This week Fiona had her 12 month vaccinations and her 12 month checkup with our family doctor. At each of these appointments, there were recommendations made about what her diet should look like.
The public health nurse said that she absolutely does not need to have formula anymore. In fact, some kids who stay on formula too long, gain too much weight and that isn't good. They said she should be drinking 2-3 cups of whole milk a day, and eat a variety of dairy, meat, fruits and veggies throughout the day.
My doctor said that she only needs two servings of dairy per day and that can include formula/whole milk/cheese/yogurt/cottage cheese/etc. And that she should primarily be eating meat and veggies to ensure she doesn't become iron deficient. Also she should have 800IU of vitamin D supplement per day.
I know that there is more than one way to feed a child....and I doubt most parents/kids follow the recommendations exactly. There are days/weeks that Fiona mostly eats fruit and bread, but I feel like it is okay because she is still getting iron and other good things from her formula. But I am feeling ready to be done with formula and bottles...and honestly, I don't feel like Fiona will miss it that much. I feel like I really need to distract her to get her to take more than an ounce or two of formula, but if I give her a book or toy to hold on to, she will take 4-6 oz.
I also wonder about the public health recommendation to cut off a baby from formula at a year....like some magical switch has been flipped and they no longer need it. However, if you are nursing, you go ahead and nurse until that kid is 2+ years old. I know that breast milk and formula are not the same thing....but I just wonder why there is such a push to get them off formula once they are a year old, but if it is breastmilk you keep on drinking as much as you like! Maybe it is my slight insecurity as a formula feeding mom...but seems kind of silly to me.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2015
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Almost ONE!
Man, I sure have dropped the ball on blogging about Fiona!
Life has been busy, and I suppose there are just different priorities. I am quite active on Facebook and Instagram with updated information about my little girl....so I guess the blog has been neglected.
I don't know how in the world Fiona is going to be ONE this week. The last year has been quite the whirlwind of a rollercoaster. So many good things, and with that some challenges as well. Becoming a mom has been such an adventure.
I feel so blessed that Fiona is such a content and easy going girl. She went through a period between 7 and 9 months where she was teething and her sleep was not the best. But for the last couple of months her sleep has been AMAZING! She typically sleeps about 12-13.5 hours a night and then usually has 2 naps, but some days only one, and between her naps she usually sleeps another 3-4 hours a day. I am not sure how long this will continue, or if it is part of a growth spurt that she is going through. She is currently wearing mostly 12 month, and some 18 month clothing. She has even been wearing a pair of jeans that are 18-24 month size. She is a very tall, skinny girl, and I am curious to see how tall she is at her next checkup at the end of this month. When I weigh her on our bathroom scale, it says she is about 22lbs.
Her appetite has been up and down in the last few months. It seems that when she is actively teething, all she wants to eat is fruit, bready things (toast, cheerios, crackers, etc) and cheese. But when she isn't she is quite open to trying vegetables and meat as well. I think her favorite foods right now are grapes, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, watermelon, steak, chili, beans, Cheerios, cheddar cheese and yogurt.
She is very active. She started crawling right around 8 months old. By 9 months she was starting to pull herself up to standing and just after 10 months she started walking along furniture and walking behind anything that she could push. I still think it will be a while before she is walking independantly. She doesn't even really like to stand without support yet, so she has a ways to go, and I am okay with that.
Her favorite toys are things that aren't really toys. She loves to play with Kiwi's toys and loves to pull things out of the couple of drawers that I have given her to play with. She loves the flashlight that Jason keeps in the pouch of his wheelchair. She is starting to enjoy being read to, as long as they are short without too many words. Right now her favorites are Goodnight Moon, Snuggle Puppy and Mommy Hugs.
She is quite chatty. She doesn't really have any real words, but does say dada, mama, nana, papa, nonono, tookatooka, dootdoot...and more. I just love listening to her babble, and I look forward to hearing what she has to say when she has real words. She has the sweetest little voice. She also has quite the belly laugh.
She got her bottom middle teeth when she was between six and seven months old. Then she got her top ones next to the middle ones when she was between seven and eight months old. Then she teethed off and on for the last four months and FINALLY a week or so ago she cut tooth number five (top middle) and is working on the other top middle one but it hasn't quite come through yet. It looks like there are some getting close to the surface on the bottom as well. I hope the rest of her teeth don't take four months of teething for each tooth!
I have enjoyed the summer with Fiona. We have made a few trips to the park and she has enjoyed swinging on the swings. We have gone for plenty of walks with Kiwi and just enjoyed some time out on the back deck and lawn. I am not looking forward to winter, as Fiona becomes more mobile, but I am sure we will have some fun times playing in the snow and will maybe find some indoor play options to check out if we get too much cabin fever.
I have spent the last few weeks working on a digital photo book for Fiona's first year. Once we have her birthday party next weekend, I will add a spread for her birthday and will get it printed. It has been fun to do, and I can see making more photo books in the future. In the photo book I have included each of the monthly photos we have done of Fiona over the last year. When we started doing those photos for her first month, I assumed that we would just do as most people do, and photograph her in the same spot each month so we could see the growth that she had each month. However, as time passed we ended up doing a unique photo each month that sometimes was related to a specific skill she had mastered that month, or sometimes just something Jason or I had envisioned for the photos. I am pretty excited to do her twelve month photo this week. It is going to be a lot of fun, and be quite meaningful to us.
Life has been busy, and I suppose there are just different priorities. I am quite active on Facebook and Instagram with updated information about my little girl....so I guess the blog has been neglected.
I don't know how in the world Fiona is going to be ONE this week. The last year has been quite the whirlwind of a rollercoaster. So many good things, and with that some challenges as well. Becoming a mom has been such an adventure.
I feel so blessed that Fiona is such a content and easy going girl. She went through a period between 7 and 9 months where she was teething and her sleep was not the best. But for the last couple of months her sleep has been AMAZING! She typically sleeps about 12-13.5 hours a night and then usually has 2 naps, but some days only one, and between her naps she usually sleeps another 3-4 hours a day. I am not sure how long this will continue, or if it is part of a growth spurt that she is going through. She is currently wearing mostly 12 month, and some 18 month clothing. She has even been wearing a pair of jeans that are 18-24 month size. She is a very tall, skinny girl, and I am curious to see how tall she is at her next checkup at the end of this month. When I weigh her on our bathroom scale, it says she is about 22lbs.
Her appetite has been up and down in the last few months. It seems that when she is actively teething, all she wants to eat is fruit, bready things (toast, cheerios, crackers, etc) and cheese. But when she isn't she is quite open to trying vegetables and meat as well. I think her favorite foods right now are grapes, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, watermelon, steak, chili, beans, Cheerios, cheddar cheese and yogurt.
