Want to try Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil?

Enter my first giveaway!

I have some exciting news!

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil sent me a free sample (pictured above) recently and I got to try it for the first time. I'm happy to say that I think we've officially found our favorite brand of coconut oil!


Even just upon opening the jar, I noticed a difference in the aroma. It smelled amazing and I couldn't wait to try it. It has such a natural, rich flavor to it. I've really begun to appreciate Tropical Traditions as a company as well - they're truly devoted to providing only the best quality coconut oil. Best of all, none of it is mass produced. Its made by families of coconut farmers in the Philippines who've been passionate about coconut oil for hundreds of years. One of the founders grew up in the Philippines herself, so once she and her husband (who founded the company with her) moved to America, she'd already come to expect that same type of quality... which is exactly what Tropical Traditions has strived to do ever since. And it seems they've accomplished just that!

What is there not to love about coconut oil? 

Growing up, my mom used a lot of olive oil in her cooking and when I eventually went on to cook myself, I found myself using a ton of it (because I learned to cook watching Rachael Ray!). Then I found out that when you heat olive oil, it can become rancid. When these chemical changes occur, it not only decreases the nutrients, but can cause harmful cancer causing compounds.

Because of this, we stopped cooking with olive oil and instead only use it unheated, usually with salads or veggies.

At first I was leery of coconut oil. The thing I was most  worried about was the consistency- I missed being able to pour olive oil over meat and veggies before putting them in the oven to bake. I guess you could heat your coconut oil up and do the same thing, but I've actually gotten used to just using spoonfuls of it and mixing my seasonings in separately.

For those of you who've never tried coconut oil, you might be worried about how the flavor will impact your food. I was worried about the same thing, especially since I've never really been too crazy about coconut.  For whatever reason though, I find coconut oil itself to have a more mild, pleasant taste. 

It really adds an extra something to our meals. By far, though, my favorite way to use it is for turkey burgers. The taste is incredible! They come out so juicy and flavorful. You have to try it! We just throw a little bit into a pan and cook the burger on low heat. Dustin's favorite trick is to only flip it once - it lets the seasonings and oil simmer right into the meat. Yum. 

Aahh.. the smell is amazing!

Not to mention, there are so many uses for coconut oil, beyond just diet. I haven't tried it yet, but its supposed to be really good for your hair. 

Watch the video below to hear about all of the ways you can use coconut oil!

 

I even used it in my butternut squash soup the other day! I don't think it would have tasted nearly as good had I used anything else. It gave it such a rich, deep flavor.

Want to win a jar of your own?

First, comment this blog with how you plan to use your coconut oil and I will be randomly selecting one winner on June 19th.

Then, all you have to do is subscribe to Tropical Traditions Newsletter here: 

 Sign Me Up!

Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!




Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil? 







You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:















Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.






Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Updates & a couple recipes

We're alive! I cannot believe I haven't posted since December. So much has happened - good & bad. As always, our health has made life pretty chaotic, but here's the good news... we haven't slipped up on the diet once! In fact, being on the SCD diet through out all of the chaos has given me something to focus on, something that's positive. 


We're still having so much fun experimenting with new foods and learning new ways to eat old favorites. Our taste buds have completely changed. These days, a cold banana is like eating a candy bar to me. 


Some of our new favorites are acorn and butternut squash - we like filling them with ground turkey and other veggies. So yummy! We're also trying to incorporate more greens. Oh! And I recently learned that I love beets! Who knew? 


We've also been having fun coming up with our own soup recipes. I have to admit, Dustin's soup was better than mine. He used a ton of veggies and turkey meatballs and it made for the most delicious broth. The flavor was perfect, and it felt like it was healing my stomach as I ate it! Yum. I made my first butternut squash soup.. it was tasty, but could use some tweaking.


Dustin is enjoying big salads with tuna and olives and his own homemade dressing. He also found a homemade mayo recipe he loves and he eats it with just about everything - it's helping him put on some weight!


