ICF and National Board Certified Holistic Life & Wellness Coach
This is part of my “one thing” series. Other posts in this series can be found here. If there’s one thing to do during this shelter-in-place lockdown thing, it’s to give. Give of yourself. Give your time, talents, and skills. I am reminded of a…
This is part of my “one thing” series. Other posts in this series can be found here. Some of you know I’m a musician (classical, horn) as well as a coach. This week I was talking about the importance of breathing while playing… which is…
These gluten-free, AIP/Paleo cassava crackers are a mash-up of several recipes I found online. My one big change is adding more water to make this a loose, spreadable dough – no rolling required!
NOTE: this is a double batch, feel free to halve if you only have one sheet pan or don’t want a lot of tempting starchy carbs in your house at this time!
*** Experiment with dried herbs and spices and find what you like! Thyme, oregano, basil, ginger, and turmeric are all great in these crackers. Careful with herbs and spices that can be overpowering like cinnamon or rosemary, start with less than you think you need, you can always add more to your next batch.
Preheat oven to 300.
Mix together flours, herbs, and salt.
Mix together coconut oil and 1/2 cup water. Add to dry ingredients.
Continue adding water a little at a time until you have a slightly loose, spreadable “dough”. I use my hands to mix. Getting dirty is fun! If you know what I mean.
Divide onto two sheet pans lined with silpats or parchment. Spread each to an even, thin layer (see photo above). An offset spatula works nicely for this task. NOTE: If you want substantial crackers for dipping, keep the dough on the thicker side. Just remember they’ll take a little longer to bake (dry out) in the oven.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove and score the dough into crackers (squares, rectangles, what have you). I recommend gently pressing the knife instead of dragging the knife through the dough. Sticky half-baked dough can adhere to the knife and create a bit of a mess and ruin your nicely spread cracker dough). Don’t worry about going all the way through the dough at this time, the crackers will break along the “fault lines”. This step is OPTIONAL – if you just want to break your crackers into random shapes after they have cooled, that’s fine too!
Continue baking for 45-60 minutes. You want to start checking them at this point, see if the edges are getting brown – if they are, take a few out and see if they will “shatter” – there should be no bendy-ness to the crackers. The idea is to dry out the crackers completely. Rotate the pans if you need to (if your oven has hot spots). Keep checking after every 10-15 minutes; I hesitate to give an exact baking time as each oven is different in terms of how hot they get (or don’t get as the case may be).
Cool on paper or tea towels and then break apart – and enjoy!
PS: You may be wondering, why bother taking the time to write out a recipe that’s been done a hundred times over? Mostly because I hate – I mean really REALLY hate with the passion of a thousand burning suns – how most recipes websites are so crammed full of ads these days. You can’t get to the recipe without 6 or 8 pop-ups or google ads floating into view. It’s incredibly annoying and has turned me off to many online bloggers.
If this website ever turns into THAT, please shoot me.
If you ever want to support this website, please see my Resources Page, which has all my referral and affiliate links in one tidy place. Or not. I don’t ever want to hit you over the head with ads, so again, please shoot me if that ever happens.
Rant over. Onwards!
Join me for my 6 week LIVE online course, Reimagining Hashimoto’s. Read what former students are saying about this transformational course below!
