A Yummy Breakfast!

I want to share a breakfast that is  highly nutritious and mostly raw.  It is so simple a just takes 5 minutes or less.
Yogurt Banana Splits
1/2 banana split open and laid flat
Spread with your favorite nut butter
Sprinkle with Hemp seeds
Top with Plain Greek Yogurt
Sprinkle with Grape Nuts or Sunflower Seeds
Cover with fresh or frozen Blueberries or any fruit

Enjoy!  It is delicious and filling!

2 notes of encouragement!

     This spring, Melanie's glucose readings were discouraging! With exercise, good eating (not raw) but decent control, her averages were high. On 3/27/14 her Hemoglobin A1C was 8.6! (which relates to an average of 200)  On 6/27/14  it was 8.7. These high levels provide hopelessness when trying to take care of oneself.
    Beginning the first part of May we began taking treatments from a friend who was learning Energy Healing through the Body Code. We met with her initially, and then did over the phone treatments.  For about 1/2 hour one or two times each week we have continued this.  The process is basically discovering issues of the body that would interfere with proper functioning and getting rid of them.  As part of this, our friend recommended a heavy metals cleanse that was interfering with her pancreas function.  Melanie sprayed ACZ-nano Extra Strength in her mouth daily for 3 months.
    At the end of July, her glucose levels were showing improvement with averages in the 150- 160 range. She had a chiropractic adjustment the last of July, (the chiropractor indicated her neck and back were out of line quite a bit). That immediately showed more improvement!
     At her scheduled endocrinology appointment in August, her A1C was 7.3 (indicating an average over the past 3 months of 155).  We were very pleased-so was the doctor!  He congratulated her for her exercising over the summer, but actually her exercise hadn't really increased! I believe the chiropractor helped to line her body system up so it could function properly, and the energy healing had also helped with that over the last 4 months.  We were very encouraged! We plan to have regular chiropractic visits, and keep up on the energy healing too!  I am so thankful to discover this.  Exercise and eating correctly are necessary too.  It all works together!

   I as also encouraged that my A1C was 6.6 this month.  It has been 14 months off of medication, and I'm doing okay.  I want to get it down to under 6. My self -discipline needs some help! I am a home- made cake and cookie lover.I make them for the grand kids or visitors, and guess who eats most of them?  Even if it is a no sugar healthy dessert, it still can raise blood levels!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Banana Oatmeal Cookies - Not raw, but somewhat healthy, and requested.

2 cups flour
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. soda
1 c. sugar (I use Kleen raw sugar, pure maple syrup or honey)

1 c. mashed bananas
2 eggs
1 c. coconut oil (could use half butter)
1 c. nuts (chopped)
2 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Add the dry ingredients together and  mix or stir.  Add eggs, bananas and coconut oil.  Mix.  Add rolled oats, nuts and chocolate chips. Put  spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 375 for 9 minutes.

This is a recipe that my mother Deola Turner always made, which I didn't like when I was younger.  Now I love them! She used shortening and sugar though back then.

One month later.... how are we doing?

Wow! There is a bit to report.  After a few days, my blood level came to a more normal range-not quite as good as the complete raw diet days. Melanie was the same. I must testify that it is easier to eat 100 % raw than 60 - 70 %!  It is too easy to say," I don't have time to prepare that, or tonight we'll fix something everyone will like, or I'm too tired to put the raw breakfast on the dehydrator tonight, we'll have that tomorrow."  Needless to say, our 70 % was more like 40 % the first couple of weeks. The momentum slowed way down.   We are still eating healthy, but not as much raw as we should, and not receiving the benefits either.  For three weeks, I suffered from a cold, and was really dragging.  I must attribute it to our binge on our trip and letting our hair down to eat what we felt deprived from for a few days. Obviously, I haven't felt as energetic. We will be stepping it up and doing better.  I will check in again in a couple of weeks to tell you about it.

                                           A Real Scare!
We have been concerned about Melanie's BG levels.  The average lately has been over 200 most days!  We have again increased the insulin level.  A night ago, her insulin level read HIGH- which means it is over 500!  That is hospital range.  We worked at it a couple of hours, giving more insulin correction doses, to no avail. We decided to change her  insulin pod, and when she went to do so, she noticed the feeding tube had come out, and she had been receiving no insulin for several hours.  She remembered bumping it against the piano, but didn't think any more of it.  We were thankful for an answer!  By morning, her levels were back to the 150 level!  What a scare!  I felt stupid that we hadn't thought of that being the problem before.  We will know what to check for next time!

The end. And a new Beginning!

On Feb. 12, a week ago, was our 29th day.
Breakfast- Oat Groats w/ Blueberries (a repeat, but really good)
Dinner-Braised Cabbage Rolls and Garden Vegetable Soup I had been looking forward to making the cabbage rolls.  They were relatively easy to make, and very tasty.  I filled them with the Pecan Mince (for a meat) and the left over Sprouted Quinoa and left over Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Marinare Sauce.  They were so good that I had it for breakfast the next day! They were definitely one I will include in the future. We were leaving town the next morning, so I looked for a soup to use up vegetables on hand, and the Garden Vegetable Soup fit the bill.  It was very good, although it is still a little hard to get used to cold soup!

