Day 13 - A case of the Mondays

It was nearly 2:00 p.m. when it happened.  It hit me and it hit me hard.  There is this Italian joint near where we live, and they serve the most delicious bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I had a craving for that yesterday like you wouldn't believe.  All I could think of was that bread and how delicious it sounded.  I fought back, and distracted myself with the mundane Monday tasks, like laundry and dishes as my daughter napped quietly.  Eventually the craving went away, and we continued on with our day.
Then around 10:00 p.m., I was struck again!  This time, not with a craving for delicious bread, but for the pieces of leftover pizza sitting in our fridge.  We brought this devil's food into our house for our kids the night my husband and I went out for sushi with some friends.  And those slices of gluten smothered in dairy and pepperoni sounded so delicious last night.  I begged my husband to eat them, so they would be gone and I wouldn't have to think about them anymore.  But, he just cruelly laughed at me.  I sent myself to bed so that I wouldn't cave.  I thought that I'd be passed the cravings by day 13, but they hit me with a vengeance!
Every once in a while, I will cook something that when I taste, I think to myself.  "Damn!  That is GOO-OOOD.  Tonight was one of those nights.  I grilled Spice rubbed pork chops.  The only thing I did differently from the recipe is that I put it in a simple brine (salt and water) for about 8 hours before I rubbed it down with the spice mixture.  I like to brine my pork and chicken before grilling because it has a tendency to get dry.  The other trick to delicious pork is to not over cook it.  I try not to go to far over 145 degrees Fahrenheit.   Along with the pork, we had one of the most delicious and simple potato salad's I've ever had.  It is called Baby potato salad, and man is it yummy!  I also grilled some asparagus.

Days 9 & 10 - more lunch troubles

I am still struggling with lunch ideas.  I keep finding myself making one entree for me and a different one for my children.  I don't want to do that!  I'm far too lazy for that!  One of my friends who eats according to the Paleo diet, told me she usually eats salads for lunch with a meat on the salad.  This would work great for me, and possibly my 5 year old son, but my 20 month old, hasn't quite figured out how to chew up salads well yet.  On Thursday for lunch, I thought I would make Tuna salad for me and eat it on a salad, then I made fish sticks for the kids, because I had them in the freezer and it was easy.  I reheated some left over veggies and cut up some fruit for them.  My daughter ignored her fish sticks and kept asking for bites of my tuna salad...go figure!

Friday came with Taquito trouble!  I read on a gluten free blog, that there was a certain brand of taquitos that are gluten free and I thought, ah ha!  That's an easy lunch idea that I can use on the days that I'm in a rush.  So, I went to the store, bought that brand, took it home and stuck it in the oven.  As I was waiting for them to finish cooking, I took a look at the ingredients, and that's when I saw it...FLOUR!  Ugh!  Lesson learned: don't believe everything you read on blogs!!!  I made a huge batch of guacamole and that was at least wheat free and delicious!  I ate it with baked corn tortilla chips from guiltless gourmet, which WERE certified gluten free!  

Friday night I made one of my favorite easy go to meals.  I love to cook it because it requires very little prep work.  As you're heating up a large braising pan, you cut up some potatoes.  I always use golden potatoes so that I don't have to peel them.  Then add olive oil to the pan, after it is heated, add the potatoes.  While the potatoes start cooking, slice an onion, add that to the pan.  Let those cook for a while, but as they are cooking, slice up a kalbalsa style sausage (I usually use sausage), and slice some bell peppers.  I usually use two of whatever color I have on hand.  Once the potatoes are mostly cooked through, I add the sausage and bell peppers, then continue cooking until they are heated and everything is cooked through.  And you're done.  The kids love it, and it is easy, and luckily it is also gluten free! 

