Being gluten-free

Being fully immersed in the GF world (as we are), I spend a lot of time reading various blogs and articles and viewpoints geared toward the "gluten-free lifestyle". Even though it seems the food manufacturers are starting to catch on (improving labeling, using less gluten based fillers and whatnot) it still can be overwhelming if you are new to the scene. Let me give you a little background on why we are GF.

My manpanion Lee had been dealing with a variety of health issues for a number of years. These included: bumps/blisters on the soles of his feet and ankles, stomach-aches, bloating, sharp pains in the side in the middle of the night, bloody stools, chronic conjunctivitis in his eyes. After ruling out many things, including diverticulitis, IBS, and common hayfever, Lee eliminated dairy from his diet. This helped some, but he was still sick. A friend of mine from work had Celiac Disease (celiacs) and after describing his ailments to her, she suggested he try a gluten-free diet. Five years ago, being gluten-free was a lot more difficult than it is today. This was before the FDA required food manufacturers to list common allergens on their products and certain companies practiced the dangerous habit of "ingredient hiding" (Cambell's soup being one of the worst culprits). Company's would name ingredients something else as to hide the fact that they were using gluten-based fillers in their products. It made finding "safe" foods to eat very difficult.

Being the business man and habitual-researcher that he is, Lee spent several hours a week on the phone with various food manufacturers, as well as, the head of the FDA for our region. He turned in food manufacturers to the FDA for hiding dangerous ingredients weekly. Actually, I remember him receiving many coupons from companies like Cambell's for their product. Yep, he used those...not! They didn't make anything he could safely eat!

Fast forward five years to today and it isn't nearly as difficult to navigate the GF world. Look at the labels on your favorite foods and you'll find lists of common allergens listed, such as MILK, WHEAT, SOY. If you are sensitive to these items, you avoid them, simple as that. Lee has also learned through blood tests and a colonoscopy that he has celiacs. His Mom passed away several years ago from complications due to IBS and we suspect she had celiacs as well. Lee was in the late stages of Celiac Disease before he changed his diet. He developed an allergy to dairy and nuts as the result and developed a blood disorder as well. Basically by changing his diet, he elongated his life by several more years (which I couldn't be more grateful for!).

This is my 13 year old son Drake. Drake, besides being extremely intelligent, creative, and sensitive, has Asperger's Syndrome (in the Autism spectrum) and moderate A.D.H.D. Drake is an 8th grader in middle school, plays violin in the orchestra, takes an honors math class, and wants to be a math teacher and principal someday. Drake is not GF. I've read all the research, I've heard countless opinions on GF diets for autistic kids in how it's supposed to help with behavior issues and whatnot. I don't necessarily buy it. We eat GF meals for dinner at my house, but Drake still downs a bowl of cereal for breakfast and usually pizza for lunch (thank-you school lunch program). Do I think it would help him to be completely gluten-free? Not really. I shared this on facebook the other day and I mean it wholeheartedly:

"Autism to me, says that I accept my child wholly. I celebrate his differences and his quirky-ness. I advocate diversity. I am proud of his successes, no matter how small they may be. I hope he holds onto the compassion he has in his heart into adulthood. I don't think he needs "fixing". I am proud that he is my son, and sometimes I am humbled by that very same thought. "

Acceptance is all I ask for my aspie. ♥ He is phenomenal and constantly astounds me with his view of the world. ♥

Drake does not need fixing, he isn't broken. 

I learned that Drake having Asperger's meant I needed to be his biggest advocate. In order for me to be able to accomplish that, I needed to change the way I dealt with him. I had to turn up my patience a full 10 notches with Drake. He won't ever act like any other kid (nor would I want him to). He won't ever answer questions directly, and he may always need a little bit of extra help. With the help of his school guidance counselor, we signed Drake up for a study skills class with a teacher who teaches special ed. and regular classes as well. Drake never has any problem with the work from his classes (he grasps concepts immediately), he just had a little trouble getting all of his assignments turned in, that's where the study skills class comes in. He loves it! 

