Category Archives: Uncategorized

Gluten Is Not The Bad Guy

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Hi, there!  No blog post yesterday because work ran late and I had a couple of mini school-related fires that needed putting out all afternoon.  Also, I was working on my difficult assignment.  Not difficult in terms of understanding or content but tricky in terms of time committment and mandatory synthesis of our knowledge.  We had to read an article full of bunk science (promoted by Dr. Oz, of course!) and identify statements that were incorrect and then explain both why the statements were incorrect and identify the correct statements that the author misconstrued to reach his conclusion.  The assignment required the upper levels of Bloom’s taxonomy but was also a lot of fun.  And it sparked this blog post.

Notes – this post is not in response to any one person, blog, topic, or product, but is my general PSA to the world, aka my readers, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances.  Also, I am not claiming to know it all.  I am in no way purporting to fully cover the topics, I’m just covering a few of the facts.

Some Facts on Gluten, Gluten Intolerance, and Gluten-free Diets

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye.

Gluten is resistant to complete digestion by GI enzymes and often travels to the small intestine of healthy individuals partially or fully intact.  This is not a problem.  Gluten does don’t cause inflammation in healthy individuals.

Individuals with Celiac disease (an immune-mediated disorder) suffer damage to their intestinal tracts that can compromise digestive and absorptive functions over time.  In individuals with CD, undigested gluten peptides travel from the intestinal lumen, across the intestinal epithelium, and into the lamina propria; basically, through the intestinal cavity and into the intestinal linings.  Because of the immune component of CD, these individuals have antibodies which react to the specific dietary protein fractions and cause inflammation.

Gluten sensitivity is used to describe individuals with nonspecific symptoms who lack the immune response found in CD.  The term gluten intolerance describes individuals who have symptoms and may or may not have CD.  These GI symptoms include cramping, bloating, nausea, and/or diarrhea.

This next part is so often misunderstood in the healthy living community that I’m actually going to quote straight from Krause – “Patients who experience these symptoms [i.e. may have gluten sensitivity or intolerance] should generally be advised against following a gluten-free diet without having a workup to exclude or confirm a diagnosis of CD.”  This is because there may be an underlying condition for which a gluten-free diet is not the treatment and because following a gluten-free diet for several months or years may make it more difficult to accurately diagnose CD.

A gluten-free diet is regarded by medical practitioners as being generally healthy but it can be very expensive and/or restrictive.

A combination of clinical, laboratory, histologic evaluations is used to diagnose CD.  The gold standard for diagnosis is a small intestine biopsy.

source – Mahan KL, Escott-Stump S, Raymond JL.  Krause’s Food and Nutrition Care Process.  13th ed.  St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Saunders; 2012.

Do you know anyone who follows a gluten-free diet?  What is their reasoning for doing so?

Window Shopping Wednesdays

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I am not much of a shopper, much to my mother’s chagrin. The woman can spend days at the mall, while I start to feel itchy after just a few hours. It’s not that I’m not materialistic, I totally am, it’s just that the thought of adding more stuff to my life makes it hard to breathe. But I like the idea of things. So I’m an avid window shopper. I browse catalogs I’ll never buy from and hold my breathe when I pass the window at J.Crew. So while I’m stuck at school all day Wednesdays, I thought we could have some fun via blog. Let’s window shop!

Here’s what I’m coveting this week –

1.  Custom US574 shoes from New Balance.

How fun are those?  You build your own style using a mix of 3 base colors and 15 accent colors.  I badly wanted to go multi-multi-colored but instead I stuck to a blend of grey and hot pink.  I don’t have $100+ to spend on shoes that aren’t for running, but if I did these would be a lot of fun.

2.  The Fleamarket Chic Plate Set from Roseanna Inc.

These would add a nice pop of color to the dinner table.  I actually sort of hate the brown flowered one, so I wouldn’t purchase these, but I like the idea of the set.

3.  The 35-piece Macaron Box from Payard.

I’ve never had a macaron (other than my great but non-authentic coconut attempt) but I am completely obsessed with them.  I have million and one recipes saved on my computer and I regularly curse myself for not knowing to try them when I lived in the city.  This box contains 7 each of vanilla, passionfruit, pistachio, raspberry lychee, and chocolate with cocoa nibs.  I’m thinking pistachio would be my favorite.

4.  The Polar Bear Mugz Ice Cream Maker from Geospace.

Too freaking cute!  It’s the same concept as shaking ice, cream, and rock salt in a bag, but in an adorable container.  The seal and penguin varieties were also pretty ridiculous, but we’re an ice bear family.

