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:)

Spareribs Sauce

Have you ever had a taste memory.  You know what I am talking about.  A taste that brings you back to a time in your childhood.

When I was a kid, my mom and dad would take us, very rarely, to a Chinese restaurant in Woodburn that has been long since out of business.  I would order a Shirley Temple and have sweet and sour spareribs.  The sauce was different then what they would use on their pork or chicken.  It was so good.  LL also grew up occasionally eating these ribs and love them too.

Well for a while now, I have been trying to duplicate the sauce.  I think I have finally come close.  I did not put it on spareribs but put it on country pork ribs and LL is still thinking I am terrific!!  And it was so simple.  Here is what I did.

I slow cooked the country pork ribs in the slow cooker.  About a half hour before it was done.  I drained the juice and grease and then added this sauce.

1/4 C Brown sugar
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/8 to 1/4 cup Ketchup
1 or 2 cloves garlic grated.
1 teaspoon corn starch

Actually, because Kane was over for dinner, I doubled it. 

Pour over the ribs.  Let it finish cooking.  and enjoy.

This sauce has more of a bite then traditional sweet and sour and that's what we loved about it as kids.

Now I am just missing the Shirley Temple.

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.

A Proper Royal Day

OK, I will admit, although I try not to get sucked into the pop culture, media saturated stories.  I still watched a bit of the wedding and will admit, Catherine was beautiful and Will's Mom would be proud.  And keeping with the British love.  And after watching the "proper" kiss by the lovely couple.  I will do a review of a British show.  (I will be using "proper"  a lot in this post, because the British say it a lot.)

I have talked about my love of Masterpiece Theater.  I love the BBC's productions of the classics.  I watch every week on of my favorite shows, Lark rise to Candleford.  I have blogged about these all.  But then there is British food.

I have had Spanish food from Spain.  Yummo!  But the closest I have gotten to a proper English meal is when I was in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  Some of the best food ever.  But most was not English.  We had Tapas, Muscles in Thai sauce, Greek sandwiches.  But we also went to the most authentic English pub we could find and had Shepard's pie, beef roast with Yorkshire pudding.  Oh my, it was delicious. It was a proper English meal, I thought.  I waited till I went to Spain for Kris and I to have a proper pint of Guinness.

But when watching some English cooks on t.v., well things do not look appetising.  I have been watching on the Cooking channel, Two Fat Ladies Click on the name if you want to check them out........properly:) Oh they are cute and funny, and I am sure their food is delicious, but the production of their show is anything but appetising.  Clarissa's hair is always hanging down and looking like it needs a good wash, and Jennifer has hands beautifully polished but I wish she would use a spoon or spatula instead of her hands once in a while, and most of the time I can not understand what she is saying.  They cook a lot with organs, which I do not do unless it is fresh liver after my uncle butchers a cow, and when they make kidneys or liver, it never looks like something you would like to eat.  But still I watch like a train wreck.  Jennifer past away right after most of these shows, so I shouldn't make fun.  But I do so in an endearing way.

 

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.

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:)

Mise En Place

What does Mise en place mean?  Well if you were a restaurateur or chef, you would know.  If you were a foodie, you would know.  I am none of these things, but I do love food, like cooking, and when I was sick with chemo, I did nothing but watch the Food Network, and they talk a lot about getting your mise en place ready.  So what does mise en place mean.  Well I will let Wikepedia tell you........

Mise en place (pronounced [miz ɑ̃ plas], literally "putting in place") is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects to prepare during his/her shift.[1]

Now I am not a very organized cook.  Baking yes, because it is an exact science.  But while cooking, I usually don't know what I am going to throw in a dish until I have actually done it.  But there is one way of cooking, I am always organized and have my mise en place in order.  When I stir fry.

I have to admit here, I think I made a mistake in putting tofu in my stir fry.  It is not with in my own perimeters for the Real Food Challenge.  It is a processed soy product with more than one ingredient.  So My Bad!   But now that the first week is over, I think that was my first mistake.  No I did not make a mistake with the sauce.  I put it together with lots on one ingredient items.  And it tasted better than any premade sauce you can buy in a jar.

