Salad time! And some ideas for the new year.

 Lentil Pepper Salad

Ahhhhh so I’m slowly easing myself out of the haze that is holiday eating and I’m doing what we all do come the edge of January.  Swearing to eat better!  To start things off, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite salads from this year (see below).    I’ve got some great ideas for January recipes-  yes, more gluten-free allergen-free baking, but also some raw recipes (yay!) and more paleo recipes (My goal- to try and start a Caveman Monday feature with one new Paleo recipe a week).

I find that this business of slowing down a little on the baked goods and jumping into more raw and paleo recipes is just as much for my own good as it is for some variety on the blog-  I’ve noticed that grains in general are just so not nice to my gut.  So, sprouting GF grains is something I’m going to try- and all other manner of wacky stuff… (Dear Rainbow Foods I’m totally going to be harassing you about sprouting lol).  I’m going to be checking out this raw foods recipe book from Simply Raw.  And cooking meat scares the heck out of me- its not my forte. Soooo… I’m going to be consulting alot of paleo blogs like paleodietlifestyle.com  and a super local favourite- SCD Kat.  Finally- some vegan Gluten Free  anti-candida and allegen friendly baking like the gems at Diet Dessert n Dogs , and the lovely Affairs of Living.

It might seem weird to mix all of these different pursuits together… i know i know.  My vegan friends may not be terribly enthused about my waxing poetic about rabbit stew…. My paleo friends might not appreciate pics of GF Vegan cupcakes :D   But, here’s the thing.  It took me all year last year to find out why i was so sick.  I feel like i’m just getting the hang of things now, in terms of diet.

This year, I’m going to get my diet right and do everything I can to prevent cheating.  So basically in a kinda selfish way, these recipes are a reflection of what i’ll be eating.  Treats that are gluten, egg, dairy, sugar free. Sprouted GF grains and lots of raw foods to keep the candida at bay, and lots of very simply prepared meats and vegetables to keep me going.  No fake food- no xanthan gum, or wierd soy fake milk, none of that .  Nothing that is packaged.  Nothing that says “made with natural flavours”.  Goal- by the end of this year to have a near perfect blood ph score, great skin, stable energy, stable moods without my vitamin supplements (which work wonders, btw) and no more passing out at work!

Most of all, more than anything… I just want more spoons. 

I want to get as close to normal as normal feels.  I want to feel like there are other people out there trying to get their diet straight too, so I’m not out here by myself. (please give me ideas for food if you want –  i could use all the help i can get)…  I want to feel strong enough not to wake up sick or go to bed sick. Strong enough not to feel like small tasks are overwhelming because i can’t move. Strong enough to know when a food is affecting me badly and how to make it stop.  And gosh darn it i will do it. :) 

So, um. I start grocery shopping tonight. Wish me luck.  Join me on this adventure.  Call me on my bull if you see me cheat ;)

Here are my favorite salads! :)

Asparagus Citrus     Quinoa Tabouleh    Wild Rice Cranberry     Apple Radish      Cumin Carrot Chickpea