I’ll get to the soy reintroduction recap soon!

For now, I’m overly excited to have reintroduced gluten back into my diet. I think gluten is by far, the hardest food to not eat. I think soy is harder to avoid, but I think gluten is the hardest to let go of. At least for me! I know this because I’m having NO trouble at all bringing it back into my diet, on the very first day. When I brought back dairy, I had to try and remember to eat it or fit it into my daily eats. The same goes for soy. I avoid processed soy and try to not eat soy [tempeh or tofu] more than once a week. For this purpose, I ate it a few more times during the 2 week reintro period just to see what it’s effects were.

What I’m trying to say, is that, I’ve been waiting seven long weeks to once again eat farro. Remember my farro obsession during November + December? Farro is one of my favorite grains ever. It’s without a doubt my favorite breakfast grain, even beating out buckwheat. Yes, you heard me right!

When you grind this grain, about half-way to flour, it turns into magic.

This is the magic it turns into. Broken farro porridge.

I first had this lovely treat while dining with two fabulous ladies, Emily + Teri. We were at the Foodbuzz festival, in San Fran, last November. You can even find a photo or two, from that lovely breakfast, in my Etsy print shop.

I’ve almost perfected it, but can tell you it will never quite be as good as the bowl in San Fran. It may have had to do with eating it waterside, or the lovely company, or the butter melted within. Whatever the case, this will have to do!

It is worth the hunt to find farro. Trust me! [check Costco for the green bag I showed at the top]

It’s nothing like oatmeal, except for the fact that it is a warm breakfast cereal. The flavor is smooth + delicate, the creaminess is beyond imagination, and the texture is just right. I’ve experimented quite a bit and make this differently than oats. I don’t like how it turns out when you whip banana into it, as opposed to oats. Banana tastes much better as a topping instead! I also don’t add in flax or chia to farro, because it’s just way better without! I think it would really ruin the amazing texture. Almonds, currants/raisins, and vanilla seem to blend really well with this grain.

Vanilla Cinnamon Farro Porridge

1/3c rounded ground farro
3/4c milk [any will do]
1/2c water
1t vanilla bean paste [or vanilla extract]
2t maple syrup
1/2t cinnamon

Grind farro until powdery, with small pieces mixed in. [food processor does not work well for this]
Put 1/3 rounded cup in a small pot, with the milk, water, maple syrup and cinnamon.
Bring to a boil, over medium heat and reduce to simmer.
Stir/whisk occasionally for about 7-10min, until desired thickness is reached.
In the last 1-2min stir in the vanilla. Add extra liquid if you let it get too thick.

This recipe goes fabulously with my vanilla maple almond flax butter. One of my top 3 nut butter recipes ever!

bananas + currants + almonds + cocoa-nut almond butter + pnut butter

The currants look like they’re dancing on the banana. Soon after, they were dancing in my mouth. This bowl was licked clean. You would have done the same!

And now to the latest detox recap!

Weeks 6 + 7 – Reintroducing Soy

The past 2 weeks have left me a bit stumped. The stomach bloating I said goodbye to in the first 5 weeks, has slowly been creeping back. What I can’t tell, is what it’s from!
I ate tofu once in the past 2 weeks and tempeh 2-3 times. I felt pretty good after eating each of those meals. Typically I can tell something is bothering me a few hours after I eat it. That didn’t really happen with tofu or tempeh, but would happen at random times throughout the days following.
Like I had talked about in previous posts, after the 3rd week of keeping out gluten/soy/dairy, my bloating decreased by at least 80%. The 20% left, was probably from vegetables, and it didn’t leave my stomach nearly as uncomfortable.
However, it could be from a few other things besides. ie: garbanzo flour, a few huge veggie loaded meals, black beans + tempeh dinner
At this point, I’m a little frustrated. It’s so hard to pinpoint exactly what is resulting in the discomfort! I don’t really have high hopes for gluten. Today [my eighth week] I’ve felt so-so. I ate tempeh + black beans last night and about 2+ servings of gluten today, plus some cinnamon sugar socca crackers. I’m trying to give the bean flour a little rest, but those crackers are SO addicting!!
I don’t want to completely point the finger at soy just yet. I thought maybe I would notice things a bit more intensely because these foods have been cleared out of my body for quite a while now. However, not the case! I would love to be able to narrow things down better so I don’t have to completely wipe soy completely. It’s not something I rely on in my diet, but I do enjoy it.
We ate out quite a bit more during the past two weeks. While I was able to find gluten free options at every restaurant [yay Colorado!!] all of these meals left my stomach feeling less than stellar. I typically have problems when eating out [bloating, nothing else] and can never tell exactly what it’s from. I do know that if I eat restaurant lettuce 98% of the time my stomach is killing after. That is without a doubt! Luckily a few places around here offer organic greens and it makes a noticeable difference. I don’t think I’d have a problem eating conventional lettuce at home, but I think it has something to do with the preservatives a lot of restaurants use on their greens to keep it fresh longer.
I’m still drinking warm lemon water in the morning with about 1t of local raw unfiltered clover honey added in. Quite tasty!
The dry brushing has also continued. I would say I forget to brush about once a week, if that.
I’ve been maintaining my workouts, even though I’m not talking about them as much lately. I workout about 6 days a week, with a mix of cardio/yoga-stretching/weights/climbing/swimming.

Where to go from here?

I don’t really know. I’m just going to see how I react with gluten and reintroduce it slowly, in whole grain form [ie: whole farro, instead of processed wheat bread]. Whatever the culprit is, it’s not something that makes me physically sick or keeps me from the day-to-day, at all. It’s just something I would love to figure out, so my stomach can return to it’s normal size! ;) Nobody likes to be around a goose!

February goals overview + drool-worthy recipe tomorrow afternoon!

Ashley

*For links to all detox posts, check my last recap.