My Dairy Free Diary

Luna test

2010-06-22T01:06:00.001-04:00

testing Luna testing

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GoodBelly's are Good in the Belly!

2009-07-12T09:02:00.003-04:00

This is a post dedicated to my love for GoodBelly's! I can't get enough of them. I have sampled both the GoodBelly Plus and one of the regular kind.
For the GoodBelly Plus I first had the Strawberry flavor. The flavor was good for me, but I am a person who doesn't like chunky yogurt of seeds in anything, so the strawberry seeds threw me off. But I would definitely drink this flavor again. It was very good!
Next I tried the Blueberry flavor, I didn't like this flavor as much as the strawberry. This one also had seeds in it. But the flavor just wasn't for me.
Lastly I tried the Peach Mango, which is by far my favorite flavor! Its so smooth and not too sweet. I get this one all the time. I also like the fact that these GoodBelly Plus flavors have vitamins in them too. So you get an added benefit from drinking these little guys. Plus how can you not feel good drinking out of a smiley face?

The larger sizes just showed up in my Co-op in the last couple of weeks. I have so far tried only the Mango flavor. I LOVED it! I put it in my Green Monsters and it made them so so so much better! It added a nice tropical sweet flavor. Plus I also tried the drink straight up and it was so good! I can't wait to try the other flavors in the larger sized containers!

I highly encourage everyone to try GoodBelly's if they can get their hands on them. I have been asked to get some for friends who cannot get to the Co-op who have tried mine because they also love them!

CSA Week 3

2009-07-04T07:39:00.003-04:00

Welcome back Amanda. Boy I've had zero time this week! I worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. I brought CSA salads all three nights. Of course I was running late and didn't get a picture of even one!

My sister picked my goodies up this past Wednesday. I got a head of boston lettuce (will have to make something with lettuce wraps), swiss chard, scallions, 2 tomatoes, potatoes, snap peas, and 2 different kinds of radishes.
Its still been raining and cold here in NH, not good for growing. Yesterday was the first nice day since May!! Hopefully it will bring a trend of nice warm sunny days for growing!

Last night I went out for Thai food. It was only the second time I've had Thai food. I had Pad Thai with shrimp. It was so good. But again, I'm not comfortable taking pictures in public, nor on a date.

On the Amazing Grass front...I have already found things I love and others that I don't really care for. Look for a formal review probably next week!

Amazing Grass

2009-06-29T16:17:00.003-04:00

I received a very generous package from Teri Jo over at Amazing Grass today!

I can't wait to try everything! I already made a Green Monster with the Chocolate Green Superfood when I got home from the gym. It was so good. It tasted like a chocolate banana smoothie! I even used my little shaker cup, after mixing everything in my magic bullet of course!

Yesterday I brought the dogs to Rally Obedience class and we didn't get home until 8pm! I was starving by that time. So I just threw together a quick veggie scramble.

Its zucchini, red pepper, red onion, and 2 eggs. It was so good and light, perfect for right before bed.

Today I went shopping and finally got stuff for Green Monsters, lots of hummus, cherries, and avocados.

This is a short post because I have to get ready for work. Back to the grind!

CSA week 2

2009-06-27T21:12:00.003-04:00

I got my second week of veggies today. Here they are!

As I mentioned before they are beet greens, radishes, snap peas that are almost gone now, big ass bag of spinach, popcorn, and lettuce.

I am out of Green Monster supplies and its killing me. I've gone 2 days now without one and I seriously think I'm going through withdrawls! Tomorrow I'm going to go get more bananas. Here is the last one that I had

Last night I went out to dinner. I didn't take pictures because it was a first date and I didn't want to go into the whole blog thing. Plus I'm not exactly comfortable taking pictures in public yet. I had salmon over tempura green beans over soba noodles in a soy sauce glaze. It was so good. My dining partner had steak tips with barbecue sauce with mashed potatoes. He said his was really good too.

Then we went to see The Hangover. That is where I saw an Operation Beautiful note in the bathroom! I was so excited! When I got home I emailed Caitlin and she was so excited that someone found a note! She is going to post my email tomorrow for the Orlando newspaper to see!

Giveaway Alert! and Some Updates

2009-06-24T16:03:00.004-04:00

Kristen over at Iowa Girl Eats is hosting a Real Simple and Pure bar giveaway! Be sure to enter!

My dinner last night was perfect! I didn't get hungry until about 11, but didn't eat until midnight because I was doing stuff. Then I had my Tings mid morning and my toast at the witching hour of 5:30am. I was fine on the ride home when I usually eat a bar of some kind (think Larabar), but sadly I don't have any right at the moment.

And I can't believe it but the sun is shining!!! I was almost taken aback as to what it was!!!

For my CSA this week I got popcorn (up thats right!), sugar snap peas (my sister made sure they were good and yes indeed they are), radishes, salad greens, spinach, beet greens, and I think thats it. My mom and I are trying to figure out a time to meet so I can get my goods! I'll photo them and post the photos when I get them!

Miss Smarty Pants

2009-06-23T17:08:00.003-04:00

Today I slept half the day because I have to work tonight. When I got up I had a Green Monster of course! Speaking of Green Monsters...Check out N Her Shoes for an Amazing Grass Giveaway! I hope I win because I so want to try Amazing Grass!!!

Before dinner tonight, which was left over stir fry, I decided to make the most of my time today so I wouldn't have to rush around the next two nights before work. I made three salads, figured if I was chopping for one how much harder would it be to chop for three? I also grilled some chicken for them.
I used up almost the rest of my CSA greens. There was a head of Boston Lettuce in there and while I was cleaning it I thought that it would make great lettuce wraps for something. I hope I get some again so I can make a meal that needs lettuce wraps!

I also made some Zucchini canoes, I realized I totally forgot to take a picture of the final product, so I'll have to make them again sometime if they come out ok. I kind of flew by the seat of my pants on the recipe! With those and my salad, I also have two slices of bread with some Barney Butter and some Tings. Hopefully that will all hold me over!

Last night I was playing with my camera. I use a point and shoot. Its an Olympus Stylus 600. I like it ok, it has lots of options. I usually use the "cuisine" option to photograph my food because it works the best. For some reason without a flash everything comes out blurry...this is an extreme
I mean she was just laying on the couch not moving at all, and I don't think I was moving that much!

So I figured what if I use the "reducing blur" option and this is what came out

Better

I have been thinking of getting a new camera. Mine is kind of old, I got it when I got Miss Luna and she will be 4 next week. I have no idea what to get though! Maybe I will see if I can borrow my mom or my sisters SLRs sometime and see how those work out!

Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

2009-06-22T19:30:00.002-04:00

I was thinking of ways to use my CSA bok choy and this is what I came up with. It was so yummy!

2 thin chicken breast sliced

1 head bok choy cleaned and chopped

1 head of broccoli chopped into pieces

1 red pepper thinly sliced

1 clove of garlic minced

2 inches of ginger minced

1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sesame seeds

oil for the wok

brown rice

While the rice is cooking prepare the veggies and chicken.

Slice the chicken breasts thinly and put in a bowl with a tbs of soy sauce and fish sauce if you are using itNext cut up and wash the veggiesHeat the wok or large pan over medium heat and coat with the oil of your choice, I used canola oil. Stir fry the chicken until its brown. Remove from wok.

