A Life of Sugar and Spice

Gluten Free, Casein Free Tuna Noodle Casserole

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:45:57 PST

Fall is the time for casseroles! They get a bad rap as unhealthy but if you do it right, casseroles can be a delicious and healthy meal. When you use a can of cream of whatever soup as your casserole sauce, you definitely are loading up on sodium, fat and calories. Making the sauce yourself is just as easy as cracking open a can and is a much better option. Tonight I was in the mood for tuna noodle casserole. Growing up it was a favorite, but my Mom would make one of those boxed mixes where you just add the can of tuna. Have you ever read one of those ingredients labels??? YUCK!! I decided to wing it and go as close to nature as possible and this came out absolutely delicious. The only change I would make next time is that I didn't put enough milk in so it was a little dry.

This makes a small casserole and divided into four servings it comes in under 300 calories each. Add a big serving of veggies like broccoli and you've got a great dinner. Here's the recipe:

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Gluten & Casein Free

Ingredients

1 Tbs Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1 Tbs Flour Mix (Beth's All Purpose)
1/4 C Almond Breeze Unsweetened Milk (This was not enough, try at least 1/2 C)
3 oz Fresh Mushrooms
2 Carrots chopped
2 Celery Stalks chopped
1/3 C Frozen Peas & Pearl Onions
1 Can Solid White Tuna
10 Glutino Plain Crackers (crushed for topping)
4 oz Dry GF Pasta (I use Tinkyada)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil the pasta as directed on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, melt Earth Balance in a skillet over medium heat.
Add carrots, celery and mushrooms and saute for a few minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Add flour and milk and simmer until sauce thickens but not too thick, 2 or 3 minutes
Add peas & onions
Drain tuna and add to skillet, cook all together for a couple minutes.

When pasta is done, drain and add to casserole dish
Add vegetable/tuna/milk mixture and stir to combine
Crush crackers and sprinkle over top of casserole

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes

Enjoy!!

Roadtrip

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:17:00 PST

My cousin and I took a drive down to Philly this weekend for our friend's wedding. It was a great weekend and the wedding was beautiful. We stopped on the way down at this little diner in Connecticut, the sign said it was a "vegetarian enclave". It was pretty much a regular diner though, but they did have a couple of GF options:

But I had this:

It was great.

I got that new camera last Christmas, I did my research, I read reviews, I thought I was getting a good one... and I hate it. I am so disappointed. I needed a P&S camera that could handle a high ISO without a lot of noise. This camera gives me a ton of noise. I can't be lugging around my DSLR all the time! So frustrating. Oh well. The big issue of the weekend was realizing how much weight I've gained. I had already started cutting back last week but now I'm going hardcore. I've got to take off these extra lbs! Here I am with the bride and my cuz:

ETA: The Shoreline Diner is in Guilford, CT visit their website and no, I did not bring GF bread, this sandwich is not GF. While I am trying to cut down on how much grains, especially GF grains, I eat in general, I am not totally gluten free.

Yoga.

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:18:58 PST

I finally started yoga today. I signed up with yogadownload.com and downloaded a free 20 min beginners session. Is it weird that I got a little choked up at the closing Namaste? No, I'm not kidding... I have tried yoga a bunch of times but always got discouraged because it was tough and I'd give up. I realize now that I was jumping the gun, going to yoga classes that were full of experienced people and watching dvd's for people that know what they're doing. So I started with Gentle Hatha Yoga #1 which is all basic poses and slow moving and totally awesome. Aside from one or two classes I've taken at the Y, I don't think I've ever finished a full session so to do this and finish it felt great. Maybe that's where the emotions came from.

I really like the audio session, I tend to be a visual learner so I thought it would be tough, but you download a pdf pose guide for the workout so if you get confused you just glance at that and it's so helpful. I actually think I like it better that way so I can focus on my body rather than keeping my eyes glued to a tv. I'm encouraged to keep going. I am going to keep doing the beginner session until I've really mastered it. I have the most trouble with the breathing so I need to focus on that.

Aside from that, there are some sad things going on around here so if you're the spiritual type, please say a prayer for those in need. A friend passed away the other day and another friend's sister had her adopted child taken away by the birth mother. It's a horrible, terrible thing and I am devastated for her and her family.

