Week 31, 2011

Happy August!!

I love August.  In Oregon, although you might get a day or two of rain, August IS our summer.  This week is going to be nice.  No Doctor appointments.  Nothing pressing for LL.  What is in the plan?

Monday, Today Bailey and I went to Salem.  LL saw an add on Craig's list from a woman who has no insurance and is in great need of ostomy products.  One pouch which cost pennies to make, cost depending on the type you need, 10 to 20 dollars a piece.  Most people need to use 3 to 4 a week plus paste, powder, rings etc.  Because I had such great insurance, it was not financially a great burden on me.  When I had my reversal, I had about 20 pouches, 2 tubes of paste, two powders, and half a box of rings.  I estimate around $500.00 dollars of supplies.  I did not want to throw them away so I kept them around and waited for someone in need.  I am so glad I did.  I met the lady in Salem and she was so thankful for supplies to get her by for the next couple months.

After meeting her there, Bailey and I went to Costco for only the basics.  Toilet paper, my Depends, etc.  Then we went to the new Trader Joe's.  I was disappointed that most of the Trader Joe brand foods have gluten in it.  Even items that did not need it.  Like frozen prawns.  I did buy soap, frozen bars, and a bottle of wine.  But find I wont make a special trip there for items.  If I happen to be driving by and stop for something, well ok, but doing a special trip to Whole Foods who are so much more gluten free friendly is worth it.

Tuesday, my friends are coming over for coffee.

Wednesday, if my digestion behaves, Kris and I are planning on taking the scooters out for a long ride in the morning.

Thursday, I am planning on getting the weekend preparations done for the weekend.

Friday, LL starts a few days of vacation.  Homer Days are starting today, so LL and I will have fun looking at art and listening to music.  Normally I like the food there, but that was before being gluten free.

Saturday, go the Homer Days parade.  Spend the day listening to music and picnicking at the park.

Sunday, Miller's Crossing is the plan.  We will hopefully, (weather), camp from Sunday to Tuesday or Wednesday.  Looking forward to more than one or two days at Miller's Crossing:)

Early Morning Rising

Well hello there.  4:00 AM here and you know what that usually means......Bad night:(  I need to get my detective hat on and start itemizing all my food again.  I might of been glutened.  What I ate for dinner had no gluten.  But what was different is that Bailey made dinner for her dad and Rett last night.  Pasta alfredo with garlic bread.  Looked and smelled great and no I did not eat any.  But I made my dinner afterwards while there was crumbs and glutened food all around.  But I was careful.

So the other choice is that something I ate yesterday, I am allergic to.  I have two suspected foods, so I am going to have to journal my foods for a while and test things out.

So here I am a bit worried.  Dr. L's office called a couple days ago and moved up my appointment.  Which means I go to Portland tomorrow for my exam.  This isn't fun under the best of circumstances.  But because of my bad week or so, I have open sores.  So the enema prep and the scope exam will bring more than a little discomfort.:( 

So I have had little sleep but after tossing and turning a couple hours, I decided I might as well get up, write a post and watch a bit of news.

Something you might notice in the next few days, I am starting to revamp my blog a bit.  Take some things off, add some other things.  Not getting rid of any posts, just changing it up a little. 

Bento-Tiffin

I was able to bring David home from the hospital late afternoon yesterday.  He is doing great!  I am going to mosey on over there in a little while, but want to make sure Max is up and moving before his staff gets here.

Now on to my love of Bentos.  This weekend, while shopping for some clothes, I bought a couple "Tiffins".  I needed to look up why they are called that.  Tiffins are a version of bentos from India.  Well actually, they originated from British Indian culture.  It is not exactly like bentos from the Japanese culture, but when it comes to the containers......they are very similar.  But for continuity, I will call my tiffins, bentos from this point on.

This first bento is from World Market.  I love it.  It is sturdy, easily cleaned and small.

If I find I use it a lot, I might go back and buy another set so that I can put in all my leftovers for lunches when not at home.  I find I leave my mom's house and other places earlier than I would like because I am hungry and need to go home to eat.  Maybe having more available, just to grab as I am leaving home would be a good thing.

