A very long journey……

I am alive, and holding!

Anyone who knows me will attest that I’ve seen a lifetime of changes in the past months.  Broken bones, a new job, a new job gone sour, a spouse’s job change, physical therapy, more doctors appointments, children with needs, parents with needs, and now a ruptured eardrum.  And the list goes on.  Nothing that anyone on the planet hasn’t experienced before me.  And yet it is all so overwhelming when it happens to you, all at once.  My friends joke about the black cloud that follows me.  After a while, it stops being funny.

The change to gluten free living is beginning to settle in.  It is still hard, some days.  I got contaminated sometime over the past week, but I flew across country for a work conference and ate in too many restaurants to even begin to track the source!  My biggest struggle is balancing it all, and still having time to think about my needs, plan for them, and not just give it all up and eat the ****** (whatever it is that is calling to me in the moment of stress).  I would be the world’s classic definition of “stress eater”  ~ just like you go to the dictionary and look up “meat eater” and see a picture of a lion or wolf ~ well for “stress eater” you will see me!  On second thought, perhaps it is more of a “mindless” or “thoughtless” eating that engulfs me.  I get so numb after dealing with stress and non-stop crises all day long, that I just can’t process anything else.  Eating falls into that “else” category.  Then, at the end of the day/week/month/quarter (whatever period the crisis engulfs), I look back at what I’ve done and feel a mix of accomplishment, guilt, and remorse.  Accomplishment for hanging on, for another day.  Guilt for not making more space and time for the people who matter.  And remorse, for not treating myself the way I know I should, and not doing the things that promote long term health.

On the up side, I am looking at different career options so that I can make a move from where i am.  Whether within or outside of the company I’m with, I need to do something differernt.  I did my resume this week and just need to proof and print.  I’m home sick right now with an ear infection, and I’m trying to get some much needed rest while my ear heals.  Obviously for the time I’m typing, am having trouble sleeping.

Thanks to everyone who has been a support over the last months!

 

Chance

 

Jennifer Walsh Designs

Here goes. I’m releasing my baby to the world. Anyone who knows me will attest that I am a diehard knitter. I have knit enough scarves and hats to stuff the coat closest of everyone who has ever celebrated Christmas with us, and I have donated enough to Harrisburg’s largest mission to keep them warm for a winter.

When I went gf in January, I got the itch for a new hobby. I knit with wire and the swatches were amazing. I went to the craft store to look at what kind of tools and accessories it would take to turn those little pieces into jewelry. Well…I got hooked. I’ve been playing with jewelry making in my (non-existent but necessary) spare time. The few pieces I’ve done have turned out great (now that I know how to use a crimp tool!!!)

Here’s the necklace and bracelet I made over the past few days:

Ok, that’s the only picture we get tonight….I’m Really frustrated….Does anyone have any advice at all about uploading pictures….Everyone has these awesome pictures of food. My pictures are all fuzzy and flashy. I’m using close up, and I researched online and found the milk bottle/white background trick, but the pictures still upload in gargantuan size and all fuzzy. It’s really hard to resize them. I had 5 pictures loaded and the whole thing froze.

I really want to take pictures of our food and my jewelry and post it. Help.

Dear Brother….please share your art school wisdom! I have until the Saturday before Easter because I promised several pieces for the Vent Camp Fundraiser and I want to get good photos before I lose them!

Thanks in advance.

Jen

Here’s a few more fuzzies of my jewels…
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PS:  It was really hard to pick a name for my card…they want a card to display with the jewelry at the fundraiser.  You wouldn’t think that naming something after yourself would be a problem, unless there are 0.5 million people with the same name as you!  Why Jennifer…….except that I was the born in the year 1970, the inspiration for the book “Beyond Jennifer and Jason”.  I have one sister in law who has the identical married name and I have another sister in law who has my maiden name.  Those who are plain wish to be exotic, and those who are exotic wish to be plain.

 

Quiche

Last week I made quiche.  I used the Gluten Free Pantry quick mix and tried to follow their recipe on the back of the box.  The recipe has major typos  in it and I had to modify, but the quiche was fantastic.  My husband even liked it, gf and all.

<>It was delicious.  All from leftovers in the fridge.  My kind of meal.

 

A long week…….

It’s been a really long week or two.  I’m finally sleeping a little better.  But all I want to do is sleep.  Period.  I keep hoping that my energy will perk up.  I will say that after 6 weeks completely gluten-free, I have the GI issues down to a few times a week, instead of a half-dozen times a day.  That is a blessing.  I don’t know how much of my sleepiness to attribute to thyroid medication and how much is the gluten.  I’m still clumsy and have trouble with my coordination, balance, and endurance.  I want to feel better so badly that some days I want to cry, and on others I keep going even when my body says stop (and I end up doing really silly stuff like falling, dropping things, having near misses, you know, the stuff that bad dreams are made of).

<>We did try a different sushi restaurant.  We drove across town to the best one in the area, and I spoke to the owner before we ate.  She actually knew what gluten was and had wheat-free tamari available (I had brought my own this time).  She made my food all gf and when we chose a roll that had a soy sauce base inside, she came out to make a recommendation for a different but similar roll.  That meal rocked the house!   If her food didn’t cost an arm and a leg, we’d eat there every week.  My 8 year old actually ate shrimp, bean sprouts, a piece of rainbow roll, and mochi and said it was good.  (Ok actually 3 mochi – but they’re irresistable.  And covered with rice and tapioca!  Red bean and mango are my favorite.)
Thanks to all of my “gluten-free watchdogs”  who are looking out for me.  Your support is getting me from one day to the next.   

