Adventures in Produce and Disneyland baby!

It's been a while since I have posted, cause honestly, I had to bring myself down from my Disney high. What a rush! But before I tell that story, lets have some more of "Adventures in Produce".

Before I went to Disneyland, I came across some more funky weird produce while shopping at my local Ralphs. The first was call a "Pepino melon" and it looked like this:

I also found a spiky orange melon that was called a Kiwano, or Horned Melon. It looked like this:

 

 

I decided to butcher these melons and have them for breakfast one morning. Rather than do any kind of research to find out the proper way to go about this, I just grabbed a sharp knife and decided to hope for the best.

 

The pepino melon was easy enough and inside looked like this:



I used a demitasse spoon to scoop out the inside and taste it... it was pretty awful. It was very, very musky and tasted like a very strong cucumber, only with almost no sweetness to it. I pretty much gave up on that after the first bite. Then, I pulled over the other. I started cutting into it, and it puked on me:

 

As if that wasn't enough to kill your appetite, when you finally get it open, you find this:

 

There was no part of me that wanted any part of that. But let me tell you this dear readers, out of a sense of duty to you, I knew I had to find out what the taste was like, so, I picked it up...and licked it. It actually wasn't all that bad tasting. It was mildly and slightly sweet. I couldn't get past the texture though, so it got binned along with the pepino and I went back to my old breakfast stand-by of green smoothie.

 

Ok! Now for the fun part! Disneyland!

 

Disneyland was so damn awesome! The whole reason that we went was because I had originally been signed up to run in the Tinkerbell Half marathon. Well, long story short: Hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, hospital stay, blah blah blah. The doctors nixed my running plans. However, I had already paid for tickets and hotel rooms and what not, so heck yea, I went.

 

My daughter Paisley had a race too, we ran that one together:

 

 

 

 

But this blog is about food, so lets talk about that. I am gluten free because I have celiac disease. If I get "glutened", I get really sick, so there is no cheating on that front. I did give myself permission to be a little bit lax with the rest of my diet, because since my diet is a lifestyle change, I think when you go on vacation, you should be on vacation, so I had basically decided to eat normally, (but gluten free). That being said, normally, gluten free eating is hard. You have to try to talk to the people making your food, explain what gluten is, and basically make a guess about whether something is safe or not to eat. I don't really like eating out, because I get glutened a lot. Well, guess what? Not at Disneyland!!

 

Our very first food experience was at a restaurant called Goofy's Kitchen, which is at the Disneyland hotel. It was a buffet, so I was immediately nervous. However, when I told the server that I was gluten free, he went right into the kitchen and brought the chef out to the table. The chef then walked me around the entire buffet and told me which foods were gluten free and which foods weren't. He even told me which foods might be contaminated and offered to get me fresh ones from the kitchen. He told me that there was nothing on the pastry table for me, but If I liked, he could go make me some gluten free pancakes or waffles! It was too good to be true! Except that it was true!

 



 

These were Mickey Mouse shaped gluten free pancakes. (I was half way through them before my mom told me that I should take a picture for my blog). They were HEAVENLY.

 

 

Delicious buffet food.

 

And you know what? Every restaurant at Disneyland was the same! They all sent the chef out to talk to me, I got to eat food that was almost identical to the food that everyone else ate and I didn't get glutened even once! This was HUGE for me. I was so happy. One more story about food.

 

One night we had dinner at the Blue Bayou which is the restaurant that is inside of Pirates of the Caribbean. Its kind of a fancy, sit down restaurant and by this time, we were used to the fact that they were seriously awesome about gluten free. HOWEVER, when we all sat down, they brought a basket of rolls to the table. This is always a hard time for me, because I used to LOVE bread. I've really gotten used to watching my family eat bread during bread time though, because they all love bread too ;-). I was happily drinking my mint julep and watching them all eat rolls when the waiter comes by with a little basket with two rolls in it and says, "Miss, the Chef has sent over some gluten free rolls." I almost burst into tears. Literally. Never, have I ever had a gluten free roll at a restaurant and it was pure heaven.

I could probably ramble on for three or four more pages about how awesome it was to actually eat food, but I won't. I will just leave you with this thought: If you have dietary restrictions, you should not visit Disneyland. You should LIVE there.

 

Oh, and I'm not telling you how much, but I actually LOST weight while at Disney. How you ask? We walked an average of 8 miles a day and I carried a 40 lb toddler for most of it. Seriously. My arms fell off. I actually coughed up the money and bought a stroller on the third day, cause, ow.

