Surgery Update

Hello all! I'm overwhelmed by all of the support I've been given over the last few weeks through email, twitter, real life :), etc about my surgery so I wanted to make sure I gave you an update. Here's where you can stop if you don't want to read on!

Strawberry Pie Please! Pie Party fun!

So we all know I've been stuck with liquid "medical food" and supplements for a week to get my liver back in shape. I made a meal plan for the week with healthy, wonderful meal options. But my one vice is baked goods. I knew I would want a sweet treat for the Fourth of July and with Pie Party coming up why not?
Whole Foods has organic strawberries on sale so a strawberry pie it is! I found a great strawberry & cherry pie recipe on www.glutenfreegirl.com and went for it (minus the cherries... dont crucify me.. I dont like cherries). Since going gf almost two years ago I havent made a pie. So for this challenge I needed a friend. I'm lucky to have friends who love to bake and this time Alex was up for the job :)
Alex and I have been friends for about 4 years. We fell in love with traveling musicians who were on the road together. When we met, she was already married to her awesome hubby and they had been together for years, dating back to high school. Tim and I were just starting to date & had only been talking for two weeks before the guys got sent out on the road together for several months. Even though things were new, I just knew :) After about 5 or 6 weeks of missing Tim, I decided I was going to drive to Virginia to surprise him for his birthday! And after thinking about it, I remembered meeting Alex briefly & thought... surely she misses her husband... she might want to come too! I'm sure it was out of desperation to see her hubby, but she called and said she'd love to come. And boy am I glad she did! We started out an 8 hour drive as strangers and ended up amazing friends. Her and her husband were both in our wedding and they've since had a precious son! Here we are at Easter:

For the last four years we've spent a lot of holidays together from New Years & Easter to the Fourth of July. And through it all I'm thankful that with every new medical revelation and food intolerance discovery, they've been supportive and adaptable with every meal. Alex has even made me gf pierogis to go with everyone else's gluten filled ones. Seriously - anyone who knows pierogis knows that's love.
So this Fourth of July we had a great time baking this strawberry pie. You can find all of the ingredients and instructions here at http://glutenfreegirl.com/ I made a few substitutions which I'll list below. I'll also give you a quick photo overview but no one can walk you through an entire recipe better than Shauna Ahern herself so if you haven't been to her site before - Go!! You won't be sorry! She's the queen of delicious gluten free food.
My substitutions:
• Instead of regular butter, I used Goat butter. You can find it at Whole Foods!
• Instead of arrowroot & cornstarch in the gf flour, I used tapioca starch/flour
• Instead of the regular sugar, I used raw coconut sugar
Despite these changes it was amazing! Even the husbands wolfed it down and then leaned back in their

Independence Day from Detox!

I made it! Well, I almost made it :) I cheated on the last meal of the last day. I ate salmon, rice & broccoli:

I was proud and I convinced myself that I deserved to have a healthy Saturday night dinner with my hubby. This past week of not eating solid food has solidified how important food is to a family & friendship.
Sunday morning I woke up and what do you think I had? My favorite breakfast item... Bacon!!

But not just any bacon... Peterson's apple smoked bacon. It's uncured apple smoked bacon that's Certified Humane, with no sodium nitrates, nitrites or preservatives. If you haven't had this before, do yourself a favor and go get some! I buy mine at Whole Foods. My friend Sarah even taught me a trick to cooking it! Just put down some parchment paper, lay the bacon on top & put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 17 minutes. Depending on your oven, it may be more around 13-15 minutes. It's an easy breezy way to wake up & have bacon on the weekend.
So now that I have a few favorite but safe foods eaten, it's on to starting the new routine. Because Dr. Reisman found that I needed significant Vitamin D, Iodine, C & a thryoid boost, I'm starting a new routine of supplements.
Twice a day I'm drinking a combo of Power Greens powder, buffered C & Fiber Pro. Once a day I drink 8 oz of water with Vitamin D & Iodine drops. I'm not sure how long I'll pull off drinking the Power Greens mix but we'll see if I can make it a routine!
Now that my system is "cleansed" I'm being really aware of how I feel after I eat. I'm starting slow with basic ingredients to monitor the reactions. So far so good!
I'm really thankful for my new doctor. I'm also thankful for everyone's support. Many of you have emailed, tweeted or come up to me about what I'm going through. You all mean so much and I'm thankful for the support. I'll keep you updated and keep supporting each other out there!

Day 6!

Woohoo!! Day 6! It's been quite the day. I've felt good. Maybe it's because I'm almost done with the detox and see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it has also been an emotional two days. Yesterday there was something that made me feel left out, lonely & not valued which is ridiculous because it all surrounded food. But it wasn't about food, it was about feelings & inclusion. Five years ago I never would have thought that food would be such an emotional part of my life. But I guess that's what happens when you finally realize you can't eat like everyone else. And when the reason is medical, not because of a fad diet or trend, it's emotionally harder. I've mentioned before that I have