I Didn't Fall I Jumped!

So ok, I've been sugaring it up once in a while since October.  Lately it has been more then once in a while.  I justified it because I wasn't eating any wheat so the harm wasn't all THAT bad.  Well that really is foolishness.  Sure maybe once in a big while you eat a sweet with refined sugar, what is the harm?  I've found that if you let it get out of hand then you are on the road to justifying all kinds of crazy things.

So what did I do?  Well as fate would have it, we had a chocolate cake ( made with traditional wheat flour) sitting in the fridge.  It was left over from a family gathering on Dec. 25.  We didn't eat any of it then and my hubby was planning to take it to work and give it away but forgot.
So there it was.
Did its addictive wheaty superpower call to me and send me cravings for its velvety goodness???  No, honestly I was just bored and wanted some instant gratification for chocolate and there it was.  I had opened the door months ago when I started indulging frequently in the refined sugars for comfort.
I didn't fall off the wagon with the cake, I jumped.  I took a running start.

It was a big piece too.  I figured if I was going to do it, do it big.
I do not know what kind of affect it will have on me over the next few days.  The last time I was accidentally exposed to wheat germ it was for 4 days in a row.  It was horrible!!  I had cravings and wanted to eat ALL the time until it worked itself out of my system.  Not to mention the amazing crabbiness I felt.  This time around, it was just one time and I happen to be sick already with a head and chest cold.  I think that may be my saving grace because I just don't find myself wanting to eat anything because of being sick!

I did notice that shortly after eating the cake I became very tired.  I'm fairly certain that if I went back through The Wheat Belly book by Dr. Davis there would be an explaination as to why that is.  Probably due to it's opiate affect on the brain.

I also noticed that I got sicker.  My congestion got worse.  Ok.. can I blame the wheat for that?  It is iffy, but I've done some testimonial reading online and people say that they have noticed allergy/congestion IMPROVING when they stop eating wheat.  And... yeah... my hubby and I have had massive improvements in that departments since going wheat free.

So... Time to drag myself back up on the wagon again.  This time leaving refined sugar behind as well.  For someone with a history of heart disease in the family, I strongly suspect refined sugar is a devil in disguise and something I shouldn't play with.  There is probably some link to small LDL particles and when I feel better I will look into that.

If you didn't know Small Particle LDL's are the cause of coronary heart disease.
I strongly recommend you check out www.wheatbellyblog.com or Dr. Davis' book Wheat Belly.  It is life changing in so many ways.

I'll be bringing back some food posts soon!  Hang in there as I get back into the swing of things!

Muffin Tin Omelets

Since my mom's passing I haven't written anything new, but I did find this draft just sitting there waiting to be published.  Enjoy.  I will be posting new adventures shortly. 

I found some stuff online where people were making food in muffin tins.  I thought it was cute and a great way to have ready made portions.  So I gave it a try.  Since my hubby isn't really thrilled about taking yogurt to work and eating it every morning with blueberries and nuts... maybe I should shake it up a bit.  I decided to make some breakfast omelets with sweet potato waffle fries as the bottom.

I'm not going to say this was a great success, but I'm not going to call it a failure either.  Although, it was a learning experience for sure.  I probably should tell you that I've been experiencing major bouts of clutziness in the kitchen for a while now, well actually since we moved in here a couple months ago.  Yeah, I had you fooled didn't I... thinking I was spinning all kinds of cooking magic in there with ease.  In reality I'm afraid I might have started a few salmonella farms in a few select places.  If there is a surface in the kitchen/dining room that I haven't spilt, splattered or dropped something on well then I deserve a medal! 

This day was one of those days magnified by ten!  But I survived with minimal battle wounds.  Here is what I came up with:

I preheated my oven to 375 degrees.  I came up with this based on another oven omelet recipe I have seen.

I buttered my muffin tins and added some sweet potato waffle fries.

I whisked up some eggs, salt and pepper.  I got a bit carried away and beat them to a frothy mess!  I continued and added some peppers for my veggie element.

Yep... still nice and foamy, at this point I didn't know what to expect as the result when I pulled them out of the oven.  I threw some fresh parsley on top to add another colorful element so they wouldn't be boring... and after over 7 years of marriage, my hubby recently told me he likes to eat it!

Looking good!

Looking not so good. I should have used coconut or olive oil instead of butter or better yet muffin cups!

I served them that night on the side with a big salad, focaccia "bread"sticks and Humus.

Death and an Ice Cream Sundae

UPDATE on physical progress since being wheat-free since mid to late July 2012 I have:

1. Lost over 30lbs.  (I have more to go, but I am happy because it WILL keep coming off)

2. Over 95% of my pain has disappeared (spinal injuries)

3. All my little aches & pains have gone away

4. My female cycle has VASTLY improved and shortened in days & activity (ladies should know what I mean by that). 

5. I feel FREE and no longer confined by the prison of pain I was trapped in!

6. I look forward to being able to start exercising and knowing that I wont get stuck on the floor in pain because my hip/lower back got "locked up".  Last time that happened I wanted to kill my husband because it hurt so bad when he tried to help me up.  

UPDATE on cooking and food

Since my mother passed, things have been restless in the family.
It has not been easy these last few weeks.  I do find myself wanting to partake in a sundae with whipped cream quite often ( I have to have the whipped cream ) and I have indulged it.  Some people hit the booze, I have a sweet tooth.  It isn't really a craving per se... just one of those things you do for instant gratification when you feel down.  The last few days I also found myself raiding some supplies of "fun size" York Peppermint Patties at he in-laws.

In all of this "sugar haze", I have still lost weight.
Ok, it wasn't so much a sugar haze as it was falling off the sugar wagon a few times.  I know what you are thinking "Hey!  Ice cream has no wheat in it".  True, but I have been trying to limit sugar in all its refined forms as much as possible.

I just haven't really felt motivated to try anything new in the realm of cooking.
I haven't really felt too motivated to even eat much except that sundae now and again.

BUT, I have discovered that the crockpot is a life saver in such times.
Grab some veggies, potatoes, beans and meat and you are half way there.  Cleaning the veggies take some effort, but slice um and dice um then add some broth or tomato juice, spices and you have a huge pot of food that will last several days.  Gives you time to do other things.  In my case, mourn... but oddly family dynamics is even keeping me from doing that properly at the moment.

I promise, I will share food soon.  Afterall, my mom would not be happy with me flaking out on this and that I need to be doing it.  She told me several times when we were with her last month, "I'm proud of you and keep it up girl, you are looking good."

My Mother's Passing

I'm sorry to all my readers that I have not posted lately.  My mother that has been fighting cancer passed away last week.  I am sad that she is gone, but this is my own selfishness talking.  I am happy for her because I know where she has gone and am very comfortable and secure in that.  I am happy for her, but I will miss her.