It is small but when I put leftover main and side dish in both levels, like I did in the picture below, it really is enough for two meals.  But I am thinking, when I go to Moms or other places that I know I will need a meal, I will fill one level up with a nice green salad, and it will be perfect.

This other bento is like the one I bought last year.  Last years version had the same size containers but with four levels.  Which is perfect if you are going somewhere for several meals and snacks.  Or are serving many people, but I have found it far too big to put in my simple meals.

I bought this one because it is cute:) and slightly smaller, with just three levels.  It is at Target, in their seasonal section.  I will be using this for when I go to family picnics and going to be hours away and wanting a meal, salad and maybe a few snacks or chips.  It really is a pain to have to think this much about keeping my food clean and gluten free.  But if I have to be this strict, I might as well have something fun to pack my food in:)

Week 24, 2011

We had a good weekend.  Saturday, we went around our place, inside and out, collected things for a load to the dump.  LL and Kane took it.  I stayed home and cleaned the garage a bit, made GF brownies and trimmed and debudded some rhodies. 

Sunday, Bailey and I ran to Salem to buy some clothes since I have put on too much weight for a lot of my wardrobe:(  I found a dress and a couple tops at Target and Ross.  I have been resisting spending money frivolously lately, but I couldn't resist buying a bento (tiffin) at target and then a small tiffin at World Market.  Photos of my prized tiffins will follow sometime this week.  Max had another stomach issue.  Don't know if it is another bug.  But I am thinking I need to look into gluten issues.  Gluten intolerance is very common with people with Autism and can be genetic.  So, he may be a lot like me:(

Then we went to our friends Michele and Chuck's home for a graduation party for their son Devin.  I have known Devin since he was four.  He was the sweetest boy and has grown up to be a fine young man that his parents are proud of.  I am too.


Chuck, Devin and Michele

 So for the rest of the week, well, I am going to be flexible and be available for my brother David who is having surgery.  But this is what I know for sure.

Monday-Going to Silverton Hospital which is just around the block from my house, to be there before David goes into surgery.  I will probably go back and forth to Max and the hospital through out the day.

Tuesday-IF and I do mean IF the doctors release David, I will take him home and spend the day with him.

Wednesday-If David still needs help, I will be at his house.

Thursday-I will get things ready to go to Campsite if the weekend looks good.  Need to cook GF food ahead of time

Friday-If the weather looks good, I will finish packing and go to the campsite. (I hope, I hope).

Mine Field with Wrong Map

I am finding that being new to living Gluten Free is like walking through a mine field.  First the field needs to be cleared.  I have a separate cupboard that contains the bulk of my GF foods.  I try to keep my kitchen crumb free.  I use pans that are residue free and usually will give the clean pan a quick wash before using, just to make sure.  But sometimes questionable foods come into the house.  And that is when a good Map is needed.  Lately, when something prepackaged comes in, if I don't see an ingredient with gluten, I will still get on the computer and research the product.  Because some products that should be gluten free are not, they may be manufactured in a plant that has products with gluten. i.e. most oatmeal.  Also, I have been getting into the habit when dining out, talking to the cook, just to make sure what I am ordering is GF.

So a person would think I would be doing great living Gluten Free.  Well..........Not so much:(  I have been glutened twice this week.  The first time is my own darn fault.  Last weekend, LL and I stopped at Marion Forks for breakfast.  My breakfast was gluten free, but some restaurants, because of the type of food and prep. just are not able to serve a safe meal.  Because of grills, mixes, and small kitchens, I find it is unrealistic to expect even with their best effort, a GF meal.  I need to resist going to many yummy restaurants for this reason.

Last night, I was just starting to feel recovered from the weekend glutened episode.  I made a fast, safe dinner for myself.  Later, I wanted something sweet.  Bailey had bought frozen fruit bars made mostly of fruit.  Looked on the ingredients.  Nothing had gluten in it.  But it did not say gluten free.  I got on the web site and looked up the bars.  It showed that underneath the ingredients on the box, the words "Gluten Free".  So I just assumed I missed seeing it on our box and didn't recheck.  I ate a raspberry bar.  Oh my gosh.  About 45 minutes later, I knew I had been glutened.  A very bad episode that lasted till after 2:00 this morning.  I finally ended up taking a pain pill, sat upright in bed and eventually fell asleep. 