5.  Chanel Le Vernis Nail Polish in Steel.

My mom bought me a bottle of Chanel polish as a gift once and it is by far the best nail polish I own.  The colors are rich, the texture is smooth, and the brush is higher quality that my other fraying ones.  This matte grey is a cool contrast to spring’s upcoming pastels.

Have you ever eaten a macaron? Made your own ice cream?

Thank Goodness It’s Tuesday

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The title’s not sarcastic, we have a difficult assignment due this Thursday and I’m glad to still have a day standing between me and it!

My shift at work went well yesterday but when I got out at 9 I was just too tired to photograph, or blog, or think.  We do not do Daylight Saving Time where I grew up and my body still hasn’t quite gotten used to it.  Every year I am so exhausted for the weeks immediately following the time changes.

I needed a little extra help this morning too.

The vanilla flavored Doubleshot was very tasty.  I’d drink it for flavor alone if it weren’t for all the caffeine.

Solid food was good too.

I had a Siggi’s Strawberry topped with two sliced yellow plucots and a drizzle of maple syrup.

The yellow plucots were good but I think I prefer the dapple variety.  These were more tart.

When I walked to campus for stats this morning I was almost too hot in my winter coat.  And I definitely had to fan myself when I saw my score on the first exam –

Woot!

Clinic was good too.  I had my first teenage patient (I’ve been with adults and infants previously) and it was a different sort of interviewing experience.  We also met as a group for some interesting mini-discussions on anorexia nervosa and cystic fibrosis.

I was hungry and short on time after clinic so I made myself an Annie Chun’s Korean Sweet Chili Noodle Bowl.

I added a big handful of shredded carrots on top for veg.

It was good, and I very much liked the amount of heat to the sauce, but desperately in need of a crunch factor.  I have a few other flavors that I purchased on sale and I might stock up on peanuts to top them with.

Dinner was actually a blogger event.  T.G.I.Friday’s invited a bunch of local bloggers to try out their new menu.

The plates were portioned for sharing (and the light was pretty bad) so the media contact actually requested that we not take any food photographs.  Instead I’ll do a recap of what I thought of the dishes I tried when she sends me press info/high-res photos.  I will say for now that I was surprised and impressed.  It felt very strange to not be photographing though!

I brought my friend Kim with me and we ate ’til we were stuffed and a had a lot of fun.  It was nice getting to meet some of the other local bloggers.

I came home from the event planning on working but instead I’m hurrying to bed.  Adam baked up a ton of food to pack for his lunches this week (eggplant, zucchini, tomatillos, mushrooms, rice, and a bunch of seasonings and sauces) and the apartment is permeated with a smell that’s making me ill.  It actually smells delicious, but the sensory overload has given me nausea and a headache.  Tomorrow will be insanely busy but hopefully oder-free!

David Beckham Says Hi

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Did everyone have a good weekend?  I had a work training on Saturday and a shift on Sunday.  I don’t think I’d mentioned on the blog yet, but I’m back at my tele-fund-raising job for the next month.

When I wasn’t working, we were watching Stargate: Atlantis like mad.  And mourning the loss of an hour!  Even with lost time, I did manage to try a few fun new things –

Shipyard Applehead beer.

I like Shipyard and I love apple ciders so I thought I’d be a fan of this, and I was.  But it’s not a cider, it’s an apple beer.  I thought it tasted like cinnamon roasted apples!  (Note – when I googled after tasting I was thrilled to see that cinnamon was included.  I love tasting a product “right.”)

Wild Ophelia Chocolate Bars.

The Hickory Smoked Almond was the perfect blend of smoky and sweet.  And I loved the little branding details here, like fun printing on the inside of the package.  I obviously didn’t taste the beef jerky flavor but it’s Adam’s new favorite.  Whenever we find meat based candy bars (right up Adam’s alley) they are always with dark chocolate (he hates it) so it was great to find this perfect flavor combo.  They didn’t have the Southern Hibiscus Peach flavor in our store but I would consider ordering it if I could!

Monday morning wasn’t such a win.  I slept right through breakfast!  One of our phone chargers is getting persnickety and last night my phone, and my alarm clock, shut off from lack of power.  I also slept through a $30 parking ticket 😦

Lunch was good though.