Add additional oil to wok and add veggies and the rest of the soy sauce. I had to add the bok choy leaves a few at a time until they wilted because there were too many. Stir fry the veggies

When the veggies are done add the chicken back to the wok and sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Place some rice on the plate and cover with the veggies and chicken. Add additional sesame seeds if you wish. Enjoy!

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-22T13:26:00.005-04:00

This weekend was Father's Day. Yesterday I went to a baseball game with my parents. I had a hot dog with my father. It was alright until the migraine last night!

For dinner after the soggy game we had steak tips, shrimp on the barbie, peas and onions, and potatoes cooked in foil (mine had olive oil instead of butter). It was all very yummy!

Saturday I slept all day after working Friday night. Of course I had a Green Monster when I got up. I tried something new though, I put my GoodBelly in the smoothie and it was so good! The peachy mango flavor definitely added a little something, I'm glad I thought of that! I wish my Co-op carried the big containers of Goodbelly too!

Saturday night when I felt up to eating something I made this salad. It used up the first bag of salad greens from my CSA

I wanted some protein so I used up the last two hard boiled eggs in my fridge. It was yummy with my new go to dressing of ACV, salt, pepper, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil! I also made a little something else, but that is for a whole new post.

Friday night (boy this post is going backwards huh!) I made this salad before work

Look refreshing huh! Too bad it isn't even hot here! It hasn't gotten above 70 in weeks! And all its doing is raining! Anyhow, this is salad greens, spinach, cuke, scallion (the biggest ones I have ever seen), and mint. And of course my go to dressing. I also had the left over pork tenderloin that I had made earlier this week, it wasn't very good the second time around though.

I am very sad to say that my strawberries are gone. They were very good, I can't wait to see if I get more this week!

The First CSA Pick UP!

2009-06-18T20:33:00.003-04:00

Well Yesterday was the first CSA pick up for me! I was so so excited and I couldn't even go. My mom and my sister went to get my goods for me. My CSA consists of 6 different farms who are all organic. I am not sure if you know which farm your veggies come from, I'll have to ask my mom to pay attention next week when she goes. So the system they have is this...you go in and check your name off the list and then walk down the aisles and take one of each thing. You bring your own tote bags for carry out, its very environmentally friendly too, which I like.

I met my sister today when she was getting her hair done to pick up my goods, this week it worked out perfectly! Oh you can also get a bread share, which I did for my parents as a thank you for pick up my stuff. This week it was a light honey rye which my dad liked very much with his dinner tonight.

This week I got Bok Choy, these funny little garlic that look like scallions, a huge bag of spinach (hello green monsters), and two bags of salad green. I guess I had a choice with one of the greens of the greens and radishes and they picked the greens for me. My sister took some of the spinach and the mixed salad greens, she didn't think I would go through it all in a week. I told her the spinach would only last me a few days!!! I also got these beauties! They taste like candy!!! I can't wait to have them with the balsamic that my parents brought back from Italy! Its been so cold and rainy here, not good weather for strawberries, but these look good huh! I am trying to hold myself back from eating them all in about 5 minutes!

Everyone also got a potted herb so my mom picked a basil plant for me! This was in place of the herbs for the week. I can't wait to plant it outside!!! We are also supposed to get tomatoes every week, but again since its been freezing and raining, they haven't been growing so none this week. I'm sure as it warms up I'll be getting more and more each week. I made this simple salad tonight for dinner. Its the left over salsa chicken from earlier this week over the mixed salad greens dressed very simply with salt and oil. That was my favorite way we had salad in Italy, you can really taste the greens that way. They were very fresh tasting, a bit spicy and a little grassy, very good!

I'm on call for work tonight because we only have 4 kids in the unit. So I have this waiting for me at work with some hummus

We got sushi last night. We convinced the boss man to go get it for us! It was so yummy!

Some Highlights!

2009-06-16T09:06:00.004-04:00

Here are some highlights of what I have been eating the past few days! The reason for this kind of post is I tried to get my wireless modem set up again, two hours of work, only to have it not work. The last thing I wanted to do was upload pictures! Then yesterday something was just not right with me. I didn't feel it at the gym and fell asleep on the couch in the evening. Anyhoo, On to the food!!!

I got Amy's California Burgers to try...and what do you put on a California burger? Why guacamole of course!!!

My Guac is 1 avocado, 2 scallions, 1 jalapeno, tablespoon of lime juice, cilantro, and a big pinch of salt all mash together. And of course I ate all the left overs with Green Mountain corn chips!

This is chicken from One Frugal Foodie I used roasted tomatillo salsa on thin cut chicken breasts. I didn't have a green monster that day and felt funny without any greens...so I steamed some spinach to have with my chicken, perfect!

I did make this smoothie from this months Vegetarian Times to enjoy while the chicken was baking

Its the Mexican Mind Meld. It tasted like Guacamole in a glass! So good! Can you tell that is one of my favorite foods?

Last night I made this little dish of goodies. Its a pork tenderloin with ginger, garlic, onion, and red pepper marinade. I roasted it with the carrots which are naked. The beans were made with garlic and fresh ginger with cilantro. They were yummy and I ate them all, tummy ache ensued after!

Juice Beauty-A skin post

2009-06-14T14:49:00.004-04:00

I have really bad skin. When I was born I had eczema. My mom couldn't give me a full real bath for the first several months of my life. She had to use Cetaphil on me and wipe it off or else my skin would just get so irritated and crack and bleed. I continued my whole childhood with eczema on my face around my mouth.

I never washed my face until I got to college. I probably should have never started! Then I started getting cystic acne on my chin. It was such a pain and really embarrassing. It still has never gone away. Everything the derm gives me for it makes my face really angry and red and peeling/burning. So last year I went back to Clinique and asked them about their new redness reducing line. I tried it with their emergency gel for acne for my chin. It worked. My skin never looked so good! Until a couple weeks ago when it was back to burning/peeling and red. So I decided to try something new....

Juice Beauty!!! And can I say that in the few days that I have been using the products I LOVE them!!!! There is already a huge difference in my skin. The first time I used them, I swear my face went "Ahhhh"

This facial wash is actually soothing. It doesn't suds up, which is a little different, but that is probably why it feels to good. Before after washing my face it felt so dry even in the short time til I got the cream on it, but not when I use this!!

I put this on my chin. Just one drop is all it takes! So far it doesn't burn or make my skin red. It actually feels cooling when I rub it in! My scars are already fading and I have only been using this twice a day since Thursday night!

This was a little different for me. I have never used a concentrate before...always thick creams and a lot of them. But this I use one-two squirts and warm it in my palms then rub it in. I was unsure about using something that looked like olive oil on my face, but it feels so good and my skin has never ever looked so good! It feels so refreshed and moisturized after I put this on!I used this mask on Friday. You can use it three times a week. I used it when I got out of the shower while I was getting dressed, then I rinsed it off and put on the moisturizer. This felt good too! Like any other mask I could feel it tightening up and pulling the crap out of my pores, but it didn't make my skin dry like all the others I have tried. I indeed plan on using it three times a week!

