ER+ ladies, what do you eat?

The only thing my breast surgeon said about food was to avoid soy as the verdict is not out on it...I am now juicing every day to make sur eI get my kale, dandelion and spinach into me...I avoid grapefruit jiuce, flax and soy products. I am no longer eating red meat and won't have sugar in the house or I will eat it (I take zopliclone to slepe and apparently that is the sugar eating culprit at 2am). I have done my best to eliminate as much cheese as possible ( my comfort food) and gluten. I eat no white flour products. Not a pop drinker...have one cup of black coffee in am and then try to drink green tea and my 'green juice' whenever possible. I drink almond milk but I was drinking organic cows milk before that. trying to buy organic for the dirty dozen or wash them very carefull before eating them...

Layla2525 – I eat lamb, too. I think sheeps and lambs live quite a natural life and eat grass, even if they are not raised organically, so maybe that is what's meant by clean?  

jwilco -- walnuts! That's brilliant.  Will try that, too.

Mandalala, my ND recommended lamb to me, too.  Just beginning to experiment with some recipes. 

Great ideas for the alternative hummus recipes. Thanks! Always used to make my own, then got lazy and picked up the ready made ones since there are so many to choose from and it's a quick and a easy option for lunch at work. Will need to check out the white bean Trader's option when running short on time.



Today I'm having a mini cooking marathon in my toasty kitchen. While DH and adult sons brave the cold at the Pats game.....eating barbecued beef tips and sausage...Oy!...I'm making the two recipes below along with a chicken chili...should hold us through the week for dinners. I love to cook but often get home from work at 6PM or later so hate to start making a full dinner at that hour. Had some standard easy low calorie recipes that made life easy....but most involved soy and or sesame products, which is why I was so horrified to have to give them up.



So this week in addition to chicken chili, we'll be having:



http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/kabocha-french-lentil-soup-recipe.html



And



http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/farro-and-roasted-butternut-squash-recipe.html



Thanks to the person who referred us to the site that held these recipes. Maybe Dancetracer? I went back to see who mentioned it but didn't see it.....maybe on another thread?

Even tho it is not really a soup, I will post my made up chicken chili recipe on the healthy soup thread when I have a minute to get it written down. It started out pretty soupy..so I added lots more beans.

Will let you know how these other recipes turn out.....

Go Pats!!

Thanks for the links Lacey - and nope, it wasn't me who put the link to that site up.  Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the recipe!

I will check out the soup thread.  I have heard you can sub any kind of nuts instead of tahini in hummus.  I love hummus too and eat it less often now.  I love it on fresh veggies.  Oh well. 

I have been cooking a lot with quinoa, barley, lentils and beans lately.  I just started putting more on my cooking blog.  I like the Cooking Quinoa website - has some interesting recipes. 

For those who eat hummus.....so much easier to open a can of chick peas, and flavor with vinaigrette and herbs de Provence.   Also works with other canned beans.  An easy and cheap lunch.

I have made hummus with olive oil in lieu of Tahini sauce.  I add in a bit of cumin and tastes just fine.  Parsley and garlic are great additions, as is a bit of lemon juice.  However, I have to admit to being sick of hummus.  Have had way too much of the stuff.

Cows, even those who don't get hormones, can get mastitis.  They are prone to stepping on their teats, and from there getting infected udders.  Most antibiotics injected into their quarters (the equivalent of a breast) are expelled within 72 hours.  The milk cannot be used, and it is routinely tested for antibiotics.  That was a number of years ago, and things are even more stringent now.  Bacteria counts are also monitored and a farmer can be shut down if things are not kept in control.

(As an aside, I find it cruel that the "completely organic" folks sometimes don't treat their cattle.  What usually happens though, is that the cow is treated, and then sold to conventional farms where she can live out her productive life.  Sometimes cows need systemic antibiotics as do we.  Things like cutting their feet and then getting infected toes.  It happens.)

My big worry is that everyone here is getting enough protein.  You need it during chemo, and you need it to heal.  You need more, not less than normal.  So this is important in considering any diet changes.  I think I still eat more protein than I did prior to diagnosis.  Your body takes a long time to recover completely.  So my aim was for 80g daily.  I eat less now.

I feel no guilt at all about eating an 8-10 oz serving of meat.

I don't worry about sugar.  I am not a huge user.  I did eat some local honey today and it was delish.  And I put maple syrup on my steel cut oatmeal.  YUM.

Soy is the big one I avoid.  And flax, although I do eat crackers sometimes.  Most of the seeds go through you.

The big organic one I eat is eggs.....not a place to cut corners.  Otherwise, I make most of my meals from scratch.  I do cut some corners such as the pasta sauce I used last night.  (I don't make pasta either.)  But I start with a bag of potatoes, and not frozen for example.  I eat tons of fruits and veggies, supplementing with frozen in the winter.

Finally, I think there is nothing better in life than a lovely dessert or pastry.  Not all the time, but certainly as a treat.  Food is very important to me, and each meal a celebration.  I intend to keep things that way.

Because I didn't go through treatment to live a life of fear and deprivation. 

Back to report on the farro recipe... It was wonderful, tho more steps than I'd go through on a work night.....a Sunday cookfest recipe. I never used the goat cheese with it, (purely forgot since my house was filled with football excitement when I served it), and it was still so delicious. Farro is satisfyingly crunchy, and this "salad" can be served at room temp or heated. Now I wish I could remember where I picked up my little bag of farro!! I recall hitting several stores before finding it. Was shocked that Whole Foods didn't have it among the many loose grains it features. Anyway, it was worth the hunt!



I got a chuckle today from a little guy I counsel who gave me his scoop on super foods. Not sure why he even started talking about them, and he certainly doesn't know about my recent super focus on these since none of my client population knows about my BC experience. But apparently, his mom provides some really healthy meals to her kids (yay!), and he could rattle off every fruit and vegetable that provides great nutrition....even knowing the super foods (kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage). So cute! He did insist that strawberries were higher in nutritional content than blueberries, and I wasn't so sure about that...but I'll be sure to look it up!

I was really glad to see the discussion about breakfast.  I am really struggling with what to eat for breakfast.  I find it to be the most difficult meal.  To begin with, I am not a morning person and I eat before I leave the house in the morning.  SO, it has to be really quick because I am always short on time. 

Has anyone found a (dry) cereal that doesn't have to be cooked that is within the healthy for ER+ guidelines?  Even the organic/healthy cereal at the health food store has sugar!  The only thing I have found without sugar is Hodgson Mill Apples and More Muesli, but it has whole flax seed.  I know that flax seed is not a good thing for ER+, but is it ground flax seed? whole flax seed?  Flax seed oil?  It is my understanding (can not remember where I read it...) that whole flax seed do not get digested the same (as ground and oil) and primarily act as intestine/colon sweepers.  Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks and keep the breakfast ideas coming, please!

If you do not want to make Muesli yourself, Familia makes a "no sugar added" Muesli (you can even buy it on amazon, if your grocer does not carry it).  But it is not organic.

For another sources of Steel Cut Oats, Whole Foods makes an organic version.  And McCanns now has a quick and easy steel cut oats---it takes about 5 minutes to cook and is just like the longer cooking varieties. It is not organic  however.

Hi Lacey!

I love sesame seeds so it is indeed bad news if I can no longer eat them. Could you please direct me to the article or study that says they are a "no no"?  This bc sucks.  It is hard enough to have the disease without discovering that some favorite foods are on the "not to be eaten" list.

Thanks for your time.

Mandy