Leftovers from the other day.  A random mix of unmeasured amounts of –

  • spaghetti
  • linguine
  • shredded chicken
  • peas
  • spinach
  • broccoli
  • blue cheese
  • cheddar
  • mozzarella
  • evoo
  • skim milk
  • egg

‘Twas good.

Random fun fact – when the dog’s ears are flopped back I think he looks like David Beckham with a headband on.  David Beckham says hi –

After Lunch Mints

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It’s Friday!  My sleep total for the last 2 days is still only at about 8 hours but somehow I managed to make it to the gym this morning.  I didn’t get up quite on time, but I made it. I did have to cut my workout a bit short to make it back to campus on time for class, but I figured it was better than skipping it entirely (<– what would have happened if I had tried to wait and go after class).

8 sets of 3 minutes running / 2 minutes walking.  42 minutes and 3.5 miles with cool down.

I had to skip breakfast too, but it was worth it.  Besides, I was busy doing important things like shrouding myself in pinks and purples instead of drying my hair.

When I did finally get “breakfast” at noon I stuck with the color theme.

Those two chopped plucots are perched on a bowl of Wegman’s Low-fat Honey Yogurt.

The gratuitous dog picture means I approve!  The yogurt’s texture was creamy and good and the flavor was pure honey.

The bowl was delicious.

Lunch was better though.  I bet you know what I had.

2 Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes.

Ah-mazing.  I hope with all of my heart that y’all will try that recipe at home.

I also had a salad.  Romaine topped with peanut sauce, green onions, shredded carrots, and dry roasted peanuts.

The green onions were a fun addition.

Dessert happened too.

This recipe wasn’t on my baking roster, but it was a necessary last-minute addition.  My friend Kim unwrapped a piece of gum in class today and at first I thought the wrapper was an Andes Mint.  That was it.

I made a half recipe of our favorite brownies with Andes mints layered in the middle.  I had three smallish ones.

Amazing as well.

And I wasn’t done in the kitchen yet.  I’m going to be out of the house all day tomorrow so I whipped up lunch in advance.

A random mishmash of unmeasured amounts of – spaghetti, linguine, shredded chicken, skim milk, medium buffalo sauce, reduced fat cream cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, blue cheese, spinach, brocoli, and peas.  I had a few bites and it was very good; I’m looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

I’m also looking forward to bed!  I’m still not really tired, but I can tell that sleep is going to feel good.  The plan for dinner is a frozen meal and a beer and then I hope to turn in early.

Pick your poison – Junior Mints, York Patties, or Andes?

Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes

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I don’t want to be disingenuous.  Before those readers who have been scouring the globe for a savory cupcake get too excited, I should mention that these are really buffalo chicken muffins.  But they do have blue cheese cream cheese frosting.  And a muffin is just a cupcake without its hat, ya know?

These muffins cupcakes also come with a back story.  During Vegan Month there was a Super Bowl.  The last time I cared about football was when I was a cheerleader in high school so the game doesn’t mean much to me, but I do think the opportunity for themed foods can be fun.  The Friday before the game, my teacher was laughing in class that she knew more about the snacks available for Sunday than she did about the teams that were playing.  Then she frowned and said she’d even seen a commercial for chicken wing cupcakes.  The rest of the class shook their heads disapprovingly and laughed, like “oh, those silly fat Americans.”  Meanwhile, I was furiously writing in my planner –

Make buffalo chicken cupcakes with blue cheese frosting!

And so I did.

Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes

Yield: 9 cupcakes; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 15 – 20 minutes

  • 6.5 oz box cornbread/muffin mix
  • ingredients required for cornbread (this will vary based on the brand you use, see the package for details)
  • 1 cup shredded chicken
  • 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
  • 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 4 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
  1. Line 9 cupcake tin with paper liners.  Preheat oven (to the specific temperature for your cornbread mix) and prepare corn muffin batter as instructed by package.
  2. Stir shredded chicken and wing sauce into batter.
  3. Spoon batter into prepared liners and bake according to package instructions.
  4. For frosting – Combine cream cheese, butter, and blue cheese in a medium bowl and cream with an electric mixer.
  5. Be sure cupcakes have cooled completely before frosting.

Up All Night

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…well not quite, but I did come close!  It’s possible I underestimated how many statistics problems were due!  Here are the totals –

Hours slept: 3.5; from 5:30 am to 9am

Assignments completed: all

Coffees consumed: 2, with skim milk and sugar

Snacks nibbled: 1 plate of pretzels with yellow mustard

Minutes wasted on Pinterest: too many!

