Grain-Free Pizza

For the most part, as we have gotten used to eating a (mostly) grain-free diet, we have avoided breadlike items - there was one gluten-free bun at a restaurant, a few bits of stuffing at Thanksgiving, and a brand of rice-sesame crackers we keep on hand for when you just have to have a crispy picker-upper for dip.

But by and large, we've avoided the breadstuffs, because when you're getting used to not eating things, eating something intended to be similar that totally isn't is a sure way to feel disappointed.  But... after a few months without tasting the 'real thing' we are ready to experiment - so last night we decided to make pizza using Against the Grain's Paleo Pizza Crust recipe, made with almond flour and flaxseed meal. 

It whips up easily, although our large crust was too large to flip when recommended - I think I'll make individual sized pizza the next time we do this.  I made up a simple pizza sauce from a small can of tomato paste, a canful of water, and some basil, oregano and red pepper flakes.

Our toppings of choice were Italian sausage, sauteed mushrooms, and black olives along with mozzarella cheese.

The result was good - more suited for a fork than picking up, and the texture was closer to biscuits than yeasty bread (of course!), but it tasted like pizza to our tastebuds which haven't had any pizza in months.  This will be going on the rotation as an occasional meal for us and it's really nice to know we don't need to give up comfort food treats like pizza!

A Grain Free Yule Log, and Having the Courage of Your Convictions

Yes, I know - Yule was last month, but trust me when I say that this recipe was so awesome that it will be a chocolate roll up with cherry sauce come Valentine's Day, probably re-appear in some form for Easter and is a strong contender for my birthday cake come June.  It only has to be a log if you make it one.

So... let me back up.  Remember  that aborted posting series last fall about our following the Wheat Belly style of eating? (It's very similar to Paleo/Primal - but I don't know what we're calling it, exactly. Labels are hard.)  Well...  I bailed on posting about it, but we stuck it out for that month, saw noticeable improvements (weight loss, and a drastic reduction in acid-reflux for me), and while there are still times I gaze longingly at pastries and the like, the foods we can eat on this are so much tastier than what we were eating before, that I'm starting to wonder if grains kill your tastebuds somehow.

When it's just the two of us at home, we're happy as clams to eat this way - what's not in the house doesn't tempt us, and we have minor areas of less-than-optimal eating that's perfectly fine since the majority of what we eat is fantastic.

We do eat dairy.  It doesn't bother us, it comes from a local source (not raw - in MD that is illegal, but it isn't homogenized or from factory cows), and it's tasty!

We don't eat grains - no wheat, oats, rice, etc, etc, etc, although I'd be willing to eat the rice at least, very occasionally.  We eat lots of delicious veggies, moderate amounts of fruit, good quality meat, good fats, nuts and seeds.

And we're still learning how to cook this way.  This is no longer an experiment... it's just what we do.

Eating in social settings is a lot harder - we've figured out a couple go-to restaurants that can accomodate us.  We've learned to just pretty much avoid  the coffee hour goodies at church (though I am working on figuring out what I can bring that we can eat - lots of veggie platters, so far!).  And we find recipes that we can eat for potlucks.

A Yule celebration at Cedarlight Grove was our most recent potluck even, and I really, really wanted to bring something festive that we could enjoy eating along with others.  As a matter of perfect timing, I saw Nourished Kitchen's Buche de Noel recipe, and we decided to try it.  Go follow here recipe - it's easy and it came out perfectly.  I totally was afraid it wouldn't really roll up, but it did, and it's my new favorite dessert.

That said... don't do what WE did.  Because like I say, we are still learning and still not sure how the things we think are good will be heralded by those we share them with.  Plus, we had to take it on a 2 hour drive, and I was still freshly marveling that it rolled up, but not at all convinced it might not fall apart on the way.

So... we frosted it.  With a quickly purchased CAN of frosting (because we were all out of time to fiddle with creating a homemade ganache).

Yep... took a lovely healthy dessert and smeared HFCS mess all over it.  FAIL!!!!

It tasted good - I may even frost future versions of this, but not with that stuff. Or I might not, because that unfrosted version looks absolutely beautiful.

There was a lesson here for me in not chickening out.  It's all a learning experience.  This one, failed convictions and all, was that this is one delicious dessert!

