Breakfast!

I am a breakfast person; I can’t start my day without a hearty meal.  I am not the type that can just have coffee and a piece of (GF) toast or a piece of fruit, just not my thing.  I don’t generally like sweet breakfasts; pancakes, waffles and French toast are good, but not first thing in the morning.  So, my morning meal is usually hearty and filling.  Breakfast is my biggest meal of the day, going to bed full is not something I like to do and since I have an awful commute and I like to cook fresh I end up eating only 2-3 hours before bed.  That means I can have a little bit of it but not a whole serving, I just reserve most of mine for lunch the next day. 

I just want to make sure you understand that I love breakfast!  Some people like me will eat lunch/dinner type food at breakfast, I just can’t do that.  I still need breakfast food items.  Eggs are a big one for me; I eat them in some form pretty much every day.  Before you start with the whole cholesterol speech let me first say my total cholesterol is 102, yes that’s the total, and my HDL and LDL are exactly where they should be.  I have been eating eggs nearly every day for a couple of years and my cholesterol has never changed.  No lectures please J

Today I thought I would share some breakfast ideas that I have tried and loved.  Yay, its breakfast!

Breakfast Ideas (aka, an egg-a-palooza)

Scrambled eggs with veggies (I use a lot of different combinations depending on my mood, my favorite combo is zucchini, tomato, onion and either spinach or kale) – sauté up the veggies to soften a bit then beat a couple of eggs with an egg white and put into the pan, cook until the eggs are done to your liking.

To get some variety you can change up the veggies or add in any kind of meat, bacon, sausage, ham, and chorizo.  For those that still eat dairy, play with the different cheeses; Swiss goes great with ham, zucchini and mushroom, cheddar is good with just about anything, I have even mixed a little parmesan into the eggs before cooking, this is a good combo with oven roasted tomatoes.

Breakfast Tacos – this is a variation on the scrambled eggs with veggies, you can prepare the eggs the same way, warm up some refried beans and corn tortillas, top it all off with a fresh salsa (pico de gallo) and you have one of my favorite breakfasts.

Egg Quinoa Cups – This is good to eat right out of the oven but I like it best for make-ahead and warm up later breakfast.  These freeze really well and are very easy to make. I have a lot of different flavor versions on this recipe, you can find it here.  Let me know what you do with yours, I’m always looking for different ways to change up the flavorings. 

Hashbrown Cups – you can lightly line a muffin tin with shredded hashbrowns, drop an egg into each one and top off with some veggies or cheese.  I like to cook them to be medium and serve with a piece of GF toast, yum!

Ham and Egg Cups – a variation on the hashbrown cups, this time lining the muffin tin with thin sliced ham or prosciutto, really good stuff!

Breakfast Strata – this is something I haven’t tried yet, but I saw a recipe using Udi’s GF bread that looks wonderful, you can find a good base recipe here (check out the site while you are there too!) I plan on trying it eventually, I will be cutting it in half because we would be eating it for a week if I made a big one!

Taco Pie

I love Mexican food, from the traditional to the Tex-Mex versions. I love the heat, the spices, everything about it.  I wouldn’t call it comfort food but it’s one of my go to flavor profiles when I’m cooking.  Unfortunately since I have been trying to get rid of dairy some of the flavors that I’m looking for in that type of food have changed a bit.  Though I have found with a lot of it that I’m not even missing the cheese, it’s quite a revelation.

An example of a Tex-Mex inspired recipe where I didn’t miss the cheese is what I made for dinner yesterday; a taco pie using GF cornbread as the top.  I happen to love cornbread, particularly with chili.  So I thought why not make a chili like filling and top it with cornbread…it sounded good to me!  It was really good; my husband even loved it without cheese.  Other than that I don’t have a lot to say today so I think I will just get to the recipe J

Taco Pie with Cornbread Crust

(Serves 8-10)

½ T coconut oil

1 large sweet onion, chopped medium

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. lean ground beef (I like 95/5 for this recipe)

Sea salt (I use a grinder and do about 3 grinds, you don’t need a lot

2 T chili powder

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp chipotle chili powder (I use more, but I like spicy!)