She is very active. She started crawling right around 8 months old. By 9 months she was starting to pull herself up to standing and just after 10 months she started walking along furniture and walking behind anything that she could push. I still think it will be a while before she is walking independantly. She doesn't even really like to stand without support yet, so she has a ways to go, and I am okay with that.
Her favorite toys are things that aren't really toys. She loves to play with Kiwi's toys and loves to pull things out of the couple of drawers that I have given her to play with. She loves the flashlight that Jason keeps in the pouch of his wheelchair. She is starting to enjoy being read to, as long as they are short without too many words. Right now her favorites are Goodnight Moon, Snuggle Puppy and Mommy Hugs.
She is quite chatty. She doesn't really have any real words, but does say dada, mama, nana, papa, nonono, tookatooka, dootdoot...and more. I just love listening to her babble, and I look forward to hearing what she has to say when she has real words. She has the sweetest little voice. She also has quite the belly laugh.
She got her bottom middle teeth when she was between six and seven months old. Then she got her top ones next to the middle ones when she was between seven and eight months old. Then she teethed off and on for the last four months and FINALLY a week or so ago she cut tooth number five (top middle) and is working on the other top middle one but it hasn't quite come through yet. It looks like there are some getting close to the surface on the bottom as well. I hope the rest of her teeth don't take four months of teething for each tooth!
I have enjoyed the summer with Fiona. We have made a few trips to the park and she has enjoyed swinging on the swings. We have gone for plenty of walks with Kiwi and just enjoyed some time out on the back deck and lawn. I am not looking forward to winter, as Fiona becomes more mobile, but I am sure we will have some fun times playing in the snow and will maybe find some indoor play options to check out if we get too much cabin fever.
I have spent the last few weeks working on a digital photo book for Fiona's first year. Once we have her birthday party next weekend, I will add a spread for her birthday and will get it printed. It has been fun to do, and I can see making more photo books in the future. In the photo book I have included each of the monthly photos we have done of Fiona over the last year. When we started doing those photos for her first month, I assumed that we would just do as most people do, and photograph her in the same spot each month so we could see the growth that she had each month. However, as time passed we ended up doing a unique photo each month that sometimes was related to a specific skill she had mastered that month, or sometimes just something Jason or I had envisioned for the photos. I am pretty excited to do her twelve month photo this week. It is going to be a lot of fun, and be quite meaningful to us.
Monday, February 09, 2015
On the Move
Fiona rolled over for the first time when she was around three months old. She has done it occasionally since then. I wondered if she would ever decide that she liked rolling, or figure out she could roll places....and in the last week or so she has just taken off with her rolling. Not that she can get anywhere very fast, but if you put her down, she will roll. It is truely amazing how quickly babies change and grow and develop.
I am certain that Fiona has just had a bit of a growth spurt. Suddenly most of her 6 month sized sleepers and onesies are too short in the sleeve. I put her in a 9 month sleeper for bed last night and it fit quite comfortably with a bit of room to spare. She is such a tall skinny girl. It is going to be tough to find clothes that fit her well. It seems that some brands cater to short chubby babies, and others do a better job with the tall skinny ones. At this point 6 month pants are way too short on her, and the 9 month pants are a good length but are too big in the waste. I am finding that Carter's clothes tend to fit her best. Walmart and Joe Fresh brands tend to be pretty bad.
Her eating has been going well. I think her absolute favorite so far has been cucumber. I am not sure if that is because she likes it, or if it is just kind of the perfect texture that she can easily hold on to, but still chew bits off of. She has pretty well flat out refused spoon feeding now.....so though I expected to do a bit of spoon feeding along with finger foods....I guess finger foods it will be. It will be a bit limited until she masters her pincer grip (thumb and pointer finger)....hopefully in another month or so. So far she has tried carrot, broccoli, cucumber, sweet potato, chicken, beef, egg, snap peas, bell peppers, avocado, apple, banana, oatmeal, rice crackers, toast, pineapple....I think that is it. I tried to give her a taste of our curried chickpea soup on Saturday but she didn't want me to spoon feed her....I got a tiny bit in her mouth, and I think maybe that was a bit too intense of a flavor considering most of what she has tried so far is pretty bland.
Tonight Fiona is spending the night at my mom and dad's house. I think they are excited to have her, especially since she is such a good little sleeper. I hope she is good for them! Jason and I wanted an evening to go out for supper and just spend some time together. It is kind of strange to be here without her.....I do miss her a bit....but it is a nice break.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Baby Led Weaning
I don't really like the term 'baby led weaning'. It feels misleading to me. I would call it 'self feeding' or 'baby led eating'.
We are starting to dabble in feeding our baby solids! I know she is just over 5 months old, but our attempts at giving her some food has been successful so far, so I think we will continue on.
Baby led weaning is a different approach to feeding a baby, than what is typically used. You skip the purees and go right to feeding your baby finger foods. So far, Fiona has tried broccoli, apple and carrot. I think for supper tonight we will let her try some sweet potato and probably some more broccoli.
I read/skimmed through the book "Baby-Led Weaning" by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. It reassured me about the fact that babies don't need to eat a whole lot in the first few months, as they are still getting most of their nutrition from formula or breast milk. So, when you watch a baby eating finger foods early on, probably very little will actually go down their throats, but that is okay.
I was a bit concerned about choking, but after reading the book I have a better understanding of the physiology of eating. Basically, babies who eat purees learn to swallow before they learn to chew. And with BLW, babies learn to chew before they swallow. So early on, they will chew food and most of it will get drooled/gagged back out. Also, the gag reflex of a baby is a lot further forward than an child/adult. So a bigger piece of food doesn't need to get very far back on their tongue before their gag reflex kicks in and should move it forward. It is unpleasant to watch a baby gagging, but gagging actually helps them not choke.
Also, it is not necessary for a baby to have teeth to do this. You start out giving them vegetables/fruits that have been steamed so they are soft enough to gum. As for meat, they will probably mostly just suck on it intially but will figure out how gum pieces off.
This appeals to me because it will allow Fiona to eat what we are eating. Intially we may need to leave out unseasoned pieces of food for her, but she should be able to eat pieces of meat and vegetables that we are having for supper. Once she develops the ability to use a pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger) it will make the options a lot more varied. In the beginning you have to start out with food that a baby can hold with a fist and still eat, so food that can be cut in to strips or sticks.
Monday, September 24, 2012
My Not So Gluten Free Weekend
I started to do some research last week about how long a person should do an elimination diet before you notice a change. Everything I have read said that six weeks should be more than enough time to see a change if you are going to. Today would have been six weeks gluten free.
