Monday, September 27, 2010

What's for dinner Saturday night?

A Gluten-free choice for dinner:

In my City, Wauwatosa, we have a new Farmer's Market this summer. Organic produce, live music, fresh made drip coffee, crepes made while you watch, the very BEST apple cider I have ever tasted (I hate the taste of preservatives.) Its close to my house and we take our bikes there every Saturday morning.

Farmer's markets are my favorite places because I get to watch puppies and children and cyclists. Our market is right on a railroad track and we get to see the trains close up. It's on a beautiful scenic bike trail, and also alongside the Menomonee River, by a bluff filled with old trees that provide shade. A tiny red historical building that just was remodelled sells candy nearby, and our favorite restaurant, Noodles, is just over the bridge.

My friend Linda runs a business making naturally gluten-free Mexican food using grass-fed, hormone-free meats. She sells them at the Farmer's Market in pans, frozen, and so every Saturday all summer, this has been dinner. My favorite is the vegetarain ones with spinach and black beans.

Linda Mulholland is the owner of Cocina DeLeon. Linda's enchiladas and side dishes are based on her mother's recipes from Monterrey, Mexico. In creating her recipes, Linda took the flavors she loved growing up; lime, salsas, chiles, garlic, corn tortillas, and Mexican cheeses.

Cocina DeLeon
18900 W. Bluemound Rd., Suite 117
Brookfield, WI 53045

(414) 403-8650

Linda@cocinadeleongourmet.com

Anyway

Eleven Paradoxical Commandments
========================

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

The world is full of violence, injustice, starvation, disease, and environmental destruction.
Have faith anyway.

~ Kent M. Keith


Anyway, The Paradoxical Commandments
http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/

Rest In Peace

RIP Webster Rabbit

Webster, our family house rabbit, and for whom this blog is named, died last week.
He was very loved and will be dearly missed.

He was a six years old white rabbit with black pointy ears, black eyes, and a black cross on his back. We think he was a Himalayan breed of rabbit.
He was born at the Humane Society in Milwaukee, to a mother who was pregnant when she was brought there, and was one of 8 siblings.
He was litter box trained and lived in our house like a cat.
He was part of our family every day.

We had a funeral and he is buried in the back yard, with flowers over his grave.
Each of the boys wrote him a letter that is with him.
We lit candles and each shared good memories of Webster.

We remembered that he was the softest thing in the universe.
He always won a no-blinking contest with whoever tried.
He liked to play hide-and-seek with his blanket.
We would throw the blanket over him and say "Where's Webster?" and he would poke around under it, and just loved when we "found" him.
We remember that nobody could catch Webster if he didn't want to be caught. We learned that is why rabbits have such loose fur. When you grab them, the fur becomes almost "slippery" and they get away and you just have hands covered in a thin film of angora.

His job was family Greeter, and Watcher.
The job of being a prey animal is to Watch, or be dinner.
When he was naughty we called him "Hasenpfeffer." (The German word for Rabbit stew.)
Its a good thing he didn't know what that meant, but he knew when he was being "bad." Which wasn't that often.

He was a very good bunny.
He was silent except for sneezes. Every time he sneezed it was eleven times.
And for thumping. Remember the movie "Bambi?"
The rabbit in Bambi was named "Thumper" because he thumped to warn the other rabbits. Webster did this, too.

He started by thumping at the vacuume cleaner, but later on, faced it down and actually followed me around while vacuuming.

One time I was on a kick to learn everything I could about the practice of Fung Shui. Feng Shui is like a decorating style, but also has ceremonial aspects, one of which is the practice of "Space Clearing" which involves ringing a bell loudly to clear out old energy in your living space... we were ringing a large cast iron school bell in each room, and of course, couldn't really explain things to Webster. He got a lot of extra lettuce that day.

Webster liked to jump in our laps and watch TV with us. He also enjoyed going outside occasionally on a leash while we did gardening.

I grew special things in our small organic urban garden, just for Webster. His favorites were red leafy lettuce, parsley, cilantro, and carrot tops.

He always noticed when I missed giving him his special treat of five raisins per day. (Any more and he would get a tummy ache.)

His diet consisted of mainly organic thick rolled oats, rabbit pellets, fresh green things -- the greener the better, like broccoli, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and tons of organic hay.

We took Webster to the Animal Emergency Clinic in our area, but it was too late by the time we got there. The clinic was very helpful and examined him and helped us to deal with his sudden death.

I can't be sure, because the veterinarian didn't know, but I think he ate too much Kale the day he died. I had just been to the local Farmer's Market, and had bought a ton of organic Kale. He loved it and kept begging for more of it, but I think it didn't agree with him. Rabbits get sick so quickly that within a few hours of him acting just slightly funny, he had what looked like a seizure and he died.

There was no evidence that he had gotten into anything that he shouldn't of, since I searched the entire house for evidence of anything being left out where he could get into it. Our whole house is rabbit-proofed, but we keep the bedroom doors closed when he is out just to keep down the rabbit fur.