RA - These are my hands

They show up in photos of me, but I've never actually had them photographed on purpose before. 

These are my hands, the result of 30 years of living with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic auto-immune disorder. Sometimes they hurt beyond belief. Sometimes not so much - there is always a lot of pressure where the fingers are turning into the side of my palm. And doing things - too much typing, needlework, normal stuff like taking a dish out of the oven without touching the oven rack - these things are hard to impossible. 

 I joke I'm growing hooves, but I do miss my hands. They used to be a vanity point of pride, because I had pretty hands.  The loss of functionality matters more, but I miss they way they used to look, too.

And on a totally different note - I kinda love that the nails in this picture have a light touch of glitter on them, left over from my daughter's holiday visit (note to self: buy nail polish remover!), and one has a blob of yellow paint from being able to paint some posters at my church this past Sunday. Fine motor skills are mostly shot, but painting is apparently more gross-motor.  So I can still do that!

Hello, World

The last year has been been. As in very, very bad -I've had a rheumatoid arthitis flare that has lasted since February 2012, reducing my ability to do anything at all down to near zero... not able to dress myself, shower without help... not able to stitch or do any household chores.  It's impossible not to be depressed when your day is spent in enormous pain, and you can't do anything productive at all except wait for bedtime (where you won't get any real sleep).  So it's been hard.

Well, getting my meds in order over last few weeks has made a huge difference. While predisone is not be all-time best friend, right now it is my best friend, and I re-start Enbel this weekend, and that's going to give back almost all my functionality.

Michael and I have set a date for getting married - Aug. 17, 2012 - so we have planning  to do, and getting me back into the mix of things.  And that daily living stuff is what this will be about.   I am glad to be back, and hope you'll be  glad for along for  the ride.

Jan 2013 TUSAL

Shh.... don't tell anyone, but I'm backdating this entry so I can fully participate in this year's TUSAL: the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, where stitchers show of, not their works of creativity, but their ORT jar - the collection of snipped threads that would otherwise attach themselves to our clothing and passing pets if we didn't stick them somewhere.

Well... I've not be able to stitch for months (RA flare got my hands really hard) - so as of Jan. 11... no ORTs. No stitching. Sad empty jar.

I'm making it a goal to take up cross stitch again, no matter how little I can do. I have about a half a gajillion unfinished projects.  The will is here - I'm just looking for the way.

Wheat Belly Challenge Day Four

Pain/Energy ~
Woke up hard today - not good because I've got a meeting to attend at 10am, and another to attend tonight, which means I need to be functional, dressed for the public (not a small thing when you have difficulties working fasteners or lifting your arms overhead), and in decent spirits.

Had Michael help me get dressed before leaving for work.  Fortunately, by the time my ride got here the worst pain had receded, though moving was slow.

Meal Log ~

Breakfast
I didn't eat before leaving - there were various snacks available at the meeting, and almost all of them were some sort of wheat based goodie.  Out of all the cookies and other snacks, the ones that were the most tempting were the Fig Newtons - that made me laugh since the rest were homemade and looked great.  But I stuck to sliced apples and only felt light pangs of deprival.

 Lunch
After the meeting, a few of us decided to go out to lunch - this turned into a real temptation day!  We chose the same Greek restaurant Michael and I had eaten at the week before - I had a souvlaki platter without the pita.

Dinner
Dinner wasn't til later in the evening, and we had brats and cabbage.  We get our brats from a local vendor at the Farmer's Market and they taste wonderful. We normally simmer in beer, but since that's wheat based (now this is where I feel deprived!), we used homemade chicken broth instead.  It worked fine.

Wheat Belly Challenge Day Three

Pain/Energy ~
Still a lot of tenderness especially first thing in the morning.  Standing up and sitting down continue to be very difficult, but less pain while 'at rest'.  Still thinking this may be more about low humidity than anything.

Meal Log ~

Breakfast
Cheese omelet with salsa.

I am enjoying eggs for breakfast done scrambled - I've always preferred over easy with toast and hash browns or grits (which I could still have, but a scrambled egg is fast and really satisfying).


Lunch

Cheese cubes and olives and a handful of nuts - lunch was more about noshing than anything sit-down.

