02.11.2013

Healing update #2

It’s Monday!

(I dont think I have been this excited for a Monday in a long time.)

Hello 🙂

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That is because I get my RIFE machine! Remember in “My healing update #1” I talked about getting a RIFE machine to heal my organs. Well today is the day!

Let me rewind a bit, because there was some important things that happened this weekend to me.

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Itchy!

I decided to try a cucumber. I was ok for the first few bites. Then I started to do some school work. I was using pencils-with erasers, and sat on a rubber ball. My eyes started to itch, I got hives around my lips, and my skin (and head) was super itchy! I could not figure it out. Usually if I react to a food it will be within the first 3 hours-that is why I was confused, because this reaction happened after the 3 hour period. Screen Shot 2013-02-10 at 2.39.59 PM

I did a little research. I might have been ok with the cucumber, but not around latex (rubber).

Latex cross reacts with many things and one of them is cucumber. Just being around rubber made my allergic response come “alive”. I was actually pleased to have figured this out because in the past month I tried dandelion tea, zucchini, ginger, and now cucumber.

I reacted with very itchy skin, swelling, tired, severe stomach pains (that kept me up for hours) and just plain blah. I thought my body just was reacting to any food-turns out it was cross reacting.

Now, most foods do cross react with pollen, latex, dust, etc. so I will have to clear these things for NAET before I eat a new food. Today I treated latex for NAET (#32) and boy am I itchy. If you get a reaction from the NAET treatment, that is a good sign that your body is trying to get rid of it. I guess I should be happy that it itches, right?

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Cross reacting Allergies

Here is a chart I made to make sure you know what foods cross react with what. You can right click and open in a new tab so you can “zoom” in on the font. I was inspired to create it after my cucumber/latex reaction.

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Pin this chart using this link http://pinterest.com/pin/460070918153510752/

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The bottom sentences go like this. I will type them up here because I know they are very tiny! 

  • *Gluten: These cross reactants are just possibilities and each person will have their own results (cyrex labs can determine which are cross reacting in your body).
  •  For the highly sensitive people-be cautious of even touching, breathing (vapors) or being near these foods-it may cause a reaction.
  •  Cooking the food may reduce or eliminate a reaction
  •  A reaction to these foods will be the worst during exposure or the peak season. But, reactions can occur anytime.
  •  The GAPS diet can help heal the gut, which can help rid of seasonal allergies & their cross reactants. NAET is a good alternative for the anaphylactic or extra sensitive people.
  •  Spices or herbs: the full list is included under “mugwart” and are listed in red. Apply this list when every you see “spices or herbs” in red.

Other tips:

The reactions will vary (itchy, stomach pains, rash, bloating…). 

The reactions will be worse if you are in direct contact with the allergen and then eat or touch or breath the food. 

The season the pollen is highest matters too. But you can still react out of season.

Environment matters. Like, don’t go to the dr. (with lots of latex) and then eat a kiwi if you are sensitive (I have done this before).

Sometimes if you cook the food, that denatures the proteins that cross react with the allergen.

If you are allergic to latex or pollens or peanuts most likely you will be sensitive to the whole list.

The gluten cross reacting list is special. Not everyone will react to the same things and most likely not the whole list (usually only a handful-I have about 7 cross reactants). Cyrex labs can determine your gluten cross reactants with a blood test. This is a good post to read to get the “science” behind why.

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Feeling better:

Now on to the good stuff. I am slowly, but finally feeling a bit better! What do I mean “feeling better”. For months–ever since June, I have been feeling very tired and just worn down. My organs were stressed (especially my liver) from being unable to detox properly. The circulating toxins made my brain foggy. I was living each day- one day at a time.

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Only a few things have changed, but I think they are working.

#1 I am taking the zeolite. This has helped detox mercury in my gut and I actually feel like the “fog” in my brain has lifted!

#2 Nettles and broccoli. My body NEEDED some greens and these two foods are nourishing every cell in my body!

#3 green tea. Green tea is suppose to balance out the T1 dominant side for autoimmune disease (which I have). I can tell a big difference in my focus and energy. The caffeine does not seem to bother me-though I don’t drink a lot. I also treated fluoride with NAET because I heard that green tea is pretty high in it.

#4 exercise. Before I was too weak to exercise, but now that I have a bit extra energy (the tea?) I can get my lymph system moving–which always makes me feel way better!

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The mystery rash & Dr. Conners

I got a rash all over my body last week. It just happened to come out, the day after I started the zeolite (mercury detox). I thought it was a detox from the mercury. Nope!

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a picture of the “rash” on my arm. ouch!

I went into Dr. Conner’s today so he could check up on me and send me home with my RIFE! I showed him my rash and he immediately started doing his kinesiology. He had me hold some viles to muscle test me. He then asked to see my cell phone and we tested that. I had a hunch he was testing EMF’s.