Terri's BG- 112
Melanie's BG- 210??? (her meter is at school)

Final Day 30!
We were torn on what to do about our last day, but with traveling out of town for funeral, and staying with relatives for three days, we made the decision to end after breakfast on Feb. 13th.  I really love eating raw and the great benefits, however, I will not lie, that Melanie and I were very excited to eat normally (our old norm). Needless to say, we sort of pigged out! And it was fun!  But there is always a  price to pay for our decisions.
After the first day, my stomach was hurting, from the shock of the new foods.  After about 3 days, our Blood Glucose levels were  much higher. We returned to good, but not totally raw foods, and  our BG levels were still  crazy high. For me, I had from 150 to 200, and Melanie in the 300 and 400s. (This was without our exercise routines too)  We are so wanted to get back to a better plan!
I began working on my 60-70% raw plan, with other mostly clean and healthy foods (clean meaning unprocessed).  We will not be so rigid, but will make healthy choices.  I will let you know how that goes, and hopefully in a day or two, our BG levels will come back to good ranges.

Raw Benefits
I want to list a few of the things I noticed while eating raw.
1. Great Blood Glucose Levels
2. Energy (no desires for an afternoon power nap)
3. Clarity of thought increased
4. Not as much craving for snacks
5. I usually crash with a sickness in January after the Holidays, and I stayed well this year!
6. Clear skin
 I wish I could do my blood work, to see the comparisons, but that can come in time.
*Melanie didn't report noticing these things, but hers (Type 1 is a different ball game) I do think that she is seeing an appreciation for raw as her blood glucose levels are about 100 points higher this week than when we were strictly eating raw!
We will keep looking for natural health answers for her, and we will keep working on the Raw Journey.  I am thankful that we did it strictly for 29 1/3 days.  I was forced to know how to prepare the foods (if we wanted to eat). And we were exposed to such a variety!  I have confidence that I can make it work!

Thanks for following us on the beginning of our Journey, and we will keep you posted!

28 Days!!!

Breakfast- Cashew Mushroom and Red Pepper Scramble and Carrot, Zucchini Loaf
Dinner- Twice Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Sprouted Quinoa Croquettes

Wow!  Those titles may make you think you are eating at a top cuisine restaurant!  I felt like I was working at one in the preparation! About the breakfast, if it was to replace scrambled eggs in any way, I think it missed the mark.  However, it wasn't awful.  I think we have just had a lot of dishes with the same ingredients lately.  It resembled another cashew cheese.  It was probably more difficult that I fixed a scrambled egg and cheese potato breakfast for the unhealthy part of our crew! I ended up putting more of the roasted veggies I made yesterday, on top and that put it up a notch. I was not so impressed with the Carrot, Zucchini Loaf. The buckwheat is my favorite toast so far...but I'm still exploring.

Because of the delicious Stuffed Bell Peppers from last week, I had my taste buds all pumped up that the Twice Baked Stuffed Tomatoes would be just as good.  It was a fun idea, but our family all agreed that the  Red Pepper,  Dill and Cashew Ricotta filling wasn't the best choice. It was a flavor clash to us.  We ended up putting some of the Sprouted Quinoa on top to balance it.  With a more meaty, warmer, and chunkier filling they would have been great! The quinoa was good and packed with nutrients and protein though.

Unhealthy Scrambled Egg Dish

Cashew, Mushroom and Red Pepper Scramble w/Carrot, Zucchini Loaf

Twice Baked Stuffed Tomatoes w/ Sprouted Quinoa Croquettes

 Terri's BG- 115
Melanie's BG- 153 (no exercise for her today)

 I'm still feeling great, and loving the nutritious foods! We will keep you posted!!

Day 27 and some Yummy Recipes

Here are some great foods and recipes I promised....

Blueberry Chocolate Hemp Squares

 Blueberry Chocolate Hemp Squares
1 1/2 cups raw shelled hemp seeds, soaked for 30 minutes
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen-and any type of berry)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup raw agave nectar (could use another sweetener)
1/4 cup filtered water
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (melt on dehydrator for 15 min. or in a shallow bowl over a larger bowl of hot water)

In a blender, combine soaked hemp seeds, berries, cacao powder and agave nectar.  Blend at high speed until smooth, scraping the sides down as you blend.
Add water and coconut oil and blend until smooth.
Transfer to a baking dish and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours until firm enough to cut.  I froze mine to be quicker and actually like them frozen.  They taste like a blueberry chocolate!
** I really like this recipe for it's versatile possibilities, the taste, the protein and low carb value of the hemp seeds.  I have been getting Raw Hemp Hearts from Costco at 14.99 for 28 oz. (which would be hard to beat!) They are also great as an added protein to yogurt, cereal, or salad.  I put it on the Raw Pizza and it seemed to add a cheesier flavor.  I have also used it to replace pine nuts in a recipe, since pine nuts are out of my price range right now. The flavor is similar.

Roasted Basil Vegetables

Roasted Basil Vegetables
About 3 cups of small cut veggies of your choice.(broccoli, onions, red and green peppers, zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms)
Toss them in 3 T. of Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil, 1 T. dried basil and a t. of sea salt.  Lay them on a non stick dehydrator tray for 2-3 hours until they begin to wilt.  Use them as a side dish with anything, or just a snack. (they are good cold)
I made a batch yesterday and they are gone today!  So good and full of nutrition.

Breakfast- Oat Groats and Blueberries (this is a good stand by to have soaked in the fridge)
Dinner- Left over Taco Salad and the Jicama, Mango Salad

Terri's BG-102
Melanie's -190 (We are going to have to increase her insulin a little)