Dinner

So, this time, no dinner because I just plain wasn't hungry. We're both noticing a big downturn in appetite, but not in the sense of not enjoying what we're eating - just not feeling so hungry.  I'm settling into 2 meals a day, and no huge portions or need for seconds.

Wheat Belly Challenge: Day Two

Pain/Energy ~
Lots of swelling around ankles and knees, sharp pain in elbows and shoulder (I didn't manage to find a non-painful way to sleep last night).  So... about the same as yesterday, with some extra stiffness and tenderness.

Meal Log ~

Breakfast
Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Scrambled Egg Omelet

This was amazing - very satisfying and filling.  So much so that I wound up skipping lunch totally simply from not being hungry. (Not sure that's a good thing, but I never have been much for eating three meals a day)

Lunch
Nothing - snacked on an ounce of Cheese Cheese and a few deli green olives instead

Dinner
Tossed Salad
Chicken, Carrot, Celery and Onion Saute with Cashews
Cucumber Yogurt Salad

Wheat Belly Challenge: Day One

Weight ~  181.8

I am not planning to weigh myself every day - once a week on Mondays.  As a rule, I never weigh myself, so that's a big step up and I don't think it's helpful or particularly motivating to step on that scale every day.  But for the record, this is more than I've ever weighed, and I'd be feeling pretty depressed about that number right now if it weren't the starting point for actually doing something about it.

Pain/Energy ~

My pain level is about a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  I've been riding the 8/9 range for the last couple weeks, so this is an improvement!  The weather has turned coolish and humidity is gone, and that helps.   I am having sharp pains around knees and ankles, and my shoulder is sore (I managed to dislocate it the other day and it's still recovering.  Energy feels slightly up from where it's been, though that's not saying a whole lot, honestly.   I put most of  this mild upswing on the good weather.

Meal log ~

Breakfast: 2 over easy eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese

We get our eggs from a local source and  they're pastured, so they are excellent... but we need to rethink the 'over easy' part.  Without toast to scoop up the yolk, our dog Sadie got the best part of that egg.  Cottage cheese and other soft cheeses are allowed in limited quantities - I prefer mine with fruit, but it was still good.   Nice high protein breakfast to start the day.  But yes... I missed the toast.

Lunch: My lunch will be leftovers from a Greek restaurant meal, minus the pita.  So it's a selection of meats (lamb gyros meat, chicken), along with a few salad fixings.   Michael has a bigger challenge - he has a business lunch to attend so needs to figure out how to navigate a wheat-heavy menu right off the bat.

(So, I had a few bits of gyros meat and chicken, along with some deli green olives.)

Dinner: Mondays have been our 'quiche night' - alas, no more pie crust, at least until we figure out a non-wheat version.  Which won't be tonight.  Instead, we have some leftover chicken from a roast chicken to finish off.  So chicken and veggie ....something.  Maybe a little brown rice - emphasis on little. And some cucumber and onion yogurt salad we made up last night on the side.  And then the carcass will be turned into broth.

(I wound up feeling really hungry late afternoon and ate a bowl of Corn Chex, and then I wasn't hungry for dinner so I skipped it.  Mid evening, I ate a sliced apple and hunk of cheese and a handful of peanuts.)

 Tonight we will figure out our full meal plan for the week - a bit of shopping may be in order.  We should get better at this as we go.

30 Day Wheat Belly Challenge: Intro

So, you know you've been away for far too long when you log in, and Blogger's whole interface has changed so much you have to figure out how to even update!

This past year has been both amazing (Michael and I happily are engaged and settling into an actual normal life routine) and pretty appalling - the last due totally to my health issues, which have gotten worse and worse to the point where my functionality has gotten seriously impaired.

I am not stitching right now (with so many projects hanging out there calling me) because my hands can't take it more than a couple of minutes.  Michael's handling the cooking while I 'manage' because chopping and stirring and lifting (and standing) are all beyond me right now.  Heck.. I can't get dressed or undressed without his help, either.

We bought a wheelchair a month ago so that opportunities to get out and about weren't entirely eliminated due to my inability to walk more  than a few yards without needing to sit.

So.... lots of discouragement there, and it's the sort of thing I didn't want to fill this journal with because 'chronic' means 'it isn't going away' and I was trying to distract myself from that.