I told him that I have little EMF’s protectors on my cell phone, my computer, and we have grounders for our house and wifi. He thought for a few seconds and then told me that the rash was probably old EMF’s (that were stored in my body) and are now coming out. He then confirmed it with some more kinesiology. The zeolite can detox EMF’s too. We have only started “protecting” ourselves from EMF’s last year so I had exposure for 17 years of my life–plus we lived by small telephone lines in our old house.

He gave us a box of some volcanic ash that is zero charge (will help ground the house). The ground is negative charge (which is good for us to walk on barefoot). I am suppose to sprinkle it around my house so it can basically “soak up the extra charges from appliances”. It is called “grounding”- it is similar concepts to an Earthing Mat.

I love finding this information out, it fascinates me!!

I then asked him about the rash on my face that I got last night after the sauna. He tested it and said that was from the mercury detoxing. I guess the sauna will be a good tool to get those toxins out! I try to rotate my detoxing so I do the sauna every couple days. .

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Illeocecal Valve

I also got my illeocecal valve fixed today. I reminded Dr. Conners that my acupuncturist friend mentioned it was inflamed and most likely “stuck”. I had no idea what I was in for!

He dug into the area between my belly button and right hip bone. He tested which way he had to “push” on it. He pushed it upwards to fix it. I cant say it was pleasant-and actually I laughed (because I tickled but hurt). I knew I had to try and relax my muscles. When I finally relaxed them-he said he was done.

Whewf, I hope I don t have to do that any time soon :). Im happy that its “fixed” now because so many digestive problems are associated with it being stuck open or closed. Read more about the illeocecal valve here.

My RIFE!

Finally, to the best part of the post! Do you not know what RIFE is? Read a little about it here and here Does it seem a little “coo-koo to you? It did to me at first but then I did a little more research..

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What does RIFE do for the body?

Here is what RIFE helps with according to The Upper Wellness Center (the clinic I go to).

  • Inflammation (swelling) has a critical role in illness.

  • Initial Inflammation helps liquefy toxins in connective tissue. The body follows the understanding that Dilution is the Solution to Pollution.

  • Disease can occur whenever the body is unable to eliminate this fluid from the body, hence, holding the toxic fluid = CHRONIC INFLAMMATION.

  • Diseases are the result of the struggle with toxins = TOXIC OVERLOAD

According to the RIFE website…

For most users it represents complete freedom from the most common seasonal colds, flu and allergies. It may be equally effective for much more serious, otherwise untreatable problems, like bacteria, virus, fungus, and mycoplasma.

To my understanding, the RIFE helps eliminate lymph blockage. The lymph system is an important system in the body that flushes out “toxins”. Toxins create disease. Of course other organs (kidney, liver, lung..) play a role in eliminating toxins. The RIFE can help with general organ healing (which is why I got it). I guess my whole family will end up using it because it is very good at treating viruses, or bacteria too. 🙂 .

 

How does RIFE work?

The RIFE/LBG uses extremely low current cold gas light photons to transfer energy frequency patterns to the area of the cell helping to provide an environment which can assist the cell in correcting its out-of-balance electromagnetic charge Because the tissue is in a state of free flow, this is the ideal condition to effectively treat swollen tissue in the body.

The RIFE/LBG is NOT magic, yet used in conjunction with other detoxification modalities, it can be a God-send for people to help aid their body through the healing process.  It is used as an adjunct (or support) to vertebral subluxation correction by helping the body rid toxins and swelling.

 

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Here is the computer screen that controls what program you do on the RIFE- this one is for lymph circulation.

 

The RIFE is run by that box you see in the first picture collage. The light frequency comes out of that plastic surrounded glass tube. I hold the tube next to my body of at least near me. The little computer is the “programer” and if filled with files that have a special program for each illness or virus or organ (there are hundreds of categories).

It is so fun to scan through to see what it can “treat”. I am mostly going to use the organ programs. Today I have already run the lymph (runs for 48 min), thyroid (runs for 10 min), and liver (runs for 50 min). I put it by my feet or behind my chair (I actually have it near me while I type this). Some of the frequencies started messing with my computer and started moving the mouse around and such-haha I guess the electrical things got mixed.

Dr. Conner’s gave me a program to follow that lasts 6 hours (while I sleep). There is a different one for each day of the week. I am not sure where I will put the “tube” , but maybe wrap it in a pillow case and lay it next to me. He said I could start detoxing if I do it too much, so I will be careful. (I even asked them to give me a semi-old RIFE machine and parts beacseu I am sensitive to new things. They were happy to do that for me!)

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Foot detox ionizer:

I continue with detoxing my body while I take the zeolite. My main goal is to stop my autoimmune attacks on my body and help my liver detox all the toxins and mercury stored in my body.

There is an attachment to the RIFE that ionizes water for an ion foot bath. There are so many scams out there about ion foot detox baths. The color has nothing to do with the toxins coming out of you. It simply ionizes the water to help attract the toxics out of your skin. There are too many health claims connected to it. I just think it is another tool to detox.

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I have had it done at the clinic 2 x and each time my rashes stop itching or burning (so I know something is working). It is not a HUGE difference, but I will give it a shot (I have to remember that I have only done it 2x). .

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Healing words.

