Happy Halloween

Time has gotten away from me the last couple of days.  It was all great suspense as DD Meghan drove into a Wyoming to Colorado blizzard.  We got lots of updates and plans changed by the hour as she holed up in Sheridan, WY to wait it out.  When she left Sheridan she was halted by road closures, compact snow and ice as well as blowing snow.  Yikes!  My jaws ache from gritting my teeth.

By yesterday she was with friends in Colorado and by this evening she was almost to Oklahoma.  She drove in warm sunshine the whole day.  What a relief.  But I don’t think I’ll stop grinding until she arrives safely in Killeen, TX.  It should only be one more day, I hope.

In the meantime, I’ve not been feeling all that great.  Stress really sucks the energy out of me.  Plus, I ate cheese again, convinced that I was wrong about the reaction last time.

Uh…nope.  I was right.  No more cheese.

So today I was achy and sore and dragging butt.  I tried to eat cleanly; apple for breakfast, hot buckwheat cereal for lunch, and some lovely baked chicken thighs for dinner.  I’ve still got the dried rosemary my Auntie brought me from her garden and I am loving it with chicken!

I also wanted some kind of sauce or gravy to go over the leftover cooked buckwheat which we were eating for dinner.  I made a roux with Smart Balance margarine and brown rice flour, then added some chicken broth I had in the freezer.  Tasted pretty good.  It’s true; everything is better with gravy.

I’m trying to do a little more planning since last month I waaaaay overspent on groceries trying to find what I liked out of what I could eat.  Now I have to get seriously organized in my meal plans, shopping list and food budget.

That does not sound like me.  But I’ll give it an honest try.

In the meantime, I need to learn not to let the fridge and pantry get too low on safe things to eat.  Right eating doesn’t come naturally to me yet and once I get hungry then my decision making skills deteriorate fast.  That’s the situation where I thought maybe eating pepper jack cheese would be okay if I just put it on a rice cake.  Yeah, right.

Speaking of cake, it’s about that time again.  I haven’t had a cake or dessert or a cookie in too long.  I think tomorrow I am going to try Apple Cake from Karina’s Kitchen.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

A little bit of everything

I was reading Elana’s Pantry and came across this post.  Another woman battling fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue who is seeking improvement via her diet.  It’s crazy, isn’t it?  How many of us are out here suffering, losing our hopes and dreams, and living in daily pain?  Who knows if our fibro, etc, caused our food intolerances or our food intolerances caused disease?  I have no idea.  But I’ve felt the difference in my body enough to know they are connected somehow.

It’s amazing how many people I’m reading about who are managing their fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, epstein-barr, lyme disease, ms and lupus through dietary changes.  It just blows me away.  Why aren’t more people talking about this?  Am I just listening in the wrong places?

I think about the heightened suicide rate in people with fibromyalgia.  Or the women with fibro that went to Dr. Kevorkian to die because they had no hope.  And I was getting there…I was getting to the place of “what’s the point?”  If living means pain and only being able to do the things I love about 5% of the time then how long do I really want to go on?

Well, help came in the form of someone else with fibromyalgia who told me that I had to change my diet.  It took me over a year to screw up the guts to try it.  That’s crazy, isn’t it?  I just never thought it would work for ME.

Even though I currently have shingles and have a long way to go on this road of tuning into my body, I feel better than I have in years.  It’s crazy…and wonderful, too.

Okay, a little food.  The other day I made something I’m gonna call:

Sticky Almonds

• 1 to 2 cups almonds
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• agave syrup
• sea salt
• optional spices…I used cinnamon and a little chili powder.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix the olive oil, the agave and the spices in a small mixing bowl.  Dump in the almonds and stir to coat them.  Spread them out in a single layer on parchment on a baking sheet.  This is when I sprinkled sea salt over them.  Stick them in the hot oven for about 12 minutes…but watch them because you don’t want to burn them.  Just get them warm and fragrant and utterly delicious.

Let them cool and then try not to eat them all at once.  Ha!

This morning I made myself gluten-free oatmeal with raisins, dried cranberries, a little almond milk and mashed up Sticky Almonds.

It was a little taste of heaven.  Thank you.

Let me eat cake

Still in the battle of the shingles here at the Putnam household.  That and hunkering down for this godawful flu epidemic.  I keep going back and forth on Jacob getting the vaccine…yesterday I was sure they were rushing it and today I’m sure he needs it.