I have been asked by a number of people over the last six weeks if I have noticed a change in how I feel. Each time I thought about it, and tried my best to find something that was different, I couldn't. I felt pretty much exactly the same. My energy levels were the same, my digestion felt about the same, my thyroid didn't seem to be making leaps and bounds in the right direction (though I did get a call after my last blood work a couple of weeks ago that my levels are back in the normal range, so I am to keep on the same dose of medication and do blood work again in a month). I really think that has more to do with the medication than the diet.
In my research I also found that once you have cut something out of your diet for a period of time, that you can 'test the waters' so to speak by eating some of the product and see how your body reacts to it. I decided to test this out this weekend, mainly because we were invited to the Samurai for supper for a friend's birthday on Saturday. I figured at a place like that where they are bound to use soy sauce and other gluten filled sauces to cook everyone's food on the same grill, right in front of you, that there was bound to be gluten at least in the form of cross contamination. I decided to take my chances. I made that decision on Friday, and Friday afternoon, one of my clients just happened to bring me a decadent cupcake from Crave in Saskatoon. I figured since I would be testing things out on Saturday at the Samurai that I might as well eat the delicious looking cupcake that my client so kindly brought me for dessert on Friday evening.
I ate the cupcake and felt rather nauseated afterward. However, I chalked that up to the ridiculous quantity of icing on top of the cupcake. I ended up feeling kind of crampy and uncomfortable during the night but again kind of chalked that up to the richness of the cupcake. After that passed I felt fine all day. We had an AMAZING supper at the Samurai and again, I felt just fine. I felt great on Sunday, so after church we decided to BBQ our last package of premade hamburger patties that we made in the spring (with soda crackers in them) and I had it on a wheat bun. I still feel fine. So I think after six weeks of gluten free eating, I am going to go back to eating gluten. I just don't think that my body is benefiting from the gluten free lifestyle. I am sure that it wouldn't hurt me, but it is definitely inconvenient.
As for the whole thyroid/autoimmune disease/etc. I don't know. I have another appointment with my thyroid doctor next week, so maybe I will ask her what she knows about gluten free diets in regards to autoimmune diseases. I do not count this as a failure, I just wanted to give it an honest try, and I feel like I did.
I have been asked by a number of people over the last six weeks if I have noticed a change in how I feel. Each time I thought about it, and tried my best to find something that was different, I couldn't. I felt pretty much exactly the same. My energy levels were the same, my digestion felt about the same, my thyroid didn't seem to be making leaps and bounds in the right direction (though I did get a call after my last blood work a couple of weeks ago that my levels are back in the normal range, so I am to keep on the same dose of medication and do blood work again in a month). I really think that has more to do with the medication than the diet.
In my research I also found that once you have cut something out of your diet for a period of time, that you can 'test the waters' so to speak by eating some of the product and see how your body reacts to it. I decided to test this out this weekend, mainly because we were invited to the Samurai for supper for a friend's birthday on Saturday. I figured at a place like that where they are bound to use soy sauce and other gluten filled sauces to cook everyone's food on the same grill, right in front of you, that there was bound to be gluten at least in the form of cross contamination. I decided to take my chances. I made that decision on Friday, and Friday afternoon, one of my clients just happened to bring me a decadent cupcake from Crave in Saskatoon. I figured since I would be testing things out on Saturday at the Samurai that I might as well eat the delicious looking cupcake that my client so kindly brought me for dessert on Friday evening.
I ate the cupcake and felt rather nauseated afterward. However, I chalked that up to the ridiculous quantity of icing on top of the cupcake. I ended up feeling kind of crampy and uncomfortable during the night but again kind of chalked that up to the richness of the cupcake. After that passed I felt fine all day. We had an AMAZING supper at the Samurai and again, I felt just fine. I felt great on Sunday, so after church we decided to BBQ our last package of premade hamburger patties that we made in the spring (with soda crackers in them) and I had it on a wheat bun. I still feel fine. So I think after six weeks of gluten free eating, I am going to go back to eating gluten. I just don't think that my body is benefiting from the gluten free lifestyle. I am sure that it wouldn't hurt me, but it is definitely inconvenient.
As for the whole thyroid/autoimmune disease/etc. I don't know. I have another appointment with my thyroid doctor next week, so maybe I will ask her what she knows about gluten free diets in regards to autoimmune diseases. I do not count this as a failure, I just wanted to give it an honest try, and I feel like I did.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Jelly Time
After picking at least 20lbs of tiny crab apples (the biggest ones are the size of a cherry!) yesterday I decided to pick up some basic equipment and try my hand at making jelly. I wasn't sure how to suspend the jelly bags to let the juice drip from the pulp, but my very smart hubby came up with this rig. It is some of his photography lighting equipment. Ingenious! It works so well, and was so simple that I think I will boil up some more apples later to make some more juice so I can make more jelly in one round.
I was pleased to see the colour of the juice. I wasn't sure what I was expecting from these very dark red apples, but was happy to see that my jelly will be a nice deep red colour. I look forward to trying it. I tasted the juice, just to see how it tastes, and it does taste like apple, very sour apple, but apple. I think as long as it jells, it will make a fine product!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Ladybugs
I decided to pick some crab apples from our tree this morning. When I was kneeling on the ground, picking from some of the lower branches I looked down and saw a number of ladybugs in the grass as well as a few crawling on my pants. It must be ladybug season. There are so many of them!
I am going to try my hand at crab apple jelly. I know that the apples on our tree are considered ornamental but there are so many that I figured I had better pick some or they will just rot on the tree/ground. They are such tiny apples. The biggest ones are about the size of a large cherry. I have cut into them and tasted them and they are sour, but not bitter or completely unpleasant. I imagine it will take a lot of apples, and a lot of sugar to make something palatable, but I am going to try.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Gluten Free Baking
I am thinking where I might struggle most with this lifestyle change is when it comes to snacks. I am glad to see that my favorite multigrain tortilla chips (Food Should Taste Good brand from Costco) are actually certified gluten free. I ventured to Bulk Barn on the weekend and picked up a few GF flours, rice pasta, quinoa and kasha. I had never heard of kasha (it is buckwheat, which is GF), but thought it looked like it might make a nice subsitute for steel cut oats. I have no idea what buckwheat tastes like, but thought I might cook it up for breakfast sometime.
I decided to try making some muffins the other night. I had done a bit browsing at recipes and saw a couple that called for almond flour. I didn't realize that almond flour is just ground almonds. I decided to try this recipe and for a first try at GF baking, I think they are great. However, I don't think I would use a recipe that calls for only almond flour. There is a lot of fat in nuts, so the muffins have an oily taste to them.
