Prepping for the new year

I guess I should not be surprised at Amazon's selection of organic foods. I was first intrigued by the organic Kraft Mac and Cheese. The reviews were good too on them. I hope the family likes it because I bought a case of them!

Search Amazon.com for organic food

In addition, I got a variety of snacks that had good reviews and also are organic. Taking my lunch is going to be the challenging part of the day for me. I have to have convenience or else it won't be something I can maintain.

Amazon prices are fairly comparable for bulk buying....at least for where I have looked so far.

Looking for the deals!

So my daughter and I went to check out Harry's Farmer's Market. A first for both of us. It is a huge store, and I felt so out of place. Not because the employees were unfriendly or anything. It was laid out so differently and had stuff I had never seen before.

I was pleasantly surprised that the produce was not incredibly more expensive than regular grocery store prices. There was, as expected, more choices than my regular grocery store.

What I'd like instead though is to support the local farms (especially during peak season). I found a great resource for co-ops and/or buying clubs for produce, Organic Consumers. It is good to see all the local farms around I never knew about! Sweet! At first glance, the prices are very comparable in price to other produce at Harry's at other major grocery chains, but I can be assured that the farmer is organic.

I also found a local chicken farmer through Local Harvest that is raising chickens with no antibiotics and no steroids. They have of course already harvested this year's poultry, but I am considering pre-ordering some birds for next year. I have got to find out how they are processed....I don't think I will be able to do much "processing" on my own (ie cutting off chicken head or feet YUCK)

Recipes for Elimination Diet

I am not one for trying to reinvent the wheel so finding recipes for my dietary needs is super important. I just found a site will a good amount of recipes for healthy eating and specifically for the elimination diet.

Nourishing Meals

I had to look up what quinoa was...

Per Wikipedia:
Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but the commercial availability of quinoa greens is currently limited.

Conflict of thinking

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am Thrifty (yes with a capital T!). I have been an avid coupon user for everything possible...groceries, restaurants, shopping, you get the idea.  Grocery coupons are not the best catalyst for enabling healthy eating. I may be changing my eating, but I still plan for looking for ways to save money.

As I become more familiar with brands of organic and natural foods, you better believe I will be looking for coupons and sales!

I am already in contact with a rancher to buy part of a cow for meat. Their cows are grain fed, not hormones and all that good stuff. These make naturally leaner cuts of meat and are supposed to taste better. Buying a cow in bulk (half or whole) actually costs less per pound than getting the same quality meat in the store.  Luckily I have the freezer space to do such a thing.

I also am looking for co-ops and farmers markets for fruits and vegetables. If I am industrious enough, learning to can may be in my future too!

Planning...planning....and more planning

Once I decided that I was tired of having daily stomach issues, I went on a search for what to do about it.

I've always had a good idea that some foods were causes. For example, I think I am lactose intolerant so I avoid drinking milk, and use Lactaid pills when I do have dairy. Maybe it helps some, but it certainly did not solve my issues.

I think that corn causes my joints to hurt....then again maybe that is in my head too!

Instead of guessing or assuming,  have decided to find out for sure once and for all. Once I have set my mind to something, I like to plan and plan some more before I start. My plan so far is to find out what foods are normally good for starting an elimination diet so I can get my baseline and keeping a food diary (this is a MUST!). Here is what I have:

On the initial elimination diet, you can eat the following foods:

• any vegetable but corn, peas or beans
• any meat but bacon, sausage, hot dogs or luncheon meat
• rice, oats, barley and the grain alternatives amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat (available at health food stores)
• any fruit but citrus (also avoid any fruit you currently eat more than once a week)
• bottled, spring or distilled water and herb teas.

This info was picked from www.cfids.com relating to chronic fatigue. I don't suffer from this, but the idea for finding out what foods cause physical issues is the same.

I will stay on a diet of these foods for about 6 days. If at the end of the 6 days, I feel better and don't have the same stomach issues, it will be time to start to add certain foods back in the days that follow. If I still have issues, I will be eliminating foods that I ate that week.

The planning I am still doing is what I will eat at least for the first 2 weeks. My husband and daughter are not doing the elimination diet, but are on board for the change to healthy eating.  I don't think I would be able to do it if they were not on board (thanks family!)

My sister has similar digestion issues like I do, so she is planning on doing the same elimination diet as me. We are working together to come up with good recipes to keep us on track.