Episode 40
Amanda Nowosadzki:
Clean Southern Cuisine, and So Much More!
In this episode we talk about finding a clean way to honor your culinary heritage. If you think you need to give of the flavors of your family...think again! This is why I invited my friend Amanda Nowosadski, author of Clean Southern Cuisine Cookbook to join us for this inspiring episode.
First Aired on: Jun 20, 2022
Episode 40
Amanda Nowosadzki:
Clean Southern Cuisine, and So Much More!
In this episode we talk about finding a clean way to honor your culinary heritage. If you think you need to give of the flavors of your family...think again! This is why I invited my friend Amanda Nowosadski, author of Clean Southern Cuisine Cookbook to join us for this inspiring episode.
First Aired on: Jun 20, 2022
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In today's episode, Amanda shares tips and tricks for converting our favorite recipes to suit our eating plan. Better than that.. she shares information from her book, The Clean Southern Cuisine Cookbook that will get us started.
That's right! Delicious, southern food can be clean and nutrient dense.
No matter your culinary heritage, it is possible to eat in a way that supports your health.
Learn about converting recipes for paleo, AIP, Keto, and gluten free.
With her background with cajun, creole, and southern food, Amanda knows all about flavor!
Healthy food doesn't have to be bland and boring!
By setting the mindset of "it will be worth it" and taking one step at a time, anyone can move toward truly clean eating. Whether you have autoimmune challenges, or simply want to optimize your health...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!
We agree that treats are not only okay, but important to include on occasion.
Want to know how to up-level the nutrient density of a chocolate cookie? Amanda tells us!
Look at the ingredients when you are grocery shopping. It is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.
That's right! Delicious, southern food can be clean and nutrient dense.
No matter your culinary heritage, it is possible to eat in a way that supports your health.
Learn about converting recipes for paleo, AIP, Keto, and gluten free.
With her background with cajun, creole, and southern food, Amanda knows all about flavor!
Healthy food doesn't have to be bland and boring!
By setting the mindset of "it will be worth it" and taking one step at a time, anyone can move toward truly clean eating. Whether you have autoimmune challenges, or simply want to optimize your health...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!
We agree that treats are not only okay, but important to include on occasion.
Want to know how to up-level the nutrient density of a chocolate cookie? Amanda tells us!
Look at the ingredients when you are grocery shopping. It is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.
Other Resources:
Connect with Amanda Nowosadzki
Watch this interview:
Amanda Nowosadzki has a gift for you!
Wheat Flour Substitute and Recipes
This is my opt-in for my 1:1 Wheat Flour Substitute, quick start guide, and a few favorite recipes using CSC Gluten Free Flour.Often, getting rid of baked goods or wheat flour can be on of the most intimidating steps to clean eating.
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Julie Michelson: Welcome back to the inspired living with auto-immunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michaelson. And today I'm joined by Amanda Nowosadzki author of the clean Southern cuisine, cookbook, and founder of the queen Southern cuisine blog. Today, we're talking about clean Southern cooking and so much more that will serve you.
[00:00:54] No matter your culinary heritage, whether you're following an AIP, keto [00:01:00] gluten-free, or just plain mindful diet. Amanda shows us how to include treats and foods that bring us joy while fueling our health.
[00:01:08] Amanda welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Julie, thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here with you today.
[00:01:16] Julie Michelson: I am thrilled. I love what you're doing and you answer a protest. I get all the time which is, you know, it's too hard or I missed so I want to just jump right in because. We were just chatting off-mic and found out that we're kind of neighbors. And I was teasing that you're this lovely Southern Belle living in Colorado, but you are also unique in, you know, not everybody is, is cooking, clean Southern cuisine.
[00:01:52] So how did you fall into this world? What motivated you to start finding a cleaner way [00:02:00] to cook?
[00:02:01] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know, it was really a happy accident. And it was about a decade ago. I was on. The verge of a landmark birthday, and Julie, as silly as this now seems I was going to be turning 30 and I thought, okay, I want to shed a few extra pounds. And the paleo diet was very invoked then, you know, that was really one of the premier diets at the time.
[00:02:26] So I'd heard quite a few friends talking about it and I thought. I'm going to try this paleo thing, right. To shed these few extra pounds. So I get on the paleo diet and my goal was to lose pounds, which I did. But what I didn't expect was that these health issues that I've been struggling with. Would just disappear.
[00:02:48] So a few weeks in, I had this major light bulb moment where I realized that the tendonitis that I've been struggling with in my wrist for like a year and a half it was unbearable. Right. I couldn't [00:03:00] chop, there were days I'd have to take off from work because I couldn't tie. I mean, it was really extreme.
[00:03:06] So I've been to a chiropractor. I've been to an orthopedic surgeon. I've been to everybody and it just didn't feel like a pill or a cream was like the end all be all answer. I wasn't even 30. Right. So I'm thinking what the heck, I don't want to be on a pill or cream for the rest of my life. Same with my IBS or irritable bowel syndrome.
[00:03:26] Right. I was diagnosed with that and I just always thought, okay, I kind of have this crazy stomach and something I'm going to have to live with. Well, lickety split a few weeks into eating, sort of the paleo diet where I'd removed gluten and dairy and grains and legumes. Wow. I had this light bulb moment where I realized that all of those symptoms had subsided and it really blew my mind.
[00:03:52] You know, being from south Louisiana, organic whole food was really not a focus.
[00:03:59] Julie Michelson: [00:04:00] Probably not easy to come by and let, let it focus, you know?
[00:04:04] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. It, you know, it's not, it's, it's not a it's not of great importance for many people. They're, let's face it. Right. What's what's of great importance is that the food is delicious and that it's a part of our heritage, right. There's really a huge aspect of culinary heritage there. You know, I learned to make gumbo at my mom's hip at the age of probably six.
[00:04:27] I probably learned how to make a roux, the base for a gumbo. Right? So it's really this cultural and this culinary inheritance how healthy it is a little bit less important. Right. So it was really, you know, I'm on the verge of this birthday. I lose these pounds. I start realizing that I just have less inflammation in my body.
[00:04:51] I've been paying a personal trainer, an ungodly amount of money to work out for probably a year. And. All of a sudden, you know, when I [00:05:00] had this light bulb moment, I realized, wait, all of my work is finally showing up because this inflammation is leaving me. And I was really able to narrow it down, Julie, to like the main culprit being gluten.
[00:05:14] Wow. That may be pretty sad because I realized, well, there it goes, gumbo, there goes crawfish pie. There goes biscuits, there, go all these things that are such a part of me and that I want to enjoy on a regular or at least an occasional basis. Right. So, you know, it really became a selfish quest, I guess I'd say because I, you know, Googled for gluten-free or paleo Southern recipes.
[00:05:41] They just didn't meet my standards, being from south Louisiana. So I I really began to revamp some generations, old family recipes. Right. And then I'd be began to create new ones because I wanted to eat them. Right. I knew like I don't want to live my [00:06:00] life without these. And it wasn't until further in.
[00:06:04] That somebody said to me, it was my sister-in-law who specializes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis actually.
[00:06:10] Julie Michelson: look at that.
[00:06:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. She said to me, you know what, Amanda, I think I was waxing poetic about, I don't know, gluten-free gumbo and how it could be amazing. And you could feel it to the occasion. And they'd never know the difference, which I actually did do that by the way, in testing for my cookbook.
[00:06:25] And she said, Amanda, I think he needs to write a cookbook and it wasn't until that moment that I thought, like, you know what, there's a lot of other people out there who could probably use this as well. And that's what really.
[00:06:39] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:06:40] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. Yeah. So that was the impetus. First starting clean Southern cuisine, the cookbook, and you know, the blog by the same name because, you know, I guess it's it was my own mess that really fueled me to To create these recipes that I could still enjoy.
[00:06:56] Right. I wasn't willing to cut them out of my life completely. [00:07:00] I knew that wouldn't be realistic. And it was really from that selfish place that I started to create them. But then very quickly became passionate and realized how many other people are suffering from an auto-immune disease. Are diabetic, have some sort of chronic issue that they're trying to manage, or maybe just wake up in the morning aching and don't realize why, right.
[00:07:23] Julie Michelson: Right. Think that's normal.
[00:07:26] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. And Julie, I think we do get to that place where we just begin to accept those things as normal, you know,
[00:07:34] Julie Michelson: which is why we're here so that people won't do that. They'll say, yeah.
[00:07:42] Amanda Nowosadzki: And I think it's a ton about awareness because if someone had spoken to me before that time that I had that light bulb moment, I would have thought they were crazy, or I would have just dismissed it because you know, my crazy stomach, my IBS was just a part of me. It was like, okay, you eat this food or this [00:08:00] rich food.
[00:08:01] You know, you know, the consequences, right. Or your knees are a little achy when you wake up. Well, I mean, come on, I wasn't 30 yet. That's not normal. Right. But again, we accepted
[00:08:11] Julie Michelson: it wasn't for, you
[00:08:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:08:15] Julie Michelson: know, I I'm. So with you, we have so many fun overlaps and crossovers. First finding out where neighbors I to found out about my celiac actually as a happy accident. And I went gluten-free to support my son when he was diagnosed and same thing, I was on 10 prescriptions that weren't helping, but it was like, oh, I feel a little better.
[00:08:39] Gluten-free my joints don't hurt as much my, you know and so, so that was awesome. What you're doing is such a contribution. I, and I, and. You know, your heritage is so richly seeped steeped in food. But what I know from working with all the different clients, I work with really [00:09:00] all over the world, all, all of our heritages are, are steeped in food.
[00:09:05] It is such a part of our families and our social circles. And you know, every it's just interwoven into our celebrations, everything and. I did not to the level of you, I should have you tweak some of my stuff. I grew up on the east coast and a Jewish family, and so, and I feel like almost all of those.
[00:09:32] Well, at least here, culturally, I feel like flour is a basic. You know, everybody has some kind of a dumpling or some soup with something in it. And for me, my shining glory, I loved that you were like, you could give it to a Cajun and they would, they don't know. I made, I think it was two years ago. I made matzah ball soup.
[00:09:57] I made, I made grain-free [00:10:00] paleo. Matzah ball soup and served it outside of my fellow, served it to friends who were also Jewish. So I had grown up with it. They had no idea. It was grain-free. The matzah balls were light and fluffy and delicious.
[00:10:14] I didn't come up with that recipe. I actually, there is a, an incredible paleo cook who you may or may not know or know.
[00:10:25] And who lives also is a neighbor of ours. And so she does a lot of she's Jewish and does a lot of Jewish recipes and pink, like so it is, it's such a contribution because we all do have these stories. And so it, I. But I did grow up. My family was in the restaurant business. But I, I'm not a brilliant cook or chef or I'm a, I'm a recipe follower more than a recipe maker when I'm cooking for others.
[00:10:53] And when I cook for just us, you know, I, I cook clean and easy. But. [00:11:00] I have spent over the past 15 years, you know, we it's tweaking the family recipes, the noodle kugel, the, you know, people are like grain-free noodle kugel. Yeah. You can do it. Grain-free dairy-free payment and it's not tastes free. It's all flavor free.