I was itching to try the GF all purpose flour I had found at Bulk Barn. I tracked down a highly rated GF Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I think that the recipe came together well. It looked similar to other chocolate chip cookie doughs. I would say that it was definitely a little stickier than usual, but they baked up nicely. I have to caution you, when you are using GF flour, DO NOT taste the dough. I don't know how the magic happens, but the cookies don't taste bad, the dough tastes awful! I tasted the cookies last night and thought they tasted funny, but Jay figured they taste pretty decent. I tried another one this morning once I had the awful taste of the dough away from my brain and the flavor is just fine. I think there might be a tiny bit of an aftertaste, but it's not bad. I think I will tuck them into the freezer for emergency snacks :)
I read a blog post last night about making your own GF all purpose flour mix. The lady who wrote the blog said it was her mission to create a mixture that gave good texture to baked goods, but also tasted good, whether as dough, or when baked. She discovered that she did not care for the taste of garbonzo bean flour (or chickpea flour) and looking at the stuff I got, that is actually the top of the list of flours used in it. She found that they tend to have a strong flavor that is often hard to mask. At some point I may go back to Bulk Barn, or possibly Nutters and buy some larger quantities of different flours and use a 'recipe' to mix up a good all purpose GF flour. Definitely a learning curve...
I decided to try making some muffins the other night. I had done a bit browsing at recipes and saw a couple that called for almond flour. I didn't realize that almond flour is just ground almonds. I decided to try this recipe and for a first try at GF baking, I think they are great. However, I don't think I would use a recipe that calls for only almond flour. There is a lot of fat in nuts, so the muffins have an oily taste to them.
I was itching to try the GF all purpose flour I had found at Bulk Barn. I tracked down a highly rated GF Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I think that the recipe came together well. It looked similar to other chocolate chip cookie doughs. I would say that it was definitely a little stickier than usual, but they baked up nicely. I have to caution you, when you are using GF flour, DO NOT taste the dough. I don't know how the magic happens, but the cookies don't taste bad, the dough tastes awful! I tasted the cookies last night and thought they tasted funny, but Jay figured they taste pretty decent. I tried another one this morning once I had the awful taste of the dough away from my brain and the flavor is just fine. I think there might be a tiny bit of an aftertaste, but it's not bad. I think I will tuck them into the freezer for emergency snacks :)
I read a blog post last night about making your own GF all purpose flour mix. The lady who wrote the blog said it was her mission to create a mixture that gave good texture to baked goods, but also tasted good, whether as dough, or when baked. She discovered that she did not care for the taste of garbonzo bean flour (or chickpea flour) and looking at the stuff I got, that is actually the top of the list of flours used in it. She found that they tend to have a strong flavor that is often hard to mask. At some point I may go back to Bulk Barn, or possibly Nutters and buy some larger quantities of different flours and use a 'recipe' to mix up a good all purpose GF flour. Definitely a learning curve...
Monday, August 13, 2012
My first day gluten free
I will preface this by saying that I am not going to do this every day, but I thought I would write about what I actually ate today. I don't feel deprived yet, which is good, but I think most people don't feel too bad after their first day of a 'diet'.
Breakfast:
I woke up and had a banana before I worked out. I am very particular about bananas, and even if they are a litle bit over ripe I am not usually a fan. The one today was perfectly sweet and firm but not crunchy. After my workout I whipped up an egg white omlette. We have some veggies prepped in the fridge, which helps a LOT when it comes to wanting to eat them. I cut up a bit of onion, red and yellow peppers and broccoli. I sauteed it up then added the equivalent of four egg whites as well as a teaspoon or so of chili powder. It came together quite nicely. I am usually one who likes ketchup with my eggs, but I think that is often because they are lacking in flavor. The chili powder was just the right amount of kick and flavor that made me feel okay with not adding ketchup.
On a side note, I figure that I will probably be eating more eggs now that my breakfast options are a little more limited, so I bought a few cartons of egg whites so that I am not eating so many yolks and all the cholesterol. I am not too concerned about a yolk here or there, but don't want to overdo it.
Lunch:
On the advice of Lauralea (who is also a fairly new gluten free eater) I bought a package of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake and Biscuit Mix. On her food blog she whittled down the recipe on the package to make a single serving (one large or two smaller) of pancakes. She said that she will often use them to make a sandwich if she is going to be away from home during meal time. I thought I would give it a try. I made one large pancake and wasn't in the mood for peanut butter and jam, so I checked the fridge and made a tuna salad sandwich with a pancake in place of bread. It wasn't bad. It was unique. A piece of advice that one of my GF friends on Facebook gave me today, don't compare GF to non GF things. Try new recipes. GF is never going to taste the same, so learn to make different things that are just as good, but different. So I had my pancake and tuna sandwich with half a plate full of fresh veggies.
We had Jason and Jenn over this morning for a while and they brought me some GF chocolate 'muffins' that their friend, a pastry chef, had made. I tried one for dessert with lunch. Oh my goodness! They are so rich. I typically have no problems packing away sweets, but I had to get Jay to help me finish it! It kind of reminded me of a brownie that was really gooey in the middle. Yum!
Supper:
We planned to make a pan of potatoes, carrots and onions to go on the barbeque. We also did up a nice Costco sized new york steak for us to share. What a delicious supper! Jay even commented, if this is gluten free eating, sign me up. Haha! Oh yeah, we also picked up some nice asparagus at the grocery store on the weekend which was a nice addition.
So, day one is drawing to a close and I feel good far. I have a lead on some GF pizza in the city and look forward to finding some new recipes to try.
Breakfast:
I woke up and had a banana before I worked out. I am very particular about bananas, and even if they are a litle bit over ripe I am not usually a fan. The one today was perfectly sweet and firm but not crunchy. After my workout I whipped up an egg white omlette. We have some veggies prepped in the fridge, which helps a LOT when it comes to wanting to eat them. I cut up a bit of onion, red and yellow peppers and broccoli. I sauteed it up then added the equivalent of four egg whites as well as a teaspoon or so of chili powder. It came together quite nicely. I am usually one who likes ketchup with my eggs, but I think that is often because they are lacking in flavor. The chili powder was just the right amount of kick and flavor that made me feel okay with not adding ketchup.
On a side note, I figure that I will probably be eating more eggs now that my breakfast options are a little more limited, so I bought a few cartons of egg whites so that I am not eating so many yolks and all the cholesterol. I am not too concerned about a yolk here or there, but don't want to overdo it.