Real Food Challenge---Mayo

I am taking the Real Food Challenge very serious.  Because of it, and my elimination diet, I have been eating my fill of Rice, safe veggies, (staying away from broccoli and cauliflower for a while), Quinoa, Salmon, Tilapia, etc.... But I am missing condiments.  I love dipping my food in something yummy.  Since I am eating a lot of fish, and am missing tartar sauce, I was thinking that some tasty tartar sauce would be nice.  But with homemade tartar sauce, you have to begin with Mayo.  Well jarred Mayo is lots of ingredients and processed.  So, I remembered my time in Spain that I had yummy garlicky aioli.  Which is a garlic infused mayo.  So, I got out my trusty cookbooks, of course I did not follow exactly........When do I ever?? But came up with the best Mayo EVER!  Next time I make it, I will make it without so much garlic so LL can enjoy it too.  He only can stand a touch of garlic.  Me, when it comes to garlic...........Bring it on!

Here is the ingredients.  One whole egg, and one egg white.  You put them in the blender and let it wurl.  While it is frothing and thickening add a generous pinch of sea salt.  You can use any salt, but because of my health, I use only sea salt.  When that starts to froth and thicken, (just a minute or so), start pouring in your 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil out of the hole of your lid while the blender is still running.  Just a thin stream and only about a third of it.  While still running add the juice of a half of a lemon, then slowly add the rest of the evoo.  When the mayo is getting really thick, if you want garlic, AND WHO DOESN"T, add 1 to 3 minced or grated like I did and process for a few seconds.(When making it for LL, I will grate just a half a garlic).  You end up with tasty homemade mayo.

Remember, homemade mayo is like the old fashion kind and can not be left out especially if mixed in salads, at a warm temperature.  I ate it last night with my rice, salad and salmon.  My salmon never tasted so good.

Real Soup

I have always enjoyed making homemade split pea soup.  I never make it the same twice.  I usually add a lot more stock than I had.  Usually use some canned, but that is not within my perimeters of the Real Food Challenge.  I had some homemade turkey stock in the freezer.

It was not enough stock to make a whole pot of soup.  Usually, if I am low on stock, I will throw more water in with bullion cubes.  But again, didn't want to use bullion cubes.  So I decided to add the water and throw in more vegetables than usual.  I added a couple vegetables that I never had before.  Sweet potato, and asparagus.  Along with that I added onion, carrots, potato and split pea.

Now, I also usually use spices, but I have not researched the brands yet to find out if they are gluten free.  So I used salt and pepper, and grated up fresh garlic, and grated up fresh ginger. 

Decided to blend half of it smooth, and keep the rest in lumps.

And here it is.  Delicious.  I must say, I liked it better this way with the fresh ginger instead of spices.  I added a pat of butter and julienned fresh basil.

So in keeping with my Real Food Challenge, a total made from scratch, (even the stock) Split Pea Soup. 
Was able to freeze enough for another dinner for LL and I.

What Time Is It???

It's Bento Time!:)

Don't ask me how far I got when cleaning my Kitchen.  Not very far.  OK not at all.  But today, as soon as LL leaves, I am starting in one corner and working my way around.  One thing I wont do is the outside of the cupboards.  Bailey and I do this together.  She gets on the step ladder with the Murphy's Oil Soap and I tell her, "you missed a spot".  Pointing with conviction.  Then when the cupboards dry, she goes around with Almond oil, and I point with conviction and say "you missed a spot".  Don't get on me about this.  I do all the rest of the cleaning of the kitchen.  Today, it will help that my mom is out of town and Kris is back to work.  Less excuses to do something else.  I don't even have to stop to make my lunch and clean the mess up because I made myself a bento in my cute bento from Japan.

Lettuce that I will add lemon and evoo, rice, roasted onion, roasted carrots and a one egg little omelet

Of course I made LL a bento with leftovers also.  Lettuce salad, rice balls with nori face, roasted carrots, one egg omelet sliced and a ground beef patty made from Uncle Leo's beef, and a slice of cheese cut into a heart. 