You Are What You Eat

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:11:17 PST

I'm watching this BBC show called You Are What You Eat about this lady that helps people clean up their diets and get healthy. There was this lady that had to run to the bathroom upwards of 10 times per day and with some dietary modification she got significantly better. So true, so true! I love it. If you eat crap, then you are crap! hehehe.

I've been doing very well, Halloween was a bust.. ok well the three weeks before Halloween were rough... but now I'm getting better. This is the hardest time of year to not go crazy with chocolate and other delicious treats. Friday I started counting calories again. I can count really high! Pfft.

I have a wedding to go to next weekend and I had to buy a larger size dress. I feel horrible. I really want to get back into the dating scene but I honestly am just not happy with myself and you can't meet someone new when you're not happy with yourself! I feel physically great so now is the time to hit the gym and whip myself back into shape! How many times have I typed these same sentences....? Oy.

Insert whitty title :here:

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:01:54 PDT

I can't think of anything good for the title of this post! It's a quick one because I am running out to a meeting. I just wanted to say that day two of the gluten free, dairy free, low carb diet is awesome. Flare - GONE. Feeling great and so happy about it. I did break down and have a Magner's last night at the concert that I went to but I regretted it. Not physically, just wasn't feeling like having a drink last night, did anyway, and just shouldn't have. Oh well. The conert was really fun though, it's Ryan Gosling (of The Notebook fame, ::sigh::) and his friend and they created this band called Dead Man's Bones and they sing scary Halloweeny type songs with childrens' choirs. It sounds strange but it's awesome. This video is one of the songs that they sung last night. There was a sign at the venue that said absolutely NO photography or video at the show but I managed to snap one good pic of Ryan. I won't post it here though because I'm afraid they'll come after me! But check out the video anyway. We had a great time!

Making progress.

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:09:19 PDT

No more whining and complaining about how much I love cake. I just re-read this article about a man that has been through hell because of this disease and it made me realize how lucky I am to be mostly healthy right now. It also made me realize that if I don't make these changes to my diet now, I just might end up living like that man and no piece of cake or cheeseburger is worth the pain and suffering I go through that will only get worse.

I've only been blogging again for a short time but in that time I've received some awesome advice and support and I am so thankful for that! I really feel ready to tackle this and make the changes. No gluten, no dairy, low carbs. I'm avoiding artificial everything, eating as close to nature as possible. I feel better already.

Tonight Sally and I are going to see Ryan Gosling!!!!!!! He's got this band and he sings with kids' choirs... crazy, but so exciting.

Edited to add: I've had several people ask me if I practice yoga as it's an excellent way to exercise, de-stress, and is also great for the digestive system. I would like to get into yoga but haven't yet for several reasons, lack of funds to pay for a class, lack of space to do it at home etc. But I'm going to look into it again. Thanks!!

One down, hopefully two to go!

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:15:19 PDT

I finally got home from my interview... phew! I feel good about it and am hoping to hear back soon about a 2nd interview. If I do get a second interview, I have to give a 10-15 minute presentation about a healthcare topic.... ummmm... seriously?? I just have no idea what I could possibly talk about....... HA! So I'm kind of excited actually for the second interview and will start working on my presentation right away.

I've been making a tiny bit of progress with my diet. Yesterday I was out and about and needed some lunch and I thought I might stop at this little place in Quincy center that I had heard serves gluten free bread. Well, I hate to say I wasn't surprised about this but, I got to the door and it was closed. Out of business. (Eatin' Healthy, Liz) I was bummed! The owner was the wife of a guy that I used to train at the gym and he had given me a gift certificate a couple of years ago and I never got around to using it. It's a tough spot to have a restaurant in Quincy, there's no parking and not a lot of foot traffic, which is why I wasn't all that surprised that it was closed. There are just so many other options in Q center that are convenient to parking.

Well, I don't have much else for today. Happy Tuesday!

I've got flare!