Lunch:
On the advice of Lauralea (who is also a fairly new gluten free eater) I bought a package of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake and Biscuit Mix. On her food blog she whittled down the recipe on the package to make a single serving (one large or two smaller) of pancakes. She said that she will often use them to make a sandwich if she is going to be away from home during meal time. I thought I would give it a try. I made one large pancake and wasn't in the mood for peanut butter and jam, so I checked the fridge and made a tuna salad sandwich with a pancake in place of bread. It wasn't bad. It was unique. A piece of advice that one of my GF friends on Facebook gave me today, don't compare GF to non GF things. Try new recipes. GF is never going to taste the same, so learn to make different things that are just as good, but different. So I had my pancake and tuna sandwich with half a plate full of fresh veggies.
We had Jason and Jenn over this morning for a while and they brought me some GF chocolate 'muffins' that their friend, a pastry chef, had made. I tried one for dessert with lunch. Oh my goodness! They are so rich. I typically have no problems packing away sweets, but I had to get Jay to help me finish it! It kind of reminded me of a brownie that was really gooey in the middle. Yum!
Supper:
We planned to make a pan of potatoes, carrots and onions to go on the barbeque. We also did up a nice Costco sized new york steak for us to share. What a delicious supper! Jay even commented, if this is gluten free eating, sign me up. Haha! Oh yeah, we also picked up some nice asparagus at the grocery store on the weekend which was a nice addition.
So, day one is drawing to a close and I feel good far. I have a lead on some GF pizza in the city and look forward to finding some new recipes to try.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
The Thyroid Saga Continues
About a month or so ago I started to notice that I was losing more hair than usual. I started to wonder if maybe my thyroid had gone hypo again. That's the only time I noticed hair loss, was when it was low a couple of years ago. I decided to give it a couple of weeks then go for blood work. I figured if something was wrong, my doctor would call, which she usually does and adjust my medication. I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks so assumed that maybe it was just my imagination and since I had an appointment scheduled with her for the beginning of August that I would ask her about the hair loss then. She actually did call me a couple of days ago (I am assuming that maybe she was away on holidays in July) and ended up leaving a message that said I should call her because my medication needed adjusting, but because I was due to see her today, I just decided rather than playing phone tag that I would just wait to see her.
Sure enough, my thyroid has gone hypo or low. Not by much, but enough to make my hair want to jump off of my head apparently. The plan is to cut my medication back by half, and for me to go for blood work again in a month. We will keep a close eye on it this time, so it does not end up hyper again, like it did when she cut the medication back last summer.
I made a comment on Facebook about my thyroid woes and received a comment from one of my friends who also has thyroid problems. She said she has done a fair bit of research and has found that for her it has been very beneficial to start a gluten free diet. I have read a few websites today and it really does seem to make sense. Most thyroid disease is caused by an autoimmune attack on the thyroid. What I am reading is that a good number of people with autoimmune thyroid disease also have gluten sensitivity or intolerance which can cause autoimmune problems in the body. So by treating the cause of the autoimmune reaction you can reduce the severity of the body's reaction toward your thyroid.
I know most people hear gluten free diet and think "Oh my goodness, I could never do that!" I think that if I do decide to try that route, it will certainly be challenging. I think there are foods that I will miss. However, there is no food that tastes better than being healthy feels.
Sure enough, my thyroid has gone hypo or low. Not by much, but enough to make my hair want to jump off of my head apparently. The plan is to cut my medication back by half, and for me to go for blood work again in a month. We will keep a close eye on it this time, so it does not end up hyper again, like it did when she cut the medication back last summer.
I made a comment on Facebook about my thyroid woes and received a comment from one of my friends who also has thyroid problems. She said she has done a fair bit of research and has found that for her it has been very beneficial to start a gluten free diet. I have read a few websites today and it really does seem to make sense. Most thyroid disease is caused by an autoimmune attack on the thyroid. What I am reading is that a good number of people with autoimmune thyroid disease also have gluten sensitivity or intolerance which can cause autoimmune problems in the body. So by treating the cause of the autoimmune reaction you can reduce the severity of the body's reaction toward your thyroid.
I know most people hear gluten free diet and think "Oh my goodness, I could never do that!" I think that if I do decide to try that route, it will certainly be challenging. I think there are foods that I will miss. However, there is no food that tastes better than being healthy feels.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Saboroso
I decided a few weeks ago that I would like to go to the new restaurant in Saskatoon for my birthday, Saboroso Brazillian Steakhouse. I called 2-3 weeks ago to make a reservation and we went this evening. I have to say that they did an amazing job with the decor in that place. It has a great feel, and we got to sit next to the open fireplace wall thingy and so we were toasty warm!
We opted to have the all you can eat meat. The way it works is that you can go get salad/potatoes/veggies/cheese/bread etc from a salad bar type thing, then there are a number of people called gauchos that come around to your table with different offerings of meat on a skewer/sword type deal. I have to say that all of the meats were quite good. Some were definitely better than others, and my only big complaint is that everything was really salty. I think if I went back I would not be shy about asking for slices of meat from the inside of the chunk of meat rather than the outside where all the salt/seasonings are. They also have roasted pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon on it that is really good.
It was a good choice for a birthday supper, and I think it would be fun to go back with a group of friends. However, at $35/person it will not be a regular hangout for us.
We opted to have the all you can eat meat. The way it works is that you can go get salad/potatoes/veggies/cheese/bread etc from a salad bar type thing, then there are a number of people called gauchos that come around to your table with different offerings of meat on a skewer/sword type deal. I have to say that all of the meats were quite good. Some were definitely better than others, and my only big complaint is that everything was really salty. I think if I went back I would not be shy about asking for slices of meat from the inside of the chunk of meat rather than the outside where all the salt/seasonings are. They also have roasted pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon on it that is really good.
It was a good choice for a birthday supper, and I think it would be fun to go back with a group of friends. However, at $35/person it will not be a regular hangout for us.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Baking up a storm!
I have been going a little crazy with baking lately. This week alone I made chocolate chip cookies, peppernuts, multigrain buns and lemon bars. Fortunately, most of the cookies, peppernuts and buns made it into the freezer before I could sample too many of them. The lemon bars are for dessert for supper tomorrow.
We are making a practice turkey so we will know exactly how to make our Christmas turkey perfect (we are hosting my family, all 16 of them, again this Christmas). I must admit that I spend a bit of time each day reading recipes from the website Tastespotting. On occasion I will bookmark a recipe and come back to it if we are looking to try something new. In one of my sessions, I came across the concept of brining a turkey. I did some more research into it and decided I wanted to try it because I had read that it makes the turkey juicy and tender and delicious. I was informed by a client at work that they sell a brining kit at Costco, so last time we were out there I picked one up. The kit included a bag of sea salt with seasonings in it, a gigantic brining bag (for a turkey up to 24lbs!) and a spice rub to put on the bird before you roast it. Today I brined the turkey for eight hours. I just rinsed it and put it back in the roaster in the garage to await the oven tomorrow afternoon. With the turkey we are having some of my fresh home made buns and an Asian cabbage salad. We decided we didn't need to do a big turkey dinner for just the three of us, so that is the menu we settled on.