½ tsp ground coriander

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

½ T beef base (look for a GF version)

½ C water

1 pkg. Bob’s Red Mill GF Cornbread Mix (made with coconut milk and oil)

1.      Sauté onion and zucchini over medium heat for a couple of minutes then add in the garlic, sauté for another minute

2.      Add in ground beef, salt and all of the spices, brown meat breaking it up into small pieces

3.      Add can of tomatoes, beef base and water, mix well, bring to a boil then cover and simmer 10 minutes

4.      Remove lid and let simmer another 10 minutes or until thickened

5.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees

6.      While the meat mixture is simmering prepare the cornbread according to package directions

7.      Grease a 13x9 baking dish then pour in the taco meat, spreading until even

8.      Dot the top with the cornbread mix, covering most of the surface, use a spatula to spread it out as evenly as possible

9.      Bake for 25 minutes, until bubbly and cornbread is cooked through

I hope you enjoy!

Salmon with Olive and Anchovy (no, really, it's good!)

So, I thought I would mention again that the energy is getting a little better with every day.  I did need a nap yesterday afternoon though, I suppose that when I start feeling a little better I push myself a little too much.  I need to learn patience with myself.

I finally have an appointment with another specialist, I have my fingers crossed that this is one that will actually listen.  He may just be the one to do it, my doctor mentioned in passing that he had written a book about hypothyroidism.  So, being the cyber sleuth that I am I started searching for information about him with Google.  I found information on him and located his book, I have already downloaded to my Nook!  I am excited because his bio mentions that he’s not just an endocrinologist that specializes in thyroid, he also has hypothyroidism.  He understands what it’s like to feel horrible when the lab tests that some doctors rely on say you should be fine.  It appears that he’s open to taking more than just the traditional approach.  I’m looking forward to my appointment with him, September can’t come fast enough.

I know what you are saying….where are the recipes?  That’s what I come here for, let’s get back to those.  So, here I am, getting back to the recipes.  The great thing about my energy returning is that I actually feel like cooking.  It’s hard when I’m not feeling good, I can barely get myself to work.

On to the recipe for today, I found a recipe online when I was searching around looking for tasty sounding recipes that fit my new gluten, dairy and soy free criteria.  The internet is a wonderful thing for searching for recipes!  You can find the original recipe at Elana’s Pantry (I only edited it a tiny bit!).  I love her site; it’s a great source for a lot of recipes, healthy living tips and has beautiful images, I visit often.  If you want to see the original recipe and cruise the site click here (http://www.elanaspantry.com/salmon-with-olive-anchovy-tapenade/).

Salmon with Olive Anchovy and Citrus Tapenade

(adapted from Elana’s Pantry)

4 fillets Wild Salmon (approx. 4 oz. each)

Juice and zest from one lemon

Juice and zest from ½ small orange

1 T anchovies (I buy the paste in a tube, much easier)

1 T fresh rosemary, chopped finely

1 C kalamata olives, pitted and chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced (I use a grater and just grate it, it saves on chopping time)

2 T olive oil

Sea Salt

Pepper

• Rinse the salmon and put in a baking dish big enough that the pieces aren’t touching
• Sprinkle less than ½ tsp salt and pepper to taste over the fillets (remember, the olives are salty, don’t overdo it)
• In a bowl mix together the zest from the lemon and orange, anchovies, rosemary, olives, garlic and olive oil
• Spread the paste over the top of each fillet, covering the top completely
• Cover the baking dish with plastic and marinate for 2-6 hours
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Remove plastic and bake 15-20 minutes or until salmon is done to your liking

The flavors in this dish are amazing.  Do yourself a big favor and only use wild salmon, farmed salmon doesn’t have the same taste.  I served this with grilled artichoke and roasted red potatoes.  It got two thumbs up from my husband.  I hope you like it as much as we did!

Bisquick - the GF Version....love it!

Today is a better day, finally starting to feel normal again after the gluten incident last week.  I’m achy but not nearly as much as I was, that could have something to do with the ibuprofen I finally gave in to and started taking.  Last night I made myself work out, I didn’t want to, I was so tired and hurting so bad but I convinced myself I would feel better after….and I did, for a little while, I consider that progress!