All in all I wasn't sure if I would like this stuff. I ordered it from Sephoria so I could return it if I needed to, but that is not going to happen!!! I am even thinking about getting some of their sunscreen daily lotion! I also told my sister to pick out a couple of things and I would get them for her for her b-day (which was in April..Oh well).

I have to share what was going on in the other room while I was taking the pictures of my products....

Silly Nuts!!!

Ugh, work was hard

2009-06-12T20:16:00.004-04:00

I have found that work is very very hard for me. We talked my boss into going to grab us dinner Wednesday night, so I had that instead of my salad (and the idiots put cheese on mine even though we asked then not to...I was not feeling well in the morning...I had tried to scrape most of it off). Then last night I was feeling munchy and went to the store in the hospital and got a bag of pretzels...but thankfully they didn't taste good so I didn't eat them! Yay me!

Before work last night I had a yummy bowl of oats with spiru-tein Pina Colada powder, banana chips, and a kiwi (I haven't had a kiwi in years!)
This with my green monster kept me full for hours!

Tonight I had a salad and the rest of my left over Baja Lime tilapia that I made on Tuesday. Then I had some toast with Cashew butter (was on sale at the Co-Op this morning) and 3 organic figs
I'm going out tonight so I hope this all holds me over! I felt like it was a lot of food when I was eating it.

I also went to the gym 3 times this week and walked on the treadmill! Today I almost fell off though because some guy got on next to me and started boxing! It was very distracting...I will have to make sure that I go when the place is empty in the middle of the day.

Tomorrow I will try and made a nice post about the new skin care products that I got for my face. I am in love!!!

Check out One Frugal Foodie for a great giveaway!!! If you like chips you'll like this one!

Cleaner Life Challenge days 1-3!

2009-06-10T16:29:00.005-04:00

I'm doing the Cleaner Life Challenge with Heather and Rose and I'm very excited about it. I was thinking of doing something like this myself actually, then they announced their challenge and I thought it was perfect!

Well on day 1 I had a wrench thrown in right away! About a month ago, the house next door to me burned and Monday all the equipment showed up for the demo before I got home from work. I called my mom and told her that if I was going to get any sleep I needed to come to their house. So I packed up the doggies and myself, made a cup of coffee with rice milk and a green monster and hit the road!

For lunch we took my grammie out to The Long Horn (her fav place). They had a new salad on the menu that looked so good. My mom told the host/manager person we didn't eat chicken out though and he suggested we ask for salmon instead so we did! It was so so good! It was baby green, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pecans, and the roasted salmon with raspberry vinaigrette....so yummy! And very filling! I also grabbed my grammie's steamed broccoli off her plate cuz she can't eat them!

For dinner we had left over smoked chicken my dad had made the day before, my mom heated it up on the grill. I also had the roasted potatoes that my mom made with just olive oil and salt. I told her I was doing this challenge so she made sure everything she made I could eat!

Then the next day, Day 2, was the problem...there was no breakfast. I went and searched her soldier angels stash and finally found a Cliff Bar. I know it has soy in it, but otherwise I would have had nothing. They eat yogurt for breakfast or white english muffins which I don't like anyways.

For lunch we went back to Moe's and I got my sammy on a fresh whole wheat roll. It wasn't the same, but kept me fuller longer!

Then I came home and the house next door was gone! On the way home I stopped at the store and got some veggies cuz I was out and some fish cuz it was on sale.

For dinner last night I had tilapia with Baja Lime marinade. It was so yummy...I also had steamed carrots and broccoli.

For dessert I had a bowl of cherries, they were pretty good, not the best I've had.

Today I slept in because I'm working tonight. Then I got up and had a Goodbelly of course and a Green Monster. This time I put a kale leaf in it and frozen raspberries. It was so yummy!

Fueled me up for the gym, where I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes. It felt good!

Tonight at work I'm going to have a salad with a piece of left over fish on it...I can't wait!

Soup and Salad Day

2009-06-04T18:48:00.004-04:00

This morning I slept in. Easy to do when you work nights (only 3 a week, so today was a day off for me)...I was feeling tired so I just went with it. I got up around 10 and the birds were chirping away. The doggies were wanting to play and go outside. So we did!

I guess I had sort of "brunch" then...I was planning on going to the gym around 1pm so I wanted something light to eat. I had this soup with a piece of garlic sprouted toast. I swirled the toast in the soup so it had a hint of garlic in it...Yum!

I also had this

I love these little guys. Oh on the top is a smiley face...how can you not feel happy drinking out of that!

I went to the gym and learned how to set the weight machines for me. I rode the reclined bike for 15 minutes, my right leg was a tidge sore from yesterday. But I need to strengthen it for my knee which is an old injury from skiing freestyle (bumps) in high school. Then I walked on the treadmill (after they showed me how to start it) for 15 minutes and called it a day. I don't want to overdo it on my leg at first and totally hurt my knee and not want to go back.

For dinner I made this yummy salad

it has the left over chicken from my kabobs last night. It was so so good the second time around too! I will have to get more of those little guys! They also had steaks and pork loins too, I bet those are quite good as well!

After my salad I made a smoothie with my pina colada spiru-tein, a banana, rice milk, flax meal, and frozen fruit

It was very good!

Because I ate very early at 4pm, I am hungry now at 7...so I have some broccoli and carrots roasting in my toaster oven.

Check out Sara's Sweet Lips for a 200th post give away! Its a good one!

Finally feeling better!!! Woo Hoo!!!

2009-06-03T19:05:00.008-04:00

This weekend I was miserable in that I was super busy and stayed at my parents all while still sick. Saturday night I went out with my sister and got a couple of cute shirts and a t-shirt dress...all were on sale, gotta love that! Then we went to dinner and both got chicken fingers and fries!!! Oh for shame, for shame!! They did come with salad though...a tiny salad...haha!!!

Sunday the doggies had a Rally Obedience Match. They did pretty well. I had made a spiru-tein smoothie, larabar, and banana on the way to the match and was still hungry when we got home at 10:30! Then I had the rest of my chicken from the night before! Even more shameful I had a hot dog that my parents were having! My dad smoked ribs for dinner, they were so so good!! We also had scallops on the grill and italian green beans with garlic. The dinner was so delicious!

Monday I had a Green Monster for breakfast of course. I love them and can't get enough! I also made these muffins Sunday night when I got home

They are Banana Wheat Germ Muffins from Veganomicon. They are really good! I ran out of cinnamon so I use cardamon for a substitute and it worked!

For lunch I had the pasta salad my mom made Sunday and sent home with me. I'm not a fan of green peppers, but oh well, I ate them anyways

Tuesday I had to work, so I slept in the morning. When I got up around 11 I made a green monster of course!
Spinach, banana, avocado, soy milk, ice cubes, pina colada spiru-tein...YUMMY!!!

For a lite lunchish meal I made egg salad in pitasI used Wickles (spicy pickles) and scallions and grape seed oil Vegonaise for the egg salad! It is so good! The pitas are omega plus with flax (or something like that!)

Before work I made the best oats in the world....Tropical Oats!!!
Oats, Kashi grains, pina colada spiru-tein, banana chips, and a mango...holy tasty! This will be a common occurrence because they were so so so good!!! I was so full but sad to see my bowl empty! And they held me over for such a long time...until about 11pm! At which time I had this salad...