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:29:26 PDT

I wish it were the good kind of flare... my stomach is revolting. I'm hoping it's just anxiety over the fact that I have my first interview in 10 years tomorrow. Or it could be the yogurt I ate today in an attempt to get more probiotics into my diet. Yup, still can't tolerate ANY dairy whatsoever. So I bought some acidophilus (sp?) pills today that I'll start taking tomorrow instead. I think additionally I'm having issues because I started taking a multivitamin with iron last week and it constipated me, so I stopped.. and now I'm becoming unconstipated..... um yeah. Sorry folks, this IS a blog about Crohn's afterall ;-)

Anyway, I'm definitely starting to make the changes to my diet that I need to make. Probiotics - check, gluten free - working on it, dairy free - most definitely after today! It's going to be a baby steps process. The dairy first, that's the easiest and fastest and the one thing I've been trying to do all a long. The gluten is the next step, which shouldn't be too hard. I don't really have much gluteny food in the house anyway. The probiotics start tomorrow. Once I am completely gluten and dairy free I will start cutting back on carbs/starchy foods and sugars. The sugar thing though is something I'm already conscious of.

Ok, well that's enough for now. I need to get to bed. I am not feeling good at all. :(

My head is spinning.

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:24:37 PDT

I spent most of the weekend reading about Crohn's disease and organisms and antibodies and the specific carb diet (again?!?!) and life without bread and I've been emailing back and forth with AJ and he's just about rocked my world. I started getting sick 15 years ago, progressively getting worse until the first ER visit back in the fall of 07, followed by 2 more in 08, and finally a Crohn's diagnosis. I started the gluten free journey in 06 when I thought I might have Celiac. In the last few months, after feeling better on prescription drugs, I gave up caring about my diet anymore. I just wanted my life to go back to normal, and for the most part, it did. But... I still don't have the same energy that I used to. I rarely workout anymore. I run out of breath just walking up a flight of stairs. My hips still often ache and I break out in cystic acne after eating too much sugar (I think it's sugar, still unsure). I'm still using steroids as the excuse for why I've gained so much weight... even though I've been off of them for over a year.

So where's my head at now? Well, my body is saying to clean up my diet. My head says "UGHHHHHH". Going gluten free is easy, that's not the issue. It's cutting way back on starch, because this is the Crohn's problem, not Celiac. My mom used to say that she hoped I didn't have Celiac because it would be so difficult to maintain a gluten free lifestyle. HA! I say now. Oh to just be a Celiac! To cut out gluten and be fine and not have to worry about sugars and dairy and whatever else makes me gassy, crampy, poopy, not poopy, weak, tired, achy... my goodness. I know there are many of you out there that know what I mean and I'm not by ANY means trying to make light of having Celiac disease. Absolutely not at all. I'm just whining because I just feel like whining. If I could just go out and buy some Kinnikinnick donuts well that would be just fine, but I can't. Believe me, I stood at the freezer case this evening wishing I could.

I am the first person to proclaim to be an advocate for healing through diet, and I'm also the first to cheat on said diet. I'm tired, literally and figuratively. I do want to heal myself, not just suppress my symptoms with drugs. It's just that every time I get to this point, where I'm ready to do it, I sit here and think.... what the heck will I eat???? Eggs. It's all I ever eat. Steak and chicken and fish and pork. Some fruit, veggies, a little rice, potatoes. Eating like a caveman perhaps. It's healthy, and it just might be the thing that puts my CD into remission. And maybe I'll get back to the gym. And maybe I'll lose this weight. It's mind over matter here and since I'm not working, I have plenty of time to plan out my meals. Now's the time to just do it. I'm glad I have this place to talk it out and get support. Thanks to you all that have stuck around :)

Going Gluten Free: Take #3,472

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:44:59 PDT

Well, I don't know how many of my regular readers are still reading after my little hiatus, but if you've been hanging out with me for a while, you'll understand why this post is so important to me. I took a little break, but then started blogging again last week when I wanted to share my delicious pork and potato/apple/onion dinner with you. I went to see the doc, found out my B12 level was bottoming out, and it made me realize that although I feel better, I am probably not actually healing on the inside. If anything, my insides are silently getting worse. Yes I still have grumbles and groans and cramps and gas and pains and diarrhea and constipation, just to a MUCH lesser degree, thank you pharmaceuticals. But is that really a smart way to live? Eating whatever I want knowing that it's causing my insides to attach themselves?

I've been gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free at different times. I've considered the SCD on more than one occasion. I've seen the benefits of my efforts, and I've seen my body break down literally to the point of losing consciousness when I am not taking proper care. Numerous times. I don't ever want to see the insides of the emergency room ever again.

