Can I have some diet suggestions?

Do you like vegetables?

My latest snack item is a sweet potato. I dice it. Put it on a cookie sheet and sprinkle Extra Virgin Olive Oil and tiny dashes of tamari sauce. Double check your tamari sauce. Soy sauce usually contains wheat but tamari doesn't if you buy the right kind.

Most of my tamari sauce is low sodium also. Anyway, this is an easy good snack.

I love to cook. If you need ANY recipes, email me. I am old and have been cooking for eons and have tons of recipes. Plus I am always making up stuff.

I have made rice crust pizza, lentil pasta and so many other things. Now I find it easier to buy those, but I will be glad to help you.

Vegetables are my forte. There were 3 girls in my family. I did the veggies for dinner. Next sister did the meat and starch. Baby sister did the dessert. No one can make a pie crust better than my baby sister!! Well, maybe Mom since she is the one that taught her.

I have a family of chefs and restaurant owners. And not a one of us doesn't love to eat!!

Tell me what is in your cupboard and I can tell you what to make.

Oh and I love fish!!! Many fish recipes.

My suggestion is to keep it simple. Buy whole food, not stuff that has been processed in some way. It means more effort at home, but it really helps you improve your diet.

Lots and lots of vegetables! I concentrated on the green veggies more, but was careful to keep as much color (to help ensure that I was getting a good variety of veggies) as I could to my veggies. Most of my dinners are just meat or protein and veggies - little to no carbs.

I don't have access to many organic or grassfed anything, as I live in a very rural area. You can cook in large batches, freezing any leftovers for a day when you aren't up to cooking.

Roasted root veggies are the best! Just cube them, coat them lightly with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roasted-root-vegetables-recipe.html

You can bake chicken at the same time you roast your veggies. Just season the chicken with some salt and pepper, or your favorite dry rub, and put it in the oven about 20 minutes after the veggies and allow them to cook the rest of the time together in the oven.

You can buy a turkey, and bake it, then use the left overs paired with veggies for several nights as well. Turkeys will be on sale soon, if they aren't already!

You can buy pork chops, or I choose to buy half pork loins and cut them into "chops", as it's actually less expensive to buy the half pork loins than pork chops. You can season them with lemon pepper and a touch of salt (use the pink salt) and put them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side (be sure they are cooked thoroughly though) and serve with some steamed or broiled veggies.

Nebula,

Hi. Glad you are focusing on your diet. You can do this. I used to have a nutrition website but it's not up any longer (long story) but had lots of easy recipes. Organic isn't always that much more than regular. The secret is eating what is in season. I'm with Peteza and Trav on keeping it simple. I too will make roasted root vegetables. Cut t hem all up, place in bowl, toss with olive oil and sea salt. I add cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric. Mix evenly and lay out on cookie sheet and bake. I also roast a chicken. You can buy an organic chicken for under $10.00 and have several meals out of it and make stock/bone broth. Soups are easy - carrot-ginger, butternut squash. All simple to make and so nourishing. I would focus on greens, other vegetables and lean protein. If having pasta craving try soba noodles. You can have eggs, spinach and peppers for breakfast, tuna/chicken, greens and sweet potatoes for lunch and similar for dinner. You will get the hang of it.

I love these pastas!!

tolerantfoods.com/

You can even get them on amazon. Organic and no gluten.

plant based proteins.

Hard to get organic fish. lol Little suckers swim fast and I can't get them to eat good stuff. LOL!!!

I am teasing.

I so agree with the organic chicken and diary. Many oncologists are saying that the huge rise in young girls getting breast cancer is because of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that were in diary and chicken when they were children in the early 70's. Many girls the ages of 30-45 getting rare types of breast cancer.

artermix said...
Seriously ladies....and gents....all meats, fish and dairies unless organic if you have lyme is NO NO.

Not everyone can afford organic meat, fish and dairy.

Not everything I buy/eat is organic.

I know people who healed who did not eat organic.

I know people who are very strict with their diet...including organic...who still aren't healed.

"Well I know people who never detoxed and did 28 days of abx who are fine....you serious about that??"

I'm going to pitch in and suggest that people who did 28 days of abx and are fine, with or without detoxing, were not as long term infected as some of us.

The more bacteria is ensconced in our system, the harder we're going to herx.

ETA: I did 90 days of protocol level Doxy and while I learned what a herx was (not here), I had no idea about detoxing.

I was so close to death from herxing I got all my affairs in order and put a tod on my car and the legal equivalent on my property.

Post Edited (julymorning) : 10/9/2016 6:54:06 PM (GMT-6)

Thank you all so much for the suggestions guys. When I can, I will get organic but it isn't much of an option for me at my budget. Generally, my girlfriend and I spend roughly 100ish a week on groceries to share between the two of us. She isn't ill, but she would like to eat healthier as well.

