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Dear Blog,


...I forgot what I was going to say.


Can you hold this for me, I'll be right back.

Learning HTML, so far so good :)

Tonight I finished the Band of Brothers Series. It was amazing. I find myself becoming more and more open to films and shows that involve war. I would have never watched them before, but now, after watching Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, and playing a lot of Call of Duty, it seems to have become a growing interest.

I think my favorite segment was the one that follow the medic, Doc Roe. It was astonishing to see the conditions these men worked under and the toll it can take to be so helpful and helpless at the same time. The effects were great, they even grossed me out a bit which is pretty hard to do. I believe the actors contributed to that. Outstanding performances by all!

I am very excited to get started on Generation Kill as well as The Pacific.

Here is an updated list of my shows:


Completed Series:
-Deadwood*<3
-Band of Brothers*
-Friends*
-Seinfeld
-Arrested Development*
-The L Word
-Nip/Tuck
-NYPD Blue*
-The Unit*
-The Wire*
-Sex and the City*

Current Shows: 
-90210 
-Accidentally On Purpose
-Americas Next Top Model
-Big Love
-Breaking Bad
-Cougar Town
-Curb Your Enthusiasm
-Damages
-Dexter*
-Glee*
-The Good Wife
-Grey's Anatomy*
-How I Met Your Mother
-Melrose Place
-Modern Family*
-My Boys
-The Office*
-The Pacific
-Parenthood
-Private Practice*
-Raising the Bar
-Rescue Me
-True Blood*
-V
-Weeds

I Gave Up:
-24 (Season 7)
-30 Rock (Season 3)
-CSI (Season 8)
-Entourage (Season 3)
-Family Guy (Season 5)
-Flight of The Conchords (Season 2)
-House (Season 5)
-Mad Men (Season 2)
-South Park (Season 12)
-Ugly Betty (Season 3)

New Shows and Stuff I Plan To Check Out:
-Happy Town
-Generation Kill
-Luck
-Justified

We were great together...on paper

Since finding out all of my allergies in September, it has been very difficult for me to do what I love to do, which is cook and bake. The drastic change in my diet helped one thing only- stomach pains and vomiting. I still have them once in a while if I eat something I know I shouldnt. But otherwise I have been vomit free. Unfortunately my rashes, constant sneezing, itchy/watery eyes and headaches are still with me. I know that a lot of it is due to the environmental allergies, which I get shots for weekly; however, I cant help but feel like I am continuing to develop food allergies.

I started reading some other blogs about food allergies in order to try new recipes and better understand the ingredients I have been using. Then I saw that most of these blogger are on a rotation diet. Why did my doctor never mention this? I would like to thank the bloggers that continue to post helpful information and recipes. Most of these bloggers are mothers that have had to adjust due to their children's food allergies. I could not imagine how much more difficult this experience would have been if I had to worry about a child's well being. Taking only myself into consideration (as I often do...) has been a lot easier.

Today I started my rotation diet in hopes that I well start to feel better. I also feel that keeping a routine will well eventually make my food choices second nature. I dont really think about most of the foods I am missing out on anymore, this could help take that a step further. I also dont have to worry about Carey because he will try anything.

A rotation diet involves eating the foods that you are not allergic to only once every 4 days. Everything that you eat belongs to a family, even if it's only a family of one. You cannot consume a something from the same family 2 days in a row, but you can have it every other day as long as it is not the same item.

Last week I went through the food families and wrote down the foods that I CAN eat on multi-coloured cue cards:

It was the middle of the week so I decided to wait and start it on a Monday. So today I organized them over a 5 day period. I know you only need to do 4 days but I have a slower digestive system so I didnt want to repeat many of the same foods on the 5th day.

Blue: Fruits and Vegetables
White: Grains/Flours/Starches
Red: Proteins
Yellow: Oils/Spices/Other...

It took me 2 hours but I managed:



I took this picture as an example, but I did some re-arranging afterward. By doing it this way, I was able to only use a card once, so I was never repeating that same food. The food has the food family written in the bottom corner. This allowed me to keep track and make sure that the same family was only appearing every other day.

