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UPDATED 7/8/19 – see update regarding the Nature’s Way Kelp below…
 
Do you sweat a lot and/or urinate frequently? Eat a Paleo or whole foods type of diet? If so, do you also ever get:
 
  • fatigue and weakness
  • constipation
  • unexpected weight gain or inability to lose weight 
  • low heart rate
  • heavy or irregular periods
  • feeling cold when it’s not cold
  • depression
For the past 10 or so years, I have gone to my office, CentreSpring MD, for quarterly labs. And for whatever reason, my thyroid has always been sluggish (low FreeT3 in particular) during the summer months. I could never figure out why, so I always just assumed my body hated the heat and humidity.
 
We got a Peloton recently and I LOVE it. But I also started to notice that it makes me sweat way more than any other activity. After spinning for over an hour (just mild or moderately) the other day, I couldn’t get over how much I sweat. It was truly disgusting. Anyway, for a couple of days after, I noticed I was constantly fatigued and my mood was even kind of flat which is unlike me. I couldn’t help thinking that there was something that I became depleted in during that ride. Anyway, I took some extra minerals to make sure it wasn’t an electrolyte imbalance. I also took extra potassium, zinc, and magnesium but the fatigue continued.
 
Then, I read about just how easily we deplete our iodine stores. We can actually get enough iodine if we eat plenty of the following foods:
  • Seaweed, one whole sheet dried: 11–1,989% of the RDI
  • Cod, 3 ounces (85 grams): 66% of the RDI
  • Yogurt, plain, 1 cup: 50% of the RDI
  • Iodized salt, 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 grams): 47% of the RDI
  • Shrimp, 3 ounces (85 grams): 23% of the RDI
  • Egg, 1 large: 16% of the RDI
  • Tuna, canned, 3 ounces (85 grams): 11% of the RDI
  • Dried prunes, 5 prunes: 9% of the RDI
Following a Paleo Whole 30 type meal plan and using mainly Celtic and Himalayan salts (which have over 70 minerals but no iodine), I suspected I needed more iodine. Even though, I take a 100 mg supplement I wondered still if maybe I wasn’t getting enough. So I found an old bottle of Nature’s Way Kelp and took a capsule….
 
I thought to myself, it will be interesting to see if or how much this kelp helps me over the next few weeks. And then…about an hour later I realized I suddenly felt wide awake, my mood lifted and I had an overall feeling of wellness. About an hour after that I got a PR on my Peloton (and not by just a little but by 15 overall points on a 30 min ride)! The next day, same thing and another PR! It’s been a week and the fatigue hasn’t returned, and it’s been 95 degrees here which would typically wipe me out. After all of these years, I think I’ve finally figured out why my thyroid always suffered in the summer/humid months!!!
 
UPDATED!!!: This Nature’s Way Kelp made me feel worse after taking it a month. Apparently after a study at UC Davis, they found high levels on arsenic. It even affected my labs. Fortunately, after just a few days of not taking it and switching to just eating Organic Roasted Seaweed (Costco’s carries it!) every day I have felt better, my energy is back, and my weight has normalized. NOW Brand is suppose to have a good organic one from Amazon. I hope if you took this one you didn’t have the reaction I did. Hard to believe they would be allow to still have this one the market….
 
 
**But, there are two important things to note before taking iodine via kelp or any other form.**
ONE, IF you take iodine, you must balance it with selenium. So you can take a capsule (I take this one) or eat about 4-5 Brazil nuts per day every day. 
TWO, if you use iodize table salt regularly (like Morton’s regular table salt) or if you have Hashimoto’s, do not take it without having your iodine levels tested or without consulting a physician. Please read this article here. 
 
Also make sure you aren’t possibly low in other trace minerals, vitamins, etc. And ideally, test your iodine levels before taking a supplement. 
 
I hope this new discovery can help you as much as it helped me. Keep in mind, these are just suggestions as I am not a doctor. Feel free to get your levels test at your doctor’s office and be sure not to take anything for too long term without guidance. I plan on taking it through the summer and then will switch to a lower dose. I can’t tell you how much to take but for me, one of these capsules a day has been great. Here is a good post by Dr. William Davis that touches on the amounts. Okay on to the food/smoothie….
 