It was just me and the furry four-legged children in the house last night, the husband had to work (his schedule always starts to really get full as the school year gets closer to an end).  I really wanted something comforting for dinner but I also didn’t want to make it.  That meant something from the store that wouldn’t take long to make.  Enter Bisquick gluten-free mix.  I had pancakes and bacon for dinner!  It reminded me of the dinners we used to have as kids when my Dad went out of town for work.  My Mom always made pancakes for dinner one night when he was gone, it made it special and it was fun.

Bisquick GF pancakes are pretty good, there is a bit of a difference in texture from the other normal pancakes, but I think I’m getting used to the texture of gluten free things now.  They were easy to make, I even made extras and put them in the freezer for the next time a pancake craving hits.  A couple of pancakes, some real maple syrup and a couple of strips of really good bacon (made in the oven because it’s so easy that way) made for a really good dinner that made me feel comforted.

No recipe today, I don’t have one to share.  Just a recommendation that if you haven’t already you should check out the Bisquick GF mix, it’s just as versatile as the original and it makes good pancakes.  I found some recipes using it on the Betty Crocker website today; they have a good GF recipe section (http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/health-and-diet/gluten-free).  There are also recipes that use the Betty Crocker GF cake mixes.  I’m going to be trying some of them soon.  The GF chocolate chip scones sound yummy!

Finally, I thought I would mention a book I’m reading right now that was recommended to me by someone that writes a gluten-free column.  The book is Wheat Belly by William Davis, M.D.  I’m not too far into it and I have already had a bunch of moments where I thought “aha!” to myself.  He explains how the wheat of today is so different from the wheat of even 50 years ago which may be one of the reasons why so many people are coming up gluten intolerant.  It’s interesting, I’m not going to preach about it, I recommend reading it if you are at all interested in the effect the wheat of today has on the body.  As a matter of fact, I’m only about 100 pages in and I have already talked with my husband, who has diabetes, about removing wheat from his diet as well.  It will be interesting to see if that helps him with the up/down of his sugars, despite eating better and using insulin.

Veggie/Bacon Pizza with Udi's GF Pizza Crust

I have had a couple of busy weeks!  I traveled for work the majority of the last two weeks which meant I ate out a lot and didn’t have time to post on here. 

I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again, traveling and gluten free eating can be challenging.  Last week I got some big time exposure, probably the worst I have ever had.  I’m still not positive where it came from but it hit me around mid-day on Thursday and it took until today to finally feel normal again.  That was quite the experience, one I would rather not repeat again.  Luckily I’m at home all week and able to eat my own food.  I will travel again next week though.

I didn’t get too creative with dinner last night, I got out of the office late, there was an accident on my way home and I still had to go to the grocery store (I just couldn’t do it over the weekend, I did NOT feel good!).  So I decided I would try Udi’s GF Pizza crust and make a quick dinner.  One thing you should know, I’m picky about pizza crust, it needs to have that combo of crunchy and chewy that a lot of them fail to have.  The Udi’s was really good!  I followed the package directions, baking it at 375 degrees, but I preheated my Pampered Chef pizza stone in the oven and baked the pizza on that.  The baking time took a little longer than the package indicated, but my oven is kind of off when it comes to that.  So, with all of that said…here’s what I did/topped it with:

Veggie/Bacon Pizza (with store-bought crust)

Ingredients:

1 Udi’s GF Pizza Crust (highly recommended)

1 slice bacon, crisp

¼ large sweet onion, chopped

1 C mushrooms, sliced or chopped

1 C baby spinach

2 T store bought pesto sauce (GF of course, check that label!)

2/3 C mozzarella, shredded

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to temperature indicated on package (this one was 375)

2.      Cook the bacon until crispy, remove from pan and wipe lightly leaving a bit of the fat in the pan

3.      Drop the onions and mushrooms into the pan, adding a slight bit of salt to sweat, sauté until a bit soft then add in the spinach and cook until just wilted

4.      Spread pesto sauce over pizza crust, top with the mozzarella then the veggies, crumble the bacon over the top

5.      Bake for about 7 minutes (in my oven it took 12 to get crispy), remove, slice and enjoy

Happy Tuesday!

Berry/Spinach Smoothie and Chicken Salad Made with Guacamole

First I have to mention that someone in the office brought in pizza for a lunch meeting, it’s all I can smell right now….OMG do I miss real pizza crust.  Ok, enough of that, it just had to be said.  I closed my office door but that wonderfully awful smell is finding a way to get in here!