I went to the Co-op this morning on my way home from work. I got some GoodBelly's They were on sale plus I had a buy one get one free coupon...so I got three packs, two peach mango and one blueberry. I tried the blueberry when I got home...pretty good.

I also got this to have when I got homeI had never had a tamale before. I was sort of expecting it to be thinner, but it still had good flavor.
The salsa verde was good and the rice was good too. This would be a good frozen dinner for when I'm in a pinch for time. I'm pretty sure I would eat it again.

After a nap this morning I had a Green Monster. Then I convinced myself to go to the gym!!! First time...WOOHOO!!! I rode the reclined bike for half and hour. My bum knee wasn't too happy about it, but that just means that I need to make my leg stronger. I thought about walking on the treadmill, but I have never been on one and don't even know how to start it. So I thought when I go in tomorrow to learn the weight machines I can ask them to show me the treadmill too! How silly huh!

Dinner tonight was so so good! At the Co-op I found these kabobs already made up and marinated. I got chicken teriyaki. I ended up taking everything apart though on the grill pan because it was so uneven that things were not cooking. But it turned out so so good! The chicken was so juicy! I usually don't like chicken, this might just change my mind!
I also had a salad after dinner like we do in Italy! It feels so good to eat the greens after dinner.

After you read this awfully long post (I'm going to try and post more often...it was hard being so sick) you should head over to Keep It Simple Foods for the Sunshine Burgers Giveaway!

The Big Green!

2009-05-29T20:40:00.007-04:00

Well today was much better for me! I still feel really congested, but its getting better! I didn't eat breakfast because I wasn't hungry, I know that's very bad. I hate doing that. But by noon I was feeling like I wanted soup (I wanted some yesterday) and I needed some veggies so I went to the store. On the way I had a ginger snap Larabar.

The store didn't have the kind of soup I wanted. I really wanted chicken tortilla soup, but I settled on this

In the bowl it doesn't look very appetizing at all!

It was alright. Definitely not my favorite Amy's soup, but I thought I would try something new. I also got veggie barley for when another soup desire hits!

When I got home my Vitacost box was on the porch with this in it
YAY!!! I was so happy!!! Also some sunscreen and banana chips. The doggies tasted the chips and gave them 4 paws and 1 nub up! I love this flavor of protein powder with frozen mango!

I found something fun at the store and had to get it. I had never seen it before...but does that mean its brand new or I just walked by with a blind eye?Um Hello YUM!!!It is so tasty!! I had some after my dinner with some Green Mountain Corn Strips. I am pretty sure I can make this myself, but I had never thought of it. I will be trying it this week because I already ate 1/2 of this tub!!!

For dinner tonight I made a stir-fry over Kashi grains. I just used some broccoli, carrot, and 1/2 of a red pepper. The Kashi was very good! I had never had it before. I saved the left over to put in my oats tomorrow morning! The sauce I used was a Seeds of Change simmer sauce, I can't remember which one, but it was very spicy! Helped clear out my sinuses!

For dessert I decided to try something I have seen here in "blogland". A Green Monster!
It was very good! Tastier than I thought it would be! I used....

a handful of spinach
a banana
1/4 of an avocado
about a cup of almond milk
a few pieces of frozen tropical fruit

I was swayed by the raves of clear skin and lots of energy! lets see if that holds true! I would love it if my skin cleared up with the help of drinking one of these everyday! It also helped calm my stomach from the antibiotics tearing it up this evening.

No pic post

2009-05-28T21:27:00.005-04:00

I have been feeling really bad the past couple of days. Boo! I finally went to the Dr's today and found out I have a sinus infection. I went all winter and didn't get sick, now I get a staph infection in my lips and a sinus infection!

Anyhow, I have been just munching on weird stuff the past few days. Lots of popsicles and lemon tea mostly.

Today to go to the Dr's I had to go to my parents because that is where all my Dr's are. I got up and got ready and made a spiru-tein blueberry's n cream smoothie with soy milk (which I'm drinking now, hehe) and threw my Element bar in my bag. I ate the bar in the car. I couldn't taste anything so I'm not really sure how it was. I think I like Larabars better though. I should custom make some Element bars and see how those are.

This afternoon after the walk in center (my Dr's office couldn't get me in so I had to go there), my mom brought me to Moe's for lunch. It was so yummy, they are my favorite sandwiches. We just go in and say "One of mine please" and one of mine is a full veggie, no cheese (always been that way since I was little), with extra olives and spicy oil! YUMMY!!

I snoozed on the couch in the afternoon. My mom picked my sister up from school and brought her to their house since her car was in the shop, so I got to see her for a while. We are going out this Saturday night! When my dad got home he wanted to go out to dinner and wanted Outback. So we went there and I got the Outback Special with a salad (forgot to ask for no cheese or crouton...my head is all full of snot for crying out loud) and fresh steamed veggies. It was pretty good.

Tomorrow hopefully I'll be back to normal feeling and taking pictures and back to normal eating again. My friend said this is just what I need...to be sick, not eating and loosing more weight! But my pina colada spiru-tein should be arriving tomorrow...YAY!!!

Village Pizza Treats!

2009-05-26T17:27:00.007-04:00

Despite my very sore throat I needed some yummy food to make my tummy happy. I have been craving a grinder (yes I live in NH, so that's what we call them!) for a while now, so I got one. Plus an antipasto salad which was not the best, but it hit the spot.

Here is the salad

Here is 1/2 of it on my plate all tossed up and with some of the balsamic dressingI just wished they used better lettuce than iceberg...Oh well, it was still yummy!

Here is my grinder. I got an Italian without cheese

I have only eaten 1/2 of it also. But I'm sure I'll be hungry a little later because I haven't eaten anything all day.

To wash all this down of course I had to have an Orangina, not the best choice with a sore throat, but its what I always get when I get food from Village Pizza!

Roasted Potatoes

2009-05-26T13:33:00.006-04:00

Well I worked all weekend. I made this salad to bring with me all weekend. It was packed with good veggies and protein to fuel me all night long.

It is loaded with whole wheat couscous
red pepper
olives
zucchini
grape tomatoes
scallions
Italian baked tofu
extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar

When I got home yesterday my throat started hurting. I took some tylenol and went to bed. When I got up it was a little worse. By evening it was hurting so bad I could hardly swallow or even talk. I was hungry though so I made this

A nitrate free all beef hot dog (I stole it out of the frozen ones for the doggies treats) with barbecue sauce on it and some roasted sweet and yukon gold potatoes. They were so good, but hurt going down! After that I had several juice popcicles to try and soothe my throat. Oh and some more tylenol and advil.

Today my throat is worse. I had a popcicle for breakfast when I got up. Then for lunch I made a hemp smoothie with frozen mango. I went to get the mail and this was there

Its an Element Bar , I'm very excited to try it once my throat stops hurting! If I like it, I'm going to create some just for me!

