Coronavirus Chicken Vegetable Soup

This was my mainstay for coronavirus survival. The chicken broth is heavenly on the respiratory discomfort. Dark chicken meat is good for one's heart. Vegetables are high in nutrients. A bit of potato or rice for carbohydrates.

All organic, fresh ingredients for one large pot of soup:

4 T olive oil or butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
6 cups water
8 chicken legs
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 cup beans, cleaned and chopped
1/2 potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup red pepper

These are veggies I am compatible with as so many I am sensitive to. Add your own favorites.

Saute onion, celery and garlic in pan for a very short time. Add water, chicken legs and seasonings. On medium heat simmer/boil for about 1 hour or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken legs. Cool. Remove meat from bones, place back in pan. Add broccoli, beans, pepper and potato. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add peas just to unthaw them as if you boil them they turn ugly and mushy. (I try not to cook the vegetables too long as they lose their nutrient value with too much heat and get mushy.) Remove from heat. Cool. Place in 16 ounce recycled yogurt containers. Freeze. Makes about a gallon or 4 frozen containers.

I made a giant pot for 9 containers and as needed it, thawed, added another container of chicken broth. Sometimes I would add cooked white rice for more carbohydrates. Unthaw and simmer for 15 minutes. I got about three bowls for each 16 ounce container.

I made a second batch and predicting I'd be really tired of it at two weeks froze the vegetables separate from the chicken, onion, celery, garlic, spices so I could use them in other recipes. Sans veggies it wasn't as tasty. The vegetables add a lot of flavor especially as they sit in the freezer together. Still healthy and good, but not as yummy.

Tater Tots!, or I Ate a Whole Cauliflower

Oh, how I miss tater tots! I used to buy a whole bag and eat them for a meal. For those of you who might not know what a tater tot is (horrors!), they are grated potatoes, spiced with chemicals, formed into little squarish rolls, deep-fried in saturated fats, and then frozen to last for eternity. Crispy on the outside, warm and toasty on the inside. Yum.

Or rather yuck. They haven't been on my diet for a long, long time. I guess they should be renamed "Toxic Tots."

My favorite Christmas card of all time was a cartoon of a tater tot with eyes. The inside read, "Tater tots with their eyes all a glow." HAHAHA It still makes me LOL!

Here is a recipe for something that resembles a tater tot:

Pepperoni Pizza Tots

Of course, I tweaked it just a little. It called for "Italian seasoning" which is some kind of processed mix and I used herbs. And garlic powder. I suppose garlic powder could be healthy, but I don't trust any pre-processed powder since so many use gluten as an anti-caking agent. I used real, grated garlic. The recipe said to use parchment paper on your baking sheet. First, I don't have parchment paper, but more importantly, why would anyone want to eat tater tots that haven't been fried in oil? I don't know if these would hold up to deep-frying, which I'd never do anyway, but I oiled the baking sheet with olive oil. The original recipe was created by Kelly Bejelly@A Girl Worth Saving.

Ingredients:

2 lb. cauliflower (one head), cut into florets
1/2 teaspoon each: oregano, marjoram, basil, thyme, cayenne, salt, pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 large eggs
8 slices Applegate pepperoni, diced
olive oil

Boil cauliflower in a pot of water for four minutes. Remove, drain, cool completely.

Finely dice cauliflower. Don't food process it or it'll turn to puree and won't work for this recipe.

Add coconut flower, spices, and pepperoni to diced cauliflower. Mix.

Add eggs. Mix.

Scoop out large spoonful and shape tightly into oval. Place on baking sheet covered with olive oil.

Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Eat.

Yum. I ate the whole pan! Yeah, this is another recipe that is far to good for anyone to remain in control.

I did worry about the pepperoni although the brand is very reputable. No reactions at all.

Shepherd's Pie (recipe)

I found this recipe online, but I did a LOT of tweaking. I used fresh, organic produce and grass-fed, organic beef and butter. Coconut milk instead of milk. I eliminated all ingredients that are on my food sensitivities list, but listed them as options. No way am I going to use processed gravy mix on anything.

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 potatoes or sweet potatoes, peeled, diced, boiled (I used one of each.)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup coconut milk

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup red pepper
1 cup green beans
1 cup peas
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper
2 cup corn kernels (optional)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
gravy mix (optional...yuck...no way)

Boil the potatoes until soft.

While the potatoes are boiling, sauteed the hamburger and all the ingredients listed under "hamburger". When cooked, place in baking dish.

When potatoes are done, place in bowl with butter and milk. Whip on high until mashed and fluffy. Frost the mashed potatoes on top of the hamburger. Add salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Yum. Unfortunately. In order to keep my colon working I can't overeat. This is way, way, way too tempting especially with my weakness for anything with mashed potatoes. Tastes great!

Cauliflower Rice (recipe)

While waiting patiently for my new doctor to show, I sat in the hall outside her locked office reading old magazines filled with recipes for tarts, quiches, cakes, cookies, pasta and pies. Self torture. A recipe for cauliflower rice (or riced cauliflower) caught my eye. I thought of that cauliflower head sitting in my refrigerator rotting for lack of creative motivation and decided this would be a good time to try making this rice substitute.

Evidence of thievery

I also thought it was a good time to rip that page right out of the magazine. YES...Sorry. I'm still a recipe thief. It was an old magazine in a hallway! The magazine was torturing me. Maybe this was a subconscious need to express anger? Frustration? Yeah, I know I don't have any justification for this behavior, but I'm trying. I had been fasting for a blood draw and very hungry. Still no justification...