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If you have any questions about Hashimoto’s I cannot recommend this course enough! The road to health can be a long and complicated one but now I feel that I’m equipped with a good roadmap. Every aspect of the course was relevant and important. You will also find a highly supportive group of people that are on the same ride with you – the deep exchange in content, feelings, thoughts, and even recipes lets you know that you are not alone. If you are on the fence about this course, do it because you will be better for it! – Amy Palacios, Administrative Specialist at Public Health
Whether you are diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or not, anyone who’s ready and willing to make positive changes in their life and health should definitely take this course! Each Module left me with a lot of useful information to learn from and it helped me get a better understanding of my current condition as well as new tools to slowly start moving forward. The knowledge and perspective I gained has allowed me to create a more balanced approach in all areas of my life. – Mariana Osuna, Independent Filmmaker
The camaraderie among the Reimagining Hashimoto’s group was amazing! Sandy was a great leader who created a safe environment so we could all share and benefit from each others’ knowledge and experience. I highly recommend this course to anyone seeking information and encouragement as they navigate forward from their Hashimoto’s diagnosis, regardless of where they are in their journey! – Diane Corey, Realtor and Multi-Million Dollar Producer
I didn’t expect how beautifully and completely presented this course would be. Sandy is a consummate professional and everything she presented in this course was relatable, useful, fascinating, enriching, and deeper than I could ever have imagined. Her research was in-depth, and the links she added in the resources section was fantastic. I have gone on more “deep dives” into subjects I never anticipated were related. I HIGHLY recommend participation in this course, and working with Sandy in any capacity you are able to. She is wonderful. – KC Still, Professional Musician and Suzuki Instructor
Sandy Swanson is a Certified Functional Health Coach who received her training from Chris Kresser’s ADAPT Health Coach training course (A-CFHC) and is also a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC). You can learn more about her here and more about what coaching is here.
This is part of my “one thing” series. Other posts in this series can be found here. If there’s one thing to do during this stressful time, and do now, it’s this: To listen to your thoughts and to let go of those thoughts that…
NOTE: When it comes to COVID-19 and Autoimmune disease, the research is ongoing regarding this new virus and things are changing at a rapid pace. I will continue to update this post as time allows. Please, do your research, speak to your doctor if you…
This month has been exhausting, to say the least.
First, an alcoholic friend hit rock bottom a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t pretty, many people were hurt in the process, and many others were left feeling so very helpless. Thankfully, he seems to be seeking help. We shall see if he is successful in his desire to make some changes.
Second, a work colleague of mine I had known for 20+ years died suddenly at the age of 64. He had some health issues over the years but had been doing SO well. It was a shock, and his absence has left a huge hole not only at the company where he works but also in so many of our hearts.
And because things always happen in threes, yesterday I received some family news that has blown my mind. The kind of news where you realize someone has been living a lie for the past 30 years, right under all of our noses. My world has been rocked.
It’s crises like these that really separate the boys from the men in the game of autoimmune disease.
It would be so easy to just say “F it all” and slip into old habits.
I remember many moons ago before I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, I used to bake. A lot. Baking was my therapy, I was good at it, and, knowing what I know now about being mindful, I realize it was a practice in mindfulness for me. Baking is chemistry, you have to be precise, and if you weren’t paying attention to every detail, your cookies would suck. I would bake when I was angry, depressed, emotional, you get the idea.
A boyfriend I dated at the time would come over and see a pile of muffins or what have you, and he’d stop in his tracks and ask, “ok…. what’s wrong?”
And of course, baking was only half of it. The other – and more destructive – half was to consume all of that sugar. Felt so good going down, not so good later and in the following days.
Now, so many years later after knowing what I know about diet, sleep, stress, etc… I know better. It’s still not easy to handle a crisis, but, at least I know what my mind and body need and what to avoid.
In other words, I’ve gotten to know myself really, REALLY well. Which has not been fun. It’s been hard and frustrating and annoying. But, I’m a better person for it and am able to deal with stress better as a result.
That all said: here are a few things to consider if you find yourself in a crisis.
It’s easy to say “f*** it” and have a glass of wine before bed. Hell, that’s what I did last night. I don’t do well with wine because of the histamines (I get really congested and breathing becomes an annoying process). If I drink right before bed I also tend to wake with a start 45 minutes after falling asleep and then every 2 hours thereafter. Oy.
I can count on one hand the number of drinks I’ve had this year. There’s a reason I don’t drink much; sleep is the main reason.
