Dressing Up

Everything is from scratch these days, so I am on the recipe hunt.  Homemade salad dressings were not something I gave much thought to before, but with salads being a several times a week menu item, it was a subject not to be ignored.  Here is one I adapted that I very much enjoy.  My favorite way to use it is on a spinach salad topped with dried apple, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds.  (On the spices, I use what I would call a good sprinkle, so adjust according to taste.)

Maple-mustard Dressing

1/4 cup oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon mustard
Dash of salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder

A Well-stocked "Pantry"

This past Tuesday a fellow quilter and I counted to see how many quilts we had in what I call our "quilt pantry".  When we started focusing on the UFO tubs (unfinished objects) that is what I envisioned--a well-stocked pantry of quilts ready for when the need arises.  Counting two that went to new homes on Tuesday, we had 13 quilts in the cabinet.  When I started coming (two years ago come spring), we had maybe one or two.  How I have enjoyed working with these ladies, and am so pleased to see all the creativity that has produced some very lovely quilts!

Here are some pictures a quilt done by one of our "new to quilting" ladies.  She started a new job a few weeks ago and can no longer meet with us, so I put the binding on the quilt for her.

And here is a picture of my next challenge.  One of the ladies ran across these blocks in a UFO tub, and delegated them to me to put together.  Hmmm.  I think that is a complement. 

As you can see, the blocks are all different sizes.  I think this is the general layout I will use, and now need to figure out how to fill in the spaces between the blocks.  The colors will be fun to work with, and it has the potential of being a really cute quilt.  Bring on the graft paper! 

What's for Breakfast?

Fruits and veggies are the name of the game around here for every meal.  Breakfast is one time I like to have something a little sweet.  Here is an idea for using leftover spaghetti squash that meets the bill.

Here are the main ingredients:  onion, a Granny Smith apple, spaghetti squash, and canola oil.

Dice about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of onion.  Cut apple in half, cover one half in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for later munching.  Peel, core, and chop the remaining half.

Heat a little canola oil in a small skillet.  Add onion and cook until just starting to become translucent.

Add apple to the skillet and cook until tender-crisp.

Toss in a few golden raisins

Add approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cooked spaghetti squash.

Drizzle with some maple syrup and sprinkle on some cinnamon.

Stir well.  Cover and cook just a few minutes until everything is hot.

I served this with a poached egg and some leftover green beans that I had seasoned with onion powder and garlic powder.  A little sweet and a little savory--a nice way to start the day.

Spaghetti Squash with Apples and Onions

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons onion, diced
1/2 Granny Smith apple--peeled, cored, and chopped
A few golden raisins
1/3 to 1/2 cup cooked spaghetti squash
Canola oil
Maple syrup
Cinnamon


Heat canola oil in a small skillet.  Add onion and cooked just until it starts to become translucent.  Add apple and cook until tender crisp.  Add raisins and spaghetti squash.  Drizzle with some maple syrup and sprinkle with some cinnamon.  Stir to mix.  Cover and cook for just a few minutes until everything is hot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Theory

First, a quick shift--I am updating my meal schedule to the following:

Breakfast

Lunch

Smoothie/snack

Supper

For one thing, trying to fit in eating five times a day was inconvenient and time-consuming.  Plus, I am not feeling as hungry in between meals, so the mid-morning snack isn't really necessary.  My weight has pretty much stabilized, so that isn't a concern.  And finally, smoothies in the winter weren't going to be very appetizing, so decided to have snack as an option in the afternoon instead.  

I have had several people ask me what I thought brought all my health issues on so suddenly.  The truth of the matter, though, is that it wasn't sudden at all, but had just reach a point of affecting my general health.  Two of my symptoms; my red cheeks and nose, and my constantly runny nose have been around for years and years.  I chalked the redness up to being my particular coloring, and the runny nose was simply allergies, though to what exactly I could never quite figure out.  It was quite a revelation to me when both these issues improved dramatically as I have changed my diet.  