He was our first rabbit, and so perhaps we might do better caring for another one, but for now we are going to be rabbitless, and wait a respectful amount of time before considering another pet. I think it is good to miss the pet you had, so you can appreciate the place they filled in your life, and appreciate the benefit of any new pet's companionship even more.

I think a rabbit is a great pet. Before we got Webster, we checked out books at the library on caring for rabbits, and bought a book on the style of rabbit keeping called "HouseRabbits" at the Humane Society. We also learned from them tips on keeping a Rabbit. Webster came to us with an identification tag under his skin, and having been neutered/spayed (I can never remember which is which) he was better behaved from having been neutered, I think.

We went on the web and read up on house rabbits and their care before we brought him home. We bought all the things he needed a week before bringing him home, so he came to a house that was ready to become his home.

Our Humane Society gave us Webster at no cost, right after Easter, because they get a lot of rabbits after Easter, when families realize the time and expense of caring for a rabbit is more than they bargained for. It helps to research a pet before getting one so you don't interrupt each other's lives so much.

So for this reason, we are waiting some time to adopt again, and next time we are considering getting a bonded pair. Rabbits don't all get along well with each other, and they can fight and hurt one another if they don't. But a bonded pair can stay bonded for life, and they grieve terribly for each other if they are separated. So they are hard to adopt, because not everyone wants two. And the Humane Society tries to keep bonded pairs together.

The boys are older and busier and won't have the same amount of time to play with a pet, and so a pair can entertain each other.

These are great resources that we used before deciding to adopt our first rabbit.

House Rabbit Society
http://www.rabbit.org/

House Rabbit Handbook
How to Live with an Urban Rabbit
By Marinell Harriman

Update on what we are doing

Years ago, while searching for products to use for our GF/CF diet, I discovered that we have a place in Wisconsin, in the City of Grafton called Slow Poke's.

Slow Poke's is run by a mother who had a son with ADD and some other health and emotional issues.
She did a ton of research and changed the way the family ate.
This worked and her son is now off to college and his health is much better. She opened a store to provide information and products she had trouble finding when transitioning to this style of eating.

Its part of the Slow Foods movement, cooking from scratch, and going back to some traditional cooking and eating methods that went out of favor when people wanted the convenience of fast foods and using packaged foods. Our culture changed our diets when newer methods of preserving foods came into common usage, and even though they were improvements in food preservation and distribution, not all of them were improvements for our health. Certainly we had fewer germs, but we also lost some of our natural ability to harbor good organisms that are essential for our digestion and assimilation of nutrients from food.

The GF/CF diet which helps some people with Autism, is also part of this larger eating/cooking style.
We have been on the GF/CF diet for almost three years, and did the diet with my son about 10 years ago, but it was much more difficult for us to do back then, and so we didn't try again for a while. Now there are so many more GF/CF products available, and more support and community awareness, and that makes it so much easier this time. Who knew just trying to eat a certain way would be so difficult in life?

I have tried years ago to follow some of the additional guidelines recommended at Slow Poke's, but until my son got somewhat better it was very difficult to implement any changes, and too much change all at once was difficult. Plus, I had only so much energy myself, because I was also not feeling well at the time, and I have another child with a very different disability to care for also.

Well, we are all doing much better. I implemented the GF/CF diet for the whole family 3 years ago and within 2 weeks, my own long-standing health symptoms improved. This gave me more energy to work on refining things better for my Autistic son. My Autistic son is doing really well. His grades in high school are good, and he has friends.

So I went back to Slow Poke's, the store I mentioned above, and picked up the book that she recommends and designed her store around. I have been doing parts of it's recommendations already, but I am ready to try more of them.

The method is called Body Ecology, and it focuses on the intestinal flora and fauna that help us digest our food, along with other methods for maximizing digestion and assimilation of nutrients from food.

I decided to post what I am doing and putting updates on it. Is anyone else trying the Body Ecology method/life style? It fits well with GF/CF.

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v

So after talking with some people who have been doing this for a while, reading one of the books on it, and doing some on-line research, I have implemented these things:

* Rinsing, soaking, rinsing and soaking some more all seeds, beans and nuts before cooking/eating them.
There is a chemical that is released by any seed, nut that is meant to start growing after being planted and watered to keep fungus and from degrading too much before sprouting. This chemical can inhibit the enzymes we need to digest them.

This was the best suggestion! I have found that doing this has made all these things much easier to digest for myself, but I still can't get my son to eat beans. It certainly makes almonds much nicer to eat. I buy raw, organic almonds, and soak them in the refrigerator. You can slip off the brown "jackets" and end up with a creamy white nut that is easy to chew and tastes better than the plain raw almond.