When I mentioned to Dr. Conners that I think the green tea and the zeolite were working-giving me more energy and a general sense of feeling well, he said something I will never forget.

“See, God has you in good hands!”

What he said could not more true. Having him as a dr. along with my NAET chiropractor, my wonderful acupuncturist, and supportive family, friends, and blog readers (you!) is a blessing. .

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Did you read my healing update #1? Be sure to read about it here.

Like my Instagram pictures? Follow me here.

To get more immediate updates on my life/health follow me on Facebook– if you are already not, trust me you are missing out on a lot of fun!

 

resources:

http://www.jiaci.org/issues/vol21issue3/1.pdf

http://www.foodallergens.info/Facts/Pollen&Food/Which_Foods.html

http://www.polleninfo.org/index.php?language=en&nav=_n2&module=article&action=first_page&row=2&id_parent=1385

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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02.09.2013

How to grind meat: picture tutorial

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I am a meat eater.

Its no secret, I eat raw meat–every day.

Do you eat raw meat–if not you are missing out. I bet I can convince you in this post.

When I first started, I did not have a meat grinder. I would cut up the meat in small bites, but I could never really “chew” it right. I realized that the only way I was going to eat raw meat was only if it was ground. I started to buy pre ground bison meat, but honesty freshly ground and pre ground are completely different in taste, texture, and smell. It is like eating a frozen raspberry or a fresh one–I would rather eat the fresh one (if I could eat berries).

So today I will show you and explain how to grind your own meat! (I use bison, but we have ground beef too).

Raw.

I bet you would be more willing to eat beef raw, if you picked the source and ground it yourself, am I right? I don’t just eat any raw meat, but I carefully pick the farm and even talk to the farmer. Plus, the ground meat I your stores might have citric acid on it to keep it a bit fresher (even in natural coops). Not sure about eating raw beef?– read why it is healthy here.

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The grinder.

The main reason why I got a meat grinder is because I am sensitive to corn and citric acid is corn derived. Even pre ground meat can be a problem for me because of the soap or oil they use to clean the grinders with. I was just better off getting my own. I ended buying this Electric Meat Grinder (update: a year later and I still love and use my grinder weekly! It is holding up very nicely). If you have a kitchen aid you can get this attachment.

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The cow.

I understand most of you will probably grind beef instead of bison. My body likes bison better and it is readily available in MN. I will give a short lesson about  the parts of the cow so you get accustomed as to what cut you are eating and where it comes from. The bison cuts are very similar to the cow chart. (I made it myself, thank you). I learned a thing or two about cow anatomy while I was writing this post!

get to know your meat

 

What kind of meat to grind?

Get your “guide to meat cuts” in this post here.

Here are a few good combinations that are commonly used. Feel free to create your own-now that you know the parts of the cow. Ideally , you want your burgers to have 20-30% fat to keep them moist and juicy. Ask the butcher if you can get “extra trimmings” for grinding your own burgers.

A good amount of meat to grind is 2 lb for a family of 4. It does not hurt to have leftovers or freeze.

 

2/3 chuck & 1/3 sirloin

1/2 chuck & 1/2 sirloin & extra trimmings (do no use tallow-that is “stringy”)

1/3 boneless shot ribs & 1/3 sirloin & 1/3 chuck

1/5 untrimmed brisket & 2/5 chuck & 2/5 boneless short ribs

 

*The HUGE plus to grinding your own meat is that you can throw in extra organ meats (adrenal, heart, liver, spleen) and it will blend right in. I would start out with a small amount to “hide” the taste if organs are not your thing. Prepare then the same way (1 in and freeze for 30 min). Organs are lean to make sure to add a but extra fat.

 

Ground meat

Ground meat is not a specific “cut” in particular. There is ground chuck, ground roast, ground sirloin, and then ground beef–but really you can grind any cut.

Ground beef is usually a combination of many different cuts (and sometimes even different cows–if you buy it from a unknown source!) Most likely it is a combination of trimmings from the neck, plate, shank, round, flank & chuck. But really it can contain any part of the cow. Usually it is from 20-30% fat (juicy and moist!)

Good tasty ground meat usually consists of chuck–Ground chuck– (15-20% fat), this is the most popular and favorite cut to grind. Round –Ground Round–(10-15% fat) & sirloin –Ground Sirloin–(5-10% fat) are popular too. Usually you pick a combination of cuts to make the flavor and fat ratio to your liking. (You don’t want to buy pure ground round or ground sirloin without combining it with a cut that has more fat, otherwise your ground meat will be dry.)

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Recipes:

(ground meat–you can use any of the “ground” options above) meatloaf, beefy taco salad, Sweet n’ Glazey Totally Beefy Meatloaf, Ground Beef, Parmesan and Spinach Fritatta, Chili, Hamburgers, Italian wedding soup, bacon meatballs, cottage pie, ground beef skillet, pumpkin chili, bacon and cheese stuffed burgers

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Cooking the burger

  1. Don’t overwork the meat.
  2. Dont push on the burgers with your spatula-they will get tougher.
  3. Keep the burgers on the rare side-because you can!
  4. Season the burgers before cooking. Don’t put seasonings though grinder-mix in a bowl after it is ground.
  5. Shape the raw meat patty flat-it will swell and shrink.
  6. Use high heat safe oil (lard, tallow, palm oil, refined coconut oil)-where to buy oils
  7. Use grass fed meat for better taste and nutrition.
  8. or just eat your meat raw!

