Happily Unprocessed is a recipe site focused on approachable, feel-good food made with real ingredients. The goal is simple: to share recipes that are practical enough for everyday cooking, but still delicious enough to make again and again.
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Hello Debi, After reading about your culinary practices for the better health outcome of your FAMILY, through out life’s journey, I feel secure in asking questions on the SUBJECT OF EATING THE PROPER FOODS THAT OUR BODIES WERE MEANT TO HANDLE, unlike the use of adding CHEMICALS that we have TRUSTED our fellow man ( by passing LAWS that had NO EMPATHY ON OUR HEALTH and INSIDES OF OUR BODIES) government, business, and COMMERCIAL LIFE in general, to be our GUIDE in NUTRITION.
Now, I find myself, trying to repair bad habits and pick up , practice good ones.
There’s got to be a definite REASON in why there is so much revolution on the WEB about the healthy foods that we should eat. Your information WILL COMPLETE THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS PUZZLE, which is education from the root , which to me is a VIG (very important guide) to feel secured ( moving on the right path), also sharing what I’ve learned from people like you.
Hi Debi,
Just wanted to say I still visit your website for recipes and I appreciate your down-to-earth, delicious recipes (and enjoy them several times a month). Your tikka masala recipe is divine and I cook it often. I do have one request – please repost your one pot Mediterranean Chicken and Rice recipe! I thankfully printed it out, but the world must know that it is fantastic and timeless. I cook it every month,
Best,
Steven from Illinois
Have you canned the enchilada sauce? I’d like to because it’s amazing. Thank you.
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for being awesome and for sharing. 🙂
Where can I find nutrition information for recipes? I need to reduce my sodium to under 2000mg/day. Your recipes sound delicious, but it is difficult to estimate sodium content.
Hi Jackie – I am currently working through my older recipes and adding the nutritional information. Keep in mind, however, sodium content is very hard to calculate on recipes unless you specifically use the same exact ingredients I use. For example, if a recipe calls for diced tomatoes and I use Hunts which as 20 mg per serving and you use Kroger brand which has 30 mg, our sodium content will be different. Not to mention if you add ‘a little’ more of something to recipe because you prefer that recipe to have more of it than I used. With that being said, you can always use a recipe builder calculator online before making the recipe.
Possible Additions to your No HFCS lit:
DelGrosso Joe Joe’s Sloppy Joe Sauce Sweet Smoky
Stonewall Kitchen Sloppy Joe Sauce
I say “possible additions” because I’m not clear what other names HFCS hides under!
Hi Deb ~ I knew your grandfather (Charles) and personally witnessed his affliction to Menier’s Syndrome (1963-1970’s). His affliction wasn’t as serious as yours but did result in his ability to hold a job leaving his wife having to be the bread winner for the balance of his life. His symptoms were instability leaving him bedridden for long periods. He would press his right ear continuously for relief.. Good diagnosis in those days and remedies were scarce . Fortunately he was able to know & enjoy you and your sister. My wife and I find your site to be a “public service” . Best regards
Please sign me up for your newsletter. Tried to usr the signup button but its not loading properly
Hi Tessa – can you tell me what page the link was on? I’d like to fix that. Thanks!
Hi Deb,
In 2004 after experiencing several spinning room episodes and almost fainting after I got up and walked a few feet I saw my Primary. He asked me if I noticed any hearing loss. I said I got a free hearing test when my Mom got her hearing aids and was told that I’d had tonal losses in my right ear. He told me I had Meinere’s disease and immediately put me on Dyazide. I watch my sodium intake and pretty much followed what everyone else says they were told to do. That cleared up all my dizziness except for lowering my head to spit out my tooth paste every time I brushed my teeth. He then put mee on Valium 5 mg and that cleared that up.
The use of Valium is the first thing I’ve not seen anyone mention here and wanted to share. It’s in the literature that I’ve read and maybe it good help someone else. Two years ago I came off the Valium and found I didn’t need it.
In 2012 while driving home from physical therapy post orthopedic surgery I had a major attack that lead to a panic attack. Worse thing I ever experienced in my entire life. I was so out of it that I had to crawl up the 3 steps into our home, throwing the crutches to the side. At the last step I couldn’t breath. My husband was about to call 911 and I was layer there shaking my head no. I was finally able to tell him I was having a panic attack.
That experience lead me to the second thing I want to share with you. There is the relationship of the pollen count in our atmosphere and Meinere’s attacks. I live near Augusta, GA. We literally have pollen storms here in the spring. Everything is cover with yellow pollen and the sky looks overcast. We get daily ozone level forecasts from our news station during the spring. Have you not experienced the popping or clearing of your ear like on a plane? It was while talking to an health care insurance representative i learned about the pollen connection. I started taking Benadryl 25 mg morning and night and that helped tremendously. I stopped the Benadryl just last month when I learned of a connection it has to developing Dementia/Alzheimer’s disease after long term use.
I’m a retired RN. I retired after my first son was born to be a full time Mommy. I’m now 68 years of age and have started to experience not being able to remember as good as I used to. Everyone seems to be having that problem when I mention I’m having it.
