Home...A time to heal!

I'm home! I just returned tonight. As of tonight, I have had my last bite of gluten, dairy, and sugar (and other such nasty things like hydrogenated oils and such). No more for me. I'm sad that I ever got off the bandwagon, but hope I can get back on and remain free of those things....They don't make me feel well...they only feed my emotions and keep me binging. Never mind the fact that they cause me terrible fibromyalgia pain, heartburn, headaches, stomach discomfort, and weight gain. Today, from this minute on, I promise myself and you that I will be gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free. I will eat mindfully. I will learn to listen to my body and heal. I will do all I need to do to heal. I will go back to the basics...go back to adding one new food in at a time...and waiting three days before I try another one. I will start exercising again...and much more....here's to hoping that I'll be able to do this all...

Any suggestions would be great. Anyone know how long it takes to get the gluten, dairy, and sugar out of your system??

Thanks.

Thanks for all your support!

~Ari

Personal Health Update...Sadly, It's Not Better..

Remember this post? I talked a lot about how I wasn't handling school and things and just overeating and bingeing a ton even on gluten and sugar? I want to be honest with you, and appreciate your help and support. Unfortunately, things have only gotten worse and those things have continued...Besides having bingeing issues, I have also had a lot of stomach problems like normal and my old friend fibromyalgia and such...and some other personal health problems as well. Suffice it to say, I have been in and out of the doctor's office more frequently in a shorter span of time than I care to count! I have been so sick in so many ways, and have missed zillions of classes and assignments. On Friday, I went into my doctor again.  He suggested that I withdraw from school and go home and get some help there and not have the stress of school to make matters worse and to focus on healing. I prayed about it and I know this is what I am supposed to do. It's not easy...and it still won't be an easy road even at home, but what I need to do now is focus on getting better. If you want, I'd appreciate prayers in my behalf as I am going through this tough time in my life and especially for the next few days as I try to rush through cleaning my apt and packing and moving and doing this all while I am not feeling well.

The stress of dealing with all of this has not made the bingeing easier either...in fact, I've been terrible lately...binging on gluten and sugar too. And a lot. I've gained some weight and that just makes me feel worse. Plus, I worry about going home...because my family still eats gluten and sugar and having that around is going to be even more of a temptation...especially since Halloween is almost here and around the same time, my brother's birthday...

Anyway, just wanted to let you know the big news and see if you have any suggestions...

Are you addicted to food? Especially sugar? How did you beat it? (Feel free to send me a personal email too if you want....thefrugallyrichlife AT gmail DOT com).

Giveaway and Natural Deodorant

Nourishing Days is having a giveaway for a gift certificate for natural personal care or beauty products. This would be a great opportunity to switch to natural products. I'd love to win some myself! :) The natural makeup looks awesome too.

Want to begin using natural products, but have a hard time spending that kind of mulah ($)? Me too. You can start here though by making your own frugal and very natural deodorant! It's so cheap to make, lasts forever, works great, and is so much better for you then commercial deodorant. Check it out! You'll be glad you did...I'll never go back to regular deodorant!

Oh my. These are so good. I’ve eaten way too many. Best of all? These are free from any grains at all….gluten-free or otherwise. And? They involved very little work, contain only one flour, and taste just like “whole-wheat” or regular muffins. :) Tested by my room mates even, and they approve!

This recipe came to be because I’ve been testing coconut flour and trying agave. :) Mmmm….good!

Best Banana Muffins

by Ariana Anderson, adapted from this recipe by Tasty Eats At Home

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas (mine were just ripe-no brown spots—but I’m sure these would be even more delicious with riper bananas)


• 4 eggs


• 1/2 c. agave


• 4 T. oil (I used sunflower seed oil)


• 15 drops stevia (I used vanilla stevia)***


• 3/4 c. coconut flour


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1/2 t. salt


• 1.5 t. cinnamon

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease well. Mash bananas with a fork, or with my prefered method, a potato masher. Crack eggs and stir  them in. Add agave. Stir. Add oil. Mix. Add stevia. Mix. Add coconut flour, salt, and cinnamon. Stir. Add in baking soda. Stir again. Using an ice-cream scoop (or spoon---the scoop just tends to be able give out the right amount of batter per muffin tin), pour batter into individual cups. Smooth tops of muffins with slightly wet fingers, if desired. Slide muffin tins in the oven. Let cook for 20 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean. Mine were perfect right at 20, but every oven is different.

