Monthly Archives: October 2015

31 Days of Gluten-Free Life: Reflecting (and Whining) At the Halfway Point

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31 Days of Gluten-Free Life

I’m over the halfway point of my experiment of avoiding gluten for a month and I’m running out of subject matter, at least on days like today when I’m sleep-deprived due to my wee bairn having sleep issues as a result of tweaking his ADHD meds. Anyway…

I’m starting to get some empathy for people who deal with food issues all the time because it is seriously hard to avoid gluten without having to cook from scratch or buy some fairly expensive foods that don’t taste “right”. It’s requiring more creativity on my part than I can exercise at this time of sleep deprivation and some pretty radical changes being made in my life.

However, I’m noticing changes in my mental clarity — I’m not as “foggy” as I usually am and I think I’m probably eating a lot better as a result. I’m definitely eating more protein and I’m actually thinking about how to balance every meal. I’ve also come up with snacks where I can sit and eat at the table with Daniel and that’s definitely a plus.

I’m sorry to admit that I’m planning out my first meal WITH gluten: a Jr. Roast Beef sandwich and fries from Arby’s. (I would have to stop somewhere else to get the Coke.)

7 Quick Takes: Mining My Links Collection and a Post-Season Baseball Take

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Very interesting. My priest’s husband shared this article on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing. If Oklahoma City can lose a million pounds, what is stopping other cities with at-risk health populations from doing the same?

— 2 —

#MedicatedAndMighty Because there is no shame in me taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to keep myself healthy and I am not alone.

Me and my meds.

— 3 —

Impressed. I don’t know who shared the Fat Girl Running blog with me; but dang it, y’all need to go read it and give Mirna some love. She is freaking amazing!

— 4 —

Holy frivolous lawsuits, Batman! Did you hear about the woman who sued her 12 year old nephew for $127,000 because he was overly effusive in greeting her when he was 8 and accidentally knocked her down and broke her wrist? I mean, he injured her so badly that this “severely disrupted her life in Manhattan” and she was at a party the week before where couldn’t hold her hors d’ouevres plate. Yeah… I’m thinking she’s childless because HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD!!!!!

— 5 —

Prerequisite baseball take. The Mets play the Dodgers tonight in LA to determine who gets to go on and face the Cubs. Go Mets! #BeatLA (Bummed that the Cards were knocked out by the Cubs but I’ll live.)

— 6 —

Calvinism humor. Jessica posted this link to a page about the warning signs of adult onset Calvinism. This is totally tongue-in-cheek and scarily reminds me of some people I knew in college!

— 7 —

IKEA contest. I saw this IKEA contest in my email and wanted to share. I’m probably going to enter a recipe my dad made for my mom when they were dating. (They’ve been married for 43 years.)

— Bonus —

Link-toberfest: Week 3. Kelly’s bonus question this week is: “Who is your favorite blogger that you discovered through Quick Takes?” She shared me as hers and she is definitely mine — as she said, we’ve bonded over the struggles of special needs parenting, I love her off-the-wall sense of humor, and the fact that she doesn’t gloss over the good and bad in her life. She is very truly the definition of “authentic”. I also am pretty sure that there isn’t a place that can contain all the AWESOME if the two of us get a chance to meet. 🙂

Some others who make my favorites list are… Kathleen (another mama who I defer to when it comes to parenting a kiddo with special needs), Jeanne, Angie, Thomas (not blogging these days as being the dad of twins occupies his spare time), Emily, Kate, Jessica (a fellow CofE person and southern Californian), Beth Anne, Mandi, Bonnie, Jennifer (I prayed Joshua home), Marie, Bobbi, and so many others. My Bloglovin overflows on Friday because of Quick Takes! 🙂

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

31 Days of Gluten-Free Life: Interesting Find

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31 Days of Gluten-Free Life

When I was trolling the 31 Days website yesterday, I saw a banner advertising Thrive Market, which seems to be a mail-order company where you can order specialty foods catering to certain diets, allergy restrictions, or sensitivities. I thought their gluten-free selection looked interesting so I thought I’d pass on this information today! (Well… that and I have pretty serious writer’s block.)

Also, the 31 Days people are hosting a giveaway for a $500 Dayspring shopping spree. Go here for details.

31 Days of Gluten-Free: “Company Food” I Need to Learn How to Make

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31 Days of Gluten-Free Life

As I sit here typing this, my mother-in-law is making beef stroganoff and it smells heavenly. I love it but the floured beef and the egg noodles are no bueno for me this month. Sure, I could put it over rice but I’d still have to figure out how to replace the flour that coats the beef. So… I thought I’d talk about the “company foods” I need to learn how to make gluten-free.

