Healthy Successful Pasta Salad

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Balsamic-Chicken-Pasta-Salad

I was able to take this recipe yesterday, and tweak it so that I could eat it, and make it healthy and sugar free.

I first substituted gluten free brown rice noodles for the bow tie specified in the recipe. Then I subbed coconut sugar for the brown sugar (eliminating refined sugars!). The rest of the salad I put together and it wound up tasing great!

Unfortunately it sat in 90 deg. heat for too long, and I have to toss the leftovers. But still, I have a great recipe I can use for the rest of the hot summer!

Yay!

Still Learning this Layout...

I want to have a blogroll on my page so I can let people know who I'm reading and what they have to say. So until that happens, here's a link to an excellent blog about children's diets.http://lawrencesyloucreutzojermark.com/blog/how-does-diet-affect-my-childs-behavior/

In the Land of Differing Points of View

I'm on the East coast these days, trying to find my way in my beloved James Wilson family, none of whom have discovered any food intolerances, and all of whom welcome my cooking for them.

In a family that loves shrimp, for example, how do I cook for them? Wear latex gloves, and fry myself some chicken on the side? Last night we went to the restaurant Sakura (sp) a Japanese style place that cooks your food at your table. So everyone's food gets cooked in the same 'pan' so to speak. For someone with a seafood intolerance that was an interesting adventure! But today here I am just fine, after eating my filet mignon and wishing I could have had some of that lobster....

I have a few weeks to get to know my Wilson grandkids again and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. Along the way maybe I can find some healthy foods they will eat and enjoy. I'll keep you all posted...

Still Working on the Food Thing

It's now May! Less than 3 weeks till I'm home again, starting a new chapter in my life. Exciting, and a bit stressful. But mostly exciting.

I just opened a box from Hidalgo Foods that contained 1)Coca tea, 2)Bee Pollen and 3)Gluten free cereal. Tried the coca tea, it is supposed to be a great energizer with no side effects, and no it isn't from the same place as cocaine (just in case you were wondering.)

So my life of experimenting with food products continues. I have yet to try any of them except the tea, which tastes 'planty', but not bad. Tomorrow I'm tossing the bee pollen into my smoothie, and will look forward to the results. It's supposed to eventually strengthen my resistance to any allergens that are floating around or lurking in my food.

Not sure whether to get another bread machine, since I'm going gluten free it may be a better choice than bringing the one up from Spokane. I'm going to try to make my own gluten, egg, sugar free stuff with the bread machine, and now I'm going to have time to experiment!

I get to see Jessica and Elijah, Isabelle and Chloe whom I haven't seen since the end of February. Of course, then I will miss Maddie, Brianna and Dillon, not to mention James and Cristen. "Sigh" But I'm counting my blessings.

And I get to see my little dog, who I haven't seen since February! (I miss him)

And last but not least, my hubby, who is now working away from home, but should be there by the time I land.

I'll keep you all posted on the Bee Pollen experiment ;)

I've been busy!

Flew to Severna Park MD (my son's family) at the end of February, and this is the first time I've had to really sit down and blog some more.

So here I am at the house of 'picky'. Meant with great fondness of course. Brianna won't eat vegetables or fruit or drink fruit juice, except the kind that have veggies mixed in, and only under duress. The kids are used to the seasoning that is used in the family, naturally, so when I sneak my own in, they spot it and reject it right away. So it's been a learning process since I got here last month. The family basically won't eat leftovers, so I am no longer obliged to park them in the refrigerator unless I want them. And because they are kids, Brianna and Dillon can even taste the difference in oils used to fry eggs!

So the new adventure starts! I adore my grandkids, and just want to find something healthy they will eat. Maybe by the time I go home I will be successful. I did make agave sweetened applesauce raisin muffins, only to discover that Brianna won't touch them (the fruit thing), my son hates raisins, and they are kind of 'moist'. But I have faithful Dillon, who thinks they are just fine! I'm slowly winning one convert at a time, right?

And I've even been eating some bad (for me) stuff, which sometimes gives me a headache. The culprit is bacon with all those nitrates. It's just that bacon is sooooo good!

The trip to the Bahamas looms closer (mid April,) and we all have our passports. The house is being readied for listing next week, so it's chaotic on a small scale at the moment. But there are leaves on the trees and flowers blooming, neither of which are happening at home (I've got something to smile about!)

The Story Continues

As I meandered out of the clinic with my new supplements, my mind was still whirling. No more eggs. What does this mean? No more ice cream, cake, pastry, chinese food...No more seafood, meaning no more glucosamine for my arthritis, only plant based calcium, iodine, etc. Probably no more store bought milk, because Vitamin D is added, and it's often a seafood source used for that. And the minefield expanded.

No more fruit with sugar - meaning no more Skittles (my not so secret addiction.) I finally made the decision to eliminate refined sugars from my diet. That makes life so much easier than trying to remember the last time I had fruit/sugar and if it was ok to have the other.

This discovery happened in August 2010. A year and a half later, I'm almost 30 pounds lighter, and feel better than I've felt in years. Down from a 12 to a 6-8 in skirts and pants, and from a 1x to an XL in tops (the girls are taking their time shrinking.)

As I got better, I suggested to my daughter that she go and find her food intolerances. Instead, she asked, would it be ok to have her kids tested? So now we have 4 of us with fruit/sugar combination intolerances, two with dairy, one with potato and of course me, with seafood and egg intolerance.

I've been having some fun now, figuring out how to feed the kids fun food with no dairy, potato or fruit/sugar. I've decided to eliminate sugar as much as I can, just like in my own diet, and the rest of this blogging adventure is dedicated to sharing my fun attempts at giving kids yummy food the healthy way.

Enjoy!

Intro: What is the Deal with Food Intolerance?

I'm 64. Since my early 50's I've been faced with hip replacement, arthritis in the other hip, tooth problems, insomnia (probably associated with menopause) and general fatigue. After working with MD's for years, I finally decided to try a Naturopath (ND). I made my appointment, filled out my info sheet, and trotted over, not knowing what was going to happen.

The following day, I walked in with my huge grocery bag filled with supplements, and sat down. My doctor showed me how to look at the labels on supplements, and then hit me with the news. I'm egg and seafood intolerant. Whaaaaaat? I LOVE eggs and seafood! I eat eggs almost every day (free range) and salmon at least once a week. Did this mean I could NEVER eat this stuff again? I confess I had no idea that naturopaths look at digestion first, then symptoms. Oh, and I also was not to ever have fruit and sugar together (no more strawberry shortcake!) and can only have fruit 8 hours apart from sugar. And the journey begins...