 

How to grind meat:

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1. Cube the meat into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes.  Trim off the silver skin or gristle (it will clog the grinder and taste hard in the cooked burger). I cut my meat on a Glass Cutting Board  for easy clean up. I use this knife (always use a sharp knife).

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2. Put the cubed meat in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden up. This step is important and will assure nice separate strings-of-meat instead of a mushy clump of gooey-meat from the grinder. Trust me, I have made this mistake thinking “oh it will save me some time”. Nope don’t do that! Plus the fat gets melty and mushy.

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3. Grind the meat: Assemble your grinder. Make sure all the parts are clean and dry. You can also freeze the parts of the grinder too for easy grinding (not necessary unless your grinder heats up a lot). Load a few chunks of meat in the grinder at a time. If you put too much in, the meat can get backed up. Use the “plunger” an NOT your fingers-be careful.

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4. Season and shape: After all the meat is ground up, now is the time to season it with sea salt and/or spices. Shape your burgers in any size that you will like. Remember, the fatter the burger–the more it will shrink and swell inwards. Make sure it is flat with an indent in the middle. Don’t over work the meat. Roll the meat in a ball and flatten with your finger tips.

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5. Cook (optional): Cook the burger on medium to high heat until it is done to your likeness. Use a grill or a pan (lightly oiled with heat safe oil). I use this cast iron pan.

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6. Eat! yumm, so fresh! nothing beats a freshly ground burger :). sorry for the bad picture!

 

 

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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02.09.2013

My healing update #1

Hello all!

I told you I was going to try and post more often, and I promised to do just that. It is not been easy, but I decided that I cannot keep all the exciting things happening just to myself. I know many of you are going through tough journeys in life too, and it is very important to share and support each other.

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Healing

These “healing update” posts will be quite random. If you have not figured this out yet, I am a very dedicated and determined person. Sometimes I am to “go-at-it”, and things start to go out of line–like the other week when I did too many NAET’s and my body was too weak..not smart of me.

I have a reasoning for it all, I just want to get better–now! That is one thing I have to learn, patience. Oh, and the book in the picture above is just one of  my favorites at the time :). Im obsessed with faec analysis and TCM.

NAET

Lets start with NAET. On facebook I am constantly posting what is going on with my NAET. I still am working on the big NAET post to explain what it is. For now just look at the NAET site to learn about it.

I used to go 2-3x a week to NAET. I have cut back to only go 2x a week because I am starting many more things (that are exciting) but it is all draining on my body. so I have to be careful not to over expend my energy. Before I started NAET I was reacting to everything and was sick in bed every day. Now I only get a reaction every other week! hurray. I just have to work on exposing myself to the world and food again. So far here is a list of the NAET’s I have done:

1. egg/chicken

2. calcium mix

3. vitamin c mix

4. b complex mi

5. sugar mix

6. iron mix

7. vitamin a mix

8. Mineral mix

9. Salt

10. grain/corn

11. corn

12. formalodhyde

13. mold

14. dust

15. enzymes

16. corn sugar+heat

17. alcohol

18. plastic

19. thyroid

20. cornsugar+stomach acid (base)

21. liver

22. lung

23. spleen

24. kidney

25. ragweed

26. stomach

27. gallbladder

28. lymph

29. ? forgot

30. Histamine

31. Pesticides

32. Flouride (just cleared this one this morning so I get to drink my green tea!)

A “nudge” from God.

I decided I needed more answers. I am never happy with just treating the symptoms (NAET-chiropractic adjustments-detox). I knew there was something missing to my puzzle of my total health.

After a friend called me telling me about lymes disease and to make sure I check for it with the right tests (the one at the regular dr. does not detect it after a certain number of days after the bite-and it can be undiagnosed for years). My symptoms are similar to those people with chronic lymes. She gave me a few websites and resources to look into and one of them was the upper room wellness clinic. I was immediately intrigued.

I looked into the correct lymes tests, but was hesitant to ask for any test because of the price. I wanted to find a way to find out what was the driving force behind everything! I decided to download his book here (for autoimmune). I knew I was autoimmune but after reading Dr. Conners book, I knew that there had to be an “antigen”.  A day after I downloaded the free book, the clinic called me just saying that they are located in MN.

Everyday my family and I pray for resources for my healing. I knew that that random call from my friend and the call from this clinic was God nudging me to make an appointment with Dr. Conners. So I did.

Dr. Conners

After explaining my whole health history to Dr. Conners, he had little to say. He nodded his head and told me a few things he could think of that was going on with me. I scheduled my exam on Monday. For once in my life I felt hope that someone could actually figure out the “root” of everything.

