The List Got A Smidge Bigger...

I have thought of things to add to my list since my last post....

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook

In the last 6 years or so I have been afflicted by many an unusual issues. What I thought was phantom face pain (tmj, sinuses, sensitive teeth, eye pain, dizziness) I have come to find out is really trigger points for me. I read this book a couple of times a month, and work on my own trigger points regularly. It is a how-to book with diagrams, stories and it is very easy to understand. There are pressure points inside our mouths that can almost instantly stop TMJ pain and it is only a matter of spending a minute or two massaging them. How come doctors are not handing this information out by the pound? Well, now you know about it too!

U.T. Vibrance

d-Mannose is a sugar that cannot be metabolized by the body. It passes quickly through the urinary tract system. d-Mannose attaches to e. coli bacteria in the bladder and is passes out with urine. Just keeps things humming along.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Since Oprah is not doing her "Favorite Things" show, I thought to share mine.......

This is a list of my favorite items that I use on a very regular basis!

My toothpaste! Oralive Dental Regenerative Elixir

My friend told me about the black toothpaste. My teeth tend to bother me a lot for some reason, so I decided what the heck. I have been hooked ever since. A mixture of crystals, ash, probiotics and lots of other things my teeth have never looked better. They have naturally whitened from this product, and my hygentist said on my last visit, "Oh my, I don't even really need to scrap your teeth!". And we all know the hygentist can make or break your day. Mostly I use it for the antibacterial essential oils to keep my gums healthy. Weird stuff, but miracle in a jar to me.

Aveda Phomollient Styling Foam

 I have the thinnest, limpest, saddest hair. Product generally weighs my hair down and I don't like all the weird stuff in it. This has changed my hair life. I would pay $100 for a bottle of this I was forced to!

Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum

I have found that a lot of "natural" skin care lines are lacking something. Refinement perhaps. This product totally changed my mind about natural skin care lines, and I am wondering if that is because it is from France. No crap in this at all. No preservatives, parabens or dyes. It is a natural skin brightener and whitener. Since my face survived a Florida childhood, I have a lot of damage. This serum (I use underneath a moisturizer) makes my skin glow. People comment on it. I always give this little bottle (made from grapes) all the credit.

The Best Recipe Cookbook

I use this cookbook the most of any I own. Even more than the Joy of Cooking. My sister gave it to me years ago (above is the newest version) for Christmas. It is a cookbook from the authors of Cooks Illustrated Magazine. When they create a recipe, it is an epic deal. They do numerous tests, talk about theories behind their successful and failed attempts,  and sometimes try 20 different recipes before conclude success. There is a lot of explanation, science and interesting facts they include.  I think they devoted 5 pages alone just to roasting a chicken! I always know my recipe will turn out when I use this book. A major competitor for the Joy of Cooking in my humble opinion. (and their white birthday cake recipe is used by all my girlfriends it is so good!)

Nelsons Homeopathic Burn Cream

This cream is something I have used for years now. It is something you don't really need daily, but when you need something for a scald or mild burn, this cream works. Remember when I burned myself on Thanksgiving? This is the first thing I put on, and I had no pain the next day. A priceless item for your first aid kit

 
Arnica pellets 200C

I keep these in my purse. With children falling, bruising, bumping, etc. it is essential for me. Especially when unexpected things happen (falling off a swing, or out of a tree) this is the first remedy to grab. Even if you need to go to the doctor or hospital, you can give this remedy while you are figuring what to do.

I am sure I will think of more and post. What are your favorite things? If you are my fellow blogger friends, would you consider making a post? I would love to know yours!!

Shopping

I love cold, dreary weather. Rain, fog, cold, bring it on. I find myself starting to calculating how long I have left of rainy weather before it gets hot again. Sunny, hot days are my least favorite weather.
Today it is cold, dreary and raining in San Francisco. My sister and I are getting ready to go out into the world and join the throngs of other holiday shoppers. Because Anthropologie is on my list of places to visit today, I am feeling chipper. We usually eat at the food court down by Market Street in the Westfield Center. Slanted Door (a favorite restaurant of mine) has a mini-restaurant in the food court called Out The Door and we always eat their tofu imperial rolls for lunch and have a great time.
Hope your Saturday is fun filled too. 