Full disclosure here, Drake avoids Red Dye. Actually, I have avoided it for most of my adult life as well. Red dye 40 is toxic and has no business being in food. I've watched it make kids maniacal, bouncing off the walls and whatnot. It gives Drake headaches/stomachaches and rashes when he is exposed to it. Drake will tell you, "Does that have red dye? No thanks, I'm sensitive to red dye."  Good boy. :)

Being gluten-free isn't easy. You have to get n the habit of eating clean and healthy. Don't rely on boxes of ready-made mixes claiming they are "gluten-free", you will go bankrupt quickly and you probably won't feel any better. Here are 10 things we keep in the house at all times:

1. Rice (instant or jasmine style as Lee prefers)
2. Beans (S&W has a great variety and clean manufacturing methods, no cross-contamination here!)
   a. Black
   b. Pinto
   c. Chilli 
   d. Kidney
   e. White (I love white beans blended to add thickness to soups and casseroles) 
3. Frozen Chicken Breasts (We love Costco's Kirkland brand)
4. Frozen Ground Turkey (Thank you Jennie-O, for being so GF friendly)
5. Rice Pasta (Trader Joe's still has the best tasting, we buy it in bulk!)
6. Fresh/Frozen Fruit and Vegetables (no risk of Gluten poisoning here)
7. Chex cereal (With about 8 varieties of GF friendly stuff to choose from, no one gets bored!)
8. Corn tortillas (Great substitute for hotdog buns, and oodles of GF style Mexican food)
9. GF vegetable stock (Pacific Natural Foods is still the best, but Kitchen Basics is good too)
10.Potatoes (Red, Russet, or Sweet Potatoes fill you up right)

There are so many things that are gluten-free and don't take any extra effort too, such as:

Popcorn
Lay's brand chips (most varieties, read the label)
Jello
Jello pudding too
Jennie-O turkey dogs
Gogurt
Most brands of yogurt too
Name brand soda (Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, enjoy!)
Skittles

There are also many restaurants that are happy to accommodate GF eaters too:

In and Out Burger (allergy style, wrapped in lettuce burgers, yum!)
Red Robin (featuring Udi's gluten-free buns, just ask!)
McDonald's (did you know the big restaurants all fry their fries individually, not with chicken nuggets? Good thing too, they taste pretty good!) 
To name a few
 
You can't be shy and GF, it doesn't work! Ask to read the ingredients if you're not sure. Tell them you have celiacs, chances are they know someone who has it too. We have never had anyone be rude or not willing to accommodate us.   

Being gluten-free is not a fad diet or passing faze. Being gluten-free takes enormous patience, planning, and lifestyle change. Being gluten-free will keep Lee around longer for us to love. Being gluten-free is a lifestyle, embrace it fully. :)

Oh yeah, I promised to share my favorite GF Pasta Bean Salad! Here goes:

GF Pasta Bean Salad

2 to 3 cups GF cooked rice pasta (Trader Joe's is still the best)
Half a bag of baby carrots (sliced)
One leek (chopped) or half an onion (chopped) and two celery stalks (chopped)
1 can Kidney beans (S&W), rinsed
1 can Garbanzo beans (S&W), rinsed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pinto bean seasoning
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins is GF)
Enough Italian dressing to moisten the pasta (I have light and zesty italian dressing with olive oil, it's dairy-free too!)
(optional) 1 can black olives (chopped)

 Stir all ingredients together and douse it in Italian dressing. Cover and let sit refrigerated for 1 hour. Serve.

Reflection

I want each of my friends to know that I respect and support them in all that they do. I miss all the friends/family I don't get to see everyday and think of, pray for (when asked), and wish nothing but happiness for all. What do I ask in return? Nothing. Nothing, but show the same respect to me in return. I've learned that not all of you are able to reflect my nonjudgmental, supportive, respectful attitude I have toward all and that is really a shame. I am fully aware that you are all entitled to your opinions and even to your opinions regarding me, my actions, my parenting skills, my clothes and whatnot...that is your right. I just want everyone to know that if they cannot keep those opinions that are destructive, critical, judgmental, pious to themselves, then I respectfully ask you to no longer include me as a "friend."

Sounds like one of those stupid copy and paste facebook statuses, huh? It took soooo much self-restraint last week for me not to post this as my status and fearing it would be dismissed as a stupid "copy and paste" status and be largely ignored by my 513? FB friends. Um, yeah. So, what's up? Remember all those posts I used to write about being nonjudgmental, respectful, supportive? Well, I really am like that in real life. No fronting for internet purposes here folks, I'm straight up fo' sho'! ;) Even if I don't share your beliefs or skin color or sexual orientation or viewpoint, I will not judge you and support whatever it is you believe or do. No explanations necessary. Know what I don't appreciate? When I am questioned for what I believe or think or do. I know I'm a decent person. I care deeply for people. I want to try to be better. I am raising my kids to be decent human beings. I don't need anyone in my life that can't be supportive of me as I am of them. Period.

ShE's NoT yOuR aVeRaGe Mother's Day

J. Lamb 2012

Okay blogger, I give. You refuse to let my upload pictures to anyplace, save for inside my posts. I get it, you've become difficult to work with. I have a picture here above to use for my title, but NOOOOO you have to be difficult. Fine. I'll just have to deal with it (and maybe pout just a tad).