During my exam he used a special kind of kinesiology and muscle testing. He used specific accupuncture points and the chacras. I am always careful when dealing with “energy work”. Dr. Conners is a strong Christian and just uses the chacras as a “tool” and does not incorporate the spiritual side of it.

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When I told my NAET Dr. (whom I trust very well) about Dr. Conners, he just laughed and smiled. He said he was just thinking of him to suggest to me and if he were in my shoes, that would be the Dr. to go to. My NAET Doctor’s twin brother (who also is a chiropractor  that works in the clinic) actually did NCI training with Dr. Conners and has high respect for him. Don’t you see that this is a clear sign that I am suppose to work with Dr. Conners? God has his ways of working people into our lives and this was my sign.

Mercury Detox

Ok back to finding the “root” cause. The exam was actually very quick. He pricked my finger and has me taste my own blood. I muscle tested very weak-that means that I am autoimmune (which I knew). He had me hold echinacea up to my chest and I tested weak. Then we tested coffee, and I was strong-that means I am T1 dominant autoimmune.

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He pulled out a box of a bunch of little bottles- all types of heavy metals. I held the first group of like 10 and then the second group. I was strong with one and weak with the other. He then separated the group of bottles, that I was weak with, and muscle tested me separately with those groups. What he was trying to do was find the one metal I was weak with  (aka. the antigen). We finally narrowed it down to mercury. Yep, mercury is my poison.

He commented how he was for sure he thought I had lymes. I guess I surprised him! He himself had mercury poising and it affected him sinus really bad and he thought he was going to die. But he did not die and actually has 98% of his health back!!

He told me  that the mercury toxicity is just the first layer. Once we treat the mercury problem, then other things will become “unmasked”. I am like an onion and right now mercury is the top layer and the only visible one he can “see” with his kinesiology.

The rash

The mercury toxicity is not my only problem. He thinks from everything I have told him, that I have a gene defect (from my mom) that does not allow me to detoxify properly. That gene liver mutation combined with an autoimmune disease creates a perfect storm in the body. My autoimmune creates to many “fighter cells” that attack everything. Since my liver detoxification is poor, I have so much floating around in my body, that I just react to everything (even breathing and touching things). Ahh finally it makes sense!! Having an autoimmune disorder or a liver defect by itself is manageable, but both just lead the person into a spiraling pathway  (that is where I was headed).

To help me fix the mercury toxicity, he said it would take at least a year before I am 80% better. He did not promise anything, but he is very hopeful. I explained that I cannot take supplements. Again God was taking care of me and he handed me a bottle of Gama-detox fx. All that was in it was: zeolite and bentonite clay (which I already ingest!). I was shocked. I agreed I would take 1/8 tsp in a bottle of water daily.

Zeolite binds with heavy metals in the gut (and only in the gut-so its SUEPR gentle). I like this post to explain zeolite. So far I have a very bad itchy rug-burn-type rash all over my body. It burns, but I don’t mind, because I know its a detox! Of course I am helping my body as much as possible with sauna’s, exercise, lymph drainage, coffee enemas, acupuncture, clay, and charcoal. Right now, detoxing my body is my full time job.

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Autoimmune

I knew I was autoimmune and since I was only eating one food a week ago, there was no way to balance out my T1 dominant side. My immune system was so tipped, that my symptoms were getting pretty bad (inflammation, excessive sleep, muscle aches, flu-ish…).

Dr. Conners highly suggested that I start as soon as possible to get any of the T2 stimulants into my body. I was not consuming any of the T1 dominant things of the avoid list below, so I did not have to take anything out.  Since my appointment last week I have added in green tea successfully! I was doing coffee enemas (learn about them here), but those were not enough to keep my immune system balanced. I can already feel a different strength in my body after only 2 days of drinking green tea! Yeah 🙂

 

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RIFE

The other part of his treatments includes using a RIFE machine. Dr. Conners works with cancer patients and autoimmune mostly. He did not push any kind of treatment on me, but suggested that a RIFE would help “heal” the organs of my body, especially my lymph system (which I really need because I have swelling and rashes). Read bout RIFE here. We were hesitant at first, and asked ourself “does this thing really work?”.  After talking to my NAET dr, my acupuncturist, friends, the people at his clinic, doing our own research, and praying we finally have decided. I am going to go ahead and do RIFE treatment.

From what I understand, RIFE is light frequency. I am not going to be targeting anything like cancer, but it will help heal my organs and lymph system, which will allow me to detox more efficiently. This is especially important with my liver condition. The machine will also come with a connector to a foot ionizer. There are tons of articles on how foot bath ionizers are scams, but I have talked to people and they do have some truth to them (the color part is not correlated with the toxins coming out).

I am very very excited to get the machine (we had to buy our own through the clinic) and they will teach us how to program and use it next week! I will make sure to post an update once I start using it. The good thing is that my family can use it as well to help their bodies fight viruses or just for general health. This will just be another (powerful) tool to heal my body!

What am I eating now?

I think my most exciting news is that I can eat more then one food!! Remember last weeks post? I was only eating bison and drinking bone broth.

