Confessional

photo evidence

I ate pizza.

Real pizza.

With gluten. And soft cheese. And sauce that I didn't know all the ingredients to. And peperoni that may or may not have had additives that I can't pronounce.

There, I said it.

How did we get to this point? Good question.

It all started with me pushing my paleo boundaries earlier this year. I had finally reached, what I felt like, was the climax of my health. My Crohn's symptoms were long (as in many months ago) gone, I felt happy, energetic, and at the top of my game strength-wise. Then work began to pick up and with that came less time to prepare the meals I knew I needed to be prepping.

Little cheats on paleo/scd started to creep in and were positively reinforced when I didn't display or feel any physical repercussions. A few bites of rice, ordering from menus without scrutinizing the seasonings, little stuff like that.

Then came bigger cheats like taking shots of mystery alcoholic beverages (some kind of glowing blue color), eating a few of my friend's fries from the drive-thru at Arby's, and thinking that Quest Bars were somehow going to be acceptable. Nope.

Then I started to experience symptoms of my autoimmune disorder again.

Back on the paleo-wagon-band-track (I know I said that wrong) I went, and just like I knew it would happen- I got healthy again. Our bodies are truly amazing.

So lately I've been keeping most things pretty close to strict paleo/scd (about 90%) and have been feeling very fair. Then I put myself to the ultimate test of going on a 5 day cruise. Yep, boat food that's completely out of my control.

Thankfully Royal Caribbean offers a lot of gluten-free options at all of their meal times, so I stuck to that section of the menu and did terrifically well.

Then I started to get ballsy. For a girl, anyways.

I wanted ice cream.

For a couple of reasons. #1- I'd eaten foods like chocolate that had a percentage of sugar-cane sugar in them and knew I could handle them. #2- Ice cream seems to be a frequent cheat of those in the paleo community. #3- My grandma eats ice cream almost daily and she's the healthiest old woman I know.

So, I was walking through the quaint streets of Key West and read a review on Trip Advisor of an authentic gelato must-try pizzeria. No, I didn't eat the pizza here. That comes later. I ate two different flavors of gelato and I think the room started to spin. It was delicious. No immediate stomach rumblings either, and I honestly at this point just was pushing myself to see how far I would have to go in order to get a negative reaction. (I have literally brainwashed myself for the past almost 4 years to believe that if anything with a non-paleo or an illegal scd ingredient even comes near the food that I put into my mouth my body will start convulsing and my stomach will explode. Clearly that didn't happen so now I'm curious.) Wandering down the street another block, I see a "We Have Gluten-Free" sign in the window of a key lime pie shop. I'm in Key West. And you know what they say, "When in Rome..."

Yep, I ate gluten-free key lime pie on the same day I ate authentic Italian gelato.

Fast forward to a couple of days later, I'm still on vacation. In Miami. We need somewhere to eat dinner so the person I'm with decides to Google "Paleo eateries Miami Beach."

This page on Paleo Porn is found and the decision is down to two places: A paleo-friendly full kitchen restaurant that on any normal given day I would be ecstatic to find exists. Or. A pizza place that does not claim to be gluten-free in any sense but does have organic ingredients and seems to be a pretty reasonably moral spot to eat from.

I'm still not in pain from eating from a cruise ship all week, gelato, and key lime pie. I'm 24 years old.

What the hell, I figure. Give it a shot. The worse that can happen is that I spend the next day back home curled up in the fetal position near a bathroom taking a lot of recovery probiotics. (Sounds terrible but this was once a normal drill for me.) You only live once, right?

Pizza it is.

So, that's how I ended up at Blocks. I got a slice of pepperoni pizza and it was everything I remembered it to be from way back in 2011.

Do I feel guilty? Slightly. I understand that gluten is still the enemy and that this way of eating simply is not a choice for me to make it a norm.

However, I don't live with regrets and that would be a stupid thing to regret anyways.

Food is food. It's fuel for good or bad. No one is perfect, I can't even pretend to be.

I know better than to do this too often but it's a nice feeling to be slightly normal again. I'm not condoning paleo rebellion or suggesting that anyone who is still in recovery mode on SCD or AIP to even think about doing what I did. At least, not yet. But this post will serve as evidence that paleo works. And for those of you who are journeying back to health- things absolutely do get better.

There, now you know. And don't feel so guilty about your cheats. (You can tell me about them in the comments below, I won't judge.)

