Tag: Gluten Free

Oh no, I think I got Glutened.

On By WendyIn Recipe1 Comment

Stuart and I decided to go out for lunch on Saturday.  We went to this little Mexican/El Salvadorian restaurant.  We’ve been there before and I haven’t had a problem. but I ate something different this time.  I still can’t figure out what may have had the gluten in it.

I had a bean enchilada, something I’ve had there before, with no problems.  (they are made with corn tortillas).   I also had a Pupusa, this is something I haven’t had before, but the waitress assured me that it was made completely from corn.  After reading the description on Wikipedia, it also says that the batter is corn.  It looks like a polenta pocket with a filling inside.  I had beans inside.

 

Pupusa with Curtido - photo courtesy of Wikipedia

 

“Pupusas are similar to corn tortillas, only thicker and stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. The pupusa originated in El Salvador, but it is also popular in neighboring Honduras.” – whats for eats.com

“Pupusas are typically served with curtido (lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar) and a watery tomato salsa.” – Wikipedia

Both the Pupusas and the curtido were very good.  The enchilada was good too.  The only other thing I ate were some of the tortilla chips, and a little salsa.  Their chips have always been 100% corn, but I didn’t ask this time, so maybe they changed them.

All I know is that as soon as I got home I was running to the bathroom with the worst cramping and you know…..  However, the way my GI track has been acting lately maybe I wasn’t glutened.  Maybe it just didn’t like something else.  The biggest reason I was pretty sure it was gluten was because of the pain.  All the other GI problems I’ve been having haven’t caused pain.  However, every time I get glutened it hurts.  The reason I think I may not have been glutened is because it didn’t last long.  Curiouser, and curiouser.

I know I should go on the elimination diet, but it is so hard.  I think I need help.  I can’t imagine cooking for my husband or watching him eat all this good food, and I have such a limited palette.   I have found that soy milk really bothers me.  High fat dairy bothers me.  Although, I can eat most cheese.  And I’ve found that really anything with much fat bothers me a lot.  I’m trying to slowly stop eating meat.  (for 2 reasons, 1- most of it seems to make me feel bad., and 2- for ethical reasons.)  However, I decided I needed to clean out the freezer of all the meat we had in there first.  Mostly it’s just some chicken, and some sausage left.

This weekend I made an 11 bean and sausage soup.  (I will insert a picture later)

I found an 11 bean soup bag that is gluten free at Whole Foods.  It says to add a whole lot of meat to it: ham hock, sausage, chicken breast…    I didn’t do all of that.

11 Bean and Sausage Soup

  • 1 bag 11 Bean Soup mixture with seasoning packet (the seasoning were mostly italian seasonings)
  • 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or you can do what I did, I had some crushed tomatoes and some spaghetti sauce in the refrigerator and I mixed that together so I wouldn’t waste it)
  • 1 package (4 sausages sliced into about 1″ sections) Aidell’s Italian Style with Mozzarella cheese.  (you could use any sausage you want here, including one of the many meatless sausages.  There is a soy chirizo from Trader Joes’s that is meat and wheat free.)
  • 1 medium sized onion chopped (large pieces are fine)
  • about 4-5 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2-3 cups unsalted Chicken Stock (or Vegetable Stock)  I use Kitchen Basics unsalted stocks.
  • 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
  • You will need to add more water as this cooks.

This soup turned out to be very good.  But I made a very major mistake.  I didn’t soak my beans.  I thought since they were going to be cooking for so long that I really didn’t need to.  All I can say is: Soak Your Beans!

I put all of the ingredients in my slow cooker and cranked it up on high, thinking we could eat in 4 maybe 6 hours.  Well, That was at noon and at 8pm the beans still weren’t done.  We decided to turn it off and start again in the morning.  At about 8am my husband turned it back on, but low this time, and it cooked until nearly noon.  Finally, the soup was ready and really good.  My husband loved it.  I ate around the sausage.  I thought the beans were delicious without.  Of course, the flavors from the sausage were in there, but hopefully  I didn’t get as much fat.

I don’t salt anything.  I’m on a low salt diet, and I find I’ve started really enjoying the flavor of the foods I eat without salt.  So the only salt in this recipe came from the sausage.

