A little journey, in summary

Here are the takeaways from two weeks away from gluten:

1. I didn’t notice any big differences in my bodily functions. I didn’t have more or less energy. I didn’t sleep differently. I, um, digested similarly. I have noticed a spike in my running endurance lately, but I’m not sure if this is related to cutting out gluten, or just because we’re running harder and longer since it’s nice outside. Unable to draw a clear connecting line there.
2. I missed bread for a couple of days—days 2-4 of the experiment I actually craved bread. The rest of the time I didn’t really care. And I cheated a couple of times, but not with straight-up bread. It was a graham cracker crust, or chow mein noodles on a restaurant salad that I didn’t have the energy to pick out. And that was all well and good and didn’t matter.
3. I think the biggest takeaway from living gluten-free is that wheat products are the area in which I have the hardest time stopping once I start. If you give me a bowl of ice cream I’ll eat it and be satisfied. If you give me three crackers I’ll want to eat 30 more. If you give me a slice of bread I immediately want half the loaf. Learning that this is a trigger-point for mass consumption was a valuable little factoid to pick up.
    
   I’m not ready to eat gluten free. But I really do think I’ll make more conscious choices, at least for a while, about how much I consume. Maybe limit it to one meal a day. Or make gluten free choices when that’s a convenient option. For instance, I didn’t really miss the bun with my burger, but I’m not ready to make a separate gluten-free pizza just for me when our family sits down to dinner.
    
   I also loved trying some new recipes in the kitchen, and picked up some more for future experimenting. I have a great fresh take on a quinoa salad and I still want to make those black bean brownies sometime!
    
   I was thinking of trying a similar experiment with sugar, but a couple of days ago read this article and realized somebody already stole my thunder, with what I anticipate would be similar results. We’ll see.
    
   Now, back to our Pennsylvania adventure, and to my favorite birthday meal tonight with my parents: chicken turnovers (with Mom’s amazing pie crust), roasted Brussels sprouts, and strawberry pretzel salad. Mmmmmmm. J
    
   Today’s 1%: Book 37/50: Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running From Madness. A memoir of an Olympic track star who became a call girl in Las Vegas (I totally did not read the front jacket thoroughly enough). A quick, tragic read of a woman unaware of her bipolar disorder.
    
    

A little journey, day 13. And other things.

Holding relatively strong on the no gluten thing. Today I had my birthday dessert with my family in PA and I ate the graham cracker crust that accompanied the strawberry pie. It's my birthday...11 days early, but still. :) Tomorrow marks day 14, or the end of this little experiment. I don't know exactly what the plan will be after two weeks expire. Stay tuned on that...


In other thoughts...


Baby Mallory passed away this afternoon and I cried my eyes out on the way home from a family gathering this evening. Her precious mama was on my floor in college and her grandmother one of the kindest women I know. Mallory, you had such an impact on so many in your four short months here with us. You have been loved and prayed for so often. Rest in the arms of Jesus sweet little girl.


I held my babies closer tonight.


My brother and sister-in-law showed off their new home and property tonight. And it's incredible. Like, a getaway home. The little ones loved exploring the new rooms and checking out Uncle Dan's new tractor. I tried not to notice all the counter space and beautiful cabinetry. A forever home if they want it to be.


May it be a place of refuge, of joy, of peace.


On the way back we drove by a business that, strikingly, was still waving its American flag at full height, despite presidential orders yesterday to lower to half staff for most of the week. I mentioned it offhand and Roy said that he'd heard that some are refusing the order "because it was gay people."


If that is true at any level it's the most ridiculous thing I've heard, perhaps in my entire life. I'm not one to toot any kind of political horn on social media, but let me take a second here on my blog to say that what happened in Orlando is a tragedy, a travesty, and senseless. Senseless. As in, there is zero sense in it happening. At any level. I continue to pray for those recovering, and for the families and friends of all who were impacted at Pulse.


We must choose to be a blessing for life. For Your kingdom, for our children, for the sake of every nation.

A little journey, day 10

Wednesday I cheated on this little gluten experiment. The first time was entirely accidental. The second was entirely deliberate.