So here I am this morning feeling like sludge.  I woke up an hour later than usual, but am still in my pj's trying to get myself moving.  I did recheck the box in the freezer.  No where on our box does it say Gluten Free.  When am I going to learn.

So today, if I feel up to it, I am going to the store to buy some food to make meals and snacks that actually say Gluten Free on the package.  Anything less strict is just too risky of me.  Unfortunately, it will take days to get things back on track for my body.

Mixed Bag

Well, so far today has gone up and down.  Got up and after LL went to work, and while getting ready for my meeting, Max comes in saying he feels really sick.  So after making sure Bailey would be around a while this morning.  I leave Max and go to the meeting.

The meeting for Kathy had good results.  The team is right on track to getting Kathy's plan in place by the new funding deadline.  That is if things go perfectly.  But right now I am choosing to be optimistic.  Another meeting is planned for July 1st.  After the meeting, I went and picked up a prescription for LL, ran into Fred Meyers just long enough to get gluten free soy sauce that is not available in my home town, and away back home I went.

Got home just as O.  Max's staff arrived.  Darn it, she was early for once and was hoping if Max was still feeling really bad, I could call to cancel her working today.  So I go in and find, yes indeed he really has some stomach bug and I don't want O. to get it, so I send her home.  Bring Max to my house so I can keep a better eye on him.  I feel so bad for him.  When he gets sick...........He really gets sick:(

Week 23, 2011

LL and I had such a fun relaxing weekend with Steve and Kris.  We went for a long walk along the river, we visited at the pool and enjoyed the hot tub.  We had a lovely dinner and listened to good music.  And then took our time coming home.  Stopping often to let me enjoy the views and snap some pictures.  By the time I got home, I knew I was glutenized.  Note sure if it was the bite of crouton that went in my mouth the night before or a gluten free breakfast that had cross contamination.  But by early afternoon, by the time I got home, the rest of the day I had accidents and pain.  Not pretty.  But I feel so much better this morning.

Today, Monday-I have already got my walk in, been to the store for dog food, cleaned the kitchen and made a yummy dinner in the crock pot for dinner.  I need to do a few things outside but am working inside the house for the most part today.

Tuesday-I have a meeting for my sister Kathy first thing in the morning.  Then I will run some errands for LL and I.  Just going to make sure I don't eat breakfast and wait till I get home for lunch.

Wednesday-???

Thursday-Again no breakfast because I have an appointment with my Oncologist mid morning.  I am always nervous going to either of my cancer doctors, and I have to see both of them this month.  Still if everything is OK, it will be a big milestone in the remission timeline:)

Friday-???

Midweek and Can Post

Our internet connection has been very sketchy the last couple days.  If I am lucky to get a connection, uploading pictures take forever.  But I have been lucky to get on today and hope LL has time to research and we can get a new wi-fi. 

A belated happy birthday to my sis, Karen, who's birthday was on the 22nd and my brother Doug who's birthday was yesterday. 

I spent the day yesterday cooking a turkey, freezing the meat and boiling the carcass for stock.  Trying to keep foods as clean as possible so I am no longer adding bullion cubes to flavor stock, but simmering the stock with added vegetables for hours to concentrate the flavors.  Also finding gluten in the most peculiar places.  A lot of turkeys are injected with stuff that include gluten.  So I bought a turkey that was fresh, with no msg and gluten free.  As usual, I over cooked it.  I don't make turkey often enough to get good at it, but that is about to change because eating lunch meat, even deli meat, does not work with my digestion.  So cooking a 11 or 12 pound bird every few weeks will be my plan.

Bad news for me.  Watching the weather predictions, I have been getting excited and prepared for a beautiful weekend at our camping spot.  Which I am naming MILLERS CROSSing.  Because our spot is on cross road.  But LL came home last night and said there is a good likely hood he will have to work on Saturday.  Grrrrrr.  I said "well that's too bad, Bye Bye!  I am still going"  But because of some work that has to be done on Marlin, me going without LL is not going to happen.   But boy, oh boy, when we get those couple things fixed and I learn how to turn on all the gas, well then Bye bye, will really mean Bye Bye!

