Dried chick peas. Organic beef jerky. Coconut milk mixed w Cocoa to feed the brain. Fasting is a great idea!! I detest those freeze dried veggies in noodle soup which I no longer consume but perhaps w broth & gas station hot water. FYI, my late MoM had a prosthetic glass eye. I would sometimes cover 1 eye to see what it was like for her. She was a Bad Ass Warrior. Never let anything/anyone get her down. LoVe fr Vancouver 🇨🇦
These are great suggestions, Bee. Thank you. And thank you for sharing your mom's story. They no longer make them out of glass (according to my ocularist), except in Germany. When I win the lottery (clears throat), I will fly there and get another one made that is glass instead of what they're using these days!
Consider bringing a range of homemade fermented veggies, e.g. sauerkraut, pickles, beets, honey garlic, and carrots with ginger. Even pumpkin is tasty.
Lactofermentation with salt water is user-friendly with a little experimentation and creativity -- for example, use a small water-filled jar in the neck of your fermentation vessel to hold the solids under the brine level.
Brilliant suggestion. Thank you. (It also helps that my daughter LOVES kimchee... and I LOVE all fermented veggies except beets, 'cause I can't eat beets without my throat closing up... I know they are SO good for you though.)
Hi Jennifer, I'm so sorry to hear your false eye and socket are giving you trouble!! Sounds awful. Wishing you smoother waters in that regard. When I road trip, I have a YETI cooler that I stock with a lot of portable veggies (baby carrots, celery, jicama, cucumbers). I bring hummus to dip them in. I pack mixed greens and try to eat them in the first two days, otherwise they start to get gross. I throw some olive oil and either red wine or apple cider vinegar in a jar with garlic, sea salt and pepper for dressing. A green apple, followed by vegan yogurt, fruit and granola serve as my first meal of the day (usually eaten between noon and 2pm). I am not a vegan, so I will sometimes pack hardboiled eggs. I pack a lot of nuts and the healthiest fruit and nut bars I can find (no sugars added) or if I have more time to prepare, I'll make nut balls - the only issue with these is that they prefer to be kept cold and I don't always have room in the cooler for them. I need to get a bigger YETI! And yes, I also fast. I find driving puts my gut into stasis (code word for constipation and gas), so I try to avoid packing cheese (but I'm part mouse, so that's a challenge for me and if I'm going to be gone a long time and there's good stuff in the fridge, I bring it) and also bring along Smooth Move tea and try to make myself drink a LOT of water. Sometimes it's tough finding quality bottled water on the trip (I am usually driving in Baja Mexico), so, again, if I'm super organized, I will even bring a 5 gallon bottle of water along. But you're right, preparation is key. Safe travels!! Your daughters are SO adorable! I love and am envious of their youthful rosy cheeks!
I have the same problem - hard to refer to Mississippi without spelling it out in a sing-song manner. Also, when my daughter Susanna moved to Alabama, all I could think of was (Stephen Foster's ?) "Oh, Susanna, I'm bound for Alabama, with a banjo on my knee".
Oh yes. My dad used to sing that song to us all the time when we were growing up. So fun that that is your daughter's name and that she moved to Alabama! Does she still live there?
We do quite a bit of road tripping and with a sensitive gut and paleo diet/lifestyle we pack all our own food. Coolers are the key. We start with salads that are ready made from home and eat those the first day usually. We pack a ton of protein bars (aloha is our newest favorite brand) and paleo valley beef sticks are a must. Then we pack a bag with our healthy crackers and throw in cheese and a knife and we can have summer sausage, crackers and cheese as a meal. We bring crunchy snacks like our paleo pretzels, or plantain chips, cashews, pistachio, pumpkin seeds (go raw organic are pretty great) We rarely eat on 1-2 day trips but when we do then it's a full meal at a restaurant that makes sweet potatoes and has reasonably good steak or meat. I avoid the dirty dozen for sides and try to eat the clean 15 when ordering sides. Basically never eat gas station food or fast food. It's doable and we have a system and feel really good while travelling and eating lightly for the most part. But it is just the two of us old farts now and husband is pretty easy going with what I pack and serve. Our salads though--those are to die for....lots and lots of healthy toppings and usually some grilled organic chicken on the top. Hope you get things sorted and are feeling better soon Jennifer. Can't imagine how awful this past year has been and proud of you for your courage through it all...and love your smile!!!
