Paleo Week 4

This week's breakfast is egg sandwiches made with Paleo English muffins.

This week's dessert is Paleo strawberry rhubarb crisp.

Wow, Week 4! I'm halfway to my goal of eating strictly Paleo for 60 days. I read a book written by a natural endocrine doctor, who has Graves Disease himself, and has successfully managed it using a natural treatment protocol. He writes that many people are successfully able to reintroduce some high quality dairy and gluten-free grains, and that is definitely my goal. I know that the way I eat is definitely going to change forever if I truly want to manage this disease without pharmaceutical drugs, but I'd be lying if I said I was ok with never eating cheese again ;-) 

So this week brought some interesting new finds. I made a Paleo "cheese" out of cashew nuts, gelatin, and some spices. It is NOT anything like dairy cheese, but it works in a pinch when I'm craving something creamy on scrambled eggs or a salad. I tried zucchini noodles ("zoodles"), for the first time in a shrimp and cashew stir fry and they were fantastic! Thanks to my mom for letting me borrow her spiralizer! I definitely want one of my own down the road. I also made Paleo brownies out of pumpkin, cocoa, eggs, vanilla and coconut flour. They were dense and fudgy - a very convincing replacement to flour brownies. I made the smoked salmon dish you see above last night and it was out.of.this.world. I really had to restrain myself from eating the entire portion and not leaving any for Brian! I was very happy and satisfied this week, and grateful for all the new recipes I got to try out. Speaking of recipes: check out that meal plan! NO Paleo modifications! Everyone's eating the same thing this week (with the exception of regular spaghetti noodles for my kids on Tuesday). I feel kinda proud of that.

Now that I've got the cooking part mostly under my belt, I'm moving on to researching supplements that would benefit me and the dozens of ways I can kick the toxins in my home out to the curb. I've done a lot of this already in the last few years, but there is still more work to be done. Autoimmune disorders are particularly susceptible to the endocrine disruptors and toxic ingredients in everyday household items, but I personally believe that all homes can benefit from removing these things. I'm also examining ways to reduce the stress in my life. This is NOT an easy one for me, as it's in my nature to react strongly to sometimes even minorly stressful situations. That will surely require some self-examination, daily reminders, and new routines, but I'm up for the challenge. I had bloodwork done yesterday, and I can't wait to get the results and see where I'm at!