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Kristen Helmstetter

(Brisa Starr)

carnivore diet

A Very Strange Delicious Sandwich

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In our tiny village in Italy, I get amazing sourdough bread for my family from the lovely people of The Beehive Hostel in Rome (a great place to stay once travel resumes).

Turns out, the family who owns it lives in our town and with COVID destroying tourism, they’ve turned to making food and selling it. Nice pivot.

One of the things we buy from them, well two (I’ll share the other in a minute), is homemade sourdough bread, just like I used to make pre-carnivore and pre-travel days. It’s the good stuff: just water, flour, salt, and starter, and delicious.

One day I ate a lot. The next day I ate carnivore. Balance, huh?

I usually start my day with beef (lately, a steak), but I’ve been enjoying a lot of this bread the past couple of weeks. And with the bread, I’ve made a strange sandwich that is addictive.

The reason it’s strange is because it also has hummus on it. And salmon. Now, even though I sometimes eat sourdough bread, napoletana pizza, and rice… even pasta on occasion, I usually eschew beans and legumes. I haven’t had hummus in years.

But, for the hell of it, I made an exception when I ordered The Beehive’s hummus. I wanted to support them. Plus? The strangest thing… it just sounded good. So I bought some, fully expecting to only buy it once.

Then?

I put it on this weird open-faced sandwich I’m about to share and frankly my mind was kinda blown. Greg’s too.

Why in the hell is it so tasty? Something about the synergy of ingredients.

Anyway, without further ado, here is this Very Strange Delicious Sandwich.

From the bottom to top:

  • sourdough bread
  • thick smear of butter
  • thick, thick smear of hummus
  • Mustard, Cholula hot sauce, and BBQ sauce from a squirt bottle (all 3)
  • black pepper
  • canned wild-caught salmon (though, tuna would be great too, maybe sardines if you like those)
  • quality olive oil (like this one)
  • dried oregano, optional

One day I didn’t have hummus, because Greg ate the rest of it in the middle of the night, so I used cream cheese instead. Not. the. same.

And that time with the cream cheese, I added pickles. That was fine, but not necessary.

Anyway. I hope you and yours are doing well.

Apart from eating strange salmon sandwiches, I’m working on romance novel number nine, and we’re almost ready to publish number eight, Christmas Beauty in about ten days!

Italy Beauty

The weather just dropped to mid 40s during the day here so I’m wearing a bigger coat on my wonderful almost-daily walks.

Pretty 3-legged cat we see on our walk all the time.

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My Carnivore Dieter’s Desk

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My desk.

My Carnivore Dieter’s Desk… laptop, coffee, and steak

An example of how I start my day… with local Italian red meat (a fine steak full of protein and fat). 🥩 🇮🇹 It’s about 400 grams (about 14 ounces), and I cooked it in the air fryer, my new favorite way to cook steak so it gets the fat around the edges deliciously crispy and melty.

I’m not all carnivore these days but I tend to stay that way most of the day at least during the week. Now that we’re settled and have a stronger routine, steaks are calling me. 

And frankly I still feel like an unstoppable, limitless woman when I fuel this way (and I like not being bloated! 👙). It works for us. Big time. (Read about my carnivore diet adventures in my book, The Carnivore Diet Handbook)

My new experiment for the next couple of weeks will be steak 🥩 for food and honey 🍯 (plus tea and coffee of course, and I like heavy cream in my tea lately). I’ll call it my steak and honey 🍯 🥩 diet.  

Or my 🥩 🍯 ☕️ 🍵 diet.  

When I decided on my butcher of choice in our Italian hill-top village, it was a funny first encounter. Of course, I was buying a lot of meat, many kilos which I don’t think is common. He looked at me, not speaking much English, and my Italian leaving a lot to be desired, I realized he was inquiring if I had a lot of friends I was cooking for.

Ha. Nope, just me (well and Greg and Kamea, though I eat more meat than them).

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“I Prefer” Over “I Hope”… Words to Live By

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Once upon a time, I was a vegan. I died. The End.

Just kidding.

Yes, I was a vegan for ten years until it almost killed my family.

I’m being dramatic. Maybe.