So why am I writing this out of the blue again? Are you thinking to yourself... oh boy, here she goes again! ? Well let me explain. Last night I received an email from a man named AJ. He's a biochemist that also happens to have Crohn's disease. I'm not going to get into all the details of the conversation we've been having, but just tell you that everything he says confirms all of the research I've done myself. He has scientific proof that Crohn's disease is directly related to diet. I can't get into all the scientific terms becaues I don't fully understand them myself, and I know I'll botch it all up, but the bottom line is that what I've always known to be true, is actually true. Gluten, dairy, sugar..... the common denominator = starch. It's not necessarily the gluten protein, it's the starch in gluten grains, it's also sugars, fructose, lactose, sucrose, sorbitol, malitol... makes complete sense now. The problem I have with sugars are an autoimmune response, not the typical hydrogen response in someone with lactose or fructose intolerance, hence the reason my tests came back negative.

I was blown away by what AJ had to say and we are still having the conversation. He's trying to get his book pulished so once I have more info on this I'll most definitely share it with you. Especially my Crohn's readers.

So now what? He recommends gluten free, low carb, and add probiotics. I of course will also be dairy free. Will I do it? I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out! I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment but now's the best time to do it. I have all the time in the world to make it work. We'll see what happens next.

I went shopping today and didn't yawn or need to sit down once....

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:29:15 PDT

I've only taken two doses of B12.. but seriously, I haven't had this much energy in years. And on top of that it's a particular time that I usually have even less energy, but nope, I feel just fine. Lately I haven't been able to even go shopping, I get fatigued, winded and dizzy so fast. Today I went outlet shopping and managed to traipse through 4 stores and buy an enormous amount of stuff (oops!) without so much as a yawn. I felt fine the whole time! It's amazing, in just two days! I'm so happy.

Dinner with the girls was a lot of fun, sorry I forgot to take my camera with me so no photos. But everyone enjoyed their dinner and no one got sick, so yay for that! The lettuce wraps were so good just as I had heard, I would order them as my meal next time, yum!!! We shared them as an appetizer, I had the lemon chicken for dinner. As Asian food goes, this is pretty Americanized, which is funny because the location that we went to is right on the outskirts of Chinatown. I love authentic Asian food so I was not all that impressed in that aspect, but I understand that it's next to impossible for GF people to go to an authentic chinese restaurant and survive. I just love eating with chopsticks, honestly.

Ok I'm off to check out the damage... I might not have enough money left over to buy much for groceries this week, but at least I will look cute :)

Gluten Free Girls Night Out!

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:23:26 PDT

Tonight I'm heading out for dinner with Sally, Allie and a new friend, Lisa. I'm pretty excited that we're hitting up P.F. Chang's because I have never been there. I just got my hair cut too so that's exciting. It looks good, but it's a safe choice for me. I have really long hair and I was going to cut it very very short, like chin length. But as soon as I sat in the chair she says "you have very pretty hair" and it was all over. I couldn't do it. So I got about 4 inches cut off and now it rests just below my shoulders. I like it though.

Yesterday I went to see The Doc and he informed me that my B-12 level is getting dangerously low. The range for normal is 200-900 and my number is 294 and dropping. Because B-12 is absorbed in the TI (terminal ileum), my crohn's disease is causing me to not absorb it. He suggested trying supplements first and if that doesn't work I'll have to get injections. Of course I came home and immediately googled it... turns out this is common for Crohn's patients, and I will have to supplement forever. If it turns out I need shots, I will have to have shots FOREVER. Awesome! But the upside is that the low levels of B-12 could be causing my terrible fatigue problems so I hope the supplement works. And the cool thing is, they are disolvable little tablets that taste like kids chewable vitamins. I really hope I see an increase in energy soon, I haven't been exercising and I really need to! I hate feeling weak and tired all the time. I can barely walk up stairs anymore without getting really winded. I took one tablet today and I feel good, I'm sure it won't help overnight but hopefully sooner rather than later!

Well, I am off to dinner! I'll bring my camera....