REESE’S PIECES SMOOTHIE (named by Tate)
 
Not that this smoothie has anything to do with thyroid health, although you could certain add your Brazil nuts to it, but it’s my son and husband’s new favorite snack. We like to call it the Reese’s Pieces smoothie. It’s so good and satisfying, especially when it’s so hot outside!! It’s the perfect snack for my kids just before lacrosse camp, tennis practice or dive meets!
  • 3 tbsp chocolate protein powder (this is what we use or see picture below)
  • 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1.5 tbsp peanut butter (or almond butter or sunflower seed butter)
  • 1 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
  • 6 drops stevia 
  • 1 tsp avocado oil (optional)
  • Big handful ice 
  • 2 tbsps dark chips (we love Enjoy Life Dark chips)

I blend together all of the ingredients but the ice and chocolate chips. Then I add the ice and blend. Lastly, I add the chocolate chips since the boys like the chocolate kind of chunky. It really tastes like a milkshake. And it’s so refreshing! Enjoy!!   

I realize I accidentally left the avocado oil out of the picture but maybe that is best so the kids don’t see it!

 

It was hard to take pics of just a brown smoothie so I called in reinforcement since we needed some pictures for the food post…

Happy summer, y’all!

  • Rebecca Owen - Hi, just curious why you choose Kelp over an Iodine supplement? Do you know if increasing iodine will also help to increase Ferritin levels? Thanks so much!ReplyCancel

There is nothing better than a loaded hamburger with all of the fixins. And, for someone who follows a paleo or whole 30 type plan, I love mine with a crispy lettuce wrap. I’m also usually looking for a good side dish because, yeah, I eat a lot. Chips, potato salad, coleslaw won’t really work. So what else can I do? So I thought, why not just add everything I love on a burger and just mix it all together? How simple is that? But it needs something to brng all together. While some of my favorite toppings are sauteed mushrooms and onions, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, bacon, jalipeno, to name a few, my biggest requirement lately is this new amazing mayonase by Primal Kitchen. It is the perfect touch!

Anyway so instead lettuce (which would get soggy), I got some pre-cut cabbage and sauteed that in some butter, bacon grease or avocado oil. Then in a separate pan I cooked about 1.5 lbs of grassfed ground beef. Then I added that to the cabbage, along with all of my favorite burger toppings, lots of my new favorite mayo to the mix (don’t skimp on this, it makes ALL the difference!), a big drizzle of avocado oil because well why not, and that was it. OMG was so good! I’ll be eating this for lunch all week. 

I hope you guys like it! What are your favorite burger toppings??

Print Recipe
hamburger mash
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Warm a medium pan or skillet to medium high and cook the ground beef stirring occasionally until done.
  2. While that is cooking, get out a big pot and add some butter, bacon grease or avocado oil and sautee the veggies. If using mushrooms do that first since it takes longer to cook. Otherwise if just using cabbage (I use the precut cabbage) add that and cook until wilty and soft.
  3. Then add the beef and any other ingredients you want to your hamburger bowl to the cooked cabbage pot. Don't forget the mayo!
  4. Garnish with avocado, fresh tomato, bacon bits, jalipeno (I'm loving the jarred ones lately) and enjoy!!

You want a sure fire way for your family to eat kale? And actually like it?? I’m telling you, this is your best bet! Sweet, salty, tangy, and bacon-y. We have made this bacon and kale recipe for years and it is one of our very favorite sides. 

So almost every Saturday and Sunday morning my husband will make bacon. Over the years we have found that our favorite way to cook it, in order to get it extra crispy and without the mess of splattering, is by baking it. All you need to do is preheat the oven to 370, cover a baking sheet with foil, lay the bacon into strips (not letting it overlap) evenly and bake it for about 10 min on each side until extra crispy. Once we pull the pan out of the oven, I’ll pour the bacon grease in a coffee mug or directly into my big stainless 6 quart pot to have it ready (for this recipe) later on in the day. And, before the bacon is all gone, I’ll grab 2-3 pieces, put it in a small storage bag (once it has cooled), crumble it, and toss it in the fridge for use later. 

