back on track

When we went to Disney World back in April, I didn't do so well with my diet. In my day-to-day life, I avoid a pretty long list of foods and food groups because I know my body works and feels better without them. But when we were on vacation, it wasn't as easy to avoid each and every thing that I wanted to. I ended up putting a little bit of sugar and milk in my coffee instead of my usual maple syrup and almond milk (I should have just had it black - hello no willpower), I had a few bites of a milkshake one day (I usually avoid all dairy and as much white sugar as possible), I ordered what I thought was a healthy-ish meal in one restaurant only to find everything dripping with butter (I use ghee or olive oil), I had at least three milk chocolate dipped bananas (I only eat very dark chocolate or unsweetened chocolate that I sweeten myself with honey), and the list could go on. I told Will on multiple occasions that I was probably going to be really sick when we got home since it doesn't tend to hit me until a few days after I eat the offending foods. 

But much to my surprise, I felt completely fine when I got home. Good even. Which has ended up being good and bad. Good because I know that the strict diet that sometimes drives me crazy (I just want one donut!) is WORKING. Someday I need to go to New York and give Susan Blum a big hug for giving me the motivation and tools I needed to heal my Crohn's Disease with her book, "The Immune System Recovery Plan." The fact that I could eat some milkshake and feel fine is a small miracle. Last year at this time, any little bit of dairy messed me up for days. But it's also bad because now that I know I'm ok with a little bit, I want it ALL. I'm really having to dig deep to stay on track and make sure I don't start heading back to where I was. After a few months of making exception after exception to my diet, I decided to get myself and my family back on track with some new healthy gut-healing recipes. I've been using this cookbook for recipes and inspiration and loving everything we've tried. Here are some examples...

 Chia breakfast pudding with cherries and almonds.

 Turkey, cucumber, avocado and arugula roll-ups with cherries.

Zucchini stuffed with white beans, olives and arugula.

 With our grilled chicken (I add cumin, turmeric and a little chili powder to most of our chicken now) we had an avocado and mango salad and roasted root vegetables with coconut oil, olive oil and honey.

Chicken lettuce cups with veggies and a sesame oil and lime sauce.

Surprisingly, my kids have loved everything I've made so far, even the lettuce cups. They put their chicken and veggies into taco shells but I'd still call that a WIN. Tommy hasn't had a chance to try the zucchini since I've been eating it for lunch but Annabel likes that one and they both LOVE the turkey roll ups. 

With the addition of these recipes to our regular rotation, I'm feeling much better about staying healthy and feeding my family in a way that makes everyone happy. It's good to be back on track.

Happy Monday! Stay tuned for a recipe or two from this bunch this week and next. Hope you have a great week and don't forget to pray for Orlando.