Unfortunately, the recipe begins at the riced cauliflower ingredient with little directions on how to get it riced. Initially I thought I could just crumble it with my hands, but that wasn't working so well. Cooking never comes easy to me unlike so many. So I did what any modern cook does these days - got online. Two ways to rice one's cauliflower is to grate it or food process it on the grating button. I tend to always opt for the nearest option or the one with less clean-up so I hand grated it. It was a mess with bits of cauliflower bouncing all over the kitchen. I'm still cleaning it up. I think throwing it in a food processor would be the least messy way to go.

Anyway, once it's all grated into fine bits, using paper towels blot off any excess moisture. I guess this is very important because you don't want your cauliflower rice to get soggy which it tends to do.

Here is the basic recipe although I tweaked it for convenience so it barely resembles the magazine's version: Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pot on medium to medium high. Chop up some scallions (yeah, I don't have scallions so I used green onions). Chop up some bits of red pepper (for color). Throw the scallion-onions and pepper bits in the oil and saute for a short time. Put about one teaspoon of salt and some pepper in the bowl of cauliflower, mix, then throw into the pot with the scallion-onions. Cook for about five minutes which is plenty of time to avoid sogginess. Serve.

It was really, really good! I enjoyed the texture. I think one could add all kinds of foods to the recipe for a variety of stir-fry flavors: Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Texas BBQ...

Yum! Breakfast.

In the above photo the Cauliflower Rice accompanies my ground turkey patty. You can see the bigger bits of cauliflower from my attempt to crumble it with my hands, but it all tasted marvelous.

Spicy Turkey Cabbage Wraps (recipe)

I've been reading Amy Myers' books The Autoimmune Solution and The Thyroid Connection. Both good basic books on their respective subjects. Her "Myers Way" diet and lifestyle is very similar to Kharrazian's protocol except she allows sweet potatoes, shellfish, pork and all fruits.  And CHOCOLATE!!! She obviously didn't get the memo chocolate is a gluten cross-reactor. For anyone with weakened willpower for chocolate this could provide a justification for some bad behavior, but not me! Instead, I just lost all faith in her. Still, the books serve as refreshers on how to eat and how to live with an autoimmune disease, and specifically Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. For anyone newly diagnosed, this would be a life saver or at least set them on the right track.

Dr. Myers talks a lot about the failure of conventional medicine and gives all kinds of examples including her own personal story with Graves Disease and hyperthyroidism. Given only drastic options: poison, radiate, or surgically remove her thyroid, and desperate for relief with no other remedies in sight, she had her thyroid surgically removed. It is an atrocity how these conventional doctors are so eager to cut body parts out of us because they are too stupid or lazy to come up with better solutions. Having had my own close call with a butcher recently, I shiver at the thought.

Although I think both of these books are very good resources for newbies, I found them excessively repetitive. Every point she makes she repeats in every chapter, many times. One of the books I listened to it on tape in my car so perhaps this made the repeats more obvious. I kept yelling at the speakers, "YOU ALREADY SAID THAT A MILLION TIMES!" I fought the urge to fast forward with every repetition hoping I'd find new information but knowing I might miss it with each jump. I think if one were to remove all the repetition it would boil down to a very short book. And, she is a pill pusher. For every symptom, she has a corresponding drug that she promotes. Although she's all about removing toxins, she's failed to read the ingredients on her supplement bottles. She also doesn't address when her patients can't take drugs as so few profit-seeking doctors do.

BUT both books she has a whole chapter on recipes that comply with her diet regiment. Since I have recently added ground turkey and cabbage to my diet this one caught my eye. turkey is high in selenium which is a good, supportive nutrient. I've added my tweaks and notes in the recipe instructions below.

Spicy Turkey Cabbage Wraps

Ingredients:
8 intact cabbage leaves
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
10 stalks of asparagus
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
juice of one large orange wedge (about 2 tablespoons)
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped scallions

Fill a large pot half way with water, heat to boil.

In a large skillet, heat oil, saute garlic, ginger, and onion. Add asparagus and cook a few minutes. (I chopped the stalks into one inch pieces. I suppose I didn't have to do this and it might have been better in a wrap with long stalks, but I liked it better.) Add turkey, turmeric, and juice. When almost cooked completely, add basil and scallions. Cook until done.

When water in pot boils, add a few cabbage leaves at a time using tongs. I think to fill eight leaves it would spread the mix thin or make very small wraps. I'd be more inclined to use four and have more filling so it would suffice as a meal. Remove after 30 seconds I left in about 1 minute only because they didn't seem soft enough to roll. Fill with turkey mix, roll, serve. As the rolls sit, the leaves form around each other so they stay together making it somewhat easy to lift and eat.

She said it has a nice flavor and with those ingredients, I had high hopes. Maybe I've been eating too many herbs and spices, but it didn't seem to have much of a flavor at all. It wasn't bad. I think turkey is a bit flavorless anyway. The cabbage roll was messy even though it did stay together. I preferred eating the turkey mix without the cabbage roll, but I think I will experiment and place slices of cabbage IN the mix.

Gravy! OMG! (recipe)

Boy, I miss gravy. Mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. That was my comfort food for years. I lived off it through college. At every school I ever attended, the cafeterias sold little containers of mashed potatoes and gravy for twenty-five cents. A cheap and alternative option to a real lunch!