The cheese is processed.  So I will make believe he will not eat it and throw it out.  OK.  I will take it off.  Dang this Challenge is hard.

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:)

Real Food Challenge starts today!

Kris and I went up north to Whole Foods.  I am torn about this.  I like to frequent my local grocer, but I have never been to Whole Foods and our local grocer has a very small and somewhat expensive organic produce section and very few bulk foods.  Only occasionally will I make a special trip up there to buy, but must say, when driving home from a doctor's appointment, I will be going in again to buy items I can't get in Silverton.  Afterwards, we stopped and ate lunch.  I kept it whole foods and "safe" for my digestion.  I had a baked potato and roasted vegetables.

Now, the first thing I saw when I walked into the store was mesh produce bags.  I have been using these over a year now.  They cut down on plastic and last forever.  Unless you lose them, like I did with about half of them.  So I bought a package of 6.  If you ever see these.  Pick them up.  They are kind of hard to find in my area.

Almost everything I bought was Organic.  Most local, but not all.  I bought apples, lemons, bananas, lettuce, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, ginger root, bulk green split peas, basmati brown rice, jasmine rice, quinoa, extra virgin olive oil, cage free organic brown eggs (because my girls are not producing fast enough for me).

So I got my grains all organized so hopefully I can use them with my digestion.

I picked up some nori.  Yes it is prepackaged but has only one ingredient.  Seaweed.  I guess it is processed but we don't actually eat it.  Why did I buy it then?  To make cute little decorations on LL's bentos.:)

Now before you get too impressed with me, I did have a mental lapse and bought three items that are more than one ingredient and processed.

Rice cakes with nori, giving those to Bailey to take to work.  Sparkling water with lemon juice.  And an all natural salad dressing.  The water and dressing will be put away till I think what to do with them. 

So what's for dinner?  Fish, mashed sweet potatoes with a touch of maple syrup and salad with evoo and lemon.  All yummy and within my perimeters.  So I am ready.  Ready for a month of eating healthier and putting more thought into where my food comes from. 

Week 9, 2011

Oh my, did we have a wind storm last night.  This time, no trees down.  A year and half ago, Silverton had a freak wind storm.  I was up in Portland recovering from surgery.  Bailey was home alone, and a neighbor's tree fell into our kitchen.  LL luckily got most of it fixed before I came home. 

Today, I am staying home, catching up on laundry, cleaning, and hopefully deep cleaning one of the bathrooms.  I use to do a big spring and fall cleaning 2x's a year.  I would spend a solid week from sun up to bed time going through every cupboard, cleaning every corner, washing every window.  Frankly, I do not have the stamina right now for that.  So I am picking one or two rooms a week and deep cleaning every corner.  When I am all done, I will be putting a fresh coat of sealant on my hard wood floor.  I figure since my house is big, I will be done by Easter.  And that's OK.  So both bathrooms with get a well deserved scrubbing this week.

Tomorrow is the start of the Real Food Challenge.  I hope to have a full and complete list of whole foods made today, because Kris and I might be going up north towards Portland tomorrow.  I want to go to Whole Foods store to pick up a few things I can not get at our local grocery store.

Wednesday, I am keeping open.  It is Kris's last day off from recuperating from surgery.  If she has no plans, and my "digestion" continues to behave, I am hoping we can do something fun together.  I have enjoyed having her company a lot over the last few weeks.  I am going to miss not feeling quite as alone during the weekdays.

Thursday, if LL and I decided to RV somewhere this weekend.  I will spend Thursday making sure the RV is ready to go, and prepare what foods I can.  We will not be taking any prepackaged, convenience foods because of the challenge, so my regular RV meals will not work.  And because of my elimination diet, even steak can not be on the menu.  My body is not ready to bring meat back into my diet.  I am having doubts that I will ever be able to tolerate any meat other than fish.

Friday, if we go RVing, will have me getting the house straightened up and making sure Max is good with having Mom and Dad gone for a couple days.

LL's birthday is coming up.  I need to start thinking what I would like to give him.  Don't have a clue right now.

