Garden update

Warm weather here in Oregon. I spent my first hour this AM giving the garden and all the rest a drink. I did have to replant the hills. Seems most plants of the eating variety don't like to grow in bark mulch, though the weeds don't seem to mind. So, I scraped out holes and filled them with steer compost and re-planted. Now within a week, the cucumbers, some squash, and some pumpkin are up. The radishes are ready, and within a few days the lettuce and spinach will be ready to start using.

This is very welcomed as we drop $25-$40 on fruits and veggies every week. The way to lose weight is to keep one's belly full of the good stuff.

I'm so happy to finally have my own garden, and see it doing so well. My apple tree is getting some brown leaves, so will water it again tonight or tomorrow. Most of the flowers are from seed, and they are sprouting as well. I did buy some coleus, one of my favorites. I still have zinnia seed, and am going to sow more radishes. I can see that planting might go on for a long time since we have a longer growing season here. When I gardened in California, I never took advantage of the longer growing season. New ideas are popping into my head all the time!

Celiac Sprue Disease

Years ago, when I was dieting the Over-Eaters Anonymous way, I learned that I was gluten intolerant. Not allergic....too much doesn't agree with me. So, I read all I could about gluten intolerance's, and found a lot of interesting recipes on line. I learned to live without too much gluten in my diet, understanding that it's almost impossible to cut it out totally. I also learned about Celiac Disease. I've read various books like Eat Right for your Blood type...also a lot of high protein, low carb diets. We speculated back then maybe my husband had a problem in this area as well. A close family member told me that just because I might have a problem, doesn't mean he did. It's very common among people who don't wish to cater to special diets to deny these things. So, we let it go.

When Desirae was born, Dave came down with a bad case of colitis, that lasted a very long time. Stress can bring out the best in diseases. He had some tests, determining that he had colitis, and nothing more was done. He got better, with occasional bouts, nothing that we found too alarming. After losing both his parents, and being let go from a new job he started right after his Dad died, his colitis went into a full flare-up. Nothing could control it. After tests, the Dr put him on medicine. An anti-inflammatory for his insides, and a med to lower his white blood cell count, which was high. Basically, his body was attacking itself. On top of that he took Prilosec daily. And the $600 a month meds were not working.

The doctor mentioned surgery to remove the most severe part of his gut. That scared me. After that....then what? More surgery? So, I went on line and researched. And what I found was Celiac Sprue---again. It's an auto-immune disorder from eating gluten. The body attacks itself, and it doesn't absorb nutrition. People with this problem can develop a rash (Dave had various rashes), along with severe colitis and diarrhea. I also found that colitis is ALWAYS caused by a food allergy to gluten, dairy or fructose (fruit sugars). Very eye opening for us. This explained why his white blood count was high.

Obviously, the medical profession knows very little about nutrition and food allergies. Dave saw a specialist and liked the doctor very much. The Dr never once stressed that diet could play a role. How sad for others who suffer from this condition.

In October, Dave lost his job, and his insurance that covered his $600 per month medicines. I did more research and found a special elimination diet, and he paid attention to what he ate and how his body responded. He cut out gluten and dairy. He stopped taking all his meds, not even finishing the samples the doctor gave him. And he got better. I later found out that medicines can be bound together with modified food starch, which contains gluten. He's had little slips because we have to read every food label, very carefully now. We have to recognize those strange ingredients that are made from wheat, rye and barley. And from these little slips, we have determined that he has Celiac Sprue disease.

There is a test that is 50% accurate to determine if he has the disease or not. At this point, why bother. He would have to go on a gluten fest to trigger those antibodies. It's not worth the grief. And, now I have to pay attention to Desirae because she has parents who can't tolerate gluten. She sure loves her raman noodles.

Dave has also dieted recently and lost 50 Lbs....the right way, by eating very healthy and much less. Our house borders on vegatarian now. We have one small serving of meat at supper. Desirae gets to enjoy dairy products, Dave doesn't and I severely limit mine. I've lost 11 lbs, and I refuse to "diet". I want to change my eating habits for life, so that whatever weight comes off, will stay off forever. It feels really good to be taking care of ourselves this way, eating healthy, getting more excersize, feeling more energy. I hope to lose the blood pressure med and some cholesterol as well. Someday.

So....anyone have good gluten and diary free recipes to share?

Gluten Free Blueberry(Strawberry) Buckle

This is one of the best gluten free reciepes I've used. Normally I use frozen blueberries, but it tastes great with fresh strawberries as well.

Topping:

1/4 c sugar

1 tbsp brown rice flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

Body:

1 c. basic glutenfree mix (2/3 c rice flour, the rest potato starch with a tbsp of tapioca flour. A comination of these 3 flours makes for a good texture)

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

pincc hof salt

2 tbsp butter

1 egg

1/2 c milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 c frozen blueberries

Preheat the over to 350F. Lightly grease an 8 in sqare baking pan.

Topping: mix sugar, brown rice flour and cinnamon. Using a fork, pinch in the butter until you have a course crumbly texture.

Body: Mix the dry ingredients. Pinch in the butter. Beat the wet ingredients together and mix into the dry. fold in the blueberries. Scrape into the pan, spinkle on the topping, and bake for 25 minutes.

Okay....I'm a "throw it together" kind of cook, and that's what I did today. And I used olive oil instead of butter in the cake. And I substitued fresh strawberries. It was YUMMMY! Next time I plan on using splenda to see how it works. I usually take a good reciepe and start tweeking it to fit our lifestyle, so far this is a winner.

