Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Hello, again


Imagine me singing Neil Diamond to you. Is that entertaining?

 I haven't talked in a while, so today we'll just have a foodie chat. Ya know, I hate word (foodie) so I won't use it again. But I am not editing today so we are stuck with it for now.

 I am blogging on my Kindle which means typing in the html option. No editing. I love my Kindle for everything except blogging.

 So...let's chat. I decided to go off wheat again.

Not to the degree I did before. If my family wants to go to Skyline for a rare treat, I won't not eat. Or if I am at an event, I don't need to check if there is wheat in my meal. But I don't need it. It's not a nutritious food. If I choose toast for snack, it replaces a more nutritious (and more satisfying in the long run) food. I ate better without wheat.

 I don't intend to bake gluten free. If I want to bake cookies and I really want to eat one, I will. But, I am the kind of person that just needs to cut it entirely to avoid it. Otherwise I am faced with too many choices all day. I over-think everything. Should I have pumpernickel toast for snack or an apple with a few almonds. A biscuit with honey (I have such a weakness) or yogurt and blueberries?

I really didn't miss it once I found some good alternatives. And I had much better food in the house without wheat.

 I am starting after the weekend. There are good meals coming this weekend. On Sunday, my aunt and uncle are coming from Cincinnati and I am making fresh mozarella and a big antipasto (no wheat!), Steak with Pebre Sauce and avocado, crash hot potatoes, roasted veggies and Hot Fudge cake. On Monday, we are celebrating my father-in-law's 75th birthday with Jamie's Wicked Kabobs and Texas Sheet cake with homemade ice cream. My husband's family is filling in the gaps there. I am planning to put 75 candles on the cake! Such fun.

(Sorry not to link to those recipes but I don't have time to write code. You can plug them into my search box in the sidebar and you'll find them all here.).

 On a different note, I told my mom "all I want for Christmas is a pot." I want to replace my cookware (a mishmash of brands) with Le Creuset. Not all at once, it's very expensive. Maybe over five years. I think I like the green. (Sorry again I can't link). I have never had a "set" of cookware. Mostly I use All-Clad, but I have lots of other pieces from other manufacturers. What do you use? Or do you have a mishmash too?

By the way, I figured out how to change my blog title color. It wasn't me at all. Or Blogger for that matter. It was Google Chrome. When I went to the customize options on my Kindle they were all there (on my Kindle I use Dolphin to browse). When I went to my Mac and used Chrome, there are no options to customize my design. Which is absurd because Google does both Chrome and Blogger. Stupid Google.

10 comments:

Jamie Jo said...

HI Neil--um, I mean Barbara!
I'm on hubby's laptop....our computer died (was never really fixed in June) and we are waiting to I guess have enough money to get a new one....anyway, I'm rarely on anymore. I miss everyone, especially you.

I've found the same things with gluten. I tried the giving it mostly, but giving in and ended up giving in totally and am not not gluten free. I am like you, all or nothing. That middle stuff, doesn't work. I really think, looking back, that being gluten free, I felt better and had more energy.

Gotta go...Sim's fussing....

Jamie Jo said...

Can you even understand what I wrote? I make so many mistakes on this laptop!!

Linda said...

Hi, again, Barbara!
How I LOVE this post! It's so you, the you I've grown to admire and listen to over the past few years. This time you sound like me AND my younger daughter at the same time.

She loves her Le Creuset braising oven that we got her for her birthday in green (fennel). Of course, she marches to a totally different drummer than I; each Le Creuset pot she has is a different color...and she likes it that way! Me, my fave Le Creuset color is that dark blue, but I still have a few of the orange ones from the '60s hanging around.

So...your FIL is turning 75. He is more of a contemporary of mine because I am 67. Wish him a blessed birthday.

I can't eat wheat either. I haven't cut it out, I just try to avoid it most of the time, and I feel better when I do. I refuse to go gluten-free because I don't want to buy all those different flours and ingredients with funny names in order to bake. That's how I roll.

Think I'll tell my family that they can buy me DARK BLUE Le Creuset anything for me for Christmas.

Abby said...

I'd love to have a set of Le Creuset! In white. Ahhhhhh.

Glad you figured out the color thing! I've changed my template so much that everything is HARD for me. I love to make things difficult, I guess. Ha.

Have fun with all of your family and friends this weekend!

Sara said...

I have a mishmash---a couple of stainless pots from TJMaxx from when I replaced my coated pots. A nice saucepan from Goodwill...etc. I have a Le Creuset knockoff dutch oven on my stove that is a sunny yellow and makes me happy. It lives there because it's too heavy to move up and down and I use it almost every night. It works for just about everything. I wish I had sprung for the LC since I use it so much! I'd get the blue or turquoise---or all the colors if I get more than one piece!

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

I use Chrome on my PC and I can find the color-change area just fine. Odd. Especially since Blogger is a Google product.

My pots are all--whatever. I have a Lodge cast-iron Dutch oven with skillet top, a fabulous anodized aluminum Calphalon "everyday pan" and a bunch of anodized with nonstick inside JC Penney pans, plus one larger old Revere Ware that's just the right size for pasta for my family.

Suzie L. said...

I have a Food Network set, a Pampered Chef Wok (I had the whole set until the teflon wore down in the most used pieces), a Cuisinart 12" ceramic coated skillet that I really like, an 8" teflon Cuisinart skillet that will last a little longer, and a LC dutch oven (cobalt blue). That kindof ends up being a mix! The LC is really nice, but the rest of the cooks are hard on enamel and teflon...I really like the color. I use my FN set for everthing but frying and rice krispie/Special K bars.

I read Wheat Belly last Fall and another nutrition book just last week that suggested cutting wheat/gluten. It does make sense. I have other food vices that I need to work on eliminating first!

I agree about the blogging on phones/kindles...I like to label posts, but can never remember the labels I've created. And it's not easy to add photos.

Jamie Jo said...

I forgot to add that when I was gluten free, I found a monster cookie recipe that was gluten free, and pb cookies recipes too, for that texture, of crispy, cookie like. I think I told you already, but I really also liked the Bisquick gluten free mix for making waffles. I'd make a batch for me and a normal batch for everyone else (homemade) and I'd eat mine the next few days, just heat up in the microwave a little, fulfilled that bread texture I craved. I did't try baking with gluten free flours either....too much effort for just me, if it were for the kids I'd probably have done it.

Sim is about 14 lbs now and doing great, he's chubbing right before our eyes, with this formula we're adding to the breastmilk!!!

Life is just busy with 4 kiddos schooling and a busy 3 year old, and baby who needs lots of love too!!

Janice said...

Daniel at Casualkitchen.blogspot.com has been reading Wheat Belly and posted an interview last week with the author along with a post reviewing the book, if that would be of interest to anyone. I just bought the book myself.

Jennifer Gregory Miller said...

You sound just like me. I don't bake gluten free. It's just yucky. I am basically wheat free, but I will indulge periodically. Did you see this article? http://www.wholeliving.com/183942/our-daily-bread Nothing conclusive, but a lot to think about...makes me want to try sourdough this man's way.

What a dream: Le Creuset. I like the blue. I have Farberware pots from my wedding, because that's what my mother had...but bits and pieces of different labels for other things.