Dont judge my small breakfasts. That didnt change much cause I usually just eat fruit. As for dinners, it says to try and keep it simple at first, so nothing fancy this week. Also, I dont really eat lunch but I will snack. I didnt want to change that too much so somedays I will have a lunch type food but most I will just snack.

Meal Plan:

MONDAY

Breakfast: 
(Smoothie)
Raspberries
Mango
Orange Juice

Lunch/Snack:
Orange
Baby Carrots
Chocolate Soy Milk

Dinner:
Salmon prepared with Garlic, Lemon, Parsley, Earth Balance Butter.
Rice with Braggs Soy Liquid
Carrots
Green and Yellow Beans

Families Present:
Berry
Citrus
Cashew
Grain
Salmon
Legume
Parsley
Lily

TUESDAY
Breakfast:
Honeydew Melon

Lunch/Snack:
Butternut Squash Soup
Honeydew Melon

Dinner:
Prime Rib seasoned with Peppercorns
Sweet Potato Fries

Families Present:
Melon/Gourd
Red Meat- not really a family but I rarely eat it so it shouldn't be a problem
Morning Glory
Peppercorns


WEDNESDAY
Breakfast:
Pears <3

Lunch/Snack: (went a little complex with this one)
(Cookies)
Spelt
Vegan-Corn Free Chocolate Chips
Brown Cane Sugar
Agave
Coconut
Cinnamon

Dinner:
Spelt Pasta
Basil Pesto
Chicken
Onion

Families Present:
Apple
Chocolate
Grain
Pheasant
Lily
Palm
Agave
Laurel
Mint

THURSDAY
Breakfast:
Grapefruit

Lunch/Snack:
(Cranberry Muffins)- making a dozen and freezing them
Quinoa Flour
Tapioca Startch
Walnuts
Walnut Oil
Honey
Cranberries
Citrus

Dinner:
Pork
Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges and Almonds

Families Present:
Citrus
Heath
Walnut
Beet
Spurge
Swine
Plum

FRIDAY
Breakfast:
(Smoothie)
Raspberries
Banana
Flaxseeds

Lunch/Snack:
Apples with Peanut Butter

Dinner:
Sliced Turkey on toasted Rye/Flax Bread
Cucumber Salad

Families Present:
Berry
Banana
Flax
Grain
Turkey
Melon/Gourd

SATURDAY (I am working till 10 pm so lunch/dinner it has to be quick and microwaveable)
Breakfast:
Koala Crisp Cereal - puffed rice and cocoa
Rice milk

Lunch/Snack:
Mango
Carrots
Chocolate Soy Milk

Dinner:
Rice with Soy Liquid
Carrots
Green and Yellow Beans

Families Present:
Rice
Cocoa
Cashew
Parsley
Legume

SUNDAY (working till 7pm so need something easy when I get home)
Breakfast:
Oranges
Orange Juice

Lunch/Snack:
(Cookies)
Spelt
Vegan-Corn Free Chocolate Chips
Brown Cane Sugar
Agave
Coconut

Dinner:
Butternut Squash Soup

Families Present:
Citrus
Grain
Chocolate
Palm
Agave
Laurel
Mint
Melon/Gourd
Plum

--------

From this I made my grocery list. I purchased my fruits and vegetables in Kensington Market at the stand on the corner across the street (south) from Fresh Mart.

 

Fruits and Vegetables, which I eat a lot of and have to purchase every week, can be very expensive. I used to shop at sobey's in St. Catharines and there is no way I could get this much for this cost.

1 bag of Spinach
1 bag of baby Carrots
1 Large Honeydew Melon
3 Large Oranges
3 Grapefruits
3 Plums
3 Mangoes
3 Pears
2 Giant Cucumbers
2 Large Apples
= $22.00

Monday is almost over and it went pretty well. Tomorrow I am baking and freezing my cookies and muffins- The recipes for these have been tweaked since I posted them.

Time Machine Broken, Plan B Failed...

Jersey Milk and Paper Mache Mountains...

I'd like to thank the Academy...