I never imagined that I would be present when she passed.
It was a moment I shared with my husband and also our pastor.  Mom was laying on her side in her bed facing me.  I had my hand on the top of her head and the other on her hand.  My mom's eyes were shut the whole time we were talking to her, but she was responsive and communicated to us.  She did hear us and was not drugged up on morphine like so many are at such a time. Before she passed she opened her eyes and looked at me, I told the pastor and he went to get the rest of the family from the other room.  She looked up toward the ceiling for a while and I knew she was leaving.  She stopped breathing and closed her eyes.

I stayed with her until the hospice nurse came and then I left.
The last couple of days I find myself thinking "I'll have to tell mom about that" or "I should ask mom.."

I will not end this blog, my mom was very proud of me for getting my health turned around and also loosing the weight.  She told me to "keep it up girl, you're lookin' good".  So, for my mom I'll continue to share.

I do have an upcoming entry on blueberry muffins.  Mom wasn't too thrilled with those and enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies more.  But I think if I had of added more blueberries she would have liked them more.  I will try to post soon.

Lasagna With Tofu Noodles!

Lasagna.  Ok, how the heck can you eat Lasagna without using wheat noodles or even "gluten-free" noodles?  Wait, back up... no noodles?  What is wrong with "gluten-free" noodles you might ask?  The short and simple of it is that the vast majority of "gluten-free" products contain various starches to replace the wheat.  Such starches (tapioca, potato and etc.) will increase your small particle LDL levels up to 10 days after splurging just on 1 meal on 1 day.

According to Dr. Davis (a preventative cardiologist), in his book Wheat Belly, he states:
"In my personal experience with thousands of patients with heart disease, nearly 90% express the small LDL pattern to at least a moderate, if not severe, degree."  He goes on to explain that the big deal isn't really about "high" cholesterol that causes atherosclerotic plaque accumulation and eventually heart attack and stroke.  It's all about the particles... the SMALL LDL's to be exact.  He goes into a lot of detail and honestly, you should get the book!  I've already highlighted the heck out of mine!

So do you get a cholesterol test yearly?  I did because my MD had me on a cholesterol med.
According to Dr. Davis that blood test is actually based on an equation and will NOT measure SMALL LDL particles.  "The only way for your doctor to truly know where you stand is to actually measure LDL particles in some way, such as LDL particle number (by a lab method called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, NMR, lipoprotein analysis) or apoprotein B particles.

So enough of all that!  How can you enjoy Lasagna?????  That is really what it boils down to isn't it?  What can you eat that tastes good.  Here is my first shot at ever making lasagna.  Wouldn't you know it would be a non-traditional kind!

I replaced regular lasagna noodles with fresh from the package firm tofu.  I did press out the liquid first because it seemed like the thing to do.  I then sliced the block with a cheese slicer. Ok.. you have to be careful here because the tofu seemed to have wanted to crumble or crack on me.  Somewhere there may already exist tofu lasagna noodles, but I had to make due with what I had.  I will find them, oh yes... I will find them!

You will need a 13"x9" baking dish
Preheat oven 350 degrees F
Cook 45 minutes covered with foil, then uncovered for 15 minutes longer or until cheese is brown.

Ricotta/Spinach filling:

2 cups (15oz) ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups chopped fresh spinach or 10 oz. frozen and squeezed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning or dried oregano

Other ingredients:
19 0z. block of firm tofu
4 cups (32 oz.) marinara sauce, divided
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
8 slices deli style Provolone cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) Shredded Parmesan cheese

*Optional ingredients:
Meat, mushrooms or anything you think might be good. (have fun with it!)

I didn't have the required size of baking dish so I used a couple smaller glass ones.  they also come with handy lids for storage in the fridge.  Also, my bag of frozen spinach was a tad bigger then the 10 oz. that is called for.  That is why my filling is so green!

So here is what you do:

Combine Ricotta cheese, eggs, spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg and italian seasoning in small bowl and set aside.

Cook your optional ingredients to use as a layer in the lasagna.

Assemble the lasagna.  Here is what I did:

I put sauce on the bottom of the pan,

then layered the tofu slices on top, and then added the ricotta mixture.

I added a layer of mozzarella and then another layer of the tofu slices

I topped the tofu slices with more sauce, mozzarella and then slices of provolone cheese

 I added Parmesan cheese and then popped it in the oven

This was my second dish to use up the "extra" ingredients since I didn't use a 13x9 dish.

Final Critique:

I thought it was good and so did my hubby.  Next time I plan on using less spinach (or more Ricotta) and then a bit of ground turkey or chicken sausage... something like that!  I may go for a thicker spaghetti sauce too just to see how that turns out instead of a thinner sauce I used.  I love my sauces!

Bargain Hunters International

This post should have been posted prior to the last one!

My friend Jenny took me to a really cool international supermarket here in Indy.  WOW!  You just don't see that kind of selection at our regular chain stores and markets.  I was in heaven and at the same time having a mental overload.  I'm not a professional with food, by no means, but I do fancy myself a culinary experimenter.  Ok.. that's just fancy talk for:  I'll take a recipe and jack with it after I've at least made it once the proper way first.

Standing in that sea of variety of produce I had only heard about in exotic recipes, my mind reeled.  I wanted to buy everything in large quantities because I'm a "stocker upper" by nature and did I mention the prices beat the chain stores???  After spending I don't know how long in the produce, we found our way to the meat section.  Ok... same situation!

They had fish of all kinds and even squid, octopus and even crawfish and probably some other stuff too.  The fish was so fresh that when you told the guy behind the counter what you wanted, he cleaned and gutted it to order.  And the meats... wow... chicken (of sorts I never heard of), turkey(smoked), lamb, goat, beef.  I'm not into eating organs... but they had a variety of that.  Then they had meat that was slaughtered in a special way in order to satisfy certain religious needs.  Whoa.. overload all over again.

But I was on a mission to find Shiritaki noodles.  Dr. Davis has a recipe in his book Wheat Belly that calls for them.  They are a wheat-free noodle, made of tofu and/or mung bean?  Upon that visit, somehow I overlooked them completely, but I discovered they had a TON of tofu blocks on sale.  19 oz. blocks of medium firm tofu for less then 60¢ each.  So yeah... I got like six of them.  I've never used tofu, but I know it is a great protein source!  You can't beat that price and you can make them taste like anything you want!

I went back 2 days later with the hubby and picked up 6 more blocks and then found the Shiritaki noodles and picked up a couple packages of those as well as another off brand dry tofu noodle.  In the next post I'll share what I did with them, I don't want to ramble on too much in one post!  (See prior post for Tofu Spaghetti - for some reason that posted prior to this one)

Tofu: Quick and Easy Spaghetti

With 12 blocks of tofu sitting in my fridge with a "sell by" date quickly approaching, I had to do something, but what?  I didn't have any recipes, let alone a clue, as to what to do with it!