My Penance Kitty

I'd like to introduce you to "Tigerlily". She was adopted by Dave's mother in 2000. The first time I saw her, she was a little ball of fluff. I seem to remember that Dave's sister Carla and her daughters (Lindsey and Lacey) had something to do with the arrival of Lily. My memory is not very clear. It was the first time I had visited Dave's family, a whirlwind of new faces and names, but I do remember the little ball of fluff, she was very captivating as a kitten.

As years went on, I referred to Lily as "fickle". She loved her own people, that was very clear. She lost her mom first. Then she poured all her love into Dave's dad, who was dying of bone cancer. She rode around on his shoulders, slept with him, was a constant fixture by his side. She was a major source of comfort for him, and he worried about what would happen to her after he passed. We assured him that she would have a good home, that we or Dave's brother would take her. She is one spoiled kitty. No one taught her to stay off the kitchen counters or table. She used to sit on the table and watch Elvin eat his chicken noodle soup. When Elvin became too tired to deal with combing her fur, I took over her grooming. She didn't like me very much back then. She would climb to her highest perch and lick her wounds when it was done. As Elvin was dying, she kept vigil, by his side on the bed. She was one lost kitty when he was gone. As we packed up the house, sold it, and moved to a rental, she became quite ill. I was so busy, working full time, moving, parenting, I almost forgot about Lily. One day, she threw up blood with a hairball. That's when I took notice. I combed her long fur out and gave her some extra attention. And that's all it took. She still wouldn't look at me while I petted her, but I did become her person. Just this past year, almost 3 years later, she finally looked at me while I loved on her. She sleeps at the bottom of the bed, at my feet. And she lets Desirae cart her about and puts up with all sorts of "loving" from the girl. I have said that Elvin would be amazed to see his fickle kitty now. She is very gentle with Desi. I come to her rescue quite often.

Through out my adult life, I've had various cats. I have not been a good cat owner. Most of my cats have not been fixed. I took outside cats, made them inside cats, and then left them to fend for themselves in the dead of winter, when I couldn't find an apartmant to take pets. The last kitties that haunt me were Nick's "LadyBird" and her baby "Jasmine". Two very striking Tourtise Shells, that I had to take to the shelter when I left Nick's Dad. Again, an apartment that didn't allow pets. Some time later I moved, and went back to the shelter to inquire about them. All they told me was that LadyBird and Jasmine were no longer at the shelter. :( I really didn't want to know more. We've adopted 4 cats since. Charlie, who was on antidepressants. Dave decided to put him down when the drugs stopped working. Dino, who met his demise in a hayfield in Minnesota. We still miss him so much.

And Gabriel (aka "Zorro!"). He was short-haired when we adopted him from the shelter. Gabriel was my baby when I was pregnant with Desi. After she was born, he would inch up on my lap as I was holding her, and gently push her away, so he could have the best spot for himself! He is now Dave's cat, and a bit de-throned by Roy, our 1 yr old lab.

TigerLily is my penance kitty....she is the cat I would never choose to have because of all that fur. She gets up on the counters and the table, teaching Gabriel her bad manners. She insists on sitting in front of my moniter, knocking the papers off my desk. The cat fur rolls across the kitchen floor when slight brezze comes along But, we are her people now, and she gives us her love every day. And, she'll be with us for the rest of her life, because all my kitties deserved that, and most of them didn't get it.

We are taught that animals have no souls. I never seriously subscribed to this notion. One day I read a story about a man and his dog at the gates of heaven, and St Peter told him he could come in, but the dog would have to stay behind. And the man exclaimed that "it would be hell to be with out his best friend, and declined that heaven....he went on to find his true heaven, where he and his dog could be together forever. I loved that story. I believe there is a very special place for our loyal loving pets, and I'm sure TigerLily will get to be with Lynn and Elvin again someday. Til, then, she's here with us....her second family.

Just Me

I was looking at that last blog and thinking about how cute a red checkered table clothes might have been.  And then today Desirae noticed some plastic dishes in the shape of fish in the Kohls add.  It made me stop and think about how simple we live.  We have no picnic basket, a plain paper bag and cooler work pretty good.  We used the very cheapest paper plates, because they came out of Desi's craft box.  Mis-matched plastic-ware left over from last years birthday parties.    I've always done these things  at the last minute, never much planning....throw it together and make it work.  And it does.  Last time I forgot napkins, but we had the baby wipes from the car, and that worked out okay.    We make do and improvise where needed.  The main thing is to "just do it".    

A fond memory I have is of going to Perham with Grandma Brown.  At lunch time, we stopped and got a loaf of white bread and a package of hotdogs, and found a picnic table.  Those were the BEST tasting hotdogs!    We didn't even have plates or plastic-ware.  

I'm not sure  Desi would remember a red checkered table cloth or fancy dishes, but I'm pretty sure she is going to remember picnics in the park, and how good the food tastes outside on a picnic table.    

Another Hoffman picnic

Sunday was a beautiful day here in Oregon, so  we took the family to Armitage again, on the McKenzie River in Eugene.  We were looking for a nice place that would not be crowded on a beautiful Sunday, and we scored!    Dave knocked himself out all morning slaving over a hot stove while Desi and I went to church.  We enjoyed his chicken and potato salad----especially me cause I didn't have to cook.  Just like eating out!

                                                              Barry enjoyed getting out of the nursing home for a few hours, and then he liked going back as well.    He enjoys Desirae and Roy, always making sure to feed Roy some of his chicken.    Here he is, in one of his Ducks shirts.     It was a nice time had by all.  Roy was so well behaved, he was able to hang out without the leash  most of the time.  Desirae and Barry had a cookie eating contest, and we are pretty sure Desi won.