 

 

We are planning to take the same trip next January too, only this time, with the help of my doctors and nutritionist, I will be able to run the half marathon!

 

I had to come back to earth though, and I am back at work and back on my awesome diet. I have been losing weight steadily and feel fantastic! I can't wait to weigh in on the 8th! And hey! If you still want to get in on the contest, take a guess about how much weight I will have lost in the last 5 weeks and leave it in the comments! I will be awarding an amazon gift card in that amount to the closest guess!




 

 





 

I'm Growing A What?!!?

A will power people! I'm growing a will power!!

As it turns out, saying no is not actually going to kill you, and sometimes it feels pretty good! Will power and self restraint is something that I have struggled with my entire adult life. I would love to wax poetic and tell you how its all because of childhood trauma caused by my cousins-sister's-best friend's-boyfriend's gay pet cockatoo, but I think I just like food. Certain things that I would eat would trigger me to binge eat boat loads of crap. Like Potatoes. Potatoes are a huge trigger food for me. Not only would eating potatoes trigger me to eat more potatoes, but the starchy goodness of them would always make me want to eat something sugary right after. Not anymore! Not only have I been able to avoid temptation, but the longer I do it, the easier it is!

Trigger foods are foods that you eat that make you want to continue eating. Deficiencies are nutrients that your body is missing that make you want to consume a certain type of food in order to repair an actual or percieved deficiency. And everyone knows what emotional eating is... Something makes you feel bad so you seek to give yourself an endorphin dosage by eating something. Whatever. You know what the important part is? The important part is I HAD THE DOLLAR BILL IN THE VENDING MACHINE AND I TALKED MYSELF DOWN. "So what?" You say. "Big Freaking Deal." You're right. It is. In the completely unprecedented and personal victory kinda way!

People ask me how my new diet is going. Its going people. I love it. I'm am whole heartedly on board. They say it takes a month to develop habits? I believe it. I'm getting close and this already feels natural to me.

I spend a lot of my time weighing stuff.

And chopping stuff.

And then actually cooking stuff myself.

I'm spending more time on my nutrition than I ever have before, but damn if that hasnt increased my satisfaction with it!!

Speaking of which, there have been some requests for some recipes. I'm going to share the recipes for the tomato free tomato sauce, which I can only take credit for part of it. The idea came from elsewhere on the web. I'm also going to share the recipe for the veggie lasagna and it was created by Amanda Beckner. So, not mine, don't thank me, thank them. Deliciousness!

Tomato-free tomato sauce:
Ingredients:
2 cans beets (not pickled)
1 bag baby carrots
1/2 cup lemon juice
 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 onion
2 tbsp oil
2 cups of water
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the onion and garlic (doesnt matter how fine, its going in a blender). Sautee onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add beets, carrots and 1 cup of water. Cover pot and lower heat to medium. Cook for 40-60 minutes until carrot is soft. Add 2nd cup of water and spices. Remove from heat and stir well to distribute spices. Mix in lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Transfer contents from pot to blender and blend until chunks are gone. (This only took about a minute). Use immediately or freeze.

I love this sauce! Its yummy and works great on pasta, in lasagna and also as a dipping sauce. And, because its beets and not tomatoes, it doesnt stain my tupperware! Double score! In addition, there is no added sugar or anything, so when I eat it, I'm like, "Eating my veggies dude, back off."

Ok, so now onto the veggie lasagna. I told you that it belongs to Amanda Beckner, but also, I made a few changes to it. Its yummier now. Also, if you come across an ingredient like "Dairy free Daiya cheese shreds" Just know that it will work just fine with real cheese.

Ingredients:

1 cup fat free cottage cheese (or dairy free substitute)
1 package frozen california veggies
1 box gluten free lasagna noodles (or regular ones if you are lucky enough to be a wheat-eater)
2 cups tomato free tomato sauce (or tomato if you prefer)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp parsley
1 cup daiya dairy free shredded cheese substitute (Or mozarella cheese if you are of the cow's milk persuasion)
5 ounces frozen spinach

Start by preheating the oven to 375. Then, the lasagna noodles say that they are no cook, ready for the oven noodles. They lie through their delicious pasta teeth. The first time I used them, they stayed hard as a rock. I now soak them in hot water for ten minutes prior to usage. Works perfectly.