I took Max to the doctor yesterday to look at a lump on his wrist.  It ended up needing to be drained.  Max handled having two long needles put in him very well.  He also found out he had lost weight since the last time he was in to see the doctor.  This made him happy, as he has been trying to eat less and exercise more.  Today, O. his staff, will be taking him to the salon so Aunt Karen can give him a mohawk.  He is so excited.  Me.......Not so much.  But it is not a tattoo or piercing so I am letting it go.

Real "Issues", Real Food

Last month, I did the Real Food Challenge.  Doing this, along with an Elimination diet, I have made huge progress on figuring out how to eat so that my digestion allows me to have some sort of life.  Let me update you a bit on this.

I have blogged in detail about not having a rectum, what use the rectum serves for people, how my body works with out a rectum, the problems, challenges, etc.  I have been trying to find a way to eat and live so that I do not have to put back in an ostomy.  People live very well with ostomies.  If I had to, I would have one again.  But I had some pretty serious issues that are unique to me with the ostomies.  Because of the cancer, surgeries and radiation, my intestines that I have left do not work normally.  So with the ostomies, (I have had both kinds,) I was easily dehydrated, easily had blockages, and because I have very sensitive skin, I would regularly have painful wounds.  So, figuring out my food issues is extremely important to me.  But even if I eat perfectly, I will always have "issues" because of the lack of rectum.

But I am getting to a point where I think there is a good possibility that I will avoid getting an ostomy.  Yes!  This is what I have figured out so far.  I am very gluten intolerant, also have allergies to nuts (maybe some are OK, but have not figured it out yet), can eat fish, but only a little chicken and beef.  I can eat eggs, dairy (small amount), almost all fruits and vegetables.  Grains without gluten. 

What surprises me, is how sensitive my system is to processed food.  Foods with preservatives, hormones, dyes, etc.  Through research, I have a theory on this.  It takes a lot to digest these ingredients.  Lots of time, lots of healthy intestinal tissue.  I have neither.  Because some of my small intestines have been removed, the remaining is radiation damaged, a good part of my large intestines are gone, no rectum, my intestinal tract is much shorter and food goes through me much faster than the average person.  And what digestive tract I have left is so sensitive that it can not handle any junk, and very little hard to digest meat.  So if I have processed foods or too much meat, my body rebels. 

This means I need to eat clean, pure foods as much as possible.  So I have been developing a little routine to help keep clean foods available.  Once a week, I buy a package with two boneless, skinless, hormone free, free ranged, fresh chicken breast.  Because LL and I eat so little meat.  These two chicken breasts are plenty for us all week.  I use the meat as an ingredient, not as an entree.  I poach them in water and what ever old vegetables I need to use.

 

This gives me two breast for meat and also a couple cups of clean broth to use in my stir-frys and other dishes.

When cooking rice and roasting vegetables for a meal, I make enough extra for my lunches for the week.

Above is roasted vegetables and rice.  Rice?  Yes, organic black rice.

Very flavorful, and packed with nutrients and anti-oxidents.

Try it sometime.

When baking a potato for dinner, I bake a couple extra to make hashbrowns for breakfast.

When making fish for dinner, I will make one extra for my lunch the next day.

I eat on a small 6 inch plate now to keep my portions small.

If I eat too much food at once, this also triggers "issues".

I will make deviled eggs for a quick snack of protein.

And I am learning to have just a small piece of fruit to quelch my sweet craving.  (this is not quite working yet, but my taste buds are changing).

I must admit, I still get in the mood for something fast and junky.  I just don't have that luxury to give in to that craving.  I would pay for days.

Camping Spot

My, I have a lot of friends and family happy for LL and I.  Many of you have e-mailed or face booked me about our new camping spots.  Lots of congrats, and a few questions. 

Our camping spot is in a private park.  It is our spot every year, as long as we obey the rules and pay the yearly fees.  We can pick out a different spot next year if we want, or get on a long list to get a spot on the river, or a full hook-up spot.  These lists have a 8 to 10 year wait.  Frankly, if we are not on the river, I don't think we will likely want to move for a long time.  Our spot will take a bit of work to get into shape and once we do get it into shape, well, who wants to give it up after that?  Also, the location of it is really good.  Although Marlin has a bathroom and water, our spot is close to bathrooms and water.  Also, with no one behind or in front of us, it gives us more room and privacy.  Max will be able to be...........Max.  