In defense of my veganistic decisions, I thought I was doing the right thing (don’t we always?), and I learned a lot. Although I wish I hadn’t been vegan for ten years of my life, maybe two would’ve been fine, I’ve moved on.

It’s also why my story about eating a carnivore diet, in my book — The Carnivore Diet Handbook — is not preachy. Everyone does their own thing, me included. I learned my lesson from my vegan days. #neversaynever

But today, I’m bringing up my days as a vegan because, back in those wheatgrass-drinking days, I read a book that had a gem of an idea that I’ve carried with me, over a decade later. This strange and peculiar book — Survival in the 21st Century — was written by a truly enjoyable fella, Viktoras Kulvinskas.

A Bible for Raw Vegans.

Today, with my elk-heart-eating, carnivorous ways, I am far from a vegan. But something I read in that book has stuck with me for over 10 years. I remember reading it to Greg while we drove to Fort Bragg, CA, all hyped up on raw chocolate, to attend the raw vegan cooking school, Living Light.

When I finished the book, I cut out a little chart from it and taped it to my journal.

And over the years, as I went from journal to journal, I would tape it and re-tape into all of my journals. Until I internalized it, I guess, because I don’t have it anymore.

And while I won’t reconstruct the table for you (you can get the book if you want to see it), I’ll share the general idea.

It’s a Simple Idea.

A Powerful Idea.

Happy Sexy Millionaire Stuff

It’s taking the words “I hope” and never using them again.

It’s replacing those words with the words “I prefer,” every time.

I prefer. I prefer. I prefer. I prefer.

I started doing this. I was baffled at the difference in my reaction to whatever it was that I was claiming to have previously hoped for.

You see, when you say I prefer, there is less attachment to it, yet more agency and personal power. It’s more uplifting in a weird way.

I was teaching this idea to my 10-year-old, and I asked her what she thought about it. She said, “Yeah, it sounds more educated.”

So there.

Try the Magic for Yourself.

Try it for everything you want positive to happen in your life AND everything that you don’t want that could be negative.

When driving my car, instead of “I hope I make this light,” say “I prefer to make this light.”

Ahh, doesn’t make you feel like pink cotton candy?

There’s this feeling of untouchableness that accompanies the words, I prefer.

I hope to lose weight? No. Try… I prefer to lose weight. Nice.

I hope I don’t get sick? Nope. Try… I prefer not to get sick.

There’s just less stress behind the words, I prefer, than the words I hope.

So, those are my thoughts today. I prefer they’re as useful to you as they are to me. :O)

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We’re Going Back to Live in Italy (Travel Update)

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We’re packing 4 large suitcases and moving back to Italy.

We booked our flight.

It was canceled.

Cuz. Covid-19. And America’s very, very uncool response.

We rescheduled.

We’re now leaving earlier, August 17.

We came to Arizona to visit Mom Feb. 3 for a 1-month visit. Here we are, six months later, not leaving until mid-August.

Why wait so long?

Initially, we waited as Italy fought to control the virus.

But by the time May rolled around, and it was getting under control in Europe, America was going downhill. Fast. At the time, I didn’t know if we could even get back into Italy (I have Italian citizenship, Greg doesn’t).

And…

Who in the hell wants to fly at a time like this?

We have not left my mom’s house since March. Greg, Kamea, and I have stayed home (only going outside to swim and walk and bike) but NO contact with the public since MARCH! (Greg suited up to buy a WiFi router when ours konked out, but that’s been our only foray outside the hermetically sealed compound.)

Funny, it’s totally fine. I fucking love it!

I’m so busy writing steamy romance books I wouldn’t go anywhere anyway. No distractions, no choices. (My mom does all the shopping, and well, Amazon.)

Italy right now… with Covid-19

With daily new cases hovering around a very manageable 250 for the entire country, and mask wearing mandatory in all indoor environments, the borders have opened to EU and Schengen area visitors. 

An American in Rome

With their robust contact tracing and testing, they’re keeping it under control.

So I thought, fuck it, let’s book flights and get home. To our beloved home, Italia.

We’ll have to quarantine for 2 weeks

Once we arrive in Italy, we are not allowed to use public transportation to get to our home in the medieval hilltop village where we rented an apartment. We would normally take a train from Rome, but that’s not an option. So instead, we’re paying $400 to hire a driver with a Covid-ready (?) van to transfer us.