[00:11:18] And so, but I would say when you think Southern. People would say, well, no way, like just don't even bother. So it is such a contribution and I'm so excited to be able to, to share your cookbook with not only our listeners, but really with my clients that are Southern and those recipes really speak to them.
[00:11:41] Amanda Nowosadzki: Thank you, Julie. And you're so right. I think everybody's connected to their culinary heritage. And I think the other thing is, you know many of us travel places and have like this unforgettable unforgettable meal, right. And a lot of people have traveled to new Orleans or to the Louisiana Gulf coast.
[00:11:59] [00:12:00] And they've had this thing that they want to talk to me about when they find out I'm from. So I find that, you know, there's such a connection that makes that cuisine, the Cajun and the Creole cuisine, especially that influence on Southern food, known the world over. And so I've realized that you know, not only southerners have been interested in this, but so many other people who just have either had a quick.
[00:12:24] With new Orleans or with Louisiana cuisine, or who've gone there for an extended period of time or who knows somebody you know, that are from the area and make this one thing they just can't get enough of. So thank you. Thank you. It's.
[00:12:38] Julie Michelson: No. Thank you. Really. It's so exciting. And I, and I love so when I went gluten-free I say 15 years ago, I'm thinking about how old my son is. It was probably longer than that. It's again, options, you know, there weren't great cookbooks and there weren't great products. And we're going to, I don't want to jump [00:13:00] ahead, but I have to, there weren't great flour alternatives there weren't.
[00:13:03] I mean, it was just, it was a struggle and, and it was very easy actually for me to then go paleo because it was like, well, the other stuff didn't taste good anyway, so.
[00:13:17] Amanda Nowosadzki: Totally.
[00:13:18] Julie Michelson: Just avoiding it. But I want to circle back to this idea of clean, right? Because I, if I could tell you how many times people show up and, and, and our, my first meeting with them, they'll say I eat clean.
[00:13:37] What does that mean to you? Tell me about it. You know, and I'm like, oh boy, we have very different definitions of clean. So when you say clean Southern cuisine, what, what are you bringing to us? What, what are your criteria for.
[00:13:51] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. So for me, it's always going to be gluten-free because as I mentioned for myself, I identified that gluten [00:14:00] was a major culprit and I'm sure you probably have seen in your practice and in food sensitivity testing that it is for so many of us celiac or not. Right.
[00:14:10] Julie Michelson: Oh, absolutely. It's the one I, and I, I do have a, there's a short list of foods that I think. Everybody if interested, it does best to avoid, but I say, and especially working with the auto-immune community, that is, I'll say we all should have. And I use food testing and I, you know, we, we use all of it an elimination diets, and everyone needs to figure out for themselves, but without a doubt, and my listeners are probably rolling eyes cause they know what's coming because I say it all the time.
[00:14:39] The one thing. Across the board, everybody with auto-immunity or auto-immune in your family or chronic inflammation should avoid is gluten period. It's just simple.
[00:14:52] Amanda Nowosadzki: You know, it's, it's the it's the sad truth, but it's made less sad by, you know, people like myself and [00:15:00] yourself who really strive to find or to create. Things that, you know, you don't know the different, it's actually some delicious, you don't miss it. That is possible. If anybody's listening to this thinking like that's just not possible.
[00:15:12] It is. I promise I was, I had a very healthy dose of Southern skepticism about gluten free before I actually came to it and realized it. But for me, clean Southern cuisine and clean is going to be free of gluten and free of of other inflammatory and. And whenever possible, we're going to try to go.
[00:15:31] non-GMO, we're going to try to do organic whenever possible. And also we're going to try to make these things as nutrient dense as possible while, and here's the caveat for the big caveat for me in testing, all of these recipes and rigorously was that they needed to maintain a traditional taste and texture.
[00:15:51] And I mentioned feeding my gluten-free gumbo to a Cajun neighbor, which was actually.
[00:15:56] Julie Michelson: You had to be nervous.
[00:15:58] Amanda Nowosadzki: It was, it was a good [00:16:00] test, you know? And you know, I got his honest reaction and he was, you know, he just thought, well, this is great gumbo. This tastes like your mom's Dumbo. Right. Which is the recipe. I modified it from.
[00:16:12] He never would have known. And those moments are the ones that are like a triumph for, you know, anybody who's a recipe writer, but also what can show the listeners and demonstrate to the listeners that it's not hopeless. You're not going to feel deprived. And like you're never satiated, you know, there's actually a ton of hope when you find the right resources.
[00:16:34] So that's clean for me.
[00:16:36] Julie Michelson: I love that. I, and there is a ton of hope, which is why the podcast is inspired living. I mean, we, I, I just love, and I love all the I love. So I have to say as somebody who's not a southerner. I smiled on the inside when you said nutrient dense. Cause that's another thing I don't necessarily think of when I think of Southern [00:17:00] cuisine.
[00:17:00] So I love that you're bringing that in. So you're not just avoiding, which is all about how to optimize house people. It's not all about avoiding the bad stuff. It's also about making sure we're getting the good stuff.
[00:17:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. It's focusing on these ingredients that we really learn about as we start to experiment with them. Or I've got a quick start guide in the beginning of the cookbook that really goes through pantry items and refrigerator items. And then I try to educate you a little bit throughout on what each brings to the table.
[00:17:32] For instance. There is a cookie in my book and it's called I dream of chocolate cookies because Julie, I do drink with chocolate. If I'm being honest, most particular cookies use a raw cacao powder versus a regular cocoa powder. Right. And as you know, And maybe as some people know, but some people don't, a lot of those nutrients and cocoa powder that you put in brownies or baked goods are completely roasted out of it.[00:18:00]
[00:18:00] Whereas if you're enjoying raw cacao powder, well, then you're getting a ton of magnesium and you're getting all of these phenomenal nutrients from it that you would not get otherwise. Right. So I figured, Hey, if it's easy to layer in a little nutrition and we can still maintain that great. You know, traditional taste and texture, we can still free feed it to our, you know, American standard diet, friends, et cetera.
[00:18:25] Well then why the heck? Wouldn't we right?
[00:18:28] Julie Michelson: I love that. And I love that you said, you know, feeding into, to our sad friends. You didn't say it. I'll say it. That's my, I joke like that's my, my test that that's exactly how I test stuff is I know my, my house is the hub for my friend group and this particular friend group. It doesn't, they don't all eat as clean.
[00:18:53] There's kind of a variety. And some like terrible, I mean, really bad. And [00:19:00] so I, I always, I like to host and I could, because I liked to be in charge of the food, you know, and that's exactly how I test it. And, and I will, when I hand, before I hand it off to a client or somebody I'll be like, no, I know, you know, that plate was empty at the party.
[00:19:16] So I know, you know, anybody would like this and that's the key. It shouldn't be. I'm guilty of, I've been grain-free so long. I didn't have crackers and I wasn't somebody. I honestly, it's what you get used to as well. So I wasn't someone who missed bread or crack. I wasn't trying all the bad things that are out there that they sell that tastes like cardboard because I just didn't care.
[00:19:45] I was happy with my protein, fat and veggies, but And I just lost my train of thought as to where I was going with that. Wow.
[00:19:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: No worries at all.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Julie Michelson: So gone anyway. So w I, I want to ask you this because a lot of our listeners are possibly, you know, doing an AIP elimination or They, you know, everybody has kind of a different level of what works for them. I tell people all the time, once we go through, when I'm working with somebody one-on-one and we, you know, do their food sensitivity and we do their elimination phase, I'm an AIP coach.
[00:20:29] I don't put everybody through AIP. I lead, you know, individualize, everything we do. But I always say the. Best option is the most, very diet that suits your body. Mine. Is really restrictive. And so I would say the, and that usually is my answer. I would hope you could eat more food than I can and feel well, like really?
[00:20:54] And so, you know, not everybody's fully, grain-free [00:21:00] dairies another one and we grew up, my family was in the dairy business, but it's pretty inflammatory for everybody. But so if somebody is beyond gluten. This is my long-winded way of asking. Will, will they be able to find recipes in the cookbook or ideas that they can use?
[00:21:20] Amanda Nowosadzki: They will, Julie. The cookbook is not other than being gluten-free, there's nothing else across the board that applies. In other words, the rest of it is not all AIP or Quito or dairy-free, but most of the recipes have modifications, right? Some of them are going to be all of that. Some of them are going to be key to.
[00:21:40] The et cetera appropriate for almost any body. Others are really going to have special modifications. Like if you enjoy and have raw dairy in your life, you have the option to add some cheese to this biscuit, some raw cheddar to this biscuit. Okay. Or you know, to make the.
[00:21:55] Julie Michelson: my mouth water a little bit.
[00:21:58] Amanda Nowosadzki: This gets, I mean, [00:22:00] you, you called it earlier with the, with the flowered, with the bread.
[00:22:03] You know there's also going to be notations about to make something AIP friendly, substitute, you know, a flax egg for a nag or what have you. There's lots of substitutes. So so yeah, the answer is. I didn't want to take it all in one direction of AIP or Quito, et cetera, because I wanted it to be accessible to more people.
[00:22:26] And you know, you just mentioned the IP elimination, you know, hopefully the goal is I'm sure in your practice and for most people is not to stay in that AIP elimination phase, because that would be tough. Right. And I know for myself, if I weren't able to have like these special occasion foods that I would call like sweets or treats like biscuits, or, you know, a fabulous cookie, if I weren't able to do that ever, I would probably fail miserably.
[00:22:54] So it's not that
[00:22:56] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:22:57] Amanda Nowosadzki: it's not that you have to, you know, [00:23:00] incorporate these into your diet every week or that I'm even suggesting that I'm not. But you know, when you sit down to the holiday table one of the things that's most look forward to, I think in any culture is going to be some sort of bready item, like a biscuit or a roll, or, you know, a fabulous you know, bread from scratch.
[00:23:19] Right. So it's just, it's good to have these resources. Even if they're not going to be a part of your everyday life. Or they're not going to be a part of your AIP elimination phase, or maybe your AIP everyday diet that as you mentioned, you know, find the thing that works best for your body. But you're eating the most, very diet that you can.
[00:23:41] I love that because I think it's also so important for us each to figure out what works for our individual selves. And I love it that functional medicine practitioners, like you can really help. To dig down into that with food sensitivity testing, et cetera. And I mean, that's [00:24:00] gosh, I mean, knowledge is power, isn't it?
[00:24:03] A knowledge is also power to really enjoy and incorporate some delicious things. When you've got that knowledge at your fingertips.
[00:24:12] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. I call those the sum of my sometimes foods. So I, I have foods that I know they're a little bit inflammatory for me. And I allow myself to have them thoughtfully on occasion. And for me, it's not even breads and it's tomatoes.
[00:24:31] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, yes.
[00:24:33] Julie Michelson: You know, I nightshades, I grew up in New Jersey. I'm a Jersey girl.
[00:24:36] I love tomatoes. I just they don't seem to love me, but. I, if I eat tomatoes and that's how I would define the, sometimes food is, and I'm a little, when I say sometimes, I mean like a handful of times a year, like I am for me, but that's because I am who I am and I do what I do for a living. And [00:25:00] so I know if eating tomatoes two days in a row, if I can feel it, that means that even when I eat them once and can't feel it, it's doing something. So I limit that. But I totally agree with you and I, this has been a confession time for me. It's, it's been. A process for me, I joke I'm a kinder, gentler coach than I used to be. I used to be very much like, just do it and why do you need a biscuit? And why do you need it? You know? And now I get it.
