OUR DEBBIE....

Dear friends of Debbie and The Sour Path is the Sweetest...

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Debbie lost her battle with bone cancer on  September 24, 2014.  She fought as long and hard as she could.

As you are aware, Debbie was someone special. She spent her entire life caring about the needs of others as a caregiver and special education professional.  She found new ways to help people as she shared her personal journey to health through diet and her plans to help others achieve success were just getting started.    You were important to her.  I know that she hopes you continue your own journey to health successfully.

 Debbie's struggle with cancer was tremendously tough.  She spent the last 110 days out of 150 in the hospital and although Debbie had insurance, the insurance did not cover all costs.    A fund has been set up - link below - to help pay for those medical bills and if by chance the amount collected is greater than the medical bills, the balance will be placed in an education fund for her children ages 12 and 18.

The family has appreciated the outpouring of love directed to Debbie from across the country. She made a positive impact on the lives of so many.....

From Debbie's first blog entry.....     So I'm writing a blog that may be imperfect. I may even change some of my viewpoints later on and it will all be there in black and white. That I'm not perfect. Wow. But I feel like I have something important to say.

So I'm just going to leap!  Ribbet :)

Debbie Poff Hardgrave Medical Fund at www.gofundme.com/eget28

Entry submitted by Aunt Becky who is doing this without Debbie showing her how...

A BIG bump in the road....

From Mom's garden..... Love you Mom!

Hi Friends...

You are probably wondering where I have been these past few months.  I have been on a journey that I did not choose.  In April, I was diagnosed with a bone cancer called osteosarcoma.  It is a very aggressive, painful type of bone cancer that attacked my hip and has made it very difficult for me to get around.  As time has progressed, I have had 3 surgeries, chemo, and am trying my hardest to get better.  Road blocks keep getting in my way but I am determined to get around them.  I will try to keep you posted.      Debbie

Posted with Aunt Becky's help..

Lamb with Marinated Cucumber Radish Salad (GAPS/Paleo)

This is my new favorite recipe for a few reasons:

1. I'm dreaming of summer

2. I'm craving spring/summer veggies.

3. I'm trying the Autoimmune Protocol for a few weeks to try and reduce inflammation from an injury.

I love my day job in a special ed classroom. But, I guess my not-so-young body can't do as much lifting as I think it can :). So I injured myself in the back/hip area sometime in December. Lovely.

I was thinking the injury would be an excuse to simplify my diet a bit and try the Autoimmune Protocol. I looked at these lists that my friend Mickey has on her site and I couldn't help being inspired. It's as if I have an easier time thinking up recipes with fewer ingredients to work with. Maybe the big wide world is too overwhelming for me :).

A side note: I'm so excited to get my review copy of Mickey's new book, "The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook: An Allergen-Free Approach to Managing Chronic Illness." I'll let you know what my favorite recipe is after I get it!

Ingredients:

*about 2 lbs of lamb shoulder steak (steak or chicken thighs would be great, too)

*6 radishes, thinly sliced

*2 cucumbers, thinly sliced

*1/2 onion, sliced and separated into rings (I used red, but any kind is fine)

*1/2 cup olive oil

*1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

*1 tsp sea salt (Celtic, Himalayan)

*1 clove of minced garlic

*1/2 lb baby greens

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar, salt, and garlic. Add radishes, cucumbers, and onion and stir to coat vegetables. let marinate for at least 6 hours, stirring occasionally. (I like mine to marinate for 24 hours.)

Grill the lamb or fry in refined coconut oil. Serve the lamb on the baby greens and top with marinated veggies.

Yum!!! I'm getting hungry just thinking about this. I can't wait to start my garden :).

Berry Shortbread Crumble (GAPS/Paleo)

The other day I saw some cherries at the store. I was so excited I ran home to come up with a cherry recipe.

I've been craving salty shortbread, so I knew it would be something with butter! And I've been kind of lazy, so I wanted to make something with a few ingredients that I could throw together any time I wanted to.

But, guess what? False alarm. Cherries aren't really in season yet (I thought maybe they were in in season in California or somewhere like that). And I couldn't find cherries anywhere when I wanted to buy them.

But berries were on sale, so I decided I should be spontaneous and make something else :). (If you knew me, you would laugh at the idea of me being flexible or spontaneous, but I'm working on it.)

Recipe

*1/2 cup pasture butter, cold

*1/4 cup honey

*3 cups almond flour (I use this brand)

*1/4 tsp salt

*2 1/2 cups berries

Directions:

Put the cold butter into a medium bowl and cut into small pieces. Add the honey and mix with a fork until the butter is in pea-size lumps.

In a large bowl, combine almond flour and salt. Add the butter-honey mixture and work it in with a pastry blender (I don't have one so I used a fork, but if I had a pastry blender I would have definitely used it.) Keep cutting until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Pour about 3/4 of the crumb mixture into a 9" by 9" square pan. Press the mixture down firmly. Save the rest in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Remove the crust from the oven and spread the berries over the top. Spread remaining crumb mixture over the berries. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

This is great served warm or cold, and would be fabulous with ice cream! (Here's a recipe.)