We do not have a view of the river, but there is a view point near by where you can take lawn chairs.  I really don't know this for a fact, but the map did say this.  The river is a short walking distance and if we have a guest who can't make the walk, there are places to park your car by the river.

But back to our camping spot.  The cool part about this being a private park is that with in reason, you can do what ever you want with your spot.  Build a deck, a storage shed, make tent sites, put up natural material fence, gravel drive, RV spot etc.  LL and I are planning on clearing off a drive way and RV spot which will be graveled.  Put some paver stones for a kind of "deck".  LL is going to build a new picnic table, but there is an old sturdy one there that when it drys out I will sand and paint.  We don't like where the fire pit is and the type, so we will put a new one in a different location.    We will put some sort of storage up, but we do not want to spend lots of money right now so we will watch Craig's list or LL will build something but we will not be in any hurry.  Basically, we will groom and improve the drive, RV parking, and a middle "living" area for eating and fire pit, clear out a couple spots for tents, but we really want to keep the perimeter as natural as possible. 

Now, moving on.  I really had a rough evening and night last night.  I am sure I did not eat gluten.  But, retracing all my eating, there can only be one culprit.  Jelly Belly Beans.  I have been eating clean foods for quite a while.  No processed foods, mainly one ingredient foods, like rice, potatoes, vegetables stir fried or roasted, raw fruits, and fish with occasional chicken and beef in small amounts, and Very rarely.  My body seems to be doing well eating like this.  But this requires much planning and preparing.  Sometimes a person just wants something to snack on.  Well a couple days ago, I was looking at the Easter candy at the store and noticed Jelly Belly brand of jelly beans are gluten free, so I bought some.  I really did not think it through.  I ate them.  Boy Oh Boy,..........Bad "issues".  What was I thinking.  Tons of ingredients and many, many dyes.  It is official.  I am now a fish loving, grass eating, organic eating, fresh natural food eater for the rest of my life.  I really don't think I can go back and eat any other way.  That means very few restaurants, no fast foods, absolutely no processed foods.  No gluten, no nuts, no dyes, no preservatives, no hormones, etc.  The difference of days and days of relief, (still have "issues" but tolerable issues), versus pain, accidents, embarrassment, and loss of freedom.  Well there really is no choice. 

Canary in the Cave

I use to be so together.  Organize was my middle name.  Being a mom of someone with Autism, it is not an option to have things disorganized.  If you want to give your child any sort of chance, you need to keep things orderly so they can make sense of life.  This means household uncluttered, things in it's place.  This means things labeled well.  This means routines kept, and schedules made and used. 

Since being sick two years ago, my mind just does not work like it did.  I, myself am disorganized and I can't seem to get back my mojo.  I have designed systems to help, but if you forget to use them, what good is it.  I have taken to carrying a calendar with me, but if you forget to check it or lose track of it, well, again, what good is it.

But I now know my scattered brain is out of hand and I need to get serious.  How do I know this?  Well the canary is telling me so.  Max is very sensitive to chaos and he is having a lot of difficulty with his days lately.  His staff do a good job helping him go about his day, but autism is tricky and making sense out of chaos for a person with autism is not as simple as it is for everyone else.  I know this because for years, this is what I did for a living.  I helped families and schools understand people with Autism and help the child make sense of their environment by creating systems that were predictable.  I know how to do this.  So can you imagine my sadness when my son tells me he is frustrated because he is confused and he needs my help.  I am in tears right now just writing this. 

So I need to prioritize and make sure Max's schedule and needs are set up for the day before I even think of going anywhere or doing anything.  I also need to do a better job with my own scattered brain.  But that may take a miracle.

For today, after I get Max squared away, I am going to make the trip north to Whole Foods.  Really hate making a special trip, but the list is getting long of gluten free and organic foods that I can't get at my local grocer.  Things like pasta, gluten free oats, etc.