So, hello internet.  I found out that most people prefer the texture change in tofu after it has been frozen... something about it becoming more chewy?  Ok.. you can freeze it, awesome.  I'm into that!  So I followed the instructions I found and pressed out the water and vacuum sealed them individually and threw 10 blocks in the freezer.   I saved 2 blocks from the freezing process and plan to turn one, if not two, of them into Tofu Chocolate Mousse.  Oh yeah, you knew it had to be something with chocolate first off didn't you!  But since I don't have all those ingredients yet, I gotta wait.

As for the Shiritaki noodles and the off-brand tofu noodles I had purchased, I put the off-brand to good use.  I also discovered that they are VERY handy when you want something fast and convenient.

So the dry packaged, off-brand tofu noodles got turned into spaghetti with the help of some Prego sauce and my stovetop.   It wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked upon cooking them up that first night.  Fortune would have it that after marinating in the sauce overnight for leftovers the next day they were "really good" in my hubby's words.  The texture was a bit chewier then regular pasta, but that doesn't bother me or my hubby a bit.  So I will remember that next time I make this spaghetti, I will try to let them marinate in the sauce before I actually cook them up in order to kick up the flavor a notch or two.

You have no idea how happy this makes me to discover this quick and easy meal idea!!!

 I feel so liberated to be able to use my pasta recipes now that I have this great substitute for regular pasta!   I also LOVE the fact they are packed with protein and nutrients whereas regular pasta is just empty calories.

Confessions of a Cocoa Freak

So I have now lost 25 lbs since going wheat and gluten free.  It would seem that I have stalled in the weight loss department at the moment, but the good news is that I have not gained any.  I sort of fell off the "sugar wagon" for a bit.  Oh yeah... I'm trying to avoid refined sugar and if I make anything that calls for it, I use Truvia.  

I had purchased a large bag of 60% cocoa morsels from Sam's Club, so you know it was a big bag!  I would have preferred more pure chocolate and less sugar, but that is the highest they had.  I had planned on making up some wheat-free chocolate cookies and freezing them so I would have them in a pinch to satisfy an urge or to slip into my hubby's lunch as a treat.  I ran low on Almonds after making up some Focaccia "bread" and freezing it and didn't get to the cookies. 

I eventually found myself nibbling at the bag of morsels, yeah yeah... I'm a chocolate freak at times!  I can honestly say that I didn't hit that chocolate like my past self would have because if I did... I would have put on a bit of weight.  To end my little daily raids I had to take a stand!  I decided to vacuum seal up the morsels into an assortment of 1 & 2 cup packets that now reside safely in the cabinet awaiting to be made into healthy little cookies free of added sugar.  I know I will not waste a vacuum sealed bag to open and nibble on it's contents because I wouldn't be able to reseal it.  So I call that a little victory. 

Sorry I don't have any recipes in this post.  

But I will be sharing a bunch of stuff I have discovered that may interest you in my next few posts.  Forgive me for missing in action for a bit, we have been dealing with some issues of serious illness in both our families and needless to say it can take somewhat of an emotional toll at times.  A few days last week, I found myself watching episode after episode of a TV drama I found on the internet that I had never seen before.  It was a way to keep my mind turned off from those things I didn't want to think about for a while.   Luckily, this food thing helped to bring me out of it and I started researching recipes and cooking again.  

See you soon!

Focaccia Breadsticks

One thing I love is the smell of bread cooking, especially if it has wonderful things like sun dried tomatoes, garlic, oregano and etc in it.  The is Olfactory Heaven!    I just baked up Dr. Davis' (author of Wheat Belly) Focaccia Bread recipe.  Wow... I love that smell.  I made it flat and cut it into breadsticks.  For lunch, I plan on having one with some multi-colored bell peppers and Tuscan Herb Hummus I picked up at Sam's Club last night.

I can totally see eating this with soups, salads and Shiritaki noodles with pasta sauce.  I have yet to track down Shiritaki noodles to try them.  When I do, I'll let you know what I think!  Dr. Davis suggests making bread slices from this recipe and using it for sandwiches!

Sorry but I didn't get shots of it in progress.  I only remembered my camera at the end!
I got a little distracted when I started having issues unlocking my food processor bowl to dump out the almond meal.  Weird... took me 30 minutes and then when it did become unlocked, I honestly don't know how it happened!  I must have a kitchen elf hiding somewhere!  I also tried separating eggs with my hands like the chefs do on tv... yeah... not a pretty site for the first timer.  Needless to say I was a gooey mess.  So I just decided to shuck the yellow back and forth from one half of the shell to the other until the egg whites separated completely.  After that... I was just ready to get on with it and totally forgot to take pictures.

Focaccia Bread Sticks

2 cups almond meal
1 cup shredded mozzarella or other cheese
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, finely sliced
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food chopper or processor, pulse cheese until reduced to a small granule size consistency, similar to couscous.

In a medium bowl, combine almond meal, cheese, xanthan gum, baking soda, sea salt, rosemary, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder and sundried tomatoes and mix together.  Set aside.

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer until stiff.  Blend in egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of olive oil at low speed.  Pour egg mixture into almond meal mixture and mix together.

Form dough into desired shape or shapes with your hand.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove and brush with remaining olive oil and sprinkle the top with some sea salt.  Return to oven and bake 15 minutes.

(Ok... the sea salt I had was kind of big and turned out to be kind of pointless so I scraped it off.  I'll be getting a smaller granule size of sea salt soon because it will taste more awesome with it on top.)

Below I cut my bread into breadstick.  They have a nice outer crunch to them, perhaps because of the use of a baking stone... not sure, but never-the-less.  They make GREAT breadsticks!

Bacon Crusted Veggie Quiche

This recipe got two thumbs up from me and my hubby.  We no longer eat pork so I substituted the bacon for turkey bacon.  Turkey bacon didn't really keep it's crunch after I baked this quiche, so if it is crunch you are looking for.... you might want to go with the pork.
The fun of recipes are tweeking them to make them your own!  I will be

Bacon Crusted Veggie Quiche

16 strips (1 lb) of bacon cooked through but not too crisp. (I subbed turkey bacon)
1 cup Swiss Cheese
1 cup Sour Cream
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion ( I had 1 heaping cup already diced and just used that)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Line a 9 or 10-inch pie dish with bacon strips while still hot. Cut off any excess bacon that hangs over. Chop the excess and set aside.  (I didn't have 16 strips to use so I just lined the bottom with no excess to trim)

In a medium bowl combine eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper until well mixed but not foamy.  Add zucchini, onions, mushrooms, chopped bacon, and Swiss cheese. (At the last minute I realized I only had 1 mushroom, so I added Red Bell Pepper)
Pour slowly into pie plate over bacon.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, roughly 24-30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Top with sliced tomatoes and brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place under broiler until golden brown.  (I skipped this step because I ran out of Parmesan cheese and as for the tomatoes, I served a big salad with them on the side)

Serve warm.  I served mine with a big side salad. 

