its intimidating to go from eating whatever you want/have in the house/are craving/can get in your belly before you get out of the house, to the healthy organic and local diet you're supposed to be eating, when you're on the candida diet train. the keys are, PLANNING AHEAD, and COOKING AT HOME. it will seem to suck at first but it will save you so much time, frustration and not to mention, money, in the long run! one of the things you are not supposed to have on the candida cleanse is pork and sausages and hot dogs. according to candidadiet.com, "pork cells contain retroviruses that survive cooking and may be harmful for those with a weakened digestive system. processed meats like lunch meat and spam are loaded with dextrose nitrates, sulphates and sugars." dr. thomas anstett of naturalhealthbalance.com, the naturopathic doctor we are working with to develop our candida-control-diet protocol, says that hot dogs are 'mystery tubes' - we really never know what are in those things! ive always been a meat and carb breakfast kind of gal. tbone steak and eggs, bacon and sausage and eggs with crispy hash browns, filipino breakfast with longanisa (a sweet, fatty pork sausage) with over easy eggs and garlic white rice, yum, all my favorites. but on the candida diet, pork and pork products are a no-no. the white rice, and potatoes too. but whew, the steak and eggs are safe. ha. but i had to make do with other sausage substitutes! i went to birite market yesterday, got some ground organic diestel turkey ($5.50/lb at birite, $6.50-7.50 at whole foods), and paid about $5 for a vacuum sealed package for just under a pound of meat. ground meats are incredibly economical, and easy to prepare. you can stir fry them as-is to make a kind of crumbly taco meat texture to add to salads, eat on top of your candida-safe grains (like quinoa, amaranth, brown rice), or even throw into soups. or, you can mush them up with some seasonings and an egg, to make patties. mmm, turkey sausage patties for breakfast, yeah! this morning i took the ground turkey and sprinkled onto it some salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of bragg's organic sprinkle* (a 24-herb and spice seasoning blend) and cracked an egg into the mess. i then mushed up all the ingredients with my hand, making sure to fully incorporate the egg and mix it all up really well. *bragg's organic sprinkle technically contains carrot, which should be avoided on the candida diet because of its sugar content, but because i had already dumped it into the meat AND the amount of carrot in the herb mix is so slight, i think it should be ok to use once in a while - but base this on how strict you want your candida diet to be! in place of the bragg's herb sprinkle, you can use pretty much herbs or spices you have in your pantry - italian seasoning is an easy one with herbs that are safe to eat on the candida cleanse. you can try thyme, rosemary, oregano, or even just salt and pepper! i then took about 3-4 tablespoons of meat at a time, and threw them directly onto a nonstick frying pan on medium high heat, sprinkled some olive oil on top, and cooked them up like burgers. i gently squashed them a few times throughout the cooking process with a wooden spatula, so they'd be shaped more like patties than meat balls. this is so they cook more evenly, and pressing them helps the juices of the meat flow out, cooking the patties faster - also ensuring that the meat juices are fully cooked. you definitely dont want to be eating rare turkey patties! then, i flipped the turkey patty babies over a time or two to make sure they were evenly browned and cooked throughout. i even cut one in half to make sure it wasnt pink inside. i took the entire package of ground turkey meat, and made about 7 patties. 1 to eat for breakfast today, and 6 more to eat over the next couple of days. only 6 patties made it into the pan for the first round of cooking, so when these were done, i pulled them off the pan and put them in a pyrex dish for fridge storage. as the last turkey patty was cooking, i threw in a handful of spinach leaves in the same pan, so the spinach could get some of that juicy flavor, and heated up some quinoa, and over-easy fried an egg. i used a separate nonstick saucepan to fry up the egg, so that i wouldnt have to use more oil, though i probably could have done it all in one pan. threw the quinoa, spinach, turkey patty in a bowl and topped it off with the egg, and seasoned it with a bit of black pepper and my favorite casina rossa truffle & salt (also available at birite market - super expensive but sooo worth it and it lasts forever!). INHALED this bowl of goodness, and washed it down with water. filled my belly up, and i dont feel at all bloated or heavy, like i usually do when i eat pork or rice or potatoes. tastes like this candida diet is not going to be so bad after all...