If you don’t make bacon in the morning, you can still certainly make this recipe easily, but the morning bacon does save time and make this recipe extra flavorful! 

I love ths recipe so much I wanted to make it a meal so I added some sausage (see below) to make it heartier and more filling and man is it good!! I make this once a weekly latey. I’m hooked!

This sausage is amazing and cooked on the cast iron skillet, it is even better because  it gets nice and crispy. It’s also great with eggs, in salads, etc. You can get it at Whole Foods or 365 but it’s definitely cheaper at 365 if you have access to one.  

Honestly, just one large bush? (what is a grouping of kale called? a bunch?) of kale will hardly fill just me (I do eat a lot in general), so I will almost always use 2 big…things(?) of kale. And well, that is just enough for the four of us.

This is the kind (not sure if it has a name) of kale I used. And instead of cutting it, I just tear pieces off to put in the pot. 

I love my big 6 quart pot. It helps contain the splatter and mess if I’m cooking the bacon but also it leaves me plenty of room and makes it easier to stir. Why did I always try to use a smaller pot before?? 

And here it is. I hope you all like it as much as we do! 

 

 

Print Recipe
Sweet and salty kale with spicy sausage
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 big bunch kale it's probably about 3 cups worth
  • 3 slices cut into 1" pieces bacon
  • 1-1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar depending how how big your bunch is you may need more or less
  • 2-3 tbsp coconut sugar depending how how big your bunch is you may need more or less
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 big bunch kale it's probably about 3 cups worth
  • 3 slices cut into 1" pieces bacon
  • 1-1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar depending how how big your bunch is you may need more or less
  • 2-3 tbsp coconut sugar depending how how big your bunch is you may need more or less
Instructions
  1. If you saved your bacon grease, then heat up your large pot on medium high, pour all of the bacon grease (so probably about 3 tbsp) and then add the kale by tearing off pieces until there are just stems left.
  2. If you didn't make bacon in the morning then just add the cut up bacon to the pot and cook until its brown and then add the kale.
  3. Cook and stir the kale for about 5 minutes or until kale starts to soften and lose some of it's color.
  4. Add the apple cider vinegar and coconut sugar as desired and enjoy!
  5. You can add some cooked sausage if you'd like it to be more of a meal but it's great with or without.

  • Courtney - Hey Landria! The print option isn’t working on any of recipes I’m trying to print. Is it my browser? When I click on the printer button it opens a new tab and says “page not found.” I want to print!!
    Thanks for such AWESOME healthy recipes!!
    CourtneyReplyCancel

    • landriav - Courtney! I am so sorry for my delay!! Thanks for your note. I just tried and it didn’t work for me either. Uggh, I have had such a tough time with good recipes plugins lately. I will check into it as soon as I have some time. I wish I new a better plugin to use. Thanks again!ReplyCancel

For most holidays, we love to make fun breakfast treats.  And this year for Easter, I had donuts on my mind. Donuts are really one of the things I miss with clean eating. My mission this past week was to find a paleo/low carb type donut on the internet with the best reviews. After some searching, wholesomeyum’s recipe with 98 4.8 (out of 5) star reviews and 384 comments, seem to have won out, so I figured we needed to try these.  I did what any good mom would do, I asked my daughter to make them for me. She used coconut sugar instead of the erythritol but they turned out well. And while they were tasty, they favored the texture of a muffin a bit more than a donut, but were good nonetheless!
 
I did also come to realize that donuts really need to be fried (or at least taste like they are fried). For that reason, and not to toot my own horn, but it made me realize why I love the donuts from my book. I think because we use fiber to give the donuts some “squishiness” they have a similar texture to traditional gluten-filled tastiness. Brush them with a coat of butter before baking so the cinnamon & sugar caramelize. The kids made these also for my birthday morning and also Christmas morning. They’re my fav!
 
This picture doesn’t do them justice since you can’t see the caramelized cinnamon and sugar at the bottom very well. I pulled this old picture from my book. I honestly didn’t plan on sharing these donuts with you all, but thought I had to after trying the delicious but non-“fried” donuts that my daughter made just so you can have different options. If you have my book, these are on page 174. Otherwise, if not, no worries, I’ll post the recipe at the bottom of this page!
 