[00:25:31] I'm like, well, you know what, everybody has a different level of need, a variety of treat of, you know, or what is a treat. You know, maybe not everybody can really think of the strawberry as a treat. It's okay. And so it is so important to have those go tos so that they don't just throw the towel in and say, well, forget it.
[00:25:54] This is too hard.
[00:25:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely when I couldn't agree more, you know I love him [00:26:00] that you say you were a tougher coach at some point, because I got to, you know, when, when you're really into it you can almost have a level of sensitivity to like, okay, well I'm doing it. It's working for me. I'm thriving. I'm seeing all of these benefits.
[00:26:13] Why can't you understand? Right. But when you're on the outside of that, and you have. Experienced the benefit. I feel like it's especially hard to really just jump all in. It takes a level of, I guess, trust or risk. Right. And just yeah. Throwing yourself at it and realizing like, okay, everybody's saying it's going to be worth it, I guess will be worth it.
[00:26:35] Julie Michelson: Yes, absolutely. And part of it too, to be totally, probably more honest than you were hoping for is it is such a pattern because I see it with my clients now all the time. I was coaching at the time, how I was living and I was living extremely restricted because I went from so sick to so well that I [00:27:00] didn't trust my body to be able to handle.
[00:27:02] I didn't, I didn't want to risk it.
[00:27:04] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely.
[00:27:05] Julie Michelson: so I actually teas, you know, at that phase that you were just talking about when we're getting ready to jump into an elimination and people. Panic. I don't know if I can do this. I don't, is it really gonna work? And I joke I have a couple of clients. It's funny whether it makes sense they're they're accountants and that they were literally, I think the only clients I've had that have started, you know, I never give an eczema.
[00:27:33] I say at least 30 days for the elimination, that's it. And we talk about why and how we'll know and all of that. And they start counting. Day one, they take, there's a like, and I'm like, you're counting to what we don't know yet. Like what stopped counting. But I always have to convince people in the beginning when they're in that phase, like, you don't believe me now, but I am going to have to [00:28:00] really encourage you to do your reintroductions.
[00:28:02] Right. Because people don't want to rock the boat.
[00:28:06] Amanda Nowosadzki: Totally.
[00:28:08] Julie Michelson: but it's where you learn. When, what treats can you have? Can you put cheese on your biscuit? People you want to know that right?
[00:28:18] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, exactly. Can you, yeah, I know because that elimination phase is powerful and then the reintroduction phase is also powerful, right? For the reasons you just mentioned. And it's those light bulb moments where when you eliminate. Suddenly start noticing a symptom or two that's no longer there, or you just feel so much dang better.
[00:28:40] Overall. I get it. You know, if you've tried that you sometimes get to that point where you're like, it is not worth it, you know, whether it, and you can decide for you, whether it's never, or whether it's, you know, you said like your some foods a few times a year, I've got those as well. And I love the sometimes food term, epic.
[00:28:58] That's great.
[00:28:59] Julie Michelson: We [00:29:00] have a never ever at a, this one's in and this is sometimes just sometimes. Yeah. So you, we danced around the flower topic. Let's talk flower. I have never talked flower on the podcast so far. Yeah. And I know.
[00:29:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: dangerous territory.
[00:29:23] Julie Michelson: personal experience. It's a, it is, people are funny about flour. So I agree that this transition away from wheat flour is like this big ugly, hairy, scary thing for people.
[00:29:38] And nothing's ever going to taste right again, or texture is a big deal. So educate us.
[00:29:46] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, totally. So as you mentioned, you know, a couple of years back, even gluten-free flours and one-to-one alternatives, they just sucked. Let's be blunt, right? Until, until more recently, it [00:30:00] just wasn't worth it. But what I wanted to do was to create a one-to-one substitute that didn't have to be stored.
[00:30:07] A for cost and be just so we have control over the ingredients because as you and I were just talking about, some people may be able to tolerate certain ingredients or may be able to tolerate some sort of binder or gum for others. That's going to be off limits completely. Right. So this really kind of gives you the control over the ingredients.
[00:30:26] And that is actually available free on my website. I'm sure we can link it and show notes or
[00:30:32] Julie Michelson: It is going to absolutely be linked in the show notes. This is Amanda's beautiful gift to the, to everybody listening.
[00:30:40] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, thank you. Well, and you know, again, this won't be for those AIP elimination times, or, you know, maybe your everyday AIP this'll be for those special occasions. So if you're thinking like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to eat my grandma's chocolate cake recipe again. Okay. Well, this is where we get to debunk that.
[00:30:58] And this is where[00:31:00] you can get my, my one-to-one flower guide as well. A quick start guide that just talks to you about binders and helps you to rework that recipe so that it really has a similar taste and texture, or the very same as the original, right. That nostalgia or that connection that comes with it.
[00:31:19] And that gift also includes a few of my favorite recipes. One of them is a biscuit. That can be made completely without any theory. No butter, no milk. It's even egg-free. So I know this can be a big trigger for a lot of people and a lot of gluten-free biscuits and breads, well, they involve eggs, right?
[00:31:38] Because they're missing other things, but these biscuits are the ones that you could literally bring. Julia, you could serve them to your group of friends.
[00:31:45] Julie Michelson: Everything.
[00:31:46] Amanda Nowosadzki: yeah, it fits every category, vegan sound, et cetera, et cetera. So that's included in the gift as well. I really wanted people to have a go-to let's say you're going to our social gathering.
[00:31:58] You have special [00:32:00] dietary needs. Other people there might have different ones. This is kind of that thing you can bring and everybody's going to be happy. I've tested it at several holiday gatherings, so I could vouch for that.
[00:32:10] Julie Michelson: amazing.
[00:32:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, but it is true. That flower is a big one. Right. And I think it's important to note, like you said, you've put, you've never discussed flour on this podcast before.
[00:32:23] It's probably because you don't go out and encourage, you know, your clients to make it a huge part of their regular consumption. Right.
[00:32:31] Julie Michelson: true. And I, I love that you brought that up because even people that are doing an AIP elimination. You there, you can make AIP compliant, elimination, phase compliant, baked goods. It's you're still, shouldn't be eating them every day. Like if it's still a treat and that's the hard for people to wrap their head around, you know, we, we need to redefine treats, I think, as, [00:33:00] as adults.
[00:33:00] And, and it certainly. It's a process, right. As we grow and learn and realize what our bodies really need. And, and like you said, what you're doing is allowing people to have that trait, have that connection, have that, those memories, you know, your baby's gonna have those memories of the yummies around the table.
[00:33:23] Right. And, and but they're, they're going to be a much healthier option.
[00:33:28] Amanda Nowosadzki: absolutely. Yeah. And then there'll be, there'll be less inflammatory they'll hopefully be more dense, et cetera. Right. If we're going to have it, if we know better, we can do better. Right. So if we're able to get educated on some of these ingredients, it might not be the perfect thing that we eat all the time to your point, but is it something we can enjoy on occasion?
[00:33:47] Absolutely. So, yeah.
[00:33:49] Julie Michelson: it. And I love that you take it down to the gum. That may sound weird. We're not talking about dentistry here
[00:33:59] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.[00:34:00]
[00:34:00] Julie Michelson: because, because I do extensive food sensitivity panels with all of my clients. I have been truly amazed at how many are highly sensitive to some of those gums.
[00:34:13] Amanda Nowosadzki: 100%.
[00:34:14] Julie Michelson: we're talking about guar gum xantham gum.
[00:34:16] If people are like, what the heck are they even talking about?
[00:34:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: Exactly
[00:34:20] Julie Michelson: There's a variety of them and they're commonly added, you know, if you go buy a jug of milk, there aren't any gums added, right. Cows milk. But if you go buy almond milk, they're very well maybe, or coconut milk or whatever other alternative you might be looking for.
[00:34:39] And so. Getting to see those test results in front of me all the time with like, oh, and watch for this and watch for that. I love that you really get down to that level because that's the detail. Like you just, you've blown my mind where somebody [00:35:00] gets lost. Right. It's like, okay, well it's hitting all these other things, but then it's got, oh shoot.
[00:35:04] I can't have xantham gum.
[00:35:06] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. Yeah. And that's, you know that's something I've struggled with as well, because I've noticed that I can be slightly sensitive to certain guns. And when I realized that it was like, okay, well then what else can I use in place of, or can it just be eliminated in this recipe? Right. And you know, you can still make phenomenal gluten-free goods without xantham gum.
[00:35:30] Now let's say that you that's one of your, sometimes ingredients may be like, you're going to have it once or twice or three times a year, because it just really enhances the texture of something. Great. You know, you're equipped with that knowledge and then you'll be equipped with my little table that tells you exactly how much gum to add, to achieve the perfect, you know, whether it's a pizza crust or a cookie or a cake, you know, those take different amounts.
[00:35:56] So basically I've taken out all of the chemistry of it for you. I never liked [00:36:00] chemistry in school, but I do like
[00:36:01] Julie Michelson: Now you got
[00:36:02] Amanda Nowosadzki: So
[00:36:03] Julie Michelson: Well, and they say, I mean, it is, you need chemistry in the kitchen, you just do. So I love that. That's amazing. I have so many things I want to ask you. I'm like, oh my God. Where can, and I'm, I want to make sure I know the, the gift will be in the show. Knows where can people get the book?
[00:36:25] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. It's on Amazon. So if you Amazon, Google, as I say, if you Amazon search claim Southern cuisine, it should come right up. And yeah, it's prime shipping. Doesn't get more convenient than that.
[00:36:38] Julie Michelson: know, it is, it is absolutely wonderful. I'm telling you guys get, get the book. Mine is on the way here or else I would have, this would have been a three hour episode. Cause I would have all the questions about all the recipes. But I. Super excited to play with it. And, and not being a Southern [00:37:00] girl.
[00:37:00] I know my standards aren't that high, but knowing that the recipes are so high standard, I would, I would even invite my Southern friends. So
[00:37:09] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh,
[00:37:09] Julie Michelson: it'll, it'll be fun.
[00:37:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: that's high praise. Thank you.
[00:37:15] Julie Michelson: So if someone's feeling overwhelmed by just this idea of clean eating, where do you recommend these.
[00:37:23] Amanda Nowosadzki: You know, Julie, I think it's not necessarily an action. The longer I do this, the more I realize this it's something we touched on earlier, where they start is actually just one, one thing that they need to remember and remind themselves off, which is it will be worth it.
[00:37:42] Julie Michelson: I love
[00:37:42] Amanda Nowosadzki: Right. It will be worth it. It might be tough.
[00:37:45] We're not saying it's going to be super easy. There may be a learning curve. In fact, there probably will be a learning curve for most, most people, but it will be worth it. And that's, I think what we all have to start at just to realize like, [00:38:00] dang, I am going to have to clean out my pantry. I remember my resistance, you know, when I.
[00:38:05] Decided to start the paleo diet before my 30th birthday, it was like, I don't want to throw a waste. All of these ingredients, the sugar, et cetera. There was really this hesitancy around it for me. And I wish somebody had told me that. Right. Like it will be worth it for more reasons than you probably could even fathom right now.