Let me elaborate…

I was up most of Tuesday night texting with my sister in law, who had gone into labor quite unexpectedly (and early). When it became apparent around 4 AM that I would be needed to watch my sweet niece the following morning I promptly turned my phone down (reflex) and fell asleep. Oops.

At 6:30 Roy’s phone started buzzing and I awoke with a start, grabbed my phone, and realized I was already behind schedule. We threw the boys into the car and drove across the city, arriving, thankfully, in enough time to relieve Uncle Lucas. The morning started with a bang, and it didn’t slow down.

Watching a 4 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and a freshly neutered puppy is a big job for anyone. Doing it on 3 hours of sleep added to the adventure for sure! By the time lunch rolled around I was just trying to keep everything straight…

“OK, James and Abby can have baby carrots but Owen doesn’t have enough teeth. James wants a whole PB and J, Abby wants half. Abby wants canned corn...mmmm, don't know where a can opener is. Owen can’t have PB. The dog gets one scoop of food. Does anybody want chicken pot pie? Everybody says no. Everybody can have a cheese stick. James says he doesn’t want a cheese stick. I should cut it up for Owen. I’m starving. Wait, don’t give Owen the carrots…”

I threw some leftovers I found in the fridge in the microwave and hastily retrieved the bowl after the kids (and Jack) were served. I absentmindedly shoveled pot pie into my mouth hungrily for a couple of minutes, then looked at the bowl more carefully.

“This has a crust you idiot.”

…

“Oh well.”

And then I ate the rest. It was really good, and I was too tired to find something else to eat.

I’m happy to report that all survived the rest of the day, and we welcomed a new nephew safely into the Smith clan, albeit it a month early. I had the privilege and delight of taking Abby to the hospital to meet her baby brother for the first time. What a precious moment—made even more special for me because we weren’t allowed to bring James to meet Owen due to influenza concerns.

I got home around 7:30PM, put two exhausted boys to bed, and slumped into a chair. Roy entered, smiling and happy to be home from a concert. In his hand he held…

PIZZA?!

He got a whole pizza at the concert and brought it home. I was too tired to even care.

“Get two plates.”

I had a slice. It was already semi-stale and, honestly, disgusting. Totally not worth breaking the rules for. If I’m going to cheat it should at least be decent food, like the pot pie. So that was kind of dumb in hindsight. But I didn’t feel any differently that night after eating wheat. I continue to think it doesn’t really make much of a difference one way or the other, except that I tend to eat more healthily when there aren’t baked goods in the house. Ha—shocker!

Tonight I baked pizzas for us. I made a gluten free crust for myself out of a mix I picked up at Aldi on Monday. It wasn’t as bad as I thought! Was it a delicious chewy crust? No. But it was dense and hearty and was a worthy-enough vessel for sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. I’ll be glad to eat the leftovers. I bet people who couldn’t have gluten a hundred years ago didn’t have boxed mixes…all you GF peeps are pretty lucky these days.

We also went running this morning to the bank and stopped in at our local bakery. They had a few GF options and I chose a brownie, which was not wonderful, but tasted like a brownie. It was pretty good with some homemade chocolate ice cream.

Pizza and brownies and ice cream. Maybe I should go for another run…!

The weekend should be a challenge with church services and running here and there. We’ll see if I can think ahead enough to pack accordingly. Leftover pizza will help!

Date Night In: A Touch of Thai

Forgive the late summary of DNI. Yesterday proved to be quite eventful, including two cheats on my GF diet—more on all that soon.

We had the best day as a family on Tuesday! As working musicians if we’re going to get a Sabbath it’s going to be on a weekday. And as long as the kids aren’t in school that’s not an all-bad thing. Places aren’t as crowded, traffic is low, and we can more naturally focus on “us.”

So we went running and hiking and visited the library. Library visits with both parents mean we can tag-team and we both had the chance to peruse the adult sections at leisure. This was a beautiful way to rejuvenate our introverted spirits while simultaneously whittling away the hours until bedtime. :) :) :)

The boys went to bed easily after such a physically stimulating day and we descended to the kitchen. I was so excited for DNI. I’ve learned to look forward to these nights more than just about anything. They’ve proven to be the perfect blend of expected (at home, drink, dinner, dessert, one-on-one time) with the new (flavors, dishes, cultures, cooking techniques). Is it July yet?