Anyway, moving right along, I finally figured out last night that I can work out after work now that we are doing smoothies for dinner.  If I don’t have to cook I have lots of free time when I get home, yay!  I got on the treadmill, the first time in a while after being sick, etc. (you have already heard about it).  It felt SO good!  I didn’t move too fast but I cranked the incline up to 3 for 30 minutes, a little over a mile.  It’s kind of sad that I used to do two in 30 minutes, but I will get there again.  After that I did some arm work with my exercise band.  Yay, it felt great.  It really is a good stress reliever, and those endorphins always make you feel good when you are done.  I didn’t realize how much I was missing it.

I have a strange sounding combination of foods for you today.  It sounds really strange but both are good, just try them!  The first one was my smoothie creation last night.  I always try to work veggies into them because they are good for me J  Here’s my Berry-Spinach creation from last night:

Berry-Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients:

½ C nonfat plain Greek yogurt (I use Chobani)

1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 C frozen unsweetened berry mix

1 T raw agave syrup

1 T chia seeds

1.5 C fresh spinach

Directions:

1.      Put the berries in the bottom of the blender, add the yogurt, almond milk, agave syrup and top with spinach

2.      Start the blender on low, give it a chance to get into those frozen berries, then gradually increase the power until the spinach has been pulled down and blended into the mixture

3.      Turn off and taste, add sweetener if you want more (I don’t like it too sweet) and dump in the chia seeds, blend for about 30 seconds longer

4.      Pour into a large glass (and I do mean large, this makes a big smoothie), enjoy!

The second recipe is what I’m sitting here eating for lunch while I’m typing.  I came across the idea on Pinterest, I didn’t follow the recipe, I just kind of winged it based on the idea.  The recipe below is my version, and, if you love guacamole (the real, homemade kind) then you are going to love this one.  By the way, this makes a lot, for me it was two lunches.

Chicken Salad made with Guacamole

Ingredients:

1 avocado

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 T lime juice (I use a little more but I like that flavor)

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 cooked, chopped chicken breasts (about 6 oz. total) – I used a rotisserie chicken

½ C quartered grape tomatoes

2 scallions, chopped

Directions:

1.      Cut the avocado in half, dispose of the seed and scoop out into a bowl

2.      Squeeze a lime over the avocado, add the garlic powder and a little salt and pepper

3.      Mash the mixture with a fork until desired consistency (I like mine slightly lumpy) – this is the point where you should taste it for salt levels

4.      Add in the chicken, tomatoes and scallions and mix well

5.      Serve with crackers, your own baked tortilla chips or even on some GF bread

BTW, if you are eating GF and love crackers like I do make sure you try Mary’s Gone Crackers, they are GF and vegan and so darned delicious sometimes I just eat them without anything else.  They are great when I need something crunchy.  Kroger in my town carries them, actually they have several flavors.  I always reach for the original but the others are yummy too.  There is a store locator on their website, check them out if you can find them near you.

The GF Travel Experience

I was sick, then I travelled for a week…so, I have been away for a while.  Sometimes in life pauses just happen.  I had a nasty cold, it wasn’t much fun, and it took almost two weeks to get through.  I guess if you are only going to get sick once during cold season you may as well do it all and get it out of your system.

On the bright side, part of the travel was a quick trip up to see family for a couple of days.  It was great to spend some time with my parents, siblings and nieces/nephews.  I really wish that I lived closer so I could spend more time with them.  I have lived far away for over 20 years now and it never gets any easier.

I thought I would mention a couple of restaurant experiences during my travels last week, one big negative, and some really positive.  GF eating out can be quite the experience!  What’s surprising to me is where you will find knowledgeable people that can help and where you find people that just plain don’t care.  I’m going to start with the just plain don’t care because I want to end on a positive note.

On the "don’t care what you want/need" end of the spectrum you will find Rao’s Italian at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.  I will say that I don’t know if the entire restaurant’s attitude was the same as the experience that I had indicates, but it certainly made me angry and unlikely to recommend the restaurant to anyone, GF or not.  I started out by checking the website for the restaurant, it indicated that they will accommodate for those with food allergies.  That’s usually a good indicator that I should find some good options and a good attitude at the place.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case at this restaurant. 