I decided I wanted to have something for dessert, since we had invited a friend to join us for supper. When I stopped today to pick up some bean sprouts for the salad (that I forgot to buy the other night) I saw some fresh lemons and felt inspired to make something lemony. I have to confess that I am not a lover of lemons. I would say in most instances I prefer lemon as more of a savory flavor than a sweet one. The exception of course is lemon meringue pie...yum!
I only bought two lemons because I didn't have any specific recipes in mind. When I came home I thought about the frozen tart shells I have, and thought about making lemon curd to go in them, but I didn't have nearly enough lemons or eggs, so I scratched that. After probably spending a good hour sorting through lemon recipes on Tastespotting, I narrowed it down to blueberry lemon crumb bars (which I would probably make with saskatoon berries since I still have some in the freezer from the summer) and lemon bars. I decided to go withe the lemon bars. After they were baked and cooled I decided we should probably taste them to make sure they weren't gross before feeding them to our guest tomorrow. I was pleasantly surprised. They don't look quite as pretty as the ones that are on the website, however they taste like a thin layer of lemon pie filling on top of a nice firm, crispy/flaky shortbread crust.
I have been amazed by a few recipes that we have made that call for lemon zest. It is chock full of delicious lemon flavor. I think it tastes even better and more pleasant in recipes than even the fresh lemon juice does. On the other hand I have tried making muffins with orange zest and I don't care for the taste of it. Not sure if I have ever done lime zest, but I think I would like that too. Mmm, I bet those lemon bars would be awesome as lime bars. Oooh, I will have to keep that in mind for next time!
I have really been enjoying baking, but I have to say I need to get back to working out regularly or these extra calories are going to start sticking to places I don't want them!!
We are making a practice turkey so we will know exactly how to make our Christmas turkey perfect (we are hosting my family, all 16 of them, again this Christmas). I must admit that I spend a bit of time each day reading recipes from the website Tastespotting. On occasion I will bookmark a recipe and come back to it if we are looking to try something new. In one of my sessions, I came across the concept of brining a turkey. I did some more research into it and decided I wanted to try it because I had read that it makes the turkey juicy and tender and delicious. I was informed by a client at work that they sell a brining kit at Costco, so last time we were out there I picked one up. The kit included a bag of sea salt with seasonings in it, a gigantic brining bag (for a turkey up to 24lbs!) and a spice rub to put on the bird before you roast it. Today I brined the turkey for eight hours. I just rinsed it and put it back in the roaster in the garage to await the oven tomorrow afternoon. With the turkey we are having some of my fresh home made buns and an Asian cabbage salad. We decided we didn't need to do a big turkey dinner for just the three of us, so that is the menu we settled on.
I decided I wanted to have something for dessert, since we had invited a friend to join us for supper. When I stopped today to pick up some bean sprouts for the salad (that I forgot to buy the other night) I saw some fresh lemons and felt inspired to make something lemony. I have to confess that I am not a lover of lemons. I would say in most instances I prefer lemon as more of a savory flavor than a sweet one. The exception of course is lemon meringue pie...yum!
I only bought two lemons because I didn't have any specific recipes in mind. When I came home I thought about the frozen tart shells I have, and thought about making lemon curd to go in them, but I didn't have nearly enough lemons or eggs, so I scratched that. After probably spending a good hour sorting through lemon recipes on Tastespotting, I narrowed it down to blueberry lemon crumb bars (which I would probably make with saskatoon berries since I still have some in the freezer from the summer) and lemon bars. I decided to go withe the lemon bars. After they were baked and cooled I decided we should probably taste them to make sure they weren't gross before feeding them to our guest tomorrow. I was pleasantly surprised. They don't look quite as pretty as the ones that are on the website, however they taste like a thin layer of lemon pie filling on top of a nice firm, crispy/flaky shortbread crust.
I have been amazed by a few recipes that we have made that call for lemon zest. It is chock full of delicious lemon flavor. I think it tastes even better and more pleasant in recipes than even the fresh lemon juice does. On the other hand I have tried making muffins with orange zest and I don't care for the taste of it. Not sure if I have ever done lime zest, but I think I would like that too. Mmm, I bet those lemon bars would be awesome as lime bars. Oooh, I will have to keep that in mind for next time!
I have really been enjoying baking, but I have to say I need to get back to working out regularly or these extra calories are going to start sticking to places I don't want them!!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Brown Bread Recipe
I have tried my hand a few times in the last year at baking bread. I have mostly done partially whole wheat bread, I think I have only done white bread once. I am not sure why I haven't made fully whole wheat bread yet, but I haven't run across too many recipes for 100% whole wheat bread. After trying a few recipes and not loving any of them, I put a request out on Facebook for anyone who was willing to share a good tried and true whole wheat bread recipe. My cousin Lori said she would send me her recipe which was her mother-in-law's (my aunt Judy's recipe), which they had rewritten to make two loaves of bread (I think the original made 6 loaves).
I am pleased to say that I have really been enjoying baking bread. Even with my couple of flops (undercooked loaves my first attempt, then a couple of batches of burned buns....), I am enjoying it. I love to mix it up then put it somewhere and check back on it and find that it has risen well. I think punching the dough down is fun and watching it deflate. I like forming loaves of bread and baking them until they are beautiful golden brown with a light crispy crust. Yum!
I am going to share the recipe, and some ideas for possibly changing it up in the future. The recipe came to me with a list of ingredients and a temperature and time for baking, but no directions of how to assemble it. I took my previous experiences and was able to make some pretty looking bread, and I have to say it tastes good too!
Wheat Bread
Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
1 heaping tbsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup ground flax seed
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 to 3 1/2 cups white flour
Directions:
Mix yeast and sugar into warm water and let stand for about 10 minutes until it is frothy. Add oil, molasses, salt and egg. Stir in flax and whole wheat flour. Stir in white flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a dough that is not too sticky. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic (or use a Kitchen Aid mixer to do all the mixing and kneading for you). Once you are done kneading, put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat it with oil. Then cover the bowl (I use a piece of wax paper and a tea towel, because one time I just used a tea towel and the dough stuck to it really bad!) and put it in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until it's doubled. Punch it down and form the dough into loaves and put them in greased loaf pans and cover them and let them rise for another 45 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 350C and bake for 30 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Turn it out onto a cooling rack immediately to cool.
