Jambalaya

I picked this up at Fresh and Easy. It turned out pretty good!

Cheating Part 1 (of 3)

It's the last day of my vacation, and my husband had to work, so I made other plans.  My friend and her friend met me for lunch at Lo-lo's for my first wheat cheat day.  I had a chicken and waffle with syrup, fried okra, and lemonade.  My friend was going to share the okra but we realized it might have corn meal or cornstarch in the batter; she also skipped the syrup since it might have corn.  I really enjoyed my last real waffle and fried chicken and fried okra--this was definitely the best place to cheat!

We look great!

We followed lunch with a hike at South Mountain Park.  It was pretty busy; finding parking was crazy, but worthwhile.  Great weather, great hike.  My friend was a little concerned that I may be losing too much weight but we determined that I really just need to put on more muscle as I lose the weight.  (I'm down to 155.)

found at Whole Foods

I made chicken with leftover potatoes for dinner.  The sauce I made with the chicken was really good.  It was some marmalade with about a third of a cup of water mixed in and reduced.  My husband really liked it.

Over the past few days, I've seen everyone writing about the New Year.  Last year, I resolved to improve my health.  I was really struggling, trying to figure out why I felt so crappy, why it was so inconsistent, I was so tired, working out sometimes made things worse, I was so frustrated.  I finally, accidentally, got answers.  I ended the year with hope that I am finally on the right track, that I'm getting more answers; I also have some frustration that I'm still having some issues, but at least they aren't as bad as they used to be.

So this year, I did not really make a resolution.  I will continue working on my health.  As I discussed with my friend today, I'm going to start working on toning and building muscle.  She would like me to coordinate a hiking group like I used to do as well, so I'll add that to my to-do list.

So this year, I will work on being healthy, give people a break and let the angst go, and be furiously happy.

Happy Freakin' New Year.

We got home at the wee hours after a night out at our friends' house for New Year's Eve.  At their house, no one had seen me in several months, so there were a lot of questions about my shrinking body and the allergies and my diet.  I ate Fritos and some goat cheese with cranberries, and I drank some tea as well as a little sparkling wine for the toast.  The men played with fire and we had a light saber fight with our huge sparklers that were more like flares.

black eyed peas

Before we went out for the night, I started my black eyed peas on their overnight soak, so this morning, I rinsed them, made some bacon, and got the peas started cooking with some bacon.

I made two kinds of cornbread to go with the black eyed peas.  The first was a modified version of the cornbread recipe I found on the glutenfreegoddess blog.  I don't have sorghum flour, so I used Arrowhead Mills All Purpose Mix, which includes some of the other ingredients, so I did not put in any tapioca/potato starch or xanthan gum or baking soda, but I put in a half a teaspoon of baking powder based on one of the comments about substituting Pamela's mix (which I don't have either).

got egg?

This was my first experience using egg replacer, which was kind of weird.  The method for cooking the cornbread was different than my traditional cornbread recipe.  Once I got it in the oven, I started my traditional recipe but found that I had run out of (regular) corn meal and didn't get more, so I used corn grits.

"safe" and not "safe"

They both turned out well, and I asked everyone to taste both.  They said the grits did not taste any different than cornmeal.  He later tasted the other cornbread and said it was good but he thought it was more like cake and he would want the traditional version for cornbread.  I thought it was very good and everyone who tried it agreed.  I wonder if it would be more like cornbread if I made it exactly like the recipe.

safeunsafe

A while after lunch, I came back into the kitchen and saw something that made my stomach jump.

My guests left and we watched the Cardinals game.  When it was almost over, my husband started asking about the quail that I was supposed to cook but forgot.  So he wanted me to cook it for dinner.  And I made dinner.  This may seem like a non-event but I was really angry.  He was supposed to take me to get wings and beer for my "getting ready for a Celiac test cheat day" today or yesterday or the day before and it didn't happen.  So I'm going to eat my wheat tomorrow when I am off work and then I get to be sick on my first day back at work.  I'll eat the wings next weekend for my second cheat.

quail, cornbread, potatoes

I used the fried chicken recipe from my awesome new book for the quail.  Since I can't use eggs, I used the egg replacer.  I really like the texture of the almond flour/meal and the spice mix was good for fried bird.  My husband liked it too!  He has no understanding of why I was angry cooking, so I'm just going to go eat my wheat with one of my girls tomorrow while he's working. And then I'll be sick at work this week.  Happy Freakin' New Year, y'all.

Mmm, cake.

Last night we went out with friends. And did I mention that I made cake? From a mix, so it was pretty easy. I liked the frosting better than the cake.

It might be working!

A woman from the endocrinologist's office called because they got the results of my fasting blood test.  She said I was over-medicating. I was amused at the way she said it since they prescribed my medication.  She said she would call in a new prescription for 50 mcg of Synthroid.  That's less than I started at!  Is it actually possible that my severe reduction in soy in my diet is working, that my body is working better?

We went out for New Year's Eve eve with a friend we used to see on New Year's Eve but he had other plans.  His girlfriend's friend actually explained the soy/thyroid thing much better than I can.  I should have written it down!  We went to Arrogant Butcher and they completely customized a dish for me--the salmon but instead of farro, I had roasted vegetables.  We all split some salads--the chopped salad was fine as it comes; the other salad had farro which was left off and the cookies were on one side so I ate the other side.  I also had some of the prosciutto and garlic appetizer, without the bread or cheese.  So much yumminess.

It was interesting, the girls asked a lot about my diet and allergies, but also checked in with me to make sure they weren't making me uncomfortable or focusing too much on it.  I appreciated that they were curious without being insensitive.  And the one who ordered the salmon (as it normally would be served, including apples that I didn't get) commented that mine looked better, maybe she should have gotten the same.  Sweet!

Update: When the woman at the doctor's office said she was going to call in the new prescription, she was going to call the Walgreen's by my office.  I asked her to call the Walgreen's near my house and I gave her the intersection.  I didn't look up the address since I was trying to leave for my car's maintenance appointment.  When I got the call from Walgreen's the next day, it was another Walgreen's, not at all on my way anywhere.  grr.  But I got it.

Lunch and run fun

We invited some family for lunch.  While I was making plans for the menu, my husband told me that they would be bringing a scallop potato casserole.  That's pretty substantial, so I decided to make chicken with salsa verde (see below) and rice for me and the Celiac guest.  I also made a salad for everyone and brownies from a mix for everyone but me and Celiac.  We could eat the cake I made the other day.  I showed her my new cookbook and she's going to get a copy, too.

The unexpected part was that everyone wanted to eat the chicken.  My lesson from this was that I should expect that everyone wants to eat the safe food along with their unsafe food.

The kids had fun (and did not eat the potatoes) playing games and running in the yard.  I hope we can do it more often.

Chicken with Salsa Verde

Place chicken breasts in hot skillet; brown for a couple minutes on each side.  Add a jar of salsa verde (should have a short ingredient list!) and cover.  Cook until chicken is cooked through.  Serve over rice.

Sophie's

I guess French food is not for me. I had an embarrassing work lunch that made me uncomfortable if I could even eat what they eventually served me. Plain fish and salad. Damn, I miss quiche.