So that's the upcoming week.  By the way, I watched the Today show this morning.  Watched an interview with Charlie Sheen.  It is even obvious to me that if indeed he is not high, than he is either going through a Manic episode, drug induced schizophrenia, or some other mental illness.  I hope someone in his life can help him.  Don't know why I feel the need to even comment on some Hollywood person but it was actually painful to watch him in the interview.

Have a great week everyone.  It is pouring down rain here today.  Bailey is house sitting for Karen this week.  So every thing will be calm and quiet around here all week.

Getting Ready

A few days ago, I announced I was taking on the Real Food Challenge like hundreds of other fellow bloggers.  I have taken a few days to think about the perimeters I will use, rules that will make the month "challenging" but doable.  So the first thing I needed to decide on is really why I am doing this and what is my goal.  The whys are dealing with my "digestion", Clean foods have no preservatives and additives that are not good for my cancer.  Eating real food is better for the environment because of less packaging, less processing, less travel, etc.  So for these reasons, I am taking on the challenge and very excited to be doing so.  The goal is a little more convoluted.  For the month, I am not going to make it easy on myself, but afterwards, I will want to continue most of the perimeters but know I may not remain as restrictive.  The goal for the month is to jump start my already commitment of eating healthy, more local, and greener.  But in the past, I have been very wishy washy, and know myself well enough that the very strict month of March will force me to find creative ways to cook and eat.

So with the whys and goals answered, I have also been thinking on what MY rules and perimeters will be and what I need to do to prepare for them.  I am still fleshing this out.  But here is what I am thinking so far.....In keeping with my elimination diet, the foods I will eat will be foods without any preservatives and additives.  This is a no brainer but harder to do than you may imagine.  This means if something is prepackaged, I will read the labels and for the most part it will need to be one ingredient only.  For example, Oatmeal is prepackaged but has only one ingredient.  Canned foods will be home canned only, because I know every ingredient in it.  Like my spaghetti sauce.  Meat, if I even decide to eat any, will be fresh without salt etc. injected in them.  Uncle Leo's ground beef I know isn't hormone filled so if I do eat ground beef, it will be his.  I will choose fruits and vegetables that are as local and organic as I can find.  So I need to decide if bananas and citrus are off limits, I am still deciding on that one. 

So here is where I think I will be the most challenged.  Pasta, because even the healthiest premade pasta is not really clean of processed crud.  Condiments!  While being on the elimination diet for the last several days, I have diagnosed myself of having a real weakness and love for premade condiments.  They are convenient and tasty, but are filled with things like sugar, corn syrup, colorings, preservatives.  So I am needing to figure out how to live without premade mayo, ketchup, sauces, creamers, etc.  Already I have replaced my normal premade salad dressing with cold-pressed olive oil, and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I really love oil and vinegar but have yet to investigate the labels on my vinegars. 

So that's where I am at with my preparing for the challenge.  This will be an interesting month.  But my body and digestion will thank me I think.

Rice, Rice, Rice!

I have had real difficulty with my "digestion" lately.  I have tried a high fiber diet, I have tried a low residue diet, I have tried vegetarian, so on and so on.  All of these work for a short time, a few days up to a couple weeks, but slowly my bowels rebel.  I have resisted doing what most have done in my situation.  I belong to a message board that is for colon/rectal cancer survivors.  Most on the board who have been successful managing their diet have done so by using a modified elimination diet and slowly reintroduce one food at a time.  They, this way, figure out if they can tolerate meat, dairy, certain grains, so on.  I am not very disciplined with my eating.  I like food, so sue me.  But I am finally ready.  I am tired of the embarrassment and pain.  So here is my plan and it coincides with my March goal.

For the next couple days I need to clean out my system.  I am not planning on fasting.  There is one food I know is safe.  Rice.  Plain old fashion rice.  So today, and tomorrow I am drinking water and eating rice.  When I am sure I am cleaned out and things calm down, I will start introducing foods, one by one.  This will take time, because unlike doing a food allergy elimination diet, I need to wait  till things digest to see if I can tolerate it.  Then if the food was a problem, I have to wait for my bowels to calm down before introducing the next food.  I am blogging about this because I know myself.  I have little disapline with food and need some accountability.  I am not sure how long this will take.  I am guessing a couple months.  This brings me to my already planned March challenge.