This made about 12 servings, 1 cup each.  It will probably be about 8 servings for us.   We ate on it Sunday, I put a container in the refrigerator for left overs, and I put a pint in the freezer for later.

My Slow Cooker is such a saving grace on days I simply can not stand up long enough to cook a meal.  If I don’t feel like standing up long enough to put things in the slow cooker, I can usually talk my husband through that one.  He tries hard to make life as easy as possible for me with all that has been going on.

What I've been Cooking Lately.

On By WendyIn Recipe1 Comment

Before going running errands with my hubby the other day I thought I’d throw some dinner in the slow cooker.

Homemade Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I had 2 chicken breast thawed, and then I just used all the left over veggies I had in the refrigerator.

  • 3 carrots going limp (peeled and cut into chunks)
  • about 5 stalks of celery (chopped into medium size slices)
  • about a cup of green peas  (frozen)
  • about a cup of corn (frozen)
  • about a cup of chopped onion (frozen)
  • Italian Seasoning – a Tablespoon full, give or take
  • Dried Mustard – not sure why I put this in, you didn’t really taste it in the end.
  • Chicken Stock – enough to cover the chicken and veggies. (I prefer Kitchen Basics Unsalted)

Oil the crock.  I sprayed it with olive oil.  I cut the chicken into bite size pieces, put spices on them.  Then I just tossed everything in the slow cooker.  Cooked on low for about 6 hours.  I’m not exactly sure how long this cooked because I was so sick when we got home my husband is the one who cut it off, and he doesn’t remember what time it was.

I love the fact that you can put whatever veggies you want in this soup.  Just use what you have left over in the refrigerator or freezer.

This turned out pretty good.  The first night the chicken seemed a bit dry, but the bowl I had today was just right.  I have very fresh Italian Seasoning that I just bought (It’s made by Frontier), and I keep forgetting I don’t need as much of this as I did my old brand.  This seasoning gives a lot of flavor, with just a little bit.  So if you have really good Italian Seasoning, you can probably use less than I did.  Today, I added just a little Tamari Sauce to my bowl of soup and it made it even tastier.  (I also watered down the soup a little because the Italian Seasoning was so over whelming).

This is Creamy Crock Pot Risotto, the original recipe is from Shirley’s blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.

I changed one thing when I made this, I didn’t have an open bottle of wine and didn’t want to open one for just the little bit this called for, so I used Mirin instead.

I loved this!  Hubby liked it but not as much as I did.  He likes his risotto with more kick.  Next time I make this I’ll probably change the ingredients a bit to accommodate him more.  I just love that I can make Risotto in the slow cooker.  It is so much harder to make on the stove.  This is a very creamy rice dish, with a big cheese taste.  I’m wondering if I could use Daiya Cheese and Veggie broth to make this dish vegan.  It would be a different kind of cheese taste (mozzarella or cheddar), but I bet it would still be very good.

Today I’m making Roasted Root Vegetables in the Slow Cooker

The only other  time I’ve made this recipe was last Christmas.  However, that time I went by the original recipe on Food Network. Com, and cooked them in the oven.   Everyone who came to Christmas Dinner (11 of us in all) enjoyed the original recipe, I hope it turns out just as good in the slow cooker.

The only alterations I made to the original recipe are, I replaced the 2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons of Molasses; and of course, I cooked them in the slow cooker instead of the oven.  Oh, and I picked up a rutabaga instead of a turnip.  The sign said turnips, but I’m pretty positive it’s a rutabaga.  Oh, and I used a Butter Cup Squash peeled, instead of Butter Nut Squash.

I looked up Roasted Root Vegetables on Shirley’s, A Year of Slow Cooking site to get an idea of how long to cook them.  She said about 8 hours on low, or 4-6 on high.  I started mine on low for the first 2 hours, then decided I wanted them done sooner and turned it to high.

This is the end result.  They had much more of a Thyme taste than I remember the original recipe having, and they didn’t have quite the same texture.   The Butter Cup Squash cooked much faster than the rest of the root vegetables, so they are almost mushy and the rest of the veggies still have a crunch.