Winter Wonderland

We made that gingerbread house on our snow day this past monday. We had two snow/ice days off from school, and assembling it was an exciting way to get even more into the holiday spirit. Having a five year old means that every moment since dec. 1st has been about the holiday. We have gotten some suprisingly wintery weather this week. It has been super-crappy all week. Snow, ice, frigid temperatures. Usually when we get snow it melts in a day. Our three mile, hilly, unpaved road to the "big" paved road is coated with a thick layer of ice. So we spent two nights in town at my mother-in laws house where the roads are a tad bit more manageable. It has been hovering around 19 degrees at night for the last three nights, and in an area that is not flat, not salted, not widely sanded either, it has been a mixture of dread and annoyance trying to get around. But I do have my subaru, and I have been repeating a little mantra all week while driving in this winter wonderland touting the virtues of a really well built all wheel drive car!

I am ending the detox due to the fact that I am going to Napa tomorrow. I am spending some quality time with my sister and hey, it has been a while since I was able to go out to eat in SF. She knows all the go-to places and this weekend will be no exception to our normal routine. I do feel better, and have been able to stick to my routine. I have been almost depressed eating however. Between not being at home in my kitchen and eating salads from the coop salad bar, I have had little to offer my dear readers in the way of recipes, photos and cheers. Sorry I was not able to guide you better.

A couple of notes...

1. Superfoods is not very pleasant. It tastes as Becky lovingly says "like pond water". I mix it with water, hold my breath while drinking it, and chase it with a bit of apple or plain water. I wish it were not the case, but it is very very good for your body, so I just gulp it down.

2. I think mixing superfoods and whey is the way to go, but you may not. Again, I gulp it and just get it over with.

3. Your undenatured whey canister or packets might say 99% undenatured, and that is just perfect!

In other personal news, I went to a nurse practitioner last week about my hormones. My PMS is a topic of conversation around here due to its severity and impact on both my life and of those around me. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and I was feeling like I normally do right before my period; like I was going to explode. Anxious, depressed, scattered, low, bloated, puffy, dry, depleted. My sister handed my her bottle of progesterone cream and told me to try a pump. I did, and two hours later I felt amazing.
Now, I have had my hormones checked before, and my progesterone was low. Very low. I went on the cream for three months like my naturopath said, but somehow I have regressed since then, and am back to a ugly place. I absolutely do not recommend medicating yourself like I did. Don't go out and buy progesterone cream if you have PMS. It can really screw your system up. I put the cream on in a moment of desperation.
Two days after using the cream I made an appointment with a nurse practitioner who is new to the area. She specializes in hormones. I am getting saliva hormone tests, blood hormone tests, and urine neurotransmitter tests. Also basic blood tests, and a very very very through thyroid panel.
Because I expect to pay fully out of pocket for these tests (my deductible is too high and insurance companies are lame) I added it all up and these wonderful tests should be less than $300 for me to pay for. I will of course keep you posted on all my results and you can follow me along as I manage my steroid hormones and neurotransmitters. In case you are looking to do a bit of reading about it, I really recommend Mood Cure by Julia Ross and What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PreMenopause by John Lee. I bet you could get both at your local library. Both books really shifted how I thought about brain chemistry and female hormones. And here is my bottom line. You have to search this kind of information out. Doctors who can REALLY care for women are hard to find. You have to demand it. You have to expect it. We are all responsible for calling modern medicine and its failures out. It is a passion and a hobby of mine in case you had not noticed. Everyone wants to feel better, even the doctor writing out your prescription. They have been misguided too. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I am living proof.

So, when I arrive back home on sunday, I will be starting on healthy, tasty holiday dishes. And, at my sisters house I will be blogging about something mildly entertaining. Stay tuned!

The Tree

This week has been nuts. My mother and brother inlaw moved here yesterday. I have been anxiously anticipating their arrival. I am sooooooooooooooooo happy they are here. Yesterday I greeted the movers and unpacked about 20 boxes of their kitchen while they drove through Nevada. They got here though, and I feel like Christmas came early. Really.
On other notes, above is my really large Christmas tree strapped to the top of my car. I wait all year for the holiday season to roll around and the temperatures to drop, and decorating the tree is a major day in my world. Last year our tree was too short, and I broke down crying during the decorating, yelling at my husband, telling him that next year I was picking out a "big ass tree" or something like that. He had somehow come to the conclusion that we could not have a tree bigger than 6 feet even though we have vaulted ceilings. This year, I picked out the tree. It is towering around 11 feet. See how far off the back of the car it comes? My sister is supervising the tie-down job. Don't stare too much at my dirty car. I live three miles down a dirt road. It actually is cleaner in that photo than most days.
Now that the tree is home, it is touching the ceiling. I am so happy. Every morning I turn on the lights and feel the magic that only a holiday tree can bring.
Lastly, the detox is going well. I will report more on that very soon.
Right now I have to watch Top Chef.