We ended up with a waiter that had the worst attitude about everything.  When asked if they had a GF menu his response was “No” with nothing but a stare following it.  Ok, I thought, I need to ask…do you have anything on the menu you can recommend?  “No”.  Ok, is there anything on the menu that you know wouldn’t have gluten/wheat?  “Maybe a salad”.  REALLY??  Then I asked him a couple of basic questions, which apparently irritated him.  When I asked if he would be willing to ask the chef to make one little change to a dish (Veal Picatta, which can be prepared without flour) he refused and told me it simply wasn’t an option.  I moved on and ended up with a chicken dish that’s prepared on the bone.  I have a weird thing about meat served on the bone, so I asked the waiter if the chicken could be removed from the bone prior to serving…..guess what the answer was?  No.  I ordered it anyway; it was pretty much the only thing I could tell likely wouldn’t have gluten.  The waiter refused to put anything indicating a gluten allergy on the ticket.  Can you say pissed off?  When the service assistant (who clearly had better people skills than her senior partner) came to clear our plates and noted I hadn’t touched mine she asked if I liked it, I simply answered “no”.  She offered to replace it with something else; at that point I was so mad I was no longer hungry so I told her no.  At least the manager removed it from the final bill, but he never bothered to come to the table to ask about our experience.  Really bad idea people, I was the one paying the bill.

Anyway, enough of that one, there were some good experiences as well.  There was breakfast at Denny’s and IHOP with wait staff that actually understood and were helpful.  I find it amazing that I paid less than ¼ of the cost at Rao’s and received service way above them.  Lunch was at Jason’s Deli where they actually carry GF bread.  Dinner at the hotel again, this time at Mesa Grill, a place I have wanted to go to forever (I’m a big Bobby Flay fan).  The waitress was wonderful, accommodating, and knowledgeable.  I had an amazing meal, lots of flavor, great experience and all GF.  My thanks to Mesa Grill for making my last evening in Las Vegas a positive one; it was all I was hoping it would be.

Finally, I had a GREAT lunch with my Mom at a place in Portland, Oregon named Old Wives Tale.  What an amazing restaurant, a huge menu that stated exactly what was in everything (a good indicator they actually make everything themselves).  Also, they indicate what is gluten free, and there are a lot of options!  I had a great curry-cauliflower soup that I loved, salmon cakes AND a dessert (because there were several options, I couldn’t pass that up!).  It was fun, the atmosphere was so Portland, my Mom and I had a great conversation and the food was wonderful.  If you are ever in Portland be sure to stop by, you won’t be disappointed.  I know that I will be back the next time I'm in town!

No recipes today, maybe tomorrow, I have a bunch of veggies in my refrigerator just waiting for me to do something with them.  I may need to share a recipe from my sister too, easy crockpot taco soup.  I will put my twist on it, but it will still be from her!

Sleep and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Sleep has been a key for me lately, I slept 9 hours again last night, I love me some sleep!  It’s nice to wake up and feel like I can get out of bed without dreading having to get up.  Yay!  My poor husband, who is not a morning person, likely doesn’t much care for the more awake energetic me in the morning.  I think I talk more than he does, and that’s saying something!

Last night was a quick evening; I intended to do something, anything, creative.  Instead I listened to music and cooked dinner.  After I read a little bit. I’m reading The Hunger Games for my book club at work (I saw the movie but I love the book, I have a hard time putting it down!).  I got so sleepy I was in bed and asleep around 8:15.  It kills productivity at home but it sure does make me feel better.

On my commute into work today I was thinking about germs and sickness.  There are a lot of people at my office that have been sick over the last couple of months.  A good friend ended up with the flu, I drove her home from work one day because she just needed to get home (she takes the bus to avoid having to drive in our horrible commute).  I’m probably going to jinx myself, but I haven’t caught anything.  I am wondering why.  I know my immune system is tired, maybe a little less so since I have been paying more attention to what my body is telling me it needs?  I always hear people say that it makes a difference, what you eat, how much you sleep and exercise.  I’m beginning to think that’s true.  I have cut out something I know is harmful to my body, I limit sugar/sweeteners (I still have a daily square of really dark chocolate – thank goodness for individually wrapped Ghirardelli squares!), eat veggies with every meal and make sure I’m getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night.  I haven’t mixed in regular exercise yet, but now that I am feeling better again the treadmill and I have a date scheduled this weekend.  Anyway, just something to think about….though I still wonder.  I have a sister-in-law that eats perfectly and is an exercise fiend and she’s been sick at least a couple of times this season.  Hmmm….