However, they were still good.  Next time I think I’ll change the flavors up a bit, and I will use Butter Nut Squash instead of Butter Cup, I never thought it would be that big of a difference in how fast they cooked.

So that’s what I’ve been cooking lately.

How I made it a better day.

On By WendyIn Meniere's Disease, Recipe, whole nutrition1 Comment

One of the things I do when I’m having a down day is create.  Sometimes I work on my artwork, other times, like today, I create in the kitchen.

Organic Kale from Durham's Farmer's Market

It all started with a bunch of Kale.  I decided I’d try my hand at Kale Chips.  I’ve heard so much about them but I’ve never tried any.

Simply tear the Kale into small pieces, and arrange them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  I then sprayed them with olive oil.  (I used one of my favorite products, Pampered Chef’s Spritzer)

Bake them at 350F for about 10 minutes.  You want them crisp, but not brown.   I found if I put a little bit larger pieces around the edges and smaller pieces in the middle of the sheet they get ready about the same timeSprinkle them with your flavoring of choice.  Many people just use salt, but you know I don’t eat much salt, so I used a mixture of Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and a little of regular Mrs. Dash.  Even Stuart liked these, and he has an aversion to most things green.  : )

Then I decided to start a batch of Raw Sauerkraut.  I got the recipe from my new Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.

It’s really very easy, and I hope it turns out.  I’ll let you know in a few days.

Here’s the mess I was making while getting the cabbage the way I wanted it.   You have to pound shredded cabbage and make the juice come out to make Sauerkraut.   I started doing this in a bowl, and decided this was just way to hard for me.  So I decided to try putting the plastic blade in my food processor and let it do some pounding for me.  Then I transferred it to my jar.

I used the mortar from my mortar and pestle to pound the cabbage down in the jar.

I was so surprised at how much liquid there was in this cabbage.

It only takes cabbage and a little salt to make sauerkraut.   I didn’t use as much salt as they called for in the recipe, I hope my cabbage ferments well and turns into some wonderful sauerkraut.

Then came time to fix dinner.  I had some chicken left over from cooking some Split Chicken Breasts with about 30 cloves of garlic in the slow cooker this weekend.   All I did there was oil my crock, then I put the breast in skin side down and threw in all the peeled cloves I got out of one big head of garlic.  Put the cooker on low for a little over 6 hours and that’s it.  The chicken just fell off the bone.

I decided to stir fry up some veggies with San-J Gluten Free Asian BBQ sauce.

I threw these plus some onion and garlic in a wok with the left over chicken and the San-J Gluten Free Asian BBQ Sauce.

We had this over brown rice.  I wasn’t very impressed the Asian BBQ Sauce.  It tasted like I had a stir fry with regular BBQ sauce on it.  It was ok, but it wasn’t the Asian flavor I was looking for.  I don’t think I’ll bother with this sauce again.

After a day of not only feeling creative but also productive, I feel much better than I did at the beginning of the day.

I was very lucky today that I was able to work in the kitchen.  When I have these feelings and I can’t get around enough to really work them out, it makes things much harder.  On those days, I try to write, or read.  Usually, even when I’m not able to walk, if I focus on something up close to me I can usually accomplish something.  Those are the days I’m so grateful I have a laptop, and that I love to read.

What do you do to help when you are having a bad day?

 

 

 

Easy Apple Dessert

On By WendyIn RecipeLeave a comment

Last night I decided I’d like to have something a little sweet, but didn’t really know what I wanted.

We just bought some lovely organic apples, and my husband loves my Apple Crisp, but I didn’t want to take that much time.  So I came up with this:

 

Easy Apple Desert

 

 

  • 2 Honey Crisp Apples cut into thin slices
  • A little bit of Earth Balance Buttery spread, a couple of teaspoons probably.  (you might be able to leave this out.
  • 1/4 cup apple juice , or a little more depending on your apples.  You will be reducing the apple juice and this will add a good amount of sweetness.
  • ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.
  • a little bit of agave or other sweetener if they aren’t sweet enough.  (this is to taste.  I added light agave, it comes in a squeeze bottle so I just squeezed a little over the apples.)
  • gluten-free oats (I blended these in the food processor so they’d be more like quick oats)   (I’m not sure how much I added, I just sprinkled some in to see how it would work, then added a little more.  Probably no more than 2-3 tablespoons)

Put the apple juice and apples in a small skillet and cook over med-low heat until the apple juice is reduced  and the apples are as tender as you like.  (we like ours a little crunchy)  Add the Agave, or sweetener now.  The Agave made it a little thicker and a tad sweeter.  Add the Earth Balance and oats, they won’t get crispy like they do when you make apple crisp, but they add a good texture.   Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.  I didn’t add enough at first, but it can be easily added when you are eating them.  That way if one person likes more cinnamon or nutmeg they can add more.