I did a bad bad, very bad thing

2009-05-23T15:47:00.007-04:00

I ate dairy. I went to Grand Rounds Wednesday morning to listen to a visiting professor talk about pediatric ethics. Well then I had 3 hours to kill before she talked again at noon conference. So what are two nurses to do...why go into Hanover (where Dartmouth college is) and go out to breakfast of course! I decided to go balls to the walls and get the breakfast quesadilla, it had sausage, peppers, salsa, eggs, guacamole, and....cheese and sour cream!!! I know I should have asked for no cheese or sour cream...but for some reason I didn't.

Well...Then we mulled around Hanover in the little shops for a while. We ended up in the Dartmouth bookstore looking at books. I really thought we were going to either have to camp out there for a while or go back to the hospital so I could use the bathroom in the PICU. But I made it and we went back on time.

By the time we got back to the hospital I was so sick to my stomach and thought I was going to throw up. We went to the PICU and I got ginger ale. At the noon conference they had pizza for all the doctors and water. I grabbed a water. I couldn't even think about eating anything because my stomach felt so bad!

When I got home I had plans to go join the gym, but I had to take a nap because I just felt so awful! I slept until 4 then got up to feed the dogs. I still didn't feel like eating anything.

At about 5:30 I figured I should make something to eat so I made this

Oven roasted zucchini and barbecue beans. They were just enough to make my poor tummy feel full without making it more upset. The combo was quite tasty too!

I am never ever eating dairy again! This was a good lesson for me and a good challenge too.

Oh did I mention the huge cystic acne that seems to have developed on my chin again since Wednesday? I mean I have one cyst that takes up almost my whole chin plus three others. Yeah...not happy about that either!

Busy Week!

2009-05-17T14:11:00.008-04:00

This past week has been very busy. I worked two nights and had a class in the middle. Switching my schedule around like that is very hard. It makes me very tired because my body doesn't know what way is up!

Monday

I worked Monday night and made a salad and some pasta for dinner for work. I didn't really have a chance to eat anything though because I was really busy with a difficult patient.

This pasta was easy:

garlic
onion
diced tomato
capers

I didn't get to eat my salad until I got home in the morning. I had it with my favorite Annie's Woodstock Dressing!

Tuesday

I wasn't hungry Tuesday at all. I just had a baked sweet potato for dinner. I had to get up early because I had to go to bed early so I could get up early for class.

Wednesday

I had class Wednesday. It was at the hotel across the street from the hospital and the hotel supplied us with the food. I had made myself a smoothie before I left. It was spiru-tien chocolate and banana with soy milk...I was running late so didn't take a picture. But they had a full breakfast. I had a huge plate of fresh fruit. I am not comfortable taking pictures of my food in public yet. I could not believe how many people had danish and soda for breakfast!!! Then went back for seconds!

For lunch they had salad, creamy pasta, and pizza. I had two huge plates of salad and a tiny tiny piece of pizza because I was so hungry and knew we would not be out until 4:30. I got super dizzy shortly after eating. But so far other than the HUGE pimple on my chin, no other adverse effects.

After class I was starving, they had afternoon snacks of brownies and peanut butter cookies, neither of which I eat anyways. So I went to Yama on my way home. This is what I gotMy free treats of sprouts, both spicy and sesame, spicy cucumber, and sesame broccoli

This is a Lebanon Roll. Its a spicy tuna roll with a mayo/spicy sauce with other bits in it...my fav
Crunch Munch roll. Its crab salad and cucumber with a sauce on it deep fried. its also very yummy.
Yummy seaweed salad!!! Love this stuff! The only problem was that I was so hungry I don't think I tasted any of these treats! Usually when we go to the restaurant we sit and chat and eat things piece by piece...well that night I think I just shoveled everything in. I was so disappointed in myself for not savoring the flavors.

Friday

I had some smore's oatmeal when I got up...it was so yummy!!! Just what I needed to give me the boost I needed after working Thursday night

I went shopping on Friday (finally!) and made some dip! This is White Bean Dip from Giada's first cookbook!!! I love this stuff!!! Its already gone! This is what I had for dinner I'm ashamed to say!

But I made up for that with some melon drizzled with the 25 year old balsamic my parents brought back from ItalyCan you say Yum!

My new toy!!!

2009-05-07T19:42:00.007-04:00

Well the other day I got myself a new little toy!! And I love it!!!

Its a Magic Bullet!!!! I made a little spot on the counter for making oatmeal and using my magic bullet.

Here are all my little packets of protein powder

And here are the makings of a smoothie

in it are...about a cup of plain low fat silk, a packet of chocolate spiru-tein, some spoonfuls of yogurt, a banana, and 1/2 teaspoon of flax meal. It was so so yummy. I was running late so I didn't get a picture of the final results, but I poured it in my little Klean Kanteen and brought it to work. Perfect for that first hunger hit at 8-9pm. I had 1/2 then and the other 1/2 in the morning for "breakfast"

Here is what I just had for dinner tonight

Its roasted veggies that are lightly roasted so more a stir-fry texture with ginger powder, onion powder, and garlic powder on them. The tofu is baked with teriyaki and glazed with Veri Veri Teriyaki on them after I baked them. It was very good and filling!!!

I have been cheating and eating small amounts of dairy. Like a couple weeks ago when I went out with my friend for sushi one of the rolls had cream cheese in it and Sunday I ate a crab rangoon. My stomach has been killing me (I had to take some medication yesterday) and I think my staph infection is coming back in my lips. I noticed last night that my checks were really really red and I am getting some ezcema in the corners of my mouth. So I guess that was a good little test for me....NO MORE DAIRY!!!!

A Big Salad and a Bento

2009-05-05T16:24:00.003-04:00

I had yet another busy weekend. I went out with some friends Saturday night to see a band that we are friends with. Before I headed out I had an Amy's Burger with grilled pepper and onion topped with that new barbecue sauce. It was so yummy! Now I need to get more Amy's burgers...I loved them!!!

Sunday the girls and I got up really late only to find out that Rally practice had been pushed up to 2pm. We had to leave in 1/2 hour!!! So I shoveled in a bowel of oats with Barney Butter (Holy Yum by the way!) and left. We didn't get back home until 5 and I didn't feel like cooking so I ordered in Chinese. I got a pupu platter for one and an order of General Tso's Chicken. I also got some Hot and Sour Soup

They put tofu in the soup instead of pork...it was perfect!

Last night for work I made a bento out of the leftovers....

I haven't Bentoed in so long...I forgot how fun it is!! It was the perfect sized meal to go with a nice salad I got from the store at work.

Tonight before work I made a bowel of oats and added a new item I picked up yesterday

They made the oats a little bit crunchy! I needed to add milk, but I was a little foggy from not getting much sleep today.

I also picked myself up a new little toy yesterday. I will post about it tomorrow. I'm off to make spaghetti and salad for dinner tonight!

Phew What a Week!

2009-05-01T14:47:00.002-04:00

The last week and a half was a tough one. I worked 4 out of 5 nights and will never ever do it again. On the day in between I had to get my car serviced so I didn't even get to sleep that day. But I did get to go to GNC and was given these by the young man working there

I was talking to him about how I keep loosing weight because of the medication I'm on for migraines and he suggested these. He threw them into my purchase for no charge for me to try. How nice huh!!

Then after three more nights of working...the first night when I learned that someone stole my shoes from the locker room at work, I got woke up to find these in my mailbox!

I was very excited!!! I have yet to try them yet...I'm about to make some oats and put one of the packets in there.