Haha! I am NOT organized but I'm a foodie and so much prefer no tummy troubles while I travel. And I have an agreeable husband who eats what I bring. If there's cheese--he's usually a happy camper! Maybe this comes from years of tent camping but back then I was not a healthy eater and we ate more from cans and boxes. Life is different now and I definitely try to eat clean while on the road. We go away for a month in the winter and bring all our own grass fed and organic meats so there's no issue of getting it where we are. Trick is to keep it frozen on ice!! I am a bit of a girl scout I guess--packing everything including the kitchen sink if I can. Ha ha!
I hope you get some relief soon with your eye socket problem! I know that's gotta be rough. We definitely are in a food desert. An issue I've had lately is finding foods without certain unhealthy ingredients like seed oils. Just because it's organic doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy! We've had to stop buying a few things we really love cos nobody makes them without seed oils.
When my kiddo had lots of allergies, we used a plug-in cooler for the car so we could take refrigerated food (mostly grassfed meat, cheese, chopped veggies) on road trips. We even checked it as luggage on one plane trip. It helped. One like this: https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-40369-Iceless-Thermoelectric-28-Quart/dp/B007ZYH4BM/
Sorry to hear you are still dealing with eye issues. I have a suggestion for Vibrant Life and eating on the road, something which you and many might not agree, but since I drive from Jersey often to visit kids and grandkids in three different states, I often eat out. My answer, keep your stress and cortisol levels down by not worrying much about what you are eating, and not eating. If you have an underlying sound diet you should be fine. For example, I love oatmeal, blueberries, vegetables, fruit, beans, tofu, most anything vegetarian except eggplant. I also enjoy fish, chicken, and steak. I drink 3 cups of coffee daily, with one teaspoon of sugar and half and half. I drink lots of water, no soft drinks. So when I eat pizza, fast food, order out from a Chinese Restaurant, I don't worry about it. I enjoy the food. Oh yes, movement is medicine. Exercise daily, even if it means only a one hour walk each day. Be happy! Don't stress, enjoy your food and the abundance of life.
I think this is a great suggestion, actually. Stress feeds disease (especially cancer) and lightening up is ALWAYS a good idea. And I also agree that what you eat most of the time matters so much more than a few days (or even weeks) of not eating as well as you might want to. Thank you for taking the risk and sharing your "heterodox" opinion here. I once interviewed this wonderful older Ph.D. named Paul A. Buck. He had been a professor at Cornell. In either biochemistry or nutrition. I can't remember which. He said something that really resonated with me--that he wasn't worried about snacks and treats or what folks ate 5 percent of the time. His worry was what folks ate 95% of the time. As long as that was healthy, he thought it was perfectly reasonable to indulge... He and his wife had a huge organic garden and their fridge was packed with freshly picked vegetables. He was in inspiration. I think he was something like 89 (and very active) when I met him.
I’m so happy that you’re writing again. I sent in money for a subscription and then you got sick. It hasn’t been showing up on my emails when you post so I may have missed a lot. I agree with all your nutritional tips - even letting it go and enjoying. Although since I’m trying to fix leaky gut I won’t let it go too far!
Thanks so much for supporting this channel. I will do my best to write more regularly. It's very hard because of eye strain and needing to limit my computer time but (as you may imagine) I certainly have A LOT to say and many topics in the queue and in my head. If you look at the list of articles you should be able to see if there's any that you missed. It feels so good to be well enough to write. I'm so glad this article resonated with you. Have you had success fixing your leaky gut? If it's not too personal, I (and my readers) would love to know what you have done that has worked and what you have done that hasn't.