SORRY the picture is on it's side. I don't know how to flip it using this blogsite software.  I'll make sure I don't take vertical pictures again!

"Gluten-Free" Products: The New Poison

To dismiss the warning to not eat "gluten-free" products (that contain junk carbohydrates) and say "I can do it in moderation" is like saying "arsenic in moderation is ok".

In the book Wheat Belly, Dr. Davis discusses why you should be wheat and gluten-free and why you should NOT eat "gluten-free" products.  He is very detailed in the book and he can get a bit scientifically heavy.  It is a lot to process in one sitting, you have to keep going back.

Even reading through his book, I myself even thought once in a blue moon a gluten-free pasta dish at the Olive Garden would be ok.  So then today I read his blog post "Heart Poison" about "gluten-free" products and small LDL particles.  This hit home.  This made it VERY clear.  His comment on his Facebook page drove it home even further.  It was quick and to the point.  

Facebook comment from Wheat Belly (Dr. Davis)

"The measure to follow is NOT LDL. I call this the "kindergarten version." When you measure lipoproteins (e.g., NMR lipoprotein analysis, HDL Labs, Berkeley HeartLabs, Atherotech VAP) , the REAL way to assess the particles in the bloodstream that cause heart disease and heart attack, you find (as discussed in the b

log post) that gluten-free foods trigger small LDL particles extravagantly. (For anyone interested, this is due to the process of liver de novo lipogenesis that converts carbohydrates to triglyceride-containing lipoproteins like VLDL, which then cause large benign LDL particles to become small LDL particles.) The point of this post was that consumption of a modest quantity of gluten-free foods INCREASES HEART ATTACK RISK FOR 10 DAYS when they are made with junk carbohydrate ingredients. Unless you think poison in moderation is good, NO human--children, adults, elderly, or otherwise--should be eating these gluten-free foods. And the fact that they are even sold tells us just how ignorant/stupid/indifferent/greedy the people who manufacture gluten-free foods are. (I believe it is mostly simple ignorance of nutritional principles.)"

Since I am, at the moment, taking cholesterol meds and hope to some day soon stop.  I recognize that eating such junk carbs would not be in my best interest for a healthy and longer life.  I will continue to forgo "gluten-free" products that contain the junk.

There is a company gearing up to launch gluten-free products that do NOT contain these junk carbohydrates.  I will keep you posted and will also continue to share recipes and my own progress through this wheatless and gluten-free trip.  You are not alone!

Wheat-Free Pizza #1

I was majorly urging for pizza over the weekend.  For me, I don't care if it has crust or not because I'm all about the toppings!  However, my hubby was intrigued by the concept of a wheat-free pizza crust.  I  have 3 recipes on hand to try out.  The one I made below is from a Suzanne Somers recipe contest and included in her book Fast and Easy.

It is actually for "mini" pepperoni pizza's.  After I prepped the crust and put it in the oven, I realized I should have doubled it for my purposes.  So I'm including the recipe I used and then I added to it to make it a bit more of my own.  Enjoy!

Wheat-Free Pizza  

The Crust
1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs
Salt & Pepper to taste
*Basil, onion & garlic powder to taste (I added these)
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese

My Toppings
4 Chicken bratwurst
Mushrooms
Onions
Green Pepper
Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside.
In a medium bowl, blend together cream cheese & eggs with a wooden spoon.  Add salt & pepper (basil, onion powder, garlic powder).  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until combined.  Pour into prepared dish.  Bake for 17 mins, or until golden brown.  Let crust cool for 10 minutes.  (if you notice below you can see where I did a bit of taste testing on the crust... well, ok... I was hungry!)

Sautee mushrooms, onions and green onions in a skillet.  Put in a bowl when done.  Crumble chicken bratwurst into skillet with more onions and cook until done.  Add prior ingredients back in and add tomato sauce.  Continue cooking until all ingredients are hot.

When crust is cool use a 4 inch round cookie cutter to cut out the mini pizza crusts, discard excess and leaving 6 rounds in place.  Top each crust with sauce, cheese and desired toppings.  Since I didn't do the mini thing, I just cut the crust into squares and topped with my desired toppings and added Mozzarella cheese!  It was yummy!  I would have probably used Prego Spaghetti Sauce if I had it, but since I didn't I used a can tomato sauce and so happy it turned out that way because the bratwurst really gave it good flavor.

Variety's Demand & Sweet/Sour Cucumber Salad

After being taken down by some Wheat Germ in my peanut butter for 5 days last week, I think I'm recovering from the constant urge to eat for no reason.  Turns out the peanut butter/Chocolate fudge, from the week prior, had NO WHEAT in it and my nibblefest of that was just me being a chocolate freak and urging on it.

I've hit a wall though.  The urge to eat for no reason may be gone, but I've hit that place where variety is now very much NEEDED.  There is only so long you can go eating variations of the same flavors and you have to start mixing things up a bit.  Now I like a fresh salad and dippin' my veggies in the homemade ranch dressing with some cheese on the side, but it's not cutting it all the time.

Over the weekend we went to Applebees', they have a nice variety on their Wheat & Gluten Allergy menues,  and then after we ended up buying some Turkey Hill  ice cream at Kroger.  Although Turkey Hill has refined sugar, it only has 4 other ingredients that you can pronounce and actually know what they are:  Cream, nonfat milk, sugar, vanilla, vanilla beans.  Shouldn't have gotten the ice-cream... but gave in to the crave.

I fell off the wagon yet again yesterday but not with wheat, just a craving again.  I had a 32 oz. diet Coke... I just wanted something carbonated and justified it because it didn't have sugar in it.  I suppose once in a blue moon this is ok, but  boy did I pay for it!  I was up all night and hit the bed about 6:45am.  My mood is still low and I find myself irritable as well as some aches and pains coming back.  Didn't think it was this bad the first time around when I ditched the wheat.  I guess I'm having more withdrawal symptoms and cravings at this go-around.

FOUND A GREAT ITEM at Sam's club.  It was a package of Feta & Spinach Chicken burgers (gluten-free).  It was a bit pricey, but cheaper then going out to eat.  We decided to get them due to the late hour and that pressing need of variety.  They were very good and I hope to recreate them myself.  