Yields: 12 beautiful, soft, super moist, just sweet enough, perfectly satisfying tasty muffins great warm or cold

Enjoy! Let me know how you like them! :)

***Update: I made them again. They were so good. I used speckled bananas this time...they yielded an even more moist sweet muffin. I think in this case you could use less or no stevia and be fine...especially if you are weary of the stevia after taste you sometimes get. I've never eaten a more moist muffin!!! It's almost like a cupcake or something of a dessert it feels like because it is so moist, you would think there would be cups and cups of oil in it--but it's so healthy and yummy! :) I want to try these next time with half oil and have applesauce. If you try that or any other variations, let me know.

This is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays!

What is it about pancakes that makes them so warm and comforting? For General Conference this morning, I wanted to make a special breakfast. I recently realized that I could have brown rice flour. I didn’t think I could have any flours yet because I haven’t tested them yet, but realized that brown rice flour should be totally fine since I know that brown rice doesn’t bother me whatsoever. :) It is one of those hypoallergenic foods that most everyone can tolerate….which is true for me too. Because it is so well tolerated by me, even on bad days, it is one of my favorite comfort foods.

Anyway, as I realized recently that I could have brown rice flour, I became excited and thought of what I could make with just brown rice flour that would still taste ok…since GF flours do not taste the greatest most often on their own. I remembered a recipe I had used for crepes one time that had just used brown rice flour….Thinking about this lead me to think of just warm, comforting hearty pancakes. So I began searching. I found several recipes for pancakes made with brown rice flour but most had other flours and or ingredients that I couldn’t yet. Finally, I found this one and tweaked it to fit my needs.



These are good size pancakes…this is the one I ate…it filled up the whole plate (except for the wide rim). :)

It turned out great! These pancakes are super hearty, reminding me of whole wheat pancakes. They are a tiny, itsy bit grainy, but barely so. Especially when you add the banana syrup that I came up with due to a moment of inspiration. :) They are very filling and you will most likely only need one medium-large one (like the one in the photo above) to be full.

Also, these are very frugal pancakes and syrup to make! :) They are also very thick and puffy! :) You could definitely play around with this recipe to make different variations…like blueberry pancakes, for example! :)

Basic but Hearty Brown Rice Flour Pancakes (with Healthy Banana Syrup)

by Ariana Anderson, based off this recipe from Wallet-Friendly Wellness

Ingredients:

2 c. brown rice flour***

1/2 T. baking soda

1 t. sea salt

1 t. cinnamon

20 drops vanilla crème stevia

3 eggs (preferably free-range)

1-3/4 c. rice milk (or other dairy/non-dairy milk)

Directions:

Heat and oil frying pan (I used my cast-iron pan.)  on the stove to about about 3.5 or halfway between low and medium. Mix wet ingredients together.  Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour desired amount of batter (more for bigger pancakes, less for smaller) into warmed pan. Let cook for approximately 3-5 minutes or until you can easy stick your spatula underneath the pancake to fill it over. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Repeat for remaining batter. Serve topped with my healthy and delicious banana syrup (below)  or other desired compliments like maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, fresh fruit, etc.

*** If you aren't allergic to gluten, try whole wheat instead of brown rice flour. Or, you can purchase it or make it by grinding some brown rice in your wheat grinder!

Makes about 7 large, hearty pancakes…which are very filling. Serves 6-7.



(My stack of pancakes…minus the one I ate. :) See how thick they are?)



Pancake with banana syrup! mmmm

Healthy, but Delicious Banana Syrup

by Ariana Anderson

The inspiration for this syrup comes from the fact that I haven’t really tested honey, maple syrup, or agave, yet. When I did have maple syrup, I found that I just binged on it. :( So, I’ve stayed away from all of that. The only thing that I do ok with is stevia and fruit. I thought about putting banana slices on top, but wanted something more…syrupy…which is how I came up with the simple recipe below.

Ingredients: 1 ripe banana per pancake/person

Directions: Break your banana in thirds. Throw it in the blender. Whirl it around until it is syrupy, with a few chunks left. Pour over pancake. Enjoy!

This is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.