil for a bit, because my chicken wouldn't brown.

We also had some noodles with butter, garlic, and parsley, then added some zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Please, be sure to sautee the veggies separately from the noodles. I didn't; I just dropped these into the noodles after they cooked, and the zucchini was hard and tasteless. The french bread was good, though.