I want to cook

My husband is a vegetarian. When we started to live together, he took care of the cooking because of his special needs.  I had a lot of free time first when we moved to Chapel Hill so I slowly started to take over in the kitchen. My favorite part of cooking is browsing through cooking books and food blogs. I love discovering new recipes and looking at pictures of food. I have a lot of recipes on my TO-DO-LIST, here are few recipes that I'm planning to make. 

Almond Veggie Pate Nori Rolls

I'm in love with raw sushi rolls. This recipe is from Ani Phyo. I have two raw cooking books from here and I love her recipe's. 

Cristina from Buenos Aires to Paris

is a wonderful food blog. The pictures and the food are so lovely. I just hope that one day I can cook food that looks as nice as hers. Here are Pistachio/Raspberry Mini-Cakes that she made.

 

Moroccan Quinoa Bites

is a recipe that I found on Julie's raw ambition When I cook everything turns to a mess. I think I will never be able to cook like Julie. Just see how amazing the picture is. I just want to run to store and buy the ingredients straight away. 

Chocolate-souffle

This one seems so tasty.

Raw Orange Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding

from rawmazing

 

 

Food that kicks arthritis butt UPDATE

These berries are supposed to be good to eat if you have arthritis

Acaiberry

Blueberries

Black currants

Cherry berries

Raspberry 

Strawberries

These vegetable have been recommend if you're dealing with arthritis

Cuccumber

Carrots

Cellery

Broccoli

Spinach

Onion

Sweet potatoes

Beetroot

These fruits are suggested to help with arthritis

apples

Apparently spices can have good effects on arthritis

Curry

Fennel

Turmeric

Then we have

Ginger

Garlic

Chili

Chinnamon

I think it's good to eat a lot of fish (if you're into fish)

Cod

Salmon

I'm always looking for food that's supposed to have good effects on arthritis. Anything you could think of that should be on this list

Food that fights arthritis

My arthritis journey has led me to the place where I look at food and think "Would this benefit my arthritis" or "is that a good arthritis food". I firmly believe that food can be helpful to keep arthritis down. I even have an excel-sheet where I write down food that kicks arthritis butt. 

I don't whether it is all true what you read about the healing power of food but I don't care. I will rather eat food that some odds are that will keep the arthritis down than not. 

These berries are supposed to be good to eat if you have arthritis

Acaiberry

Blueberries

Cherry berries

Raspberry 

Strawberries

These vegetable have been recommend if you're dealing with arthritis

Cuccumber

Carrots

Cellery

Broccoli

Spinach

Onion

Sweet potatoes

These fruits are suggested to help with arthritis

apples

Apparently spices can have good effects on arthritis

Curry

Fennel

Turmeric

Then we have

Ginger

Garlic

Chili

I'm always looking for food that's supposed to have good effects on arthritis. Anything you could think of that should be on this list

Eating raw

For three days I only ate raw food

For three days I didn't have the pain that has been keeping me up on nights

For three days I have been very tired

For three days I made some great raw food including these awesome desserts

For three days I knitted the I-Pad cover

This one is made by me

I'm almost done with I-Pad cover

I got this recipe from rawdorable

 

Going raw

I decided to try the raw diet. My pain is going worse by every day and I need to do something to ease the pain. I have been reading on the internet, raw success stories, e.g. people with arthritis that went on raw food diet and got better. In the beginning I will try to be 100% raw but I don't think it is going to be possible to 100% raw there. It's just so cold there and the selection of fruits and vegetables aren't great.

I have been doing a lot of reading about healing arthritis with food. I gain a little bit more knowledge about what is wise to do when you have arthritis. However I'm also getting confused there is so much information out there. Some of the information contradict other information. So the more I read, the more I get confused.

Raw diet, juicing and fasting are however things that I think could be benefical.

• I don't have a juicer right now but I will have one after three weeks
• Today was my first day on 100% raw diet
• I'm planing to fast (with juices) this week

Day 14, week no. 2

It's been two weeks since I started the blog, two weeks since I decided to eat healthy food for 30 days minus 4 candy-days. Week number two did not go as I planned. I didn't eat healthy food and I didn't exercise. I'm going to do better. 

Recap of the week

For four days, I ate unhealthy food

I ate good food for three days, sigh. 

I only walked twice this week

I bicycled twice

I never made it to the gym nor did yoga, not good at all.

I WILL do better next week

My husband and I spent the whole day at a coffee shop. I had white tea, it doesn't have a great taste but it's mild and suits the warm spring days, we're having now.  I made some progress on the I-Pad cover.

Day 11, week no. 2. Bad decicions

After two wonderful days after the detox day where I was almost pain-free, had so much energy and almost felt like a normal person again. 

I woke up this morning and instantly knew that it was over

You may ask yourself why would it be over just like that. Well, in those two wonderful days where I was feeling good. I could have continued to practice good lifestyle that benefits my arthritis but sadly I didn't. 