[00:38:25] So yes.
[00:38:26] Julie Michelson: that. Absolutely. And I love the that's been another evolution in, in my coaching is we always would work with mindset now. It's like mindset first. Like we need, we need to get in the right place at and approach it. As I know you were. Going paleo, probably thinking short term in your mind, you know, lose weight.
[00:38:49] But, but we're talking about, yes. It takes time. It takes energy. It's a process. But it's your life, so that's worth it.[00:39:00]
[00:39:00] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, there's almost no better gift that you can give to yourself. I guess there are plenty of gifts you can give to yourself, mentally gratitude practices, all these things that I think affect our health, but you know, for me, especially growing up in the south and I'm sure it's the same for people that grew up in plenty of other places where.
[00:39:19] Maybe the focus wasn't on healthy food, but it was like really good food. You know, there's a, there's this thing. You just have to realize that eventually it will be worth it. And you'll get over that that skepticism, you know, like eventually you'll be able to leave that behind because you'll see that there can be a balance and that it will be absolutely worth your time.
[00:39:41] And it'll be. Yeah, just one of the best things you could do for yourself, because, and I think the magic lies in the things that you didn't expect. Like, for me, it wasn't the magic actually. Wasn't in the weight loss that I started the diet for. It was that in my wrist and a constantly anymore. And I [00:40:00] wasn't having all of these digestive symptoms.
[00:40:02] And then I realized, oh my gosh, like my ankles and knees don't hurt when I wake up anymore. Right. That's I think the magic really. In those, those unexpected moments where you for yourself can finally make that connection. So,
[00:40:18] Julie Michelson: I love that. That's amazing. And when you were telling your story, it always blows me away when you added in the IBS. I just had this conversation with somebody that I had gotten. Shocker my whole life as well, just did my oldest who was the first in the family to be diagnosed with celiac from infancy, probably through age three, had T horrible, like violent. And it poor baby. And it was I've sorry, we do the best we can with what we know. Right. So medicated, he had so many specialists and, and, and was poor thing, you know, get to [00:41:00] so overmedicated to try to get him to keep food down. Nobody ever asked me. When he was an infant and I was nursing, what I was eating.
[00:41:10] And as he, when he was a toddler, nobody asked what he was eating. When, you know, I'm guessing when you had IBS, nobody thought to ask you, like, could it be food-related do you, you know, have you ever tried X, Y, Z and so that seems so obvious in hindsight that that may be something people do expect, but like you said, whether it's the aches and the pains, energy, better brain fog
[00:41:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.
[00:41:39] Julie Michelson: literally your skin clearing you name it.
[00:41:43] I can't think of something that you may not have. As a quote unquote symptom that may not improve. I mean, it's the, sky's the limit.
[00:41:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: It's true. And you know, I remember my sister-in-law, who'd been [00:42:00] onto the paleo diet circuit for a while telling me before I started, you should write down your symptoms. And I was, I actually, I literally thought duly. I was like, what is she talking symptoms? Like, I didn't have any symptoms.
[00:42:11] Julie Michelson: I'm not sick. Yeah.
[00:42:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: you are, you just don't realize it.
[00:42:17] Julie Michelson: When we normalize it.
[00:42:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. This is my normal, this is like, what happens to me when I eat this food or this is just the way I feel you've just learned to live with it, which is which is so sad. So, and, you know, you touched on something. With the, with the IBS piece and, you know I think a lot of us, and I don't know if you're included and kind of believe that's somewhat of a blanket term that's given, but you know, never
[00:42:41] Julie Michelson: of, it's the fibromyalgia of the gut.
[00:42:43] Amanda Nowosadzki: absolutely.
[00:42:45] And, you know,
[00:42:46] Julie Michelson: We don't know. We'll just call it this.
[00:42:48] Amanda Nowosadzki: just put it under that category. Yeah. Fell there. So, I mean, I was never once asked about food by a conventional medicine practitioner. Right. And like you said, there's a lot more knowledge out there now and [00:43:00] just awareness around the connection. But I think that's where the beauty of functional medicine comes in as well.
[00:43:07] And I'm not knocking conventional medicine because it's saved my life. Right.
[00:43:12] Julie Michelson: I say that all the time, I'm like, God forbid I need emergency surgery. I am going to a Western trained surgeon, parent. Like I am not going for acupuncture,
[00:43:22] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:43:22] Julie Michelson: or, or to my functional medicine physician.
[00:43:25] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know, I had appendicitis last year and I found myself just so utterly grateful for the people that were able to take my appendix out and, you know, literally prevent, prevent me from losing my life. Right. The other side of that. Those people and it's not their fault. Just don't have the resources.
[00:43:44] The time the system is not set up in a way yeah. The training that allows them to do what you do and to dig into the food aspect of it, the food sensitivities, which are so gravely important. And I think the [00:44:00] longer I do this, the more I realize that, you know, so I've, I've really benefited from both sides from conventional and from functional.
[00:44:07] So.
[00:44:08] Julie Michelson: I, I tend to think of traditional allopathic, Western medicine, as it is exactly what it was originally designed for acute care. Madison, and, and they're not there yet to get under that diagnosis and figure out what's causing the problem to begin with. Right. It's diagnose and treat the symptom.
[00:44:33] And so I I'm with you. I mean, it's, I look forward to the day when it's just medicine and when the two. Come together. But hitting on things like food and nutrition and movement and sleep and toxins, and now all, all the goodies, stress management. These that's a piece, I think they're finally starting to notice, maybe asking.[00:45:00]
[00:45:00] People, you know, how, how their stress level is or what they're doing about it. But yeah, there there's no, I had surgery two years ago as well, and was so grateful for my, my GP who has been my doc for years and years and my surgeon and all of that. So I always thank you for bringing it up. I'm usually the one to clarify.
[00:45:22] I'm not, there's no good, bad, right? Wrong.
[00:45:26] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:45:27] Julie Michelson: But for anything chronic, then I'll just ask question why
[00:45:35] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:45:35] Julie Michelson: and follow that road. Like see what, see where you go.
[00:45:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes. And if you don't get a why, the knows that you need to go and look outside of that resource. Right. But it's not their fault. Maybe it's systemically flawed if you will, in my opinion, because even. Some of those doctors are not allowed or trained to sit there with you because of the way the insurance works and, you know it's, it's really [00:46:00] not it's, it's not their fault.
[00:46:02] Some of them are just kind of confined by the system. I don't know if you would agree.
[00:46:07] Julie Michelson: Oh, I think they're, I think they're extremely confined by the system. And there there's, there's no way in 15 minutes. They can, and again, it goes back to the training. That's not what they're, that's not how they're trained. They're trained to name, what's wrong, you know, diagnose it. And I had a doctor on the podcast who had said when she was practicing Western medicine, she genuinely.
[00:46:33] Felt like she wasn't doing her patients a service if she didn't give them a diagnosis and a prescription when they came in. And, and so, and you know, we all, we're all learning and doing the best we can and I am with you. I'm, you know, I, I. My babies were delivered by Western train dock. And and I'm using Western as I I'm to we're talking about allopathic medicine, because a lot [00:47:00] of functional medicine practitioners are MDs dos, Western trained that have.
[00:47:05] Converted, if you will. And so I, I do believe, I don't know that it'll be in my lifetime, but I believe very slowly. We're at the beginning of the road of all of that merging to, as I said, where it's just Madison, where we get back to, there was a time when people knew, you know, what you put in your body and how you treat your body matters.
[00:47:29] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. Gosh, Julie fingers. Every part of my body is crossed that we can get back to that sooner than later.
[00:47:37] Julie Michelson: agree where we're hopefully going in the right direction. I think the more we have these conversations and the more each of us. Figures these things out. I always it's the ripple effect. I know for me, I get such joy when my clients get better, but then knowing, you know, that now their kids are growing up completely differently [00:48:00] than they would have.
[00:48:01] And they're talking to friends and they're, and this is how we're doing it. We're going to move the needle.
[00:48:07] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, absolutely. It's that? It's that raising that awareness, even if it seems grassroots sometimes.
[00:48:12] Julie Michelson: Yes, absolutely. So what you kind of, you already gave us one, but I guess this is going to be an opportunity to either repeat it or come or give us another one. I always like to close with that one step that listeners can take starting today to start to improve their health.
[00:48:30] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know other than the one that's my favorite, which is that it will be worth it. I'd say the next step is just take the time to. Put a little bit more thought into it. So if you're in the grocery store and you're feeling overwhelmed, you know, take the time just to turn over that package and look at the ingredients.
[00:48:55] Right? That's a, that's a big one because I know that you're not always [00:49:00] going to want to pick up my cookbook and make something that evening. Right. I know you're going to be in the grocery store pinched for time sometimes. And I think one thing that you can just really do to start to raise the awareness for yourself is flip it over, flip it to the side and look at the ingredients.
[00:49:16] Because again, it sounds so cliche, but knowledge is power and you just, until you start to figure these things out you know, then you're going to be right where you're at. So just take the time for yourself. Do it for yourself. My husband always says self-care is not selfish. And I think that's so wise.
[00:49:35] Julie Michelson: I love your husband already. Well, well chosen. Good job. It's so true. I, I that's an as a, as soon to be parents that's you guys should hang that in your house because it's, it is so true. Oxygen mask on you first.
[00:49:54] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, gosh. Yeah, you might need to remind us of that. Once we got underway with this parental journey,
[00:49:58] Julie Michelson: Oh, for sure.
[00:49:59] Amanda Nowosadzki: [00:50:00] When you think about self care, that is a form of self care. You know, self care doesn't have to be going to the spa, right? It can literally be being in the grocery store and taking the time for yourself to flip that package over and start to understand what you're putting in your body.
[00:50:14] So I think that would be my number two.
[00:50:16] Julie Michelson: Oh, my gosh, amazing, amazing advice. And that alone will change your life too, because, I mean, I think I've shared this before on the podcast, because it was my shining moment as a mother. Was my daughter called me one day. She was probably a senior in high school, maybe a junior and the kids had hit the grocery store for lunchtime and, you know, to grab snacks for lunch.
[00:50:44] And she called and literally said, you've ruined my life. And I said, well, that's good to know what did I do? And she said, I found this. I don't even know what it was, you know, at this store that I really wanted. And then I read the [00:51:00] ingredients and I couldn't possibly put it in my mouth now. And I was like, Mike drop.
[00:51:05] I am done on this earth.
[00:51:08] Amanda Nowosadzki: go.
[00:51:09] Julie Michelson: She doesn't, she has no idea. I tell that story all the time, but, you know, she thought she was calling to complain and she literally made my day and that was, you know, six years ago, probably. So, yeah. So read those ingredients.
[00:51:24] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.
[00:51:25] Julie Michelson: So before we wrap up, we will have all the links in the show notes, but for those that listen on the go and aren't going to take the time to look at the show notes.
[00:51:34] What's the, where's the best place for listeners to find.
