Wheat, grain, starch, sugar free low carb pizza crust?…Yep!…

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Each night, as I make dinner either for myself when Tom works late, or for both of us, I wonder how we will eat in a foreign land.  As I lay out our organic produce, grass fed beef, wild caught fish or free range organic chicken, I anticipate these items won’t be readily available where we are going.

As I have mentioned in prior posts, as of last August, we became gluten free, sugar free, starch free, grain and wheat free and low carb. Whew! Yes, it’s a challenge, but worth it! 

For me, this way of eating has been a huge improvement in blood lipids, including glucose, triglycerides, HDL and cholesterol.  With a family history of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and obesity, years ago I became mindful of a healthy lifestyle.  

Over the years I have been able to combat the obesity factor with a careful “low fat” diet and regular exercise while painstakingly sacrificing the pleasure of enjoying my most favorite foods: desserts, with a proverbial sweet tooth.

Alas, all this effort was to no avail. I found myself with heart problems for which I had surgery two years ago, hypertension for which I still take medication and borderline diabetes with spiking blood sugars an hour after eating a carbohydrate rich meal.  How could this be?  I followed the USDA guidelines, MY PLATE and yet, my health continued to decline.

After hundreds of hours of reading the various Harvard, Mayo Clinic, UCLA Medical, Cleveland Clinic, etc., medical studies I, ultimately, ending up reading a book that changed my life forever, “Wheat Belly” by Dr. William Davis about the destruction of the wheat that our ancestors knew, formerly 14 chromosomes, now 44 chromosomes, genetically changed with the intent to increase the world’s wheat production; a faster growing, shorter crop that can withstand the use of Monsanto’s ROUNDUP!  Oh, good grief!

Last August, Tom (who went kicking and screaming) and I both gave up wheat, rice (both white and brown), grains, bread, doughnuts, cake, cookies, pies, grain fed meat, farmed fish, corn, sugar, soda pop, MSG, potatoes, starchy vegetables, and on and on.  Tom has now lost 30 pounds.  I didn’t need to lose any weight, but desperately needed to change my health.  This way of eating did exactly that!  

A few weeks ago, a full round of blood tests confirmed that finally eating healthy fat and eliminating wheat, grains, sugar, starches and reducing carb consumption did indeed change my health for the better.  Tom, now a believer, will enjoy a favorite item from time to time. But I adhere to this way of eating strictly, realizing the risk is too high if I don’t.

Tonight, we’re having homemade pizza made without wheat or any form of flour or starch.  Here is our homemade crust with the recipe which is easy to make.

Homemade Grain Free Pizza Crust
Recipe for Jessica’s Homemade Grain Free Pizza Crust
Ingredients:
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 beaten egg
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line a pizza pan with the dull side of Reynolds Non Stick Tin Foil

Mix cheeses and beaten egg in a bowl. Spread mixture evenly over  parchment paper placed into the pan.  If necessary to fill holes, sprinkle a little more cheese. This doesn’t have to be exact.

Bake in preheated oven for about 14 minutes, keeping a close eye to ensure it doesn’t get too brown.  Let cool before adding toppings.
The challenge had been to find a pizza sauce without  sugar.  The best sauce I have found thus far is Rao’s Marinara Sauce, easily found at most grocery stores.  Although pricey at $8.95 a jar, it does make four pizzas, which is less than a standard jar of sugary pizza sauce.
For the balance of the pizza, we like to add one pound of pre-cooked and drained hot Italian sausage, 3/4 cup sliced green olives, one cup, sliced mushrooms and 1/2 cup diced onions, all topped off with about 12 oz. mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes, again checking frequently for a perfect bubbly golden top.  We love this pizza!
The question becomes, will we be able to make our pizzas in in Belize, Madeira, Tuscany, Mombasa or Mallorca?  Will we have access to Rao’s or a good substitute, a pizza pan and parchment paper?  How readily available are grass fed beef, free range chicken and organic vegetables?
Will we be able to find sugar free maple syrup for our low carb coconut flour pancakes? Will we be able to buy coconut and almond flour or coconut oil, staples in our diet? What about our Crystal Lite Iced Tea? Liquid Stevia?  Alpha lipoic acid supplements?
If anyone knows the answers to these questions, please comment at the bottom of the post.  Love to hear from you.  Love to stop wondering what we’ll make for dinner!  With our way of eating, it’s been challenging enough!

Medicine from afar? Refill our prescriptions? Annual checkup?

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As a health and fitness buff most of my adult life, I have made every effort to stay healthy by eating good homemade food, exercising regularly and avoiding toxins in every way possible.  

Many of my efforts have failed me and I have been forced to succumb to traditional medicine and take a few prescriptions each day, as does Tom for a variety of conditions.  

Yes, I have tried over these past years to gradually reduce these few medications with the hope of stopping them entirely. For example; days later, my blood pressure sneaks up to a dangerous level, prompting me to begin the tiny dose once again, fearful of the consequences. 

For me, it appears my genetics is the culprit. Otherwise, there is nothing in my lifestyle, that I could discover from my years of research as to why I would be plagued with these few ailments. Its frustrating. 

Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t drink soda. I consume only organic produce and grass fed beef, avoiding all grains, wheat (inspired by Dr. William Davis’ book, Wheat Belly) starches and sugary food.  I haven’t had a sweet treat of any type in almost a year.  
Each day and night I wear a BodyMedia armband to ensure I get in 10,000 steps a day.  It tracks thousands of measurements including how much time I spend sleeping each night which s usualiy about 7.5 hours.  
I have exercised most of my life, regularly, faithfully and with vigor while currently obsessed with HIIT training as recommended by Jonathan Bailor, backed by 1100 medical studies, 10,000 pages of scientific research, endorsed by some of the top medical professionals in the world, many from Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic.  A great read!

We miss doughnuts.  Years ago, on occasion,Tom and I experienced what we called “MD days,” meaning “multiple doughnut days” whereby we’d eat many doughnuts, watch movies and lounge all day. No more.  We haven’t done this in fifteen years.  I can no more imagine, lying in bed all day and eating doughnuts than going to the moon. (Actually, space travel is on my wish list).

A fast food item hasn’t crossed my lips in 25 years!  And what has it got me:
hypertension, thyroid disease, joint and bone problems and borderline diabetes, the bane of my ancestors, most of them inflicted with these conditions, many of whom suffered and died from these conditions!  
Am I sick? No!  But…I am a slave to these few prescriptions.  Am I slim, physically fit, strong and without any memory issues at my age?  Yes. So, I faithfully take those few little pills each morning, hoping for the best, hoping in time that I will discover a way to toss them all away.

Today, I called our prescription medication plan explaining that when we’ll be traveling for no less than 949 days (so far) asking if they can provide us with at least one year’s worth of the prescriptions to take with us when we leave in 5 months and 19 days.  (We’ll figure out something for the remaining period).  The answer was “no.”They will only do what they’ve always done: if the doctor writes a three month prescription, we only get three months of pills at a time!  I asked, “Are you willing to mail our prescriptions to: Kenya, Africa or maybe Marloth Park, Kruger National Park, South Africa?” There again, the answer was “no.” No mailing outside the US.
Will our prescriptions be mailed to Africa? No.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment with the family doctor, a great guy, who will most likely try to help us figure out a solution.  Yes, we will have a mailing a mailing service with our own address where any important mail will arrive and can be scanned and sent to us by email.  

The service will forward packages to us wherever we may be. However, some countries do not welcome prescription drugs entering the country.  We shall see what transpires and post the solution to yet another dilemma.