Wahls Protocol Diet (on a budget)

[tortoise]

You guys!!!!

I couldn't wear my rings in the past because 1) I would get dihydrous eczema from them and 2) even when I applied a barrier (nail polish) and wasn't reacting to the metal, my fingers would swell up by afternoon and I'd have to take them off.

My fingers don't swell up in the afternoon anymore!

Never expected that to change! cool!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Have you ever tried roasting your veggies? This works really well with the brassicas and also sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, etc. You want to cut them all about the same size. Roasting them in the oven gives them an entirely different taste and texture. Maybe it will be a way you could enjoy them.

 

[tortoise]

Oh wow! The skimmer will pay for itself! I got a full 8 oz more ghee by reducing waste from skimming! Increased yield by 50%! Plus this ghee is much higher quality! If you render fats or do canning (skim foam off jelly, etc), this tool is worth it.

Link to skimmer on amazon

 

[tortoise]

I put up 3 half-pints of no-sugar strawberry freezer jam, 3 half-pints of no-sugar kiwi jam (or maybe sauce, IDK if it set), 3 half-pints of no-sugar blueberry jam. Was not a frugal activity to do this out of season, and Pomona pectin ain't cheap!! But better to have a few bits of sweet things on hand than to eat something in a moment of weakness that makes me feel sick for a whole lot longer.

I ordered a food processor since so many of my recipes depend on that tool. It will pay for itself though, because I'll be able to make Larabar type bars. I have been buying those, and at $2 - $3 each depending on the brand, they add up shockingly fast. If I make 25 snack bars, this thing has paid for itself. I have the ingredients on hand to make at least that many.

I spent extra $200 on groceries to get ingredients for new-to-me recipes. Fish sauce, coconut aminos, cassava flour, no-sugar apricot jam, tahini, mushroom powders, bulk gelatin, dried banana. I don't remember all of it. I will be able to make several condiments and sauces. the apricot jam is for a BBQ sauce recipe! Gravy and stir fry sauce also on the list to make.

This ranch dressing gets my thumbs up. Close enough to ranch to make me happy. I ate 2 huge salads in a row after making this dressing. I missed ranch flavor so much! Yum!
https://nomnompaleo.com/post/127040982773/paleo-lunchboxes-2015-part-2-paleo-ranch

 

[flowerbug]

i really like a lot of the mustard based BBQ sauces.

i'm still thinking about your fish/bone adversion, i've never had that as we always ate canned fish with the bones and all. also grandma made dried fish in the oven (butter, salted and slow roasted at low temperature to dry them all the way through). yum. little whole fishes... not something you think a kid would eat, but the salt and butter made everything go down just fine.

i did however find out i do not like the skin of most fish. ick. i can get rid of that or blend it in enough to not notice it.

there are a lot of other fishes than canned salmon and some of them are cheaper, jack/mackerel, etc. for the price they may be worth a try.

also on the organ meats, if you can find some good liverwurst/braunschweiger recipes those are really good eating. i can eat those often but i don't because of the calorie and salt and also processed food aspects, but at least with homemade you can avoid some of those things if you can figure out alternative recipes that work just as well for your taste buds.

my one major and only mistake with liver one time was making liver soup. there are few things in my life i've made that i could not eat but that was one of them. i don't know what part of my brain was damaged to get me to do it but tomatoes and liver just should not go together according to my brain and tastebuds. i had to flush it (not having a place at the time where i kept worms or a garden or i would have buried it instead).

wasting food is one of my kneejerk taboos, i'm very careful with buying and meal planning and making sure things do not spoil. we make big batches and freeze portions now so that works well on that count.

tahini is not really needed in a lot of recipes it is called for. sesame seed paste. replace it with whole seeds or nut butters or other nuts or leave it out. i just made hummus without it and hardly notice it missing. a bit of toasted sesame oil is good in a lot of things if you like that flavor. i'm of the opinion that if i use it at all i go very light.

garlic on the other hand. i will peel and eat it fresh as i'm cooking. i have no problems with vampires. green garlic is a wonderful alternative to green onions in the late winter and early spring and very easy to grow. it is much easier to me than green onions. i never have a shortage of scapes to plant to have a good harvest and as they can be a waste product from growing garlic (i've had to bury five gallon buckets of scapes because i could not use them all) it was a good way to use them.

i've since downsized my garlic production and also the green garlic planting, but i still have a big patch of it i need to clear eventually...

um, ok, not sure where i was going with this post, but any chance to talk about food i guess i'm hooked.

even if you are going light on carbs i always recommend people go check out squash and beans because they are good nutrition, filling and cheap and don't have to be a big part of a meal to make a dfference. plus, well, i really like beans... and squash...

 

[tortoise]

I'm working on being consistent in my food. Variety is a future goal, but first I need to break my habits of eating inflammatory / junk food!

Right now I'm eating

• frozen organic blueberries with cream (and erythritol) - expensive now since we had blueberry crop failure, but this will be budget-friendly next year
• creamed spinach (5 cups spinach + 1/2 cup cream per serving, measured before cooking), with tostada

I tried eating a few different things for a third meal but haven't found much that makes me feel better than not eating anything at all.

My next steps are

• fry up my own tostadas out of corn tortillas, using non-inflammatory oil, such as coconut oil or lard
• add daily serving of bone broth

 

[baymule]

Haha, I was thinking, You need a goat! FEM beat me to it.

 

[tortoise]

Really awesome that DS is willing to eat so healthy! What 14yo boy is willing

He gets sick just like me. 😬 He knows how miserable he can feel when he eats standard American diet. It has taken 7 years for him to be willing to eat healthy foods. But heck, it took me 30 years 😅

 

[tortoise]

WPP includes approx. 2.5 ounces of oily fish per day (16 oz per week). Environmental Working Group calculator says I can safely eat 12 oz of chunk light tuna per week. Good! because canned fish is so much more economical than fresh or frozen!

I found 2 big cans of tuna leftover from camping vacation in July. I'm counting that as 18 oz fish, for "free" since the cost was already attributed to vacation.... and I didn't check to see how much the 9 oz cans of tuna typically cost.

I bought a can of Alaskan wild caught salmon. A safer, more nutritious fish. 14.75 ounce can was about $4.50. I plan to eat 4 cans of salmon and 2 small cans of chunk light tuna per month, for approximately $20 per month. That's a big chunk of my proposed monthly budget. I will be watching prices and sales to try to reduce the cost. However, I'm not willing to eat farmed seafood, or seafood from China or Thailand (or that area of the globe), so I will sacrifice my budget for that if necessary.

 

[Mini Horses]

I see this as expensive "for now" as much of the things you mention can be grown and processed for your winter next year. And, frozen can be as good as fresh often, when it comes to greens. The do have organic frozen. Fresh seafood could be a pricy item. Well, depending on varieties.

Sounds like sprouts may be a far more economical green source to help supplement for this winter. Maybe increase the things like sprouts, cabbage, as it is also better economy than the tall greens.

You have chickens and eggs, right? Liver is not real pricy and you don't need large amounts at each meal.

In summer you can concentrate on growing basically what you need, rather than some "try it" things. Less garden area and effort. You have all those blueberry bushes. I'd get some "pick your own" trade me organic produce types out there. Cabbage can be kept well in the barn, alive, most of the winter. Beets can be canned, Sweet potatoes, etc., etc. It can be done. Generally sweet potatoes are really low cost just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Load up in a couple weeks. Can them, or cook and freeze.