Delight Gluten Free

I have good friends who have been very patient with me.  Because of my "issues" and being homebound, I have not had much of a social life with friends.  It is much easier to have an embarrassing accident and "issues" in front of family rather than friends.  But I have friends who occasionally I have lunch with.  One of my best friends is Pam.  She is a special educational teacher who happens to be the mother of Bailey's best friend.  Actually, we use to go to the same church, our kids were in the same preschool and we just have loved each other and been the biggest supporter of each other when we are hurting.  Pam, more than any of my friends, when I was at my sickest over the last two years, called, asked "is she able to come to the phone" (best thing to ask when wanting to talk to someone going through chemo and radiation) and accepted when I couldn't, kept calling and came over on my good days.  I love her dearly. 

Pam and I have not visited for many months.  She had this spring break week off and wanted to do lunch.  Well if you have read my blog, you know my luck in restaurants are not so good.  But when in Salem the other day, I bought a magazine for people that need a gluten free diet.  It is called Delight Gluten Free.  I love it.  I then looked up past issues and found a good article on how to eat out in restaurants. 

Basically choosing the restaurant is the most important thing.  When lunching with friends, we usually choose a ethnic (Mexican or Asian) or a bar and grill.  It was recommended to choose a restaurant with a "real" chef who has a lot of fresh food at their disposal, that you can ask a lot of questions and order specifically to your needs.  If they are well trained, they already understand gluten free and the issue of contamination.  So when Pam called me and told me to pick a place....  My brain when to The Glockenspiel in Mt. Angel.  It is right around the corner from my mom's house, so if I had problems, I had an exit plan.  Here is their web site.
http://www.glockenspielrestaurant.net/

When I got there, I first looked at the menu to choose something I thought maybe safe.  Then when the waitress came, I told her of my issues, asked what the fish dish was, and asked her to find out from the chef how it was prepared.  She came back with the info.  He said he could prepare the fish lunch special without the sauce and breading, give me extra veggies to replace the side dishes which had gluten, and they could fresh make the salad without the house dressing and croutons.  It was ordinary for him.  That was what the magazine said.  You may have to go somewhere a little more expensive, but if you have a good chef with fresh prepared food, they can make a very safe meal for you.

It has been almost 4 hours since I ate.  No "issues"  So I am thinking I have Delight Gluten Free magazine to thank for giving me the right questions to ask and guidance.  Yes!!  Really love occasionally going out with friend for lunch.

Real Food, Making Ahead

Instead of working outside yesterday,(rained off and on), I decided I to do a cooking marathon to get some gluten free meals in the freezer.  When I am cooking something for myself that LL will eat, things go great.  But I am having a harder time keeping my food from getting contaminated when cooking a gluten free and gluten meal at the same time.  Using the wrong spoon to stir can cause contamination.  So I wanted several meals in the freezer when I am making something with bread, regular pasta, etc. for the rest of the family.

I found a pasta which has only one ingredient.  Brown rice.  And it tastes good.  Now I just have to remember which store I bought it.  Was it Whole Foods, Roths, or Lifesource.  When I find it again, I will buy many packages.

I made a Mac and Cheese that the only thickening is eggs, rather then flour.  We had this for dinner last night and I froze two large dinner portions for me to eat later.

After I got back from Kathy's meeting, I continued with my cooking.  I wanted to use up most of my vegetables before they go bad.  So I browned two free range, hormone free, fresh chicken breasts, diced.  Then put  in some of the chicken in a soup that had potatoes, sweet potato, carrots, celery, onion and mushrooms.  Sent a large serving for LL's lunch and froze two large portions for my meal.  At the same time, I used the rest of my veggies and made a stir-fry and put the rest of the chicken. Made some rice.  So now I have 6 meals of real food without gluten in my freezer.

I hope to make a habit of making an extra portion of gluten free meals to put in freezer so I always have something on hand.

Rough

Rough.  After my doctor's appointment, I had a light dinner on Tuesday and went outside to work a bit, I was feeling pretty good.  But by bedtime, things went bad and I was up most the night with "issues".  Luckily, Kris ended up taking Mom to her eye appointment Wednesday morning.  I was thinking the soup I ate was safe so it must of been a fall out from the doctor's exam.  So silly me, I ate left over soup for lunch yesterday.  About an hour later, my day was done and had problems until I fell asleep around 8:00 last night.  Need to figure out what ingredient in the soup is not good for me.  These bouts exhaust me.  I slept for 10 hrs, which is very rare for me.