Speaking of weight, Dustin's has stayed pretty steady and mine has finally stabilized at around 100 pounds. I'm only 5'1" so I feel pretty good at this weight - in fact, I think this is the best I've ever felt about my body. Not just because I've lost weight, but because it feels better! Before the diet, I was around 125lbs and I'm beginning to think most of it was inflammation! My health is still a pain in the butt, but its nice to look in the mirror and at least feel like you look healthy. Sometimes I can almost convince myself I am... but then my stupid heart races or my blood pressure drops and I'm back in bed again! If only my body would be a little more appreciative of all the things I do for it!


I shouldn't say that though. POTS issues aside, things are actually alright. My stomach is giving me a lot less issues these days. In fact, my doctor said I no longer have any Ulcerative Colitis symptoms and that these days it sounds more like "Irritable Bowel Syndrome". I kind of laughed about that, because the medical system is so funny... all of these long, crazy names that basically just describe symptoms. I have poor digestion and the diet is helping me improve it - that's the long and short of it! :) 


Dustin's GI issues are virtually gone! No more throwing up. I even notice a difference in how he looks. He still has some really rough POTS/EDS days (which is to be expected), but his face is more vibrant, his coloring is better. I notice an even bigger change in him when he drinks juice. He's been juicing here and there and we're hoping to slowly introduce fresh juice to my stomach too! I tried pomegranate and apple for the first time yesterday with no real issues.


Alright, onto the food! Oh and before I start, I apologize so much that these recipes are so badly written. Seriously. Its like a five year old wrote them. One day I'll get better about remembering the steps, but for now these will have to do. We're constantly changing how we prepare everything and most of it is just done spur of the moment so its hard to actually sit down and remember it all. Hopefully this give you a rough guideline or just inspires you to come up with some ideas of your own.

Dustin's Cheesy Broccoli Chicken

(without cheese!)

Ingredients:

Broccoli 

Chicken breasts

Squash sauce

(we use Cascade Farms organic winter squash sauce; they sell it at our local grocery store. I think its probably available anywhere.)

Coconut oil

Your favorite seasonings

(we use salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and turmeric. oh! and chives!)

First, shred the raw chicken into thin strips

(the easiest way to do this is to throw it into the food processor! comes out perfect!)

Cook chicken on medium heat in a saute pan with coconut oil.

Boil 1 small bag of frozen broccoli 

(even better if you use fresh!)

Once the broccoli is cooked, add it to your chicken. Then simply add your squash sauce and stir.

Season to taste.

(we usually season as we go, as well. I think this helps deepen the flavor!)

Kyli's Chicken A'la Beets

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs

Beets

Beet greens

Carrots

Yellow squash

Coconut oil

Ginger

(you can either peel and mince your own or buy it already prepared)

Set your oven to 400 degrees.

Slice beets. Then, chop carrots, beet greens, and squash in bite sized pieces.

Spread a layer of coconut oil in a casserole dish. Add your veggies. Give them a mix! Add a couple more teaspoons of coconut oil.

Season with salt, ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, and anything your heart desires.

Place chicken thighs on top of veggies.

Cook until chicken thighs are done, when liquid runs clear.

My chicken thighs finished cooking before my beets were done, so I just took them out, covered them and waited awhile longer.

 Enjoy!

Tis the season to eat healthy

Hi there! I have so many great pictures to share with you, of all the yummy, healthy food we've been eating this month! Just to update - we have stuck to the SCD diet 100%, still going strong, with no plans of ever going off it! It's becoming a lot easier and even though there are times we miss our old favorite foods, we're finding new favorites and having a lot of fun doing it.


