Yikes!

Yikes!

I have been so busy the last few weeks. My darling husband's birthday. My first gluten-free Thanksgiving. A dental appointment, followed by another dental appointment (which was the last one, thankfully - at least till next time). A bunch of family birthdays. All of the things that make life good (minus the dentist).

So, let's see: Thanksgiving was wonderful. One of the nicest things about Thanksgiving, in fact one of the nicest things, period, ever, was that we went to dinner at the home of some dear friends and almost everything was GF. How awesome is that? The gravy was made with corn starch, the meats were GF, the salad was GF, the green pistachio fluffy stuff was GF (how I love that stuff), and they even purchased crackers that were gluten free! And, added bonus: I'd never had or even seen the brand before, but they were so good I went out the weekend after Thanksgiving and purchased two huge boxes.

Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers(^). Smoky, crunchy, really rich whole-grain taste. OMG-they-were-awesome.

But back to dinner: I was deeply touched that our friends went to so much trouble on my account, and I will never forget their kindness.

I wish I had photos to share, but we had such a good time talking and eating and having fun that my camera stayed in my handbag.

I brought my own stuffing, which my husband made, using home-baked GF bread. It was (at best) only meh; he followed the recipe I'd found, but it was too... something. The spices were wrong, I found it too sage-y. He did an excellent job, so no complaints there. I chose the wrong recipe, which I won't mention here because it came from another blogger's site. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it - I am just not a sage person, and haven't been since I participated in sausage making when I was a kid. Yuck. Phooey. We will try again, of course. We both love stuffing, and it was really, really close.

I happily ate it anyway, of course, because the gravy was soooo perfect. Even a sage overdose couldn't subtract from the joy of eating such wonderful holiday food with friends and loved ones. The ham and turkey were incredible. The candied sweet potatoes were sublime, baked in brown sugar syrup and then topped with marshmallows in the last few minutes to give them a soft/crunchy/toasted top.

I didn't have pie, because I forgot to bring any. I said I would bring some. I planned on it, but promptly forgot it in the do-you-have-the-diaper-bag-have-you-walked-the-dog-where-are-my-shoes frenzy to get out the door and to their house on time. I actually baked a really nice pumpkin pie, and left it at home.

When I baked my first post-gluten pumpkin pie, I experimented with a cookie crumb crust using Mi-Del gluten-free ginger snaps(^). Substituting the ginger snaps for the graham cracker-based recipe really wasn't right, though and the crust turned out ok, but a bit too buttery. I'll do it again, but with less butter.

The pie was awesome, though, because the filling was incredible. Here is my recipe:

Pumpkin Pie

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat-free)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt (half the time I forget the salt, and it's fine).

1). Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2). Mix everything together
3). Pour it into the crust
4). Bake for 15 minutes.
5). Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F
6). Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
7) Cool.
8). Serve with whipped cream.
9). Refrigerate leftovers.

So basically your back-of-the-can/box/jar pumpkin pie recipe, right?

Not really. That's the recipe I start with, but it is never the one I end up making. I added 1/4 cup of finely chopped candied ginger (shades of James Beard's famous recipe). And I double all of the spices (at least) and add ground cloves (about 1/2 teaspoon).

It was delicious. It was spicy. It was forgotten. But I happily "made-do" with Watergate Salad.

Watergate Salad reminds me of family reunions and potlucks. Easter at my grandmother's house. According to Wikipedia(^), it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the famous Watergate complex of Nixon fame, so that's a puzzler. Here's a pretty standard recipe. If it's important to you, it's easy to find pudding mix, marshmallows and whipped topping that are gluten-free.

Watergate Salad

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1). Mix everything except the whipped topping together in a bowl. The pudding mix will make everything else a creepy green color. Ignore this.
2). Once everything is well-mixed, gently fold in the whipped topping.
3). Refrigerate.
4). Use sugar-free pudding mix and reduced-sugar whipped topping if you'd like.
5). Serve and hear everyone happily exclaim, "Oooooh! The green stuff!"

So, that's what I've been up to. That and making tutus, sewing dolls, working on various other craft projects, making an advent calendar, getting my Christmas tree up, and so on.

Until later.

Namaste.

Today is the second day of the rest of my life

So, today is the second day of my life diet.

