Thai coconut vegetable soup- candida diet version

 

OMG this soup is to die for delicious!! I love Thai coconut soup but I can’t have many of the typical ingredients in it, so I made my own version which really tastes just like it. Here is the recipe:

In a pot, fill up 1/3 of it with water, then 1/3 coconut milk. Put the fire on high until it boils and then lower to medium heat. Then put in the following in the following order:

Onion, garlic, rutabanga, salt, pepper, celery, leeks.

When the vegetables are cooked but not too soft, add dill, parsley and mint, cook for another minute or so and turn it off. Once you pour the soup into a bowl, add kefir to give it that sour creamy consistency. I can’t have lemon so kefir is a great substitute and really adds to the soup. If you want to keep it non-dairy, add lemon instead of kefir or just eat it without adding either and it still tastes great 🙂

Millet pudding

This is a great substitute for rice pudding, tastes about the same, and is quite healthy!

Put about 2 cups of water to 1 cup of millet in a pot. Bring it to a boil then lower heat to medium and let it simmer until all the water is absorbed. Make sure it’s mushy. If it isn’t, add more water and cook some more.

Turn off the fire. Then add coconut milk, coconut cream, and a table spoon or so of coconut oil. Add Vanilla extract (make sure it’s the non alcoholic type), cinnamon powder, and sweeten with stevia. Sorry I don’t give exact amounts. Just add to your liking. If you are not on the candida diet, you can sweeten it with other things. Also, if you are on the candida diet, just leave out the coconut cream – it will still taste good. Enjoy!

Socca or Besan Roti

This fits the candida diet perfectly as well as gluten free diets and others.

Mix 1 glass of chickpea flour with 1 glass of water. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil or another oil. Add some salt and whatever other spices you like. I added turmeric, cumin, coriander. Let the mixture stand for a half hr to 1 hr.

As for cooking, I did it using the broiler, but I think you can do it on the stove in a frying pan. If using the broiler:

Put the pan in the oven, turn on the broiler. Take out the frying pan after 5 min. Btw, the broiler is one line of fire on the top center of the oven so when you put the pan in, make sure it’s in the center so it cooks evenly.

After you take it out (with a glove), put oil in the pan, scoop some batter and poor a thin layer on the pan and move the pan a bit so it goes into a circle. Place it in the oven for 3 min. I used the timer so it would be exact. Don’t walk away from the oven. Check after 3 min if it’s crispy, even a tiny bit burnt. Take it out, flip it, cook for another 2-3 min. Remember the pan is very hot so always use a glove!

You can also make it on the stove but I prefer the result from the broiler.

After it’s done, you can sprinkle some cilantro and dill on top and cut it into wedges. Or what I found to be very tasty is spreading an olive spread on top- soooo good! If you are on the candida diet, make sure you can have all the ingredients in the olive spread.

Buckwheat nut coconut dessert

I can’t even tell you how amazing these are!! And they are all natural, vegan, pretty healthy, and so easy to make! You don’t even need to bake them- though I want to try baking them next time.

To make these I mixed together the following ingredients. You can just approximate the amounts of each one based on how much you want to make.

walnuts (I chopped them myself, since that is healthier, especially for the candida diet)

sunflower seeds

buckwheat (already cooked)

tbsp of coconut oil

shredded coconut

coconut cream (about a tbsp)

almond butter (about 2 tbsp)

cinnamon powder

vanilla extract (the one without alcohol in it. A few drops)

Coconut flower (just to make it a bit less mushy)

After mixing all of that together I took a square glass bowl and laid out the paste in an even layer across the bottom of the bowl. You can also use a square plastic mold. Then I put it in the freezer for an hour and it was ready! I cut it into pieces and that is what you see above.

Now a few things to keep in mind. You have to eat the bars fairly quickly after taking them out of the freezer because after a bit it will go back to room temperature and back to being a paste, since of course there are no preservatives in it.

If you are on the candida diet (which I try to be for the most part), this recipe is almost perfect but it does cheat a bit, because the coconut cream and almond butter both have sugar in them. To lessen the sugar you can use an almond butter that has no sugar added (or make the almond butter) and use coconut milk (the cream at the top of the full fat coconut milk) instead of coconut cream. If you make these substitutions, I suggest you add stevia in liquid form (stevia extract) for sweetness.