* Individualizing for Blood Type
I was pleased to see that the Body Ecology diet recommends individualizing diet for each person, particularly based on blood type, which I have done. The hardest part of this change was getting our blood types, because Doctors don't seem to keep this information on file for anyone any more. However, it was worth doing, because I found some foods I had never tried before that were recommended for my blood type, that I now eat on a regular basis because I really like them, and I feel really good after eating them (In particular, for me this has been making black-eyed peas and turnip greens, yum! I have never tried them before.) Its like someone just knew what would give me extra energy and taste good. Because I follow the GF/CF restrictions already, it seems like its hard enough to figure out what to make for meals, and so being able to add these new foods was very helpful. (GF/CF is recommended for my blood type, so no conflict there.)

* Using Fermented and Active Culture Foods
In the past, I used acidolphus-bifidus supplements, and yogurt. But many yogurts have modified food starch added, which is often made with wheat starch. And there is casein in the dairy. I am told that one breed of cattle produce dairy that has much lower casein in it, but I haven't been able to go that far...as to finding the right cows!

* Raw Dairy
Our state is currently battling out whether to allow raw milk to be sold to consumers. The Body Ecology diet recommends raw milk products and particularly cultured products and butter made from raw milk. This is tricky to do, because if you go to a farmer in our state, (we are a big dairy producing state) you have to ask for "milk for my pet" or give some such excuse. I know of an elderly woman in my area who lost her son to a disease he got from drinking raw milk, so I know there is some risk involved. You have to know the farmer and that the cows and milk are being handled properly.

So I have tried various forms of Kefir that are available at our local co-op, and a home-made version made at Slow Poke's. I don't like the artificial sweetener they use in some of them. I like the version made from coconut milk the best so far. The raw milk ones taste the best, but probably because of all the milk fat. I noticed I gained a pound after drinking a lot of this, so I am going to cut back a little. My son likes the Kefir strawberry flavour.

Once I find a type of Kefir I like the best, I am going to try making it myself with a starter available from Body Ecology.

* Food Combining
I started doing food-combining, but this has been tricky to implement for the whole family, because right now I make one son's lunch and he loves this gluten-free bread for sandwiches (made by "Against The Grain -- The Gluten-Free Gourmet." Against the Grain's recipe is really excellent, but has a small amount of dairy.) Most sandwiches combine a starch with a protein, which is not recommended.

* Sea Vegetables
Because I was a vegan macrobiotic for a year a long time ago (before kids), I learned to use sea vegetables in cooking and so I have already been doing that, but I have increased my use again. I am going to try using them as snacks sometimes.

* Sauerkraut
I have been reading about how to make living sauerkraut, or fermented vegetables, but I just can't picture it. I have a reluctance to let anything ferment, probably my ultra-clean upbringing. (My Mother could have been Martha Stewart.) Has anyone else tried to make sauerkraut?

* 80/20
This one is tougher if you have a really tasty meal in front of you. The idea is to stop eating after you are 80% full, leaving 20% of your "room" for digestion. It helps to wait 20 minutes before even thinking about getting seconds, because that's how long it takes for the hormone that signals your brain that you are full to get to your brain.

80/20 also refers to having about 80% of your plate be vegetables, and 20% proteins.

* Cooking some things and not others
Some vegetables (and even meats, like Sushi) are best eaten raw, particularly in the summer when they are fresh and in-season. Others are best eaten cooked because they have things in them that need to be neutralized. For instance, I need to always cook cauliflower because it can interfere with my thyroid, and I am already on thyroid medication for an underactive thyroid. Fermentation helps this, too. For one thing, as far as I know, all forms of non-fermented soy suppresses thyroid function. I'm still trying to memorize the lists of foods to eat raw versus cooked.

None of these changes is as dramatic as the change to GF/CF was. The results are pretty good. I find that cooking this way so far is helping me, and my kids are still getting used to it, but haven't complained about anything so far.

Slow Poke's Local Food, Grafton, WI
http://www.slowpokeslocalfood.com/

Body Ecology Diet
http://www.bodyecology.com/

Temple Grandin Movie

Check out the movie about Dr. Temple Grandin on HBO, which is now out on DVD with commentary from Dr. Grandin.

Dr. Grandin is a successful author, designer, speaker, and advocate for the humane treatment of animals. She also has Autism.

The movie swept the Emmys.

Its worth seeing if you know anyone with Autism and want to know more about how it feels to be on the Autism spectrum.

It's also are very well made film that is fascinating to watch.

Gluten Free Living Magazine

Another great resource for GF/CF living! Nice glossy photos, recipes and helps me keep motivated.

A new magazine I just got and has some really great articles, such as:
"Children with Autism; more are following a GFCF diet."
"Safe Sips - Beverages to Quench Your Thirst"
"Tricky Triangle - Gluten Intolerance, Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac Disease"

"Gluten-Free Living Magazine; Leading the way to a happy, healthy, Gluten-Free life."

www.glutenfreeliving.com

I particularly liked the article on the tricky triangle. I think that each person in our family is different with regard to how our problems with gluten could be diagnosed.