Oh that’s a great topic! I was already taking things like glutathione - so my functional dr. in another state - looked at my blood work and put me on an elimination diet - in December!! Now I’m reintroducing foods. He also put me on two formulas to mix with water to work on ‘resealing’ my intestines - and stomach - gave me interesting exercises to stimulate my vegus nerve and more. I noticed a reduction in swelling two weeks into it. I do have hoshimotos although two doctors said I didn’t - leading me to start making bread again! A good book on thyroid I’m slowly getting thru by Dr. Kharrazian which, unbeknownst to me, is the Bible this functional dr. adheres to - is teaching me a lot. It’s something like “Why do I still have thyroid problems when I take thyroid “. That’s probably a very inaccurate remembering of the title. Just remember, it has lots of words. (Hoping to clear brain fog)
There are 4 - gargling with water twice a day, singing loudly every day, inducing the gag response a couple times a day and the kicker - enemas with coffee once a week. Lots of fun!
I’ve been taking classes on line from the Traditional Cooking School . I made my own sourdough starter so every ancient grain I bake with is better for you . They teach you how to ferment veggies and make yogurt from - hopefully - raw milk . I’ve learned a lot and have really enjoyed it .
It really is. The owner is Wardee Harmon and she teaches with such kindness . I wish I had taken up more traditional methods of cooking long ago- even though I cook most of our dinners and always have. Jennifer, I hope your recent set backs are resolved soon and it was fun to see your girls trip in the midst of all of it . I’m glad you didn’t let it rob you of your time with your daughters- a good reminder for all of us.
I'm a mom of two young and very active kids. Both my husband and I have full time jobs. We pack our kids nut-free lunch everyday. We have extracurriculars almost daily, plus homework, making evening meals impossible. We're also dairy and gluten free, so that just adds to the complexity of finding food that our picky eaters will consume, particularly while traveling.
My go-to has been a Hot-Logic that a friend of mine who is a rail engineer turned me onto. She is a vegetarian and body builder who has carefully curated her food for years. There's no food on the freight train, so she takes her little Hot-Logic Mini lunchbox and plugs it into the engine full of whatever rice and veggie dish she has prepared. It heats up to serving temperature and is ready whenever she needs it. I now premake meals for lunches and dinners and have a family size as well as lunch size Hot-Logics for all of us. I use it to defrost and heat my homemade soup, defrost and heat dinner in time to eat so we can be off and running again. I even have an outlet in my car for road trips where my husband cooks chicken, rice (pre cooked), and veggies from raw when he is running a marathon. (Note: this takes a LOT of prep and meal planning)
You ate it all as soon as your trip started?! 🤣 You need to pace yourself. You should be able to pack enough produce for a 3-4-day trip. I also use frozen fruit and vegetables as "ice packs" in my coolers, and eat them when thawed.
I pack canned sardines, mackerel, and low mercury tuna. I usually pack fresh lemon and olive oil and ACV. Salt and pepper. Date and fruit bars from the health food stores. Bags of dried apricots, dates, nuts. Avocados. A good knife. Seaweed snacks. Finding fresh veggies along the way, whether at farmers markets or grocery stores. Lots of fasting, and the food has to be rationed. Chipotle is found in most cities.
Wow you sure made me laugh. It is difficult road tripping and not having the right food. Wish I could serve you up something beautiful and magically transport it to you. I hope you all have a fun time together creating an adventure you will remember always.
Love that you are making the trip.
I know you will be happy to be back to your Ashland Coop. So much gratitude for all those fresh and beautiful foods. Love seeing all your beautiful smiles. ❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏safe travels, thanks for sharing.
On the road, my fast-food standbys are Subway (salad or Veggie Delite sandwich), Taco Bell (order off the vegetarian menu and delete the dairy), and quick pizza places in gas stations (delete the cheese, order marinara and all the veggies). Those quick pizza places are sometimes side-by-side with Subway so you can add Subway's veggies to your pizza (spinach, peppers, etc).
Dried chick peas. Organic beef jerky. Coconut milk mixed w Cocoa to feed the brain. Fasting is a great idea!! I detest those freeze dried veggies in noodle soup which I no longer consume but perhaps w broth & gas station hot water. FYI, my late MoM had a prosthetic glass eye. I would sometimes cover 1 eye to see what it was like for her. She was a Bad Ass Warrior. Never let anything/anyone get her down. LoVe fr Vancouver 🇨🇦
These are great suggestions, Bee. Thank you. And thank you for sharing your mom's story. They no longer make them out of glass (according to my ocularist), except in Germany. When I win the lottery (clears throat), I will fly there and get another one made that is glass instead of what they're using these days!