Monday night I was having a desire for shrimp, so I went to the Co-op for some large shrimp and had shrimp cocktail! I didn't take a picture because I was starved, but it was so good. I made my own cocktail sauce with just horseradish and ketchup, I made it to my own hotness (is that a word?). I also bought a new sauce to try...can't wait because it looks so yummy!

Wednesday I went to work and all was good until I came home Thursday morning and found that my next door neighbor's house burned all up. It is devastating. I was shocked and couldn't sleep all day Thursday, but had to go back to work. I wasn't really into eating much...especially since my kitchen looks right over to her house. Its very hard to see.

Well yesterday I woke up to the post man bringing me a package from Vitacost. In it was...

andI have been wanting to try Hemp Protein so I thought the first place to go was a sample pack. I haven't tried any of the hemp products yet, but I just had a tropical Spiru-tein shake with soy milk and I mixed it in the blender bottle that came in the sample pack and it was so yummy! It mixed much better than my previous experiences with this product.

Yama Food and a Smoothie

2009-04-22T12:40:00.003-04:00

Here is a smoothie I made with some gross Rice yogurt and soy protein powder

I added in some frozen raspberries and oat milk to get it to look like this

It was yummy! I bought the yogurt with the purpose of making a smoothie with it. I would never eat it on its own. I need to make more smoothies!

Last night I got Yama food for the second night in a row. Its a Korean/Japanese restaurant by the hospital where I work. Since I went to Flavors yesterday I drove right by it. I had to stop and get take out. I got different things than when I went Monday with my friends.

You get little treats for free and they are different every day...I got these yesterday

I also got a sushi roll called a Dartmouth Roll. In it is spicy salmon, avocado, and tempura flakes. On top are bonito flakes. Its so yummy!

For my actual dinner I got a Korean dish called Japchae. Its glass sweat potato noodles and I chose the veggie option. They are so so good! They look a little weird though.

I love Yama and could eat there several times a week. Good thing it's 40 minutes away from my house! Its a special treat!

Flavors of the Valley

2009-04-21T22:19:00.000-04:00

I went to a food expo today! It was quite interesting! Flavors of the Valley

When you walked in you got a bag, little plate, and fork

I walked around and tasted lots of yummy bits of food. I think my favorite was the chicken and apple salad. I also got to taste lots of free range meats including Emu!!

I got some little plants

I'm not sure what these are, but I got a lot of them (including a lady bug!)

A little Dill plant

And I bought some local raw, unprocessed honey that is fantastic!

Here is my bag full of all the literature and my little treats! Oh and my Viola that a man gave me

Even though it was really crowded, I had a great time see what we have up here in the Upper Valley in NH and VT for eats and produce!

Marathon Monday

2009-04-20T08:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Marathon Monday!! My friend's husband is running again today. Wish him luck!

I haven't eaten anything exciting this past week. I worked Mon, Tues, and Wed. And was dead to the world Thursday from running my butt off Wednesday night! But Wednesday I did receive my shipment from Peanut Butter & Co. I gave two jars to my dad (he eats Skippy...yuck, all that trans fat!) and kept two jars. The Cinnamon raisin swirl is amazing in oatmeal! I also got some jelly and have had some great PB&Js!

On Saturday I went outlet shopping with my sister. What great buys I found. But the best is the Coach sunglasses for $49 (out of my pocket, I had a $50 gift card)...couldn't not get them! And I got some nice summer clothes since last year I was 20lbs heavier.

If you head over to Carrots 'n Cake you can enter to win a $20 gift certificate to MyMixGranola! http://carrotsncake.com/2009/04/greatest-day-and-mixmygranola-giveaway.html

Happy Monday...Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pics of some yummy eats. Tonight I'm going out with some friends for sushi!

Easter Eats

2009-04-13T15:56:00.000-04:00

Well my family was not here for Easter. My parents were in Rome. Yep thats right, Rome. They decided to stay in yesterday though because there were people everywhere. They saw all the people at the Vatican on TV and didn't go out! They did call me though and wish me a Happy Easter.

Here is what I have been eating this weekend with my sore lips!

On Friday I took my grammie out for lunch at her favorite spot, The Longhorn Steakhouse. She had the chop steak, which I had to cut for her (and stole a piece...benefits of her being blind!) and it was very good, she chose the steamed vegetables for her side...very good choice! I had the Salmon over a toss salad "hold the cheese and croutons please" with honey mustard dressing (I know that doesn't have dairy because I emailed them and asked).

Then Friday night for dinner I made a very nice stir-fry with cubed tofu (came that way) and Very Very Teryaki Sauce (I love that stuff). As usual I forgot to make any rice or rice noodles to have my stir-fry over!

Saturday when I woke up my lips were really sore and I didn't feel well at all. I think I had a fever from the infection. So there was no breakfast, unless you could the two spelt flats I had with my antibiotics.

By lunch time I felt much better so I made an Amy's Texas Burger on my grill pan and put it between two slices of sprouted bread with lettuce and mayo and chili sauce. The problem with me is I like spicy food, thanks to my mom having us eat it at a very early age, but right now my lips don't like it at all!

For dinner I made BBQ Baked Tofu and Roasted Purple Potatoes. They were so good. I was unsure how I would like the tofu because I have texture issues with it and usually have it in stir-fry and can eat it with a crunchy veggie, but it was pretty good! The potatoes had a flavor that was creamy and rich. I loved them!

I went all out yesterday for my own Easter. My sister was doing stuff with her boyfriend and as I said before my parents are in Rome. For breakfast I had Tofu scramble with the left over potatoes. In my scramble I put the last of a red pepper and an onion. I used silken tofu for it for the first time and it was much better than my other attempts

Then for lunch I made some Lower Fat Banana Loaf from Veganomicon...except I added walnuts and made them into muffins because I love muffins!!! They are so so so good!

I thought we had doggie classes, but after driving there, I figured out we didn't! Oh well, the girls and I got to go for a ride. Stella did great in the car, she has issues from her transport from Tenn.

For dinner last night I had leftover BBQ Tofu..I thought if my parents were home my dad would have smoked brisket for Easter anyhow, so its not that far off! I made a baked sweet potato to go with my tofu and put Earth Balance and maple syrup on it

On Friday I got the results of Stella's blood DNA test the vet did on her. It says she is Cocker Spaniel and Whippet. This explains why she wants to kill all the cats the next door neighbor feeds. Whippets kill cats and other small wildlife! She met my sisters cat thursday and it went horribly...we had to make separate places for them in the house. But I make her hunt for her dinner with puzzle toys, she gets so excited...now I know why! The saliva test lab doesn't have Whippet in their database, guess thats why they said she was beagle.

I got my first issue of Vegetarian Times today, I can't wait to read it!

Staph Staph go away come again....NEVER!!!!

2009-04-09T17:16:00.000-04:00

Yep I have a staph infection in my lips. They are very swollen with a very attractive orange crust. Makes it very hard to eat anything.
I got sent home from work last night and went to the drs today. I'm on antibiotics for 10 days and have bactroban ointment to put on them.
So...I have no idea what I am going to eat for dinner tonight, may pick up a burrito for dinner.