So what do I do when worried?  Besides breaking out in shingles, that is.  I eat.  Yesterday, I started off with a cold pork chop for breakfast.  I needed the protein!  And I also needed some cake.  I’ve got my new gluten free oats from Bob’s Red Mill.  A oat and applesauce and cinnamon cake sounded pretty healthy to me so I started looking for the recipe online.  What did I do before the internet?

Here’s what I found; Oatmeal Applesauce Cake from someone’s gluten free oats site.  For the GF flour mix I used:

• 2/3 cup sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup arrowroot flour

That (hopefully) makes 1 and 1/3 cup.  The only other thing I changed was just dropping the white sugar and using 2/3 cup organic brown sugar as the only sweetener.  The cake baked up nicely with a lovely tan color.  It may be a little undercooked but I’ll just call that “extra moist”.

Mmmmmm….good for shingles.  Ha!

Little bitty pity party with treats

Nothing too extravagant.  Just p*ssed off because I want to feel well every day. I’m doing all this diet stuff and getting a huge benefit from it…and then I get shingles.  And it’s back to AcheyVille.  Argh….

I’m trying to feel compassion for my immune system instead of anger and rage.  There is a long story about the split I have between “me” and “my body”.  But suffice to say that I need to feel more integrated.  I am my body.  This may not be a weird concept to anyone else (though I bet I’m not the only one) but it is to me.  In my fifth decade and I’m finally getting the drift…hey, it’s all me.

So on to food.  What does one do when one feels like crap and can’t eat one’s old comfort food?  Make some new comfort food.  Today I was missing potatoes; chipped, french fried.  Something salty and warm and crunchy. Here’s what I did.  Got out the remaining mochi and sliced it lengthwise in about 3/4 inch strips.  Then I sliced each strip into little 1/16 inch pieces.  This made…uh…many little bits and they went into a small mixing bowl.  I tossed the little mochi bits with olive oil, sea salt, chili powder, and paprika.  Really you could put whatever moves you into the spice blend.  Just for funsies I also crumbled up a rice cake (the ones that are like puffed wheat smooshed into a perfect little wheel).  And last but not least, sprinkled in some sesame seeds.  The oil makes all the spices and seeds stick together.

The oven was preheated to 450 degrees F (I guess I should have said that earlier).  Spread the seasoned mochi and rice cake bits out on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Stick it in the oven for about 8 minutes.  When it’s ready it’s got a beautiful salty, crunchy, warm, this-is-better-than-popcorn-anyway, satisfying taste.

I gobbled it up. And now it’s my favorite snack.

Cheaters never prosper

Food cheaters, that is.  I didn’t so much cheat as just try something new…a challenge to the Diet Experiment.  Last night we had burritos with homemade salsa.

Tomatoes.

But man that salsa was good.  Ramsey and I made it…she was my little food processor since she can stir tomatoes with a spoon until they give up all their juice.  It was freshly made from chopped tomatoes (red and yellow), chopped green onions, chopped cilantro, olives and green chilis.  Hmmm…chilis, that’s in the nightshade family, too.  To the veggie mix we added cumin, chili powder, sea salt and a little bit of agave.

Nummy.

When I put my burrito together I used rice tortillas, refried beans (from freshly cooked pintos), a little hamburger (that was cooked in more tomato sauce), a little cheddar cheese (dairy), lettuce and salsa.

So really the tally of forbidden foods is more like this:

• Dairy from the cheese
• Tomato from salsa AND hamburger (nightshade plant)
• Green chilis in the salsa (nightshade plant)

This morning I woke up with a groan.  The pain isn’t too bad, probably a 5 out of 10, but it such a familiar and unpleasant feeling.  Body stiffness and general achey-ness.  Not worth it.

As a side note, yesterday I woke up with a rash on my forehead and my scalp is really itchy.  I tried some new “organic” shampoo…it’s probably made out of corn or something.  Did I read the label?  No.   That print is so small.  But I’m not going to use it again.

I have this morning to get my sh*t together because Jacob’s caseworker is coming over at 2:30 to go through his yearly Service Plan.  Ugh…an hour or more talking about what he can’t do.  Not my favorite.

Gotta eat clean today and get myself back on track.  I’m really beginning to think rice might need to go off the list.  Or at least be like soy and eggs where I try not to eat very much but allow little bits through because not to would be an extra level of vigilance that I’m just not ready to attempt.