Enough of that….it’s time for food!  I found a recipe online for something called Chocolate Chip Cookie Dip.  Here is where I admit that when making cookies more of the raw dough ends up in me than that baked cookie.  At first I was a little skeptical about the recipe; the base is chickpeas or white beans.  What?  The things I use to make hummus?  How is that even possible?  Still, the idea that I could eat something that tasted like raw cookie dough and it would be healthy for me, I’m so in!  It’s perfect for taming my sweet tooth and there is something really wonderful about being able to take a spoonful and just eat it without any guilt.  The recipe with my adjustments (I omitted the oats/flax, didn’t add any milk and cut the sugar in half) is listed below, the original recipe is on a fantastic blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie (the healthy dessert blog), you will find it here:  http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/  I haven’t tried anything else from her site but I see she has a special section of GF recipes that I plan to revisit (she has a recipe for black bean brownies that I have to try!)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dip

(adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie’s blog)

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas
• 1/4 tsp salt
• tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup nut butter (I use peanut butter)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (a couple more may have fallen in when I measured)

1.      Drain and rinse the beans really well, at this point I rolled them around inside the colander and removed as many of the skins as possible though I don’t think you have to do that

2.      Place all of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a food processor and let it go, stop when it looks well combined, scrape down the sides and let it go again

3.      This is the point where you taste and see if you need more salt or sugar

4.      Dump all of it into a sealable container and mix in the chocolate chips

5.      Refrigerate…..and try not to eat it all at once!

Adjustment and Disappointment

Just a warning, this post contains a little bit of whining on my part J

If you have read my last few posts you will note that I have been moving into the gluten-free world, not because I think it’s some great new diet that will help me lose weight, but because I have Celiac’s disease and it’s required.  I understand that some people out there think this is a way to lose weight, it isn’t, and actually, many of the replacements that are used to make baked goods are higher in calories than plain ‘ol whole wheat.

This is where I pause for a bit of a rant.  Eating out is a pain in the you know what.  I used to enjoy going out for dinner, even on WW, there were always a bunch of options for me.  Now that I have to eat GF the options are severely limited.  Even restaurants that offer a so-called GF menu offer very little on that menu.  Most of the time you will find salads and plain chicken or fish (no sauce, those always have wheat), a burger with no bun of course, I always have to ask because a good portion of restaurants put breadcrumbs in their patties.  It’s frustrating, discouraging and all of those negative things.  I have been shocked about what isn’t GF, no wonder I felt so awful all of the time, wheat is everywhere.

I had a particularly bad experience yesterday at the local Olive Garden.  My husband wanted spaghetti and meatballs that weren’t GF.  Ok, this I can do, I checked Olive Garden’s website, where they say they have a GF menu and even GF pasta (penne only).  When I get there I ask for the GF menu, it has 5 items on it, not including salad and the kids menu, two of the items are basically the same thing (pasta with marinara sauce, one is a little different because they put fresh tomatoes and garlic in the marinara sauce).  To say I was disappointed was an understatement.  Why in the world would a meat sauce contain wheat???  I make meat sauce at home all the time; there isn’t any need for wheat unless you are using it as an inexpensive filler.  When I relented and ordered one of the two pasta dishes on the menu I thought, this is ok, at least I can still eat here.  Then it arrived, it looked good at first, but it only looked good.  When I dug into my big bowl of GF pasta it wasn’t even close to fully cooked.  I couldn’t get a fork through the pasta, it wouldn’t even bend!  I was upset, my husband was mad because I was upset and I just wanted to cry.  To say that the manager was dismissive about it would be an understatement.  I’m not sure I will go out again for a long time; I’m really tired of being disappointed.

Anyway….after that I went to B&N and found some good cookbooks.  Everything I eat from now until I can convince myself that it will be ok to go out again will come from my kitchen.  I’m a better cook anyway.

On the positive side, getting back to tracking in WW is making a difference, I lost 2 pounds last week, yay!

