If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE meat! I adore(d) our farm raised chicken, beef, goat and lamb....it just doesn't return the sentiments!

Over the last 6ish years my body started to shift. I was healing from Chronic Lyme & company through my 40's and never even knew I was in the early stages of menopause...trust me if most women had something worse to complain about they'd be better off....that is until things paused! Meno-Pause!

It was at that point that the shift for me went from being a meat eater to being nearly killed by meat!

I am approaching my first & second anniversary of calling 911 for anaphylactic shock. Both occurred in January, 3 years and 3 days apart which is just a coincidence. There is nothing significant about it...we eliminated a "dead" Christmas Tree, so mold isn't the problem. We've had the mold sniffing dog go through our house and around our property...no mold. One very important common factor was NUTS! They also want me DEAD!

Plain and simple...it was food(s)! Lots of foods! It took 3 years and the second 911 call to get a diagnosis. Since my diagnosis in early Spring of 2014, I have made leaps and bounds with my health....more specifically Mast Cell Activation Disorder or Histamine Intolerance. And yes, we believe that the shift during menopause threw me into it head first.

Wow, that was a pretty quick and an easy week of going raw! I've done juice fasts that nearly killed me! Raw with chewing is SO much easier. Keeping the variety going hasn't been that hard and yes, there have been several days that I just wanted to roast or cook something!

So, in my need for more....I decided to ferment a jar of fresh pineapple, butternut squash, fresh cranberries and cilantro!  ( I've done the pineapple before with cilantro but not the other foods added...and it's SO good....you know how your brain is expecting sweet from the fruit...well the fermentation makes it sour...the brain gets a surprise!)

It's going to sit for a couple weeks but should be SO good!!! 

I am SO in love with all the color! Adding foods of ALL colors is one of the healthiest things you can do!

Of course from an artist....THINK COLOR!!!

Pound out the juices, then add the brine. My ratio is 2 Tbsp salt to 1 Quart of water. Mix the brine and pour what you need over the veggies and fruit.

You know I've been doing this for so long, I don't need the fancy fermenting gadgets. A quart ziplock is good enough for me. Weight it down with a bag of water, then cover with a dish towel. Let it do it's thing. 

The idea is to keep all the food under the water line. The weight of the bag does just that.

Now let it sit and do what fermented foods have been doing for centuries....create it's own pro-biotics. It's a predigested food!

I started a 21 day raw diet to jump-start my immune system. My blood work came back far from perfect as it was 2 years ago. My immune system is under attack. Narrowing that down will come this week when I can chat with my doc. My CD 57 (which is a NK (natural killer cells/“cluster designation”) Lyme marker) was also VERY low (20) showing a chronic infection...normal is 60-350+. It looks as if Lyme is back for another fight!!! I beat it's butt once I can beat it again! I really don't feel as bad as a 20, but my bone pain has been extremely intense. My memory is lapsing. My ability to find words is difficult. (If you look at it in the most simplest terms, my cells are only housing 20 NK on each cell to fight for me...as opposed to hundreds if not thousands! 20 is not very good....I need an army of NK to fight for me as God intended!) 

The CD 57 test is a pretty sure thing. It's not nearly as costly (although don't get me wrong...it is quite pricey, but insurance covers it in your plan) as some other Lyme test. But it's a dead on test. No question about whether it's a negative, positive or indeterminate as with the other Lyme tests. They've developed some wonderful CD tests. CD 4 is for HIV. Over 200 CD markers have been name so far! Wow!!! What an incredible body our Creator made!!!

I know when it started. It was June that I questioned if Lyme or it's cohorts were back including Bartonella which is Cat Scratch Fever....I get the claw marks on my thighs. And frankly (cause as you know that's the only way I roll) I think it was Spring Lambing that caused me to come out of remission if indeed that is what happened. Lambing was extremely stressful, emotional, draining for a 56 year old woman....who God never intended to have babies at this age! The every 2 hour routine all night was enough to kill me and I know that's when I started to tank. I'm glad I'm not lambing again....of course I am! I don't even have enough energy to accomplish all I have right now. BUT I am grateful that Winter is settling in and the pace of life is much much much slower! So, I will spend this Winter kicking the crap out of Lyme once again using food, herbs, supplements and Rife. I've done it once. I know it can be done. 