Fast forward 100 years and neither gravy nor mashed potatoes are on the Paleo Diet with a Hashimoto's Twist. Potatoes are not only nightshades and capable of creating health havoc, but they are also high in starch/sugar and lectins*, another misery-causing substance. To reduce the amount of lectins found in lectin-high foods with skins, it is advised to peel them as the skins have a greater lectin concentration. This is especially important for tomatoes and one reason Roma tomatoes were developed - less skin and more pulp.

Old-fashioned gravy like grandma used to make is all about the gluten: wheat flour. That's what gives it that creamy, soothing, comforting, sticky texture. Gluten is definitely not on my diet so gravy has been a forbidden for years. Besides, what would I put gravy on if I can't eat potatoes?

When my digestive tract failed a few months ago, there were few foods I could eat so I had to tweak the Hashimoto's diet. This caused me great stress as I had no idea how adding the few food choices I could tolerate would affect my health. Happy to say, so far I'm fine. I think. I hope. When I started a blended diet (yuck), I found sweet potatoes blend very nicely and creamy soups worked wonderfully. Sweet potatoes are higher in fiber and have a lower glycemic value than potatoes, however, they do have lectins and have low levels of goitrogens**. I have avoided them in the past.

People on grain-free diets are using cauliflower as a side dish alternative. It is especially popular as a rice substitute as the tiny bits are much like rice grains in terms of texture. Cauliflower is, however, a goitrogen. There is some debate over thyroid function being affected by goitrogens. From what I have read, cooking foods eliminates the goitrogens. It's only raw goitrogens that are problematic. If you have eaten a lot of raw goitrogens and experience feeling unusually cold, that's your thyroid being suppressed. Lately I've been drinking fresh cabbage juice which is supposed to heal my digestive tract and it never fails three hours later I'm hit with unexplained fatigue and the need to nap. It's hardly unexplained anymore.

Anyway, who would have thought cream of cauliflower soup would be the perfect GRAVY!!! It even looks like chicken or turkey gravy! Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2-3 stalks of chopped celery
1 large, chopped yellow onion
1 teaspoon chopped (one clove) garlic
2 cups homemade chicken broth with lots of fat
1 cup/can coconut milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry (optional)
salt and pepper

In a large pot, add olive oil and butter. Saute onion and garlic on medium heat until transparent. Add celery and cauliflower cooking slightly and stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper. Add chicken broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat slightly, simmer covered until cauliflower is soft, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Blend in a blender until creamy. Return to pan adding curry and coconut milk. Bring to slow simmer and heat for another ten minutes. It will be really thick so stir it constantly. Add water or more coconut milk if thinner is preferred.

Pour over mashed sweet potatoes or potatoes, if you are so inclined. Also good over chicken or turkey or Thanksgiving dinner. I think I could pour this over everything! AND it makes a very good soup for those cold winter months!

YUM!


*Lectins are foods that are capable of penetrating the wall of the stomach causing leaking gut and inflammation. Most hazardous lectin-high foods include: beans of any kind, wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and cashews (which are actually beans...or drupes...so confusing!)

**Goitrogens are foods that disrupt the production of thyroid hormones by interfering with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. Bad goitrogens: bok choy, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard and mustard greens, radishes, rutabagas, turnips. Foods with small amounts of goitrogens: bamboo shoots, peaches, peanuts, pears, pine nuts, spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes.

Flourless Cashew Bread (Recipe)

This is a gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free recipe. It does have eggs and yogurt so it's not dairy-free. It was posted by GirlAlive on her blog, TheRighttoBeAlive. She made it with her fancy Thermomix machine, but the recipe works fine using old-fashioned mixing and stirring. I had grave reservations it would turn out as I'm not good at baked goods and I had to convert the measurements from grams to cups so I was afraid it would be a little off. All is good.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups cashew flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup apple juice
coconut oil

If you can't find cashew flour, you can make it yourself by grinding raw cashews into a fine meal using a blender, grinder or food processor. Mix the cashew flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Add egg yolks, yogurt and apple juice, mix completely. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks. Fold them into the batter, mix thoroughly.

Grease a pan with a little coconut (or other) oil. I used a 10" x 10" baking dish because it seemed like I had way too much batter for a small loaf pan, but the batter condenses while baking so a large loaf pan would work wonderfully. Pour batter into greased pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for one hour, then 10 minutes at 350 degrees for a golden brown.

For a gluten-free, grain-free bread, it has a lovely texture and wonderful taste. Because I used a larger pan, once I cut them into squares it was almost like eating soft cookies, but this bread is not sweet so don't let it fool you.

The only problem is you might be tempted to eat the whole thing in one sitting. Easy to do. I'm trying really hard not to do this right now!

Thanks, GirlAlive. Great recipe.

Yum.

Blackened Salmon (recipe)

At the Naked Parade I tasted the best Blackened Salmon that the booth owner guaranteed was gluten-free. I immediately headed to the computer when I got home to find recipes I could test, combine and tweak to call my very own. Nothin' like a new way to eat a staple food. I've been getting pretty tired of the same old salmon.

