Scott, Sara and me in the midst of a terrific day. It's back-to-work Monday after a beautiful, fun, family-filled holiday. By the end of yesterday evening, my friend (and third cousin once removed!) Sara and I were commiserating about our lack of enthusiasm for the coming work week. Later in the evening, My younger son Scott was also feeling sad and though the boys have one extra day off before school starts, there was a general feeling of let down and blah about the place.
Scott tends to have fears about things, so while we were on our evening walk with the dog in our sedate and picturesque suburban neighborhood, I gave him some of my sage advice, taken from a Xena episode (and those people borrowed heavily from MANY sources): We eventually become what we pretend to be. It's also the inscription on the plaque from my martial arts instructors and pals when I got my black belt in Tae Kwon Do in 1997. I suggested to Scott that when he feels frightened that he pretend he's really the bravest boy around and that he can handle anything. By the end of the walk we both had conquered the fear of barking dogs and on-coming vehicles and hastily-approaching pedestrians and were laughing and comparing our superhero costumes, blatantly disregarding Edna Mode's "No Capes" advice. Even Bugsy the schnauzer had one. It helped and we were both feeling a little better. This morning while out on my run I remembered that the 27th anniversary of my coming out of the closet is this week. I can so vividly remember how scared and freaked out I was. I didn't have a picture in my head of what a happy gay person looked like, so in the vaccuum of it, I conjured all kinds of unpleasant outcomes for myself. If I had known then that my life now would be as healthy and happy as it is and that I would have a wonderful spouse and kids, I wouldn't have been worried at all. Finally, I reminded myself of all of the gifts in my life: An Abundance of Love, Family, Health, Purpose. What's to feel blue about? I'm putting all these things into my strategy for finding the joy in this Monday: 1) Come from a place of gratitude and accept the contribution and learning from my current situation 2) Remember where I want to be and imagine how it will feel when I make it my reality 3) Act as if I've already reached it and enjoy the experience I hope you had a great weekend too, and that your week ahead is bright. I made this video when on a trip for work, but I figure it applies if you are traveling for holiday as well, especially if you are traveling somewhere that hasn't reached the enlightened state of the Gluten Free Menu, or you are staying with hosts that mean well but don't quite get it.
In short: 1) Plan ahead. How many meals and snacks will you have for the duration? On a scale of 1 - 10, how likely are you to find gluten-free fare while you are gone? The lower the score, the more you need to plan and food you'll need to pack. Will you have easy access to a grocery store where you can pick up items you need? 2) Pack it in. Be sure to take enough food for the trip and for your first meal or snack at your destination so that you have enough time to solidify your plan on arrival. 3) Implement the plan. If you flew to your location and are renting a car, maybe you can stop at a supermarket for the things you'll need before you arrive at your final location. Maybe your mother-in-law will be making a run to the store and you can offer to ride along and then pick up a few things. For the big family meal at a restaurant, suggest a place that you've researched in advance and know has a gf menu. Chain family restaurants like Olive Garden have unthrilling gf menus that can be a definite back-up plan if you don't have a more interesting choice. If the restaurant has already been established, call in advance to discuss your options. Imagine what it will be like to get all of your meals and snacks handled, and if this part is especially challenging, pretend you are a secret agent on a mission to secure the top secret gf packages. Have fun with it! Since you've got a little food on hand that you packed, no need to freak out. 4) Enjoy your stay! Once you are secure in the knowledge that you will be able to eat safely (even if your food choices aren't thrilling, like in my video), then remember the purpose of the trip -- spending time with family, networking, or whatever. Be in the moment and have fun with it. Don't spend a bunch of time being bent out of shape that you have to do all these dietary shinanigans. Life's too short. Safe travels, and let me know how it goes! The warm and inviting Toté Bakery & Store -- much better than that which preceded it. I was first diagnosed with anemia when I was twenty. I was trying to donate blood and win tickets to a Heart concert in 1984 at the tender age of 20. I'd organized the blood drives in high school and had donated at least three times prior, so I didn't expect there to be any problem. The blood drive lady sent me away and I didn't have the nerve to ask for a chance to win the Heart tickets anyway. (No worries, I've seen them, like, four times all together.) On the way back to Stillwater from Oklahoma City, my back really started hurting. In true college student fashion, I decided to deal with it when I got home by splitting a pizza and drinking beer with my roommates. The pain increased, and long story short, I went to the hospital and it turns out I had a kidney stone. To make an even longer story shorter, I ended up being hospitalized for a week because they didn't want to remove the kidney stone which wouldn't pass without ruling out leukemia as the cause of my anemia. One good thing about the bone marrow biopsy was that it really took my mind off of the discomfort of the kidney stone, at least for the 42 seconds of excruciating pain it caused. Fortunately I didn't have cancer, they gave me an iron infusion, surgically removed the kidney stone and sent me home with instructions about all kinds of crazy things to not eat to avoid another stone. And oh yeah, take some iron.