Days 7 & 8 - Kitchen Nightmares

I must admit I am frightened to take any pictures in my kitchen right now!  It is a MESS!  It is beyond a mess, it is a disaster zone!  Our nice beautiful slightly over 2 year old Bosch dishwasher broke, at least we thought it did.  (You can read about that saga below if you're interested).  I also did a terrible job of sticking to my menu plan so far this week.  We have been so busy.  My son is taking swim lessons again.  And they are at 5:30, so its been making dinner time a little difficult.
I did find a good gluten free sort of fast food option though.  The only problem is that you have to be careful because they have a lot of terrible for you food too!  Panda Express, they have some grilled meat option, and also some pure veggie options, you can pair with brown rice, and its probably better for you than a double bacon cheeseburger!
We made a gluten free mexican meatloaf last night.  My kids LOVED it!  I adapted a Weight Watcher's recipe, and instead of using corn bread stuffing mix, I used gluten free corn flakes, and an extra egg white.  I also only use ground turkey, and I replaced canned green chilis with roasted hatch chilis because they are in season right now and ohh so yummy!!!

Dishwasher Drama

I know, this has nothing to do with wheat, but I didn't stick to my meal plan this week as much as I had hoped in part because I hate cooking in a messy kitchen, and I hate even more to wash dishes!

The water wasn't draining out of the bottom of our not very old dishwasher, we cleaned out all the filters.  It still wasn't draining out of the bottom.  We cursed the dishwasher. Then, my husband started taking out all the drainage pipes and making sure they weren't clog.  The bad news was it didn't appear to be a clog.  Which meant, we had to spend money on a new drainage motor.  We cursed the dishwasher again.  My sweet husband shipped it overnight so that the kitchen wouldn't be a huge mess for too long.  The parts arrived, and he promptly went to work taking the dishwasher apart, putting in the new motor, and trying it again.  It still didn't drain!  We, again, cursed the dishwasher while staring it and scratching our heads wondering what on earth could be wrong with with it.  He watched the water drain through some of the pipes and sat staring at the cold silver machine willing it to start working.  In a last ditch effort, he started troubleshooting all over from the beginning.  Just as my husband had nearly given up, he found a piece of pipe under the sink where the water moves up, makes an exchange and then moves back down.  It was slightly clogged.  I don't think I've ever seen a man excited about a pipe clog before!  There was a piece of plastic.  More specifically, it was a plastic cover for a 9 vault battery.  How the heck it got in there, I have no clue, but it did.  This, tiny piece of plastic was the cause of hours and hours or dishwasher work.  And finally after all my husband's hard work and money spent it is fixed!  The good news is that we can send the new motor back, we didn't need it.  And all those nights I spent silently and not so silently cursing Bosch were wasted.  I'm sorry pretty Bosch dishwasher, it wasn't your fault!

Day 6 - Menu Planning Mania

Monday started off as any other day, got up, got the kids breakfast ready(leftover sausage and fruit), got my coffee and settled down with my lap top to plan the week's menu.  I'd learned from last week that I'm too new to this wheat free diet to fly by the seat of my pants for lunches, so I thought I'd plan those as well.  I sat with a blank mind pondering what can I make for lunches that my kids will also eat.  Hmm...google!  I quickly googled "wheat free lunch ideas" or something similar.  I skimmed through the first result, not good suggestions, at all...so I went to the next.  These suggestions were clearly written with kids in mind.  "Score!" I thought to myself.  But, as I read further I realized almost every suggestion contained a highly processed alternative to a wheat substance.  Now, I'm not against using gluten free products made to replace wheat every once in a while, but I don't want to do it everyday.  I just don't like to fill our bodies with processed food, whether its gluten free or not.  Most of these suggestions were things like peanut butter and jelly on gluten free bread, homemade lunchables with gluten free crackers, sandwich wraps on gluten free tortillas, quesadillas on corn tortillas, etc.  I rolled my eyes and tried to come up with some other options.  At this point, I got frustrated with the available lists and vowed to myself to make a better one!  So, stay tuned, when I figure out how to add a link with lists of menu ideas, it will be here!
After I ambitiously planned out a week's worth of meals, we ventured off to Central Market, my favorite grocery store to buy the supplies.  The kids got balloons, I got high quality produce and yummy foods.  It was a pretty good grocery shopping experience.  At least about as good as you can expect with two small children.  But, by the time we left, my son was in the backseat complaining hungry he was, and how he needs to eat, NOW!  I looked around and quickly thought of my options.  It was already noon, and I needed to get them fed so I could start nap time with my youngest.  But, we didn't eat very healthfully over the weekend, so I decided we would find something quick at home, even if it wasn't what I had planned.  Yep, that's right, the first meal of the week and I've already ventured off the meal plan!  Life never  goes as planned.  I had a few pieces of leftover homemade pizza in the fridge still, so I quickly warmed that up with some green beans for the kids.  I ate other leftovers and we made it through lunch.
I had leftover goat cheese from the tomato soup I made last week.  Which made me think about an old recipe I had from Ina Garten for Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese.  Its delicious and so simple.  I love to roast part of a menu because you can pretty much put something in the oven, set the timer, and forget about it while you prepare the rest of the meal.  We added simply steamed broccoli and carrots and called it dinner.  My son, who has gotten a little picky, at everything on his plate, without even bargaining for fewer bites.