Ingredients:
4 - 3 ounce skinless salmon fillets
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
spicy rub

Ingredients for Rub:

1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon basil (optional)
1 tablespoon oregano (optional)

It works best if all these herbs and spices are dry. I tried using the fresh herbs and it doesn't coat as well so you get large pieces of burned, or rather "blackened" gunk. It tastes better with the dried herbs and spices. Mix together in a bowl. Transfer to large, flat plate. Coat salmon pieces evenly on both sides with rub. Heat frying pan with olive oil until hot (medium heat), place salmon pieces in single layer, cooking for 4-8 minutes on one side, flip and cook the other side 4-8 minutes. Length of time depends on size and thickness of fillets. You just want to blacken them, not burn them to a crisp.

I warn you, this is HOT. Eat it with rice, bread or something equally forbidden to soak up the heat. I tend to sneeze if I get around too much cayenne and I only know this because I sprinkle it around the outside of my house as a bug deterrent. I've never eaten a lot of cayenne. I was sneezing and coughing non-stop for about 15 minutes after this meal.

I forgot to take photos. If I make it again, I'll add them.

The Lovely Bones

The bones came in! Who would have ever thought I'd be excited about bones?

I ordered what I thought were bones for broth. The man discussed quality and price so I was fairly confident I would get what I ordered. I had no idea there are different kinds of bones!

My bones came priced $1 per pound more than the quoted price. Hmmm... I think most people would have been so excited to finally get them, they'd just keep their mouths shut but that's a huge jump in price. So I asked. It seems there are neck bones used for soup or joint bones used for broth. This is something I've never heard about in all the books and websites I've read. The soup bones have more meat and the soup made from them is said to taste better. Joint bones are pretty much all bone with a higher mineral content needed for these AIP or GAPS gut-healing diets. The guy did remember me, apologized profusely, told me the soup bones are in high demand which is why it took so long for them to come in. He gave me a slight discount. I will order REAL bones next time. They ARE still bone so I figured it won't hurt. Here is the bone broth recipe I used:

Take two bones and sear all surfaces on medium heat in olive oil in a frying pan.

Place in a gallon of water in a boiling pan or enough to cover the bones depending on the size of your pot. Add about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (optional) as this helps leach the minerals out of the bones. It does boil off, but the smell for the first hour was questionable. Heat to boil.

Check out my new incredibly large pot!
I just bought it this morning at a yard sale.
Only $3.00 with lid!!
 

When it reaches boiling point, turn the heat down and simmer for a minimum of four hours but up to 48 hours. The longer the better as the bones will start to soften releasing more nutrients and gelatin. For any length of time, a slow cooker or pressure cooker would work better. I simmered mine for 12 hours and it was a pain to get up in the middle of the night to make sure the water still covered the bones.

As it's simmering, check every hour or two and ciphon off the scum on the top. About one hour before finished, add handfuls of carrots, celery, onions, parsley, a clove of garlic and salt and pepper.

When finished, strain into a bowl several times.

The taste of the broth is tolerable. Not great. I'm only doing this because it's supposed to be good for me.

I know, I know, this is the kind of thinking that gets me in trouble with problematic foods. I should listen to my body, but I'll give this a chance for a short time and see what happens.

In the meantime, I'll still be looking for the other kind of bones!

UPDATE: I boiled another pot of soup bones but this time only for four hours. Tasted much better, however, it didn't gel which means I didn't cook it long enough to extract the gelatin and probably the minerals. Also, I read any kind of bones will do. Does this mean I can use the cow bones labeled "dog bones" at the butcher? Hmmm...

Liver with Onions, Bacon and Apple (recipe)

My special order of cow bones didn't come in. Maybe next week? I have doubts.

I bought another slab of liver. I know...it was such a waste to throw the last slab in the garbage. I'm pretty sure those chicken livers were the reason for my last migraine and that leads me to believe they were anything but "natural". So back to regular, very gross, but incredibly clean cow liver.

I cooked it the same way as last time and it tasted just as bad. With every bite I would tell myself, That's enough. Throw the rest away. But I kept eating. It was just a tiny amount, but with much willpower I got it all down. Just looking at it raw in the bowl floating in blood is enough to make me puke.

Then I found a recipe online for gluten-free liver. Most recipes instruct to coat the liver in flour before frying and that's how I remember it from my childhood. This might make it taste better or milder by sealing in the juices, but being gluten-free does not make this an option.

 

I found this recipe on The Gluten-Free Homemaker Hopeful, but still wary, I adjusted it to make a very small portion so although you can follow her recipe for exact measurements, this is what I did:

Soak a small amount of liver in coconut milk. It seems our grandmothers soaked liver in milk and which tenderizes it and decreases the nasty taste. The blogger is also staying away from dairy so she suggested coconut milk.

Cut liver into small, thin slices.

Fry one strip of bacon. Remove from pan and break into smaller pieces. Remove some of the leftover grease, but save it for the liver.

Fry a few slices of yellow onion. Remove from pan.

Fry a few slices of apple. Remove from pan.

On medium high heat, add bacon grease and quickly fry liver with salt and pepper. (This is "old-style" cooking - everything is fry. LOL.)

Return bacon, onions, and apples to the pan when liver is almost done. Mix. Serve.

Did it make the liver taste better? NO. But the bacon and apples were good and by alternating bites balanced out the nasty with a sweet-tangy flavor which made that liver easier to swallow.