I'm starting it back up for at least the next 30 days because we're going to see if we can break this cycle.   We've been reading "Wheat Belly", by William Davis, MD, who offers a very detailed explanation of why today's wheat has been altered to the point where it is creating a whole litany of health problems, including several that we are dealing with.

For me, THE issue I would like to see improved over this next month is inflammation - chronic and persistent swelling around all of my joints which is causing all the functional issues listed above. Second in energy - I am flatly exhausted all the time, and that also greatly impedes functionality, as well as trying to do anything to help myself crawl out of this hole.

Lastly - but one I DO expect to improve - is weight loss.  Because boy oh boy, I never weigh myself, but since today is Day One of our experiment, I did... and I've gained another 20 pounds this past year and I weighed too much when I got here last summer.  And that alone is very hard on my joints.  Michael also has some weight issues he's had a long history of combatting, so we're hopeful that if it does nothing else it will do this much.

So our intention is to spend this month eating according to Wheat Belly's guidelines, track what happens along the way, and  then we will decide if it's doing well enough for us to continue.  I expect some mourning over some foods we love - but also learning how to eat in a better way and (oh I hope), an improvement in health.

Wish us luck!

Cheddar Corn Chowder

It isn't often that I follow a recipe to the letter, but Ina Garten's Cheddar Corn Chowder is an exception to that rule - so I won't retype the recipe, just let you know that this is an awesome and soul satisfying soup with enough body to make a meal.  We've gotten a lot of corn from the Farmer's Market this season, and the scraped fresh corn has gone into this soup twice now. 

This past weekend, our meat supplier gave us a half dozen ears as we were ringing up our order - so we'll probably be making this soup one more time. mmm....

Libra New Moon TUSAL

Yesterday was this month's New Moon - falling in Libra this time, making this a great period in which to tackle issues of fairness and justice, and generate a personal state of balance and harmony.  As far as our homes go, the New Moon in Libra can help us begin projects that add beauty and aesthetic appeal without clutter, and suggests that this might be a good time to make sure that everyone's tastes and interests are reflected in the home.

I'm continuing to tackle the clutter issue here, and only very slowly able to stitch in small doses - for me, Balance has to do with honestly assessing my need/desire to be working on Christmas gift stitching, and the need to keep my hands fairly capable for other daily tasks.  I'm going to let this New Moon be my reminder that keeping that balance in mind isn't a failing, but rather is what I need for health and happiness.  That said, I wouldn't mind if my TUSAL jar were to overflow this next month with signs that I'm able to stitch at will again.

Cooking By the Book: The Healthy Slow Cooker

A few nights ago, Michael made dinner for me, using one of his favorite cookbooks:  The Healthy Slow Cooker: More than 100 Recipes for Wellness and Health, by Judith Finlayson.

I have a sort of default leeriness of cookbooks that bill themselves as 'healthy'.  I have a few of them, but all too often, 'healthy' translates to making limp versions of otherwise good recipes by switching to low fat dairy products and various chemical fake sugars, neither of which I regard as 'healthy'.

The Healthy Slow Cooker is not like that at all - doing a random flip through the recipes, the ingredients are composed of real food, very little in the way of processed foods at all, and the couple that Michael's made from me with it have been very good.

This time, it was the Spicy Peanut Chicken, with a couple small modifications, and the result was delicious and satisfying in a comfort-food way.  I will be making use of this cookbook often - the recipes really do work well.

Spicy Peanut Chicken
serves 6

1 Tblsp olive oil or coconut oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tblsp fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 cup chicken stock
3 lb bone-in chicken thighs (approx. 12 thighs)
3 Tblsp smooth natural peanut butter
3 Tblsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tblsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tblsp Thai red curry paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 cups sweet green peas (defrosted, if frozen)
1 red bell pepper, diced (I don't eat bells - we substituted a couple poblanos and 1 jalepeno pepper)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

In a skillet, heat oil and add onions, carrots and celery, stirring and cooking about 7 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ginger, and black pepper, cooking and stirring another minute.  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Arrange chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker and add vegetable mixture.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours or on HIGH for 2 1/2 hours, until juices run clear when pierced with a fork.

