Rice Dreaming...

Hello, Readers ~

Sorry to have been away so long. This is the busiest summer I can remember in quite some time! We've had lots of company, which has been tremendous fun. Of course that means more restaurant food, and I've found it more challenging to stay the course with my protocol this past month. I have been drifting away here and there from my healthy eating plan, most notably by eating breads with wheat, a little dairy in things like dips, and have eaten a couple of things containing small amounts of cane sugar, which has caused me to have some really itchy hives....! Additionally, our sauna is in the guest room so I've only been able to get in there a couple of times a week. But let's face it, I made these choices, so I really can't complain about it. I've also lowered my salt/C intake a bit so that I don't find myself having terrible herxes while guests are here.

So I've given myself permission to be "on hold" with the protocol through Labor Day, and after that I will be resume my diligence with the plan. I must admit I do miss the routine of the protocol because I can literally feel myself healing. The good news is that even though I haven't been right on target with everything, I am holding my own... not regressing into previous pain levels or anything like that. I have some pain, some stiffness and achiness, to be sure, but it's been manageable.

One thing I truly look forward to week after next is a few days in a condo up in Whistler, BC, just Erick and me. It has a kitchen so we will stop at the co-op on the way up and stock up on healthy foods, and spend a week relaxing and decompressing from the summer madness. I'm really ready for that! And in September I'm doing a spa week with a dear friend in the Sonoma area, and that will also be SO much welcomed!

A friend who was here last week, Jennell, showed me how to make "pudding" with chia seeds, so thought I'd share that here with you today. Chia seeds are very high in protein, and they do this weird little thing where once they are soaked in liquid for awhile, they plump up and get this slippery coating - similar to the consistency of tapioca. When you put 1/3 cup of them into 2 cups of a liquid, it will "gel" a little bit and make an interesting concoction. She made some for us using chocolate Rice Dream (I also added some cardamom which made it really pretty awesome). She says at home she usually uses chocolate chai Rice Dream, and sometimes the vanilla Rice Dream. She says it can also be made as a savory treat by using it with a soup or boullion base. And it can also be added to juices that are non-acidic (grape; apple). If making it as a pudding, let the seeds soak in the Rice Dream at least an hour at room temp, or for several hours in the fridge.

There you go.... a new way to get some extra protein in your diet. Let me know if you think of more creative ways to use chia seeds!

I hope you're enjoying these last weeks of summer. How about those solar flares? Our skies were hazy and funky looking for three days or so earlier this week. We had hoped we might get a glimpse of the northern lights down here, as it was reported they would be seen further south, but we weren't able to see anything. May we all live in interesting times..... ;-)

Sukie