I am feeling better now, but I will not eat anything until after Kathy's meeting, which is in Salem at 1:00.  While in bed yesterday afternoon, I had a long phone talk with Kathy's lawyer.  The system is set up so that we have very few options.  The department that the Attorney is trying to get the court hearing to fight, is the same department you have to go through to OK the hearing.  Does that sound fair to you?  Although the lawyer has several ideas and will try them, she also said the one size fits all cuts that are being implemented does not take into account very complex people like Kathy, so no one in the whole State has been successful yet in challenging the process.  I asked what do we do when Kathy deteriorates, or gets hurt (or someone else).  She said that's when we will have a better case.  Well that is not very comforting, is it?

I am not expecting too much to come out of today's meeting.  This meeting is for everyone to update each other where we are at.  Monday is another meeting and I expect more definite decisions will then need to be made.

If it stops raining soon, I will be heading outside to work for a couple hours to clear my head.  I think that is my form of meditation.  Then, since I wont be eating lunch, I will come in just in time to bathe and get to the meeting.  Kris needs to work today but will be at Monday's meeting.  I think Karen is taking a couple of hours off of work to go to today's meeting with me.  Have a great day.

Real Food Challenge-Roasted Vegetable Napoleon

I have been very challenged trying to eat Real Food for the Challenge, while eating no gluten, and doing an elimination diet to figure out my food problems.  And I have done my fair share of complaining.  But I really shouldn't.  Because I can eat two very versatile foods that I happen to love.  Eggs, which I mostly get from my 3 ladies, and cheese, which is up there as one of my favorites.  So I made a Triple Cheese omelet.  Two of my girls dark golden yolked eggs, scrambled, in the middle, a little mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and topped with a touch of Parmesan.

For dinner, I have had a hankering for a steak.  Well, it is way too soon to try that food out.  But last night I was watching a cooking show called Naturally Delicious on the Veria channel.  They had a dish called Roasted Vegetable Napoleon.  I did not follow their recipe because frankly, there was a couple of unusual ingredients like pomegranate molasses.  They say to get it at a Middle eastern Indian store.  None of those in Silverton.  They also had a couple ingredients with wheat in it.  No go for this no gluten girl.  So I did not follow their recipe but used their method.  Because it has portabella mushroom in it, I knew it might help with my steak craving.  So this is what I did.

You slice up a couple red onions and slow cook them in a skillet with a little evoo, pepper, and a touch of agave nectar.  I did use the agave nectar but am thinking next time I will omit it because the onions are sweet enough on their own.  Cook them slow until they become sweet and jam like.  In fact they call this Onion Marmalade.

While those are cooking down, slice egg plant in large circles and take stems off mushrooms.  Brush a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, garlic, a touch of rosemary and thyme on the egg plant and mushrooms and roast them at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.

  Grate a little mozzarella cheese. Slice a large tomato in circles.  Then assemble the Napoleons in this order.  Egg plant, onion marm., tomato, cheese, mushroom, onion marm., egg plant, onion marm., tomato, cheese, and top it off with mushroom.  Put back in oven for about 20 minutes.  While roasting, simmer about 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar down to about half so it is a thick syrup.  Add 1/4 cup red wine, whisk and simmer for 5 minutes.  Put napoleon on plate and drizzle balsamic sauce.

I would give this recipe a grade B.  It would be an A if I was grading on taste, but it was a bit labor intensive which is fine for a treat but not a go to recipe.

Bread of Life

No one has ever told me life was fair.  And with the goings on in the world, I should not complain.  But it is hard enough to fill your cupboards with the rising cost of food.  Add to it, trying to fill your cupboards with staples that is gluten free...........outrageous! 

I am a starch girl.  I love bread, pasta, and so on.  (No wonder I have developed gluten intolerance)  And I am CRAVING a piece of toast with homemade jam.  So I knew I would have to do this.  Thought I should wait till I go to Whole Foods after my doctor appointment next week.  But LL wants to go to the doctor with me and will have to get back to work, so I couldn't wait any longer.  After taking the advice of Kayli from Sitka, I looked up recipes that are gluten free.  Found some good ones that have some ingredients in common.  So I made a list.  Went to my local grocery store that has a good selection of health foods, but almost none in bulk like I could have bought at Whole Foods.  And here is what I got.

