What we eat

This past Sunday, we went on a tour of the ranch we bought our beef from. Between us and another couple of friends, we bought 1/4 of a cow. It comes from a local farm and the beef is grass fed. It was nice being able to see how the animals we eat used to live. It was a huge and beautiful farm. It was also my first time going on a hay ride :)

In case you haven't been following our eating habits, here's mostly what we try to do:

- eat only natural, non processed food (at least at home)

- cook everything from scratch

- buy grass fed beef, cheese and butter

- buy whole, grass fed, non homogenized milk.

- we try to buy most of our fruits and veggies organic

- we buy pastured eggs and chicken.

- we drink fermented cod liver oil and also eat high vitamin butter

- we try to avoid grains and sugar

Some of these things we have been doing for years now, but others are a most recent habit. Of course, this doesn't mean we don't sometimes eat out and enjoy some pizza and burgers or make yummy desserts, it just doesn't happen that often anymore.

We try to follow the advice of the Weston A. Price Foundation, because after doing our own research, that is what we believe to be the healthiest "diet". So movies like Food Inc and shows like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, weren't much of a shock to us, but I'm glad it has opened up others people eyes to what they eat.

I noticed that we haven't gotten sick in a very long time. Also, when we started to eat less carbs, my menstrual cycles became more regular, I stopped having migraines and Mike and I lost weight :) I know a lot of people say they wish they could eat healthy but they just can't afford it, well I think it's all a matter of priorities. I could write a whole other blog post telling you the ways we save money ;)

April

Guess what? I finally mailed my lens in for repair yesterday, now let's just hope it arrives there safe and that I get it back nice and fixed.

We have really been eating better these past months, hence the lack of yummy dessert posts :( The only indulgence we have had in months, was pizza and wings this past weekend. It tasted like heaven and happiness!

My step-dad had one of his big toes removed? amputated? I don't know the right term... you get the idea. He has diabetes and somehow, it got infected. I was very worried, but at least it wasn't his whole foot you know? I really wish I lived closer to my parents, I hate not being there for them.

I'm still super anxious about my trip to Mexico, I can't wait to see my mommy and my whole family! Too bad my step dad can't go because of work (and lack of funds). Only 5 (ish) more weeks!!!

We've been spring cleaning around here. We re-arranged our living room. It used to be a living room/studio/office. Now it's just a normal living room where we watch tv, read and now only my computer desk is in here, instead of 3 whole desks in here.

We moved my painting/craft table to our spare bedroom, as well as Mike's computer desk. I also hung some new photos in the living room. I feel like now the only thing missing is a nice fake plant, because you know somehow I would manage to kill it if it was real.

So there you have it, that's what I've been up to, still nothing exciting. And because I don't want this post to look "naked", here's a picture of my parents and me, 2 years ago when we went to Guadalajara. I miss them so much.

Monday

Happy about: Up coming travels, robins on my front yard and life in general :)

Mad about: Getting a bill from doctor for 2 minutes of her time, all she told me was that I needed to go to a fertility specialist grrrr

Mike's latest craziness: Running and walking barefoot. Which leads to his recent purchase of some Vibram FiveFingers.

Joined: Netflix. The library not having the complete Road to Avonlea series pretty much convinced us ;)

Wants: Start a small art journal, sort of collage/scrapbook.

Bought: Sula's paint and peel nail polish, it's non-toxic :)

Food: Been eating more grass fed meat and dairy. We also bought some Celtic sea salt (healthier and more minerals!)

Would you...

jump in the icy cold water of a pool for 5 minutes? Would you do it for $50? Because well, I totally did a little while ago. Mike has been taking cold showers for some time now and yesterday he decided to go jump in the cold pool. It was freezing, but he did it. Today he planned on doing it again, but this time, he asked me, what it would take for me to do it too.

I said $50... he then walked away (I should have followed him, to see where he got it from) and came back with the 50 bucks. I should have said $100... to late. We finished watching our tv show, then he went and changed into his swim trunks and asked if I was going to do it. I told him only if he was really going to give me the money. So I changed into my bathing suit and off we went to the pool, all bundled up.

Once I got there and touched the water, I really didn't think I could do it, it was freezing! I think I waited for about 10 minutes on the side of the pool, getting wet from the light rain and shaking from the coldness, before deciding to actually jump in. Once I was in, I just had to keep on moving, my whole skin felt all tingly and numb. Mike said the water was even colder today than it was yesterday, even though the outside temperature was warmer today.

So there you have it, I did it! Easiest $50 I've ever made, haha. Some benefits of cold water therapy include: keeping your blood pressure stabilized, stimulating the body to release endorphins, improving the body’s immune system by increasing white blood cell levels, etc. I'm sorry, but I'll do it again only for money, Mike can be the healthy one in this marriage :P

Taco Salad

One of our favorite quick and easy dinners to prepare is taco salad. When we went on our low carb diet, we started eating lots of salads, I don't know why we never had this one before. We used to have it without the corn chips when we were more strict about it.