So, what do NoT sO aVeRaGe MoM's do for Mother's Day? Well, I don't know about you, but I made my family come with me to take pictures. I followed people around and pointed out things I wanted to be cleaned as well.

I did a little leisurely shopping (sans kids). And then, I insisted upon making my family dinner. Eh, what can I say? It's all about Mom on Mother's Day, right? Well, Mom is happy when she gets to make dinner and it was darn good too. Lol.

Chicken Spinach and Garlic Soup (GF and Dairy-free of course)

2 cans reduced sodium white beans (I use S&W brand)

2 cups baby spinach (rinsed and drained)

1 can chicken

3 cloves garlic

1 qt Free Range Chicken Broth (Pacific Natural Foods brand)

1 teaspoon rosemary

2 teaspoons Worcestershire (Lea and Perrins)

 1/2 red onion (minced)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon curry


Heat oil on medium heat in your big soup pot and add onion and canned chicken . Stir occasionally. Add beans, garlic, spinach, rosemary, curry,  and about 1/2 of the chicken broth to blender. Blend well. Add blended mixture into your pot and stir to mix. Add more chicken broth if too thick and Worcestershire. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes.


Full disclosure here, I did add some leftover rice and beans to this as well and it was so yummy good! The kids were taken aback as to how green it was, but no one complained about eating so much spinach! Ha-ha!

Everyone cooperated, no one complained, and no one bickered all day. Sounds like a perfect Mother's Day to me! Hope yours was great too! ;)

So you sew?

Look at the darling baby maxi-dress I made for my little niece! Oh, and the cutie chihuahua photo bomber!

I have a childhood friend who is battling breast cancer and I made and sent this out too....

My cousin is expecting her first baby and I made this for her little one...

I also made a fun present for a friend who had recently had surgery...

So here's the haps (in case you were wondering):

I have been busy. Bleh. Not the good kind of busy where you are literally drowning in wonderful projects and people and happy thoughts with butterflies and kisses....Nope. I have been the kind of busy that pisses you off and wears you down and chokes you out with the monotony of the mundane everyday life that is really inescapable as a responsible adult. (Wow, that was a sunny thought! :P)

I have been able to sneak in a little crafty-sewy time in between all that mundane monotony of the 30 something adult with kids. (Refer to the pictures I was able to successfully upload above) Which is definitely a good thing. :)

In February I was hit with right hook of that little monster called depression. Actually, it has been looming about for a few months now and even though it is mostly manageable, sometimes it gets a bit out of hand. Maybe a lot out of hand would be more appropriate. People don't understand why you just can't be happy. Heck, I can't understand why I just can't be happy. I have a great life, a job, fantastic kids, a roof over my head, someone warm to come home to at night...I SHOULD be happy. No worries folks, I am okay. A little reflection, a little taking a step back, a lot of talking it out, and a little medication have helped.
You see, I noticed that I didn't want to do anything I normally enjoy. My blogs have all been neglected, I haven't been anxious to depart on a photo taking expedition, I've barely been on Facebook (tragedy, I know!), and I've barely sewn a thing. Sigh. Yeah, somehow all these things didn't occur to me until I was deep into the murk.

I think we're turning a corner now though. I was actually thinking of writing this post for a few days now and I have a specific location I want to capture on my next photo shoot! Even my friend invited me out a couple of weekends ago to take pictures of her family, which was fun! (and I think most of them turned out...eeek!) I also have several sewing projects lined up in the queue...yeah! :D

So, in reality I haven't disappeared or forgotten or abandoned ShE's NoT yOuR aVeRaGe MoM (you were worried,  I know... ;)). It was all an illusion...yeah, let's go with that. ;)

[ Inset photo here ]

I don't necessarily believe in New Year's resolutions. Now don't get me wrong, I can fully appreciate the effort people make in self-improvement that comes with such a notion, I, for one believe in self-improvement in everyday instead. All of this being said, I really wanted to share a little more via blog-world. I really enjoy the ability to share and express myself in this fashion. So, last week I had a little time and went to upload a picture for a post, only to discover I had successfully reached my capacity level in my picasa web album (where your uploaded pics from your blog are stored). Fail. Blame it on my 365 photo blog from last year (2011 and points forward), blame it on my need for visuals with words, blame it on blogger's piss-poor uploader for "losing" my last uploaded pictures...um, constantly, but I need to have pictures with my posts. Sigh.
What to do now though? Purging my album after saving my blog content in it's entirety (thanks to the skills of my ABC Rent-a-Geek and his html writing abilities) would be ideal and of course, a blog book from my 2011 blog would be cool too (and a great b-day present, hint...hint ;)).
For now though? I guess I'll resign myself to reusing already uploaded pictures and web photos and attempt to not be seriously annoyed by it all. Lame.