Although I will admit, a couple days ago I baked our landlord some chocolate chip cookies and was emotional for the rest of the day. I was standing there, smelling the delicious chocolate, complaining to Dustin the whole time - "Why, me? Why? I just want a cookie." But, nevertheless, I held strong .. even when that dreaded moment came and not all the cookies fit into the gift box. Four were left and it tore my heart apart when, having no other use for them, I threw them out. It felt like a sin, but I ate some pears and put on a brave face!


We've been ordering our food from a grocery store here called Ingles. They're amazing - they actually will do the shopping for us and all we have to do is pick it up. It's a really big help to us, because we buy A LOT of produce and it can be really exhausting, especially on days we're both not feeling well. 


Things have been pretty rough still for both of us with our health. Dustin, especially. We're not sure what exactly is going on, but tomorrow I plan to call all of his doctor's and really fight to get some answers. The good news is his stomach has actually been a lot better, and mine has been pretty good for the most part, too! We have no doubt that both of our digestive systems are grateful for our commitment to getting better.


So, here's what we've been eating:

Lots of pears!

We order 20 pears every 2 weeks. I boil about half of them, add cinnamon, and keep them in the fridge to eat during the week. (I'm still in the stage of the diet where I cook all of my fruit and veggies. Because my colon is still inflamed, it doesn't digest raw food well, yet.) The rest Dustin eats raw - pears are his favorite fruit.

Our fridge! Apple cider, water.

Spinach, more spinach!, tomatoes, bag of salad greens from our CSA, raspberries, Dustin's cute little pear, because he likes them cold, chicken, Applegate organic hot dogs, boiled carrots, bell peppers, bananas, more carrots, lots of ground turkey, some fish... 

We've been eating a lot of zucchini pasta lately. It's delicious and really helps with our pasta cravings. I usually season it with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and a dash of paprika and then add whatever veggies we have. Here, we had our organic carrots that we get from the CSA. They have a really great taste. Also, some bell peppers and mushrooms.

This is some almond butter bread we made not too long ago! It didn't photograph well, but it was really amazing! I got the recipe from the amazing Ali (Souper Douper SCDer!) who got it from Z's Cup of Tea. It was so simple to make. I hate baking, but this was actually really fun and I was so fascinated at how few ingredients were used and the texture was still perfect. It's just almond butter, eggs, baking soda, and salt! Who knew?

We never did get around to eating it with anything but butter and cinnamon, because after being so bread-deprived (which, really isn't as big of a deal as it sounds!), neither of us could stop eating it. I loved heating it up for a few seconds and eating it warm. Yum!

Dustin made this one night in the steamer. It was delicious! I'm still learning how to use the steamer. My mom got it for me for my birthday and at first I was totally intimidated by it, but now that I've done it a few times it's not so scary anymore. In fact, it's actually really easy. I never realized you could basically use a steamer the way you use a crock pot. It's like an instant dinner!

These are chicken thighs (my first time trying them. Delicious!) with sides; mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, yellow squash, carrots, and some type of greens we got from our CSA. Mizuna, maybe? Also, he covered the chicken thighs with lots of fresh herbs, including rosemary. Pretty sure he seasoned the thighs with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and of course, paprika. That's a pretty common combination for us. Dustin LOVES paprika! He tends to use that and I always go for the turmeric. Recently I realized that the main reason I love turmeric so much is because I love that it makes everything such a pretty yellow color... I know... I need to get a life!

Also, I'm careful about not eating those herbs yet though! Too much for my poor colon just yet!

Another yummy dish made by Dustin. Tuna with bell peppers, mushrooms, and spinach. It had SO much flavor! I think he seasoned it with the usual: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and maybe a dash of mustard powder. 

I've never been too big on tuna, but this time, it was really good. 

 

My favorite! Our Christmas feast!

We had craw fish (I bought them for Dustin as a Christmas gift. They're his favorite and he has a very famous story about buying himself pounds of craw fish from lousianacrawfish.com and that's exactly what I did. Five pounds and we went through about a pound these past two days! Yum!)

Craw fish, zucchini, bell peppers, spinach. You can probably already tell, but lots of turmeric in there!