I served them with Sweet/Sour Cucumber Salad

1 large or 2 small cucumbers thinly sliced

3 onions, thinly sliced

3 tbsp sugar (or equiv. sweetener)

5-6 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

2-3 tbsp wate2-3 tbsp chopped fresh dill

salt

Mix together slices of onion and cucumber, season with salt and toss until well combined.  Leave in a cool place for 5-10 minutes.  Add the sugar, vinegar (your choice), water and chopped dill to the cucumber mixture.  Toss together until combined, then chill for a few hours until ready to serve.

Here is the label from the burgers from Sam's Club

Devil In Disguise

Wheat and gluten seem to be in everything!  So, I thought I had it all figured out.  Buy only produce, meats, cheese and things that are all around NOT processed to much.  This was surely the best way to avoid ingesting hidden wheat or gluten.  Yeah... it was a good plan, but some wheat got in under the radar.

For the past week and a half I have had "the munchies".   I would see desserts and goodies and could almost taste them!  I didn't have a problem with this before.  I wasn't hungry, I just wanted to eat and nibble.

Monday I broke down and made my hubby get us a bottle of Coke out of the machine at Kroger.  I just wanted carbonation and the taste of a Coke.  Well then came the question of Diet or Regular ( Aspertame or High Fructose Corn Syrup ).  We went with regular.  It was syrupy and not at all the taste I was craving, although the carbonation thing was satisfied.

So what the heck was going on?
Why was I craving and nibbling and eating all the time????
Oh yeah, I was also having slight headaches off and on, waking up in the middle of the night with my arms "asleep", my nose was stopped up and I have had some digestion issues to name a few other things along with a drop in my mood.

Last night while nibbling on my jar of Natural Peanut Butter, that I piked up saturday, I looked at the label.  WHEAT GERM!  Seriously?  Mystery solved.  I can say for sure that was the cause from Saturday on, but what about the week before?  I didn't have that jar of peanut butter then?

Last week I did have the chocolate/peanut butter fudge to nibble on that my mother-in-law and I made together.  I didn't look on the label to see what was in it and didn't think I needed to.  Last week I figured ok, it is the chocolate making me go back for more because I LOVE chocolate.  Right now, I'm thinking there was some hidden gluten or wheat in that peanut butter somewhere.

Lesson learned.  Be on the lookout for that devil in disguise.  It is lurking everywhere.

So you might be wondering WHY wheat and gluten makes you want to eat more.  It is because it is addictive and is also a hunger stimulant.  

When you digest common wheat it yields morphine-like compounds that bind to the brain's opiate receptors and gives you a form of mild euphoria.  This triggers your need for more and increases your appetite, cravings and calorie intake.  The ONLY way to stop the process after you have digested wheat is to to be injected with an opiate blocking drug!  Yep, the same drugs they give people to come down off heroin.  If you don't have anything like that lying around the house to shoot up with, well then you just get to ride it out.

So that is me today, riding out the addiction and trying not to go for the Cheerios I still have that I can't seem to give away.  I'm eating MonterayJack cheese and brown mustard and it's just not doing it for me.  But I'm tough, I may eat while I'm not hungry for a while... but I'll just eat something healthy as I ride this thing out.

Damn that Devil in disauise!

Stepping Out of The Fog

I guess posting recipes and funny stories about flying mixing bowls can be nice and funny, but you are probably wanting to know "what exactly has going wheatless done for you?"

So here I am, probably a little less then a month into wheatlessness and I can say that I can join the ranks of those I read about who walked out of that "wheat fog".  I'm clearer in my thinking, my moods have leveled out BIG TIME and I'm no longer all over the map emotionally.  I am happy and very content on a daily basis.   

Maybe this doesn't seem so amazing to some, but I'll let you in on something.  My mom has been fighting cancer closing in on two years now.  That in and of itself was crazy dealing with and then we'll add the extra crazy that comes with family members and drama.  I have to mention the family drama because that shot me from feeling crazy to like I was walking through Hell in a gasoline suite most of the time.  Now, this post isn't to trash other people.  I'm just trying to express the state of mind I was in.  To say I was a mess emotionally would be an understatement.  All this was going on while my husband and I were living with my mom (temporarily) and the feeling of being trapped and walking on eggshells was the order of the day for me.  I even came to a point that I just knew I was going to die if things remained as they were.  I'm so embarrassed to admit that last statement, but it is true so there you go.

The last weekend of June we moved to an apartment.  Those feelings didn't really go away, they really just decreased in intensity.  It was nice having our own space to decompress and no worry of judgmental attitudes from other family members.  It should have been liberating, but it really wasn't.  I just felt blah with a side of listless.  We were eating wheat left and right because it was easy while settling in.  Pizza here, Subway there and etc.  Several weeks after we moved we were able to go wheatless and gluten-free.

After a few weeks of wheatlessness, I just felt content all the time.  My zest for life came back and I had more energy.  Headaches, I seemed to have all the time, went away.  I still go to the chiropractor for my spine due to some structural things, but beyond those localized areas ALL the other aches pains and hurts are gone from my back and neck!  Awesome!

Then, recently, my mother was told that the cancer got into the bone and they couldn't do anything else for her.  They proceeded to give her a two month expiration date.  Ok, yes that was a devastating hit, but then something happened that was very confusing to me.  I realized I was still feeling happy and content.  It was to the point that it was disturbing to me and I felt guilty.   

I was like "What the heck???  My mom is officially terminal and I'm happy with life???"  Of course I wasn't happy with my mom's situation, but then I REALIZED I was just feeling the affects of the wheat purge.  It was no longer clouding my mind and keeping me locked in a battle with depression.  That crazy train ride is over!  

THIS is what all those personal experiences ( I read online and in the Wheat Belly book) were talking about when they said that they stepped out of the "wheat fog".  I had NO IDEA how bad it had been until I went wheat and gluten-free and then I saw clearly... I FELT it.  

You never really know the extent of how BAD bad is, until you start to feel good.  I have done a 180 emotionally.  I have begun to think I wish I had discovered the Wheat Belly book earlier.  I would have been able to deal with things better and avoided feeling like everything was caving in.

But these things happen as they do and all any of us can do is carry on and do our best day to day.
I love my mom and I pray that she will be here for a long time yet to come, she is doing well emotionally and is in a good place.  It makes her happy that I am too.  We are all living day by day and taking it as it come.

Test Kitchen!

This last weekend while visiting my in-laws, my mother-in-law Kathy and I decided to make up some recipes that is in the back of the Wheat Belly book.  We chose a dark chocolate and peanut butter fudge, Apple Walnut "bread", Cheesecake w/nut crust, Ranch Dressing and a Flaxseed Wrap.

This happened to be the day that we both decided to use a stand mixer for the very first time.  Oh yeah... and we didn't have an instruction booklet.  Needless to say we got some ingredients in there and flipped it on to "beat".  Well that bowl went flyin' around so fast we totally thought it was going to fling off and hit the wall, or some unsuspecting husband that might come around the corner!  The ingredients were uncomfortably close to the top of the mixing bowl.  We scrambled to turn the thing off and couldn't find the switch!  Luckily we had the mental fortitude to yank the plug!  We eventually tamed the mixer and finished our first recipe.