Day 4 & 5 - Weekend blues

I got up early to go for my Saturday morning run.  Saturday is usually my long distance day, since it's usually the only day I get to run without a stroller.  I have been running 9 miles recently.  I knew when I woke up that my body wasn't going to be able to go that far.  I thought, I'd take it easy and hopefully allow my body to get over this flare.  My goal was to run 5 miles for the day.  While my run felt better than it did on last Tuesday, I couldn't make it 5 miles.  I was starting to limp from ankle pain and I hate to run with a limp, it just causes everything else to get out of alignment and then causes further injury.  The pain is so strange.  I was trying to describe it to my husband.  My body muscles just feel exhausted and weak, while my joints feel achy, its a lot like when you have the flu, but I don't feel sick.  During my last major flare I had to stop running, and I'm terrified that will happen again, but in the meantime, I will keep trying even if it feels harder and more painful than normal!  I truly believe that continuing to exercise is a major key in keeping my arthritis under control.  But, it is much harder for me mentally and physically to get out there and continue exercising when I feel awful.  I completely understand why so many people stop when they feel like this.

In an attempt to salvage my weekend workouts, I thought I'd get up early Sunday to ride my road bike.  My thoughts were that it would at least be a lot easier on my body, but I'd still get a decent cardio workout. I woke up Sunday with such a sore back and neck that I couldn't really imagine riding my bike.  I settled for walking the dogs and doing yoga.  Yoga is amazing when I'm flaring.  If you haven't tried it, you should.  It really makes me feel a lot better, at least for the rest of the day that I do it.  My good friend and I recently did her Yoga DVD together, "Power Yoga" by Ryan Kest.  It left me feeling so much better that I ordered it of Amazon the next day.  Ryan Kest is a little goofy and looks like he should be in an 80's boys band, but the workout is fabulous!

Saturday for lunch we ate out because we were out running around. I got to eat tostados from one of my favorite Mexican food places we have here.  It's called El Paisa.  I ordered the beef tostado without sour cream and cheese.  They are so delicious!

We went to a kid's birthday party Saturday night, they served pizza, so I didn't eat and waited until we left.  We had to grab something on the way home (it was almost 9), so we stopped at Chick-fil-a.  I ended up ordering grilled chicken nuggets and a fruit cup off the kids meal!  Someone please tell my why they didn't add some sort of grilled chicken strips to the adult menu when they made it "healthier" recently!  

Sunday morning, I made a big breakfast for my family.  Hashbrowns, sausage, and scrambled eggs with Smart balance light in place of butter (it uses flax oil and doesn't contain cow's milk), and almond milk in place of milk.  It was delicious!  I wish I could tell you we also had nice big bowls of healthy fruit, but we didn't.  We should have!  But we didn't.  I wish I could tell you I added healthy veggies to the eggs, but I didn't.  

The rest of the weekend, we just ate leftovers.  I usually try to use the weekend to clean the leftovers out of the fridge.  Now, I need to start menu planning for this week! 

Day 3: Temptation Everywhere!