The anemia never really went away. Every new doctor, every physical exam, the answer was, oh yeah, and take some iron. It was when I switched to a terrific young female doctor that something changed. She said, after I had taken my iron faithfully for months, "You know, something's not right here and we need to get it figured out." She sent me to a hematologist, who connected my anemia to a recent bout of GI distress. It was he who first suggested that I might have celiac disease. Blood tests and one endoscopy and biopsy later and the celiac suspicion was confirmed. I've been on the gluten free diet for more than 18 months and I feel better in many ways, but inexplicably my anemia persists. In the 28 years I've gotten used to being blamed for my anemia. Of course I was anemic when I was 20 -- I was a college student eating junk and drinking too much alcohol. Of course I was anemic through the 1990's and 2000's because I'm a vegetarian and what can I expect if I choose to not eat meat? Of course I'm anemic -- I'm a woman of reproductive age and I carelessly throw away copious amounts of blood every month. When I got the celiac diagnosis, I was both relieved to have an answer and infuriated that no one had suggested looking for a real cause until my new fabulous doctor and hematologist came along. The gf diet has been life-changing, but so far it hasn't fixed my anemia. I've been going monthly for IV iron infusions, a two-hour treatment in a chemo ward with a nice view of Washington Square Park. I decided that this cannot be the long-term solution and that I don't want to spend any more years with a big medical shrug for an anwer regarding the cause of my anemia. The hematologist and I are certain my diet is sufficiently iron rich. So at my last appointment with my GI doc at the Celiac Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, we decided to do another endoscopy (to see if I still have villious atrophy despite a strict gf diet) and a colonoscopy to see if there is some issue with my colon (I'd had a bout of colitis in 1987 -- at least that's what was diagnosed). Those procedures happened this morning, and I'll be happy to not go through that again, especially the prep, for another 10 years. Things looked good. I will call for biopsy results in a couple of weeks. Hopefully everything will come back normal. Which will leave me to continue to sleuth out the cause of my anemia. Or just continue to deal with it until menopause and see if it resolves then. There were a couple of highlights to the day. One is that it is an absolutely gorgeous day out, and while I can't operate heavy machinery, I did get to operate a rake and a pitchfork in the garden. Another was that, though the experience is generally unpleasant, I have a loving spouse who rearranged her schedule to look after me and drive me around. And the third, a biggy, was a post-procedure side trip to Toté Bakery & Store in the Italiam Market section of Philadelphia. Everyone should console themselves with gluten-free raisin challah warm from the oven after half a dozen medical professionals have colluded to drive a camera and other assorted equipment through the entire length of their alimentary canal after a day of no eating and an evening and night of -- ahem -- cleansing. I went a little crazy at Toté. In addition to the challah, I got two other kinds of gf bread (quinoa and teff), an onion roll, a piece of gf carrot cake, a couple of nutrition snack bars, and a jar of their special hot sauce. I got Jenn a thank you cannoli. The nice lady who helped me assured me that the bread freezes well, which is good, since I don't really need to eat a bunch of refined carbs non-stop -- it would be contrary to my weight management strategy -- but having them on hand for the occasional treat will be nice. I spent nearly $40, which is twice as much as my co-pay. I ate at least a third of the warm challah in the car on the way home. Worth every penny. Yes! Candle Cafe was definitely the culinary highlight of Jenn's and my recent trip to New York. It's a vegan restaurant with a dedicated gf menu and loads of stuff for the celiac and gluten intolerant crowd. It was an easy walk from the Met, casual enough that our travel-and-museum ensembles of jeans and mostly comfortable shoes were not out of place, but with enough ambiance to befit a date on Saturday night. We arrived at 7:45 pm and though the place was crowded, we lucked into getting a table right away (they don't take reservations.)
I had the Paradise Casserole: "Layers of sweet potato, black beans and millet over steamed greens with country gravy" for $16. With the gravy, it was moist and flavorful and greens were gently prepared and had loads of personality. Jenn ordered the Mediterranian wrap in a whole wheat pita for $14 followed by chocolate mousse pie. The serving sizes were generous, the prices reasonable, the service impecible, and the food was delicious! I highly recommend Candle Cafe East if you are in the vacinity of Central Park. And if you are on the Upper West Side, check out Candle Cafe West, the more swanky cousin of the original Candle Cafe. At least I think they are more swanky -- they take reservations. One lesson I learned a long time ago from Jenn (that she learned from co-worker Michael who learned it from his wife Pat) is that when you want to buy a gift for someone, you'll improve your likelihood of success if you get them somthing that is similar to something you know they already like. I think that was the key to success in our Saturday night dinner of quiche and salad. I used veggies that they like -- broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, and potatoes -- with food I know they'll eat -- eggs and cheese. Since they don't have a lot of experience with quiche and they aren't big pie lovers, the crust made of thinly sliced potatoes didn't bother them. The mushrooms were probably the deal-breaker for the kid who didn't like it so much -- lesson learned. I did leave out the pepper flakes, which I think it really needs, though I recognize that I'm a little hot for the spicy stuff. Since it's still too early for good tomatoes, I left them off, but I think the dish, in addition to being tasty, was also attractive. This isn't vegan as a concession to the tastes of the family and because I'm no whiz at replacing eggs in items that bake. I suppose a strict vegan wouldn't pick an egg-centric dish to create in the first place! Anyway, it was pretty fast to combine the ingredients and it baked up nice. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Veggie Quiche Calories: 241.2 · Fat: 14.8g · Carbohydrates: 13.1g · Protein: 15.9g 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups broccoli florets 1/2 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 carrot, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 5 mushrooms, sliced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1/8 teaspoon chili flakes 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 small red potatoes, washed and thinly sliced 1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk 6 eggs 1 medium tomato, sliced 6 ounces mozzarella cheese Preheat oven to 375º F. Blanch the broccoli. Drain and rinse in cold water. Sauté the onions, garlic and carrots in the olive oil over low heat until the onions are transparent, approximately 10 minutes. Add the peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, basil, parsley, chili flakes, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Line the bottom with the potato slices, overlapping them slightly. Whisk together the almond milk, eggs and nutritional yeast in a large bowl. Mix in the sautéed vegetables, coating everything with the eggy liquid, then pour into the potato-lined pie pan. Arrange the tomato slices on top. Bake for 1 hour, covering after 45 minutes if top browns. Completely baked quiche should be very firm. Let cool 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Makes 6 servings |
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