My alarm didn't go off...sigh.

Since I was already baking muffins, I figured I might as well keep going.

Chocolate Chip Spelt Squares

1 Cup Earth Balance Butter

1 1/2 Cups Cane Sugar (you can also use splenda)

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoons Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Spelt Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

3 Cups Spelt Flakes

1 Cup chopped Almonds (optional)

1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips ( I use cocoa camino or the vegan corn free ones I found at the market)

1 Cup Flaked Coconut (I didnt have any which is why my batter was a little more moist than usual)

--

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir into moist batter mixing well. Stir in spelt flakes, chocolate chips, almonds and coconut.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an lightly greased and floured cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. If yours have expanded together to form a sheet of cookie (like mine) cut into squares and remove from sheet.

---

Notes:

My batter was very moist this time round so when I cut my cookies into bars they crumbled quite a bit when I removed them. I used 2 separate sheets, one was much deeper and those squares came apart without crumbling.

You will have to experiment.

I was going to bake some bread tonight but then I thought who wants crappy spelt bread when they could have muffins instead!


Cranberry Almond Muffins Tops

2 Cups Quinoa Flour

2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Powder (or Tapioca Starch)

1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Almonds (you can also use walnuts or pecans) (optional)

1 Cup Cranberries-Chopped (you can use dried cranberries at 2/3 a Cup but since I cannot have dried fruit I used frozen cranberries that I thawed and then washed with warm water)

1/2 Warm Water

1/2 Cup thawed Orange Juice Concentrate (you can also use pineapple if you are not allergic)

Grated peel of 1 orange (optional)

1/8 Cup Coconut Oil

1/8 Cup Olive Oil (you can use 1/4 cup of walnut oil instead of these 2 oils)

1/4 Agave Nector (honey can be used instead)

--
 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line it with paper cups.

Sift together flour, arrowroot(or tapicoa starch), baking soda and salt and whisk together. Add nuts if using.

In a separate bowl,  combine the cranberries, water, juice, orange peel (if using), oil and agave (or honey). Pour into the flour mixture and mix until  combined but be careful not to over mix.

Spoon into muffin cups until they are almost full. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until firm. Check center with a cake tester. Remove from oven and let stand in the pan for 5 minutes before removing. Remove from tin and let cool completely.

--

Notes:

You can use any substitutes you like. I made mine particular to my allergies.

These muffins have difficulty rising which is why I call them muffin tops. Next time I will stir in some baking soda and lemon juice once all the other ingredients have been mixed. I have done this with other muffins to help them rise but this time I forgot.

Next time I will add an addition 1/2 cup of cranberries because I really like them and felt there just weren't enough.

I

Have

Nothing 

Else

To

Say...

I really liked the 6 Word Memoirs books. They make me feel things.

In an attempt to force a blog daily, I will write a 6 word reflection of my day.

I'm going to go clean my bathroom now.

Since I dont have a job right now I was able to finish some of the sculptures I started.

Inspired by tremors, this is Betty eating Bacon...Kevin Bacon...

Inspired by Ghoulies, this is Kitty... I dropped him and one of his fingers broke :( I can't find it so now he's deformed. But he is still beautiful.



<3<3<3

I was reading an article that Carey sent me that chronicles a day in the life of Roger Ebert. It was a very well written piece, saddening in so many ways, but uplifting in far more. There were times where I laughed at what I was reading and for a moment after I felt horrible for doing so. I realize now that I was laughing with him, as he is laughing too.

It is remarkable that a person could live through such trauma, a trauma that at times seems not worth living, and yet feel so enlightened with every passing day. It is not as though his trauma has ended and he is grateful, holding a new appreciation for life- it continues daily with his limitations, his pain, his own reflection and worst of all the pity and helpless stares from others. What has limited him in so many ways has inspired him to grow in others. It has reshaped him and allowed him to become more than what he was. For most it is a will to live. For Ebert it is a spirit that transcends will, driven by the passions, desires and joys we are able to experience over a lifetime. 

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."- Roger Ebert


The article, written by Chris Jones for Esquire can be found here:
http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310