I woke up this morning so incredibly hungry!  I was starving.  The kind of hungry that actually hurts! I had to get my youngest to her gym class in about an hour, so I had little time left after getting everyone dressed and ready.  I was a little disappointed but all I got to eat was one of those gluten free granola bars that I made!  It is so nice to have those on hand.  I can grab one for a snack or for breakfast if I'm in a rush.  Since I've found them so useful, I thought I would share the recipe here:
5 ingredient gluten free granola bars 

I'm not going to lie, after my daughter's gym class, she asked in her sweet little 20 month old voice, "sausage peees" I'm a sucker for good manners.  I bought her a sausage biscuit from the McDonald's next door one time, and now she remembers!  I'm in trouble.  But, I was guilt stricken for not providing her with a hearty breakfast, so I grabbed her one.  Ohhh the temptation! That delicious buttery biscuit was all I could smell on the drive.  Luckily those granola bars kept me from being too hungry, so I was able to abstain.

Lunch presented another challenge, it was a classic "busy mom on the go" situation.  Immediately after my daughter's class, I had to run my son to get his allergy shots.  By the time we got back home it was lunch time, and everyone was grumpy because they were so hungry!  I have realized that I need to start menu planning for lunches too (normally I just menu plan dinner, but the diet restrictions make everything a little more challenging since I can't use my standard go-to's).  In a pinch, I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids and warmed up some leftover roasted poblano chicken and rice with veggies for me.  Funny thing is, I thought the kids would love their sandwiches, and their cucumber tomato salad, but instead they were reaching for my broccoli and rice! Why do kids always prefer what is on their mother's plate?

For dinner I made some smoked salmon and summer tomato and bell pepper soup, I've been wanting to make smoked salmon for a really long time (recipes are linked in the text).  My favorite way to eat smoked salmon is on a slice of baguette with some creme fresh, dill, and capers!  Instead of using a baguette, I used crackers made from brown rice that I found in Costco.  I happened to have a baguette in the freezer, so I sliced that up for my husband and kids.  Let me just say, it was a tad tempting staring at that soft bread all through dinner.  But, those crackers were pretty good with the salmon.  Instead of creme fresh, I used some goat's milk yogurt that I had on hand.  The soup was delicious, it is a cold soup, which isn't for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.  And the round of herbed goat's cheese in the middle gave me that creaminess that I'd been missing.

Day 2: Eating Out!

I feel like a bit of a doofus.  I realized today that I started my 30 day challenge on the wrong day!  The idea was to start on the first of August, I actually started on the 31st.  I cheated myself out of an extra day of bread and ice cream!  Now that I've cleared the air about that, and simultaneously kicked myself in the rear we can get back to the nitty gritty of the challenge.

I had the distinct pleasure of enduring dental work this morning, so I skipped breakfast. By, lunchtime I was starving!  We stopped on Corner Bakery on the way to taking the kids to the Aquarium for the day.  I was a little nervous about whether or not I would be able to find anything to eat.  I opted for the Soup/Salad combo with Tomato Soup and the chopped salad minus the cheese.  I begrudgingly gave my bread and to the kids and chowed down.

After a long day at the Aquarium we headed back home.  My plans were for everyone to eat leftovers, but I think my husband felt bad for me and went to the store to get some take home sushi!  MMMMM  no dairy or wheat in those!  And it was delicious!  Besides, what can you eat after a whole day of staring at fish?  The kids taunted me with leftover homemade pizza, but miraculously I stuck to my guns. 

I spent a good portion of today thinking about pasta.  Ohhh, how I wanted some pasta.  Google saved the day though!  I found out that Whole foods carries some gluten free pasta made from brown rice.  I may give that a whirl if I get desperate enough.  I try to avoid too much processed food as a rule, but man oh man do I love some pasta!  Stay tuned for a review of the pasta!   I think I'll put that on the menu for next week.  

All the time I spent fantasizing about fettucini and ravioli led me to wonder about whether or not Wheat is addictive.  If found this information on on Mark's Daily Apple very interesting.  Is Wheat Addictive?