I'm trying. This is my third day forcing liver down my throat. I am determined to do this diet right and everything I've read said without the organ meats and the bone broth (which most people aren't excited about), it won't work. One needs those extra nutrients. Instructions are fairly clear: organs and other parts need to be organic, steroid-free, grass-fed which are difficult to find since so many health-minded people are doing this diet. The only way to get organic chicken livers is to special order them with a minimum amount of 12 lbs. I've ordered the cow bones. We'll see if they ever arrive.

I have been tempted to quit the diet, but I've already gone through four weeks of sacrifice. I don't see the point of giving up after so much work.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad (recipe)

I found this recipe on the The Paleo Mom blog. It has shrimp or prawns which are not allowed on the Hashimoto's diet especially large prawns since they are considered too polluted and toxic. Shellfish is highly recommended for the AIP and Paleo diets since they are so high in good fat, Omega-3's, and minerals. I don't know. I figured if I don't eat them too often, it'll be OK. Usually when I eat prawns I have weird dreams and that is a clear indication that I ate something mildly toxic.

However, this recipe has cilantro in it. I love the smell of cilantro and have tried to grow it in my garden in year's past. I tend to shy away from cilantro as it has such a strong taste, but it's an effective detoxifier of one's liver so I'm always adding it to salads or Mexican dishes. I'm thinking the cilantro will neutralize the toxicity of the prawns. Maybe? Hmmm... I don't know if it was the lime, but the cilantro wasn't overbearing as usual. Very good!

Ingredients for Cilantro Dressing:

3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
salt and pepper

Salad ingredients:

1 lb. cooked shrimp or prawns, shelled and de-veined
2 avocados, peeled and sliced
4 cups of lettuce or salad greens
Cilantro Dressing

Combine dressing ingredients and pour over shrimp or prawns. Mix to coat. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Place lettuce in a bowl, add avocados and shrimp/prawn mixture.

Eat.

YUM!

My dreams that night weren't anxiety-ridden or horrifying, but they went on all night. Every time I'd wake up then fall back to sleep, they'd continue. I went from being in my house with strange men outside my window, to volunteering in a hospital, to visiting Jason Mraz with his kids (he doesn't have kids), to teaching in a strange school. My brain is so weird....

Breakfast of Champions: Liver

I am the proud owner of a slab of cow's liver. Eeewww. Now don't get me wrong, as a child I grew up on beef having been raised on a small farm (you can read about that HERE) and actually liked liver as long as it was smothered in ketchup.

About a year ago after reading about the health benefits of liver, I attempted to cook a portion. It's definitely a cheap cut of meat, high in micronutrients, especially minerals. I didn't remember exactly how we cooked it during my childhood so I just threw it in the pan. It tasted like...well, let's just say it all ended up in the garbage along with the one bite I tasted.

There was a humorous anecdote in Reader's Digest about a little girl who was served liver and she asked, "Mommy, why are we eating diarrhea for dinner?" LOL! My thoughts exactly. Determined to eat like a Paleo cavewoman on the advice of many currently popular Paleo authors, I ventured forth.

As I stared at the meat case I asked anyone within hearing, "How does one make liver so it is edible?"

One woman told me she didn't think anyone should eat liver because it's the organ that filters and stores all the toxins. I told her I thought so, too, but according to The Paleo Mom (Sarah Ballantyne) book, The Paleo Approach, the liver does filter toxins, but it doesn't store them. Instead it "binds them, thereby rendering them inert, and then typically shuttles them to the kidneys for excretion in the urine but also to the gallbladder for secretion into the gastrointestinal tract and excretion in the stool." 

The Paleo Mom also explains, "While there may be some toxins present in liver from grain-fed, nonorganic, antibiotic-treated animals raised in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations, or factory farms), those toxins are also present in the fat and muscle from those animals to a very similar degree as in the organs. (Some reports suggest that even more heavy metals sequester in muscle than in organs.)" So there you have it!

That is reassuring, sort of. Who does one believe? There are so many theories amongst the hundreds of authors, doctors, or diet gurus and they often conflict. For instance some say goitrogens suppress the thyroid, others say there is no evidence for that. Well, someone thought there was evidence at one time. Was it lost? Or is the misery due to detoxification cause for celebration or worry?  Or we should eat small, more frequent meals rather than fewer, larger meals? If the liver is so efficient at it's job, why are there so many people who have high heavy metals stored in their fat? In the end we must decide based on our common sense, personal experience, and our individual bodies. I have doubts so I'll start slowly and eat just a small amount.

The newly-enlightened woman then leaned closer and graciously imparted her liver-cooking knowledge upon me as if it were a cherished secret: Fry it on medium-high heat, each side for two minutes. Don't cook it all the way through or the texture will make it difficult to eat. It should be a little pink on the inside.

 

Eeeww...I don't eat pink meat. I visualize mad cow disease running rampant through my system. Or parasites burrowing into my brain. Both would render me a vegetable after a period of unthinkable torture and then kill me. Not the way I want to die.

We got to talking about chicken livers which were sold out (along with the elusive cow bones*), and she said fry those livers with onions and bacon. Oh! I could use the bacon grease for the liver oil and make it taste better? She said that would make it really fattening and I countered with that's the diet! Paleo people love their fat and bacon grease is gold. She laughed and said it must be wonderful to have a reason to eat bacon. Exactly!

