Doctor (Oz’) Orders! (and biting cold at 52)

Dr Oz says I should eat curry.

Well, he didn’t exactly tell me PERSONALLY, but he mentioned it to the millions of viewers who watch his TV show. I don’t watch it…I just record it. That way I can fast forward to the important things. Like curry. One of my favorite spices.

Fall Brings Apple Pie Bars!

The falling leaves drift by my window! (ALMOST!) Fall is falling a little late this year. The leaves on our trees are still green except for the brown ones suffering from this summer’s drought. But that’s not the point! It IS the middle of October and that means it IS fall! And as much as I hate fall, I love it too! I hate it until it arrives, then the cool, crisp air wins me over. So, really, I love fall (except the long Iowa winter which always seems to follow but let’s not talk about the “W” word!). I know soon the autumn leaves will turn the landscape red and gold against the crisp, blue sky. Nature’s beauty at its best! I look forward to it every year..when I’m not dreading it!

The cooler air brings with it cravings for acorn squash, pumpkin bars, and apple pie!  As the outside temperature begins to fall the fall cravings begin to rise! It’s rather Pavlovian.

A Gut-Wrenching Beer

Dang it, I jumped again!

Hearing the hummingbird approach makes me jump every time! I’m just sure it’s a big bumble bee coming to sting me! So I jump, he flies away. Repeat. I think he’s toying with me! Humming Humor!

I enjoy my down time on the deck. But today it’s pretty much mandatory down time. Boone, our German Shorthair Pointer (GSP) and I have been having issues. Well, Boone’s having his issues and I’m having mine.

Celiac Disease in America: A Term Paper

I recently discovered that I only needed one more college course to complete an associates degree at the community college I attended when I lived in Omaha. The course was called Information Systems and was available as an online course. It covered writing a term paper, bibliography, creating an Excel spreadsheet with graph, and a PowerPoint presentation. So for the last several months I have been working on homework! Last week I zipped all of the requirements up and emailed them to my professor. And now I wait.

For my topic I chose to write on celiac disease.

Making Lentils Lovely-er!

Dare I say you must make this recipe?

Go to your spice drawer. Check to see if you have this amazing list of spices: pepper, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, cayenne pepper, ground cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Now imagine all those lovely flavors mixed into a dressing for a salad with french lentils, capers, red bell pepper, and raisins!

I made this for supper last night. I used raisins in place of  currants and added diced red bell pepper and served it on a bed of arugula topped with feta cheese.

And! It’s EVEN BETTER the next day!

The only change I’d recommend is to cut back a tad on the salt.

Now go read this this blog: My New Roots

Make this salad. Really. It is that good!

And let me know what you think of it!

Expo Expectations

Ask my husband. Ask him if I was excited about the Gluten Free Expo coming to Des Moines. He’ll tell you that I was ready half an hour before we were supposed to leave. He’ll also tell you that I (at MY age!) was bouncing around the house grinning from ear to ear in anticipation of the “big event”.

Then he’ll tell you that once at the Expo I continued  my bouncing by bouncing from booth to booth in an uncharacteristically unorganized fashion. (Much to his chagrin.) “C’mon Kev, work with me!”

Pizzathon: A Comparison of 3 GF Pizzas Plus 1 Other

Yesterday was St Patrick’s Day. Kev and I usually go to our favorite pub (Dublin Bay) in Ames, IA for delicious food and beer.  They make something called a Guinness Boxty which is a soft potato pancake folded taco style with a super delicious beef pot pie type filling with a lovely Guinness gravy.  There is nothing like it anywhere! It is so wonderful! My mouth, she waters!

But that lovely Guinness gravy is glutenous (as was the Guinness I, so sadly, must now forgo) . So this St Patrick’s Day I took a totally different direction!

Glutenless

Do you want to know what the HARDEST PART(s) OF GOING GLUTENLESS was for me? (that’s the hook, keep reading)

When I started this “blog” I had lofty goals. I would post recipes and foods I like and stories of being GF and be a resource of information and education and (and this is a big one) be accountable!!

Well the accountability part has been wonderful! Knowing that I would have to share with you that I had cheated (had I cheated) on my glutenless life is a great motivator for remaining glutenless!

Funny Ferritin & Five

When is 278 equal to 11? Never.

But for a brief moment in time this week I believed that my ferritin was at 278! Dare I believe it? It seemed physically impossible. To go from 6 to 278 in a matter of a few months. But isn’t that why I’m gluten free? To try to bring that ferritin number up? So when the Nurse Practitioner called me last Thursday to say my ferritin was 278 I was dumbfounded. Astounded!

Cold-Coma Cows and Turning 51

Move over Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day! Your ONE day was lightweight compared to what I’ve been through! I have experienced: Amy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Last TEN Days From H-E-Double Toothpicks!