Is It SPRING Yet??!!

It is still very clearly WINTER here!! We are frozen again today!! 17 degrees I think!!?? Warmer then yesterday but still very COLD!!

We are driving through the field here because the driveway just drifts shut!!  The snow blows across the fields right back into the driveway to blow it shut again! We finally started to just drive the field in,  it takes speed though or we will get stuck! (Believe me I know, I tried it!) I get nervous every time I know I need to go in or out the drive for any reason!! At times I go down the road to turn around just so I have enough of speed to make it in without getting stuck!! I tell the kids to hang on and we go bumping over the field flat peddle!! The joys of a long driveway that just blows shut as soon as the wind picks up even just a bit!! (I love the long driveway in most seasons!)

Yesterday was an all day kitchen day here! It was a great day for it! I had the oven going most of the day which helped get the house temperature up a bit more! I made food for Dave to keep at the shop for his lunch and for a dessert I made a coconut cake and froze it in small pieces so he will have dessert for lunch even if I'm not baking to much right now.

I made a casserole with the leftover goose meat. I'm not sure I'd recommend goose? It's a tad dry and just kind of crumbles eatin as leftovers!? We do have some in the freezer yet that we plan to try in the smoker. Someone told us it's great made in a smoker? I made granola bars to. I baked chicken and picked it off for later use. I made Jordan a dish... rice pasta, grilled onions, asparagus, broccoli, peas, spinach and then he added some of the baked chicken to it. It looked good and he is getting used to eating things without the sauces and cheeses...   :)

Jordan helped me make a pumpkin custard. We tweaked a recipe that actually turned out good. Justin even tasted it and this was his remark "If you haven't had sweets for three weeks I can see that this would be good"

Here is what we used...
15 ounces pumpkin, 2 eggs (duck) 1 cup coconut milk, 2-3 Tabls. Stevia, a dash each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. We put it in five ramekin's and then in a bar pan with a bit of water. I baked them for twenty minutes then added some chopped pecans mixed with cinnamon and a bit of stevia to the top and baked for another twenty minutes.
He loves them! I think his sweet tooth has gone away and even this tiny bit of sweetener tastes great to him...:)

We also juiced many more lemons!! He drinks lemon water with his breakfast everyday and then he takes a small glass in his lunch to. I ask him so often if he drinks lots of water at school that he started to tell me before I ask... "yes mom I drank lots and lots of water!" I love how he seems so much healthier!!

I have been learning how gluten can contaminate and toxicate the body... So bad that no matter how many different natural products you try to take the body really can not even absorb them! I cringe to think of all the money I spent at health food stores and many other places to try help Jordan over the years!!

I think keeping Jordan off of gluten and his other allergy foods long enough will heal his body to the point of it being able to absorb all these natural products one day! We are excited to be on the journey towards healing!! To see such huge results in only a few weeks is amazing to! Gluten is raising havoc in our community today!

Gluten as I'm learning is processed differently then back in the old days. The way they process it now is faster and was done partly to end world hunger. (along with GMO's) The way gluten is now processed causes lots of inflammation to peoples bodies, (Jordan had bad gut inflammation!) I think this is why we have so many more odd health issues here today. Behavior problems to the extreme, diabetes, and more things that seemed to nose dive out of control in just the past few years.

People blame family history or might say I just have this issue because of this or that reason and I'll just have to live with it for the rest of my life... I would throw this challenge to you... Try NO Gluten for one month!! See if you can tell a difference!? If you really want to be sure do a food allergy test (there are right and wrong places to do these though)  I think sugar can also raise havoc in our bodies but if just starting with or baby stepping towards I would say cut out gluten first! It really is not that hard!! Many stores are so gluten free friendly that I'm sure I could make yummy meals and my family would never miss the gluten! We have cut back here drastically since Jordan was diagnosed but the rest of us still eat some gluten.

I'm all for preventive... Why wait until we have serious issues to take care of our bodies?? It just seems we so often think this way... why fix something that ain't broke?

I have so much to learn and so far I'm enjoying the journey. I want to educate myself more on preventives and how the foods that we eat affects our bodies.  I want to use my education to help Jordan on his healing journey, I want to help others become AWARE to because I think simple awareness is a huge step in the right direction!

Maybe you are wondering... Why do I have this skin problem?? Why am I or my child so constipated? Why am I sluggish with so little energy?? Why do I get these headaches? Why these hormone problems?? And on and on!! Right now my mind tells me... "check the foods you eat" Are you eating a good nutritious balanced diet?? Maybe you think you are eating a well balanced diet but many foods we think are healthy are still contaminated with gluten, this could very easily be the issue.

The "No Gluten" thing really does not look hard to me now since we have many more things to watch for but I know it can be so overwhelming to think about to!! I have heard testimonies of people that cleaned out the cupboards and refrigerator putting everything on a pile and the pile was huge!! Starting over from there is what they did!! I did more the baby steps thing and it was not so overwhelming for me. You will still find sweets/chocolate and gluten products here at our house. I'm just real careful when cooking or preparing food for Jordan that all counter tops and utensils are washed clean. I prepare his lunchbox and breakfasts away from the other kids stuff. I often prepare his food first then once I'm done there I'll start on the rest of the family.

It sounds overwhelming I know but seeing results makes it all so worth it! It's for real not even bad. I'm finding the longer it goes the more it's like "this is really not even that bad!" I mean we can still make really good food! It's just not what we were used to but once it becomes a new normal I look at it like "Why did we wait so long??!!" I have to put more effort into food preparation and Jordan needs to be the strong one and say "No" to foods that he LOVED! He seems stronger every day now though, I think he is realizing that it really was the food that was making him feel so bad, so saying "No" is getting easier but still hard at the same time. He has some fun "February Fun" coming up at school soon which includes hot lunches, exchanging lunches, treat days, snack days, so it's not all easy to miss out but he still realizes the reason and he would so much rather be healthy and feel better then live with what he was dealing with...We pray everyday for people that are dealing with food sensitivities.

We are so proud of Jordan for being a fighter!! We are seeing results in the healing and we are excited!! I was on the phone today working out the details of his next CHOP appointment and his next infusion with the new nurse and pharmacy. We were told these infusions are "lifetime" for Jordan!! We would consider it a miracle to be able to wean him off of these antibodies!! We have a new hope and we are believing that one day God will heal him and we will be done with CHOP and these treatments!!! That is excitement for us for sure!! All because of FOOD??? Really?#imabeliver!!

I'm wondering if it's to cold for a run?? I'm gonna try it...:) I told Dave when I run on the snow covered driveway I just try to think "it's just like running on the white sandy beach!" Yeah right who am I kidding?? Is it SPRING yet!!???

Blessings to you on this Wednesday...