At least it’ll have room for the 4th suitcase. I have things to bring:

Eye Armor, RAD RED NIGHT GLASSES, non-toxic water-based nail polish, collagen protein powder, new clothes, new beauty products, and lots of books on writing!

Upon arrival, we are not allowed to leave our apartment for two weeks!

How will we get food? Oh, and toilet paper?

For starters, we have been over-the-top blessed with the most amazing landlords. Although we haven’t moved into the apartment yet, they live upstairs from it and have been offering us all the help we’ll need.

Plus? The Beehive Hostel People

The amazing people who own The Beehive Hostel in Rome (Americans who have lived in Italy for about 20 years, I think) also live in the same little town we’re moving to. They’re getting groceries for us and will have our home set and ready for us to move into when we arrive.

This means I don’t need to pack toilet paper in my suitcase!

And during our quarantine, they’ll shop for us every couple of days. How blessed we are! God I love Italy – the hospitality is so glitteringly heartwarming.

We haven’t stayed at that awesome hostel yet, but we plan to many times over the next year, as we explore every nook and cranny of Rome. I can’t wait to write steamy romance novels set in Italy. Mamma Mia!!!

What about airports and flying during Covid-19?

We opted to fly Delta Airlines domestically as they’ve been touted as the airline taking the best precautions for Covid-19.

I’m approaching it with masks (N95 with cloth on top, because N95’s only protect the wearer), face shields, and hats. I’m bringing bleach wipes with us. I’m bringing hand sanitizer. My family is taking elderberry before, during, and after travel (apparently one of the BEST forms of protection), this zinc, and glutathione (all Chris Masterjohn Covid-19 recommendations).

No sugar (easy for this naughty, dirty carnivore gal).

Plenty of rest before, during, and after travel. (My rad red glasses ensure that!)

And? Meditation, filled with shimmery, golden thoughts and visions for health, happiness, and longevity (you know, Happy Sexy Millionaire sh*t). I mean, like, here’s why I’m so happy despite a pandemic.

I’ll update you from the ground in Italy!

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I’m a Naughty, Dirty Carnivore

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I get a lot of questions about my eating these days. So, here’s the quick and dirty of it. ;)

I’d say I’m kind of a dirty (and maybe naughty?) carnivore. 

What does that mean? I still default to a carnivore diet for a lot of my meals. Beef. And I suppose some people might call it Dirty Carnivore because, like lately, I’m adding a splash of fancy soy sauce (I eschew soy in general) to my ground beef.

If it were mustard or hot sauce, I think I could avoid the “dirty” description, but because it’s “soy” I think purist carnivores might turn their noses up at me. 

I’m OK with that.

Ordinarily, a “dirty” carnivore is one who eats mostly carnivore, but maybe has a ladle of marinara sauce over the beef once in a while, or a few sprigs of asparagus. Or a handful of blueberries. If I were pressed, I might say a dirty carnivore is 90% carnivore and the remaining 10% are paleo-approved plants. But don’t quote me.

But why would I call myself a “naughty” carnivore? 

Maybe I’m writing too many sex scenes in my romance novels.

But the truth is that although the majority of my diet is solely animal products, I have the occasional “dirty” carnivore meal, and I indulge in the occasional “naughty” option which might be a scone! Or pizza in Italy! Or a glass of wine or Malibu rum on ice with fizzy water.

(Admittedly, I rarely drink, but it’s an example. I wouldn’t mind drinking more, actually, but my body isn’t friendly to it, and I like to listen to her. Except when she tells me to go to bed and I’m too enraptured with a book I’m reading.)

But should I call it “naughty?” Is that like some kind of crappy affirmation?

Ordinarily, I’d say yeah.

But in this instance, I’m just being playful so it’s all good. (Though one must be careful in these instances, too.)

The bottom line is that if we approach our food with a happy and loving attitude, then I think most people could be just fine whether they eat pizza once a week slathered in honey and dunked in beer, or whatever. (More on this in another post.)

So, what am I eating specifically?

One reason I love carnivore is because I know I’m getting excellent nourishment for my body, and so if I stick to a routine where I eat almost the same damn thing every day for a week or a year, even if it’s just beef, I feel great. 