2012 Here we come!

I trust we all survived the holidays? I did, barely. Ugh. ;0) I thought I'd take a minute to share a few of the things I was able to complete (craftiness involved). The first thing I did was was to make some cloth garland for my Christmas tree. I have used recycled sparkly Christmas ribbons for a few years now and since my colors were chartreuse and red this year, I opted for something a little different. I had several remnants of Christmas themed material that a cut into wide strips (about 4 inches wide). I alternated a red swirl pattern with a vintage poinsettia print with my theme colors. I sewed all the strips together making a a long chain (about 70 feet long). I broke up the pattern by taking a small remnant of red on red snowflake material and tying knots in the middle of each fabric, as well as, the seams where I sewed the colors together. Along with my collection of red and chartreuse ball ornaments (along with some old fashioned green) and chartreuse bead garland and some over sized, old fashioned Christmas lights, the effect was gorgeous! ;0D (See picture below too!)

Christmas skirt this year! ;0) My daughter (being the girly-girl tomboy that she is, ha!) is very into pretty things. Last year I made her this dress and this year we opted for a pretty skirt instead. I picked up a remnant of stretchy velour fabric for like .97 (wow!) and a black embellished t-shirt on clearance at Target for $3. I added two inserts of black and white polka dot to the skirt out of the velour and topped them with black bows (to match the t-shirt). I made a quick head wrap and let her borrow my sparkly black cardigan (which she covets BTW). Such a cutie and look at how grown up she's getting! 

The black and white material on my daughter's skirt made an appearance here as well! This adorable dress was a present for my baby niece! I bought the top at the thrift store for a $1 and love the embroidery detail of the roses on it. I normally make empire-wasted dresses (be cause they are just so stinking cute!), but the detail was way too cute to not save. I opted for a drop-waste dress instead. I attache a skirt of b & w polka dot to the bottom and ran a ribbon and made a bow for the bottom of the shirt. I also made some matching hair bows for her little piggy tails and I love, love how cute this turned out! ;0)

All planned out...

The front of the book

The pages complete

I'm sure I mentioned that my nephew is a car freak and this year I had soooo much fun making his gift. It's a quiet book that he can take to church on Sundays and play with his cars. I actually designed and made this myself and it was so fun! The book opens to four pages flat where a road travels through a neighborhood, to the country, to the forest, and eventually ends up at the beach! It folds up and ties tight with a garage pocket in the door to store cars. I made it out of felt and backed it with a transportation-themed flannel, so if they have some felt board figures, they can be used on the book too. ;0)

~

J. Lamb 2011

I also made some journals (that didn't take a picture of, poo.) and I painted a table for my two older nieces (with a monogrammed "A" for their initials, which I didn't take a picture of either, double poo.). I did snap a picture of a quick painting I did for New Year's of night falling. Not great, but I like the colors. ;0)


I also want to express my thanks to everyone (you know who you are) who helped make this Christmas really special! You are all amazing! I was so taken aback by the generosity of my friends and family and know that I am forever indebted to you all, thank you.

~J. Lamb

Merry Christmas Mr. Offended

Ben Stein

In case you were wondering, I have mended my broken Christmas spirit somewhat. I did get my tree up, I have nearly completed my gift buying, I have plans for goody baking next week as well. I have been locked in my laundry room attempting to complete a large pile homemade gifts. I helped the kids with their gingerbread house kit too. Eh, I'm still not necessarily a fan of all the fuss and the greediness, but the spirit of giving I can appreciate.

I don't necessarily agree with the efforts of others to take the "Christ" out of Christmas. I mean what on earth is a "Holiday Tree"? I've seen mass posts being shared among my FB friends complaining about people not saying Merry Christmas anymore. I don't feel the need to yell though because I know that not everybody celebrates the holiday and that's okay. Apparently this bothers Ben Stein as well, read on:


(well said.....)

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year -- which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you.

It is quite eloquent and "searing" in reality!




The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it.

It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.

I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: Where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God ? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.

She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. (The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.) And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about -- And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

I received this in an e-mail and seeing as though I believe in God myself, I felt that it was completely worth sharing. So, Merry Christmas if that is what you celebrate and Happy Hanukkah too. And now I know why I always liked Ben Stein ;0)