Whoops. I meant coconut oil!!! I been reading up more on keto re addictions & epilepsy benefits.
Consider bringing a range of homemade fermented veggies, e.g. sauerkraut, pickles, beets, honey garlic, and carrots with ginger. Even pumpkin is tasty.
Lactofermentation with salt water is user-friendly with a little experimentation and creativity -- for example, use a small water-filled jar in the neck of your fermentation vessel to hold the solids under the brine level.
Brilliant suggestion. Thank you. (It also helps that my daughter LOVES kimchee... and I LOVE all fermented veggies except beets, 'cause I can't eat beets without my throat closing up... I know they are SO good for you though.)
Hi Jennifer, I'm so sorry to hear your false eye and socket are giving you trouble!! Sounds awful. Wishing you smoother waters in that regard. When I road trip, I have a YETI cooler that I stock with a lot of portable veggies (baby carrots, celery, jicama, cucumbers). I bring hummus to dip them in. I pack mixed greens and try to eat them in the first two days, otherwise they start to get gross. I throw some olive oil and either red wine or apple cider vinegar in a jar with garlic, sea salt and pepper for dressing. A green apple, followed by vegan yogurt, fruit and granola serve as my first meal of the day (usually eaten between noon and 2pm). I am not a vegan, so I will sometimes pack hardboiled eggs. I pack a lot of nuts and the healthiest fruit and nut bars I can find (no sugars added) or if I have more time to prepare, I'll make nut balls - the only issue with these is that they prefer to be kept cold and I don't always have room in the cooler for them. I need to get a bigger YETI! And yes, I also fast. I find driving puts my gut into stasis (code word for constipation and gas), so I try to avoid packing cheese (but I'm part mouse, so that's a challenge for me and if I'm going to be gone a long time and there's good stuff in the fridge, I bring it) and also bring along Smooth Move tea and try to make myself drink a LOT of water. Sometimes it's tough finding quality bottled water on the trip (I am usually driving in Baja Mexico), so, again, if I'm super organized, I will even bring a 5 gallon bottle of water along. But you're right, preparation is key. Safe travels!! Your daughters are SO adorable! I love and am envious of their youthful rosy cheeks!
Wow, girl. I want to road trip with YOU! Your car food sounds amazing. (And thanks for the sympathy about my eye. I will get it dialed in soon!)
I have the same problem - hard to refer to Mississippi without spelling it out in a sing-song manner. Also, when my daughter Susanna moved to Alabama, all I could think of was (Stephen Foster's ?) "Oh, Susanna, I'm bound for Alabama, with a banjo on my knee".
Oh yes. My dad used to sing that song to us all the time when we were growing up. So fun that that is your daughter's name and that she moved to Alabama! Does she still live there?
Yes - she teaches biology and microbiology at a community college. And she always eats her vegetables!
We do quite a bit of road tripping and with a sensitive gut and paleo diet/lifestyle we pack all our own food. Coolers are the key. We start with salads that are ready made from home and eat those the first day usually. We pack a ton of protein bars (aloha is our newest favorite brand) and paleo valley beef sticks are a must. Then we pack a bag with our healthy crackers and throw in cheese and a knife and we can have summer sausage, crackers and cheese as a meal. We bring crunchy snacks like our paleo pretzels, or plantain chips, cashews, pistachio, pumpkin seeds (go raw organic are pretty great) We rarely eat on 1-2 day trips but when we do then it's a full meal at a restaurant that makes sweet potatoes and has reasonably good steak or meat. I avoid the dirty dozen for sides and try to eat the clean 15 when ordering sides. Basically never eat gas station food or fast food. It's doable and we have a system and feel really good while travelling and eating lightly for the most part. But it is just the two of us old farts now and husband is pretty easy going with what I pack and serve. Our salads though--those are to die for....lots and lots of healthy toppings and usually some grilled organic chicken on the top. Hope you get things sorted and are feeling better soon Jennifer. Can't imagine how awful this past year has been and proud of you for your courage through it all...and love your smile!!!