Gluten-Free Transition and Health

My goal is to write in my blog at least every other day.  I have been bad about keeping up with it lately with good reason.  Managing stress and getting as much rest as possible have been my primary focus for the last couple of weeks.  I ended up with a sinus infection and bronchitis, and was told by my doctor that it is likely that my immune system is just plain tired right now.  So, I need to watch the stress, get lots of rest and try to stay away from germs!

The last couple of weeks have been good otherwise, I’m settling into the gluten-free thing pretty well.  I am getting good at noticing what does and doesn’t work when feeding my body.  For instance, I think I may be allergic to soy.  I’m not positive it’s an allergy, but there may be a sensitivity there.  I often have headaches after eating it, and I no longer have gluten to blame for that.  So, I’m watching the things I consume, note when I am having soy and make sure to note how I’m feeling a little later.  I had a headache after eating my chicken/veggie “fried” rice.  I’m having it for lunch today, right now I don’t have a headache, we’ll see what happens.

One good piece of news is that my body finally seems to be settling out when it comes to weight.  I have been tracking what I’m eating, entering it into my WW journal, but haven’t seen any losses, there were a couple of weeks where there were slight gains.  This past week I broke even.  I’m hoping that’s a signal that I’m finally leveling out.  Now I can get the exercise worked back in, keep on tracking, and (hopefully) see the results.

I have been doing some research on gluten-free recipes, there are a ton of resources out there, including some recipes on the WW site that look really good.  I have even discovered that there are a lot of things in the store that are GF as well.  It’s a whole new world.  I miss bread though, I’m not going to lie, whenever I smell it I am tempted.  I try to remember the pain I was in before, that usually keeps me from having anything.  I haven’t given in, and I’m getting used to the bread made with rice flour (it isn’t too bad when it’s toasted).  It’s a good thing I’m not a sandwich for lunch type of person, I usually only had toast with my eggs in the morning.

Dinners (and leftover lunches) for this week have been….Sirloin Black Bean Chili (~6 points/serving, my own recipe), Chicken and Veggie Stir Fried Rice (~7 points/serving because I opted to add in some sesame oil), Baked Pork Chops (~7 points/serving, they are covered in a great salty/sweet/sour sauce that is amazing).  When I need a side I will usually add a cooked veggie of some sort and a salad.  Sometimes I will have some potato, but not often because my husband is diabetic and they aren’t great for him.

In the next post I will share some things I have found on GF eating….happy day everyone!

Gluten-Free Here I Come

This blog is going to change just a bit due to recent life happenings.  I mentioned a couple of times that I have had trouble with health issues in the last several months and finally have some answers (after several doctor visits and finally breaking down and crying to one doctor about how awful I feel).  I already knew I had Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to attack your thyroid.  I have had that for several years and it was mostly controlled through medication.  Then, in February/March, an extremely stressful period, my health started declining rapidly.  I lost nearly 40 pounds in 2 months.  Silly me, I thought it was due to my health efforts when in reality it was due to a hyperthyroid swing.  I was taken off of my thyroid medicine by an extremely uneducated doctor.  I learned later that’s one of the worst things you can do to someone with Hashimoto’s, oops.  When I finally got back on I was still having troubles, a lot of them, and got desperate for answers.  I am getting them.

Along with the Hashimoto’s I also have Celiac’s disease, nothing that’s earth-shattering, there are a lot of people in the world with it.  The significant thing for me is that the effects from that is likely what has kept my immune system continually attacking my thyroid.  Oh, and my vitamin levels had bottomed out because of it too.  Answers, that’s all I needed.  Now I have a plan of attack.

First, supplements for everything that’s lacking…iron, vitamin d, vitamin c (to better absorb the iron), folic acid, b12, flaxseed oil (to up my HDL).  Second, I’m going gluten-free.  The gluten-free should even out my system and get rid of the aches/pains and exhaustion.  I’m really looking forward to feeling good again!

So, this is still a journey, one toward health, a little bit different path, but still moving toward that healthy direction.  The great thing I’m learning about gluten free eating is that it still focuses on fresh veggies, fruit and meats, I need to leave processed foods alone because those generally contain gluten (unless, of course, they are indicated as GF).  I like the idea of using as many fresh ingredients as I can then using the processed foods every once in a great while.

Here’s to better health.