Apart from my obvious obsession for all things French, I have a keen and ever increasing passion for all things gut related. Not quite in the same realm as each other, but any hoo…whatever floats your boat.
So today I'm sharing with you 6 simple, everyday tips that you can add into your day to day life to help improve you digestion and get it into a tip top working state......
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Did you know that dairy, it seems, is the second most common food trigger of Hashimoto's (after gluten)?
The more information I gather on the subject, the easier I'm finding it to say adios. One of the things helping me through.....Ghee.
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Florentines. As a child, no other biscuit made me feel more like a gown up than this one did. Typically stuffed full of glace cherries, nuts, sugar and chocolate, they were my biscuit of choice when I wanted to impress (and I got to scoff all the leftovers). Win/win.
When I said goodbye to the white stuff a few years ago, I also tearfully said au revoir to the super sweet florentine.
And then the angels sang. As inside the pages of the I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook Volume II, this little Superfood Florentine recipe jumped out and waved it's little muscly arms at me. Oh sweet Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Read MoreDid you know that raw organic cacao is the highest plant-based source of iron?
Did you also know that it contains more calcium than cow’s milk?
Say what?!
However, as the iron found in raw organic cacao is non-heme (as is all plant-based iron), you’ll body will get maximum benefit if you combine eating it with vitamin C.
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Blackberries. I've not found them to be so plump, sweet and berry like in flavour than the one's I enjoy when in France.
Big, juicy blackberries where the little pips get stuck in your teeth and the juice dribbles down your chin, staining your lips.
So what to do with the extra basic raw chocolate you've just made?
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know where I'm going with this....yep, add in a blackberry!
Read MoreSo no grains and legumes, huh!
No problemo. I've been off gluten for over a year now and kicked refined sugar to the curb over 2 years ago. Grains and legumes. Easy peasy.
And then I thought about it.
I thought about the brown rice I have cooked and frozen in my freezer for emergency meals. I thought about the simple mid-week meal I often whip up of roasted pumpkin and chickpeas. I thought about how I use white beans as a simple quick "mash" instead of cooking up potatoes. And I also thought about the lentil salads I loved, especially when using my favourite legume of all...du puy lentils.
Holy cow! To say I'm now overwhelmed is an understatement.
Read MoreChocoholic. Nope, not me.
In my past life I was what you’d call a lolly-oholic. I could inhale bags of jelly frogs and snakes in a heartbeat, and would you believe that I thought this was the healthier choice….because I wasn’t eating fat! Jeez Louise!
Now in my current life, I’ve turned to chocolate. But not just any chocolate. You’ll find none of those sugar laden supermarket brands in my trolley. No siree. All you’ll find are 4 simple, no-fuss, organic ingredients:
Read MoreHazelnuts.
Wondering what so good about them?
Wonder no longer people as I have the answer you’ve been waiting with baited breath for. These little beauties are wonderfully rich in protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals and are brilliant for your heart, nervous system and overall digestive health.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a little snapshot of just how good they are:
Read MoreCoconut Flour.
A pain in the arse to bake with, but when you get the combination right....oh my!
One of the first struggles I encountered when I took gluten from my diet was the vast array of "gluten-free" alternatives out there. The supermarket shelves these days are packed to the brim with them and I found it hard to decipher between those that were actually nourishing and helpful to my body, and those that are synthetic, processed, bleached and potentially contain gut irritating soy products. Clever marketing can be very persuasive.
I don't know about your story or reasons for going gluten free, however removing gluten from my diet was for health reasons, so I certainly didn't want to then start adding all that crap into my body, just because it didn't contain gluten.
Read MoreTurmeric. A powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant containing a mix of manganese, iron, vitamin B6, fiber, copper and potassium.
It's what gives curry both its flavour and yellow colour, but did you know it has also been used for thousands of years to help with numerous health conditions?
Studies suggest that this super root helps with inflammation in our bodies, reduces tumour growth and aids in liver detox. It helps protect our bodies against heavy metal toxicity and can also potentially benefit those of us with autoimmune thyroid conditions as a happy liver is crucial for proper thyroid hormone conversion.
Read MoreShould you quit sugar?
It’s a big, and somewhat daunting question.
Perhaps you could ask yourself this:
If you ticked yes to the above (I ticked yes to all!) then perhaps sugar is playing a bigger role in your health and your life than you thought.
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Pecans. Rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, they can help decrease “bad cholesterol” and increases “good cholesterol” levels in the blood.
Seriously. A simple nut can help do this?!
They’re also a wonderful nut to consume for those of us suffering the effects of hypothyroidism, as they’re a rich source of manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium.
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It was inevitable. I knew it, but ignored it.
My new thyroid naturopath recently confirmed it.
It was time to say bye-bye to cow’s milk dairy.
Crapola!
Read MoreAlmond Meal. Probably my favourite gluten-free “flour” to bake with as I substitute it 1:1 with any plain flour recipe.
I absolutely love its soft and moist texture, however sometimes it does need a little hand to hold so it can keep its shape - like adding in a little buckwheat flour or perhaps some brown rice or quinoa flour.
To store, like all nuts, I keep enough almond meal/flour readily available in a glass jar in my fridge. It will last for up to 6 months this way, although mine disappears a hell of a lot sooner as I bake A LOT! The remainder, as I buy in bulk (soooo much cheaper to do so), gets stored in the freezer.
Read MoreI mentioned the other day that one of the most frustrating issues with having Hashimotos is the constant, ever present game I play with my weight. It falls of me within a matter of days, and then what can feel like a matter of hours, be back with a vengeance. No signals, no warnings, no SMS messages.
Sugar (well, the removing of it) was one of the big factors I changed in my “diet”. The other; grains.
Ho hum.
Read MoreSay hello to Sarah!
Sarah loves to bake (like me). She is from Ontario, Canada (a country I hope to one day see soon, and a country where my niece Miss B is studying at university....well, she says she's studying...hehe). Sarah fully admits to being a comfort eater (like me too!), and is the lovely lady behind the blog Things I Make for Dinner, a place where she keeps weekly menu plans and showcases her newly tried recipes.
I love that Sarah and her husband lose weight and save money by cooking and eating at home (this made me laugh Sarah) and what put a big smile on my face is that she adores French food (ME TOO!!) Things I Make for Dinner is my Secret Recipe blog for the month of October, and my recipe this month is a long-time favourite, yet one I rarely cook myself. That's all changed now....
Read MoreEverything about this veggie tart is a good thing.
I'm excited about making it AND eating it, so I thought I'd better share.
It may be vegetarian, it may be gluten-free and it may be green, but by golly it's good.
Read MoreIf you're looking for a super simple and super quick recipe, then look no further.
I've made this dish a number of times after first discovering it on The Stone Soup Website, and the brilliance of this dish (well, I think so anyway) is that any extra can be frozen and whipped out when needed for an even quicker mid-week meal. The chicken can be flaked off the bone and along with the capsicum, tossed through some quinoa or pasta, or you could even package it up and eat cold on a picnic.
Did I mention it only has 3 ingredients?
Did I mention how super simple it was?
Read MoreAre you a snacker?
I use to be.
I was one of the millions that could never get past 3pm without a snack of some sort.
Haigs chocolate, jelly babies, cupcake….I really wasn’t fussed!
Now, I can honestly tell you that I am no longer a snacker.
I eat three meals a day, and 99% of the time I’m satisfied right through to the next meal, and I owe it all to eliminating nearly 100% fructose from my diet about 6 months ago.
I no longer get that inevitable 3pm slump/sugar craving.
I’m no longer starving hungry between meals where I think I’m going to die.
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