In a bowl, combine peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce, and red curry paste, and mix well.  Add to slow cooker and still well.  Add coconut milk, peas, and peppers and stir well. Cover and cook on HIGH for 20 minutes, or until peppers are tender and mixture is hot.

Serve over cooked rice with a garnish of peanuts and chopped cilantro.

(Shared with Foodie Friday,  Flaunt It Friday, Sweets This Week, Simply Link Party, Friday Favorites,  Weekend Wrap Up Party, Show and Share, Lambaround Blog Hop,  So Creative Party, Check Me Out Saturday, Think Pink Sundays, Sunday Showcase, Sundae Scoop, Be Colorful Motivated Monday, Making the World Cuter Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Made By You Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Mangia Mondays, Made with Love Mondays, Market Yourself Monday, Homemaker Monday, Hunk of Meat Monday,  Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits, Your Recipe - My Kitchen, Tasty Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday, Glitter Link Party, Traditional Tuesdays, What's on the Menu Wednesday, We Did It Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Show and Tell,  What's On Your Plate?, Hoo's Got Talent, SYS Link Party, Show Off Your Stuff,  Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday)

What's Cookin' This Week: 9/26 - 10/2

I don't worry overmuch about white after Labor Day - but I sure do love when the Equinox has arrived, and my meals can start looking like Fall.  Here's the plan for this week:

M - Sep 26

Meatless

Green Salad with Pear Slices

Walnut-Stuffed Glazed Acorn Squash

Broccoli and Cauliflower

T - Sep 27

Slow Cooker

Ham, Sweet Potatoes, and Onions

Salad

(make Chai Tea Cookies)

W - Sep 28

Breakfast for Dinner

Harvest Nut and Grain Pancakes

Turkey Sausage

Homemade Chunky Applesauce

Th - Sep 29

Easy Dinner

Baked Pasta with Mozzerella

Garlic Bread

F - Sep 30

Meatless

Vegetarian Curry over Rice

S - Oct 1

Michael's cooking

Hamburgers and Sides

Sn - Oct 2

Soup and Somethin'

Slow Cooker Gulashsuppe (German Beef and Potato Stew)

Crusty Bread

Shared with Plan It, Don't Panic and Menu Plan Monday.

Cooking By the Book: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

About a month ago, I made a little commitment to myself to increase the amount of cooking I did from our combined large collection of cookbooks - no specified schedule, though I've tried to make sure it's once a week or so.

I will do better about pictures than I did - I got a couple photographed (not necessarily well - the lighting in the house is not great for pictures in the evening), and will be more consistent about that, but I still want to post the recipes for what I've done so far, and tell you a little about the books they came from.

I'm going to start with The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, by Bruce Weinstein, both because cooler temperatures are turning thoughts to warm desserts, and because we've tried two recipes from here, with equally impressive results.  I use the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and love it - very easy to use, easy to clean and makes homemade ice cream a breeze.

The Ultimate Ice Cream Book includes a really nice variety of ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and the like, and has a good mix of familiar favorites and some interesting exotic recipes (I am intrigued to try the corn ice cream, and the jalepeno ice cream - Michael is less sure).  They also have rich custard type ice creams that use a lot of eggs, and less rich varieties and the recipes are categorized as 'master recipes', most with nearly a dozen interesting variations.

I think it helped the quality of our ice cream a whole lot that we used pastured eggs, and non-homogenized milk and heavy cream from a local supplier that delivers (it is pasteurized, as MD doesn't allow non-pasteurized milk to be sold, but it is still light years closer to real, rich milk than anything for sale in the stores.

The first recipe we tried was Chocolate Ice Cream - we had what we needed on hand, and it seemed that if their chocolate was good, that boded well for the rest of book.  The only change we made to the basic recipe was using Dark Cocoa instead of standards (it's what was on hand) and WOW, the result was insanely delicious - a very decadent, adult dark chocolate ice cream with some chopped walnuts tossed in.  Just to ramp it up a little more, we ate it with a drizzle of caramel and spent the next ten minutes moaning in pleasure. If you only ever make one batch of homemade ice cream, this is the one.


Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tblsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Place the sugar, eggs, and cocoa in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan.  With the food processor running, slowly pour the hot milk into the chocolate mixture through the feed tube.  Process until well blended.

Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly.  Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble.

Remove from heat and pour the hot chocolate custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl.  Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1-2 batches in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions, adding walnuts or other mix ins when the ice cream is semi-frozen.  When finished, the ice cream will be soft serve and ready to eat.  For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least two hours.

---

Our second ice cream venture was last week - and no picture this time. The Ginger Ice Cream looks vanilla, and tastes to me like a frozen Ginger Chai Latte.  This, again, feels like an adult's ice cream.  One of the variations actually calls for steeping the milk with some chai tea, which I think I'd like to try next time.  The variation we used added the nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove, but you can keep it purely ginger if you'd like.  The candied ginger nibs are also optional - but they really made it interesting, so I'd recommend including them.

Ginger Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 4" piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tblsp finely chopped crystallized ginger

In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until thickened and pale yellow.  Beat in the cornstarch; set aside.

Slice the fresh ginger into 1/2" pieces and combine with the milk in a heavy saucepan, along with the spices.  Bring to a boil, ten remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.

Remove the ginger from the milk with a slotted spoon and slowly beat the warm milk into the eggs and sugar.

Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly.  Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble.

Remove from heat and pour the hot ginger custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl.  Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1-2 batches in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions, adding the crystallized ginger nibs when the ice cream is semi-frozen.  When finished, the ice cream will be soft serve and ready to eat.  For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least two hours.

This goes perfectly with snickerdoodle cookies, and I would think it would also be very good with gingersnaps or gingerbread, for a more Autumn centered ice cream.

(Shared with Foodie Friday,  Sweet Tooth Friday, Fat Camp Friday, Flaunt It Friday, Sweets This Week, Simply Link Party, Friday Favorites, Weekend Wander,  Weekend Wrap Up Party, Show and Share, Lambaround Blog Hop,  So Creative Party, Check Me Out Saturday, Think Pink Sundays, Sunday Showcase, Sundae Scoop, Be Colorful Motivated Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Made By You Monday, Mad Skills Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Mangia Mondays, Made with Love Mondays, Market Yourself Monday, Homemaker Monday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits, Tasty Tuesdays, Glitter Link Party, Traditional Tuesdays, What's on the Menu Wednesday, We Did It Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Show and Tell,  What's On Your Plate?, Hoo's Got Talent, SYS Link Party, Show Off Your Stuff,  Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday)

Happy Autumn!

It's a miracle!  The flare seems to have passed FINALLY, right as Fall comes in.  Sure, there's some creakies and I'm not yet ready to tire out my hands with much stitching or other fine motor work ... but the actual flaring seems to be finished.

Relief!

Michael and I have written a bit about Autumn over at The Cauldron Born, and I plan to get a recipe up for you all later today.  Nice to feel back in the land of the living!

What's Cookin' This Week: 9/19 - 9/25

I've been getting so lax with my meal planning lately and it's been showing in the quality of our meals!  Fortunately, Keeper of the Home is providing inspiration and accountablity with a 6 week Plan It - Don't Panic Meal Plan Challenge.  If you're looking for some ideas to rev up your meal planning, go check it out.  And of course, every week, Organizing Junkie shares tons of meal plans from all around the blogging community.

Here's mine for this week:

Mon - Sep 19

(Michael Cooking)
Grass-Fed Beef Cheeseburgers
Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Tossed Salad with Vinaigrette

Tues - Sep 20
Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry
Rice

(close... I realized we had only about a half cup of rice after it was too late to shift plans, so I used a container of leftover cooked spaghetti noodles I had in the freezer.  Dump 'em in a pot of water to thaw, then mix with the stir-fry. Yum!)


Wed - Sep 21
Mixed Bean Chili
Cornbread

Thurs - Sep 22
Chicken, Corn and Potato Chowder
Salad

F - Sep 23
Chile and Cheese Rellenos
Spanish Rice

S - Sep 24
MABON POTLUCK:  

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Sn - Sep 25

Pita Pizzas

Salad

Shared with Plan It - Don't Panic, and  Menu Plan Monday.

