In preparation for writing a piece for my column at the Washington Times Communities, “Reading Ingredients: Tales from a Health-Conscious Mom,” I realized that I could stand to write a background post on why I eat the way I do when it’s so different from how I used to eat. I’ve written some about my…
food
Applesauce Cake – Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Low-Sugar
At my son’s Waldorf school, birthdays are celebrated with applesauce cake. We always pack my son a wheat-free, gluten-free alternative for the baked goods. I also make them dairy-free so that I can eat them and because we try to keep my son’s dairy intake down. I was very pleased with the cake we made…
The call to simplify…
A friend sent this piece by Ann Patchett as inspiration for taking oneself seriously as a writer. I love it and did find inspiration in it, but I also found it rather divorced from the world of being an at-home mother. Additionally, I am someone who seriously needs to spend a good bit of time…
Yummy food for the holidays
We had a lovely holiday today. After a very busy Thanksgiving hosting four adults and two teenagers, I enjoyed not having to do a whole bunch today while at my in-laws’. But I did make the pumpkin pies, and they turned out delicious! Check out this (newly updated) recipe for Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie on…
Scarborough fair on my deck – and in my turkey
I didn’t get a real garden going this summer, since we were in the middle of a move. That’s a bummer. But, I do still — in November — have fresh rosemary, sage and thyme growing in pots on my porch. I loved that I went from plant to pot in a few steps. They…
Yummy Thanksgiving!
I’m thankful for a delicious turkey from Polyface Farms (and a husband and in-laws members who cooked it), fabulous pastured eggs from our local farmer, and nobody pushing my son to eat foods that aren’t good for him. I’m also thankful for health, a home large enough to stuff a bunch of people into, the…
Gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin pie!
I finally took a photo of a gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin pie this year! Two different times! The crust was largely hazelnut and rice flour with all the spices of pumpkin pie. I used coconut oil and put a little vanilla in with the cold water, using this crust recipe (with mostly nut flour/meal). I baked…
GFCF rolls with hazelnut flour
I wanted to share a photo of the GFCF rolls I made for Thanksgiving this year and an update on the recipe. The bulk of the flour this time was Hazelnut flour from Bob’s Red Mill with some sorghum, rice, and tapioca. Also, I got away with using hardly any sugar and a little more…
Review of new PBS show on “healthy” living
Watch out parents: there’s a new show in town trying to convince your kids that it knows something about healthy eating. Before I share my concerns about PBS’s new show, “Fizzy’s Lunch Lab,” I’d like to describe the kind of show about healthy eating I would actually consider allowing my son to watch. There would…
Heavier than air
After attending a screening of the new film Fresh and seeing Joel Salatin and Sally Fallon speak as part of an amazing panel discussion to a standing-room only crowd at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, I never want to eat anonymous meat again. Fresh gives just enough insight into factory farming to help the…
The kind of health coverage I want
“This is why health care costs are so high,” hissed my endocrinologist when she looked at the results of the labwork my holistic physician had ordered. To her, the additional blood tests were a waste of time and money. But the information – a full, more complete picture of my thyroid levels and antibody levels–…
Traditional, GFCF, and Low-Carb Eating 101
I just attended a local hospital’s women’s health expo and spoke to a diabetes nutrition educator who was horrified that I would pursue a low carb diet. “Why would you do that?” she asked. I dropped a lot of names, none of which she was familiar with. I just wrote her an email and decided…
Traditional, GFCF, and Low-Carb Eating 101
I just attended a local hospital’s women’s health expo and spoke to a diabetes nutrition educator who was horrified that I would pursue a low carb diet. “Why would you do that?” she asked. I dropped a lot of names, none of which she was familiar with. I just wrote her an email and decided…
More evidence about gluten’s potential harm
It took me three hours to get out of 20 miles worth of DC traffic and the rest of the 70 miles to Richmond, but I am so glad I made it to see the West End Gluten Intolerance Group’s evening presentation with two doctors and important researchers on the effect of gluten on the…
Apple picking… in our yard?
We just realized that our new home has an apple tree in the back yard. It’s probably not going to get a whole lot of light, and I doubt the apples will fully ripen, but we’ve enjoyed using the apples in the juicer with carrot (and some beet, celery, parsley and ginger). Since organic u-pick…
What did the boy inherit?
A few months back, I finally did a cheek swab test on my son to see if he did in fact inherit gluten sensitivity from me. I’d ordered the test from Enterolab almost a year earlier on the advice of Melissa Diane Smith, author of the fabulous book, Going Against the Grain. For some reason,…
Whole foods come from the ground
We didn’t plant a whole garden this year because of the move, but at least we’ve got a little bit of a harvest on our patio and in the yard. At least my kid knows what green beans, peas, blueberries and black raspberries look — and taste — like in their original home.Now if I…
What I eat
For a long time, I’ve been eating a lot of calories. A typical breakfast would be sausage, one or two eggs (mostly just the yolk), raw/cultured sauerkraut, sprouts (usually pea, lentil or azuki bean — not alfalfa), sauteed zucchini and some kind of green vegetable cooked in homemade chicken stock. Kombucha and supplements on the…
Gluten-free pancakes at Original Pancake House
The Original Pancake House in Falls Church, VA now offers gluten-free pancakes using Bob’s Red Mill GF blend, milk, egg and canola oil. The pancakes did taste good — we got one order of blueberry and one of pecan — (choices also include plain, banana and chocolate chip — not as many choices as the…
I have my kitchen back!
After weeks of needing to keep a clean house in the hopes that someone would buy it, I’m so excited to finally have my kitchen back! I’ve finally got stock rolling (from bones I’d had to stuff in the freezer), I soaked millet last night in whey and water and made porridge this morning, I’ve…