We did have some real winners in the bunch.  The Ranch Dressing was awesome and I will totally be making that for dips as well as fresh salads.  I'm already thinking on ways to make it "TexMex"!

The Flaxseed Wrap was interesting because you mix it up and make one wrap at a time in the microwave in a glass pie pan.  It wasn't really flexible enough to use as a wrap, but then I think we nuked it too long in the microwave.  After returning to Indiana, I decided to double the Wrap recipe and pour it into an 8"x8" square glass pan.  I nuked it at 3 minutes and it came out softer, more pliable and thicker!  This TOTALLY is a great substitute for sandwich bread!  In fact, I sent my hubby off to work with a big turkey breast sandwich with mayo and romaine lettuce.

Upon giving my mom a taste of the Flaxseed Wrap she asked me "what kind of bread is that and how did you slice it so nicely?"  It does look like bread and works like it too!  This recipe has potential for being modified with different spices for whatever mood you are in.  I plan to play around with it myself in the future.

The peanut butter fudge was very intense, some may want to call it bitter.  But it is more cocoa and less sugar (in this case Truvia).  It gets stiff quickly while mixing and sets up nicely.  My mother-in-law and my hubby liked it after it sat for a while.  They are not typically people that like the high cocoa content candy.  I'm use to 85%-90% cocoa bars... so of course I like the fudge.

The cheesecake... well that did turn out nicely, but with one hitch.  I accidentally put cinnamon in the filling and it was only suppose to be in the crust.  We also used low fat sour cream which may have had an affect on the taste as well.  My hubby wasn't too thrilled at first, but after it was chilled in the fridge he said he kind of liked it.  He did however ask me to leave out the cinnamon next time!

The Apple Walnut "Bread".  This wasn't bad either, but it didn't call for any sweetener.  People that are off wheat and gluten tend to have a sweet sensitivity, but people still eating wheat may not think it is sweet enough.  I liked it, but felt it needed a touch of sweetener.  I did see potential in it.  I ate it with yogurt and fruit.  WARNING do not eat this bread with pineapples and yogurt!  Pineapples are very sweet and makes the bread taste very bland.  I shouldn't be eating pineapples anyway because of the sugar content in them, but... I love them and once in a while wont be so bad.  :-)

Following is the Flaxseed Wrap recipe

3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds ( I used milled flaxseed I purchased at the store)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
pinch of sea salt or celery salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg
Microwave-safe pie pan

Mix together the ground flaxseeds, baking powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt in a small bowl.  Stir in the 1 tablespoon coconut oil.  Beat in the egg and 1 tablespoon water until blended.

Grease microwave-safe glass pie pan.  Spread batter evenly over the bottom.  Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.  Time may very.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Use a spatula to flip it over onto a plate and top with desired ingredients

TO MAKE "FLAXSEED BREAD SLICES"
double the above recipe.  Use an 8"x8" square glass pan.  Nuke in microwave about 3 minutes (times may very depending on microwaves).  After cooling, cut into 4 "slices".

Shellshocked!

I forgot to mention this in an earlier post, but last weekend I weighed myself while visiting my mother.  I was completely shellshocked to see the number on the scales.  I got off and then back on.  I seriously felt like I was in The Twilight Zone or something.  I got off and back on.  I had my mom get on the scales to weigh and confirm.  She said the scales were right on.  I got on and back off again,  I hadn't seen that number in a while!

Ok.. I don't know if I should tell you the number, I'm still sensitive about that.   I will say that over a month ago I weighed 15-16 pounds more!  I new some crop pants I had was fitting better and I thought maybe I dropped a few pounds... but I never for a moment expected to see the number I did.

Thank you God for helping me find Wheat Belly!!!!

Also I am experiencing elevated moods and an almost high on life and this was BEFORE I weighed!

This weekend I'll be experimenting with some recipes with my mother-in-law and I'll share them with you along with a review.  They are going to be yummy I'm sure!!!!

Olive Garden and Gluten Free

Yeah... Olive Garden restaurant and Wheat-free/Gluten Free living.  It is possible?  

The hubby and I went there last night to use a gift card we've had for a while.  I asked for a gluten-free menu and was happy to see more then just a couple options.  So I began to think that eating out at Olive Garden might not be so bad and a possible destination in the future if we got another gift card one day.

I will admit.  $25 doesn't really cut it there for a meal.  Our entrees were $28 and some change and we just drank water.   I'm not complaining, mind you, just an observation to let you know.  

I forgot how nice it is inside the OG.  Transporting you to an Italian villa without leaving Indiana.  No passport needed!  Our wait staff was awesome and very nice.  They were very eager to make our gluten-free experience great.  

We ordered the Penne Rigate Pomodoro  w/chicken and the Penne Rigate with Marinara  w/chicken.  These are gluten-free and made with starches to replace the wheat.  Gluten-free products can be a problem all unto themselves if consumed all the time.  They will spike your blood glucose levels and you can look all the gory details up online or I'll post about that another time.  This post is about The Olive Garden.

I must say the entrees were good.  Not bad to be gluten-free.  The penne might be a little firmer then maybe what most people like.  Not as soft and squishy as pasta made from wheat.  My hubby and I liked it.  I especially LOVED the Penne Rigate Pomodoro.  Oh yes it was delicious.  The Marinara was good, but in comparison the Pomodoro kicked its butt!

Gluten-free penne fallout?  

There may have been some fallout, but I am uncertain if it was the penne.  Today I experienced a... well.. how to put this delicately... a mild laxative affect.  Ok, yeah not thrilling to hear or me to tell, but this might be handy for some to know.  For lunch I ate some of the leftovers and then sometime after that I did experience some rumblings and perhaps a touch of gas (in my stomach).  I don't know for certain if it was the gluten-free pasta that did this, but I would try it again in the future just to see.

Overall.  

The Olive Garden staff in Castleton (Indiana) was awesome and very gracious with our needs.  Gluten-Free Penne Rigate Pomodoro kicked butt in flavor.  It didn't seem to keep me full though as much as a protein and veggie meal does.  I would recommend it as a splurge for lunch as opposed to a dinner due to the starches used in the noodles.  

Arm Photon Torpedos Cuz it's A Minefield!

I reported for duty just moments ago on "The Bridge" (my kitchen).  Mission, make a healthy dinner and pack ingredients to make something while visiting my mother this weekend.  I was also thinking ahead to when we take off for a weekend to visit the in-laws.  We are avoiding High Fructose Corn Syrup and other glucose soaring foods as well as wheat.