I think that when I make it again at some point I am going to experiment with putting more whole wheat flour and less white flour in it. I really do like 100% whole wheat bread and I know it's better for you that way. I would also like to play with adding some other whole grains to it. I love multi-grain bread and I think it would be a lovely thing to try.
A trick that I read about for allowing bread to rise quickly and efficiently is to turn on your oven to about 200F for about a minute or so, just until the oven heats up a little bit. Then turn it off and put your bowl of dough in there to rise. I also recently heard someone mention they put their dough in the dishwasher shortly after it had been run and emptied out. So it was still nice and warm inside. I think you need to be careful that you don't put it in a place that is too warm, so it doesn't kill the yeast.
I took a couple of pictures as I made the bread so you could see how pretty it looked. The first two are just before I put it in the oven to bake. When I put the dough in the pans, before the second rising time, the dough didn't even touch the sides or ends of the pan. After rising it was about an inch above the pan.
I know the next one is blurry, but I liked the way it showed the height of the dough.
And a finished loaf, hot out of the oven! Yum!
I am pleased to say that I have really been enjoying baking bread. Even with my couple of flops (undercooked loaves my first attempt, then a couple of batches of burned buns....), I am enjoying it. I love to mix it up then put it somewhere and check back on it and find that it has risen well. I think punching the dough down is fun and watching it deflate. I like forming loaves of bread and baking them until they are beautiful golden brown with a light crispy crust. Yum!
I am going to share the recipe, and some ideas for possibly changing it up in the future. The recipe came to me with a list of ingredients and a temperature and time for baking, but no directions of how to assemble it. I took my previous experiences and was able to make some pretty looking bread, and I have to say it tastes good too!
Wheat Bread
Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
1 heaping tbsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup ground flax seed
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 to 3 1/2 cups white flour
Directions:
Mix yeast and sugar into warm water and let stand for about 10 minutes until it is frothy. Add oil, molasses, salt and egg. Stir in flax and whole wheat flour. Stir in white flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a dough that is not too sticky. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic (or use a Kitchen Aid mixer to do all the mixing and kneading for you). Once you are done kneading, put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat it with oil. Then cover the bowl (I use a piece of wax paper and a tea towel, because one time I just used a tea towel and the dough stuck to it really bad!) and put it in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until it's doubled. Punch it down and form the dough into loaves and put them in greased loaf pans and cover them and let them rise for another 45 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 350C and bake for 30 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Turn it out onto a cooling rack immediately to cool.
I think that when I make it again at some point I am going to experiment with putting more whole wheat flour and less white flour in it. I really do like 100% whole wheat bread and I know it's better for you that way. I would also like to play with adding some other whole grains to it. I love multi-grain bread and I think it would be a lovely thing to try.
A trick that I read about for allowing bread to rise quickly and efficiently is to turn on your oven to about 200F for about a minute or so, just until the oven heats up a little bit. Then turn it off and put your bowl of dough in there to rise. I also recently heard someone mention they put their dough in the dishwasher shortly after it had been run and emptied out. So it was still nice and warm inside. I think you need to be careful that you don't put it in a place that is too warm, so it doesn't kill the yeast.
I took a couple of pictures as I made the bread so you could see how pretty it looked. The first two are just before I put it in the oven to bake. When I put the dough in the pans, before the second rising time, the dough didn't even touch the sides or ends of the pan. After rising it was about an inch above the pan.
I know the next one is blurry, but I liked the way it showed the height of the dough.
And a finished loaf, hot out of the oven! Yum!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Cheesy Herb Tortellini
I just have to share this recipe. It is SOOO good! For one of my wedding showers the people in attendance were asked to bring a couple of favorite recipes to pass on to me. This one was from my sister. We made it for the first time a month or two ago and right away agreed that it would be finding a place in our regular rotation.
We followed her recipe to get a basic outline, but we added a lot of extra vegetables and we added meat to it.
Ingredients:
We followed her recipe to get a basic outline, but we added a lot of extra vegetables and we added meat to it.
Ingredients:
- approx. 3 cups of cooked tortellini (or whatever pasta you would like to use, the original recipe called for fettuccine)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 tsp each, dried oregano and basil
- 2 tsp chili pepper flakes (we used less than this and it still had a bite to it, so leave them out if you don't like spice)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup white wine (can substitute water)
- 36 small snow peas
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- OPTIONAL: meat of some variety (the first time we did boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces and this time we tried ground turkey)
- Boil pasta until barely tender, drain and rinse with hot water.
- Cook meat until well done and set aside.
- Cook in a pot over medium heat: oil, garlic, basil, oregano and pepper flakes for 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and wine (or water) and let boil for 3 additional minutes.
- In a 3L casserole dish (we use our dutch oven, and my sister said she uses a small roaster, make sure it's a big enough container because it makes a large quantity) toss broth mixture with meat, noodles, vegetables and cheese.
- Bake covered at 350F for 25 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and let cook for another 10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pies
I spent some time today baking two pies. My mom called and invited us for supper on Monday because it is 'family day' and because they have an 18lb turkey in their freezer. I offered to make dessert. I did some looking online and found myself on Bakerella's website. I have drooled over her creations numerous times, so decided to try a couple of her past recipes. The first was for Butterscotch Pecan Perfection Pie. The picture above and below are of this particular pie. It smelled very sweet as it was baking, but I think it will be good. I always enjoy pecan pie, and can only imagine that butterscotch will make it even better!
The next three pictures are of pie number two. It is a pumpkin pie, with a layer of cream cheese in the bottom, then the pumpkin filling, then this crumbly topping. The recipe for this one can also be found here. I think this one looks like it will be a lot of fun and very tasty! The topping has pecans, chocolate chips, brown sugar and maple syrup. As you can probably tell from the foil pans and rather uniform looking crusts I used premade frozen crusts. I didn't feel like stressing out over making home made pastry. These pies were quite simple without having to make the crust. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A great purchase!
A couple of weeks ago at Canadian Tire they had a digital meat thermometer on sale for $10. We have talked about getting one for some time and I assumed that we would probably end up paying $50-60 for a wireless one. When this $10 sale came up we figured we couldn't pass it up for that price, even though it is a corded one.
Last night we made roast beef and tried it out for the first time. Let me just say one thing....YUM! Haha. It was so good, and throughout the meal Jay and I kept looking at each other and saying 'mmm' or 'man this is SO good'. We set the thermometer to let us know when the roast was medium well and that's exactly what I would say it was. There was one end of the roast that was a tiny bit pink in the middle and the other end was more well done. It was so juicy and it put any prime rib I have eaten to shame! With this new kitchen tool, I will never over cook an oven roasted piece of meat again!