Anticipating a bloody mess with mad cows running free, I ventured bravely ahead anyway. I was told by another shopper if you can't eat liver plain then chop it all up and add it to meatballs or another food. OR chop the raw liver into tiny pieces and swallowing them like vitamins. Eeeeww...is that safe? I've heard of people putting it in their smoothies raw, too. No way.

Anticipating failure, I cut off just a tiny piece in order to save the rest for meatballs or vitamins. I fried up bacon from grass-fed, non-steroidal pigs first as that would serve as my breakfast protein even if the liver didn't work out. The bloody liver sizzled. I counted aloud exactly two minutes on each side. It was still bloody. Gross. I kept thinking of all the rare steaks I've seen in my life and tried not to think about mad cow. I cut the cooked, slightly red liver in tiny bite-sized pieces and ate.

It was OK! The center, or blood parts, actually tasted like I remembered from childhood. The outer, overdone parts were tough and difficult. I wonder what raw liver tastes like?

Eeeewww! I don't remember it looking as bloody as this picture!
Maybe I was closing my eyes?

I washed it all down with a large salad.


It's only been two weeks, but I haven't cheated once on this AIP diet. I am amazed! However, I am desiring unsweetened carob chips - my formerly 20% Paleo cheats. It's been a long time since I've indulged and they are calling to me. It doesn't help that I'm feeling tired all the time and that just makes me want to cheat in hopes of some energy.


*I thought my co-op was just having a hard time getting cow bones as one of their employees once told me. Come to find out, the bones arrive every Tuesday and are sold out immediately due to the popularity of bone broth! And one must special order organic chicken livers and they only come in the 12 lb. size. They are not making this diet easy.

Parsnip Fries (recipe)

SEE WARNING AT BOTTOM OF POST!

This recipe is a great substitute for French fries.  They are quite good especially if potatoes are forbidden on your diet as they are on mine.

If you cut them thick, they are like French fries (although with that parsnip-ish taste), but if you slice them very thin and bake them until they are toasty, I think they'd make great crackers or parsnip-chips. If you are missing crunchy foods, this will satisfy. As you can see from the photo, if you don't cut them evenly one way or the other, the little skinny ones will burn before the bigger pieces cook completely. As mentioned in the instructions, they tend to burn easily. And they have a very bizarre smell. Not bad, just different. I've never been much of a parsnip connoisseur.

I found this recipe on my friend's Pinterest account and it is originally from Paleo Grubs.

Ingredients

4 medium parsnips, peeled

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tsp truffle oil (optional)

2 tbsp parsley, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Don't buy large parsnips as their cores are tough. Medium or small are preferred. Slice the peeled parsnips into thin fries.Toss in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn the fries over and place back in the oven. Turn up the heat to 450 degrees F. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until crispy, watching closely to make sure that the fries do not burn.

Second batch...I tried cutting them all the same size and ended
up with less burnt pieces. I'm becoming a parsnip fries pro!

Place the fries in a large bowl and toss with the parsley and truffle oil. I don't add this stuff, but I'm sure it would make them even better. Serve warm, topped with additional sea salt if desired.

Yum.

Parsnip Chips...Really Yummy!

WARNING: After a few indulgences I realized I was reacting badly to parsnips. BADLY! Online you will find this is a common allergen creating life-threatening symptoms to some people so make sure you can eat parsnips before you indulge. Read other post on parsnips for more information.

Carrot Cake (recipe)

I found a Paleo recipe for carrot cake. It does use a sweetener so it's not Hashimoto's, but it is gluten and grain free. I was really afraid it would end up dry and tasteless, but it tastes great even without cream cheese frosting!

Grade B raw, organic maple syrup has more fiber, nutrients and is less addictive than white, granulated sugar. It also has a slightly lower glycemic index value, but it tastes sweeter. However, like sugar, if you eat a lot of it, it will cause tooth decay, weight gain, blood sugar issues, and other types of sugar-related health issues. For recipe conversions from sugar to maple syrup, it is suggested to use about half the amount called for (1 cup to 1/2 cup), and due to the extra liquid of the syrup, if possible, reduce the liquid in the recipe 3 tablespoons per one cup. Also, the oven temperature should be reduced by 25 degrees since maple syrup caramelizes at a lower temperature than sugar. Fortunately, I found a recipe that did all the hard work for me!

Unfortunately, I shouldn't be eating it at all but Christmas brings out the worst in me. Thankfully the holiday season lasts a short time and a small amount of organic maple syrup is much better than a huge amount of processed sugar. (I can justify anything!)



Ingredients:

4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/4 finely cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup raisins or pecans or both (I put both)

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl and mix. Add dry ingredients, keep mixing. Fold in carrots and raisins or pecans. Place batter in smallish lined or greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake only 18-20 minutes.

Yum.

Apple Crisp (recipe)

I love Apple Crisp. I think it was the first recipe I ever followed and the one I made most often over the years. I still have the card that was given to us in my 8th grade junior high home economics class. This card calls it "Apple Cobbler" but we always called it "Apple Crisp". The justification was cobblers were made with something more like pie crust, and crisp was the crumbly bits on the top. I suppose some call it "Apple Crumble" and the name depends on regional traditions.

I have no idea why I felt the need to save this card, but when it came to throwing away all my old gluten/sugar-filled recipes, I couldn't part with it. It's part of my personal history and it's OLD. I must be sentimental. Look at the butter stains all over it? Many, many years of use. Was there ever a time when I really ate a dessert with white flour biscuit mix (!), white and brown sugar, and butter? So evil. Ahhh, the memories! Apple crisp was what we always ate in the fall when the apples on the trees were ripe.