I enjoyed this a lot.  I kept thinking it needed ice cream (well Rice Dream would have been better for my tummy).  My husband said it was good, but missing something.  I asked him if he really wanted ice cream with it, and he agreed he thought that was the missing ingredient.  He still prefers the Apple Crisp because he likes it when the oat topping gets crunchy, and I think he also likes it more because it has sugar and brown sugar in it.

All in all, this was a very good, light desert.  You can play with it to get the taste the way you want it.  I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake, but you could add sugar if you wanted.

Recipe Testing – Citrus Black Bean Soup

On By WendyIn Diet, Gluten-Free, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been a tastetester for recipes for Kathy Hester’s upcoming Healthy Slow Cooking Vegan Cookbook.  (No, this isn’t the name, I don’t know what the name will be yet.)

I made the most delicious meal from one of her recipes yesterday, and it was so easy.  I just put everything in the slow cooker and let it go, then we had Citrus Black Bean Soup that evening.  The recipe makes this a pureed soup, but we liked it chunky with all the beans, it kind of had the consistency of a chili.  Oh but it didn’t taste like chili.  The seasonings worked so well together.  I was just thrilled.

I decided to have mine on top of brown rice, and then I mixed in some steamed collard greens to make this a complete nutrition meal.

I know you are just dying for the recipe, but you will have to wait until Kathy’s cookbook comes out.  However, you can check out many of her other recipes on her blog: Healthy Slow Cooking. I started following her blog right after she first started it and became a fan immediately.  I love food that is easy, good, and nutritious.  How great is that?  So check out her blog, and keep a look out for her cookbook.  I’ll keep you posted.

What?

On By WendyIn Meniere's Disease1 Comment

I thought I was feeling better today.  I woke up ready to face the day.  I got up and started making pancakes, after about 4 I realized I hadn’t put an egg in the mix.  Yuck.  I tell you my husband will eat anything.  Burnt?  He loves it.  Ingredients left out?  He doesn’t really notice.  (Sometimes it makes me wonder if I really am a good cook.)  : )

So I started my pancakes over, of course I can’t make just 2 so there are 4 in the refrigerator for later.  Luckily, they are good warmed up.

Then I settled down to read a little email, and look up something I was wondering about on the internet.  I was reading an email from a good friend when all of a sudden the words moved.  Well, here we go again.

The attack right now is really hard for me because I love Halloween.  But now it seems there will be no Jack-O-Lantern carved, no costume, no party.  I’ll be lucky if I get my traditional treat bags ready to give to my trick-or-treaters.  Kids love coming to our house, we usually have the front all decorated, we are in costume, and I give out treat bags full of goodies like spider rings, crayons, Halloween themed coloring pages, glow sticks….  Fun things they can play with and if they have a food allergy no worries.  We also have a tub of candy for them to choose from, but if they can’t have some of it they don’t feel left out.  I remember wondering if they really appreciated the little treat bags, then a little boy came to our house and I gave him his treats, he turned to his mother and screamed, “MOM! I got a bag!”  That made it all worth it.

We’ve had a party at our house the past 2 years, but friends of ours got a new house and they wanted to have the party there this year.  I guess it’s for the best since I’m feeling so out of it.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to even attend this year.  Oh well, we always have next year!

Today on Fleetly Dreaming’s Blog by Nicki, she asks “What CAN you do?”  She challenges us to stop thinking about what we can’t do because of Meniere’s, but think about what it is we still can do.  I decided to take the challenge and list  some of the things that I CAN do, and things I’m grateful for.