:)

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:26:25 PDT

Today I baked an apple pie, and right now I have chicken cacciatore simmering on the stove. When my roommate gets home we will eat dinner and then head over to our friend's (my cousin) house for an Arbonne spa party! I can't buy anything since I'm broke but it will be fun to have a girls night. I haven't had one in a long time. I can't wait to dive in to that pie! I'm bringing it to the party. I will post photos tomorrow. I spent the afternoon researching cookie recipes. I'm going to make the favors for my sister's baby shower and they are going to be baby shape cutout cookies with icing. I am thinking that each little gift bag will have 3 cookies, one chocolate shortbread, one gingerbread and one sugar cookie. All iced with pastel frosting. I can't wait!! The party is October 24th so I'll post about that later. Yesterday I spent the afternoon planning the party with my mom and my sister's mother-in-law and sister-in-law. It's gonna be fun, I can't wait for my neice to arrive!!! She'll be here in a little over two months!

One of my friends put my resume in at the company that he works for. On the way home last night I was thinking about the fact that it had been a week and I hadn't heard anything. No sooner did the thought cross my mind, the phone rang. It was a recruiter from the company! We talked briefly and she asked me to come in for an interview on October 13th. I am so excited!!!!! I really want this job, it's in the medical technology field and it's a great company. I am really looking forward to the interview. Keep me in your thoughts!! Oops, dinner is ready, goodnight all!

Hello Friends!

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:51:50 PDT

Wow it's been a while! Quick updates, I'm still unemployed, enjoying a little time off before I drive myself crazy looking for a new job, and have been feeling pretty good. The first couple of weeks were madness, submitting resumes, working part time as many hours as possible and I felt like I was busier than ever. This week is the first week that I've actually found myself with absolutely nothing to do, so here I am! I was eating takeout every day for a while there. I was stressed out and busy and didn't feel like cooking at all. Unfortunately my unemployment hasn't kicked in yet so I'm using a borrowed credit card to get me through until it does. That means that I have not been ordering out because my Mom would be like "what on earth are you doing spending all that money on junk food?!?!?!" and she's right. So I've been shopping and today I finally decided to cook. God I LOVE cooking! Oh how I've missed it and didn't even realize. It's apple season so I bought one of those bags of apples and was thinking about them today. For some reason I was not craving desserts, I wanted a savory apple dish. My friend Abi makes this delicious potato salad with apples in it and that's what was on my mind but I didn't want something summery and lathered in mayo, but the main ingredients of that dish were still appealing to me. I did a quick search and found a recipe on Food Network from Rachel Ray. It was perfect. Potato, apple and onion hash. What to have with it? Well what goes better with apples than pork? I didn't have any pork so I had to go back to the store. I got some nice bone-in chops and some green beans, gotta have some green.

Here's what I did to create this delicious masterpiece:

Baked two potatoes in the microwave for about 10 minutes, let them cool and then cut into pieces.
Sauteed two sliced up apples and one small yellow onion in 2T of olive oil and 2T of butter for 5 minutes, add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, cook for 5 more minutes.

In the meantime, broiled 2 pork chops, seasoned with thyme, garlic powder, parsley flakes, salt and pepper. They took about 7 mins per side.

Boiled some frozen green beans.

Put it all together and enjoy. It was exactly what I was craving... soooooooooo delicious. And the kitchen smelled like fall while I was cooking. So awesome!!

For a little dessert I had some Mi-Del GF Ginger snaps, the perfect compliment!!!

I hope you are all well out there in blogland. I've missed writing, and cooking, and taking photos. Maybe I'll be writing more often. I'm trying to kinda let the energy take me where it will to find what I love and do that. I have too good of an opportunity right now to just jump into the first job that is available. We'll see how it goes!

Edited to add: I have not been reading blogs either.. I have 750 blog posts to read in my gluten free category alone... yikes. :)

An Update

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:51:02 PDT

Yup, it's been pretty quiet around here. Sometimes life just gets in the way. Sunday I sat down with my family and we decided together that my time as an employee of the printing business is up. I'm finished. Joining the ranks of the unemployed due to economic woes. This business, quite honestly, has been on a roller coaster ride for a while now. I am not surprised that it has come to this. I won't get into all the nitty gritty details because this blog has never been about work so you don't need to know all that. Just know that the biggest reason I haven't been writing is because my attention has been needed elsewhere.