Here’s my food lately.

My breakfast and lunch … almost always “good girl” carnivore (sorry could’t resist, those romance novels are really juicy).

It’s a simple meal that’s tasty, and I feel good when I eat that way, which is why most of my food is carnivore. Recipe below.

Dinner, however, isn’t always carnivore.

Sometimes it’s “dirty” carnivore and sometimes it’s “naughty” carnivore, which I suppose isn’t really carnivore, but since most of my plate is animal based, I’m sticking with the fun description.

Dirty would mean I eat a lot of meat and have a sweet potato on the side swimming in melted butter or cold cucumber salad with sour cream.

Naughty carnivore would mean I’m eating that same plate of mostly meat, but instead of vegetables, I had a croissant on the side! 

Over the years of eating such a meat-heavy diet, I’m happy to say that I tolerate non-animal foods well. But, I still get bloated if I eat them, which I don’t enjoy (maybe that’s not so tolerable?). And, the longer-term potential consequences of things like sugar on the brain or its impact on aging and wrinkles, well, those could be happening behind the scenes too. 

BUT! I’m experimenting with some manifesting affirmation mojo when I eat those naughty, dirty things in an effort to mitigate the aforemetnioned possible downsides. (Again, though, that’s a future post.)

I still drink a lot of coffee. About 3 cups a day. 

Here is one of my favorite ways to eat ground beef lately!

I take three pounds of ground beef. They come in one-pound packages. I take them out of the package and flatten them a bit on a baking sheet. I cook them at about 325°F in the toaster oven (a regular oven would do). I don’t even season it. That comes later.

The benefit of cooking three pounds at once is to have the leftovers in the fridge. 

Note: For a portion that I’ll eat… maybe 1/2-3/4 pound.

Once it’s cooked, I add butter and a very special and beautiful soy sauce that I learned about from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat book. (Can I just say that I absolutely, (absolutely I say!) adore, love, and damn near kissed that book when I finished it. I bought it both for Kindle and hard cover! Even though I won’t use half the info in there for the non-carnivore reasons, I still loved learning it all.)

After all… never say never.

Back to that soy sauce, butter, beef concoction.

But anyway… that soy sauce? Oh my god, the taste is amazing. I feel like I’m in a Japanese restaurant and my tastebuds sing. 

And so it is a joy to have this seemingly boring bowl of ground beef daily, because it’s enhanced with a now-creamy soy sauce from the butter and soy sauce.

That’s all I’ve got for today, but thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon, but I must get back to my romance novels. I’m working book number FIVE and my intense goal I told you about last time? Well, it’s intense to say the least and I’ve learned a few things!

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Thanksgiving Dinner at MUU in Porto, Portugal (Digital Nomad Family)

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As digital nomads, we celebrated Thanksgiving at MUU in Porto, Portugal.

It wasn’t too strange celebrating Thanksgiving without the rest of our family.

In past years, we would always celebrate with our moms (together) for Thanksgiving dinner, so there’s only 6 of us sitting around the dinner table. It was always super casual, but we still cooked plenty of traditional recipes, leaving leftovers for days.

But, because our holidays were always pretty casual, I actually wasn’t too concerned we wouldn’t be there this time. I figured our moms would miss us a bit, but it wasn’t going to be a big deal that we weren’t there.

Besides, we just left Arizona.

It’s possible the reason I didn’t feel guilty about it is because we just left Arizona after having spent over a month there. We chose to go home in October for a few reasons, including voting and choosing a time for international flights that wasn’t overpriced.

By going in the fall, our time spent there helps soften the fact that we wouldn’t be there for Thanksgiving (and winter holidays). As a result, we were able to see family close to those holidays, and still get to enjoy our digital nomad family life living abroad.

Everyone is happy. :)

I finally get a break from cooking.

Living in Porto we have a tiny kitchen, with minimal cooking equipment. There are also no turkeys around. Or cranberries as far as I can tell.

We decided to give me a much needed break from cooking Thanksgiving dinner (I’m always the main home chef every year), and we went out to an amazing dinner.

That’s what this post is about: Thanksgiving dinner at MUU in Porto, Portugal.

[Read more…] about Thanksgiving Dinner at MUU in Porto, Portugal (Digital Nomad Family)

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