Menu:

• Fresh Spring Rolls with Ginger and Sesame
• Spring Vegetable Green Curry
• Thai Iced Coffee Affogato with Spiced Coconut Ice Cream

Final preparations included the spring rolls and actual curry dish. I simmered jasmine rice and slowly added veggies in proper crisping order into our Wok while Roy julienned veggies and read up on rice-wrappers. In about 40 minutes we sat down to feast.

The rolls took a little practice. The rice wrappers were delicate and the temptation to over-fill was huge, especially so late in the evening. We were hungry! Roy snapped a picture of our three best. I love the translucency of the wrapper so you can see the pops of veggies shining through. Dipped in a rice vinegar-based sauce, these were so delicious!

 

These were fun to assemble at the table together.

Pretty and bright.

The curry wasn’t nearly as spicy as I feared. The actual paste was complex, but HOT. We tempered it in coconut milk and spring veggies and herbs. It was wonderfully rich and filling. FILLING is a big word to this girl who isn’t eating bread right now. It felt so good to both be and FEEL full. The paste was a lot of work, but the recipe makes a good bit extra, so we could get 2-4 more meals out of it if used in the near future. (Makes mental note to buy more coconut milk.)

 

Peppers, peas, zucchini asparagus, corn, carrots. And those were just the veggies!

We ate mostly in silence, perhaps too quickly, anticipating homemade ice cream and strong coffee. Starbucks, if you’re listening, you need to create a spiced coconut latte. I will help you, because that’s what this dessert tasted like, and it was amazing. I didn’t LOVE the ice cream on its own, although it was very, very good, but the coffee poured over made the perfect combination. Note on the ice cream recipe: Ashley says to strain it just before pouring into the ice cream maker. The chilled custard was far too thick for that. Strain before chilling in the iced-bowl and/or refrigerator. We had a few crunchy cardamom seeds scattered throughout. Not awful, but not recommended. The texture would be smoother with a proper strain.

 

Mmmmm.

I loved this DNI. I love Thai food anyway, so it would have been a bummer not to hit this one out of the park. If you’re going to have the Thai coffee though…be forewarned, you’ll be WIRED all night. (Which ended up being a good and necessary thing…to be continued.)

I hadn’t realized it before that moment: these date nights at home not only benefit us as a couple but also are a tangible image for our kids to see that our relationship takes work. So often I feel bad that we rush the kids off to bed early with a dinner far simpler than the one we are about to enjoy…I realized that they needed to see this. As important as our daily family dinners are, they needed to see Gabe and me making time for each other and not just for them. –Ashley Rodriguez, DNI, p. 47

Today’s 1%: Making chocolate ice cream for the James Bear, who was on top behavior yesterday despite out-of-the-norm circumstances. He is such a wise little man already and I love to watch him explore and grow. 

A little journey day 7 plus June DNI prep

Short update on the gluten free thing. Last night we had GF shortcake and it was the best. Seriously. It wasn't as good as floured-shortcake, but in my desperation it worked. It was dense and had chew. It was kind of like slightly lighter, sweetened cornbread. And it wasn't as flat as a pancake either! Devoured by all. :) Cousin Carina sending numerous recipes for other GF treats, including black bean brownie bites! 

And today has been an amazing day so far. I had, for the first time I can remember, breakfast in bed! My little men, aided by their wonderful father, brought me fruit, eggs, cottage cheese, and coffee. I heard them clomping up the stairs…

James, “OK! Are you ready?”

Roy, “Hang on, we need to wait for Owen.”

Owen, <Clomp, clomp, CLOMP>

James, “Here he is. Hey, Owen!” <BUMP>

Roy, “Uh…oops.”

James, “Did it spill?”

Roy, “Yep. All over the tray. Is your head OK?”

James, “Uh-HUH. O-KAY! Let’s DO IT.”

It was all so masculine and sweet. James shouted “surprise!” and informed me that after breakfast he needed to pick me more flowers. (He brought me a bouquet of clover yesterday.) Oh how I love being a mummy to little boys. Owen even did a comparatively reasonable job of letting me eat in peace without begging for bites.