Loved it! I'm officially as big a fan of craw fish as he is, I think!

Just so we wouldn't feel bad for ourselves, I made us some almond muffins. Just almond butter, bananas, eggs, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar in the blender, and then poured into a muffin tin. They came out surprisingly sweet and the texture was to die for. I topped them with a drizzle of honey. They tasted like banana bread. 

See my cute little plate they're on? Bought that at the antique store. 

 ...and just because I'm proud, here's the gift basket I made for our landlord. Yummy Betty Crocker gluten-free chocolate chip cookies... most likely they lead me into my last Colitis flare-up, so as much as I dearly miss them, they will stay missed and be given to others as gifts.

I wonder if he could tell they were gluten-free? Doubt it!

Alright, well that's it for our pictures!

Just a note - I know it seems like we eat pretty much the same meal all of the time, since it's the same veggies over and over. That's because I'm doing the SCD diet in stages, because I was in such a bad flare-up when I initially started. In the beginning I did the intro diet which was basically just a lot of soup and grape jello, and then slowly weaned myself onto real food.

Every four days, if things are stable, I introduce a new food. I've been meaning to introduce tomatoes and probably will next week. 

Here's a typical day for me diet-wise now:

Pre-breakfast 

(I have to eat as soon as I wake up, because I wake up with low blood sugar):

Banana

Breakfast: 

Ground turkey with pureed carrots

3 prunes

(I introduced prunes to *ahem* get my digestive system moving a bit more, they're working and guess what - I actually love them! I bought the organic ones from Newman's Own. Dustin laughed because I stocked up on like 12 packages from Amazon!)

Lately, I tend to skip over lunch, simply because our sleep schedule's off and we wake up so late! I'll usually eat my boiled pears with cinnamon or a scoop of almond butter. Depending on what's for dinner, I'll sometimes turn a couple zucchini's into pasta and eat that!

Dinner:

Chicken or fish

(Chicken breasts, thighs, salmon, tillapia, tuna, etc.)

with lots of veggies

Supplements: 

Dustin is taking an SCD multi-vitamin and Vitamin D and B12 drops.

I'm taking the D and B12 drops, along with fish oil. I introduced turmeric capsules for awhile to bring down inflammation, but cut them out when I felt like they may have been causing me pain. Looking back, I don't think it was that so I'll probably reintroduce them soon again. I'm still on the search for a multivitamin that I can tolerate, though.

Alright, hope everyone's having a fantastic holiday season! Here's to a healthy, happy New Year!

Soon I'll be blogging about the all natural cleaners I've been making! Good for health and saving lots of money!

-Kyli and Dustin

CSA & Diet Updates

"Would you like a radish or a turnip?"

So, our CSA isn't as grand as we'd hoped. LOL.

But it's been fun nonetheless! Here's what we picked up last week:

Cabbage, Turnips, a new kind of radish we'd never tried before, sunchokes, herbs, and some carrots

We love the carrots - they have a really different taste, much more flavorful than the ones we're used to eating from the grocery store.

Unfortunately, the SCD diet doesn't allow turnips or sunchokes. Not really disappointed about the turnips, but sunchokes are really good! We tried some when we lived in Jacksonville and actually really liked them. 

Read more about sunchokes!

This week we also picked up something called Mizuna, which I had never tried before. It's a type of mustard green and we actually really like it. 

It's high in iron and antioxidants, so we've been adding it in with our steamed veggies.

(Dustin has been going a bit Mizuna crazy - I think he ate about a pound of it last night!)

We're having a really fun time getting to know new, healthy foods and recreating our diets. We've been eating a lot of organic, ground turkey because it's easy on both of our stomachs and we love it! We puree carrots at the beginning of the week to add to it, and it vaguely reminds me of chili (except not spicy, of course). It's our new favorite comfort food.