  1. I’m grateful that I have such a wonderful doctor who wants to help me live as normal as possible, and who isn’t satisfied with just treating Meniere’s, but he also wants to find the cause.  (Thank you Dr. Kaylie, thanks to you, I CAN have hope.)
  2. I CAN still keep in touch with my friends and family because of  the wonderful world of the internet.
  3. I CAN still hear, something.  That is better than living in complete silence.  (Sometimes it’s much better than others.)
  4. I may not always be able to hear my husband when he enters a room, even if he’s talking to me, but I CAN hear him tell me he loves me.  (He just has to look me straight in the face, and speak loudly.)
  5. I CAN hear much more during my bad episodes since I bought one of those little ear amplifiers that look like a blue tooth.  It’s not perfect, but at least I can hear something.
  6. Some days I CAN hear out of my left ear.  I’m very grateful for those days.  I CAN still hear the birds, I CAN hear water flowing, I CAN hear my friends talking to me on the phone…
  7. Some days I CAN keep my balance.   I’m very grateful for those days.  On those days I CAN cook,  go for a walk, dance with my husband, laugh so hard it hurts, play with my dog and cat, and simply enjoy life.
  8. I CAN still be creative.  Not every day, but some days I CAN work in my studio, I CAN paint, draw, take pictures and even work in my fused glass studio.
  9. On days I can’t work in my studio, I CAN often still work on the computer.   I can write, and even draw thanks to a great friend for giving me Photoshop.
  10. Even on my bad days I CAN usually cuddle with my dog, and cat.  They always seem to know when I’m not feeling well and will pay me much more attention.
  11. On the days when all I can do is throw up, I CAN still be grateful to my wonderful husband that I don’t have to go through this alone.

Thank you to Nicki, for making me remember all the things I CAN still do, and many of the things I’m grateful for.

I did get out and do some things today.  My husband took half a day off so we loaded up the Element with things to go to charity.  We dropped those off by the mission, and then had lunch out.  We picked up things at Petco for Sandy and Max.  Picked up a prescription for me (no not at the same place), and headed home.

I was pretty tired after all that so my husband started dinner.  He warmed up  some mariana sauce and put on a pot of Tinkyada noodles.  While the noodles were cooking I decided we needed more vegetables.

I cut up some zucchini, and some collard greens then sautéed them up with grape seed oil and garlic with a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end to deglaze the pan. I’ve never really eaten collard greens cooked any way but the old Southern way of boiling them with fat back and then seasoning them with vinegar.  Sauteing them was so much better.

Doctors, Stir fry, and Hearing

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gluten-Free, RecipeLeave a comment

The Digestive Health doctor called to let me know my results from the “procedure” (colonoscopy) I had done on Tuesday.  However, I was unable to answer the when they called.  She called at 1:09pm and left a message that she wanted to discuss the findings with me.  She said not to worry “it’s not bad”, but she still wanted to talk with me and for me to call her back.  Today is Friday, their office closes at 1:00pm on Fridays, how was I supposed to call her back?  Now I have to wait until Monday to find out what the findings were.

I did make an appointment with a Naturopathic and Holistic physician for next Wednesday.  The first appointment if for one hour and thirty minutes.  Hopefully, she can give me some guidance.  I guess it will depend on what the results from my procedure turn out to be.  I do feel like this is a move it the right direction.

Last night I made a really good stir fry.  I love how you can just throw some stuff in the wok with a little sauce and in just a few minutes it turns into a wonderful meal.  I already had rice made so all I had to do was warm that up.  I didn’t have a lot of on hand so I scrounged the kitchen and found a bag of frozen Thai style vegetables, a can of black beans, garlic, San-J Gluten Free Tamari Sauce and heated up a little olive oil and then threw everything in the wok.  I was very pleased with the outcome.

I did another stir fry recently with black beans, fresh veggies, tamari, garlic, onions, and a splash of Mirin.   I served this stir fry over Mung Bean Fettuccine Noodles.  I like these noodles, but I actually like them better in a cold salad.  They are great left over, and make a wonderful pasta salad.  However, when we’ve eaten them in hot dishes they just seem a little off.  The texture doesn’t seem quite right.  Don’t get me wrong, the dish was still good, but I think I would have liked it better with either rice, or a different type noodle.