We packed up shortly after breakfast and ran to the Irondequoit Bay for a lengthy hike and rock-throwing adventure. We quickly found our favorite hidden stream and the little ones did a good job of not getting too wet. James took a bad spill out of a fallen tree trying to get a look at a toad, but he dusted himself off and immediately tried again, with success. He’s getting much braver and more determined to finish what he starts. Proud mama.

Now we’re back, showered, with nothing else on our agenda except for Date Night In! Tonight is “A Touch of Thai.” I was fretting over DNI this month as I knew there was only one choice for the spring dates that doesn’t contain gluten. (Me and my stupidly self-inflicted experiments.) I love Thai food, but this DNI requires an ice cream maker, which we don’t own, and which are not inexpensive.

Lo and behold, Mr. UPS man delivered a brand new KitchenAid ice cream attachment yesterday for my mixer. (Which is the gift that just keeps on GIVING!) Roy anticipated all of this without me saying anything and ordered it just in time. So we’re having homemade Thai ice cream tonight friends. Along with spring rolls and green curry (with homemade curry paste). I am super excited—lots of wonderful spices and veggies and new flavors. Pictures and a full review forthcoming. After the 3+ miles of running plus couple more of hiking I think we’ve earned every calorie!

#smithsabbath

 #jameswantschocolateicecream

#iwonttellhimitsnationaleatchocolateicecreamday

#coconuticecreamforthewin

Adventures in gluten free baking

So I went to Aldi today and bought some gluten free stuff. I always see it when I’m in the store and my increasing need to bake quickly convinced me to buy the baking mix. I also bought fresh raspberries with shortcake in mind for supper.

It’s never a good sign when your husband walks in on you stirring batter and says absentmindedly, “Oh yum. Mashed potatoes.”

Which is, admittedly, exactly what the dough looked like. I poured a little more mix in, but it still was rather soupy. (I weighed ingredients to make sure I wasn’t originally under or overcompensating.) The batter tasted good, with a rather starchy aftertaste.

They are now in the oven. Husband walks by and says absentmindedly, “Those sure are some delicious, enormous looking pancakes in the oven.”

He’s so kind.

The raspberries will be good anyway…

A little journey, day 6

Well, the first three days passed relatively uneventfully (save National Doughnut Day) but then my body went into super bread-craving mode. I don’t know how much was physical and how much was mental, but I know I wanted pizza with the doughiest, chewiest crust ever and I wanted it bad. I felt hungry constantly and nothing seemed to fill me up. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I had a Saturday night binge of ice cream (a lot of ice cream) and nachos. I’ve never made nachos in my life, but suddenly the idea of melted cheese on corn chips sounded amazing. And it kind of was.

Other challenges:

·         Communion weekend at church. I forgot on Saturday and didn’t choose a GF wafer. And then I thought that maybe taking somebody else’s GF wafer who legitimately needed it was less holy than cheating on my experiment. So I didn’t take one on Sunday either. (They must think the wafers have wheat in them or they wouldn’t have a GF option, but I’m pretty sure they are just cardboard and sponge.)

·         I was honored to assist a dear student on her senior recital last night and her family threw the fanciest reception afterwards. And I realized there are lots more things you can’t eat if you are gluten intolerant. Like cheesecake. Roy floated the idea of scraping the top part off and leaving the crust, but that felt unrefined, and the plates were flimsy. But I can’t say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind too. You also can’t eat: spanakopita, crusted-quiche, pretzels, tea cookies, shortbread, or pigs in a blanket. But I didn’t notice any of that...

·         This morning I heard Roy get the singing Owen Bear up and opted to nab a couple extra minutes of shut-eye. About half an hour later I heard the bedroom door open as Roy entered to dress for the day. I heard little clomping feet behind him and cries of, “Mama! Mama!” And then Owen was directly in front of my face holding a half-eaten piece of bread. He waved it in front of me happily, taking little bites and chattering away about his little world. Then I lifted him into bed and he scattered little glutenous crumbs all over my sheets.

The world is full of bread my friends. If you are one of the people who can’t eat it, I feel sorry for you. I really do. You’re missing out on so much good in the world.