Ok breakfast is easy:  Yogurt, fruit, nuts, eggs and turkey bacon. 

 

We don't have fresh or frozen fruit at the moment and I thought "What about Canned jellied cranberry sauce to eat on the side with yogurt!"   I really thought I was on to something there, until I read the label.  High Fructose Corn Syrup is the first ingredient and Sugar is the third!  

I picked up a can of Chili Beans I am planning to make Taco Chili with tomorrow.  HFCS with a dash of Sugar again!  I picked up a can of something else... HFCS.  It's like I took a swan dive into the minefield and then rolled around a bit so I wouldn't miss setting anything off! 

Now I'm shellshocked and depressed.  

Eggs, Turkey bacon and cucumber salad left over from last night and maybe a fresh salad with feta cheese and tomatoes on a bed of baby Spring Mix.  

On a good note.  Dinner last night was a real hit (see prior entry for recipes).

Kitchen Trek. Boldly Go!

"So what's left to eat?" My husband asked me that question with panic and slight exasperation in his voice.

Well I'll tell you like I told him PLENTY!  The cool thing is is that when you eat real food (non processed) your options are NOT limited.  You are only limited by your own imagination or possible other dietary restrictions you may have.  We don't eat pork or shellfish.  I also try to avoid cooking red meat and dairy up together.  So that may sound limiting enough and then we take out the wheat.  Oh boy!

You just get to be creative and explore new territories.  Think of it like Kitchen Trek and boldly go where you've not gone before!

Luckily we like veggies and salads and that kind of jazz.  I just can't be lazy and throw up the same fresh salad all the time.  Let's face it.  No matter how much you like something if you eat it over and over can get old.  Also a slab of meat with cooked veggies on the side - BORING.  So... let the creativity flow!

Besides ditching "Frakengrain", as Dr. Davis likes to call wheat in his book Wheat Belly, we are watching out for foods that spike glucose since the hubby is pre-diabetic and I'm 3 points from it.  Dr. Davis doesn't think it's a bad idea for everyone to limit those foods (notice limit doesn't mean give up altogether).

Today I started out making a "Sunday Brunch Casserole"... but ended up morphing it into a Cheeseburger Pie like thing.  Not sure how it will turn out, but isn't that half the fun?

Here's what I did.  Can't really give you the recipe because I just sort of took the recipe and tweeked it as I went.  So, anyway... here is what I did.

Whacked Out Cheeseburger Pie
Browned 1 lb Turkey sausage, threw 1 small onion and a medium sized red bell pepper and cooked a bit longer.  I threw in some Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, salt and pepper.

In a bowl I mixed up 1 cup of milk with 3 large eggs.  I threw in some more pepper, garlic and onion powder.  I poured that into the pan with the meat and veggies after I took it of the heat.  I added 3 cups of cheese ( ok, I really just eyballed it and didn't measure).  I stirred everything up.

I poured that into a glass pie pan.  I thought it looked a little drab so I cut up some fresh cilantro and sprinkled that on top and popped it into the oven on 350 degrees.
It's been cooking about a half hour so far.

My stove has like time warped from the 1970's so I have no idea on cook times to suggest to you.  But I will say that a regular cheeseburger pie recipe that I have says 15-20 minutes.  I just keep checking.

In a bit I'm going to make
 Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad
1 large or  2 small cucumbers (thinly sliced)
3 onions ( I just have 1 huge one I'm going to use)
3 tbsp sugar
5-6 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp water
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
salt

1. mix together cucumbers and onions.  Season with salt and toss together until thoroughly combined.  let stand in a cool place for 5-10 minutes.

2. Add the sugar, white wine or cider vinegar, water and chopped dill to the cucumber mixture.  Toss together until well combined, then chill for a few hours or until ready to serve.

Ok... not too thrilled about the sugar, but I think as long as we haven't eaten any high glucose spiking foods when we eat it, then it should be ok.  Afterall, we are not eating wheat and wheat is worse then sugar when it comes to that!

I just pulled the Whacky Pie out of the oven to cool... just to put it back in on warm before the hubby gets home.  Now... time for cucumber salad.  I hope everything tastes good.  Stay tuned!

Cake is our Crack!

So trying to do this wheatless thing is not as easy as turning on a light switch, I'll tell you that.  I can't tell you how much pizza and wheat riddled crap we've eaten since moving into the apartment.  We also had a sugar fest last week with chocolate chip cake and buttercream icing mingled with ice cream.

Yeah, yeah... I know that has to stop.
We had an urge and since we haven't gone cold turkey yet (due to moving and being all out of whack with proper pantry items) we went with it.  I'm also one of those people that like to buy in bulk and I look at "What you get for the money".  I realize that this kind of thinking is dangerous when it comes to sugary treats.  I usually don't like to keep the stuff in my house and never would go get any unless my hubby and I agreed we couldn't fight the urge any longer.  If we were going to get it, we should have just gotten some small single servings instead of the whole cake.  Yes... we paid for it it other ways and it was not worth it.

Modern wheat causes an addictive response.  Wheat polypeptides are able to cross the blood brain barrier.  This is NOT a good thing, the barrier is there for a reason!   Researchers call these polypeptides "exorphins".  When they cross into the brain, they bind to the brain's morphine receptors this is what opiate drugs bind to.  It is interesting to also note that the the drug Naloxone (given to addicts on heroin or any other opiate to instantly reverse the high) will also block the wheat exorphins.

Congratulations, you are getting high everyday.  Some people are addicts and some people are obsessive addicts.  "Wheat can dictate food choice, calorie consumption, timing of meals and snacks.  It can influence behavior and mood.  It can even dominate thoughts."  (Wheat Belly)  Oh yes... we can relate in our household.  Hence the Crazy for Cake attacks we would periodically fall prey to.  It's not a "boy I'd like to have a piece of cake and ice cream" mentality, It is usually a "I gotta have cake and ice cream now" mentality.  Yep... it is a borderline obsession for us.  Cake with ice cream is our crack.

You know... I like being in control of my thoughts and my actions!  Wheat is NOT going to control me or my hubby anymore.  We are "the masters of our domain" on the matter!!!!  Slavery to wheat and it's effects is going to end.

We have committed to rid the house of all obvious wheat products (and then turn to the not so obvious ones and I'll talk about those another time).  I was able to return some unopened pasta and a box of Bisquick to Walmart with a receipt.  I also have about 5-6 boxes of whole wheat pasta and 2 boxes of stuffing mix that I don't have a receipt for.  I hope I can return them for store credit.  This really shouldn't be a problem, walmart is good at taking things back and it is a win win situation because I'll just turn around and buy something else from them.  :-)

I do hate that the hubby will be taking his Hebrew National hotdogs to the race tomorrow tucked into a hotdog bun.  At this point, we don't know a good alternative for him to take that is portable and easily consumed at the track.