[00:51:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Sure. If, if folks like to connect through social media, they can find me on Instagram or Facebook. My handles @cleansouthern, and they can also find me on my website: CleanSouthernCuisine.com. But I think that, you know, some people struggle with cuisine. So spelling is not one of my strong suits either. So social media [00:52:00] @CleanSouthern is really simple to remember, and I look forward to connecting.
[00:52:03] Julie Michelson: Wonderful. Amanda, thank you so much. You have shared some amazing tips with us today, and I know I am inspired. I am sure listeners are as.
[00:52:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Well, thank you, Julie. And your work inspires me as well. So thank you so much for having me.
[00:52:19] Julie Michelson: My pleasure. For everyone listening, remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I will see all next week.
[00:00:54] No matter your culinary heritage, whether you're following an AIP, keto [00:01:00] gluten-free, or just plain mindful diet. Amanda shows us how to include treats and foods that bring us joy while fueling our health.
[00:01:08] Amanda welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Julie, thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here with you today.
[00:01:16] Julie Michelson: I am thrilled. I love what you're doing and you answer a protest. I get all the time which is, you know, it's too hard or I missed so I want to just jump right in because. We were just chatting off-mic and found out that we're kind of neighbors. And I was teasing that you're this lovely Southern Belle living in Colorado, but you are also unique in, you know, not everybody is, is cooking, clean Southern cuisine.
[00:01:52] So how did you fall into this world? What motivated you to start finding a cleaner way [00:02:00] to cook?
[00:02:01] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know, it was really a happy accident. And it was about a decade ago. I was on. The verge of a landmark birthday, and Julie, as silly as this now seems I was going to be turning 30 and I thought, okay, I want to shed a few extra pounds. And the paleo diet was very invoked then, you know, that was really one of the premier diets at the time.
[00:02:26] So I'd heard quite a few friends talking about it and I thought. I'm going to try this paleo thing, right. To shed these few extra pounds. So I get on the paleo diet and my goal was to lose pounds, which I did. But what I didn't expect was that these health issues that I've been struggling with. Would just disappear.
[00:02:48] So a few weeks in, I had this major light bulb moment where I realized that the tendonitis that I've been struggling with in my wrist for like a year and a half it was unbearable. Right. I couldn't [00:03:00] chop, there were days I'd have to take off from work because I couldn't tie. I mean, it was really extreme.
[00:03:06] So I've been to a chiropractor. I've been to an orthopedic surgeon. I've been to everybody and it just didn't feel like a pill or a cream was like the end all be all answer. I wasn't even 30. Right. So I'm thinking what the heck, I don't want to be on a pill or cream for the rest of my life. Same with my IBS or irritable bowel syndrome.
[00:03:26] Right. I was diagnosed with that and I just always thought, okay, I kind of have this crazy stomach and something I'm going to have to live with. Well, lickety split a few weeks into eating, sort of the paleo diet where I'd removed gluten and dairy and grains and legumes. Wow. I had this light bulb moment where I realized that all of those symptoms had subsided and it really blew my mind.
[00:03:52] You know, being from south Louisiana, organic whole food was really not a focus.
[00:03:59] Julie Michelson: [00:04:00] Probably not easy to come by and let, let it focus, you know?
[00:04:04] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. It, you know, it's not, it's, it's not a it's not of great importance for many people. They're, let's face it. Right. What's what's of great importance is that the food is delicious and that it's a part of our heritage, right. There's really a huge aspect of culinary heritage there. You know, I learned to make gumbo at my mom's hip at the age of probably six.
[00:04:27] I probably learned how to make a roux, the base for a gumbo. Right? So it's really this cultural and this culinary inheritance how healthy it is a little bit less important. Right. So it was really, you know, I'm on the verge of this birthday. I lose these pounds. I start realizing that I just have less inflammation in my body.
[00:04:51] I've been paying a personal trainer, an ungodly amount of money to work out for probably a year. And. All of a sudden, you know, when I [00:05:00] had this light bulb moment, I realized, wait, all of my work is finally showing up because this inflammation is leaving me. And I was really able to narrow it down, Julie, to like the main culprit being gluten.
[00:05:14] Wow. That may be pretty sad because I realized, well, there it goes, gumbo, there goes crawfish pie. There goes biscuits, there, go all these things that are such a part of me and that I want to enjoy on a regular or at least an occasional basis. Right. So, you know, it really became a selfish quest, I guess I'd say because I, you know, Googled for gluten-free or paleo Southern recipes.
[00:05:41] They just didn't meet my standards, being from south Louisiana. So I I really began to revamp some generations, old family recipes. Right. And then I'd be began to create new ones because I wanted to eat them. Right. I knew like I don't want to live my [00:06:00] life without these. And it wasn't until further in.
[00:06:04] That somebody said to me, it was my sister-in-law who specializes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis actually.
[00:06:10] Julie Michelson: look at that.
[00:06:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. She said to me, you know what, Amanda, I think I was waxing poetic about, I don't know, gluten-free gumbo and how it could be amazing. And you could feel it to the occasion. And they'd never know the difference, which I actually did do that by the way, in testing for my cookbook.
[00:06:25] And she said, Amanda, I think he needs to write a cookbook and it wasn't until that moment that I thought, like, you know what, there's a lot of other people out there who could probably use this as well. And that's what really.
[00:06:39] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:06:40] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. Yeah. So that was the impetus. First starting clean Southern cuisine, the cookbook, and you know, the blog by the same name because, you know, I guess it's it was my own mess that really fueled me to To create these recipes that I could still enjoy.
[00:06:56] Right. I wasn't willing to cut them out of my life completely. [00:07:00] I knew that wouldn't be realistic. And it was really from that selfish place that I started to create them. But then very quickly became passionate and realized how many other people are suffering from an auto-immune disease. Are diabetic, have some sort of chronic issue that they're trying to manage, or maybe just wake up in the morning aching and don't realize why, right.
[00:07:23] Julie Michelson: Right. Think that's normal.
[00:07:26] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. And Julie, I think we do get to that place where we just begin to accept those things as normal, you know,
[00:07:34] Julie Michelson: which is why we're here so that people won't do that. They'll say, yeah.
[00:07:42] Amanda Nowosadzki: And I think it's a ton about awareness because if someone had spoken to me before that time that I had that light bulb moment, I would have thought they were crazy, or I would have just dismissed it because you know, my crazy stomach, my IBS was just a part of me. It was like, okay, you eat this food or this [00:08:00] rich food.
[00:08:01] You know, you know, the consequences, right. Or your knees are a little achy when you wake up. Well, I mean, come on, I wasn't 30 yet. That's not normal. Right. But again, we accepted
[00:08:11] Julie Michelson: it wasn't for, you
[00:08:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:08:15] Julie Michelson: know, I I'm. So with you, we have so many fun overlaps and crossovers. First finding out where neighbors I to found out about my celiac actually as a happy accident. And I went gluten-free to support my son when he was diagnosed and same thing, I was on 10 prescriptions that weren't helping, but it was like, oh, I feel a little better.
[00:08:39] Gluten-free my joints don't hurt as much my, you know and so, so that was awesome. What you're doing is such a contribution. I, and I, and. You know, your heritage is so richly seeped steeped in food. But what I know from working with all the different clients, I work with really [00:09:00] all over the world, all, all of our heritages are, are steeped in food.
[00:09:05] It is such a part of our families and our social circles. And you know, every it's just interwoven into our celebrations, everything and. I did not to the level of you, I should have you tweak some of my stuff. I grew up on the east coast and a Jewish family, and so, and I feel like almost all of those.
[00:09:32] Well, at least here, culturally, I feel like flour is a basic. You know, everybody has some kind of a dumpling or some soup with something in it. And for me, my shining glory, I loved that you were like, you could give it to a Cajun and they would, they don't know. I made, I think it was two years ago. I made matzah ball soup.
[00:09:57] I made, I made grain-free [00:10:00] paleo. Matzah ball soup and served it outside of my fellow, served it to friends who were also Jewish. So I had grown up with it. They had no idea. It was grain-free. The matzah balls were light and fluffy and delicious.
[00:10:14] I didn't come up with that recipe. I actually, there is a, an incredible paleo cook who you may or may not know or know.
[00:10:25] And who lives also is a neighbor of ours. And so she does a lot of she's Jewish and does a lot of Jewish recipes and pink, like so it is, it's such a contribution because we all do have these stories. And so it, I. But I did grow up. My family was in the restaurant business. But I, I'm not a brilliant cook or chef or I'm a, I'm a recipe follower more than a recipe maker when I'm cooking for others.
[00:10:53] And when I cook for just us, you know, I, I cook clean and easy. But. [00:11:00] I have spent over the past 15 years, you know, we it's tweaking the family recipes, the noodle kugel, the, you know, people are like grain-free noodle kugel. Yeah. You can do it. Grain-free dairy-free payment and it's not tastes free. It's all flavor free.
[00:11:18] And so, but I would say when you think Southern. People would say, well, no way, like just don't even bother. So it is such a contribution and I'm so excited to be able to, to share your cookbook with not only our listeners, but really with my clients that are Southern and those recipes really speak to them.
[00:11:41] Amanda Nowosadzki: Thank you, Julie. And you're so right. I think everybody's connected to their culinary heritage. And I think the other thing is, you know many of us travel places and have like this unforgettable unforgettable meal, right. And a lot of people have traveled to new Orleans or to the Louisiana Gulf coast.
[00:11:59] [00:12:00] And they've had this thing that they want to talk to me about when they find out I'm from. So I find that, you know, there's such a connection that makes that cuisine, the Cajun and the Creole cuisine, especially that influence on Southern food, known the world over. And so I've realized that you know, not only southerners have been interested in this, but so many other people who just have either had a quick.
[00:12:24] With new Orleans or with Louisiana cuisine, or who've gone there for an extended period of time or who knows somebody you know, that are from the area and make this one thing they just can't get enough of. So thank you. Thank you. It's.
[00:12:38] Julie Michelson: No. Thank you. Really. It's so exciting. And I, and I love so when I went gluten-free I say 15 years ago, I'm thinking about how old my son is. It was probably longer than that. It's again, options, you know, there weren't great cookbooks and there weren't great products. And we're going to, I don't want to jump [00:13:00] ahead, but I have to, there weren't great flour alternatives there weren't.
[00:13:03] I mean, it was just, it was a struggle and, and it was very easy actually for me to then go paleo because it was like, well, the other stuff didn't taste good anyway, so.
[00:13:17] Amanda Nowosadzki: Totally.
[00:13:18] Julie Michelson: Just avoiding it. But I want to circle back to this idea of clean, right? Because I, if I could tell you how many times people show up and, and, and our, my first meeting with them, they'll say I eat clean.
[00:13:37] What does that mean to you? Tell me about it. You know, and I'm like, oh boy, we have very different definitions of clean. So when you say clean Southern cuisine, what, what are you bringing to us? What, what are your criteria for.
[00:13:51] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. So for me, it's always going to be gluten-free because as I mentioned for myself, I identified that gluten [00:14:00] was a major culprit and I'm sure you probably have seen in your practice and in food sensitivity testing that it is for so many of us celiac or not. Right.