I have successfully added:

1. Nettles

2. Organic broccoli

3. Green tea

4. Cucumber

Like I said before–I am not going to continue with the strict GAPS protocol. That was for me at one point, but now I’m more focused on listening to what my body needs. I still need gut healing and my eating will be very similar to a GAPS diet, but probably even more limited. I will continue to post recipes because I still enjoy cooking with my mom :). Plus she likes it when I cook for her too.

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I think the clincher was that I was still reacting to the pesticides (like when I tried zucchini and reacted with a rash and swelling.) Once I treated pesticides with NAET I was soo drawn to eating anything green. It had been 7 months since I have had a vegetable. Fish and bison was all I could eat and then it was narrowed down to just bison.

I tried one bite of broccoli and waited 2 hours. I tried another bit, and still nothing! My mom kept checking on me every 20 minutes to make sure I was ok. I ended up eating a whole 2 cups for dinner.

I now am starting to add in other vegetables. I add in whatever sound good to me. This is really a dream com true, and I can tell my body is just craving these nutrients! I still have to clear some pollens due to cross reactivity to some vegetables, but there are a few veggies I can still add in this weekend (daikon and dandelion greens).

When I go back to Dr. Conners office on Monday I will have him muscle test me for my probiotic to see if I should start it. I know I have bad bacteria in my gut too. I will need to kill it off naturally at some point, but adding in good bacteria is just as important. I cant start eating fermented veggies yet, because I still have to clear some more NAET treatments like yeast.

One step at a time :). I have already had so much progress in the past week! I would never have imagined I would be sitting here typing this post up drinking green tea 🙂

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Acupuncture

I continue going to acupuncture 1-2 x a week. I have found a new lady who is very thorough and wonderful. We connected right away, which is important when someone treats you for acupuncture (it is “energy work” too). She always talks with me for a good 10 min to get to know what is new with me and my health changes. She takes my pulse and looks at my tongue. I then get my back needled and then flip over to get my front side needled.

I am not afraid of needles, so she puts them all over. She usually works on my lymph system (from swelling), my kidneys (regulates fluid), liver (detox), sinuses (my weak point), skin (rash), and digestion. I always feel amazing afterwards and look forward to each time.

She noticed at my last appointment, that my pulse for my liver energy felt different (in a good way). Before It was hot and “stuck” but now she said the energy is moving and working!! This was great news for me.

NTA

On top of everything going on in my life, I just started my NTA classes–read about what it is here. I signed up in the fall but could not go through with it because my health was declining very fast. I guess all that time was good because I got a head start reading all my books. I am very excited to finally learn more about holistic nutrition and the body. I do research something everyday (because that is just what I like to do) but this will give me some structure.

 

Wow that is a lot, but it all sums up what has been going on in my life. I will keep posting health updates as I continue to get better. I was “stuck” for a long time with little to no progress, but I feel like (finally) my body is making progress. If you want to follow my daily pictures on Instagram -click here.

 

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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02.07.2013

Soaked brown rice pancakes

Its Pancake time! Nothing can beat the “warm butter fried pancakes with a hint of maple syrup smell”. mmm…

 

brown rice

The perfect pancake

Since we cant have any cross contamination in our kitchen (due to my sensitivities), the only way my family can use flour is if they make it themselves. Right now, we know that I am for sure I am not allergic to rice. We cant buy rice flour from the store so we decided to make our own–plus we got to soak it first–a must! Even if I could buy it, I find making rice flour is a fun process (even though I cant eat it). Plus, I know exactly where the rice is coming from.

Rice is gluten free and a good grain to introduce after GAPS has healed your gut. Are you ready to take the plunge? These pancakes are nourishing and hit the spot for a warm savory breakfast (or lunch, or dinner!).

This morning, I was looking for a rice flour recipe and I could not find one without extra ingredients like quinoa flour or xanthan gum. That only left me with one option–make my own. That is just what I did. I always strive for an easy, one bowl, fluffy pancake recipe. Who wants alot of dishes first thing in the morning?! Not me!

Why soak your rice?

I will do a separate post on how we made our own soaked brown rice flour, but for now, you can buy it from the market place-flours, grains, legumes. Why soak your grains--read about it here. Learn how soaking grains is a timeless/traditional practice. It is VERY important to soak your grains because of the anti nutrients.

*Gasp* But rice is a grain!

I know I know. Many of you are on the GAPS diet, and cannot have rice. Rice is not evil. Grains are not evil- and actually grains are healthy! Once your gut heals, rice can be very nourishing, if you prepare it the right way of course. Bookmark this recipe if you are getting close to eating sprouted rice–but are not quite ready. Im not trying to tempt you :).

Pancakes

I made pancakes for my mom as a surprise (she loved them!). She is on the GAPS diet and just introduced soaked rice. I had the idea of making soaked rice flour to make pancakes. She soaked her rice and dehydrated it. Before she woke up, I blended the dehydrated rice and made it into flour. (learn how to here!) I then mixed a few ingredients together, and hoped this mixture would make good pancakes. Voila it turned out sooooo well.