It’s a learning thing.  But no cheating for today.

Two steps forward and one step back

It started at 4:00 am with the beginnings of a migraine.  And muscle spasms in my neck.  I’ve been pushing it, I know.  For dinner last night I had a stir fry with golden rice.  I think the rice might just be too much carb.  I also started eating gluten free oats which may be giving me some kind of trouble.  Though I ate it again for breakfast before I put that together.

So it’s been one of those migrainey days where I feel punched out.  Sigh…

To lift my spirits this afternoon, I tried out a recipe for Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karina’s Kitchen.  I put in walnuts and pecans along with the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. They taste great!  Totally chocolate chippy.  I ate three big cookies while they were still warm.  Nummy.

The Enjoy Life company makes foods gluten free and “free of the eight most common allergens.  They contain NO wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shelfish.”  Thank you to them!

So I’m really dragging my butt along today and will keep this short.  It was a crappy day but, as it happens so often, saved by cookies.

This takes the cake

Gluten free quinoa and coconut breakfast cake, that is.  The original recipe is from Karina’s Kitchen.  I made several changes to it so I’ll give my version here.  It was so good that I ate about 4 pieces throughout the day.

What can I say?  It’s good cake.

Quinoa and Coconut Cake

Prepare a 10 x 13 inch pan.  I oiled mine with olive oil, then cut a sheet of parchment to fit.  After laying down the parchment paper I turned it over so there was oil on both sides.  It lays in the baking pan very obediently after that.

• 1 1/2 c cooked quinoa, I used red quinoa
• 1/2 c sorghum flour
• 1/2 c arrowroot powder
• 3/4 c almond meal
• 1 t baking soda (I still have my regular old baking soda and I don’t know if it’s gluten free)
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1 t xanthan gum
• 2 t ground cinnamon

Put all of the above in a small bowl and combine them. Then, in a different bowl put:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 3/4 c organic brown sugar
• 3 to 4 T agave syrup
• 2 t vanilla extract  (Is mine gluten free?  I’m not sure yet.  I’m still a newbie so you check yours)

After you have all these things combined then add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well.  Now stir in these:

• 1/2 c unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 c seedless raisins
• 1/2 c chopped pecans
• 1/4 c flax seed, this was a scant quarter cup.

I ended up adding about 3 T hemp milk to make the batter a little more workable.  And I use the term “batter” loosely.

All this goes into a 10×13 baking pan.  I used a spatula to smooth it all out.

Karina says to let it rest while you wait for the oven to heat up to 350 degrees F.  Then I put it in the oven for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

This cake tasted great and held together well.  What didn’t get eaten right away was placed in the freezer to keep.  Today I took some out, zapped it for 30 seconds in the microwave and poured some cold canned coconut milk over the top.

It was GOOD.  And I’m not kidding!

Well, there goes that promise

Sorry I didn’t do a recipe update like I said I would yesterday.

In my defense I will say that I had several interactions with my mother…which usually results in eating a batch of cookies and/or a quart of ice cream.  Well, I don’t have these things available anymore so I had to actually cry.

What is the world coming to?

My mother is very old, very sick, and very frustrating.  She loves me and my sibs the best she can…and most of the time that just creates confusion.  Whattya going to do?  I only have one mom and she’s not going to last forever so I just am trying to walk through it a step at a time.

Okay, back to food.

Yesterday I was so hungry.  Not so much the kind of hungry you get after skipping some meals…which I didn’t.  No, it was hunger for something comforting, filling, mothering (I guess).  Quinoa and hummus would not fit the bill.  Yesterday was the day before payday and we were pretty broke so I had $10 to spend on dinner for the four of us.

Off to Albertsons.  Definitely not the health food store.  But I found some beef round steak on sale cheap and picked up five.  Then to the veggies where I got a head of cauliflower.  Not organic and it makes such a difference.  But I was in no shape to go all around town. Last but not least, I splurged on some portabella mushrooms.  Total spent?  $11.60…HA!

Beefy, mushroomy dreams began as I drove home.

So the menu looked like this:

• Beef strips and mushrooms in gravy
• Mashed potatoes
• Roasted cauliflower

Yes, I said potatoes.  I thought I would go with a food challenge that shouldn’t do me in.  The roasted cauliflower was a recipe I got from Gluten Free Goodness, an excellent food blog that I must remember to put in my links. She cooks with no gluten, dairy, soy, eggs or corn.