 

Yogurt nut bars

To make these I mixed together the following ingredients. You can just approximate the amounts of each one based on how much you want to make.

walnuts (I chopped them myself, since that is healthier, especially for the candida diet)

sunflower seeds

buckwheat (already cooked)

tbsp of coconut oil

shredded coconut

coconut cream (about a tbsp)

almond butter (about 2 tbsp)

cinnamon powder

vanilla extract (the one without alcohol in it. A few drops)

greek yogurt

After mixing all of that together I took a square glass bowl and laid out the paste in an even layer across the bottom of the bowl. You can also use a square plastic mold. Then I put it in the freezer for an hour and it was ready! I cut it into pieces and that is what you see above.

Now a few things to keep in mind. You have to eat the bars fairly quickly after taking them out of the freezer because after a bit it will go back to room temperature and back to being a paste, since of course there are no preservatives in it.

Next is that the paste was maybe the most delicious before I put the yogurt in and and could eat it just like that on it’s own as a desert and that would be non dairy and vegetarian. I’ll post a pic of that version next time. However without the yogurt you can’t make the mixture into bars.

Once I put in the yogurt, the paste was also delicious but in a different way (before the freezer), so you can try and see which tastes you prefer. If you are not on the candida diet you can substitute the Greek yogurt for a sweet yogurt, which may also be tasty but then cut back on the coconut cream so it won’t be too sweet. If you are on the candida diet (which I try to be for the most part), this recipe is almost perfect but it does cheat a bit, because the coconut cream and almond butter both have sugar in them. To lessen the sugar you can use an almond butter that has no sugar added (or make the almond butter) and use coconut milk (the cream at the top of the full fat coconut milk) instead of coconut cream. If you make these substitutions, I suggest you add stevia in liquid form (stevia extract) for sweetness.

 

Stir-fried Broccoli

 

 

The dish is so easy and way tastier than you would think – in fact it’s really tasty! And obviously it’s really healthy. Here is what you do:

Heat up the pan with a bit of oil on it. Use the one of your choice, except for canola, because canola is not even a real plant. Anyway, cut up half an onion into 1 inch cubes and toss it onto the pan. cut up 3-4 cloves of garlic (cloves are the slices in a head of garlic) in little pieces and toss them in. At this point you can lower the heat to a simmer (low heat). Cut up broccoli and toss it in the pan. You can either use just the crowns or the whole stem as well. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Then dice parsley and toss it in. You might need to add a bit more oil at this point but just enough for the food not to burn. The oil should not have any depth to it. Let everything fry for about 15 minutes. Keep stirring and occasionally let there be a bit less oil than necessary so the stuff on the bottom can fry a bit, but move it and pour oil before it burns. Keep testing the broccoli every few minutes so you know when it’s just soft enough. The worst thing is to over cook it, so think al dente. Once you put it in the plate, you can add some sunflower seeds (Toasted and salted already). That’s it!

So to sum it up: Fry onion, galic, broccoli and parsley with salt and pepper, after cooking toss on sunflower seeds and voila!

What you see on the side of the plate there is babaganoush which I made. Let me know if you want the recipe for that, but it’s not perfect for the candida diet. I thought I might want to use it as a sauce on the broccoli but it turned out so tasty as is that I didn’t need a sauce!

Ayurvedic Medicine and Candida

 

As you know if you have been reading my posts, I am very much into natural health and all the things that go into it. For a very long time I had heard about the benefits of Ayurvedic medicine from various people who have been cured of different ailments using this natural ancient system.

For a long time, I had wanted to go to see an Ayurvedic doctor to try and cure myself of the candida. Finally, about a month ago, this wonderful doctor in New York, Pratima Raichur, was recommended to me. A few days before I went to her, I decided to start The Candida Diet (www.thecandidadiet.com). To my surprise, she prescribed the same exact diet to me, with a couple of minor adjustments. In addition, she also gave me a number of herbal remedies to take.

I’m wondering if the candida diet got its inspiration from Ayurveda or the creator of it arrived at it independently through other methods. Either way, it’s been a blessing to me to finally speak with doctors (I don’t like the term alternative doctors) and have them acknowledge my medical condition and also the fact that western medicines such as Monistat and Diflucan do not solve the problem.

For years I have gone from doctor to doctor trying to cure the never ending yeast infections. When I would tell them I have not only recurrent yeast infections, but that they just never really go away, they had no answers for me. I was tested for diabetes, but I do not have it. Beyond that no one even attempted to delve deeper to figure out what the cause may be. My current OBGYN was a bit more illuminating, telling me that I need probiotics which help to kill the yeast and suggested I eat Greek yogurt. At least this started to get me onto the right path, but neither eating Greek yogurt, nor using it internally, fixed the problem. I had other issues as well, that I felt were related to candida but the western doctors told me they weren’t. Pratima, the Ayurvedic doctor, told me they were.

