Sunday

April 2012

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month!

(statistics from NFCA & CDF)

As of this past February, I have been Gluten free for 3 years. I can’t put into words how dramatically my life has changed as a result of getting on the right diet to treat my reactions. My life has more clarity, I am properly digesting food and am no longer malnourished due to malabsorption of nutrients. Switching to a Gluten free diet has definitely been a blessing for me.

The bad thing about all of this is that my diagnosis took about 20 years. During that time, I was increasingly and increasingly plagued by various health issues including ADHD, nervous system disorders, forgetfulness, malabsorption, unexplained weight loss, indigestion, depression and anxiety. After about 2 weeks on the Gluten Free diet, all of my symptoms completely reversed. On an older episode of the Hold the Gluten podcast (by the brilliant Maureen Stanley), it was said that the average time for a diagnosis of Celiac Disease was 10 years. Spreading awareness will help decrease that ridiculously high diagnosis time and will help the search for a cure. This May, being Celiac Awareness month, let’s spread the word like wildfire.

For more information regarding the importance of a Gluten free diet, symptoms of Celiac Disease/gluten intolerance, going gluten-free and getting a diagnosis, see a few of my previous posts: Importance of Gluten-Free, Symptoms, and Basics of Diagnosis.

Some great additional resources:

Have you been diagnosed with Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance?

Share your story here!

Thriving happily without gluten, soy, peanuts, and legumes.

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Wednesday

April 2012

Healing from a Reaction: Liquid Lunch

Occasionally, one of my allergens slips through the cracks and finds it’s way into my system despite my precautions. Today was one of those days, complete with a lump in the throat and difficult breathing/swallowing. I’m still trying to track down the culprit, but whatever it was, it was certainly of the “Soy” persuasion.

Whenever I have a strong reaction or accidental gluten-ing, I try to clear out my system as fast as possible. I load up on easily digested foods and nutrient heavy smoothies. Today’s reaction called for something easy to swallow, so I opted for a powerful “liquid lunch” with a healing veggie smoothie. It tasted like a delicious bloody mary, sans the alcohol of course.

Healing Smoothie Recipe

1 cucumber
1 roma tomato
1 handful of green leafy lettuce
1 handful of kale
1/2 cup of bell pepper
2 cloves of fresh garlic
Cayenne pepper to taste (I use a lot to cleanse my body)
2 cups cold filtered water
Optional–ice cubes

Mix everything in a high speed blender and enjoy it right after for the most nutrition. You could even add some protein powder to take it a little further.

Trusted Loratadine (Cheaper than Claritin and works just as well when you don’t want to take another Benadryl).

What are your tips and tricks for bouncing back after an Allergic Reaction?

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Sunday

April 2012

Earth Bowls with Curried Quinoa Tabouli

Happy Earth Day to all!

I recently came across a great recipe for Earth bowls with Freekah, and instantly wanted to try my hand at an adapted recipe (since I can’t have Freekah..aka ‘green wheat’). I adapted my own recipe based on this one, but used Curried Quinoa Tabouli, crisp green onions and green cabbage for the bowl. We go meatless probably 4 days a week on average and this is a perfect substitute for animal protein. This recipe is gluten free and free of the top 8 allergens…just omit the slivered almonds if you’re allergic to tree nuts.

Looks like a mini green planet.

To make the Curried Quinoa Tabouli filling, cook quinoa as usual and add 1 medium red onion, 2 garlic cloves, 2 roma tomatoes (diced), sea salt, ground black pepper, white pepper, and curry powder to taste. Put the mixture in a large leaf of lettuce, green cabbage or red cabbage. Top with slivered almonds. I was planning to drizzle a bit of chili pepper sauce on top, but ran out of time and ingredients to make it.

Did you celebrate Earth Day today?

Let’s make a habit of celebrating it every day.

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Saturday

April 2012

Earth Day: Herbed Organic Carrot Soup

Since Earth Hour came around on the 31st of March, we’ve been inspired to try for an Earth Hour at least once every week. This is in combination with cutting down on water consumption, fuel consumption, and eating organically whenever possible.

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day. In celebration, I’ll be switching off appliances and lights and heading outside for a large part of the day. I think it’s a perfect time to reconnect with our natural roots and bask in the new fresh spring that’s arrived. Keeping it simple and earthy, I made an Herbed Organic Carrot Soup that was smooth and energizing. (This is an allergen free recipe–free of the top 8 allergens and gluten).

Herbed Organic Carrot Soup (allergen free).

7-8 Organic carrots
1 medium white or yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
Olive Oil
3 or 3 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock (depending on if you like the soup to have a thicker or thinner consistency).
Salt, Pepper
Mixed Italian Herbs, dried or fresh. I used dried Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary.

Chop and saute the onion and garlic with olive oil over medium heat in a sauce or soup pot. Add the chopped carrots, water/vegetable stock, spices, and herbs. (You could make a curried version by adding some curry paste or curry powder). Bring the water to a medium high temperature, but not quite boiling. Then lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes. After the carrots are cooked through, pour the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender to blend the soup to the desired consistency. I like mine mostly smooth, but with a fair bit of fine texture left.

Wishing everyone a Happy Earth Day!

How do you plan to celebrate our planet not only on Earth Day, but everyday?

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Saturday

April 2012

Burrito Bliss

A gluten-free, soy free..(well pretty much everything free) tortilla that DOESN’T break when you load it up? You’re joking right? Food for Life literally just made my whole entire year with their amazing Brown Rice Tortillas! I had my first burrito in over 3 and a half years a few days ago and actually screamed/jumped up and down on the couch like a 5 year old overloaded on sugar. A big thanks to my local Whole Foods Market for stocking this item! To my surprise, Food for Life just keeps making them softer, even more durable, and delicious.

I loaded my soft fold-able tortilla with: *(Note: The Rice Cheese contains a small bit of Casein milk protein. There are other options in the website I linked to if you’re casein sensitive).

Taco Meat made with Grass-fed Ground Beef (seasoned with Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, Cumin, Chili Powder, Red pepper flakes, Cayenne Pepper, and Garlic Powder).
Chopped/lightly sauteed white onions
Spicy Guacamole
*Super melted Soy Free, Gluten Free Rice Cheese
A bit of Allergen Free Salad Dressing/Vinaigrette
Green lettuce leaves
Fresh Tomatoes, diced (optional).