Peeking out the other side

I've written a couple entries and not posted - and a good half dozen more in my head without touching fingers to keyboard.  Everyone of them has been variations on 'omg, I hurt so bad, I'm dying, ack!'  some with an air of apology for not writing, some with a defiant 'this sucks' tone, some sung to the tune of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen".   Yes, my friends, my nemesis Rheumatoid Arthritis has been for a visit, leaving me a nice flare gift.

Now, weirdly, in spite of quite literally not being able to stand or sit or lay down without vocalizing, it has otherwise been a lovely few weeks.  Last weekend, especially, when I was deep in the grip of it, Michael and I headed out to Orange, Virginia to stay at an absolutely lovely B&B called Holladay House, run by an old friend of his.  We'd put in reservations well before things got bad for me, and while it created some challenges, it was still so much fun.  I was very worried that my issues were going to ruin it for him... but he's such a good and wonderful patient man.  (I also snagged an amaaaazing recipe for Creme Brulee French Toast we'll be trying soon...mm!)

RA is tough when it keeps you from doing what you have to do.  It can be mortifying to ask for help for very simple things like standing up or brushing your hair or putting on your shirt.   But it is absolutely exasperating and infuriating when it keeps you from doing what you very much want to do.

Today I'm feeling a bit better - standing up generates a little grunt, not a scream.  I'm able to type this without wincing.  My elbows have stopped feeling hot and swollen and can touch the arm of the chair without making me cry.  My hips still feel like rusty hinges, but I think things are coming along - hopefully for awhile, because this right now is my very favorite time of year and I want to experience it and enjoy it.

I am considering the possibility that I may not be able to stitch my way through Christmas presents this year, and that makes me sad, but when you can't even make a fist, holding a needle is a little hard.  We'll see, but I think I'm going to need to let myself off the hook for awhile and trust that family will understand.

Meanwhile, I'm going to let my fingers rest awhile, then see about getting a few neglected household things done.  I have a few recipes - some with pictures! - that I want to share here.

Please know that if I go silent it isn't lack of interest - it's just weather and chronic illness kicking my butt, and not wanting to focus too much of this space to moaning about it. (I am not saying I shouldn't moan, just that this is not where I want to do it.)  But I miss you all and so hope to pick up energy soon.

What's Cookin' This Week: 9/5 - 9/11

 Time to seriously jump on the meal planning bandwagon again... I started to let it slide and the result this past week was two-fold:  we spent way more money than I'd intended 'grazing' the grocery store to see what looks good.  Since we are trying to eat local, raised ethically, and in season, which tends to cost more, we simply cannot afford to let our eyes and stomach whimsically shop for us.  We kinda really busted the budget on that trip.  In addition, today we got busy, the day slid by and suddenly it was 6:30 without a thought in our heads about what to eat, and too tired to try to put anything together - so we ate out.  Which is fine when it's intentional, but it's a terrible way to deal with not having planned dinner.

So no more of that!  This week's meal is meant to make use of what I know we have on hand, because I don't think we can financially deal with yet more shopping to turn our ingredients into meals.

M - Sep 5
Eat Out

T - Sep 6
Pork Roast and Apples

Corn
Tossed Salad

W - Sep 7
Leftover Pork
Baked Potatoes
Sauteed Mushrooms

Th - Sep 8
Couscous with Lemon, Chicken, and Olives
Salad

F - Sep 9
Ham Steaks
Seasoned Beans
Cauliflower

S - Sep 10
Chicken Curry Rice with Veggies

Sn - Sep 11

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Garlic Bread
Salad

(shared with Menu Plan Monday)

A new blog

It feels slightly ridiculous to be announcing a new blog when I've been very lax this summer about keeping up with this one (call it summer vacation - I fully intend to get back to the domestic artiness of cooking, and crafting that makes up the majority of what I talk about here) but...

Michael and I are starting a new blog together - we've decided to work together on a year's worth of study with Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF) and as a part of that, we're keeping an online journal together to log and discuss our progress.  Now, there's nothing sadder than a blog that no one is reading, so if you're interested in the pagan bits of my life, I invite you to come follow us at The Cauldron Born.  And for those of you who aren't, you'll be happy to know I plan to keep The Auld Grey Mare separate from the pagan aspects of my life, and just as happily talk stitchin' and kitchen here with all you lovely people.

If you do pop over, say hi to Michael - he's a really awesome man. :)