How To: Make Kombucha (fermented tea)

So, if you follow me avidly on Facebook you will know that lately I've had some comical occurrences at my local health food store. Where I live, specific bottles of kombucha require that the purchaser be over 21 years of age (since they contain over 0.5% alcohol). Apparently, I look young to some people so I had to show my ID to buy my weekly supply. Over and over and over again. Although the people selling these bottles of fermented goodness to me were the same faces that I would interact with on a weekly basis, they assumed I had Benjamin Button syndrome and my age was actually reverting to a pre-21 year old state. Long story short, I decided to make my own kombucha. 1. Because everything made at home is generally better. 2. I can quality control what goes into my brew. 3. It is going to save me about $120 a month vs buying the bottled kombucha.

First, what is kombucha? Simply put- it's fermented tea. Basically you make sweet tea (using *gasp* real sugar) and add this thing called a scoby to it. Then the scoby eats up the sugar, making the tea fermented and full of lots of beneficial stuff. After 7-14 days the final brew is known as kombucha. Most people do a second brew of 2-3 days by adding fruit juice or spices to the kombucha. After this second process the kombucha becomes carbonated and can be viewed as a "soda" of sorts.

What does it taste like? Surprisingly delicious. I have always hated sweet tea. I was thusly ridiculed growing up in the South, but kombucha tastes less like sweet tea and more like hard cider. Depending on the flavor and length of brew, it's sweet and has a slight bite at the finish. It's good. More importantly, it's good for you.

How to make kombucha:

Supplies:

A large container made of ceramic or glass (I use this one)
A cloth to cover the top of the container that will keep pests out, yet allows the brew to breathe (I use a dish towel, secured in place by a rubber band or if you get the above container it comes with a plastic piece that hold it appropriately)
8 tea bags per brew
1 cup sugar per brew (real sugar, not honey or stevia or anything else)
2 gallons of filtered water per brew
1 scoby, to start (you will only need to purchase/ located this once, after that you can continue to use the same scoby for future batches of kombucha)
1 cup white vinegar (for initial brew, to keep out mold)
Glass bottles with plastic or other non-metal caps
Fruit juice or spices like ginger for second brew

Steps:

1. Boil water and steep tea bags. (I boil 1 gallon of water because it's easier and steep all 8 tea bags in it. After step 3 I add the other gallon of filtered water)
2. Discard used tea bags and add sugar to tea. Stir until dissolved.
3. Let tea completely cool and add to brewing container. Add vinegar.
4. Gently place scoby into tea, it should float to the top (eventually).
5. Place towel over the top of the container and secure.
6. Wait 7-14 days, check periodically to make sure that the scoby is growing and there is no mold.
7. When the brew is complete, bottle.
8. Leave about 20% room in each bottle to add spices and/or juice for second brew. Secure caps tightly and let sit at room temperature for 2 days.
9. Place in refrigerator when second brew is complete. The kombucha should be carbonated.
10. Enjoy.

For further details and how to keep a perpetual kombucha brew going see this article here and here.

BOOK REVIEW: Eat Drink Paleo Cookbook

I LOVE cookbooks ... especially awesome, new cookbooks with beautiful pictures.  I was so excited when Big Love told me that a package came in the mail for me.  It was a review copy of Irena Macri's new cookbook, EAT DRINK PALEO COOKBOOK.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and flip through the pages.  Baby in lap, I sat down to soak up this cookbook.  I was thrilled to find page after page of stunning photography of REAL food and mouth-watering recipes.  

Photo Courtesy Eat Drink Paleo © Irena Macri

Even if you don't eat Paleo, there's something for everyone in this cookbook.  Some of the recipes that stood out to me ... Zucchini & Bacon Fritters, Chicken & Wild Mushroom Stew, Asparagus with Warm Mushroom Dressing, Macadamia-Crusted Fish Fingers, Double-Decker Lamingtons, Macadamia Cakies, Grilled Halloumi with Orange Vanilla Sauce, Cashew Satay Sauce, and on and on.  I was inspired to make Irena's Ricotta Cheesecake with Grilled Peaches since peaches are still in season in my neck of the woods.

Peaches from a local farm, Good Humus

Peach slices with Cinnamon + Coconut Palm Sugar

Ricotta Cheesecake with Grilled Peaches

I hope you check out this beautiful cookbook.  It's filled with so many creative, savory and sweet dishes (drinks, snacks and more too!).  If you're a fan of healthy, easy to make, delicious, gluten and grain free recipes, this cookbook is for you.  It's conveniently for sale on Amazon* or through Irena's blog, Eat Drink Paleo. 

Even Tiny Love likes the cookbook!

Time to get cooking!

P.S. If you haven't visited Irena's popular blog Eat Drink Paleo, you have to check it out.

NOTE: I received a review copy of Eat Drink Paleo Cookbook, but all opinions are my own.  *Amazon links are affiliate links, should you decide to purchase through this blog, thank you in advance and much gratitude for supporting my blog.