Anyway, when I went to Pratima’s spa, I bought the book she had written on Ayurvedic skin care and health (pictured above). Although Pratima treats the skin, it really is about total health, because Ayurveda is all about the interconnections of every part of the body, with the skin being its largest organ. The book is opening my eyes to a whole world. The more I learn about natural medicine and specifically Ayurveda, the more I feel like this is what I have always been searching for, feeling in the dark with my finger tips, knowing that something along these lines should be out there. It makes perfect sense to me.

So far I have not been adhering perfectly to the diet and herb regimen. When I was adhering quite perfectly for the first couple of weeks, I immediately felt better than I have in over 10 years!! For the first time I didn’t have a yeast infection! Like not at all. However big family events and cooking made it hard for me to keep my diet, and the traveling around made it hard to be consistent with the herb regimen. Once I messed up, the yeast infection came back right away. I am now back on the diet and herbs and crawling my way back out, getting better.

Just knowing there is a method, a cure, gives me so much hope!! This condition is not acknowledged by western doctors and almost never spoken about publicly, because it is embarrassing for women. Even I am writing anonymously about this because I don’t need the whole world to know – it is a private issue. However even if anonymously, it must be talked about in order to help the countless women (and men) who suffer from this. Maybe Western doctors will finally listen and start telling other patients about this. I will be sure to tell my OBGYN and GP about my experience.

I have suffered for so many years on a physical and emotional relationship. It has made me insecure as a woman and hurt my relationships due to the physical repercussions on the relationship and the thoughts they bring up in a partner, and my feelings of insecurity as a result of the issue. It has often made me angry and depressed, especially when doctors tell me my problem is not real or do not have any answers for me. When I searched online and found out about the candida diet and read about the experiences of other sufferers of this condition, it made me feel that I was alone and it finally validated my experience.

In this post I will not go into the details of Ayurvedic medicine but I strongly suggest everyone reads the book. It can benefit us all.

Russian cucumber and radish salad

This is a spin on the traditional Russian cucumber and radish salad which makes it work for the candida diet and the taste is pretty much the same and delicious! Best of all, it’s even healthier than the original.

I love salad and when I started the candida diet, I could not find a recipe for any salad dressing that I could have. I can’t even have the dressings listed on candida diet web sites because I can’t have any lemon or any vinegar – even Apple cider vinegar. My body reacts terribly to it just like alcohol. Anyway, so here is an easy tasty recipe.

Thinly slice even amounts of cucumber and radish. They should be in thin round circles or half circles but not cubes. Add parsley and dill, both finely chopped. Add unrefined sunflower oil to your liking.

Unrefined sunflower oil is not usually sold in American stores, but you can find it in Russian/Ukrainian/Polish stores or online. If you can’t get it then use olive oil but it won’t be quite the same.

Anyway, then add salt and pepper and then a lot of Greek yogurt. I prefer to use 2% because it has a great flavor and not too much fat and the right consistency, but you can try different levels of Greek yogurt to your liking.

Mix very well. After it stands for a few minutes it’s even better! Enjoy!

Lentil and Celery soup

This lentil celery soup is my latest creation. I am trying to expand my menu within the candida diet. These are not necessarily new types of dishes for the world of course, but they are new for me.

So this soup is healthy and delicious, but since this is the first time I made it, I will tweak it the next time around for hopefully even better results. Here is the recipe:

I boiled half a pot (or deep pan) of water, once it was at boiling, I poured in lentils. Make sure they are not mixed with beans or anything else, since those aren’t allowed on the diet. Pour in as much as you’d like in the soup. I put in about a cup of them. I kept it at boiling for a minute, then lowered the fire to a simmer and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Then I chopped up an onion into small cubes and threw it in there. Then I chopped up 3 cloves of garlic and threw that in. Remember that to keep with this diet, you need to cut everything fresh so don’t buy already crushed garlic. Then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Then I cut the celery into about 1-2 inch pieces and threw that in. I also added water at this point since I realized there wasn’t enough for the amount of celery I was adding. So just make sure the water more than covers the ingredients, unless you are looking for more of a stew. Then I let it boil, waiting for the celery to become soft enough for a fork to easily punch through, but not so soft as to make it mushy. When I saw it was close to where I want it, I added parsley and dill. Then I waited a bit more for the celery to get as soft as I wanted it to be and voila! The soup was ready.