So when I came across this Paleo-style apple crisp recipe, I thought I'd give it a try. Then I tweaked it to perfection. There are some ingredients that are NOT on the Kharrazian Hashimoto's diet, but I have no problem with any of it so for me...it's perfect.

Apple Mixture Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled, cored, cut into variable-sized pieces
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom

Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond meal/flour
1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup melted butter, organic, grass-fed
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 tablespoons maple syrup (or other sweetener) (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the apple bits, lemon zest and juice, and spices together. Place in a baking dish and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes while you mix the topping ingredients in a separate bowl: almond meal, coconut, coconut flour, syrup/sugar and spices, pour melted butter over and mix well, refrigerate until cools and the butter hardens. Remove half baked apples and crumble topping over apple mixture. Bake for another 30 minutes. If the top isn't brown, turn oven up to 400 degrees and bake another ten minutes. (I've never had to do this as it's always brown.) Cool slightly. Eat warm. Serves 2 or 1 hungry person.

The first time I tried it I used a couple tablespoons of Grade B organic maple syrup and it was way TOO SWEET. Who would have ever thought I would think something is too sweet? So the second time I tried it I didn't use any sugar and it was great. I think it depends on the type of apples. Some are so sweet you wouldn't need any sweetener, but the topping is better with a little sweetener. It's very nutty so if you are on the GAPS, AIP, or any kind of leaky-gut-healing diet, this won't work for you, but it's perfectly Paleo and without the sugar it's even Paleo-Hashimoto's. Is it just like I remember? Heck no. But it's close enough. Maybe even better!

Yum.

Chicken and Zucchini Poppers (recipe)

This recipe is perfectly Paleo-Hashimoto's. Nothing in it that's not on my diet which is a rare find! This was found on the website One Lovely Life written by a woman who's family is gluten and dairy free.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 lb. ground chicken

2 cups grated zucchini, leave peel on and grate on smallest

2 green onions, sliced

3-4 tablespoons cilantro, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper

3/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)

olive oil for cooking

 

Pre-heat oven at 400 degrees. Mix chicken, zucchini, onions, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper and cumin. Drizzle and spread a bit of olive oil on a baking sheet.

 

 

 

 

Using a small scoop or heaped tablespoon and form into balls, place on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes, then broil on high for 2-3 minutes until tops are brown.

 

 

 



Serve warm with guacamole, salsa or dip.

As you can see from the photos I grated my zucchini on normal and I think the pieces of zucchini were too big. And my grocery co-op was out of ground chicken so I bought ground turkey. This was a fine substitution, but I eat turkey so infrequently it had a weird, gamey taste. Later I tried the recipe with the chicken and it was better. I am trying not to use cumin since it's on my forbidden list according to my mutated genes, and the recipe was great without it, but I think it would add some pizzazz for those of you who can use cumin.

These little poppers would be a great party appetizer.

Yum.

Cauliflower Kisses (recipe)

There are lots of recipes out there using cauliflower. I've never been a big fan of cauliflower. It's not because I don't like the taste. Maybe it's the weird texture? I saw these cute little cauliflower rosettes and I thought they were so adorable I should try the recipe and maybe I would find a fun way to eat cauliflower. Or at least a tolerable way.

The recipe, from my friend's Paleo collection, was originally from Low Carb, So Simple, a website featuring "gluten-free, sugar-free and five ingredients or less". The recipe is really titled Duchess Cauliflower. I hope no one minds if I rename it. I think Cauliflower Kisses is much nicer. And they look sort of like Hershey's Kisses! Only made with something less evil and definitely healthier.

Because the recipe calls for butter, they are only Paleo rather than Paleo-Hashimoto's, but still very healthy. Perhaps the butter could be replaced with coconut oil? I don't know if they would taste as good and I'm not crazy about coconut oil. I use it in so many recipes as it is.

Ingredients:

1 lb. cauliflower
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cup coconut flour
pepper (optional, the original recipe doesn't call for it, but I added it)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook cauliflower until soft. Pour out all water and place cauliflower in a blender. Add butter and salt and puree until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl, add to cauliflower, and continue to puree. Add flour and whisk to mix. Let stand ten minutes. I think this give the coconut time to expand because the mixture becomes soft and fluffy.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper or olive oil. Use a pastry bag (or like I did, a small plastic bag with a hole cut out from a corner) and pipe rosettes on the baking pan.

Bake 15 - 40 minutes depending on the size of the rosette. The tips and edges will start to brown lightly. When done the bottoms will be toasty browned like hash browns.

Serve warm. Yum.

When piping the rosettes I took more photos than necessary because I kept thinking, Boy! I hope these things taste as good as they were fun to make! Wasn't that some company's advertising saying? These didn't disappoint! REALLY FUN TO EAT. They were really fluffy and yummy. It was all I could do to stop eating especially since they were bite-sized, but fortunately, cauliflower is very filling.

Posing for photograph, then popped it in my mouth!

 

Cauliflower is also a goitrogenic food, in other words, it suppresses thyroid function. This is not a good effect for people who have low-functioning thyroid. Some don't believe this is much of an issue and the benefits of goitrogens outweigh the warnings, but many suggest people with symptoms of hypothyroidism should limit their intake of goitrogens. Examples of goitrogenic foods include broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, peaches, pears, radishes, soy, spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes, turnips among others. I am really happy to have a reason NOT to eat kale.