The morning came quickly but I’ve actually felt pretty good all day.

The t-shirt bustle is the fashion industry’s equivalent to caffeine.

Oh, and I had caffeine too.

I shook a packet of Starbucks Caramel Via Iced Coffee with a bottle of water and was very impressed.  Everything went into solution with no grounds left behind and the flavor was great.

I think, fingers crossed, that my statistics exam was a success as well.  I was not as triumphant on the meal front though.  I only had time to pack one set of meals (actually I packed it yesterday, but whatever) and too little sleep and two few calories made the afternoon feel pretty long.  It was a good meal though.  Sliced cucumber.

A Sandwich Thin with Applegate Farms roasted turkey and maple apple chutney.

And the last of my Canada candy.

I shared a gummi bottle with a friend and she was dully impressed.

I ate my packed meal at 4:45 when we finished with clinic and then had to sit through my night class with a growling stomach.  By the time I got home I knew the only way to keep from going crazy was to use one of our restaurant meals this evening.  We didn’t have time to eat in and we aren’t allowed to do take out so we turned to Wegmans.  I was eating this veggie sushi the minute we got in the car!

And ate this frozen meal practically the minute we got in the house.

It wasn’t anything amazing but the nutrition stats were not terrible.

And soon after I tucked into a giant plate of pizza bagels.  No picture because the husband delivered me my plate like an awesome, but I ate two servings worth (~540 calories).  I think I’m all caught up on food now.

And now I should probably try to catch up on sleep!

When was the last time you pulled an all-nighter?

Has Been And Will Be

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Howdy!  It has been – and will be – a long day, so I’ll keep this quick.

My morning started with a trip to the gym.  My CT10k plan called for 11 sets of 3 minutes running / 2 minutes walking, but today was my worst workout ever so I had to mix it up a bit.  My calves were soooooo tight.  I ran and walked super slowly and stopped practically every 5 minutes to stretch but my legs just wouldn’t feel right.  I ended up doing 6 sets of 3/2, followed by 30 minutes of slow walking with my notecards, and then another 6 sets of 3/2.  90 minutes and 6.7 miles in total.  And after my walk home my legs now feel completely better; weird!

I drank a grape G2 while I was at the gym.

Technically this was a drink purchase but I’m not going to count it.  I was feeling very light-headed so calories were a necessity and not just a desire for something other than water.  I am going to buy a few larger (read cheaper unit cost) G2s next time I’m at the store though.

I ate lunch on my walk to school, or at least attempted to.  First, a delightfully crunchy pink lady apple.

Next, I packed a B’More Skyr Vanilla Smoothie.

I had such high hopes – the packaging was neat and I adore Siggi’s skyr yogurts – but alas, stevia.  Yuck, I wish I had looked at the ingredient list more carefully.  I had to throw the drink out after just two sips.  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon bemoaning our no-take-out challenge; I didn’t have anything else to eat and I was starving!

I stayed strong though, and even managed to focus intently for my test.  I’m never really sure, but I think this one went much better than the last few.  Fingers crossed.

And in even better news, the husband got out early from the hospital in time to drive me home from school.  Thus bringing me to food 90% more quickly.

Those are cola gummis I got in Toronto and they were fabulous.  I have the rest of my stash packed for lunch tomorrow and I just can’t wait.

I also made an extraordinary sandwich.

A Sandwich Thin topped with Applegate Farms roasted turkey, sharp cheddar, and tons of sliced sweet pickles.

Mmmmmmmn!  When I was in middle school I’d occasionally pack pickle and cheddar sandwiches for lunch and they are still rocking my socks today.

My delicious sandwich was eaten on the go.  It was warm enough this afternoon to walk Webster sans coats!

We still have more freezing days ahead of us, but it was nice to get a little taste of spring.

Dinner was an oldie but a goodie.

Easy Peasy Peanut Noodles, with an updated recipe page.

Plus the last serving of Malted Heath Bar Toffee Blondie 2 Ingredient Ice Cream for dessert.

I’m pretty sad to see it go.

We’ll call dinner carbo-loading for the marathon night ahead of me.  The things I have to get done for tomorrow list includes studying for my first stats test, three homework assignments for clinical, and a major assignment for management.  And the number things on the list I’m done with is – zero.  Whoops!  Guess I needed to do some work last weekend.

I’m not sure when (or if!) I’ll get to bed but I foresee some midnight snacking in my future.  Sweet dreams to the rest of you!