I purchased the ebook from Young and Raw, for the 21 day raw cleanse. I'm finding it much easier then the juicing fasts I've done in the past under doctor supervision. By day 3 of nothing but juice, the hunger pains are so intense I can't even sleep. And for those battling Cancer, it is a required regime to jump-start the immune system. I get it. 

This was my breakfast the other morning! It would of taken a lot of energy to digest all of this, but sending it through the juicer removes all the bulk and left me with a 16oz glass of nutritious & delish juice!

I wondered if it would be boring to eat nothing but raw....but it's not! There are boundless combinations that include protein and fats to balance the diet. Yesterday's lunch was a big salad with dressing made of Chickpea Miso, Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, Salt, Pepper, Nutritional Yeast Flakes and a dash ofChili powder. I didn't think I could stomach a salad without olive oil...but I can! Olive oil isn't in the 21 day cleanse....but it's one of my favorite oils on salad. (I'm not following their menu plan....but using it for guidance.)

Trying to keep it simple but also exciting......I made my guacamole dip for dinner and ate it with veggie sticks! YUM!!! A great way to end my 1st day of the 21 day challenge.

I'm still trying to focus on Anti foods; anti-inflammatory, anti-anaphylactic, anti-histamine. After work ing with those foods for the past 12 months, I'm doing exceptionally well, tolerating many histamine foods (avocado) that were off limits for me last year. Following the principles that The Low Histamine Chef teaches works....but it hasn't been enough to boost my immune system...of course I haven't been strict enough. 

Here's more info on eating a Raw Foods Diet.

CHEERS!!!! Here's to renewed health in 2015!
Diane

I'm grateful for FERMENTS!!

I've been a big fermenter for over 8 years. My first ferments were Kraut and To Die For Dill Pickles!!! 

I decided to grow Daikon Radishes this Fall.....however, I've never even eaten a Daikon! They grew like gang busters and every seed germinated! I had NO idea that they would be SO huge! My mission was to figure out what to do with these babies and the best way to preserve all of the nutrients and more from a food is to ferment it!!!

The most popular ferment I found was Banh Mi. It's an Vietnamese relish. The Farmer's Daughter's beau is Vietnamese...SO I figured I'd give it a try because if nothing else I'd have some guinea pigs to clean it up!

To my surprise I LOVE Banh Mi!!! The heat from the radishes diminishes a little, but the heat from the chile pepper more then made up for it!!!

I'm embarrassed to confess that this is the first time I used this little gadget! It really is all they hoot about. Pretty nifty for a hand cranked machine.

I got mine last Christmas for around $25! Not bad and it comes with 3 blades. I still don't know all that it's capable, but will play with it a little more...promise!

Banh Mi is basically just Daikon Radishes, Carrots and Chile Pepper. To ferment I use 2Tbsp of salt to 1 Qt of water. I packed my 1/2 gallon jar and then poured the salt water over top. You always need to make sure that everything is weighed down and water covers it well. I used a smaller lid to keep everything under water and from air reaching it. My first fermented kraut I used a clean rock!! You can also fill a ziplock with salty water (in case it leaks) and pop it in the opening....anything that will weigh down and keep it from oxidation. Then you can either put a lid back on slightly or cover with a dish cloth and rubber band. There are new fermenting gadgets on the market that didn't exist 8 years ago (well they did at the wine making store!!)....and frankly you don't need them. But they are pretty nifty and you might feel better using them. And really if a nifty gadget will get you to make ferments then all the more buy them!!! Ferments are a life giving food and everyone needs them!

Sour is a food that we have forgotten to love! Sour is our friend!!! Ferments are filled with probiotics that love your gut!  Vietnamese use Banh Mi to make a "deli" sandwich. It's a condiment....I use mine on my salad every evening for dinner and oh YUM!!! It adds just the right amount of sour to my salad with EVOO. 

I put a lid on my jar a little too tight. It didn't hurt anything, just built up a chlorine smell. Which isn't harmful and dissipated once I loosened the lid. I left my Banh Mi for 2 weeks. If you like it more sour, then leave longer. Once you put your ferments in the fridge it ceases the fermentation process. 

My favorite source for fermentation was always Wild Fermentations by Sandor Katz.

FYI: Ferments are high in Histamine. If you are still very sensitive to Histamine due to Histamine Intolerance and/or Mast Cell Activation Disorder, then wait until your system is stronger. I couldn't do ferments for a good year until I started really focusing on the MCAD. They don't seem to be a problem now...which I am every so GRATEFUL for!!!