Why do I keep getting pediatric diseases? Guess I was destine to work in pediatrics so I would always be around pediatricians!

Lazy Sunday

2009-04-05T20:52:00.000-04:00

Today we didn't have Rally Obedience Class because Luna's trainer was at a Rally-O trial. We were going to go to the trail to watch, but didn't because Luna is having allergies and has a runny and itchy nose. She keeps scratching her nose and licking it because its runny. I didn't feel like driving 4 hours to stress her out if she didn't feel well in the first place.

For breakfast I had an orange then later some oatmeal because I didn't feel well this morning. The oats I made were Banana Walnut Oats and boy were they yummy!!!

It is simple to make...I use the Eat-Clean way of making oats. 1/2 cup of dry oats in the bowl and pour 1 cup of boiling water over them, cover the bowl with a plate for 5-10 minutes and voila...perfect oatmeal!!!

for this flavor I also put in 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I am on topamax and can't stop loosing weight), cut up 1/2 of a banana, and 1 handful of walnuts. It was very yummy and what I needed for an upset tummy!

For Lunch I made a wrap, not a great picture...I couldn't get a good one

I have been making these for a few days now in various different ways.

1 flat out wrap

spread with guac

load with broccoli slaw, red pepper strips, scallion, sprout salad

top with salsa

wrap and grill on stove top grill for a couple of minutes!

Afternoon snack was Miso Soup....yep I can whip that up in a snap with the help of my Moosewood cookbook!

1 tablespoon of light Miso in the bowl, make a paste with 1/4 cup of boiling water.

place in the bowl sliced scallion, cubed tofu (in small cubes), 1 tablespoon Wakame soaked in water and drained, in this soup I used a few pieces of mushroom. Pour enough boiling water over the ingredients to make the soup (about the rest of the cup)...and Enjoy!!!!

Dinner was OK. I tried the Kashi cheeseless pizza, I had to jazz it up some. I think I will stick to making my own pizza. I put Frank's Red Hot on it. Now that I have a fresh bottle of it, more than likely I will put it on everything!
I also had a sweet potato, which was very very yummy...but I stuffed myself and now have a tummy ache again!!!

A Review and a Recipe!

2009-04-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

First the Review!

I had gotten two of the So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurts, Passionate Mango and Chocolate. This was my frist time having coconut milk yogurt. First off, those little buggers are expensive!!! At my co-op they are $1.85 each, not worth it for me, at least for those two flavors.

Passionate Mango-When I opened the container I was delighted by the color, it was bright and sunny! How can someone not like that! I haven't had fruit flavored yogurt in so long though, I was surprised how sweet the flavor was. It wasn't bad, just sweeter than I'm used to. I may get this again.

Chocolate-When I opened this container I was not delighted. It must have been shipped upside down because it was stuck at the very top of the container. I could not get it to slip back down!! I felt like it was too gel-like for me. I also felt like it didn't really have much of a chocolatey taste, actually it didn't have really any taste at all. I will not be getting this again.

I would like to try the Vanilla and Pina Colada flavors before I totally write off this yogurt because right now I'm not eating any yogurt at all.

Now the recipe!!!

Pasta Puttanesca

1/2-1 box spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic minced

3 shallots minced

3 anchovies minced (optional but they really make the dish)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 cup good olives cut in half (not from a can!)

2-3 tablespoons capers drained

1 15 oz diced tomatoes

Cook the pasta according to the box

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add anchovies, red pepper flakes, and oregano and cook another minute, until anchovies about disappear. Add olives, capers, and tomatoes and simmer until pasta is done.

When pasta is done, drain and add it to the skillet, toss it with the sauce.

This pasta is so meaty and salty without either! it is so so good, one of my favorite quick meals! I usually have everything on hand at all times. I don't really measure anything, just throw it in the pan so everything is just an estimate

Happy 3rd Anniversary Stella!!!

2009-04-01T23:03:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of bringing my little Stella Belle home from the shelter! She is just a lovey little dog who enjoys every part of her life, except riding in the car. She is also my little helper in the kitchen, and of course my taste tester! We did not have a party for her like last year since my parents are headed to Italy tomorrow, but we celebrate soon! We should also be getting your second DNA test results soon...the first test (saliva) said she was cocker spaniel/beagle, but the vet wanted to do a blood DNA test to compare the results Now on to the eats from the past couple of days....

Since I haven't been feeling well and sleeping until almost noon, I haven't been eating until later in the day. Its very very bad I know. Yesterday I finally felt well enough to make a salad and roasted italian veggies

This salad had romain, cukes, scallion, red pepper, roma tomato, smoked tofu which is like smoked cheese for me...so good!, and a hard boiled egg. All that was covered with Annie's Woodstock dressing which I just discovered, this dressing is sort of smokey and rich, very good!

These are my Italian Roasted Veggies...and I'm not ashamed to say I ate them all...what can I say, I'm sick and I need nutrients!! It is one eggplant, 3/4 red pepper, 1/2 head cauliflower, and 1 head of broccoli. I sprinkled on some garlic powder, onion powder, and some red pepper flakes and of course salt, drizzled with canola oil and olive oil (both of which I ran out of!) and roasted at 325 for 20 mins. Then I mixed them around and stuck them back in for another 20 mins at 375. They were so good!!!

Tonight I made a cheezy baked potato with broccoli and cauliflower

It is the dry cheese mix from Go Dairy Free, I had the mix already made in the fridge. I made the potato in the toaster oven and "steamed" the veggies in the microwave in one of those ziplock steamer bags. It was pretty good. I had another salad before this so my dinner was more colorful than this!

For dessert I borrowed a recipe from Chocolate-Covered Katie...Her Five-Minute Chocolate Mousse http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/mousse-on-the-loose/ and it was so so good!!!

I am excited to try more recipes with silken tofu!

Check out Katies blog for her huge give away CCV in a box http://chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/life-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates/#comments

What a long weekend!

2009-03-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

Phew!!! It was my weekend on to work and it was a long one! Three nights in a row sometimes is good, sometimes it kills me!! But now I have a few days off!!! EXCEPT....I just woke up with a very sore throat!!! Hope it's very short lived and I'm not sick the whole time I'm off!

I had the Sundried Tomato Quinoa for two of the nights I worked, it was so good and filling! Last night I also brought a single Wholly Guacamole and chips, and of course pickles (I love love love any kind of pickles!)

This morning I had to stop at the Co-op on my way home from work because I was out of yogurt for the doggies. My little Stella is on anti-fungal medicine for a nasty yeasty beasty ear infection and needs the yogurt so the medicine doesn't kill her tummy. While I was there I picked up some goods for myself.

I got some vanilla oat milk to try, a strawberry shortcake protein mix to make a smoothie with, some coconut milk yogurt that my co-op finally started to carry...they were out of pina colada so I got mango passion fruit and chocolate, and I got a bunch of larabars and a luna bar (my boxer is named Luna...but not after the bars!).

I can't wait to try the yogurt! I really really dislike soy yogurt so I haven't been eating any at all. I used to eat yogurt every day before I started being dairy free. I can't believe how expensive they were, but if that is how I will get probiotics, then its totally worth it!

I guess its miso soup for dinner since I don't feel well and my throat is killing me. Then its time to play with our new clicker for doggie training!