The day after the detox-day I had slice of pizza, one slice of cake and coke (which is so absolutely on my no-no list). I wanted something "good" to eat because I had cleaned the house and I wanted to reward myself. 

Yesterday started okay, I had a healthy breakfast and lunch and had brown rice sushi for dinner.  My husband hand to attend a party in the evening so I decided it was time for cozy night for Erla. So I bought not one but two slices of cakes.

úff

Today I have been yearning for more cakes and sweets. WHAT'S wrong with me? I know it's better for me to stay way from certain foods but still I eat them. 

Arthritis blogs

I´m new to blogging, I´m new to exploring my disease. When I first got sick I just took my medicine and tried to exercised and eat healthy food. I did hardly any research on psoriasis arthritis. I think the main reason was that I was just so horrible sick that I needed all my energy to everyday tasks. I didn't have anything left for researching. 

This time is different. I'm not as sick so I have energy left to do the research. And this time I want to understand what is happening and what can I do to prevent the flares. I also want to interact with other people with arthritis and learn their strategy to deal with arthritis. Therefore I have spent last days exploring arthritis blogs. I have found quite few and I'm trying to pick some for a daily read. ANY RECOMMENDATION? I think I'm looking for blogs that are focused on ways to fight the arthritis because I have never given up the hope. I truly believe that it's possible to get rid of arthritis. I don't know how but at least I think I can make a difference. What I'm trying to say is that I want to fight back, I want to do everything I can to fight of the stupid arthritis. I want my life back.

Meal plan

I worry most about the meal plan. I'm so very afraid that I can't stick to a meal plan because there is always something coming up that changes our plans. 

Friday: Oat meat with cinnamon and banana. Potatoes.Dining out.

Saturday: Coconut water with spinach, blueberry and bananas. Mediterranean Wrap.

Sunday: Oat meal w/cinnamon and banana. Coconut water with apple, spinach, banana. Red split lentils.

Monday: Coconut water with apple, spinach, banana, Ginger Almond Roll.

Tuesday: Oat meal w/cinnamon and banana. Whole green lentils with garlic and onion. Sushi.

Wednesday: Coconut water with spinach, banana. Sweet potatoes.

Thursday: Oat meal w/cinnamon and banana. Sour chick peas. 

I start with that and see how it goes. If I feel hungry then it is okay to have some Swedish bread 

Food

I have been struggling last weeks to eat healthy food and exercise every day. Even though I have been trying to live a healthy lifestyle ever since I was diagnosed with arthritis . I  have never reach that stage where I only eat whole food and make good choices for my health. First when I started to eat whole food and exercise I imagine that after a month maybe three I would turn into health guru that would never again make poor choices for my health. Think again 7 years later I still struggle eating healthy food. 

Last month I have been reading a lot of blogs about healthy living and I have found that very inspiring. Some of the blog made my think about my relationship with food. My problem regarding food is that I use food as comfort and prize. When I want to do something good for me I  buy coke, cupcake, kit-kat and rent a movie. When I'm upset I also turn to food. I make up for the disappointment by eating something "good". Even when I'm bored I go and try to find something to eat.  I eat to much when I eat, I don't stop when I'm full. When I go to a party and there's food on the table, ALL I can think about is the food. I feel sometimes like I'm addict because when I decide to change my behavior and eat more healthy. I usually start byy stuff my face with pizza and cookies. 

There are five things I feel like I have to do

Change my attitude towards food

Lose weight

Eat healthy food
Exercise

Make a plan to let these things happen

Making food

I got  Ani's raw food kitchen from my mother in law for Christmas present. I haven't cooked or made a lot from it YET. I really like the book. It's a good start for people like me who want to explore the wonders of raw food. What I like most about raw food is the fact that there's no cooking involved.  I hate waiting for the water to start boiling, standing and stir in the pot or for the oven to hot enough. 

For supper tonight I made Ginger Almond Nori Roll with Garden Paté. It was delicious. It took about half an hour to make it and they were so pretty.

 

My husband made biscotti to night. I think I have never ever tried biscotti before. They were surprisingly good. 

At last but not least I made ginger"magic"broth. I got the recipe from my father and his wife. They have been brewing it this winter. It is tasty and when properly done it burns your throat when you drink it. I call it the ginger"magic"broth because it did wonder for my arthritis. I was pretty bad of the arthritis in December. I had everyday pain, had trouble sleeping because of it and I had some trouble walking around. You know just the usual for folks with arthritis. In January I went for a month visit to Iceland and stayed with my Dad. I drank the ginger"magic"broth maybe every other day and oh boy og boy, the difference. The pain went form 7 to 1-2 and I stopped taking painkillers and could sleep. When I came back home I started to brew it my self. The broth isn't as effective when I make it but I still get a little bit better of my arthritis.

 

Ginger"magic"broth

2 liters water

320 g ginger

50 ml lemon juice

60ml agave syrup 

4 g mint 

Chop the ginger, squeeze the lemons, put everything in the pot and boil for an hour. Pour the broth through sieve. Store in a fridge.