Since I'm writing now, I should tell you that the sugar experiment has gone very well. My skin has almost completely cleared up! I've had a bit of a bad week food-wise so my stomach is a mess, a result of being laid off, but I'm going to remedy that asap. I'm feeling good, I'm positive about the future and excited for a big change of scenery. Working with the family in our own business was an experience I'll cherish forever, but it most definitely taught me that I do not ever want to own my own business! It's way too much stress. I'd much rather work for someone else and leave work at work. Have my weekends to myself. And actually get to take vacation time. For real. I can't say I'm not excited about being unemployed for a short time either. I just hope it's not too much of a time. Not only will I get bored, but I need a real paycheck! Unemployment will barely cover my expenses. Actually, honestly, it won't, but I'm going to work that out.

I have no idea when, or if, I'll get back to regular writing. This blog has been an awesome experience as well but it might be time to wrap it up. I need to focus on stepping away from the computer for a while. I've been glued to it for far too long. Thanks everyone for the journey and all your support. I'm not saying goodbye, I'm saying see you when I see you. :)

Blog Awards

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:28:12 PDT

I have been meaning to post this for a while but I kept forgetting Amy over at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free tagged me for a blog award!! Thanks Amy!! What you said was very sweet. There are so many people in the blog world that have inspired me, it's just impossible to pick people to give this too. Plus a bunch of them have already been given the same award! So I will just say a very sincere Thank You to Amy for the award and to all the wonderful bloggers out there that have helped me get through this crazy journey.

Score= Jen 1; Sugar 0

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:30:52 PDT

The sugar experiment continues, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I know I said it yesterday but I really noticed this morning that not only is my skin significantly less irritated and blemished, but my bloated belly has really flattened out!! I have not made any other changes to my diet aside from cutting refined sugar almost completely out. So we've discovered that cutting out dairy and sugar have both made a huge impact on my health and well-being. In the back of my mind I can't help but think, should I go for the trifecta? I still don't have nearly as much energy as I should and I can't help but think that last final piece of the puzzle, gluten, might just be worth giving another shot. The reason I haven't cut it out is because my stomach is great so why should I? Because I find it impossible to get out of bed in the morning and I haven't exercised regularly in over a year? I'm going to keep on trucking with the sugar experiment for a while and dairy too and see how I feel in a month or so. Then I'll decide.

On another note, my girl ALLIE is getting MARRIED today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's probably gonna kill me for reposting this pic, but it's the only one I have of her and her new hubby Matt (at the GF Cooking Spreee). I'm so happy for them and love that I always get to re-tell the story of how I was there when they met. Well I wasn't there the night that they met, but I was there the next day when she waited (im)patiently for him to call. It makes me smile thinking back. Matt's awesome and they are great together and I wish them all the happiness in the world. It is a GORGEOUS day here in Boston and I know they're going to have a perfect wedding. CONGRATULATIONS ALLIE!!!!!!!!!!

Zeer just got better!!

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:55:35 PDT

I know a lot of you were avoiding a Zeer subscription because it was so expensive. Well they were listening and now you can sign up for only $4.95 per month!!!!

Check it out:

Rants and Raves

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:22:33 PDT

Apologies for the lack of posts! You know, sometimes you just need to step away from the computer for a while. But I'm still here, and the sugar experiment is going well so far. I haven't gone cold turkey but I'm making progress and I think my skin is responding. Now, on to the real stuff. First, the rants:

This morning I'm sitting at my desk having a lovely day, when a guy that used to work for us stops by. He was "let go" almost a year and a half ago. Pre-Crohn's diagnosis, which means pre-steroids, which means the last time he saw me I was at my lowest weight. Now I realize that people have noticed that I've put on a few pounds, it is what it is. Most people know why/how it happened and are sympathetic. Well this guy takes one look at me and goes "what did you do to yourself?" and I'm thinking I have spilled ink on my shirt, or fell and scraped the skin off my face without noticing and that's what he's referring to... but I check myself out and nope, still look the same as I did this morning. So I say "what do you mean??" and he pauses (very briefly) and says "Well it looks like you've gained some weight!" ....... collect yourselves.. I'll wait...

Ok, good? Yeah so I sharply reply "Well I was diagnosed with CROHN'S disease last year and was on STEROIDS and gained THIRTY POUNDS!" and he says "Well you still look good, your face just looks a little pudgy, or puffy" or whatever.

Um....