Hope today is better!

2009-03-27T13:56:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was not a good day. Probably because I had to go to the dentist!! But I had a stomach ache all day long. I had my quick breakfast of sprouted bread and mighty maple peanut butter and coffee before heading out the door to my parents for the day. I made a protein shake too...which was Spiru-Tein Chai Latte and plain Silk....well let me tell you, those two do not mix, it was all clumpy. I didn't have enough time to mix them in the blender so I used my little frother and that didn't help either. So I poured everything in my small Klean Kanteen and added more Silk and left with two oranges and the dogs. I didn't even drink it, but brought it back home and will make a smoothie out of it later today with a banana and other goodies.

For lunch my mom and I took my blind grammie out to Newick's a seafood place that is bad bad bad. I felt like being awful and had fried clams (also could have added to the sore belly). On the way out I saw a very yummy looking fresh salad in the case and had bad buyers remorse!!! I so should have gotten that!!! Then for dinner we had BBQ chicken, tater tots, a small dish of peas, and olives...welcome to dinner at my parents, all meat and hardly any veggies. I came home after that and layed on the couch the rest of the night catching up on TiVo.

Today is much much better though!!! I slept until 12:30 because I have to work tonight. But right now I have a pile of veggies roasting in the oven!!! They smell so so so good!!! I have mushroom pasta from The Eat-Clean Diet cookbook in my fridge and the makings of Sundried Tomato Quinoa on my counter!!!

Well today is MUCH better!! I just got the phone call to wait to come into work until 11pm instead of 7pm!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!! And I made my smoothie out of my failed protein shake and lone banana...it came out great and was very filling. I guess I will only use those protein mixes for smoothies now.

My Quinoa came out great too! I had to try some, but after having the whole smoothie I should have waited...I'm so stuffed right now!

Its been a month!!!

2009-03-25T09:32:00.001-04:00

Well I had meant to update before now!! Geez time got away from me!

Its been about a month now since I have gone dairy free and things are starting to go very well. My scalp and facial eczema are finally starting to clear up. My acne is also clearing up...wooohooo!!! Very limited abdominal pain and no intestinal back up either for a month, that in and of itself has made me feel great!!!!

I'm using my Go Dairy Free book a ton for great tips and ideas for meals and snacks. I have great will power too. And I have gotten great at asking for what a need when eating out, it has never been a problem. I usually just get salad for lunch anyhow so it is a matter of not having cheese and croutons and getting dairy free dressing.

Getting into the swing of things

2009-02-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

I have gotten used to the dairy free lifestyle. I have my Go Dairy Free book and I love it!!! Its full of useful information and lots of great recipes I can't wait to try out. Tonight I'm going to have cheese less pizza with lots of veggies on it. I have been having a lot of stir fries with tofu because its easy and quick and easy to bring to work with me.

I also got a label maker today and cleaned out my cabinet of all things bad for me. I jarred up all my grains and cooking things and labeled them so everything is easy to find and grab. I can't wait to make some dairy free goodies because the Newman O's that I got at the Co-op the other day are just plain nasty!!!

Here is my cheese free pizza, on it is carmalized onions, red peppers, and cremini mushrooms. I also added pineapple and olives before putting it in the oven. I used Flat Out crust that I got at the Co-op, it was so crunchy and crispy! I didn't miss the cheese at all!!!

Its all Hockie Pock...

2009-02-23T18:34:00.000-05:00

per my dad. My mom is back from her cruise so I got to talk to her today finally!!! She said the only reason my dad is saying that this whole idea of me being allergic to dairy is fooey is because he didn't think of it first.

I told my mom about me having a CIB and feeling like I ate a block of cement. She agreed that I cannot have anymore dairy at all. I got the book Go Dairy Free by Alisa Marie Fleming. Just her introduction alone sounds just like me! I'm going to share this book along with The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook with my mom and together we will figure this out.

I haven't had any dairy since Saturday when there was a bit of cheese on the salad at the restaurant. Thinking back I should have asked for a separate small salad, but I didn't want to be a pain...guess if I don't want to be in pain, I will have to be a pain and ask for what I need.

I have a migraine today, which could be from the dairy Saturday, or from a lack of sleep because I had night shift insomnia last night.

Week Two...Finally time to post

2009-02-22T14:35:00.001-05:00

Well the first week went really well. I found some soy yogurt and figured out which was good...whole soy and co, and some which was bad...stonyfield (which is funny because that was the only milk yogurt I ate!). All that week I felt great! My stomach was excellent, my nose wasn't stuffy and the mucus in the back of my throat was gone!!! Amazing!!! I was thrilled. I told my mom and she felt so bad that she sort of did this to me.

Well this past week I had an accident. I thought I would have a carnation instant breakfast for dessert before bed one night. I drank 1/2 of it, then read the ingredients...its made with milk!!! I had mixed it with soy milk...but that didn't even matter!!!! Oh dear was I so sick for the rest of the week!!! Thank goodness one of the Drs at work wrote me a script for miralax because I sure needed it!!! I was in so much pain and so bloated I looked pregnant!! I learned my lesson there.

Last night was the first night I went out to dinner since I have started this. We went to an Italian restaurant. I got Salmon with lemons on it. It was on a bed of pasta with red sauce. But came with a family style salad for the table. The salad was covered with shredded cheese. My sister made fun of me saying "uh oh, now what are you going to do?" Well...we passed the whole salad around the table and I took from the bottom of the bowl where there was no cheese. This is going to be harder than I thought. My dad is totally not supportive at all, telling me the whole thing about cheese is an old wives tale. I guess I will have to really sit down and explain everything to him.

I'm going to totally start over this week with my no dairy experiment and see how I feel. I got the uncheese cookbook and the Dairy free book should be coming tomorrow.

How it all began...

2009-02-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

30 years ago it was thought that I was allergic to dairy, wheat, gluten, and citrus. The reason behind this was because I had terrible eczema, chronic ear infections, nasal allergies, and "colds" all the time. I "grew" out of all these allergies by the time I was 3-4 years old except the citrus. I continued to have the eczema and nasal allergies, but a new symptom popped up...chronic constipation. My family and I delt with it all through my childhood, but when I went to college it was not so easy. I tried to talk to my Dr about it, but she said to drink more water.

Finally I was referred to a gastroenterologist at my work (I'm a PICU RN). He tested me for celiac disease (which was negative) and did many other tests on me to try and figure this problem out. Eventually I ended up having intestinal biopsies done because they thought that my nerves and muscles were not sending the message to my brain that it was time to work (this is called hirschprung's disease and is a childhood disease usually caught when people are hours to days old, also called mega colon)...this was all negative also. No one could figure this problem out. Now I was taking lots of medication to help the issue, but still living in lots of pain. Plus I still have the eczema, nasal allergies, chronic ear pain, acne, and now seasonal reactive airway disease.

In doing some research on veganism and dairy free diets, I discovered that these are all symptoms of a dairy allergy. Ah Ha...a cause to all my issues!!! So I am going to try and go dairy free to see if these problems will go away...25 years of suffering and it was the milk and yogurt and cheese I was eating because my mom and Dr thought I "grew out of" the allergy....lets see if they were wrong....