I can hardly believe it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Since the last post, one daughter graduated college, and one graduated high school and started college. We’ve all been home (for the most part) since March 2020.
Just like most people, some things have really changed since the shutdown. Right after my daughter got back from Oregon, I started getting terrible hives and rashes that seemed to come out of nowhere. I felt awful 99% of the time. I had gained a ton of weight and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. I went to my endocrinologist in January 2020. My TSH was 13, but he told me to lose weight and he’d see me again in 3 months. I told him about the rashes. He insisted it was my detergent. Well, that was so ridiculous that I did a telehealth appointment in March 2020. She agreed to up my dose of levothyroxine. I did a food intolerance test in December 2020, and found that I had an intolerance to eggs and milk. Once I eliminated those from my diet, I never had the rash or hives again. My digestive system also felt so much better. I still felt pretty unmotivated. I went to my regular doctor and told her everything that had gone on. She tested my levels. She called back within a day and said my TSH level was 197. She had never seen levels this high and upped my dosage drastically.
It has taken a lot of time and work, but I’m finally feeling better. I’ve completely changed my diet. Keto is really hard to stick to without eggs or milk. I’ve given up eggs, milk, wheat, and sugar. I started getting food from Daily Harvest. It has been a game changer for me! I’ve lost over 20 pounds in two months, and I’ve eaten more food than ever before. I have a code to get $35 off of Daily Harvest if you’re interested. I’ll tell you, I’m not a huge smoothie lover in general. The harvest and forager bowls are among my favorites. Here’s the code to save $35:
On our drive to Hilton Head, I pack snacks for every person. The kids get things like Chex Mix, Fruit by the Foot, chips, Zone bars, peanut butter or cheese crackers, and basically things that are full of carbs. I don’t eat any of those things so I need to figure out what I might want to munch on for the trip. This time around, I packed jars of sugar free pickles, Keto Bars, almonds, and cheese bars. Keto and low carb snacks are much easier to find now, but consideration for how they travel and how your body responds to them must be given. If you’re on a low carb or Keto diet it is still possible to stay in ketosis while on vacation, but it does take a little more planning.
These little treats were pretty easy to throw together. It took me as long to make the batter as it took my oven to preheat. I put some jam the middle of a couple of them just to make them more appealing to the children. One of the girls made herself a strawberry shortcake as a snack with the cupcake/muffin. These are very versatile. They could be frosted, filled with a variety of things, used as any kind of shortcake, or the base of almost any kind of muffin you might want.
It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a recipe so I wanted to do that today.
lovedinthesouth.com 