My friend Candice recently decided to give the low carb lifestyle a try. I went grocery shopping with her and told her to get stuff to make taco salad. I don't really use a recipe, but I pretty much start by frying up diced onion in olive oil, then I add the garlic, then the beef, then all the spices. And garnish with everything else. This is what I put in mine:

For the meat: 1 small onion, ground beef, minced garlic, salt and pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and oregano. Serve it on top of chopped romaine lettuce, then add black beans, salsa, sour cream, cheddar cheese, guacamole and tortilla chips. You should try it!

Hello there August!

My friend Paola that lives in Cancun is coming to visit in two weeks. She'll be staying with us for a week. Then my mom arrives a week after her. I'm excited about seeing them, I haven't seen my mom since we went to California for thanksgiving.

This past Thursday I helped my friend Isabelle with a photo shoot. It was really fun! I hope I have the opportunity to assist her in other shoots she might have. I even got to ride in her cute smart car... yes, I get excited about these things he he.

We've made a few more changes to our diet. We are now buying grass fed beef, butter and when we can, heavy cream. We also started drinking raw milk... I was scared of trying the raw milk at first, but it is really good! Other than that, we're still on our low carb diet. I'm reading Real Food: What to Eat and Why, it's pretty much just a refresher of everything I've already learned.

Lately, we've been using Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking cookbook. Many of the recipes call for a dutch oven. So, since we can't really afford to buy a Le Creuset right now, we bought a Lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven. We used it today to make coq au vin... even Lily approved. How was your weekend?

My point exactly...

Setting: Sunday afternoon, looking at a free magazine picked up at Whole Foods.

Mike: This magazine is all new agey...

Me: Well, you're kinda of new agey too...

Mike: No I'm not! I make fun of those people... Oh! I just remembered, I found a good new age station last night, can you turn it on?

Any way... We finally bought some grass fed beef and made some delicious chili with it. Mike also wanted to buy raw milk, but I drew the line with the non homogenized, it's actually very good and creamy! How was your weekend?

PS. Mike asked if they sold brains at Whole Foods... enough said

Diet

I went to the doctor this past Friday to discuss the results of my blood work and as I had suspected, my cholesterol was very high. My liver functions were still high and don't know why, so they took more blood to see if it still came up. Now I just have to wait for those results.

Mike has been doing all kinds of research for a few months now and he learned that the biggest factor causing obesity, high cholesterol and other heart diseases were refined carbohydrates (white flour and sugar, aka everything that is delicious in the world) So now we are on a low carb diet... and it's horrible!

This past week has been miserable for me. This diet is making me depressed and cranky. I've never been on a diet so it's been really hard for me. I seriously fantasize about desserts and bread ALL day long. It seems like everything I like has tons of carbs, so it's been very frustrating for me. I did loose 5 lb (not that you can tell by looking at me of course), but the main reason why we're doing this isn't to loose weight, but to be healthy.

I asked Mike why couldn't we just cut back on our carbs instead of giving them up all together so drastically. Turns out, your body stores carbs as fat, in the process making you feel hungry. Instead, we are eating eggs, veggies, meats, cheese, certain fruits, nuts, etc until we feel satisfied. We are still cooking with butter and coconut oil (saturated fats that are actually good, but everyone thinks they are bad for you) and olive oil.

Lets hope no one gets hurt during our little diet adventure, I think carbs are what used to make me a nice person. In the mean time, I'll go back to dreaming about pies, cakes, bread, cookies...

Changes

There has been a couple of changes in my life lately. The first one is that I legally changed my last name. I know this might sound corny, but I honestly feel like I've lost a part of my identity and heritage. I don't see how changing a last name makes a marriage more "official"... it feels like my husband now owns me or something. I still don't get what the big deal is, but it meant a lot to Mike and it was starting to become a hassle with insurance and other paper work, so I went ahead and got it over with.

The other change we're making in our life is in our diet. Just a few weeks back, while enjoying some tapas in Miami, I was telling my friends how I would NEVER go on a diet, that I loved food so much... well, so much for that conversation. I had some blood work done a few weeks ago and something weird came up in my liver, so I had to get more blood work done. Now I'm waiting to go back and discuss the results with my doctor.

We have been eating more natural for like 2 years now, making everything from scratch and not eating any preservatives, artificial ingredients, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. But now, we are also trying to really cut down on our carbs and sugar, and that makes me very sad! I tell Mike I'd rather live a short and happy life, where I can eat anything I want! He doesn't seem to agree with me he he. I know it's all a matter of getting used to this new lifestyle, but it's so hard! I have the cravings of 10 pregnant ladies put together! I love desserts and bread so much it makes me want to cry... ok I admit it, I did cry about it already.

I know that in the long run it's the right decision. I don't want to end up like my parents taking tons of pills to control everything. As it is, Mike and I believe that most diseases are preventable by eating the right diet, I just didn't really care he he. We are still taking our food based vitamins and cod liver oil. We also started going on daily walks. Now that we are back on track in our trying to conceive (ttc) adventure, what better time to change our eating habits to try our best to have a healthy baby right?