I didn't cry. I'm not a delicate flower. But I was upset. My first immediate reaction to myself was that I was kinda glad to hear it. Weird? Well I worked so hard to lose the weight before, only to instantly gain it back through no control of my own, and then do nothing to fix it. I have been off steroids for 10 months? 11? And I've talked a big game about losing the weight but have not made any valiant efforts. I kinda needed that slap in the face. It's nice to hear blatant honesty sometimes. And the truth is, he didn't mean to be mean. He and I used to talk a lot about losing weight and eating right and working out because I he had seen me lose the weight before. So I'm sure to walk in and see me heavier than he's ever seen me was a surprise. I'm not mad at ya E. Thanks for the wake up. So I did what any sane person would do, I ate a cheeseburger for lunch. With french fries. I thought about starving myself, but that's just eating disorder behavior. I could've had a sensible lunch too, but what fun is that? Aren't I always preaching about moderation? So yeah, I'm over it. But now maybe I'll try a little harder.

Now, onto the Raves. I went to Burton's on Friday night with Liz and Sally. Liz moved away :( but she was back in town for a couple weeks so I was excited when she asked to plan a gf dinner out! Sally had been there before so we knew it was safe. I wrote a review on Yelp so if you want to read more about it go here. I'll just post the photos here:

Gluten free dinner rolls with herb butter: YUM

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis (not GF! but awesome)

Chicken Roulade with Lobster Risotto - oh.my.gosh heavenly

Yes I ate gluten and dairy and yes I paid for it, but it was so delicious!!!! That's one of the drawbacks of having crohn's instead of celiac. I'm not required to eat gf/cf I just choose to, which means sometimes I choose NOT to. Sometimes I suffer, sometimes I don't. But I feel a heck of a lot better now than I ever have, so I'm not complaining!!

What's the real deal about sugar?

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:15:13 PDT

Ok all you sugar experts out there, I have some questions. I've been doing some research and I'm confused about cutting out sugar. I see that people cut out white, refined sugar and HFCS, but then say that they use maple syrup, honey, molasses, and other things as substitutes. But the thing is that, all of those are sugar too... so what gives? What's the logic? I read on Wikipedia that black strap molasses is full of nutrients, technically it goes through the same processing as the sugar that's extracted so what's the difference? So many questions... I'd love some insight!

Holy Moly

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:33:53 PDT

Thanks for the encouragement on my new venture. I just got back from the grocery store and oh my word, I thought gluten and casein were bad, sugar is in EVERYTHING!!!!

I had fresh scallops for dinner with rice and brussels sprouts, awesome. :)

Hello, my name is Jen, and I am a sugarholic.

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:00:56 PDT

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while now may have noticed that I am having a love affair with sugar. I talk a big game about eating healthy and trying to lose weight and all that jazz, and then the next day I'm posting a photo of the brownies I baked or the entire line of Betty Crocker Gluten Free mixes that I just had to try. My header even has mostly sugary photos and the name of the blog is A life of SUGAR and spice!! I didn't even realize how bad it was. I eat sugary foods on a daily basis. And not just once a day, multiple times. And I wonder why these extra 30 pounds are being so stubborn... But this isn't just another one of those posts where I profess that I'm going to start eating healthier and lose the weight! I posted recently about clean eating and I mentioned that I was having some trouble with acne all of a sudden. I thought it might be an issue after re-introducing gluten, but I'm not having any other symptoms. I feel quite good actually, except for when I eat diary, which is still very much a problem for me. I clearly did not stick to the clean eating lifestyle after I received shipments from Betty Crocker and coupons from Turtle Mountain. It was almost two months ago that I posted that article and the acne is still there, and worse, all over my chest, shoulders and face. It's awful! I've never had acne like this before! Especially during the summer where tank tops and bathing suits are a must. I feel like an awkard teenager. I knew in the back of my mind that it has to be diet related. There are so many theories about acne and what causes it. The biggest one being hormones, but not specifically how hormones cause it. I did a little research today and found a lot of info on sugar intake, liver reaction, hormone production, and the resulting acne. I thought to look into sugar because over a few days I barely ate any refined sugar and the acne started to clear up. Then I went back to my old habits and it reappeared. Coincidence? I think not! So now, for real this time, I'm going to cut out sugar for a while to see what happens. I've done this before and it's not as hard as it sounds, it's actually quite easy after the first few days. The cravings go away. I get horrible cravings when I'm eating sugar, but when I stop, the cravings go away. If there's one thing I've learned throughout this journey, it's that if you eat something and then are craving it again 5 minutes later, that's a bad thing! There's a difference between craving protein because you've been eating too many carbs, and craving sugar because your body is addicted to it. So here I go. Sugar free. I was going to post a "before" picture showing the outbreak on my chest and shoulders but I figured you all wouldn't want to see that... but maybe once I have a good "after" shot, I will!