It was delicious, but for next time, I’ll definitely add more water, because this time I just about covered the ingredients and it turned out more of a stew. Also, next time I would put the celery in very soon after the lentils, because by the time the celery was ready, the lentils were a bit over cooked this time. I’m giving a lot of details here, but this really is a very simple dish that you pretty much can’t go wrong with.

I pretty much add garlic, onion, salt, pepper and parsley to almost any dish that isn’t sweet. That’s the typical Russian seasoning and I love it! And it’s also extremely healthy. Look up each one of those ingredients to see all their nutrients. Here are just some of the benefits: garlic boosts your immune system, it is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Onions have qualities like garlic and also regulate blood sugar and cholesterol. Parsley is great for clearing UTIs and it’s full of vitamins and other benefits for your body. Dill is a natural anti-bacterial and a great source of calcium. I strongly suggest looking these up for the full list of amazing benefits.

Cartomancy

Hi everyone,

I have always been into astrology. More recently, another form of divination, or as I like to think of it, spiritual connection, has caught my interest: cartomancy. This is the use of playing cards for fortune telling. What we know today as playing cards were originally created not for playing, but for divination. I am just a student at this point but since I am bringing you along for my journey, I’d like to share with you what I have learned and experienced thus far.

Firstly, if you google cartomancy and how to do it, you will find similar types of spreads but different definitions to each of the cards. The definitions of each card are the result of traditions and vary amongst different groups of people and families. The important thing, is to decide which system of meanings you will stick to so the cards can speak to you in that language. If you constantly look at different people’s meanings of the cards, you will get confused. You can also adjust your own system over time as you see fit. Above all, use your intuition when interpreting the collective meaning of the spread.

When I started learning cartomancy, I came across a fabulous site which had tons of info, but unfortunately it was taken down by the author for some unknown reason. I still stick to his basic meaning for each card and here is the key below:
Diamonds – money

AD – Invitation, ticket, news
2D – small gift
3D – overtime at work over giving back a debt
4D – a ring or a house
5D – attraction
6D – just enough money
7D – lucky money
8D – new job
9D – a person’s wish comes true
10D – lots of money
JD – young light guy, student, fame when with 7D, air sign
QD- light socialite woman, air
KD – boss, light color, air

Hearts – love

AH – home, love letter
2H – a couple, baby when with Q
3H – love
4H – light romance
5H – single woman
6H – single man
7H – second chance at love
8H – a relationship
9H – wish fulfilled
10H – marriage
JH – light young guy or creative endeavor, fire sign
QH – light emotional woman, fire
KH – giving kind man, light

Clubs – work

AC – contract
2C – partnership in work
3C – work with a group, friends
4C – stability in business
5C – physical work
6C -completion of business/contract
7C – too much work
8C – work hours, on the job
9C – travel, study
10C – travel over water
JC – dark young guy, earth sign, business oriented
QC – medium coloring woman, biz oriented
KC – business man, dark, boss

Spades – trouble

AS – end/beginning, death, up alcohol
2S – split partnership
3S – cheating
4S – delay, maybe sick if with 9S
5S – unwanted sad split
6S – accepted/wanted split
7S – unhealthy lifestyle
8S – unbalanced relationship
9S – sickness
10S – obsessiveness, secrets
JS – dark guy, rowdy, immature
QS – dark, may be widow or divorced
KS – dark man, water
Time

These time definitions apply only when you specifically asked about a time frame

AD – spring
AH – summer
AC – fall
AS – winter or never

If your question was not specifically about time, but you got a 2 in the spread, you can interpret it for its own meaning and/or for a time indicator.
2d – 2 months
2h – 2 weeks
2c – 2 days
2s – long time

Diamonds – months
Hearts- weeks
Clubs- days
Spades – years

Example: “When will I see him?” Spread: AD = spring  or if let’s say 6C = 6 days

Elements (type of astrological sign)

AD – air
AC – earth
AH – fire
AS – water

Some Combinations

As a general rule, red cards in the majority mean a positive situation and black cards in the majority mean a negative situation, but not always, depending on the specific question and cards.

10C + 10S = trip planned but not taken or problems with the trip

AH + 4D = Engagement. The 4D represents a gift in a box, from the heart (AH)

King + Jack of same suit or same color= a man from the past

Lots of face cards = public event

5H + 5S = a love that was in your reach but slips out of your hands

4H + 4S = fickle love

I will add more as I have more. This is my system, mixed with the system I learned from initially.