I watched the first part of a documentary Saturday evening (after the nachos) about the evils of sugar and how much of it we consume compared to all previous generations. So maybe I’ll have another little journey after this one concludes. But not until after I get my birthday cake.

Today’s 1%: Book 36/50: Grey Mountain. A John Grisham I started once or twice but never finished. I got past the hump and, surprisingly, the story went in some different directions than anticipated. It still wasn’t that great though. His last couple of books have been heavy on the politics, light on the courtroom. There are enough politics in my life right now, so I didn’t love this. This book also had a female lead, and I don’t think he writes women as well as men. But Princess Louise is taking so long I needed a diversion. And now this is finished and I’ll return to her bio.

A little journey, day 3

Well, the ante got upped in the past 36 hours. Since I last blogged I have:

1. Baked two loaves of honey whole wheat bread. I then cut fresh, steaming slices of warm bread for my boys. Yeah. That wasn't hard to say no to at all...

2. Turned down birthday cake at our little friend's party tonight. I wanted the cake, but icing is gluten free so I ate most of Owen's. This was an acceptable compromise.

3. So apparently it's National Doughnut Day? Or week? I was accosted by a woman in Wegmans this morning who offered us all free samples of delicious doughnuts and showed me the ginormous display filled with specialty kinds, including coconut cream and, really really really?!, maple bacon.

That just wasn't fair.

Takeaways thus far:

1. When I don't eat gluten I tend to compensate by eating more fruits and vegetables. This is a very good thing. However...

2. It's hard to measure if I'm feeling great because I'm not eating gluten or because I'm eating more raw foods.

3. I think it's safe to say that I consume gluten every day in some form(s). I've had to make conscious alternative choices at almost every meal.

So. Onward and upwards. And may tomorrow not be National Baguette Day.

A little journey, day 2

The first day is always the easiest right? You have the motivation of starting something new to make it all seem easy. It’s like when I start a run…the first half mile feels pretty good, but the half mile that follows the warm-up isn’t always quite as fun. You have to push through the first wave of resistance to hit your stride.

Well I haven’t hit much resistance yet, so that’s good. No gluten does make me think differently about breakfast, where toast with PB or whole wheat cereal have been my two standbys. Since it’s getting warmer out breakfast smoothies look appealing again so I’ve done that with great success. I throw oats and Greek yogurt to bulk it up and add some protein. I made pasta for the boys last night but left before suppertime for a concert so that kept things easy too.

Day two coming up!

Today’s 1%: I’ve been reading, really I have. I’ve been wading through a really long, highly speculative biography on Princess Louise. The fact that so much of her history is hypothetical prevents me from really investing in it. I don’t feel as if I’m learning anything, at least anything that’s for certain. So I’m picking away at it ten pages at a time. My Kindle “time remaining in book” icon isn’t very encouraging. I also picked up a Grisham that I never finished a year ago. I have a feeling that will get done first…

A little journey, day 1

Today I embark on a new mini-adventure. I’ve been toying with the notion of attempting life gluten-free for a while now. My best friend has a gluten intolerance and I, admittedly, have far too high a tolerance! So here, June 1, starts two weeks without the big gluteney things, including wheat bread, baked goods with flour, pasta, and probably almost all snacks. Here are the ground rules:

1.       No wheat products. However, I want to live like a normal gluten-free person does, so I don’t expect others to cater their menus to me. I will prepare, adjust, and adapt on my own.

2.       While I will avoid the obvious no-nos, I am also aware that manufacturers can slip gluten into weird things, like soy sauce. I don’t have time to read every single ingredient list for myself, especially since I already do that on behalf of my youngest, who has food allergies. I’m not allergic, so if I accidentally ingest some gluten in some random form I’m not going to sweat it. (That being said, if you give me a loaf of bread shaped like an ear of corn does that give me permission to eat it?)

3.       My family in no way has to conform to this experiment.

4.       I was going to try this for a month, but my birthday is on the 24^th and, let’s face it, I want the cake.

I’m curious to see if I feel differently. I’m curious to see if it forces my creative hand in the kitchen. I’m curious to realize just how much bread I normally ingest in a two week period. I’m curious to live the life of so many with Celiac disease and walk a few days in their shoes.

So, here goes nothing!