Where in the world have I been, you ask? Well, I can promise it’s not been under a rock, on a tropical island, or hiding in a corner eating croissants with brie cheese and fig preserves…although out of those three options, I’d take the latter…but then you knew that. Didn’t you?
I’m not “over” my food allergies yet. I’ve lived many years enjoying pasta, bread, meat sauce and Pecorino Romano. Cut me some slack, will ya?
I’ve been living life, working diligently on my health, spending lots of time in the kitchen, detoxing (a/k/a on the couch laid out flat), and preparing for the new school year. I’ve also been cleaning up messes that an adorable 19-month-old loves to make. (See above picture of freshly made coconut milk…) As much as I love blogging and sharing recipes – I simply can’t keep up with it all and blog posting is the first thing to go. Sorry, my friends.
I have been working on some recipes, though, and hope to share them with you soon (as soon as I can remember to take pictures). They are AIP compliant, but non AIP-ers have greatly enjoyed as well.
Super-doc has given me the A-OK to venture into food re-introduction. Leaky gut is officially healed. He gave me the thumbs up over a week ago but I haven’t delved into it quite yet. Apparently, I’ve got to be still long enough to notice a reaction and just haven’t had the time or forethought to do that. I think what I’ve missed most during AIP (besides roasted tomatoes) are eggs, and I’m looking forward (with hope) to trying those out. We are in the process of getting our chickens onto a completely homemade gluten, corn and soy free chicken feed. I’ve read, heard and had Super-doc confirm that I will have greater success being able to accept eggs if the chickens are not eating any of those allergens. My plan is to try eggs once our chickens have been free from gluten and corn (they were already soy free) for about two weeks.
I have learned, quite the hard way, that my body despises certain oils – such as safflower and sunflower. Missing crunchy things, I started eating Terra sweet potato chips, thinking myself to be free and clear to munch away. I had no idea which oils they were fried in and didn’t care (D-E-N-I-A-L). After almost a month of terrible itching that started at the nape of my neck, included my ear lobes and then shoulders and arms, I started eliminating. I had no idea and prayed that the Lord would help me see what was causing this reaction. The itching kept me up at night and was…in a word…TORTURE.
One day, it dawned on me that it could possibly be…not just “the chips”…but my beloved, crunchy, precious chips. I eliminated them and noticed the itching started to decrease. By the end of the week it was almost completely gone. After being off of them a full week or so, I wanted to make sure it was the chips (because where do I live? in DENIAL). So, I ate two. Only two. By the next morning, the itching at the base of my neck was killing me…killing me softly…
Moral of the story? No convenience foods for me. 🙁
Mel over at The Clothes Makes the Girl has a recipe for Caramelized Coconut Chips that has really helped curb my desire for crunchy salty things. All in all, the AIP hasn’t been as tough as I thought. In the beginning, my life revolved around which day of AIP I was on. Now? I’ve lost count. I’m over 100 days, so “yay me!” but that’s about it. I find that I’m actually in the kitchen LESS than I was doing hardcore SCD.
Thank you for all of the well-wishes and if you actually read this entire post….I’m SO PROUD OF YOU! More AIP recipes coming soon…
FOLLOW 30 PLUS DAYS OF MY AIP JOURNEY.