Two other favorite breakfast treats we love are:
 
I hope you guys can find a fun breakfast treat that you love!
 
Here are donuts from WholeSomeYum. They turned out pretty, didn’t they? If you dont like fried or need fried then you will love these! 

Tate did really enjoy these! It was funny for me to see him come jump on our bench and play around with the donuts and camera while I was trying to photograph the food. I hadn’t see him to do that in quite a while. 

The last time had took this pose might have been from a post from 2014. How time flies….

Happy Easter, everyone!!

Print Recipe
Donuts
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 325F. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Then in a small pot, boil water and add butter to melt. Pour water/butter into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well. Once it starts to become dough like, you will likely need to use your hands to knead it all together. Then, tear off golf ball sized pieces and form into balls with your hands. On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, place the balls on the sheet and cook for 25 minutes. A few minutes after that has cooked, melt your chocolate so it has some time to cool. Then once the donut holes come out of the oven, dip them halfway or cover them completely with chocolate, and devour!

I cannot thank those of you enough that reached out to me since my last post. My intent was not to get attention (if you know me, you know that is the last thing I would ever want) or create concern. Like I said, I just wanted to raise some awareness and make a small confession.
 
So, just to be clear, I am all good. And I am thankful for the health that I have and for the support that I have from my family and friends. I am so grateful for so much. And besides, we all have our own stuff, right? We ALL do. But it’s just that you now actually know mine. 🙂 But from the bottom of my heart, really, I so appreciate all of your thoughts and kind words. So, thank you. I’ve been reading a couple of Brené Brown’s books lately and she says, “being vulnerable isn’t a weakness,” which is what it feels like sometimes (or all of the time). But rather, she claims that is is actually “the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, accountability, and authenticity.” So maybe I am growing and learning, too. Maybe we are growing and learning together. 
 
Ok how sick are you of this cold and rain? Ugh, I am so over it. I thought we need something warm and comforting to snack on, so we made these biscuits the other day. They are so simple to make with only 4 ingredients, and they are low carb or even Keto compliant.
 
And if you have a nut allergy, I bet you could substitute with this pumpkin seed meal or sunflower seed meal. Both of these flours got great review so you’ll have to let me know if you try it! But do know that if you use the sunflower seed meal, the biscuits will likely turn green due to a chemical reaction between the sunflower seed meal and baking powder. Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day that is just around the corner!
 
Anyway, my son LOVES these biscuits and has been having them as a part of his breakfast (or even afternoon snack!) lately. My husband liked them but really loved them once we added butter and honey or eggs and bacon. They are a little different than regular gluten-filled high carb biscuits but still they are great!! I hope you all love them! By the way, I got this recipe from Wholesome YUM and it got 4.9 stars from 73 reviews. That’s really good and especially for a low carb, gluten free biscuit! 

Print Recipe
Low carb biscuits
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in wet ingredients. Scoop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the lined baking sheet. Form into rounded biscuit shapes (flatten slightly with your fingers). Bake for about 15 minutes, until firm and golden. Cool on the baking sheet.
Recipe Notes

To scoop, use a ice cream scooper if you have one. We used a cookie scooper and they were a little too small for bacon and eggs. 

  • Katherine - Looking forward to making these today with the girls—on this rainy, half-day of school!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - I hope y’all like them Katherine!! They’re extra good with some butter and honey on them. ReplyCancel

  • Earvin Paul Magnaye Sosa - Thanks for sharing this healthy and delicious recipe of your family. I badly need this because i’m overweight and i’m planning to eat healthy meals only and some desserts for my cheat day. ha! Enjoy your day!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Thanks! I hope you like them! These are great for Keto or low carb and so tasty!!ReplyCancel

  • Viviana - I’ll definitely try them one of these days! yummy!ReplyCancel

  • Sam - Just made these for the second time. And this time with a low carb sausage gravy. SO YUMMY! I’m so grateful for your blog and the fantastic recipes that keep my family fully fed and satisfied without breaking the bank or sacrificing our health.ReplyCancel

    • Landria Voigt - Thanks for saying that Sam!! So appreciate your comment! 🙂ReplyCancel