Thanks too to my brother and sister in law for planning an Easter dinner that everyone can eat.  Gluten-free (me), nut-free (my youngest).  Everyone eats.  You guys rock.  (And they’re cooking!)

Everyone think good thoughts for me.  I’ve got some professional issues going on right now and I need GOOD THOUGHTS by the bucketful for about the next month (or until this situation works itself out).  BIG stakes.  That’s about all I can say right now.

 

$$$$ What’s a mom to do???

As the primary consumer in our household and the one who has ALWAYS bought all the food (excepting public school lunches and my husband’s lunch trips to the hospital cafeteria), I’m looking for advice/tips/HELP from those who have been GF longer than I.

What do you do to control the food budget?  Trying to buy gf foods that I know I can eat safely is expensive – the packaged stuff.  I wasn’t good with meal planning before this, and now it’s killing our budget.   A lot of my attempts at gf food haven’t been all that stellar, and my husband and older son are picky eaters.  When I make something gf and it’s not great, they end up eating something else.  Then I either eat too much because I feel guilty wasting it all (NOT what I need), or I throw it out because it goes bad (NOT what my food budget needs).  Produce, dairy, and meat are outrageous in the Northeast, as I’m sure it is everywhere.  Tomatoes were $5.99/pound this weekend, and milk was $3.29/0.5 gallon.

My husband would be happy if I took over as Family CFO, but if I can’t get a handle on the food bills and still keep everyone’s palates satisfied, we might end up living out of a shoebox.

How does everyone else do it?  Does anyone have a sample family menu plan that they would be willing to share?  Not just dinners but lunch, etc, and how itt fits together on a budget? Thanks in advance for any advice

Jenn

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More recipe links to try…

I’m surfing. Kill the Gluten has some treat recipes that look easy and yummy (and like they would fix a major chocolate emergency). Look at February 14 post for peppermint patty chocolate cookies (need to check gf on the candy); and the closely posted chocolate pie.

<> We just finished with one birthday and we have 4 more in the next 30 days, so I’m kind of OD on “treats” right now. I need a few more healthy/savory things to try, and I’m still not in very good control of balanced meal planning GF style. But these two are on my radar for a future “easy, kid friendly desserts”.

<>Also. Kate from Gobsmacked has a fantastic looking ice cream sandwich posted today…….yummmmmm !

 

A New Vegetable

<>Yesterday I took my son to the grocery store, and we chose a vegetable that we had never had before.  We got a jicama.  I went back to the recipe whose photos I barrowed by mistake (and now can’t get off my webpage – sorry); and tried my hand at it.  I modified a little bit (no vinegar for the kids, fresh lime wedges, a sprinkle of raw sugar).  It was great.  My husband and I liked it.  The baby liked it.  My 8 year old, however, didn’t.

Oh – and I put mango slices and pre-cooked (purdue is gf) chicken slices under it.

Let’s see if this photo posts.  This was the first meal I made that I felt good about in a while.

 

Breakfast in Bed

This one’s not about gluten free. The very best things in life don’t have to do with gluten. I got a great reminder this morning. My newly-turned 8 year old tried his hand at cooking this morning and made me Breakfast in Bed! He did it all by himself. Tea. Grapes. Ok ~ bread with cheese. He couldn’t find the gluten free bread. That’s because today was shopping day and there wasn’t any. (I’m fortunate enough to have a store near me that brings in fresh gf bread every Friday and Saturday morning, and you can buy it frozen anytime). My son actually read the labels on all the packages in the bread-basket looking for “gluten-free” and decided to use what he could find. There was butter and crumbs all over the grapes but a little cc there was worth it to eat the grapes with him and see how proud of himself he was.

You should see my microwave!

Forgive my lack of photo cropping. It’s late and the electronics aren’t agreeing with me tonight. If this picture is gargantuan, and someone knows how to crop and control the size of your photo posts, please let me know so I can ask for help!

<>The best stuff in life doesn’t come with an allergen warning!

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“Would you like some cake?”

Five simple words.  Host some parties and it becomes almost robotic.  It’s the polite thing to ask.  Of course I would like some cake.  Or girl scout cookies at the office.  Or a piece of pizza.  Or a slice of ice cream cake.  Except now I know that the answer to that question is “no thank you”.  But sometimes, when I see everybody else enjoying the festivities and food, I just stand there, with my mouth hanging open, silent.  Then when the silence is one millisecond too long, the person who asked the question realizes that they wish they hadn’t asked and this uncomfortable exchange involving my frustration and the other person’s awkward feelings plays out.  I’m still trying to figure out what I can and can’t eat, and reeling from the mistakes I make that leave me feeling sick more often than not.  But so much of celebration and gathering in our culture involves food and communal eating.  When you can’t eat what everyone else does, you’re kind of the loner.

I need to learn how to answer the cake question and stay part of the party.  I could say I’m on a diet.  And nobody would believe me.  I could say I just ate, until I have to spend more than 2 hours in one place (thus refuting the “I’m on a diet” explanation).  I think I might have to go web surfing when I have time and see what other people have had to say about this one.

For anyone who wonders, I really don’t care if you eat the cake in front of me.  I don’t  even care if you ask me if I want some.  I just want to be a part of the party.