Last night we made roast beef and tried it out for the first time. Let me just say one thing....YUM! Haha. It was so good, and throughout the meal Jay and I kept looking at each other and saying 'mmm' or 'man this is SO good'. We set the thermometer to let us know when the roast was medium well and that's exactly what I would say it was. There was one end of the roast that was a tiny bit pink in the middle and the other end was more well done. It was so juicy and it put any prime rib I have eaten to shame! With this new kitchen tool, I will never over cook an oven roasted piece of meat again!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Girl's Night Out Part 2
Last night was our work Christmas party. I only work with two other girls, so it's nice and quiet. We decided this year to go to Saba's for supper then go bowling. It was a fun night (other than the fact it was -40C with the windchill last night! YUCK!)! I have never been to Saba's and it was quite a unique experience. It is Ethiopian food. I had no idea what to expect from it, but was delicious. Since Mieka was the only one of the three of us who had ever been there, we let her order for us. She recommended a meat and vegetable sample platter (it sort of looked like this, though not all the food looked the same, but I notice there is a hard boiled egg in the middle and ours had that!), so we were able to sample a good number of things. I don't know exactly what half of the stuff we ate was, but it did taste good! I was surprised that you are given rolled up crepe-like pancakes called 'injera' and you rip of small pieces of them and use it to pick up your food instead of a fork. The injera is a little spongier than a typical crepe and tastes like sourdough. It is quite filling. I loved the sauce on the chicken and beef. It is called berbere sauce and it is super yummy and spicy!
After supper we braved the cold and headed to the bowling alley. We played a couple of games of ten pin and let me tell you, Wii bowling is MUCH easier than real ten pin bowling. I can't remember the last time I actually bowled, and I pretty much sucked. I think I maybe got 60 or 70 points in both games. But it was fun and nice to hang out with the girls from work. Tomorrow we are doing our cookie exchange at work and I look forward to trying all the wonderful goodies!! I love food :)
After supper we braved the cold and headed to the bowling alley. We played a couple of games of ten pin and let me tell you, Wii bowling is MUCH easier than real ten pin bowling. I can't remember the last time I actually bowled, and I pretty much sucked. I think I maybe got 60 or 70 points in both games. But it was fun and nice to hang out with the girls from work. Tomorrow we are doing our cookie exchange at work and I look forward to trying all the wonderful goodies!! I love food :)
Monday, December 07, 2009
Girl's Night Out
Last night was my evening out with my mom and sister. It was a very nice evening! We had a pretty fancy supper at the 2nd Ave Grill. I have learned though that when I go to that restaurant that it is best to stick with things like pizza, pasta, salads, appetizers. I have found that all three or four times I have tried to have a fancy entree that it has been somewhat disappointing. Last night I decided to try steak, filet mignon to be precise. I can't complain about the steak, it was delicious. The ceasar salad was quite good also. The lack of potato choices is annoying to me. All they offer is roasted potatoes. I don't mind roasted potatoes, but these ones were overcooked and dry. I almost asked for ketchup and one of them was even burnt. However, we decided to share a couple of appetizers to start with and they were very good!! One was baked brie and the other was a Mediterranean platter with hummus, olives and chevre with pita chips. Yum!
After supper we headed over to Persephone Theatre to see Little Women. I have not been in the new location and it is very nice! The play was excellent! Before it started I tried to remember how the story went and I was finding myself not even being able to remember the names of the four March sisters. But as the play started I was quickly reminded of the story. The actors in that play were well cast. I think that the girl who played Amy even looked like Kirsten Dunst, who played her in the movie version. It was a good bit longer in duration than I expected, but very enjoyable! I was shocked when I got into the car to go home and saw it was 10:45pm (it started at 8pm). I would recommend it, as tickets were a very reasonable $27 each! I think I will be going back to Persephone Theatre at some point!
After supper we headed over to Persephone Theatre to see Little Women. I have not been in the new location and it is very nice! The play was excellent! Before it started I tried to remember how the story went and I was finding myself not even being able to remember the names of the four March sisters. But as the play started I was quickly reminded of the story. The actors in that play were well cast. I think that the girl who played Amy even looked like Kirsten Dunst, who played her in the movie version. It was a good bit longer in duration than I expected, but very enjoyable! I was shocked when I got into the car to go home and saw it was 10:45pm (it started at 8pm). I would recommend it, as tickets were a very reasonable $27 each! I think I will be going back to Persephone Theatre at some point!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Ooops
In approximately 2002 I developed an intolerance to lactose. I didn't realize it at first, I went to the doctor complaining of digestive troubles. She suggested cutting out dairy products and see how I made out. I did it, and voila it seemed to clear up. So for a period of time I completely cut out all dairy products. But then I started to miss cheese so I would have some here and there. I was also told that lactose intolerant people can eat yogurt because the bacteria in the yogurt counteracts the effect of the lactose. So I started eating yogurt. In the last couple of years I would say that the only thing I have fully cut out is straight milk. There have been a couple of times that I have had something with milk in it and it has caused me some digestive issues. So I decided to stop drinking milk (I was not a big milk drinker anyway) and I tried many options for my cereal. Over the last years I have tried soy milk, goat's milk and most recently Lactaid milk. It is definitely more expensive, however Jay and I maybe go through four liters of milk per month, so I don't feel like it's too bad of a deal.
We decided to do our shopping at Sobey's last week, as their flier had some good deals. I needed some milk (or 'malk' as we like to call it....it's a Simpson's reference). I grabbed what I thought was skim Lactaid milk. I brought it home and started using it. I noticed that it had a decal on the side that says that it has added milk solids, so it has 2% milk taste without the fat. I thought, hey that's new. Not until today did I realize that it's regular milk, just with added milk solids. Not lactose free. I have used it on my cereal two or three times since we bought it and I feel just fine. I am little paranoid to just go for it and try regular milk full time. Though I have heard that people with lactose intolerance do not seem to react as harshly to fat free milk. It seems odd that I would develop lactose intolerance as an adult, but then would start to tolerate it again. Hmmm...
We decided to do our shopping at Sobey's last week, as their flier had some good deals. I needed some milk (or 'malk' as we like to call it....it's a Simpson's reference). I grabbed what I thought was skim Lactaid milk. I brought it home and started using it. I noticed that it had a decal on the side that says that it has added milk solids, so it has 2% milk taste without the fat. I thought, hey that's new. Not until today did I realize that it's regular milk, just with added milk solids. Not lactose free. I have used it on my cereal two or three times since we bought it and I feel just fine. I am little paranoid to just go for it and try regular milk full time. Though I have heard that people with lactose intolerance do not seem to react as harshly to fat free milk. It seems odd that I would develop lactose intolerance as an adult, but then would start to tolerate it again. Hmmm...