-beef stroganoff
-beef burgundy
-“Jimmy” chicken (a family recipe — it’s a twist on chicken parisienne that my dad created 45 years ago)
-goulash and spaetzle
-lasagna (actually, this one wouldn’t be hard but I still need to think it through)

What are “company foods” you would have to alter?

Oh yes… I was emailed by the 31 Days people last night and there’s a giveaway that you can enter as a reader of a blog where someone is doing the 31 Days. It starts tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it!

#5Faves: Miscellanea (XLIX)

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#5Faves

One

la harpe de melodie. This is the YouTube channel of a woman who is a fabulous harpist and vocalist. From what I can tell of her channel, she does Celtic music and early/medieval/renaissance music which are two of my favorite genres. Here are two songs I am liking after discovering her only 15 minutes ago.

Two

My mom. She made sure I got some down time to watch NCIS and crochet this weekend as well as backing me up with Daniel when needed.

Three

This piece on the Rosary. This piece in America magazine resonates with me though I am more introverted when I pray. I have a full Catholic rosary in my purse from Sara, a chaplet from Rebecca that I use on my walks when I pray, and a couple Anglican rosaries from my priest and from a class I took at church during Lent. I find that the beads help me to focus and pray when I need to not be distracted. I am using the Jesus Prayer more often than the Rosary these days but both provide me with words for prayer when I have none.

Four

Sara Groves. I first heard of her on Valentine’s Day 2008 when I was driving to work and listening to Your Network of Praise. It seems like every time I find a new song that seems to describe my life, she is singing it. She has also teamed up with International Justice Mission, one of my favorite charities for advocacy purposes. Her website is here.

Five

Words with Friends. It’s brainless enough to let me think through things while I play and I enjoy trying to put together fabulous moves.

Go love up Jenna and the others.

31 Days of Gluten-Free Life: In Back of the Bread

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31 Days of Gluten-Free Life

When I went to Girl Scout camp as a camper, CIT, and then counselor, there was a grace we used to sing:

In back of the bread is the flour.
In back of the flour is the mill.
In back of the mill is the wind and the rain
And the Father’s will.

There’s even a YouTube video of it:

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about Jon’s parishioners in Montana who were wheat and barley farmers. With all the crap going around the Internet about the dangers of eating wheat and how gluten-free life is superior, I think about them because the way I’m eating at the moment would mean the loss of livelihood if people gave up eating wheat on a larger scale. It’s why I haven’t read all the Wheatbelly stuff which smacks of new-agey Oprahesque science — cutting carbs is all well and good but there are people who raise organic wheat out there (I know many of them!) and aren’t dousing their field with pesticides. The Wheatbelly craze has the potential to affect them negatively and I’m not chill with that.

And again, I find the Wheatbelly stuff to be good medicine inasmuch as the quack Dr. Oz is good medicine, which is to say. NOT AT ALL.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 12, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 12, 2015

Outside my window… dark. I have no idea what temperatures were here because I was gone from Friday morning until tonight but I heard something about triple digits. Yuck!

I am thinking… about whether I would have stood up and proclaimed my Christian faith had I been in the room with the Umpqua Community College shooter. I probably would have done so… which I’m pretty sure would scare the pants off my non-believer parents.

I am thankful… for Promise FM. I’m in the midst of making some hard decisions and it was really helpful to have songs outlining God’s promises for my life while I was driving through central California today!

In the kitchen… didn’t cook today but probably some gluten-free mac n’ cheese tomorrow.

I am wearing… green shirt and capri sweats.

I am going… to be playing “catch up” tomorrow after being gone for four days.

I am wondering… about a lot of things right now.

I am reading… Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.

I am hoping… school goes well for Daniel tomorrow.

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Wednesday!

I am hearing… nothing.

A Daniel story for today… Mr. Boy usually comes and crawls onto my bed around 11 pm or midnight and he even tucked himself in tonight.

Around the house… silence — everyone but me is asleep.

A favorite quote for today… “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt. I chose this one because my mom quotes it to me frequently. (Dealing with social service agencies is not for the faint-hearted!)

One of my favorite things… discovering new artists or lesser known works by established artists of the musical variety.

A few plans for the rest of the week: catching up on errands and paperwork tomorrow, Bible study and probably a quiet service on Wednesday, soccer practice on Thursday, and Matt’s Run on Saturday before Daniel’s soccer game.

A peek into my day… Some of the new songs I heard this weekend:

“This Little Light of Mine” by Addison Road

“Painting Pictures of Egypt” by Sara Groves

Hosted by The Simple Woman.