I found your site looking for a ham tetrazzini recipe. I’m making it tonight and I will be following your site to explore your recipes. I actually love reading cookbooks from cover to cover. I’m an old fashion Mom who always cooked meals from scratch except for the use of canned soups when called for. My favorite comfort meal is Hamburger Beef Stroganoff!!! I never bought in to all the boxed food fast food meal life style.
God bless you and your family.
In Him always,
Teresa
Hi Debi,
Found your site while researching MSG as I am allergic to it(Irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea). Also have a friend who has rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, Parkinson’s Disease, and Meniere’s Disease. I have found possible connections between migraines and Parkinson’s and MSG. Just wondering two things:
Have you found a connection between Meniere’s and/or RA and MSG?
What is your source for determining the other hidden names for MSG like Calcium Caseinate, etc.
Thanks
Hi Deb,
I can relate to your Meniere’s story because I had a lot of the same vertigo experiences you mentioned about two years ago. I was lucky in that I was losing hearing in my right ear and my left ear was slower to decline in hearing so I went to see an ENT. I had periods where my hearing in one or both ears would suddenly drop off to where I could not understand people. The quick hearing loss lasted for days and my hearing would slowly recover, but not to the same level. The ENT I was seeing for the hearing fluctuation problems said that I was a candidate heading toward Meniere’s. He had seen it before. He told me to reduce the sodium to below 1500 mg per day and to avoid chocolate or anything with caffeine in it. Caffeine drinks increases tension and anxiety that increases the vertigo attacks and intensity. Even though I reduced the sodium, which helped my hearing fluctuations , I still had the major vertigo attacks followed by milder attacks for about 4 months and they gradually subsided to mild dizzy spells after 6 to 9 month.
I still have the mild short period dizzy spells, but they are tolerable. Reducing sodium to less than 1500 mg/day, reducing stress, and relaxing facial and neck muscle tensions, and getting plenty of sleep ever day have helped me reduce the vertigo and Meniere’s symptoms. The Neuro Otologist that I see had me tested for Meniere’s after I had the horrible vertigo attacks and I was diagnosed with bi-lateral Meniere’s. Both of my ears were triggering my vestibular problems. I have lost the hearing in my right ear this past year, so it has ‘burned out’ and I required a cochlear implant. As you stated, Meniere’s is not well understood and you have to identify your triggers. My triggers are sodium, lack of sleep, anxiety, and facial or neck muscle tension/stress. Cutting the sodium to less than 1500 mg/day, eating healthy, (lot of fruit and veggies and water) and getting plenty of exercise help with keeping Meniere’s in check. The brain is also amazing in that it will remap itself over time (years) to help deal with the vestibular issues that come with Meniere’s.
I love your recipes and and I’m definitely going to try the red pepper hummus and the chicken chipotle bowl to start. I’m trying to avoid process foods that use chip oils that are bad for me and my heart. Thank you for sharing your story and your difficult journey. Blessings to your family and you
Hi Debi. As soon as I started reading your “About” section, I said, “Poor girl’s got Meniere’s.” I feel for you. I was diagnosed about 20 years ago, after many many many trips to doctors and specialists. I’m here to tell you that it CAN get better. It’s scary as hell, completely debilitating, and very few people no about it, much less understand it. That includes doctors. I was very lucky that after years of suffering, I found a doctor who prescribed medicine that was a lifesaver for me. I still had attacks, but they were less frequent. I’m happy to say, that I stabilized about a year and a half ago, and I went off my meds! (In a good way, ha!). There is hope. I’m happy I found your page. I was looking for ziti recipes (don’t tell my Italian mother), and will be using yours tomorrow. I wish you all the best. I don’t mean to sound weird, but please know there is someone out there (that would be me) who totally understands what you’re going through. Be well!
-Deb
I love, love your website!!!! Thank you!! I’ve had panic attacks that increase the fullness of my ears and they’re really scary. Maybe you finally helped me figure out why. You’re a phenomenal cook, Any plans for a cookbook?
Aw Audrey – thank you so much. I do not have plans for a cookbook at this time, they are very time consuming to make. But you are not the first to ask. I am, however, slowly going through my recipes an reworking them to include the sodium content in the nutrition card. PLEASE, I implore you, to go loso. It can’t hurt ANYTHING. As a matter of fact, it’s the opposite. We consume WAAAAYY too much sodium in our diets and once you go loso you will see what I mean. The more time that passes where I keep my sodium between 1200-1500 mg the better I feel. I use my FitBit to keep track. I can’t remember a time when I felt this good. The ‘fullness’ is completely gone. I still have a little ‘clicking’ almost in tune with my heartbeat that I can still hear, but it’s minimal and I will take that ANYDAY over a full attack. Please email me if you have any questions. I have an arsenal of recipes that I’ve made that have not made it to my site yet that I live on. They are wonderful and I’m happy to share them with you. Thanks again so much for writing and I hope you feel better soon! Deb