This all sounds amazing, and I think you are way more organized than I am. Imma go road tripping with y'all... xo
Haha! I am NOT organized but I'm a foodie and so much prefer no tummy troubles while I travel. And I have an agreeable husband who eats what I bring. If there's cheese--he's usually a happy camper! Maybe this comes from years of tent camping but back then I was not a healthy eater and we ate more from cans and boxes. Life is different now and I definitely try to eat clean while on the road. We go away for a month in the winter and bring all our own grass fed and organic meats so there's no issue of getting it where we are. Trick is to keep it frozen on ice!! I am a bit of a girl scout I guess--packing everything including the kitchen sink if I can. Ha ha!
I hope you get some relief soon with your eye socket problem! I know that's gotta be rough. We definitely are in a food desert. An issue I've had lately is finding foods without certain unhealthy ingredients like seed oils. Just because it's organic doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy! We've had to stop buying a few things we really love cos nobody makes them without seed oils.
So true: Just because it's organic DOESN'T mean it's healthy. Packaged crap is still packaged crap even if it's not entirely made of Frankenfood...
When my kiddo had lots of allergies, we used a plug-in cooler for the car so we could take refrigerated food (mostly grassfed meat, cheese, chopped veggies) on road trips. We even checked it as luggage on one plane trip. It helped. One like this: https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-40369-Iceless-Thermoelectric-28-Quart/dp/B007ZYH4BM/
Sorry to hear you are still dealing with eye issues. I have a suggestion for Vibrant Life and eating on the road, something which you and many might not agree, but since I drive from Jersey often to visit kids and grandkids in three different states, I often eat out. My answer, keep your stress and cortisol levels down by not worrying much about what you are eating, and not eating. If you have an underlying sound diet you should be fine. For example, I love oatmeal, blueberries, vegetables, fruit, beans, tofu, most anything vegetarian except eggplant. I also enjoy fish, chicken, and steak. I drink 3 cups of coffee daily, with one teaspoon of sugar and half and half. I drink lots of water, no soft drinks. So when I eat pizza, fast food, order out from a Chinese Restaurant, I don't worry about it. I enjoy the food. Oh yes, movement is medicine. Exercise daily, even if it means only a one hour walk each day. Be happy! Don't stress, enjoy your food and the abundance of life.
I think this is a great suggestion, actually. Stress feeds disease (especially cancer) and lightening up is ALWAYS a good idea. And I also agree that what you eat most of the time matters so much more than a few days (or even weeks) of not eating as well as you might want to. Thank you for taking the risk and sharing your "heterodox" opinion here. I once interviewed this wonderful older Ph.D. named Paul A. Buck. He had been a professor at Cornell. In either biochemistry or nutrition. I can't remember which. He said something that really resonated with me--that he wasn't worried about snacks and treats or what folks ate 5 percent of the time. His worry was what folks ate 95% of the time. As long as that was healthy, he thought it was perfectly reasonable to indulge... He and his wife had a huge organic garden and their fridge was packed with freshly picked vegetables. He was in inspiration. I think he was something like 89 (and very active) when I met him.
I’m so happy that you’re writing again. I sent in money for a subscription and then you got sick. It hasn’t been showing up on my emails when you post so I may have missed a lot. I agree with all your nutritional tips - even letting it go and enjoying. Although since I’m trying to fix leaky gut I won’t let it go too far!
Thanks so much for supporting this channel. I will do my best to write more regularly. It's very hard because of eye strain and needing to limit my computer time but (as you may imagine) I certainly have A LOT to say and many topics in the queue and in my head. If you look at the list of articles you should be able to see if there's any that you missed. It feels so good to be well enough to write. I'm so glad this article resonated with you. Have you had success fixing your leaky gut? If it's not too personal, I (and my readers) would love to know what you have done that has worked and what you have done that hasn't.