We went to our therapist today for the first time in 3 months.  (We started going to see her when I was having such a hard time being disabled from the Meniere’s disease.)  Now that I’ve so much going on again I decided it would be a good idea to start going back to see her.  It’s much better to voice my anger there than to take it out on my husband all the time.  Stuart is wonderful and very understanding about when I get so grumpy and everything starts to get on my nerves.  He understands I’m not really mad at him, I’m just so mad at life.  I still don’t think it’s right for me to be mean to him, but it is nice that we can talk about it and that he understands that my anger is displaced.

Unfortunately, I’m having increased Meniere’s symptoms.  It started this afternoon, I noticed I couldn’t hear everything that was said.  Then tonight I couldn’t hear Stuart unless he was looking at me and there was no other noise in the room.  The tinnitus is so loud it’s very hard to hear over it.  The fullness in my ears is worse.  Now, all I have left is the vertigo.  I really hope it doesn’t start, but I won’t be surprised if it does.

Exercise for the day:

We took our dog, Sandy, for another walk around the block, this time we went clockwise instead of counter-clockwise and there is much more of an incline that way.  My hip was not fond of that at all, but I kept going, and kept my heart rate up for most of the walk.  I also worked in the little gardening area in the front of the house.  I dug up old plants, and worked with the dirt some.  It needs much more work, but I didn’t have what I needed to finish the rest.

Getting things done

On By WendyIn Diet, Gluten-Free, RecipeLeave a comment

Today I’m no longer running a fever, but I’m still have GI distress.  Oh well, don’t know why I’d expect that to change.

I started taking probiotics before every meal, hopefully this will help get my gut back to normal.  I also restarted taking my multivitamin, and extra B-12 + B complex supplement.  I tested low on B-12 but B-12 should be taken with a B complex and if you are a little older (over 40), like I am, you should take your B-12 sublingually (under your tongue).  B-12 isn’t absorbed as well in the stomach as you get older.

I also completely cleaned my kitchen. (more on cleaning green in my next post)  I wanted to make sure I’m not accidentally getting any cross-contamination from my husband’s gluten food.  He doesn’t bring much gluten in the house, a loaf of bread, and cereal of his own.  However, today I realized just how many crumbs from his bread and toaster get everywhere.  He has his own toaster, but have you ever noticed how many crumbs there are around a toaster and on the counter near a toaster, even if you clean them up every day.  I’m afraid I may have been getting gluten.  So we’ve decided there will be no more regular bread with gluten in our house.  I’ll just make bread more often, and Stuart can use the toaster oven like I do.

My favorite Gluten-Free Bread recipe is:

Flax, Quinoa, and Almond Meal Bread

(this recipe originally came from Kira at The Medicine Women’s Roots blog, but I changed it a lot)

Preheat oven to 375F.

  • 1 Cup Milled Flax Seed
  • 2/3 Cup Blanched Almond Meal (could probably used unblanched)
  • 2/3 Cup Quinoa Flour
  • 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ¼ Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
  • ¼ Cup Olive Oil, Butter, (do not use butter to make this dairy free), Grapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil (only use unrefined with a sweeter bread)
  • 4 eggs
  • water to texture desired, just enough so that the batter pours in the pan thickly.  It took a little over 1/2 Cup of water for this recipe. The more water you use the longer it will take to cook.

Mix dry ingredients together.  Gently beat eggs together before adding to dry mixture.  Add oil.  (I had my coconut oil in a mixing cup and added the eggs to mix together but the coldness of the eggs turned the oil solid, it was difficult to mix the solid oil in the batter.

Add water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency to pour thickly into your loaf pan.

I used a Pyrex bread pan with parchment paper, cooked at 375F for 40 mins.

I hope Stuart likes it. 

This afternoon we went for a walk around the block.  It’s nice to get outside this time of year.  The weather was beautiful today.  As we walked we saw a few neighbors out doing the same, we stopped and chatted for a while.  That may not be great for exercise, but it was great for the soul.

Flax, Quinoa, and Almond Meal Bread

A New Me in One Year

On By WendyIn whole nutritionLeave a comment

I’ve been struggling with my health for most of my life. The past 2 years have been especially trying.