I've also been eating a lot of boiled pears with cinnamon. It's funny how when you cut out all sugar and processed foods from your diet, your taste buds really start to appreciate the natural sugars even more. We're finding that everything tastes better to us. I was eating those pears the other day thinking "Wow, I don't remember pears tasting so amazing!"

As for our health, we're still struggling here and there. 

Dustin had a bad gastroparesis flare-up and had to go to the ER for fluids a few days ago, but since receiving them, he's doing a lot better. We think it was probably a combination of stress (he worries way too much about me!) and his body adapting to this new way of eating. 

My stomach has been all over the place. A lot of up's and down's, and it's discouraging at times, but both of us still feel really confident that changing our diet and lifestyle is going to result in better health. It may take more time than we want it to, but at least we're headed in the right direction and doing all that we can to ensure it.

More updates later! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I'd take this time to write about some of the things I'm grateful for, at this very moment. :)

1. My incredible fiance ... 

He has somehow managed to light up every dark corner of my life. This year has been filled with so many tough and painful moments, but I got through them and as cliche as it sounds, I really don't think I could have done that without his support. I always hoped I'd meet someone who I deeply admired, more than anybody else in the world and here I am, engaged to a man who's heart, mind, and soul have left me wondering time and time again if maybe he's truly an angel... I wish I could clone him - if more people were like him, the world would suddenly find itself more beautiful. 

He has somehow managed to turn all of our yucky, sick moments into "dates". All of our scary, "What do we do?" moments have passed, because of his calm, reassuring presence.

And all of our amazing, over-the-moon, happy moments? They only happened because of his amazing spirit. 

I can't wait for this man to be my husband. I've said it a thousand times, but I cannot say it enough. So, so grateful for him.

2. My family

You learn quickly, when you're living in a brand new place, so far away from home, that family is irreplaceable. It's such a wonderful feeling when we go back to New Jersey, to find that even though it's been awhile, everything is still the same. There's a comfort in that, in family, that you can't find anywhere else.

I'm so grateful that even though, at times, it was hard to understand our willingness to hop on a plane and move so far away, they've supported us in our adventure here. My mom is always just a phone call away and I can't imagine not having her to vent to, laugh with, and share my life with.

I'm grateful that despite work, my dad is flying here tomorrow to spend time with us and help us. It means so, so much to us.

And for my brother, and the unique, fun relationship we have. We're so much alike and he understands things about me that very  few people do! 

And of course, my 3 lovely sisters and everybody else in my family, who love me for who I am and have since I was born.

3. Our home

We're both so homesick, and there's a part of me that will always feel that New Jersey is my home, but I am so grateful for our beautiful house here in our perfect, little town. Sure there have been moments where we doubted ourselves, wondered "What are we doing here?", but we've been so lucky to find a place that fits our personalities and health issues so well. 

A scenic, beautiful place where you can take a deep, clean breath and listen to the quiet sounds of nature around you - without car horns beeping, or faceless people rushing by you. Here, you run into people you know every single day (which at first, was odd!) and they say hello and smile. That's something that I will never take for granted. There's a sense of calm when you're out and about and even though you're so far away from family and friends, you don't ever feel totally alone.

In the Summer we complained about the gray days and of course, the humidity and heat, but Autumn has brought about such beauty and cool, perfect weather.

There are so many little quirky things that we enjoy here - the old-fashioned movie theater with one movie a night (which is somewhat annoying; like when you want to see the new Twilight movie and it's not playing until like a month from now and you're too sick/lazy to drive 45 minutes!), lots of antique and thrift stores (we just bought our wedding guest book at one!), and old bookstores too! 

4. My Ginley

A little over two years ago, I adopted my wonderful little Ginley. He's been such a happy part of my life and he's actually been the only constant thing in my life for these last two years!

So much has changed - moving to Jacksonville and then again, to be here, all of the traveling in between, and the one thing that always stayed the same was that my faithful little Ginley was always right there with me!

