Day 120... Eating, Med School and a Household Notebook

 Kale Pesto with Chicken and Gluten Free Pasta

Eating...I had my 120 day visit last week with my doctor (Eastern Medicine, Homeopath, Chiropractor) and tested as clean as I ever have.

Dr. Jeff Robinson then tested to see which multivitamins my body "liked" the best.  I have had trouble with getting nauseous and throwing up with vitamins my whole life, but the herbs and supplements that I get from Dr. Jeff (from Thorne) have never given me a problem.  I can even take them on an empty stomach, which has always been unheard of for me.


Med School...I am also venturing into the territory of getting my last pre-reqs to apply to medical school.  My first two classes are summer term courses which means I'm in lecture and lab 4 days/week.

This leads to another level of doing life in a new way.  For the last four months I've been the lion's share of the cooking, as I've needed to try new recipes and modify them.  With me going back to school, my partner and I will need to share the cooking duties.

Hence, I started a Household Notebook (it's actually a 3-ring binder).

It has a section for weekly menus, shopping lists, freezer and pantry inventories, monthly chore list and seasonal project lists (e.g. trim/thin trees before monsoon season begins in mid-June).  I found printable calendars and such, here.

We're starting by planning dinners, and I've added a pocket folder to store recipes needed for the week.

Anyone else have resources for planning life and food?  Please post 'em or send me the link - I'm happy to link up.


Grateful...I am grateful to have taken the last four months to really figure this out, to feel EONS better and to launch into a new way of life. I think there are many people out there like me with sensitivities and many more with major food allergies. If that is you, then the points below are probably very similar and parallel to what you do each day to navigate your life. If you're curious, here are a few of the things my 'new' way of life involves:

1. Navigating life without caffeine.  I started drinking coffee as a teenager, and probably haven't know how much sleep I truly need my entire adult life. Turns out my body likes 8-9 hours of sleep per night, which has been tough to comply with so far.  
2. A lot of new recipes at home.  (See previous posts and the new Recipes page of this blog)
3. Struggling to order anything besides salad and meat at restaurants when out with friends or celebrating
4. Being very "planful" about taking snacks that I know I can eat everywhere to avoid blood-sugar crashes.(see the new Snacks page)

Big No-No's:

• Dairy
• Combination of dairy & wheat
• Caffeine
• Solanines (Solanaceae Family: potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and all things called "pepper" - cayenne, chili, (Not black pepper), green pepper, hot pepper(sauce), paprika, pimiento, red pepper)
  

Major Caution:

• Wheat
• chocolate

To Avoid, if possible:

• Eggs
• Corn