As I said in the first post, I am not dealing with allergies.  I don't react to my lotions which I am sure contain corn derivatives.  Nor do I have issues with basic soaps or with shampoos and conditioners.  It is only what I eat that causes problems.  Thinking back on how I never have been able to tolerate a lot of whole grains, my guess is that whatever the body uses to process these foods is in short supply in my body.  And, with growing older, I am speculating that my body is producing even less of whatever that is, thus causing me to react more strongly to these foods.  I will probably never get a definitive answer, but this is my theory, and I am sticking to it! :-)

Now comes the big menu organization.  I have to put things into some kind of routine or system so that I don't have to always be figuring out what to do on the spot (a very stressful place for me).  Now that I pretty much have my parameters in place, I can look for a variety of recipes to use for each food.  I will write these down and then be able to quickly put together a varied weekly menu.  But, as is always with organization, things always look worse before they look better.

Looks like my kitchen table will be out of commission for meals for a while.  Once I have my recipes in place, I will begin to post them here.  Until next time!  :-)

Winter Readiness

Winter is the quiet season for the yard and garden, which is a good thing for me with holiday preparations before me.  Though our garden isn't productive currently, we wanted to give it a little boost by planting some winter rye which we will then turn in before spring planting.

I am calling this our mini-meadow.  It will be nice to have a touch of green when all the yard grass has browned from freezes.  

This past summer we planted some Barbados cherries.  Though it wasn't the best time to be planting them, they have settled in quite happily.  We didn't really expect them to do much this year except get established, but they surprised us by blooming toward the end of summer and now have put on their lovely red cherries.  They are supposed to be a favorite of birds, so perhaps we will have a little extra feathered activity around the yard this fall.

Setting the Parameters

At the beginning of this year (2010) I began to notice a significant change in my health.  While the changes may have been coming on gradually, they now started to affect my day to day activities.  In the spring, mainly as an experiment, I decided to eliminate gluten from my diet.  I saw an initial improvement and began to recognize the specifics of how I responded to certain foods.  After many ups and downs, I have eliminated everything from the plant family that contains grains.  This includes not only all grains, but also pseudo-grains, molasses, and cane sugar.  Dairy also seems to be factor, so that is gone as well.  My health is much improved and the reactions have pretty well subsided.  

I am beginning this blog to offer menu plans and recipe ideas that I have developed or come across in my search for meals that fit within my current parameters.  When I first reach this point of limitation in my diet, I was pretty discouraged.  Eating seemed like it was going to be this continuous monotony.  Thinking about it, though, made me realize how often grains were a part of my meals and that they were simple being replace with other things.  

Because I am not trying to follow a specific diet, but rather working towards what my body in particular needs, not all the recipes will suit the needs or limitations of others.  What I hope to accomplish is not just the passing along of recipes, but ideas that others can modify to fit their own dietary needs.

In addition, I want to say that I don't think grains are evil, but rather that, for some reason, my body seems to be lacking what is needed to process them.  I am not dealing with an allergy, but with an intolerance or sensitivity.  I love to make bread (and eat it), but that is no longer an option for me if I want to feel well.  So here are the foods I am working with (I will modify the list on this post as it changes):

Proteins:
     Eggs
     Chicken
     Beef


Starches:
     Sweet potatoes
     Potatoes
     Pumpkin
     Winter squashes
     Legumes


Sugars:
     Maple syrup
     Honey


Fruits and vegetables


Because the starches I am now using don't have quite the staying power of grains, my eating schedule goes something like this during the day.  I am still early in this process, so there will probably be shifts and changes along the way.


Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Smoothie (where I add my supplements such as calcium and iodine)
Dinner

Breakfast generally consists of an egg, a starch, and a vegetable.  Snack is fruit and a protein. Lunch and dinner are either a meat, starch, and vegetable, or a meatless main dish like lentils plus a vegetable and a fruit.  With my smoothies I am currently experimenting with a base of either coconut milk or soymilk with a combination of frozen fruits. 

So, that is the broad framework and I hope to fill in the specifics in future posts.  Here is to happy eating!