[00:14:10] Julie Michelson: Oh, absolutely. It's the one I, and I, I do have a, there's a short list of foods that I think. Everybody if interested, it does best to avoid, but I say, and especially working with the auto-immune community, that is, I'll say we all should have. And I use food testing and I, you know, we, we use all of it an elimination diets, and everyone needs to figure out for themselves, but without a doubt, and my listeners are probably rolling eyes cause they know what's coming because I say it all the time.
[00:14:39] The one thing. Across the board, everybody with auto-immunity or auto-immune in your family or chronic inflammation should avoid is gluten period. It's just simple.
[00:14:52] Amanda Nowosadzki: You know, it's, it's the it's the sad truth, but it's made less sad by, you know, people like myself and [00:15:00] yourself who really strive to find or to create. Things that, you know, you don't know the different, it's actually some delicious, you don't miss it. That is possible. If anybody's listening to this thinking like that's just not possible.
[00:15:12] It is. I promise I was, I had a very healthy dose of Southern skepticism about gluten free before I actually came to it and realized it. But for me, clean Southern cuisine and clean is going to be free of gluten and free of of other inflammatory and. And whenever possible, we're going to try to go.
[00:15:31] non-GMO, we're going to try to do organic whenever possible. And also we're going to try to make these things as nutrient dense as possible while, and here's the caveat for the big caveat for me in testing, all of these recipes and rigorously was that they needed to maintain a traditional taste and texture.
[00:15:51] And I mentioned feeding my gluten-free gumbo to a Cajun neighbor, which was actually.
[00:15:56] Julie Michelson: You had to be nervous.
[00:15:58] Amanda Nowosadzki: It was, it was a good [00:16:00] test, you know? And you know, I got his honest reaction and he was, you know, he just thought, well, this is great gumbo. This tastes like your mom's Dumbo. Right. Which is the recipe. I modified it from.
[00:16:12] He never would have known. And those moments are the ones that are like a triumph for, you know, anybody who's a recipe writer, but also what can show the listeners and demonstrate to the listeners that it's not hopeless. You're not going to feel deprived. And like you're never satiated, you know, there's actually a ton of hope when you find the right resources.
[00:16:34] So that's clean for me.
[00:16:36] Julie Michelson: I love that. I, and there is a ton of hope, which is why the podcast is inspired living. I mean, we, I, I just love, and I love all the I love. So I have to say as somebody who's not a southerner. I smiled on the inside when you said nutrient dense. Cause that's another thing I don't necessarily think of when I think of Southern [00:17:00] cuisine.
[00:17:00] So I love that you're bringing that in. So you're not just avoiding, which is all about how to optimize house people. It's not all about avoiding the bad stuff. It's also about making sure we're getting the good stuff.
[00:17:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. It's focusing on these ingredients that we really learn about as we start to experiment with them. Or I've got a quick start guide in the beginning of the cookbook that really goes through pantry items and refrigerator items. And then I try to educate you a little bit throughout on what each brings to the table.
[00:17:32] For instance. There is a cookie in my book and it's called I dream of chocolate cookies because Julie, I do drink with chocolate. If I'm being honest, most particular cookies use a raw cacao powder versus a regular cocoa powder. Right. And as you know, And maybe as some people know, but some people don't, a lot of those nutrients and cocoa powder that you put in brownies or baked goods are completely roasted out of it.[00:18:00]
[00:18:00] Whereas if you're enjoying raw cacao powder, well, then you're getting a ton of magnesium and you're getting all of these phenomenal nutrients from it that you would not get otherwise. Right. So I figured, Hey, if it's easy to layer in a little nutrition and we can still maintain that great. You know, traditional taste and texture, we can still free feed it to our, you know, American standard diet, friends, et cetera.
[00:18:25] Well then why the heck? Wouldn't we right?
[00:18:28] Julie Michelson: I love that. And I love that you said, you know, feeding into, to our sad friends. You didn't say it. I'll say it. That's my, I joke like that's my, my test that that's exactly how I test stuff is I know my, my house is the hub for my friend group and this particular friend group. It doesn't, they don't all eat as clean.
[00:18:53] There's kind of a variety. And some like terrible, I mean, really bad. And [00:19:00] so I, I always, I like to host and I could, because I liked to be in charge of the food, you know, and that's exactly how I test it. And, and I will, when I hand, before I hand it off to a client or somebody I'll be like, no, I know, you know, that plate was empty at the party.
[00:19:16] So I know, you know, anybody would like this and that's the key. It shouldn't be. I'm guilty of, I've been grain-free so long. I didn't have crackers and I wasn't somebody. I honestly, it's what you get used to as well. So I wasn't someone who missed bread or crack. I wasn't trying all the bad things that are out there that they sell that tastes like cardboard because I just didn't care.
[00:19:45] I was happy with my protein, fat and veggies, but And I just lost my train of thought as to where I was going with that. Wow.
[00:19:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: No worries at all.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Julie Michelson: So gone anyway. So w I, I want to ask you this because a lot of our listeners are possibly, you know, doing an AIP elimination or They, you know, everybody has kind of a different level of what works for them. I tell people all the time, once we go through, when I'm working with somebody one-on-one and we, you know, do their food sensitivity and we do their elimination phase, I'm an AIP coach.
[00:20:29] I don't put everybody through AIP. I lead, you know, individualize, everything we do. But I always say the. Best option is the most, very diet that suits your body. Mine. Is really restrictive. And so I would say the, and that usually is my answer. I would hope you could eat more food than I can and feel well, like really?
[00:20:54] And so, you know, not everybody's fully, grain-free [00:21:00] dairies another one and we grew up, my family was in the dairy business, but it's pretty inflammatory for everybody. But so if somebody is beyond gluten. This is my long-winded way of asking. Will, will they be able to find recipes in the cookbook or ideas that they can use?
[00:21:20] Amanda Nowosadzki: They will, Julie. The cookbook is not other than being gluten-free, there's nothing else across the board that applies. In other words, the rest of it is not all AIP or Quito or dairy-free, but most of the recipes have modifications, right? Some of them are going to be all of that. Some of them are going to be key to.
[00:21:40] The et cetera appropriate for almost any body. Others are really going to have special modifications. Like if you enjoy and have raw dairy in your life, you have the option to add some cheese to this biscuit, some raw cheddar to this biscuit. Okay. Or you know, to make the.
[00:21:55] Julie Michelson: my mouth water a little bit.
[00:21:58] Amanda Nowosadzki: This gets, I mean, [00:22:00] you, you called it earlier with the, with the flowered, with the bread.
[00:22:03] You know there's also going to be notations about to make something AIP friendly, substitute, you know, a flax egg for a nag or what have you. There's lots of substitutes. So so yeah, the answer is. I didn't want to take it all in one direction of AIP or Quito, et cetera, because I wanted it to be accessible to more people.
[00:22:26] And you know, you just mentioned the IP elimination, you know, hopefully the goal is I'm sure in your practice and for most people is not to stay in that AIP elimination phase, because that would be tough. Right. And I know for myself, if I weren't able to have like these special occasion foods that I would call like sweets or treats like biscuits, or, you know, a fabulous cookie, if I weren't able to do that ever, I would probably fail miserably.
[00:22:54] So it's not that
[00:22:56] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:22:57] Amanda Nowosadzki: it's not that you have to, you know, [00:23:00] incorporate these into your diet every week or that I'm even suggesting that I'm not. But you know, when you sit down to the holiday table one of the things that's most look forward to, I think in any culture is going to be some sort of bready item, like a biscuit or a roll, or, you know, a fabulous you know, bread from scratch.
[00:23:19] Right. So it's just, it's good to have these resources. Even if they're not going to be a part of your everyday life. Or they're not going to be a part of your AIP elimination phase, or maybe your AIP everyday diet that as you mentioned, you know, find the thing that works best for your body. But you're eating the most, very diet that you can.
[00:23:41] I love that because I think it's also so important for us each to figure out what works for our individual selves. And I love it that functional medicine practitioners, like you can really help. To dig down into that with food sensitivity testing, et cetera. And I mean, that's [00:24:00] gosh, I mean, knowledge is power, isn't it?
[00:24:03] A knowledge is also power to really enjoy and incorporate some delicious things. When you've got that knowledge at your fingertips.
[00:24:12] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. I call those the sum of my sometimes foods. So I, I have foods that I know they're a little bit inflammatory for me. And I allow myself to have them thoughtfully on occasion. And for me, it's not even breads and it's tomatoes.
[00:24:31] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, yes.
[00:24:33] Julie Michelson: You know, I nightshades, I grew up in New Jersey. I'm a Jersey girl.
[00:24:36] I love tomatoes. I just they don't seem to love me, but. I, if I eat tomatoes and that's how I would define the, sometimes food is, and I'm a little, when I say sometimes, I mean like a handful of times a year, like I am for me, but that's because I am who I am and I do what I do for a living. And [00:25:00] so I know if eating tomatoes two days in a row, if I can feel it, that means that even when I eat them once and can't feel it, it's doing something. So I limit that. But I totally agree with you and I, this has been a confession time for me. It's, it's been. A process for me, I joke I'm a kinder, gentler coach than I used to be. I used to be very much like, just do it and why do you need a biscuit? And why do you need it? You know? And now I get it.
[00:25:31] I'm like, well, you know what, everybody has a different level of need, a variety of treat of, you know, or what is a treat. You know, maybe not everybody can really think of the strawberry as a treat. It's okay. And so it is so important to have those go tos so that they don't just throw the towel in and say, well, forget it.
[00:25:54] This is too hard.
[00:25:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely when I couldn't agree more, you know I love him [00:26:00] that you say you were a tougher coach at some point, because I got to, you know, when, when you're really into it you can almost have a level of sensitivity to like, okay, well I'm doing it. It's working for me. I'm thriving. I'm seeing all of these benefits.
[00:26:13] Why can't you understand? Right. But when you're on the outside of that, and you have. Experienced the benefit. I feel like it's especially hard to really just jump all in. It takes a level of, I guess, trust or risk. Right. And just yeah. Throwing yourself at it and realizing like, okay, everybody's saying it's going to be worth it, I guess will be worth it.
[00:26:35] Julie Michelson: Yes, absolutely. And part of it too, to be totally, probably more honest than you were hoping for is it is such a pattern because I see it with my clients now all the time. I was coaching at the time, how I was living and I was living extremely restricted because I went from so sick to so well that I [00:27:00] didn't trust my body to be able to handle.
[00:27:02] I didn't, I didn't want to risk it.
[00:27:04] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely.
[00:27:05] Julie Michelson: so I actually teas, you know, at that phase that you were just talking about when we're getting ready to jump into an elimination and people. Panic. I don't know if I can do this. I don't, is it really gonna work? And I joke I have a couple of clients. It's funny whether it makes sense they're they're accountants and that they were literally, I think the only clients I've had that have started, you know, I never give an eczema.
[00:27:33] I say at least 30 days for the elimination, that's it. And we talk about why and how we'll know and all of that. And they start counting. Day one, they take, there's a like, and I'm like, you're counting to what we don't know yet. Like what stopped counting. But I always have to convince people in the beginning when they're in that phase, like, you don't believe me now, but I am going to have to [00:28:00] really encourage you to do your reintroductions.
[00:28:02] Right. Because people don't want to rock the boat.
[00:28:06] Amanda Nowosadzki: Totally.