The apple cider vinegar and baking soda react. It is awesome–the batter will all of a sudden fluff up like someone just blew a ton of air into it! My favorite part. You will love this recipe if you can eat rice.

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INGREDIENTS:

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar)

2/3 cup soaked rice flour- buy soaked rice flour here or make your own!

2 pastured eggs

3 T Honey  or Maple syrup

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 kefir cream or kefir
.
1 Tbsp butter (for frying in)

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat together eggs in a big bowl.

2. Add in honey/maple syrup, kefir, ACV, salt, cinnamon, and soaked flour. (mix well)

3. Heat up your skillet with 1 Tbsp of butter.

4. Once everything is mixed together well, sprinkle in the baking soda. (Stir as you sprinkle and it will puff up!!)

*Don’t leave clumps of baking soda (that is why you “sprinkle”), but don’t over stir (you will know if you over-stirred, if the batter is not fluffy anymore)

5. Spoon the batter (it expands)–I would suggest 3-4 TBS– into the hot buttered pan.

6. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side until light brown.

7. Top with applesauce, raw butter, vanilla-honey, fresh fruit, GAPS chocolate chips.  Eat! yum.

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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02.07.2013

Get to know your meat: Beef cut guide

Hello cow. Hello bison.

Are they food or friends?

For me I have never had a “pet” cow or bison (but I would sure love to raise one someday). Right now they are food for me. They are both beautiful strong animals that provide so much nourishment for the human body.

I feel like if I am going to eat a food, I have to “get to know it”. Each muscle part of the cow has a certain name. Now lets not limit ourselves to only muscle meats. Hey this is gutsy talking–bring out the organ meats!

Of course grass fed is always best!

get to know your meat

What cut is that?

For now I am just going to teach you the different cuts of muscle meats because the organs are a whole separate post. Since bison is the only real food I eat–I have gotten to know the parts very well (cow and bison have similar anatomy).

Out of each “cut” there can be steaks or roasts. Usually roasts are cooked longer and steaks are cooked like a steak. I prefer to grind the roasts because they are less expensive. I also usually eat my meat raw or at least very rare. (click here to find out why raw meat is healthy.)

Figuring out beef cuts can drive you crazy..the names are endless! I hope my breakdown will help you sort things out 🙂 Also,the prices ($) are just general, but will greatly vary from farmer to farmer. The recipes are outstanding and are contributions from my fellow VGN bloggers (thanks) !

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sirloin 4

Sirloin

top: More prized for texture and flavor.

bottom: Usually sold as sirloin steak. Less tender then top sirloin.

Names: Sirloin steak, Trip-Tip steak (Culotte), Trip-Tip roast, Ball-Tip roast, flat bone sirloin, pin bone sirloin, rump steak, wedge bone sirloin, round bone sirloin, cubed steak.

Flavor: This muscle region works hard. Chewier and dryer then short loin. Tender but lacks the fat to keep it “juicy”. Sometimes they are named according to the type of bone that is in it (flat, round, wedge, or pin). It has Grassy and nutty notes. A good blank canvass slab of meat. If it comes without a bone it will dry faster.

Fat content: low

cook: Good for roasting, grilling, or grinding. Don’t over cook.

 cost: $

recipe: Sweet and Salty Pineapple Tenderloin skewers, Beef and mushroom Kabobs, Country fried steak

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Tenderloin

Names: : “filet mignon”

Flavor: Very tender-usually eaten rare-medium rare. Mild steak taste-not the most flavorful. Delicate.

Fat content: low

cook: Grilling or broiling. Eaten rare.

cost: $$$

recipe: How to cook beef tenderloin (This applies to most steaks).

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Chuck

Names: Chuck Blade steak, Chuck Eye steak, flatiron steak, arm roast, Chuck Blade roast, Chuck short ribs.

Flavor: Provides a good amount of fat and collagen. Well balanced flavor ,but lacks in high note flavors..its your regular meat cut. Usually comes with a bone. The collagen gives it a richer taste too.

Fat content: high

cook: Slow braising, slow roasting, meat stock. The slow cooking = a tender meat! Great for grinding burgers-good fat ratio.

cost: $

recipe: italian beef sandwiches, pot roast,

 ribs 4

Ribs

Names: Bone in rib steak, Rib-eye steak, Rib-eye roast, Standing rib roast, Short ribs, Back ribs.

Flavor: A generously marbled cut of meat. Succulent well-bodies flavor of meat. Grilling, slow cooking (fall off the bone). Slabs are best braised. This can be argued as one of the best flavor in any cut. Juicy and tender. Short ribs are rich and nutty–umami is a good flavor to describe them.

Fat content:  very high

cook: Slow braising, slow roasting, meat stock. The slow cooking = a tender meat! Great for grinding burgers-food fat ratio.

cost: $$

recipe: Cocoa-Ancho Beef Ribs, slow cooker beef short ribs

 

Short loin

Names: Porterhouse steak, T-bone steak, New York strip steak

Flavor: Many of your popular steaks come from this area. Juicy “steak” flavor. The flavor and juices will “lock” inside if you let the steak sit covered after they are cooked. Grassy and savory are good words to describe these cuts.