::crickets::

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:17:57 PDT

Sorry for the short absence, just taking some time away from the computer! Back to normal posting tomorrow :)

Boston GF/Celiacs Meetup Event with Zeer

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:04:50 PDT

Last night I attended my first meetup event with the Boston Gluten-Free/Celiacs Meetup group. The event was a taste test of sorts, to get our feedback on various gluten free products. We tested cookies, cracker, pretzels, chips and brownies. The event was organized by Shannon and Gillian who are not only organizers of the Meetup group, but also happen to work for Zeer, the sponsor of the event (and also the sponsor of the meetup group). I'll talk more about that in a minute, but first, some photos!

I didn't take that many pictures, but I'll highlight the best and worst foods of the evening. First things first, the WORST "crackers" I've ever tasted in my life:

These are Hol Grain Gluten Free Brown Rice crackers. I took a bite and had to check to make sure that I had bitten into the cracker, not the cardboard box... nope it was the cracker. I am not exaggerating. These were the hands-down winner of the worst food item of the night.

Of course, the favorite of the night was the brownies!

Unfortunately only 1 out of the 5 samples were dairy free, they were made from the Pamela's Chocolate Brownie mix. I thought they were good, very rich, fudgy, and dark chocolate. I actually like the Betty Crocker mix better, but they had prepared them with butter so I avoided them at the tasting. The Pamela's mix actually made me think fudge, not cakey brownie.

One of the tasters at the event was Andrea from the Food Should Taste Good company, which I blogged about last year when I met the people from the company at the GF Cooking Spree. They were nice enough to give us all a surprise bag full of chips!! I love their chips, they are so flavorful and delicious, and have a lot of great varieties.

This was a fun event and I met some great people. Especially the folks from Zeer. I have only heard of Zeer very recently through a couple of mentions on some blogs and just checked it out for the first time this week.

Zeer is a two year old company, based in Cambridge, MA that is focused on helping the gluten free community to get information on food products quickly and easily. Zeer.com is a database that contains over 30,000 food items and is constantly being updated. You can join for free and search products, but in order to use the advanced features of the site, you must subscribe for $14.95 per month. When I first saw how much it costs to subscribe, I was put off. But after talking with the staff last night, I realized how valuable this resource is. It might seem pricey, but take into consideration that they do not sell any ad space on their website. Their main source of revenue to keep the site running comes from subscriptions. They are constantly in contact with vendors to make sure the site is up to date and not only that, they are also in touch with the consumers. They listen to what we need and want and do what they can to give back to us. These people are passionate about what they're doing. There are a lot of great things in the works with this company and I definitely encourage you to at least check it out!!

And yes, I am now affiliated with them, but like I said before - I only affiliate myself with companies that I trust and support and think are valuable resources for the gluten free community. Thanks to Mark, Shannon and Gillian for the wonderful event last night and for the service you're providing!!

As for the Boston Gluten-Free/Celiacs Meetup group, I'm going to be an assistant organizer! So if you live in the Greater Boston area, please join us! Hopefully we'll be lining up some great events very soon!

Review: Bhuja Snacks

Jen@alifeofsugarandspice.com (Jen) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:25:18 PDT

If you read this blog through a reader, stop by the page to check out the new header!

I first discovered Bhuja snacks at the Gluten Free Cooking Spree last year and I loved them. Recently I received a bag of each of the four varieties for reviewing. I've so far only opened the cracker mix which is a mix of "crispy multigrain noodles, crunchy garden peas, peanuts and rice crackers with a savoury blend of aromatic spices." There are also raisins in the mix which add a nice sweetness because this mix is spicy! But it's not nearly as hot as the original mix, which I tried last year also. I love this stuff, it's a great alternative to chex mix. It goes great with a hard cider!

It's Indian spicy, so if you aren't a fan of that kind of spice you might not like it, but I think it's great! I am looking forward to trying the fruit and nut mixes.