[00:28:08] Julie Michelson: but it's where you learn. When, what treats can you have? Can you put cheese on your biscuit? People you want to know that right?
[00:28:18] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, exactly. Can you, yeah, I know because that elimination phase is powerful and then the reintroduction phase is also powerful, right? For the reasons you just mentioned. And it's those light bulb moments where when you eliminate. Suddenly start noticing a symptom or two that's no longer there, or you just feel so much dang better.
[00:28:40] Overall. I get it. You know, if you've tried that you sometimes get to that point where you're like, it is not worth it, you know, whether it, and you can decide for you, whether it's never, or whether it's, you know, you said like your some foods a few times a year, I've got those as well. And I love the sometimes food term, epic.
[00:28:58] That's great.
[00:28:59] Julie Michelson: We [00:29:00] have a never ever at a, this one's in and this is sometimes just sometimes. Yeah. So you, we danced around the flower topic. Let's talk flower. I have never talked flower on the podcast so far. Yeah. And I know.
[00:29:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: dangerous territory.
[00:29:23] Julie Michelson: personal experience. It's a, it is, people are funny about flour. So I agree that this transition away from wheat flour is like this big ugly, hairy, scary thing for people.
[00:29:38] And nothing's ever going to taste right again, or texture is a big deal. So educate us.
[00:29:46] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, totally. So as you mentioned, you know, a couple of years back, even gluten-free flours and one-to-one alternatives, they just sucked. Let's be blunt, right? Until, until more recently, it [00:30:00] just wasn't worth it. But what I wanted to do was to create a one-to-one substitute that didn't have to be stored.
[00:30:07] A for cost and be just so we have control over the ingredients because as you and I were just talking about, some people may be able to tolerate certain ingredients or may be able to tolerate some sort of binder or gum for others. That's going to be off limits completely. Right. So this really kind of gives you the control over the ingredients.
[00:30:26] And that is actually available free on my website. I'm sure we can link it and show notes or
[00:30:32] Julie Michelson: It is going to absolutely be linked in the show notes. This is Amanda's beautiful gift to the, to everybody listening.
[00:30:40] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, thank you. Well, and you know, again, this won't be for those AIP elimination times, or, you know, maybe your everyday AIP this'll be for those special occasions. So if you're thinking like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to eat my grandma's chocolate cake recipe again. Okay. Well, this is where we get to debunk that.
[00:30:58] And this is where[00:31:00] you can get my, my one-to-one flower guide as well. A quick start guide that just talks to you about binders and helps you to rework that recipe so that it really has a similar taste and texture, or the very same as the original, right. That nostalgia or that connection that comes with it.
[00:31:19] And that gift also includes a few of my favorite recipes. One of them is a biscuit. That can be made completely without any theory. No butter, no milk. It's even egg-free. So I know this can be a big trigger for a lot of people and a lot of gluten-free biscuits and breads, well, they involve eggs, right?
[00:31:38] Because they're missing other things, but these biscuits are the ones that you could literally bring. Julia, you could serve them to your group of friends.
[00:31:45] Julie Michelson: Everything.
[00:31:46] Amanda Nowosadzki: yeah, it fits every category, vegan sound, et cetera, et cetera. So that's included in the gift as well. I really wanted people to have a go-to let's say you're going to our social gathering.
[00:31:58] You have special [00:32:00] dietary needs. Other people there might have different ones. This is kind of that thing you can bring and everybody's going to be happy. I've tested it at several holiday gatherings, so I could vouch for that.
[00:32:10] Julie Michelson: amazing.
[00:32:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, but it is true. That flower is a big one. Right. And I think it's important to note, like you said, you've put, you've never discussed flour on this podcast before.
[00:32:23] It's probably because you don't go out and encourage, you know, your clients to make it a huge part of their regular consumption. Right.
[00:32:31] Julie Michelson: true. And I, I love that you brought that up because even people that are doing an AIP elimination. You there, you can make AIP compliant, elimination, phase compliant, baked goods. It's you're still, shouldn't be eating them every day. Like if it's still a treat and that's the hard for people to wrap their head around, you know, we, we need to redefine treats, I think, as, [00:33:00] as adults.
[00:33:00] And, and it certainly. It's a process, right. As we grow and learn and realize what our bodies really need. And, and like you said, what you're doing is allowing people to have that trait, have that connection, have that, those memories, you know, your baby's gonna have those memories of the yummies around the table.
[00:33:23] Right. And, and but they're, they're going to be a much healthier option.
[00:33:28] Amanda Nowosadzki: absolutely. Yeah. And then there'll be, there'll be less inflammatory they'll hopefully be more dense, et cetera. Right. If we're going to have it, if we know better, we can do better. Right. So if we're able to get educated on some of these ingredients, it might not be the perfect thing that we eat all the time to your point, but is it something we can enjoy on occasion?
[00:33:47] Absolutely. So, yeah.
[00:33:49] Julie Michelson: it. And I love that you take it down to the gum. That may sound weird. We're not talking about dentistry here
[00:33:59] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.[00:34:00]
[00:34:00] Julie Michelson: because, because I do extensive food sensitivity panels with all of my clients. I have been truly amazed at how many are highly sensitive to some of those gums.
[00:34:13] Amanda Nowosadzki: 100%.
[00:34:14] Julie Michelson: we're talking about guar gum xantham gum.
[00:34:16] If people are like, what the heck are they even talking about?
[00:34:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: Exactly
[00:34:20] Julie Michelson: There's a variety of them and they're commonly added, you know, if you go buy a jug of milk, there aren't any gums added, right. Cows milk. But if you go buy almond milk, they're very well maybe, or coconut milk or whatever other alternative you might be looking for.
[00:34:39] And so. Getting to see those test results in front of me all the time with like, oh, and watch for this and watch for that. I love that you really get down to that level because that's the detail. Like you just, you've blown my mind where somebody [00:35:00] gets lost. Right. It's like, okay, well it's hitting all these other things, but then it's got, oh shoot.
[00:35:04] I can't have xantham gum.
[00:35:06] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. Yeah. And that's, you know that's something I've struggled with as well, because I've noticed that I can be slightly sensitive to certain guns. And when I realized that it was like, okay, well then what else can I use in place of, or can it just be eliminated in this recipe? Right. And you know, you can still make phenomenal gluten-free goods without xantham gum.
[00:35:30] Now let's say that you that's one of your, sometimes ingredients may be like, you're going to have it once or twice or three times a year, because it just really enhances the texture of something. Great. You know, you're equipped with that knowledge and then you'll be equipped with my little table that tells you exactly how much gum to add, to achieve the perfect, you know, whether it's a pizza crust or a cookie or a cake, you know, those take different amounts.
[00:35:56] So basically I've taken out all of the chemistry of it for you. I never liked [00:36:00] chemistry in school, but I do like
[00:36:01] Julie Michelson: Now you got
[00:36:02] Amanda Nowosadzki: So
[00:36:03] Julie Michelson: Well, and they say, I mean, it is, you need chemistry in the kitchen, you just do. So I love that. That's amazing. I have so many things I want to ask you. I'm like, oh my God. Where can, and I'm, I want to make sure I know the, the gift will be in the show. Knows where can people get the book?
[00:36:25] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. It's on Amazon. So if you Amazon, Google, as I say, if you Amazon search claim Southern cuisine, it should come right up. And yeah, it's prime shipping. Doesn't get more convenient than that.
[00:36:38] Julie Michelson: know, it is, it is absolutely wonderful. I'm telling you guys get, get the book. Mine is on the way here or else I would have, this would have been a three hour episode. Cause I would have all the questions about all the recipes. But I. Super excited to play with it. And, and not being a Southern [00:37:00] girl.
[00:37:00] I know my standards aren't that high, but knowing that the recipes are so high standard, I would, I would even invite my Southern friends. So
[00:37:09] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh,
[00:37:09] Julie Michelson: it'll, it'll be fun.
[00:37:11] Amanda Nowosadzki: that's high praise. Thank you.
[00:37:15] Julie Michelson: So if someone's feeling overwhelmed by just this idea of clean eating, where do you recommend these.
[00:37:23] Amanda Nowosadzki: You know, Julie, I think it's not necessarily an action. The longer I do this, the more I realize this it's something we touched on earlier, where they start is actually just one, one thing that they need to remember and remind themselves off, which is it will be worth it.
[00:37:42] Julie Michelson: I love
[00:37:42] Amanda Nowosadzki: Right. It will be worth it. It might be tough.
[00:37:45] We're not saying it's going to be super easy. There may be a learning curve. In fact, there probably will be a learning curve for most, most people, but it will be worth it. And that's, I think what we all have to start at just to realize like, [00:38:00] dang, I am going to have to clean out my pantry. I remember my resistance, you know, when I.
[00:38:05] Decided to start the paleo diet before my 30th birthday, it was like, I don't want to throw a waste. All of these ingredients, the sugar, et cetera. There was really this hesitancy around it for me. And I wish somebody had told me that. Right. Like it will be worth it for more reasons than you probably could even fathom right now.
[00:38:25] So yes.
[00:38:26] Julie Michelson: that. Absolutely. And I love the that's been another evolution in, in my coaching is we always would work with mindset now. It's like mindset first. Like we need, we need to get in the right place at and approach it. As I know you were. Going paleo, probably thinking short term in your mind, you know, lose weight.
[00:38:49] But, but we're talking about, yes. It takes time. It takes energy. It's a process. But it's your life, so that's worth it.[00:39:00]
[00:39:00] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, there's almost no better gift that you can give to yourself. I guess there are plenty of gifts you can give to yourself, mentally gratitude practices, all these things that I think affect our health, but you know, for me, especially growing up in the south and I'm sure it's the same for people that grew up in plenty of other places where.
[00:39:19] Maybe the focus wasn't on healthy food, but it was like really good food. You know, there's a, there's this thing. You just have to realize that eventually it will be worth it. And you'll get over that that skepticism, you know, like eventually you'll be able to leave that behind because you'll see that there can be a balance and that it will be absolutely worth your time.
[00:39:41] And it'll be. Yeah, just one of the best things you could do for yourself, because, and I think the magic lies in the things that you didn't expect. Like, for me, it wasn't the magic actually. Wasn't in the weight loss that I started the diet for. It was that in my wrist and a constantly anymore. And I [00:40:00] wasn't having all of these digestive symptoms.
[00:40:02] And then I realized, oh my gosh, like my ankles and knees don't hurt when I wake up anymore. Right. That's I think the magic really. In those, those unexpected moments where you for yourself can finally make that connection. So,
[00:40:18] Julie Michelson: I love that. That's amazing. And when you were telling your story, it always blows me away when you added in the IBS. I just had this conversation with somebody that I had gotten. Shocker my whole life as well, just did my oldest who was the first in the family to be diagnosed with celiac from infancy, probably through age three, had T horrible, like violent. And it poor baby. And it was I've sorry, we do the best we can with what we know. Right. So medicated, he had so many specialists and, and, and was poor thing, you know, get to [00:41:00] so overmedicated to try to get him to keep food down. Nobody ever asked me. When he was an infant and I was nursing, what I was eating.
