Thursday, April 29, 2010

RECIPE: gfcfsf lasagna

I love lasagna, so when my allergies began to rear their ugly head I was sad that I would not be able to eat lasagna. Well, now I can! I got some Daiya Vegan Cheese Alternative and made up a recipe for it. Note: the abbreviations stand for gluten free, casein free, soy free, in case you were wondering.

GFCFSF Lasagna

1 12oz pkg of Tinkyada Brown Rice Lasagna
1 12oz can of tomato paste
20oz of water
1 lb of lean ground beef, browned
1/2 lb of sausage, browned(I buy some from a local farm,watch ingredients)
Italian seasonings(I like Mrs. Dash blends, also watch ingredients)
Sea Salt
4 eggs or egg replacer equivalent
1 1/2 cups of Daiya vegan cheese alternative, divided

Preheat oven to 375*F. Boil lasagna until flexible, but still firm. Meanwhile, mix tomato paste and water in sauce pan until smooth, add in seasonings and salt, then add meat and simmer. Mix eggs or egg replacer and 2/3 of the cheese in a bowl, add some seasonings. In a large casserole or cake pan, layer tomato mixture, noodles, egg mixture, repeat. Bake for 35 minutes, then add remaining cheese and bake 10 more minutes.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Random stuff

My daddy has been deployed to Afghanistan for a year and he is on his way home. I can't wait to see him. Please pray for his safety in travel. May the hand of the Lord keep him safe and give him the strength to get through the waiting game.

My health is beginning to improve. I stopped taking Synthroid which was making me far worse with scary side effects like heart palpitations, severe depression, shortness of breath and exercise intolerance. I started taking Armour thyroid almost 2 months ago and I am on a very small dose and probably need to adjust my dose upward when I see the doc on May 13, but I am feeling much better. I am still having hair loss, no appetite, dry skin and hair, constipation and fatigue, but all of these are much less than they were and I am losing weight with little effort, yay! I am definitely better on the Armour than I was on Synthroid. I will never take that junk again. I do think that my adrenal glands are probably a little worn out from my high stress life, so I ordered a saliva test to find out how they are doing. If they are worn out I can take supplements to help them out. I am taking lots of supplements already because apparently having gluten intolerance has depleted my body of some essential nutrients as indicated by my lab results. I have been gluten free for 8 months now and it has made a HUGE difference. No gluten for me forever! That stuff is evil when you are intolerant or have celiac disease. For the record I do not know if I have celiac or some other form of gluten intolerance because I refuse to go back on gluten to run the tests for celiac disease. It just ain't worth it. The pain, the bathroom dwelling, the inability to go anywhere for fear of not making it to the bathroom in time, the fatigue, and the severe arthritic pain, all this really does a number on your life.

I am getting pretty good at cooking gluten free, milk free and soy free. We also avoid the things everyone should avoid like hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and nitrates. These things are all really bad for you and should be severely limited in all people's diets. I can make just about anything with safe ingredients and though they don't all taste exactly like the original, many are so similar the difference is not detected by those who don't know and others are just good in their own right.

In addition to avoiding all of those things, I have decided to lower my carb intake to 100g per day. The average person consumes around 300g per day, which is okay for some, but disastrous for others. This typical American diet can cause some people to become metabolically unstable, leading to wild blood sugar fluctuations and eventually diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family, I am overweight, my cholesterol is out of whack because of my thyroid, so I wanted to help control my metabolic responses a bit better. I do not wish to do Atkins diet or the like because I feel they are too restrictive and are not safe long term because of the ketosis that occurs. I simply want to help control blood sugars, a eat a clean, fresh, whole foods diet. Since I am already gluten free it really isn't that hard to limit carbs. I just focus on the meats, veggies and high fiber fruits, almond milk, nuts and avoid rice and potatoes. I also take supplements to fill in the gaps, it's really no biggie. Until I go out to eat that is, it is much harder to eat gluten, milk and soy free and low carb, but it can be done. Fresh green salads with eggs or meats are a great out to eat option as well as grilled meats and steamed veggies. Only drink water, all natural Crystal Light, or almond milk. I actually consume way less than 100g per day most days, but I allow that much so that I don't feel deprived, plus I also allow one day a week to cheat. I have been doing this for 3 1/2 weeks and now I have lost 9 lbs so far. Not bad if I do say so myself. I only need to lose about 15 more pounds then I can add in a few more carbs to level out my weight.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Collin Raye's granddaughter passed away

http://www.theboot.com/2010/04/06/collin-raye-granddaughter/

I posted a while back about Collin Raye writing a song about his granddaughter who was suffering with an undiagnosed neurological disorder. She has now gone on to be with the Lord.