He seems to know when I'm not feeling well and is extra snuggly - like right now, looking at me with his worried, little black eyes. Love him! 

5. Our doctors here

It's so nice to finally have good medical care. To have a GP who actually calls you up after your appointment because she just wants to see if you're okay; who reassures you that things will get better. We gave her a book about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and she's actually reading it! She's so knowledgeable, but still wants to expand her knowledge and learn more about our conditions... what a relief.

Our chiropractor has gone out of his way for us time and time again, and I'm so hopeful about the enzyme therapy I've started with him. He has such a grasp on what we're going through, and I feel like we're really heading down the right path with his treatment plan.

6. The kindness of people

We've come across so many kind people here - our landlord, who is only just getting to know us, told us that if ever our car breaks down, we can use his. Who does that? He's been so wonderful to us.

We're constantly greeted by people in every store we go in, as though they've known us for years.

Even the EMT's have been exceptionally nice. After living in Jacksonville and having the meanest EMT's in the world (isn't that crazy), you come to appreciate things like that!

7. The little things

Cuddling with Dustin on sick days, watching The Office, laughing even though we're feeling yucky. Apples with cinnamon. Our backyard. Country music. The way the squirrels run across the wire outside our window (they're fun to watch on stuck-in-bed days), dragonflies, apple cider, my new boots that actually support my wobbly, EDS ankles!, my laptop, scenic drives, hand written letters....

Hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving and a year that brings a lot of gratitude and happiness! <3 

Cabin Fever

Just thought I'd write a quick blog -

because I'm bored... but also, proud! Because today is my 16th day on the diet and I haven't caved once!

Today was another blah day. We're both feeling very flu-like. We've been watching way too many episodes of The Office and I'm having nightmares about Dwight crashing our wedding. That's when you know you've watched too much TV!

I meant to do some yoga, clean the house, take the dog for a walk, cook some meals to freeze, and a bazillion other things, but instead I did a lot of nothing. Basically I've been living in the kitchen lately.

Our diets today:

Dustin

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs 

1 banana

Grape gelatin

Lunch: Mahi Mahi

Dinner: Pork tenderloin

Cauliflower rice 

(simply cauliflower in the food processor & boiled...tastes just like rice!)

Squash 

Kyli

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Grape gelatin

Lunch: Mahi Mahi with carrot sauce

Snack: Pear sauce

Dinner: Pork tenderloin and squash

Not too exciting, but it really is getting fun (I like a challenge!) coming up with a variety of ideas for each day. And my stomach is quickly improving so I'm not complaining!

Now all we need is some energy so we can get out of this house, because I'm getting cabin fever! AH! 

More tomorrow, + pictures! :)

Progress?

Just wanted to post some updates!

The truth is we are having a really rough week. We're not sure what's to blame - the sudden change of diet, detoxing from all of our old favorite foods, the aftermath of being in the hospital and the stress that comes with it, or just a random yucky week. Who knows. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason!

We've been following the diet religiously all week. I could not be more proud of Dustin. Seriously... I don't know how he's doing it. Just weeks ago he was buying Moon Pies nonstop and eating lots of white bread! He amazes me. Love him.


(As I type this, he's sitting next to me eating some ground turkey... even though he was craving milk!)


Okay, so let me update you on both of us: 




Dustin's Updates

A lot of fatigue, weakness, dizziness, achiness


Continuing stomach issues


Lost a few pounds (that he did not need to lose!)




We're trying to stay on top of the weight loss (his, not mine.. I'm not minding mine so much!) by making sure he eats avocados, coconut oil, and bigger servings of everything.


Kyli's Updates

A lot of fatigue, weakness, dizziness, achiness


Lost 10 pounds
(It's weird, I had been wanting to lose it, but certainly not this way!)