ENJOY!

Roasted Broccoli and Bacon (recipe)

I've been trying a lot of recipes lately. It's fun to discover new ways to eat foods. This is a fabulous way to make Brussels sprouts, and most importantly, EASY! My Paleo-recipe-collecting friend had this in her files from the Nom Nom Paleo website. Pork isn't on the Hashimoto's diet, but it is fine for Paleo and gluten-free meals.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. Brussels sprouts
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, or fat of choice
salt and pepper
4 bacon slices, cut into small pieces
balsamic vinegar, aged (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash Brussels sprouts, trim off ends, and cut in half. Place in a bowl and toss with salt and pepper and oil. Spread on baking sheet with raw bacon pieces. Bake for 15 minutes and flip. Bake another 15 minutes until done.

When they are ready to eat, sprinkle aged balsamic vinegar on them for a tangy seasoning. I didn't have any balsamic vinegar and they tasted great without.

Use broccoli or cauliflower instead of Brussels sprouts.

Yum.

Merry Christmas to Me!

When the holidays come around I can sometimes start feeling really sorry for myself cooped up all alone out in the middle of nowhere imagining the rest of the world going to parties, family gatherings, and eating a massive amount of health-destroying foods. Yummy, sweet, chocolaty foods dripping with frosting and whipped cream loaded with preservatives, food colorings, and additives. Yum! Even without tasty holiday treats, I celebrate the season with Christmas music, make a wreath, and have a fine time. Pre-MCS I used to spend the month of December spreading cheer by making and delivering cookies to friends and family. I don't do that anymore. It's too tempting. This year I decided to find something yummy and sweet to give the junk man at the city dump who puts up with me showing up once every two weeks to scrounge for used house parts. He rarely has anything for me, but every now and then I score.

Last time I was there I spied a really cool wood frame hanging on the wall in the dump station. I asked him why it was hanging there and he said, "Oh, just to decorate the place." I didn't burst out laughing. I'm sure he doesn't even notice the putrid smell of rotting garbage all around him. He gave me the frame. Maybe I could use it for a window frame? I've also considered collecting old wood picture frames, paint them, add a mirror, and sell them. Someday. So I got my new-old frame home, cleaned all the dust and grime off it and surprise!, it's REALLY NICE!

I'm not even sure I want to paint it now! So I felt incredibly grateful and thought I should take him some holiday treats to show my appreciation in hopes he will feel more motivated to save me house parts.

Of course, this means I get to go shopping for Christmas treats! I initially thought I would try to find some homemade-type cookies. There was no way I was going to bake them as I wasn't sure I could resist tasting and I don't imagine most people would care for gluten-free products. Instead I headed to a couple bakeries. Most of them had pre-packaged type cookies and desserts that didn't look very edible. Then I found a bakery that made these adorable cupcakes!

I apologize for the lack of photo quality as I photographed them through the plastic protective containers. I don't want to mess them up. It was bad enough they started melting in my van on the way home. I was so excited to buy treats, even if I wasn't buying them for me, I couldn't stop at cupcakes, and bought one magnificently decorated double-fudge brownie. He is a lucky junk man.

So in light of all this temptation on the premises, I decided I needed to treat myself to something kind of bad, but relatively healthy.

My friend, Urfa, collects Paleo recipes and she highly recommended one for Paleo-style pumpkin pie. I wasn't confident as my gluten-free baking skills are so embarrassingly poor, but I jumped in there anyway. It's easy, too. Unfortunately, it does use dates as the sweetener which is a problem since any kind of sweetener is not on my diet. It amazes me a year ago I was woofing down a whole bag of dates in one sitting before I realized they were causing a lot of my fatigue. At least in a recipe mixed with other less sweet ingredients, the effect won't be as bad. They also have a tiny amount of organic maple syrup, an ingredient also not on my diet but I know it's filled with vitamins so I'm less inclined to worry about effects. Besides I need to do something to celebrate the holidays and at this point, nothing is going to stop me! (Did I make a good case for cheating?) Here is the recipe:

PALEO PUMPKIN PIE

1 can organic pumpkin
1 can organic coconut milk, full-fat
4 egg yolks (or two whole eggs)
4-6 dates, soaked in water and pitted
1 T. organic, Grade B maple syrup
pumpkin pie spice: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, nutmeg

Throw it all in a blender and mix. Place in little bowls and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Cool. In fact, cool for 24 hours for best results. It's really so incredibly easy. If you wanted to do make this recipe properly,  you could buy a big organic pumpkin, skin it, chop it up, boil it to mush thereby avoiding a canned product, but that is a whole lot of work and pumpkins have pretty much disappeared for the season. And instead of canned coconut milk, I've come across recipes making the milk out of dried coconut flakes. It's a whole lot of extra work, but probably healthier. More Paleo as canned goods are definitely processed goods.

AMAZINGLY SCRUMPTIOUS. Notice they don't have a crust. There are some Paleo/gluten-free crust recipes, but I haven't tried them as I don't want to get addicted to anything too devilish. I figure the dates are bad enough.

I chalk this whole experience up to outstanding willpower. Bring on the cupcakes and brownies and waft them under my nose. I don't care. I'll eat Paleo Pumpkin Pie instead!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!