Mix the garlic, basil and parsley into the cottage/ricotta cheese. Set aside. In an 8 x 10 pan, lay 3 noodles flat on the bottom (they will fit this pan size perfectly. Next, spread half the red sauce, all the cottage cheese, half the daiya, the spinach and the california veggies ontop of the noodles. (I like to chop the veggies to make smaller pieces, that way, your maintain your lasagna-ish composition). Lay the other three noodles ontop and top with the remaining sauce and daiya. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and back for 20 additional minutes. Serve and enjoy!

I didnt take any pictures of me cooking the lasagna. I was going to take a picture of me eating it, but trust me, it wouldn't do it justice.

So, the next step in this game is to get fresh with it. I'm still a slave to the convenience culture. I like my veggies pre-chopped and my salads pre-washed. I'm going to a farmers market on monday, so, I'll let you know how this goes.

Lets talk about results!! I have big news to report! Not only did I spend today mostly pain free, but I had excess energy to burn and man! My mood has never been better. And.... ::drumroll please:: I have had to go four holes tighter in my belt!!! Its my fat girl belt and there is only one hole left, so after that, I will have to buy a new belt!

Speaking of, there is still time to get in on the game! The person with the closest guess as to how much fat I will lose by february 2nd will win an amazon.com gift card valued at that number! Leave a comment with your guess and either your name or email.

It's time for the big reveal...

Ok. So it's not that big. It's not anywhere near as big as I had hoped. I'm gonna give myself a break though, cause, come on. Festive holiday cheer and soy nog and all that. And chocolate. Piles and piles of chocolate.

The day after Christmas, I was all set to jump back on the crunchy granola band wagon, but there was the small matter of left over ham and pumpkin pie in the fridge. I did really well ignoring it. I ignored it all through breakfast and ... I was eating it by noon. The following day I did all right. Until I got to work. And there was all sorts of candies and coffees and goodies. The cheery bastards. Don't they know I have the will power of a golden doodle?

On the 28th, I was determined to get back in the saddle. I made all my meals, I prepared everything in advance. I knew I had to drive down to San Diego to celebrate my sister's birthday at a barbeque restaurant so I prepared my food, took it with me and ate it in the car on the way down. You're gonna be so proud. I didn't have a single thing at the restaurant. Things were really looking up. That is, until my other sister, who drove down with me, drove through In and Out on the way back up to the desert. I'm not even going to tell you what went on there, I'm sure you can figure it out.

So, step one. I'm admitting I have a problem. Finally, by the 30th of December, five days after my firey downward spiral from grace, I beat my diet back into submission. I have now had 5 whole days of clean and healthy eating and it can only go up from here.

So, this morning was my appointment with the nutritionist. Even with my little five day "bender", I lost 5lbs of fat! My lean body mass stayed right where it was at 162 lbs, and my hydration improved. I no longer have any idea what my goal weight should be, because if 162lbs is my lean body mass, obviously I should weigh more than that right?

How about the non-weight related benefits? I can now say with definity that I have much less inflammation in my joints. Its especially noticeable in my knees and ankles. I have so much more energy and my mood has really improved. The energy thing is particularly incredible to me because I have mostly given up caffeine but I have felt so peppy. Other people are noticing too. People at work have been asking me about my energy and one girl even asked, "What did you do? You're so much nicer now!" Which, if you think about it, is just another way of saying, "You used to be such a bitch!"

Where to from here? Well, the nutritionist taught me how to design my own menus, so I should be able to add in some new foods, but we decided that I would stick with these for another two weeks. I still have a lot of work to do on my health. My hydration was better, but I am still bad at drinking water. I'm still drinking caffeine, (only one 2 oz espresso a day now though) and I'm not sure I'm at all interested in giving that up.

In October, I woke up one morning throwing up blood. I went by ambulance to the hospital where they discovered that I had hepatitis and hemolytic anemia. It took them four days to narrow the cause down to Epstein Barr. I was told that it could take several months to heal from this completely, but, because the pain has yet to go away, I'm going in for an abdominal ultrasound tomorrow morning. I'm pretty freaked about this, because my grandfather on my mothers side died of liver cancer when he was 34.

My biggest goal, with this diet, and assuming that everything turns out ok tomorrow, is to make sure that this stops happening to me. No more mystery illnesses, no more hospitals, no more drugs. Just a healthy body that functions that way it should.

Ok, now that this got so dark, I think its time for a little levity. How about a game? I have five weeks until my next appointment with the nutritionist. Leave a comment on this post with your guess as to how much fat I will lose (in pounds) by February 8th, and the closest guess will win an amazon.com giftcard. Ready, go!