Food is one place where I feel pretty untempted. I have removed all triggers from my house (for me this would be alcohol, GF processed foods, chocolate, GF candy. In other words: SUGAR!). The temptation is real, my friends. In difficult times I go through the same dance: Rummage angrily through all of the cupboards and fridge looking for that one ginger candy or old chocolate bar. I eventually give up and settle on some celery sticks or big bowl of cut-up fruit, but the ritual remains (speaking of habits…).
When in a crisis we tend to ignore our body’s signs. Like hunger. I wasn’t really hungry yesterday, but I did force myself to eat a 100% AIP compliant meal. Twice. Glad I did as I needed the energy to focus on work and the crisis at hand.
When the anger and hurt really hit (still not true hunger), I did my dance and ended up eating those damn celery sticks. In the end I am always super glad to eat what I do, and am proud of myself for not succumbing to crap food.
Know your triggers and weaknesses when it comes to food. Get them out of the house.
Get out there. MOVE. Walk. Run. Jump in place. Do yoga. Every day. Several times a day if you can. Take breaks from sitting at your desk if you work in an office job. Getting the blood flowing eases the load not only on your body, but your mind, which makes it easier to handle stress.
My mindfulness practices have come a long way from “thoughtfully baking cookies” (and then not-so-thoughtfully eating them). I now have a minimum of a 20-minute yoga/meditation practice every single day. And lookie there, I’m checking the box for exercise too!
Even 5-10 minutes of sitting quietly and focussing on ONE thing – doesn’t matter what – will help train our “monkey mind” brain which can go ape-sh*t in times of crisis when we start worrying and ruminating and losing sleep and truly losing our minds.
Being able to be calm and focus on one thing in real life is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves. Crisis or not. Not having a focussed mind can be devastating in and of itself.
If you are curious about starting a meditation practice, check out the free Insight Timer app for great guided and timed meditation apps to get you started.
Find your friends and family that will listen, truly listen, and hold them close. I can count those people on one hand (different hand than used for counting the number of drinks I’ve had so far this year, lol).
I don’t bother with people who don’t listen, steal my emotional thunder by making it about them, try to help by telling me what to do, who are on their phone texting when I’m talking. Nope. If you want to be a better listener, check out “10 ways to have a better conversation” here.
If you don’t have someone to talk to and need to sort through things, then getting a coach might be something to think about. Coaches help you sort out all of those thoughts and can give structure to what you need to do to move forward. I have a coach, and thank my lucky stars every day for her. If your crisis is a deep one, please find a therapist.
Don’t waste your “spoons” and emotional energy/time on those who won’t listen deeply and thoughtfully. Which leads me to:
Aside from sleep and food, what else are you doing for self-care?
What the proverbial sh*t hits the fan, this is where we truly find out how well we are doing with our “action plan” of health and healing.
In classical music, we have a saying when it comes to playing and performing: “You’re only as good as your worst day”.
My worst day used to be eating a plate of double-chocolate-chip cookies and washing it down with a beer or two. Talking to toxic people. Sitting my ass on the couch for hours watching mindless TV. Ruminating and worrying and fantasizing about conversations (that never happened). Going out for fried bar food and drinks and then coming home and not sleeping. Spending mindless hours on Facebook.
My worst day now is meditating 5 minutes instead of 20. Skipping the yoga class and going for a walk instead, even though I know I’d feel better doing a proper yoga class. Eating a whole bar of chocolate in one sitting (why I don’t have it in the house!). Catching myself ruminating and refocussing my thoughts several times a day. Spending mindless hours on Facebook (still working on that one).
There is always work to be done, always progress to be made. No one will ever be perfect (whatever that means).
But getting to know yourself really, REALLY well is probably the best thing you can do for yourself – at ANY stage of the game. Knowing what your “worst day” looks like is very eye-opening. Even writing the above has shown me 1) I have come a long way and 2) I still have some areas in my life that need work. Which is ok, it’s a work in progress. 🙂
That’s it for now. Wishing all of you strength and peace.