Beans!!!!!

So as you know my question before was:  "How do I keep my husband from loosing weight if I don't throw wholegrains at him anymore at mealtimes?"

Some years back I watched a friend loose a BUNCH of weight and this girl didn't even exercise regularly.  Her trick was Somersizing (aka: Food Combining).  I immediately got the books and started applying the principles I had learned.  I kept a VAST majority of the weight off because I had LEARNED about food (until some medications and a wedding was introduced into my life).  I LOVED Somersizing.  NO counting calories, eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  Eat a variety of wonderful REAL food and give up the junk.  AND... don't mix carbs with proteins!!!!  THAT was the major key.   You could have carbs with veggies, but NOT with protein in the weight loss phase.  SO.. lazy me just gave up the carbs all together so I didn't have to deal with accidental mixing.  So, I was conditioned to always remember that to loose weight avoid mixing carbs and proteins.

When I picked up my Somersizing recipe books, there was the answer to my question.  BEANS!!!!
I don't know why, but somehow I eventually just associated beans as a protein and NOT a carb, but actually they are a carb & protein (they are classified as a carb on the program).  AWESOME!  My hubby will not turn into Skelatore afterall.  Meanwhile, I feel like a complete idiot for thinking beans were ONLY a protein.

Carbs to remember:
Yogurt (this will be great to make salad dressings or dips)

Other food items to note that are both protein & carbs are:
Nuts
Olives
Liver
Avocados
Coconuts
Soy
Low-Fat or whole fat soy milk
Low-Fat or Whole milk
Low-fat or full fat rice milk
Buttermilk

Since we are still living out of boxes at our new apartment, we haven't exactly been entirely wheatless yet.  Trying to get it together is a bit of a focus and eating easy seems to be the order of the day.  Between the donuts, pizza and $1 McDonald's burgers (over the past few days) we have yet to exile wheat totally.  I also have a box of Bisquick and 10 assorted boxes of whole wheat penne, spaghetti and macaroni on my shelf.  I do hate to waste anything yet am resisting the urge to cook it.

Tonight we are probably going for the Turkey sausages I defrosted and some veggies.  Yeah... sounds boring, I know.  I'd like to throw a cookie in there somewhere.  Oh yes a big chocolate chip one sounds good right about now.

Meanwhile, I'll be going through cookbooks to find interesting meals that wont bore our palette.   I have seen some, but moving expenses have lessened the cooking budget.

Introduction

Some Background:
My husband went back to school in 2009 to pursue a BS in order to enter the ROTC program and join the Air Force.  He was unable to go OTC because his previous degree was not obtained at a school that was "on their list" as acceptable.  We sold our house and moved in with my mom in order to be free of the burden in the future.  Now it is two and a half years later and regulations changed about age waivers and also the program had been flooded with cadets.  So... guess who got denied the age waiver?  Yep, the old guy born in 1979 (my man)!   So that ship has sailed and we are moving out to an apartment next week to get closer to his work.

So.. over the past two and a half years we've dealt with a lot emotionally.
For me just moving in with my mother was difficult enough... heck... I was a married woman that had my own space and was fairly light hearted.  But it didn't take too long to became that emotionally messed up young girl of my youth all over again.  Just as soon as mother/daughter things got somewhat ironed out, mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (still surviving after 2 years).  What a whammy... and family drama soon ensued.  I'll just say that at that time up until now THAT blog would have had you coming back for more!  You probably wouldn't believe some of the stuff!

But anyway... that's not what THIS blog is about.  It is about what my husband and I were smacked in the face with concerning our own health that degraded greatly in 3 years time according to recent blood panels from our local hospital.  I know stress has played it's part, but what else did... you would NEVER suspect!

When the results came back, it was a shocker to say the least.  Our glucose levels were exceptionally higher then the previous test (3 yrs earlier).  In fact, my husbands numbers were above normal range and into the Pre-diabetic ranks.  I was 3 pts from being in that group as well.

I was like "WTH"!!!!

My husband has a 32 inch waist, likes veggies and has reasonable control when it comes to sweets.  I just couldn't grasp the numbers.  I always strove to give him well rounded meals complete with proteins, veggies and carbs (which was usually bread, pasta or some kind of grain).  I even made breakfast sandwiches (biscuits & sausage), whole wheat muffins or bagels & smear, and sometimes cereal to eat when he got to work.  I was thrilled that he loved bagels, the last thing I ever want him to do is loose weight and those suckers are dense with calories!  

I on the other hand could TOTALLY understand my numbers!
I've been known to grab sweets and candy like someone on a sinking ship running for a life preserver!   I've also had to deal with dental issues that included 2 cracked teeth, a painfully sensitive tooth that would have me shooting into orbit at the slightest hint of coolness on it!  I said goodbye to eating fresh fruits and veggies.  I like them raw and it was too much to take.  I was never much for cooking my veggies.

I know a thing or two about nutrition and I wracked my brain trying to figure out WHAT WAS CAUSING MY HUBBY'S GLUCOSE TO BE SO HIGH.  All the info says if you are pre-diabetic to immediately loose weight.  Not going to happen!!!!  Chris would look like Skelator if he did!  So WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?????  

AND THEN...
My friend Jennifer W. shared some info with me about a book called THE WHEAT BELLY by Dr. Davis.  The next day, while visiting in-laws, my Mother-in-law shared some DVD's and books by a doctor that was advocating a mainly veggie lifestyle.  What he said made sense, but my head was still spinning about what I had been told about going WHEATLESS (Modern wheat is the problem).  It was almost too much info and I really thought my head was going to explode.

I started to review the last couple years and our diets more closely.  Wow!  We really did adopt terrible eating habits and I threw wheat at Chris like I was trying to shoot rubber duckies at a carnival to win the huge stuffed unicorn!  Of course, the prize we won was pre-diabetes!  He also confessed that his intake of soda had picked up and yes.. mine had too.

WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!!!!
So if we become pseudo vegetarians AND give up wheat... what is left for carbs????  Healthy carbs????

ONE THING I DO KNOW is that if you don't include a carb with your proteins YOU WILL LOOSE WEIGHT.  It is the principal of food combining and it works.  THIS IS why I threw wheat, pasta, potatoes and junk like that at my hubby, so he wouldn't loose weight.

I started reading peoples experiences online about their WHEATLESS ADVENTURES.  It is amazing the symptoms these people report that went away after dropping the wheat!

So the adventure will soon begin once we move.
Meanwhile, I've got to get the book The Wheat Belly for my own.
I'm blessed that I can work from home so I can devote more time and effort to learning to make healthier meals.

So will we eventually go meatless or maybe cut out dairy?  I don't know, but first things first.  LEARNING TO EAT WHEATLESS!