From my understanding of organic vs non-organic, there can be some benefits and I would like to eat mostly organic if I could. However, from the amount I eat (I like food) and my budget, I don't know if it makes sense for me to do so. I am not the biggest fan of vegetables in general as I was raised on a very traditional and unhealthy American diet, but I am doing my best to adapt to a healthier diet and lifestyle. I guess in general I am just learning how to eat healthier.

I have always thrived on meats, sugars, processed foods, bread, dairy, and a lot of other things I cannot have anymore. I am not proud of the diet I had, but it's what I was raised on. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is challenging for me, but I know I will do it. Do you all ever get processed anything? For example, Prego sauce tends to be very cheap and has a lot of vitamins, but it also has a lot of added sugars. Are these types of foods okay if you get the low sugar variety? Ketchup as well.

My diet at the moment is mostly non-organic meats, pinto beans, spinach, frozen french fries/tater tots, non-dairy yogurts, soy/almond milk, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, blueberries, apples, bananas, and some other things I am eliminating that I am sure isn't helping my healing. Gluten free and dairy free pancakes, cookies, cereals, chips and other sweets. I am completely eliminating the sugar snacks, but even most things that I wouldn't think of as unhealthy have a ton of added sugar I never knew about. Do you all just buy absolute whole foods and make everything yourself, with nothing processed? I have been using a lot of organic coconut oil and normal extra virgin olive oil in my dishes too as I have heard those are helpful.

Sorry for the massive reply, hopefully it didn't worsen anyone's fatigue/brainfog. It might sound stupid to those who were raised on a healthier diet but almost all of my diet until now has been found in the processed section. Potato chips, frozen pizzas, spaghettios, mini-ravioli, baked goods, and the nightly home-cooked meal my mother made me growing up. This is going to be a challenge but I look forward to a happier, healthier lifestyle.

If you have room somewhere during your growing season, for some fair sized containers for gardening, try to grow your own veggies next year. I used barrel halves, large plastic storage totes that I crack the bottoms on for drainage, even some old stacked tires I cut the side walls off of. Top soil is cheap by the bag at builders. I only use potting soil where the hole is for the plant.

I plant tomatoes, green beans, peppers of various kinds, and cukes. Didn't have much luck with the squashes. This way you can control what's on it.
If you don't have a garden but can get your hands on local veggies at farmer's markets you can at least make your own tomato sauces, even catsup, and either can or freeze everything.

My recipe for pasta sauce: (I don't measure anything, sorry) amounts approximate:

6-8 cups of chopped tomatoes. If you put them in a food processor you don't even need to peel them. Just whir away and pour into pot.
1/2 C. chopped celery, 1/2 large onion, 1 bell pepper any color, 1/4 c. carrots, 2-3 large cloves of fresh garlic. You can chop it all by hand or do what I do, into the food processor to chop, then pour into the pot with tomatoes. If you think you need or want more of any the above veggies, go for it.
Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, black pepper, italian seasoning, ground basil, parsley, and 1 tbs. sugar or other natural sweetener. This is to offset the acidity of the tomatoes, and spread over the amount of servings this makes, isn't much.
I usually add a couple beef boullion cubes which have sodium in them omit if you have trouble with that, but it's enough that I don't have to add any other salt.

Simmer as long as you like. If you have an immersion blender, or stick blender, stick it in the pot and blend until it's as smooth as you want, or leave your sauce rustically course.
I usually cook whatever meat I'm adding separately and add it to the sauce after I've blended it smooth. I usually use ground beef mixture with ground pork and cook crumbled or in meat balls. On occasion I've cooked and crumbled chicken livers and added them for a more 'Bolognaise' meat sauce.

One of these days I'll find something other than pasta to eat this on. It would probably be great on baked fish.

mmmm...my mouth is watering - ...I love tomato sauce on pasta - I should make my own - I only eat gluten-free pasta...but not very often.

Good luck!

I agree with so much said here today. Read up on foods with thicker skins that are ok to have non-organic. Then read the dirty dozen, foods that should always be organic. You will get the hang of it.

I believe it's about toxin load. I grew up with two chain smokers, took lots of abx for recurring throat issues, and ate a poor diet as a kid. Lots of white stuff and sugar. Since my 20s I have pretty much an organic, plant based diet, eat superfoods, drink only lemon water, take lots of supplements and exercises (pre lyme). I am having a much harder time than people I know who don't eat organically and who drink gallons of wine a week. I think I have a lot of toxins since childhood and the inability to detox quickly. Wish this wasn't the case but it is. Some times no rhyme or reason. I do think I have less ailments overall because of my lifestyle choices. That said, a strong healthy body can probably kick lyme on a non organic diet.

You don't have to buy organic of these says Dr. Weil:
Avocados
Sweet corn - make sure it is not GMO
Pineapples
Cabbage
Sweet peas (frozen)
Onions
Asparagus
Mangoes
Papayas
Kiwi
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Cantaloupe (domestic)
Cauliflower

This is the dirty dozen:


celery
peaches
strawberries
apples
domestic blueberries
nectarines
sweet bell peppers
spinach, kale and collard greens
cherries
potatoes
imported grapes
lettuce