Sandy
In light of all that’s been going on in this world, I would like to offer you, dear reader, some coaching.
I will listen deeply, offer empathy, and help you make sense of what’s going on in the world right now. It does not have to be about nutrition or autoimmune issues. We can talk about anything that’s on your mind.
We can talk about anything that’s on your mind:
To book your Complimentary “Meet & Greet” Session and Assessment, click here.
Be well, everyone, and I look forward to meeting you.
Sandy
Sandy Swanson is a Certified Functional Health Coach who received her training from Chris Kresser’s ADAPT Health Coach training course (A-CFHC) and is also a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC). You can learn more about her here and more about what coaching is here.
Wondering what to tell people who don’t understand your need to go gluten-free or change up your diet? Been there, done that. It can be so frustrating when people don’t understand (not always their fault) or don’t care (not much you can do there). You…
When it comes to basic thyroid labs, it shouldn’t be this hard. Insurance may only pay for a TSH lab and a T4 lab. Unfortunately, this doesn’t give a full picture of what’s going on! Speaking from experience here. I’m not a doctor and don’t…
Do you have that friend (or “friend”… ahem) who always orders a Diet Coke instead of the real deal? Perhaps they think they are doing their body a favor by avoiding real sugar and opting for artificial sweeteners. Not that “The Real Thing” is that much better than the Diet version, mind you…
An interesting case study came out last fall regarding artificial sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, etc). The study followed a woman who was consuming a “high dose of artificial sweeteners”. She was then diagnosed with Hashimoto’s (autoimmune thyroid disease).
Her TSH levels were 12.2 (normal range is .3 to 5 or thereabouts. Keep in mind that every lab may have slightly different ranges). She also showed a weight gain of 20 pounds since starting the use of these sweeteners.
After she stopped the sweeteners, her TSH dropped and “she recovered completely”. Study linked below for those curious.
There are other studies out there that show that these artificial sweeteners mess with our health. Gut health, in particular, can be compromised. If our gut health is out of balance (the bad bacteria overpower the good guys, for example), this can start a cascade of events that lead to health issues and chronic illness… like autoimmune disease.
One study, in particular, shows that, in rats, sucralose can alter the composition of gut microbes. It showed that sucralose can reduce beneficial bacteria. It can also alter glucose and insulin levels.
For those of us with reduced gut motility (think constipation, not having a bowel movement every day), this is not good! If things aren’t moving, the bad guys (not to mention waste products) can take over and push things really out of balance (candida or parasite overgrowth, SIBO, etc).
And then there’s stevia. The Paleo Mom has a great article covering the basics of what stevia is and what it can do to our bodies. Spoiler alert: It can inhibit healthy probiotic growth and can affect our hormones for starters. Check out her article for details.
If you are following the AIP, eliminate stevia in the first elimination phase of the diet.
That said, another study suggests that stevia may be useful for those with Lyme disease, as it it may significantly reduce the parasite that causes Lyme. Definitely work with your doctor on this one. If your doctor is not up on the latest, it may be time to look for a new one. This study on stevia is also linked below for those curious.
Keep in mind that sugar is still sugar, even from natural sources like honey and maple syrup and can still feed disease if eaten in excess. Honey is also a high FODMAP food and this should be considered if one is on a low-FODMAP diet.
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Autoimmune Thyroiditis with Hypothyroidism Induced by Sugar Substitutes
Sucralose, A Synthetic Organochlorine Sweetener: Overview of Biological Issues
Does the Gut Microbiota Trigger Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
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Too much information? Feeling confused? A coach can help. Learn more about working with me one-on-one.
Fatigue is a huge issue from which many of us suffer. We’re talking beyond busy lives and being tired (aka not getting enough sleep at night). This is mind-numbing fatigue. Where you simply can’t move. Muscles don’t respond, your brain doesn’t respond. Like our little…