Does this look like $70.00's worth of food?  Yikes!  (I hope LL doesn't read this post)  The amount of certain flours are small prepackaged but at least I can now try to make my own bread, figure out what works, and then go to Whole Foods and stock up. 

Now I need to take out our spare toaster and my bread machine and take a tooth brush to both and get all gluten residue off.  I don't think we will be RVing (*trying not to cry*)  this weekend, so tomorrow, I will attempt to make a loaf of gluten free bread.  Oh don't worry.  I will blog and show a picture, even if it is a horrible failure.

Top Of The Morning

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I am back from my short casino trip.  I had fun but did not have the luck of the Irish on this trip.  I had a few good hours health wise, but alas, things went south.  I thought I was careful, but I must of had something unknowingly with gluten, and/or am allergic to shell fish.  Very bad time before I left the casino, and a bad time the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I was doing so good before, that I could almost forget how miserable and painful things are when it gets bad.

I think it is just too soon for me to eat something I have not prepared myself.  And I have to say, I am missing my annual corned beef and cabbage dish I make this time of year.  It really is delicious.  So I am posting the link to last year's recipe in case someone has never made corned beef before.  Corned beef is on sale everywhere this week so now is a good time to try it.

St. Patty's Cooking

Did not sleep well last night because of "issues".  So I am moving slow.  I was hoping to do some yard work today, but it is raining pretty hard here.  Only thing I have to do today is go to the store to restock my supply of fruits and vegetables.  I have been watching a lot of cable news to get updates on Japan.  Really does make my life seem trivial and mundane, but will hold that nation up in prayer every chance I get.  I hope everyone has a good St. Patty's day and maybe down a pint of Guinness if you are so inclined.

Real Food Challenge, Bumps here and there

I think basically, I have been doing well on the Real Food Challenge.  The most challenging part of it is coordinating it with my new involuntary challenge, No Gluten!  I can make most things from scratch, but I don't know the first thing about making things from scratch while avoiding gluten.  Last night I did eat something totally not in my real food challenge perimeters.  My mom went out of her way and bought a boxed gluten free brownie mix and made it.  So after she was nice enough to go to so much trouble, who am I not to try it?  And it was Good.  Thanks Mom.

This weekend, I did make a dish I use to make years ago but had forgotten about it.  The original recipe is from the Prism Cookbook.  But I usually only use recipes as ideas, so my dish is quite different.

It is a Rice crust pizza. The crust is made with cooked rice, cheese and egg.

I then used my home canned spaghetti sauce, sauteed onions and mushrooms and a little more cheese.  That is about it and it was good.  I am still craving real pizza, but a girl can't have everything.  Especially a no gluten girl:)

We Belong Together

Been on the move already this morning.  My niece Kara's car needed to be worked on, well her windshield did.  So I went to Kris's house this morning and we had breakfast together.  She made oatmeal with rolled oats, milk and lemon zest soaked all night.  It was so good.  We took Kara's car in and now I am back home. 

I am scrapping my plans to concentrate on my bathrooms this week because I and my doctor have determined I am gluten intolerant.  Very intolerant.  I made a wonderful gluten free dinner last night.

Salmon, baked mashed sweet potato, and salad.  But I did not make sure my counter tops were free of crumbs, and I used butter that I know Bailey used to better her bagel.  It only takes a crumb of gluten to give a reaction, and since I know my dinner was safe but used the butter and counter top, I had a slight reaction.  Burning eyes, and throat swelling.  Not enough to affect my "digestion", Thank God!

So I am going to start working on my kitchen today.  This will take several days because I need to get residue off my pots and pans.  I could just buy a couple pans that I solely cook gluten free food in, and maybe will eventually do this.  But after depleting our savings for scooter and wanting to travel soon, I do not want to invest right now, for the expensive pans I like to use.

In a while I am making rice to take to Kris's.  She is roasting vegetables and we will have lunch together.  After that, we need to pick Kara's car back up.  Kris returns to work tomorrow.  Must admit, I have enjoyed her time off.  We didn't spend all our time together, but when my "digestion" was behaving, we did a lot of little things together.  I want Kris to win the lottery so she can retire and keep me company.  Yes, I am that self involved:)