OK, so, really not the second day. More like the hundred-and-second day. Because back at the beginning of May, I started a diet and lost around 20 pounds, I gained around five pounds over the summer, which wasn't too bad considering summer cookouts and vacation and all that.

But the end of September brings with it several new developments. As the leaves fall, my blood sugar has been stealthily creeping up. It has always been normal when I wasn't pregnant, but isn't normal anymore. It isn't Type Two Diabetes, but Pre-Diabetes (^ to Wikipedia), which is it's own syndrome apart from Type Two Diabetes with it's own unique set of problems.

Now, right now, if I lose weight and increase my activity levels, I can stop Pre-Diabetes in it's tracks and avoid heart disease, blood lipid problems, possible blindness, high blood pressure, lower my risk for cancer, T2 diabetes, and a whole host of other nasties. But I have to act now, before this slips into "real" diabetes and I sustain damage that can't be reversed.

Some people, like myself, are more prone to blood sugar issues because of heredity. Weight simply compounds it. But losing even 10% of my weight and exercising more is enough to seriously lower the risk of all of the illnesses listed above and more.

I think the hardest part, aside from the first few days of eating differently, is the exercise aspect. I have never liked to exercise, skipping gym with gleeful abandon throughout my school career as often as humanly possible, stretching the boundaries of believability by being "sick", having my period (boy did that embarrass our male gym instructor), and/or having "cramps".

Aside from a few activities (swimming, bicycling), I've never really like to exercise. Compounding the whole thing is that I'm a mother and a wife with lots to do at home, and I live in an area of the country that sees a lot of snow between November and April.

But it doesn't matter. I have to do this. I can't sit this one out.

So, I now have a new way of eating. I guess I shouldn't really call it a diet, as that sounds temporary, and this can't be. It needs to be for the rest of my life. Limited carbohydrates, much fewer refined carbs, more fruits & veggies, more water, less dairy, and leaner proteins. And it is all made somewhat more difficult by the fact that I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease(^) last February, but it's nothing I can't handle.

And even though we're butt-deep in snow for (sometimes) months at a time, I have a treadmill, and an elliptical thingy. And now I get to use them. No excuses. When we're not butt-deep in snow, I have parks and mountains and all sorts of places to walk.

We even got a jog stroller for SuperCat, so that she can join me on my walks.

And now it begins. Or something. It really isn't as dramatic as all that, yet it is. I have to pick myself up and do things entirely differently from the way I've done them all my life.

From now on, I plan to use this space to keep myself honest, to record my journey, to share new things I learn along the way, and to center myself as I move along. The rest of it isn't going away, though. I hope to be the same person I always have been. Perhaps just a little (or a lot) smaller and healthier.

Namaste.

d =^..^=

Gluten Free Taco Salad Recipe

With concerns about Celiac (no wheat, barley, or rye), as well as blood sugar and weight loss considerations, dinner is sometimes something I now have to think about a bit.

Right now, until I get used to the new requirements, I'm planning simpler meals with fewer ingredients. But I love to cook and experiment, as does my husband, and so we came up with this taco salad a few nights ago, made without the fatty/carby chips (or their calories). It used (relatively) few ingredients, and was done in a flash.

Here is our recipe:

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 pound (90% lean) ground beef, drained
1 cup chopped onion
6 cups chopped raw cabbage
2 small raw tomatoes
12 large black olives, sliced

Toppings, each
3 tbsp taco sauce
2 tbsp light Italian dressing (Gluten Free)
4 tbsp jalapeno slices

Serves 4. Season the meat with pepper & garlic saltcel, adding a few of the onions, if desired. Brown in a skillet until done, drain well. Divide cabbage into 4 bowls of 1 1/4 cup each, add veggies, meat, cheese evenly among the bowls. Garnish with taco sauce, light, (gluten-free) Italian, and jalapenos if desired.

From browning the meat to serving took less than 20 minutes. I cut veggies and filled bowls while the meat cooked, checking it from time to time.

It really was delicious. Crunchy, spicy, and full of flavor. If calories or carbs aren't an issue, add a few yellow or white corn tortilla chips. Many are gluten free, but always look.

According to Calorie Count at About.com(^), each serving has 458 calories, 22.7 grams of fat (a bit high), and 17.9 grams of carbohydrates (about half of what I want to eat in a meal). They give it a Nutritional Grade of "B+", which isn't too bad.

What are you having for dinner tonight?