Oh that’s a great topic! I was already taking things like glutathione - so my functional dr. in another state - looked at my blood work and put me on an elimination diet - in December!! Now I’m reintroducing foods. He also put me on two formulas to mix with water to work on ‘resealing’ my intestines - and stomach - gave me interesting exercises to stimulate my vegus nerve and more. I noticed a reduction in swelling two weeks into it. I do have hoshimotos although two doctors said I didn’t - leading me to start making bread again! A good book on thyroid I’m slowly getting thru by Dr. Kharrazian which, unbeknownst to me, is the Bible this functional dr. adheres to - is teaching me a lot. It’s something like “Why do I still have thyroid problems when I take thyroid “. That’s probably a very inaccurate remembering of the title. Just remember, it has lots of words. (Hoping to clear brain fog)
Hi! Would you be willing to share your vagus nerve exercises? I think that’s what has caused some of my issues.
I wanted to know more about these too, Lea. Thanks for asking!
There are 4 - gargling with water twice a day, singing loudly every day, inducing the gag response a couple times a day and the kicker - enemas with coffee once a week. Lots of fun!
I’ve been taking classes on line from the Traditional Cooking School . I made my own sourdough starter so every ancient grain I bake with is better for you . They teach you how to ferment veggies and make yogurt from - hopefully - raw milk . I’ve learned a lot and have really enjoyed it .
That sounds delicious, nutritious, and fun.
It really is. The owner is Wardee Harmon and she teaches with such kindness . I wish I had taken up more traditional methods of cooking long ago- even though I cook most of our dinners and always have. Jennifer, I hope your recent set backs are resolved soon and it was fun to see your girls trip in the midst of all of it . I’m glad you didn’t let it rob you of your time with your daughters- a good reminder for all of us.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31714595451 this is probably really dating myself, but we used to road trip with this book and make little detours to hit some awesome healthy food stops.
I'm a mom of two young and very active kids. Both my husband and I have full time jobs. We pack our kids nut-free lunch everyday. We have extracurriculars almost daily, plus homework, making evening meals impossible. We're also dairy and gluten free, so that just adds to the complexity of finding food that our picky eaters will consume, particularly while traveling.
My go-to has been a Hot-Logic that a friend of mine who is a rail engineer turned me onto. She is a vegetarian and body builder who has carefully curated her food for years. There's no food on the freight train, so she takes her little Hot-Logic Mini lunchbox and plugs it into the engine full of whatever rice and veggie dish she has prepared. It heats up to serving temperature and is ready whenever she needs it. I now premake meals for lunches and dinners and have a family size as well as lunch size Hot-Logics for all of us. I use it to defrost and heat my homemade soup, defrost and heat dinner in time to eat so we can be off and running again. I even have an outlet in my car for road trips where my husband cooks chicken, rice (pre cooked), and veggies from raw when he is running a marathon. (Note: this takes a LOT of prep and meal planning)
You ate it all as soon as your trip started?! 🤣 You need to pace yourself. You should be able to pack enough produce for a 3-4-day trip. I also use frozen fruit and vegetables as "ice packs" in my coolers, and eat them when thawed.
I know, right? We totally did. The excitement of being on the road gave us the munchies and ... about an hour later ALL our delicious food was gone...
I pack canned sardines, mackerel, and low mercury tuna. I usually pack fresh lemon and olive oil and ACV. Salt and pepper. Date and fruit bars from the health food stores. Bags of dried apricots, dates, nuts. Avocados. A good knife. Seaweed snacks. Finding fresh veggies along the way, whether at farmers markets or grocery stores. Lots of fasting, and the food has to be rationed. Chipotle is found in most cities.
Wow you sure made me laugh. It is difficult road tripping and not having the right food. Wish I could serve you up something beautiful and magically transport it to you. I hope you all have a fun time together creating an adventure you will remember always.
Love that you are making the trip.
I know you will be happy to be back to your Ashland Coop. So much gratitude for all those fresh and beautiful foods. Love seeing all your beautiful smiles. ❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏safe travels, thanks for sharing.
Glad my weird-ass sense of humor resonates with you, Debra. Excuse my French...
On the road, my fast-food standbys are Subway (salad or Veggie Delite sandwich), Taco Bell (order off the vegetarian menu and delete the dairy), and quick pizza places in gas stations (delete the cheese, order marinara and all the veggies). Those quick pizza places are sometimes side-by-side with Subway so you can add Subway's veggies to your pizza (spinach, peppers, etc).
Thanks for these suggestions, Cindy. We did have one meal at Subway. #greatminds