... today we were both too weak to go grocery shopping, but we lucked out and found a store here delivers so we had them bring it to us! Sadly enough, just the trip down the street to the ATM exhausted me and I didn't even get out of the car! Driving was difficult, because I feel like I have the flu from hell.


My stomach issues are slowly improving! (I think!) After days of not being able to go to the bathroom whatsoever (omg, am I really blogging about pooping? Had you told me I'd be doing this back in high school, I would have laughed and called you a liar... god, life is strange!) - but yes, 


I'm finally going normally, as of today! This is a break-through considering that when I was admitted to the hospital, I wasn't able to go at all. Just blood. 


It was horrifying and life changing and I admit, I've been a bit neurotic this week about the diet, trying to research everything and do every step perfectly, because the last thing I want is to land back in the hospital with anemia. 


Don't hospitals make it impossible to heal? The torturous bright lights, the blank-faced doctors, the gross, nutritionless food, the sleepless, IV-beeping-all-night-long nights, the bed...


Dustin and I always insist on sleeping together in the tiny, cramped bed.


(I can't sleep without him.)




OK, here are some pictures I snapped today, so we can look back on this time and forever remember the beginning of our crazy, difficult SCD journey.

We said goodbye today to our ice creams (also Dustin's white bread, but who cares.. it's the ice cream that matters).

I always felt like if I had to forever abandon chocolate, I'd lose part of my soul and become a miserable brat, but I'm proud to say I have survived! 

Really... if it means being healthy, there's not a food out there I wouldn't eliminate. 

Look at what we had delivered from the grocery store!

We never expected them to bring such giant butternut squashes... we will definitely not run out! 

The only two things we drink (besides water) - watered down grape juice and apple cider!

We made SCD yogurt tonight! So exciting. This time we're going to take it easy though, because I think we ate too much too soon and the GOOD bacteria in the yogurt can kill off the bad bacteria in your gut too quickly which means your body gets flooded with toxins leaving you feeling... pretty much the way we're feeling now. Awful! 

Here's a link to the recipe:

SCD Yogurt

Here's what we ate today:

Dustin:

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs and a banana

Snack: Pureed pears

Lunch: Sirloin steak, pureed carrots, and an avocado 

Dinner: Sirloin steak 

(again... he was hungry! Good to see his appetite coming back!)

Snack: Ground Turkey (Lean)

Grape gelatin

Kyli:

Breakfast: 1 fried egg and a banana

Snack: Pureed Pears

Lunch: Ground turkey patty (nothing in it, just turkey)

Pureed carrots

Dinner: Ground turkey

Snack: Grape gelatin 

As you can see, our diet today was a little bit all over the place and redundant, but we were not feeling very creative. 

Here's what we ate yesterday:

Dustin:

Breakfast: Homemade chicken soup

Lunch: Chicken breast (with turmeric, and a little bit of honey, plus salt)

Snack: Avocado

Dinner: Tuna steak, zucchini & squash, spinach & scrambled eggs

Snack: Baked apples with cinnamon

Kyli:

Breakfast: 1 banana 

(I was nauseous.)

Lunch: Chicken breast (with turmeric) 

Dinner: Tuna steak, zucchini & squash

I'm proud of us! And it really hasn't been as difficult as I imagined. We're adjusting fairly well and we don't feel deprived... 

It'll just be nice when we start feeling better and can get out of this darn house! My untrustworthy stomach has me not wanting to be too far away for too long and I'm getting cabin fever.

It's hard being so far away from family sometimes, and we're also coming to terms with the depressing realization that we may not be healthy enough to go home to New Jersey for Christmas. All of the travel we've done this year, all of the moving, the stress - it's definitely taken a toll on our health and we know we need to be careful with our fragile bodies and allow ourselves time to heal... but it sure isn't easy at times.

But we know there's a brighter future ahead for us and we couldn't be more excited. 

One day at a time! 

Soon I'll write another blog about other steps we're taking to better health, aside from diet.

Hope everyone is well!