Today I had a colonoscopy, and it found nothing unusual. I’m tired of feeling bad and no one being able to tell me why. I’ve had lower GI problems for over 2 months now, and I’ve gained about 25 pounds in these 2 months.

Tonight I emailed a couple of nutritionist in the area asking if they can help me with an elimination diet to see if there is something in my diet that is causing this havoc.

I also walked around the block for the first time in months.

I should mention that I have many other things afflicting me:
Meniere’s Disease
suspected Celiac’s Disease (I am gluten-free and it has helped me immensely.)
Wheat Allergy
Hypothyroidism
Hypoglycemic
Chronic hip pain (I had a torn labrum twice last year. My orthopedist would like to perform surgery to see if he can figure out what is still causing so me so much pain. I’ve had numerous MRI some with dye, and none of them show anything that can explain the amount of pain I’m having. Note: this is a new doctor, not the one who did the 2 surgeries last year. He thinks my hip-joint could be pinching the cartilage, it wouldn’t show up on the MRI because you are in a relaxed position. My muscles and tendons are also too tight, even though I’ve had a lot of PT.)

This blog is going to follow my life over the next year, and my attempt to get healthier.

Williamsburg, VA, Food for Thought – Original Post from Glutenfree Greenie

On By WendyIn Chronic IllnessLeave a comment

this post originally appeared on GlutenFree Greenie on November 11, 2009   (placing on this blog to document in one place when my Meniere’s Disease went Bilateral)

First I’d like to apologize for not being around very much lately. I know I don’t usually get into my personal life on here, but I feel I should explain a little why I haven’t been around very much. As I’ve mentioned before I had hip surgery on October 13th, to repair another torn labrum.

 

On Halloween night at the end of a very nice party full of wonderful gluten free food from lots of glorious friends, I started having an acute Meniere’s attack. Meniere’s Disease affects the fluid balance in the ear. They don’t know what causes it or how to correct it. An acute attack causes fluctuating hearing loss, vertigo, extreme tinnitus, and various other symptoms. I went to the ENT on Monday and found out that one of the tubes I had put in in March had fallen out. So, on November 13th I had new T-tubes put in. I’m still having an acute attack, it’s not as bad. My hearing is still in flux, and the tinnitus is really bad, but at least the vertigo has pretty much leveled off.

 

We are vacationing in Williamsburg, VA this week thanks to some wonderful friends who invited stay with them. It’s been really nice to just relax after my surgeries.

 

We’re staying at a place that has a full kitchen so we’ve been eating in a lot, but last night we ventured out and ate at a place called Food For Thought. I found them on an internet search before we came to Williamsburg, I saw on someone’s blog that they have a gluten free menu, but they don’t have it on their website, so I emailed them. The owner was kind enough to email me back with a pdf version of the gluten free menu. The prices there are a little steeper than I’m used to, but the food and service was excellent!

There aren’t a ton of things on the gluten free menu, and I was in a comfort food kind of mood, so I had the selection on the menu where you can pick 3 sides and have a side salad or soup. I decided to up scale my salad to a mini-cobb salad and my 3 sides were mashed red skins, steamed broccoli and grilled asparagus (the asparagus was a special).

My husband had grilled medium rare tuna, some special rice, and french green beans. He cleaned every morsel off his plate.

 

My asparagus came with a sauce on it and I asked the waitress to make sure it was gluten free, and come to find out it wasn’t. But it wasn’t on the gluten free menu since it was a special, she was so sweet and very embarrassed that she didn’t think to check, I wasn’t worried and understood completely. She offered the asparagus with the sauce to my husband which he just gobbled up! And I received the most delicious grilled asparagus ever.

 

For desert I had a flourless chocolate tort with vanilla ice cream. Very smooth. My husband had something that looked like a huge sopapilla with ice cream and apples. He loved it.

 

Our final bill came to less than $50 before tip, so not so bad after all. Of course. We both drank water, that really makes a difference.

 

Would I go back there? You bet ya! But I do wish it had more gluten free options.

And I would really scrutinize the gluten free menu. I wasn’t positive about all of the options.