Anyway…I made the potatoes with vegan margarine (which is disappointingly full of soy) and hemp milk since it is a little more creamy than rice milk.  I find the hemp milk has a stronger taste but it couldn’t affect the mashed potato taste so it worked beautifully.

I’m going to try and approximate the beef recipe because it was good!

Beef Strips and Portabello Mushrooms

• 3 lbs of round steak (Yes, this is a wild guess.  Just get enough round steak for your family.)
• 1 cup sliced portabello mushrooms
• 1/2 to 1 cup brown rice flour (which is the only usable flour I had in the house)
• 1/4 scant cup seasoning mix.  I used two kinds of Mrs. Dash.  But as I say that, I’ll bet it has corn in it somewhere.  Argh!

I used my big soup pot/dutch oven type pan.  This recipe would work even better in a crock pot but I was pressed for time.  I cut the round steak into strips.

In a bowl I mixed the flour and seasoning salt together.  Here’s the place to improvise.  Got some rosemary?  Try it.  Your family loves Italian?  Throw in some Italian seasoning.  I think I also put a dash of cayenne in the mix.

A big handful at a time I put the beef strips in the flour mix to coat.  Then into the hot pan with some canola oil.  I would have preferred olive oil, though it might have been too hot for olive oil.  But we are out of it.  So canola oil it was.

I fried up the beef strips…and there were a LOT of strips.  The flour thickened the juices nicely.  When the strips were about cooked through I put in the mushrooms and soon thereafter, I put in some water (just about 1/3 cup) to extend the gravy and salt/pepper to taste.  Then let it get all warm and bubbly and thick.

Mash the taters, and serve the meat over them.  Hits the spot.

And how did I fare with the potatoes?  Not too good.  It wasn’t shocking but I started to wake up from body pain in the wee hours.  Getting up this morning I feel sore and stiff and my throat feels sting-y (yeah, I’m so technical).  But it’s also raining outside so I have to figure that in.

In the end I’d have to say that potatoes are do-able but in small amounts and not with any other marginal foods like cheese and egg.  Seems like my two lists, Can eat and Can not eat, are morphing into three.  The new one called “Can probably eat a little bit without too much problem but don’t try and push it.”  I think potato is on this list.

So there you are.  At least it’s a recipe finally.  Even though you had to wade through some mother issues to get there.

Still cookin’

Making some inroads on this god-awful cold or flu or whatever it is.  Plus I had migraine’s two mornings in a row.  Yuk.  But I think I’m coming out of it.  I hope so because I’ve got Princess Ramsey over today 🙂

I want to get a couple of meal ideas down before I forget.  The first is an idea I got from Cori C. on Facebook.  I just tweaked it and made it my own.  I call it

Almost Apple Pie for Breakfast

• 1 organic apple, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup walnuts chopped fine
• drizzle of agave syrup
• 2 Tbls vegan margarine or whatever you use for butter
• 1/4 t cinnamon

Chop up the apple and walnut and put it in a microwave safe bowl.   Drizzle agave syrup over the mix, more or less to taste.  Then some margarine/butter in little dots all around. (NB. I took a guess at the margarine measurement…just distribute enough butter so it looks good to you)

Sprinkle on the cinnamon and stick it in the microwave.  I zapped for one minute and then checked, then another minute and checked and it was good.  I suppose microwaves will vary so watch yourself :).

Then sit and enjoy yourself eating it because it’s so nummy and almost like pie but it’s gluten free, vegan, soy and corn free so you can feel great about yourself at the same time!  What’s not to love???

I’ve got to get ready for the day but I’ll be back to talk about last night’s dinner which was pretty dang good…Pork and veggie stir fry with a side of sweet and sour beets.  And I don’t really like beets.  But even Jacob ate them last night~ LOL!

Success at last!

Well, just when I was about to give up hope that anything I can bake now will taste decent I make a good banana bread.  Whew!  I used the recipe at Celiac.com called Banana Bread #4.  I made it with my great niece, Ramsey who is just a dandy little baker.

Can’t write more now because I’ve caught a cold and took care of Ramsey and ate a ton all day.  More tomorrow.

I’ll dream of warm delicious banana bread 🙂