Since I already know processed foods are not good for me, and I do not tolerate those foods well, I am joining in on the real food challenge.  Click below if you want to check it out.

Real Food Challenge

Last year, I did much better with eating clean whole foods, I have regained bad habits.  So this challenge will be good for my health, habits, and pocket book.  A person doesn't have to have my health "issues" to benefit from taking on this challenge.  You can set your own perimeters.  LL is on board because he has his own stomach issues. This challenge will be tough on Bailey though.  She eats pretty healthy but she is so busy and always on the go and just has time to grab and eat something fast.  But she is an adult and so is responsible for herself during this time.

So I have almost a week to clean out and start reintroducing foods.  Today, I am making a big pot of rice so I can just reheat a serving when I am hungry.  We will see how I do.

Looking Forward

I haven't quite figured out how to take nice pictures of food.  On other blogs, I see beautiful photos of dishes, but I have not figured out for myself what camera setting or background will get me that same effect.  But will that stop me from posting my pictures?..........No.

Yesterday, before Bailey went to class and work, we decorated the Valentine cookies.  I wanted to make a butter cream frosting for them.  I asked Kris how she makes her frosting, she told me, along with a warning, "don't add too much almond extract".  So what did I do?  I put too much almond extract in it.  I really am hopeless following instructions.  So instead of giving them to neighbors like I planned, (I do have my pride), I gave a little plate to each of my siblings.  I can do that because they don't expect any better from me:(

They are kind of pretty though.

I got a few things done early yesterday.  Including making a vegetarian pizza on a whole wheat crust.  Really trying to be careful with my diet.

Looks good doesn't it?  I also added chopped fresh basil at the end of baking.  It tasted great.  But low and behold, having bad "issues" this morning.  Too bad because I had planned to meet Kris early this morning to go to Mass.  Today is my mom and dad's anniversary and since my dad is gone and it is a hard day for mom, going to church would have been a nice thing.  Kris made it there without me though.

So I am sitting very still right now trying to stop things from getting worse.  But it is not getting my mood down.  No sirree.  Why?  Because I have something to look forward to.  Last summer, after we bought Marlin, even on bad days, I had weekends RVing to keep my mood up.  I haven't had those outings lately, but yesterday, Kris made reservations for the beach in Seaside.  She has a timeshare and we have stayed there before.  Those rooms, or really apartments are soo nice.  We are going in a little more than a week, and just having that up ahead in my life perks me up.  So I look forward to blogging a bit about Seaside in a while.  It is a very fun town to visit.  So for today, I will sit tight:) and look forward to a few days of a different scenery.

Flinging with Spring

The yearning for spring is a yearly ailment of mine.  I have not been quiet on this blog about my winter woes.  I must say, February, although still winter, holds so much hope for what is to come.  I love spring and summer and watch for signs like a mother watches out the window for a long lost child.  I must say the day held much hope for the days to come.

My girls have their new feathers on and Harriet here is already providing her daily egg for me.  She is always so considerate.

My daffodils are pushing up, despite being covered with old dead leaves that we forgot to pick up.

My tulips look to be right on time also.

A couple weeks ago, I scoped out a shot I wanted to capture on the next clear day.  So on my way to mom's house, I pulled the car over, got out and did my best to get Mt. Hood and the farm in one shot. 

I noticed a break in the fence.  Lucky me, so I schlepped through the ditch and mud.

The hill behind the farm is the Abbey hill, the Monastery where I like to go and take pictures.

I did a bit a grocery shopping before going to Mom's.  Kris was there and we had lunch with mom.  That pretty much ended my day.:(  "Issues" you know.  But later I did get my cookies baked.

Bailey wants to help frost them.  Then I hope to wrap them up and give them to neighbors.  That is if we don't eat them first.