[00:41:10] And as he, when he was a toddler, nobody asked what he was eating. When, you know, I'm guessing when you had IBS, nobody thought to ask you, like, could it be food-related do you, you know, have you ever tried X, Y, Z and so that seems so obvious in hindsight that that may be something people do expect, but like you said, whether it's the aches and the pains, energy, better brain fog
[00:41:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.
[00:41:39] Julie Michelson: literally your skin clearing you name it.
[00:41:43] I can't think of something that you may not have. As a quote unquote symptom that may not improve. I mean, it's the, sky's the limit.
[00:41:56] Amanda Nowosadzki: It's true. And you know, I remember my sister-in-law, who'd been [00:42:00] onto the paleo diet circuit for a while telling me before I started, you should write down your symptoms. And I was, I actually, I literally thought duly. I was like, what is she talking symptoms? Like, I didn't have any symptoms.
[00:42:11] Julie Michelson: I'm not sick. Yeah.
[00:42:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: you are, you just don't realize it.
[00:42:17] Julie Michelson: When we normalize it.
[00:42:19] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah. This is my normal, this is like, what happens to me when I eat this food or this is just the way I feel you've just learned to live with it, which is which is so sad. So, and, you know, you touched on something. With the, with the IBS piece and, you know I think a lot of us, and I don't know if you're included and kind of believe that's somewhat of a blanket term that's given, but you know, never
[00:42:41] Julie Michelson: of, it's the fibromyalgia of the gut.
[00:42:43] Amanda Nowosadzki: absolutely.
[00:42:45] And, you know,
[00:42:46] Julie Michelson: We don't know. We'll just call it this.
[00:42:48] Amanda Nowosadzki: just put it under that category. Yeah. Fell there. So, I mean, I was never once asked about food by a conventional medicine practitioner. Right. And like you said, there's a lot more knowledge out there now and [00:43:00] just awareness around the connection. But I think that's where the beauty of functional medicine comes in as well.
[00:43:07] And I'm not knocking conventional medicine because it's saved my life. Right.
[00:43:12] Julie Michelson: I say that all the time, I'm like, God forbid I need emergency surgery. I am going to a Western trained surgeon, parent. Like I am not going for acupuncture,
[00:43:22] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:43:22] Julie Michelson: or, or to my functional medicine physician.
[00:43:25] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know, I had appendicitis last year and I found myself just so utterly grateful for the people that were able to take my appendix out and, you know, literally prevent, prevent me from losing my life. Right. The other side of that. Those people and it's not their fault. Just don't have the resources.
[00:43:44] The time the system is not set up in a way yeah. The training that allows them to do what you do and to dig into the food aspect of it, the food sensitivities, which are so gravely important. And I think the [00:44:00] longer I do this, the more I realize that, you know, so I've, I've really benefited from both sides from conventional and from functional.
[00:44:07] So.
[00:44:08] Julie Michelson: I, I tend to think of traditional allopathic, Western medicine, as it is exactly what it was originally designed for acute care. Madison, and, and they're not there yet to get under that diagnosis and figure out what's causing the problem to begin with. Right. It's diagnose and treat the symptom.
[00:44:33] And so I I'm with you. I mean, it's, I look forward to the day when it's just medicine and when the two. Come together. But hitting on things like food and nutrition and movement and sleep and toxins, and now all, all the goodies, stress management. These that's a piece, I think they're finally starting to notice, maybe asking.[00:45:00]
[00:45:00] People, you know, how, how their stress level is or what they're doing about it. But yeah, there there's no, I had surgery two years ago as well, and was so grateful for my, my GP who has been my doc for years and years and my surgeon and all of that. So I always thank you for bringing it up. I'm usually the one to clarify.
[00:45:22] I'm not, there's no good, bad, right? Wrong.
[00:45:26] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:45:27] Julie Michelson: But for anything chronic, then I'll just ask question why
[00:45:35] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah.
[00:45:35] Julie Michelson: and follow that road. Like see what, see where you go.
[00:45:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes. And if you don't get a why, the knows that you need to go and look outside of that resource. Right. But it's not their fault. Maybe it's systemically flawed if you will, in my opinion, because even. Some of those doctors are not allowed or trained to sit there with you because of the way the insurance works and, you know it's, it's really [00:46:00] not it's, it's not their fault.
[00:46:02] Some of them are just kind of confined by the system. I don't know if you would agree.
[00:46:07] Julie Michelson: Oh, I think they're, I think they're extremely confined by the system. And there there's, there's no way in 15 minutes. They can, and again, it goes back to the training. That's not what they're, that's not how they're trained. They're trained to name, what's wrong, you know, diagnose it. And I had a doctor on the podcast who had said when she was practicing Western medicine, she genuinely.
[00:46:33] Felt like she wasn't doing her patients a service if she didn't give them a diagnosis and a prescription when they came in. And, and so, and you know, we all, we're all learning and doing the best we can and I am with you. I'm, you know, I, I. My babies were delivered by Western train dock. And and I'm using Western as I I'm to we're talking about allopathic medicine, because a lot [00:47:00] of functional medicine practitioners are MDs dos, Western trained that have.
[00:47:05] Converted, if you will. And so I, I do believe, I don't know that it'll be in my lifetime, but I believe very slowly. We're at the beginning of the road of all of that merging to, as I said, where it's just Madison, where we get back to, there was a time when people knew, you know, what you put in your body and how you treat your body matters.
[00:47:29] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. Gosh, Julie fingers. Every part of my body is crossed that we can get back to that sooner than later.
[00:47:37] Julie Michelson: agree where we're hopefully going in the right direction. I think the more we have these conversations and the more each of us. Figures these things out. I always it's the ripple effect. I know for me, I get such joy when my clients get better, but then knowing, you know, that now their kids are growing up completely differently [00:48:00] than they would have.
[00:48:01] And they're talking to friends and they're, and this is how we're doing it. We're going to move the needle.
[00:48:07] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yeah, absolutely. It's that? It's that raising that awareness, even if it seems grassroots sometimes.
[00:48:12] Julie Michelson: Yes, absolutely. So what you kind of, you already gave us one, but I guess this is going to be an opportunity to either repeat it or come or give us another one. I always like to close with that one step that listeners can take starting today to start to improve their health.
[00:48:30] Amanda Nowosadzki: Absolutely. You know other than the one that's my favorite, which is that it will be worth it. I'd say the next step is just take the time to. Put a little bit more thought into it. So if you're in the grocery store and you're feeling overwhelmed, you know, take the time just to turn over that package and look at the ingredients.
[00:48:55] Right? That's a, that's a big one because I know that you're not always [00:49:00] going to want to pick up my cookbook and make something that evening. Right. I know you're going to be in the grocery store pinched for time sometimes. And I think one thing that you can just really do to start to raise the awareness for yourself is flip it over, flip it to the side and look at the ingredients.
[00:49:16] Because again, it sounds so cliche, but knowledge is power and you just, until you start to figure these things out you know, then you're going to be right where you're at. So just take the time for yourself. Do it for yourself. My husband always says self-care is not selfish. And I think that's so wise.
[00:49:35] Julie Michelson: I love your husband already. Well, well chosen. Good job. It's so true. I, I that's an as a, as soon to be parents that's you guys should hang that in your house because it's, it is so true. Oxygen mask on you first.
[00:49:54] Amanda Nowosadzki: Oh, gosh. Yeah, you might need to remind us of that. Once we got underway with this parental journey,
[00:49:58] Julie Michelson: Oh, for sure.
[00:49:59] Amanda Nowosadzki: [00:50:00] When you think about self care, that is a form of self care. You know, self care doesn't have to be going to the spa, right? It can literally be being in the grocery store and taking the time for yourself to flip that package over and start to understand what you're putting in your body.
[00:50:14] So I think that would be my number two.
[00:50:16] Julie Michelson: Oh, my gosh, amazing, amazing advice. And that alone will change your life too, because, I mean, I think I've shared this before on the podcast, because it was my shining moment as a mother. Was my daughter called me one day. She was probably a senior in high school, maybe a junior and the kids had hit the grocery store for lunchtime and, you know, to grab snacks for lunch.
[00:50:44] And she called and literally said, you've ruined my life. And I said, well, that's good to know what did I do? And she said, I found this. I don't even know what it was, you know, at this store that I really wanted. And then I read the [00:51:00] ingredients and I couldn't possibly put it in my mouth now. And I was like, Mike drop.
[00:51:05] I am done on this earth.
[00:51:08] Amanda Nowosadzki: go.
[00:51:09] Julie Michelson: She doesn't, she has no idea. I tell that story all the time, but, you know, she thought she was calling to complain and she literally made my day and that was, you know, six years ago, probably. So, yeah. So read those ingredients.
[00:51:24] Amanda Nowosadzki: Yes.
[00:51:25] Julie Michelson: So before we wrap up, we will have all the links in the show notes, but for those that listen on the go and aren't going to take the time to look at the show notes.
[00:51:34] What's the, where's the best place for listeners to find.
[00:51:38] Amanda Nowosadzki: Sure. If, if folks like to connect through social media, they can find me on Instagram or Facebook. My handles @cleansouthern, and they can also find me on my website: CleanSouthernCuisine.com. But I think that, you know, some people struggle with cuisine. So spelling is not one of my strong suits either. So social media [00:52:00] @CleanSouthern is really simple to remember, and I look forward to connecting.
[00:52:03] Julie Michelson: Wonderful. Amanda, thank you so much. You have shared some amazing tips with us today, and I know I am inspired. I am sure listeners are as.
[00:52:14] Amanda Nowosadzki: Well, thank you, Julie. And your work inspires me as well. So thank you so much for having me.
[00:52:19] Julie Michelson: My pleasure. For everyone listening, remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I will see all next week.
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My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Amanda Nowosadzki
Amanda Nowosadzki
Gluten Free Chef
Have you ever thought that “clean-eating” and “southern cuisine” are two phrases that shouldn’t be spoken together? Think again!
Amanda Gipson Nowosadzki (No-uh-sod-ski) i s the author of the Clean Southern Cuisine cookbook and founder of the Clean Southern Cuisine blog. She delights i n helping others to improve their health through scrumptious Southern recipes that are healthier and free of gluten.
Amanda hails from “Cajun Country” in South Louisiana. Much of her childhood was spent learning to cook traditional family recipes. That, coupled with later working in the catering industry in New Orleans, ignited her love affair with food, especially Southern cuisine. When work took her out of the South, she constantly craved the flavors and food from home. Later it became necessary for her to make dietary changes to combat ongoing health issues… so she combined her love for Cajun, Creole, and Southern food with her desire for more nutrient-dense and gluten-free...
Amanda Gipson Nowosadzki (No-uh-sod-ski) i s the author of the Clean Southern Cuisine cookbook and founder of the Clean Southern Cuisine blog. She delights i n helping others to improve their health through scrumptious Southern recipes that are healthier and free of gluten.
Amanda hails from “Cajun Country” in South Louisiana. Much of her childhood was spent learning to cook traditional family recipes. That, coupled with later working in the catering industry in New Orleans, ignited her love affair with food, especially Southern cuisine. When work took her out of the South, she constantly craved the flavors and food from home. Later it became necessary for her to make dietary changes to combat ongoing health issues… so she combined her love for Cajun, Creole, and Southern food with her desire for more nutrient-dense and gluten-free...
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