Fat content: medium

cook: Dry heat–grilling is best.

cost: $$$

roast 4

Round

Names: Bottom round roast, Top round roast (London Broil)Rump roast, Eye of round.

Flavor: Smooth and tender (when cooked right). Popular when used in sausages and burgers. It is the leg region  of the cow, so it has very little marbling due to its extensive use. Tougher and dense with little “connective tissue”. Grassy yet mild flavor.

Fat content: low

cook: Slow roasting or grinding. Can be difficult to cook due to very low fat content. I like to grind round meat because it is lean and easy to eat raw.

cost: $$

recipe: Rogan Josh, homemade beef Jerky (from a roast), easy crock pot meal, beef stroganoff

 oxtail 5

Ox tail

Names: Chuck Blade steak, Chuck Eye steak, flatiron steak, arm roast, Chuck Blade roast, Chuck short ribs.

Flavor: Extremely savory a rich nutty flavor. Sooo good! The most flavor –compared to any other cut. The tail never stops moving so lots of nutrients (blood flow) in this area. Leaves a delicious coating on your tongue after you eat it. mmm…

Fat content: very very high

cook: Stew, stock, brasing.

cost: $

recipe: oxtail pho , The best oxtail stew ever!, Oxtail glazed with red wine, orange and rosemary 

 

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Brisket

Names: Brisket First cut, Brisket Front cut.

Flavor: Grassy flavor with sour notes. Tough cut. No bone. Light iron smell (probably because it is near the belly). A little grainy when you grind it.

Fat content: medium to low

cook: Slow cooking in liquid, smoked, “Pickled” (corn beef & pastrami).

cost: $

recipe: Salpicon (cold Mexican brisket), Maple Cider Brisket, traditional corned beef

 

Plate

Names: Skirt steak, Plate short ribs.

Flavor: Gamey flavor and slight sourness. Rope-y texture and need to be cut against the grain. Slightly gritty. Used for fijitas.

Fat content: medium to low

cook: Marinated and  then quick seared or grilled. Plate Short ribs are good braised or slow cooked.

cost: $$

 flank 10

Flank

Names: Hanger steak, (“tummy muscle”)

Flavor: Long flat cut. Lean and rope-y (similar to plate steak)-sliced across the grain. Commonly used as “stir fry” meat. Pure and lean. Slightly sour but mild (light) flavor.

Fat content: low

cook: Marinated and  then quick seared or grilled. Cut up and cooked in fat (stir fry). A steak “roll” can be made if you are get creative!

cost: $

recipe: Steak roll with tomato gravy (OMG yum!), Grilled Steak Caesar, Chilled Soy-lime Flank steak salad, Seared Bavette, Mongolian Beef, GAPS balsamic flank steak, marinated flank steak, fajitas!

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Shank

Names: Foreshank, Hindshank, “shin of beef”

Flavor: This is the leg of the animal so it is dense and tough. Naturally not tender, but can become so if you cook it the right way. Full of connective tissue (making it good for stock–very healing) which gives it a deep, well-rounded flavor.

Fat content: low

cook: Long slow cook in low heat. Best for meat stock or soup.

cost: $

recipe: deeply rooted beef stew

ground chuck

**Ground meat:

Learn how to grind your own beef (picture tutorial) here!

Ground meat is not a specific “cut” in particular. There is ground chuck, ground roast, ground sirloin, and then ground beef–but really you can grind any cut.

Ground beef is usually a combination of many different cuts (and sometimes even different cows–if you buy it from a unknown source!) Most likely it is a combination of trimmings from the neck, plate, shank, round, flank & chuck. But really it can contain any part of the cow. Usually it is from 20-30% fat (juicy and moist!)

Good tasty ground meat usually consists of chuck–Ground chuck— (15-20% fat), this is the most popular and favorite cut to grind. Round —Ground Round–(10-15% fat) & sirloin —Ground Sirloin–(5-10% fat) are popular too. Usually you pick a combination of cuts to make the flavor and fat ratio to your liking. (You don’t want to buy pure ground round or ground sirloin without combining it with a cut that has more fat, otherwise your ground meat will be dry.)

recipe: (ground meat–you can use any of the “ground” options above) meatloaf, beefy taco salad, Sweet n’ Glazey Totally Beefy Meatloaf, Ground Beef, Parmesan and Spinach Fritatta, Chili, Hamburgers, Italian wedding soup, bacon meatballs, cottage pie, ground beef skillet, pumpkin chili, bacon and cheese stuffed burgers

 

What do you think? Did you learn anything? Now maybe you won’t be so scared to pick up that piece of meat you had no idea what it was called 🙂

 

resources:

http://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive_250/277_different-cuts-of-meat.html

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/10/the-burger-lab-best-burger-blend-profiles-of-eight-cuts-of-beef.html

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/pages/selecting-beef.html?undefined

 

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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