Liver Cleanse!

These next two weeks I am going on my detox regime. Anyone want to join in on the fun? It is the perfect time to do this because there is going to be treats and goodies everywhere and I have found being on this kind of cleanse makes it easier not to indulge. I am going to be posting recipes to help keep things from getting boring. It is a wonderful way to reduce any inflammation in your body, decrease mucous, drop some weight and give your liver a much needed break from life. It is pretty easy to follow:

1. 40 % vegetables
2. 30% protein
3. 20 % fruits
4. 10% fat (in the form of extra virgin olive oil)
5. 1 % cheat (mine is a cup of coffee with soy creamer)

The specifics of each day:

2 tbls olive oil (or you can use flax oil) a day
2 servings of 4-5 oz. protein a day plus 1 egg (including Whey Protein)
2 servings of fruit a day (1 cup of berries or a piece of fruit is a serving)
unlimited amounts of vegetables (squashes are not allowed except spaghetti squash)
2-4 capsules of DHA Essential Fatty Acids
lemon water
1-2 tbls. ground flax seeds
1 tbls superfoods (Garden Of Life see picture above)
1 tbls apple cider vinegar
spices and herbs of your liking
small amount of sea salt
one small cheat (mine is soy creamer in my green tea or a glass of wine once a week)
these two weeks are free of sodas, dairy, grains, flours, nuts, sugar.


You can see that it is easier to list what is allowed instead of what is not allowed. Because this is a cleaning type of regime, it is essential to eat organic produce and free-range/organic meats. The reason why is because the liver is responsible for breaking down those chemicals and the goal is to give the liver a break.

Here is an example of what my day might look like:
Breakfast:
green tea with soy creamer
1 scoop whey protein (undenatured whey!) shake with superfoods
lemon water

Snack:
pear
lemon water

Lunch:
veggie tofu patty
sauteed spinach or spinach salad and grated carrot (using 1 tbls. of olive oil for day)
lemon water

Snack:
cup of strawberries
lemon water

Dinner:
oven roasted fennel (using other 1 tbls of olive oil for the day)
seared salmon with cilantro and lemon zest and ginger
lemon water

Before Bed:
Flax seeds 1 Tbls. (in lemon water)
Lemon water

This is such an easy cleanse. But, the key to success is preparation, and bringing your food along with you. Regardless if you want to cleanse along with me, I will be posting some recipes you may find interesting and healthy!

The recipe for the photo above:
Radicchio and Tofu Burger Saute

(These tofu burgers have a small bit of canola oil in them. I use them anyway, because they are really handy.)
1 wildwood tofu burger cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 head radicchio sliced thin
1/2 carrot grated
1 tsp. olive oil
1 pinch salt
2 tbls. fresh parsley chopped

I heated this up in a saute pan for 5 minutes and ate it for lunch. You could prep the vegetables for three days of lunch at one time and just pull out of the fridge and heat up (or eat as a raw salad!) to make things fast and easy.

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Whew! It is over. What a wonderful day Thanksgiving was with our friends and family! Everything went smoothly, and the turkey was moist. We deep fried it this year again and as always it was very juicy. After dinner we made donuts with the hot oil. We also all assembled in the driveway to see a second night of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station fly over. It was quite dramatic and surprisingly bright. We all talked about what we were thankful for and talked a lot about the food. The sweet potatoes with coconut milk and curry that Erin made, the brussels sprouts with chantarelle mushrooms and truffle butter, the stuffing and three kinds of cranberry sauce. Oh, it was all really wonderful. After dinner everyone ate pie and pumpkin bread pudding. Then we all played music on itunes and zune that we listened to in high school and college. M got to stay up late and now has a new found appreciation for punk rock music from the 80's.
Thanksgiving would not be a holiday with a slight glitch right? Ours was me burning myself. At the end of the night as I was trying to deal with the turkey stock the pot slipped and splattered stock on my face. I have 4 or 5 dime sized burns on my chest. Bummer. I put my homeopathic burn cream on right away and it helped a lot. I happen to have some sort of silver burn cream I got a few years back (from another Thanksgiving burn!) the doctor prescribed to prevent infections. I was happy to have an arsenal to fall back on. It was a completely preventable situation; I just thought I could handle a very hot, very heavy pot on my own and I should have asked for help. Lesson learned.
Today is tree day. I will try to document it and tell you all about it.