Wheat is the enemy! And Barley, and rye, and non-Irish Oats

So, by the way, due to two genetic blood markers and a duodenal biopsy that showed "moderate to marked" changes, we are gluten-free for at least a year. Celiac is apparently back on the table for my kid, who other than those two bits, has NO symptoms. And is huge.

I'm so frustrated. However, no gluten is world's easier than no dairy eggs fish or nuts. And, I finally learned to make my own cheese sauce. Great for noodles or broccoli.

Cheese Sauce!

2 TB Butter
2 tsp rice flour
1/2 c milk
1 cup (or more, to taste) shredded cheese. I just use extra sharp cheddar, but gouda or paremsan in there is good too
Salt and pepper to taste.

Melt the butter on medium, add the rice flour to, and whisk until thick, probably no more than two minutes. Then add the milk, keep whisking. Add shredded cheese. Whisk some more. Ta-daa! cheese sauce!

Thanks for reading,
-Anne

Buddha hand lemon

Buddha hand lemon
Originally uploaded by jumjum15

Ok, here it is. And now that I have my phone photo flikr stream and my blog all tied up tidy, my life will be easier! And new baby due in July, so I've been really, really, lazy. Ta!

I Hate Leftovers

Holy crap I hate leftovers. I'm usually pretty good about just making exactly what we will eat, but then I roast a chicken.

I tell myself,"Oh, I'll just make a sandwhich, or some soup, or ooooh, hash!" And then half a chicken will sit in a ziplock bag for two weeks until I btoss the gooey mess into the trash in a cleaning frenzy.

I won't even eat leftover pizza. Just the garlic sauce.

And this is why I'm having another child. So someone will eat the rest of the food.

CURED!

Big news.
J went to a REAL doctor, at Hopkins.

It is not food. It is most likely polyps. He is eating everything now and there are no ill effects from it. We are all thrilled.

I have even been cooking again. Here is a stew from the"A new Way to Cook' book.

2 cans chickpeas drained, 2 chopped onions, two med. Butternut squashes, peeled and cut in to half-inch cubes. 3/4 cup water or apple cider.
Salt, pepper, cilantro

Cook onions on really low in some olive oil for about 20 minutes. Throw in everything else but the cilantro and cook until the squash is soft, but not completely mushy. Throw in cilantro and eat.

Oh my yumminess. And filling.
Thanks for reading,
-Anne

Power Tooth

J amazes me with his maturity and intellect every day. Now 3 years old, he went to get his second filling just the other day. he had one at 20 months by the most evil dentist in the world, who didn't let me go back with him, and didn't bother to tell me ahead of time. New Dentist is far superior, and even let J sit in my lap for the procedure. J was nervous, and quiet, and even started to cry a little. But he kept his mouth open, and listened, and was very, very brave. He was still and followed the dentists instructions very well. And at the end, he got a little plastic car, and that somehow made it all better.

He is also getting one cold after another. I suspect it's from Gerstung gymnastics class, as I'm sure they're not washing all that padding between every class. Also, he definitely spends much more time playing with other children than ever before in his life, so I guess he was going to eventually get sick. The only downside is I'm not sure if tonight's GI mess (no blood, though), was from illness or an unknown food source. The only different thing he had was red pepper hummus, but he's been ok with that before, and I read the ingredients first. He didn't even eat that much of it, so I'm putting my money on illness.

Here's counting down one more week until his GI specialist appointment. Can't wait!

Thanks for reading,
-Anne

How NOT to cook a fish

Last year, I found a recipe in a summer issue of Bon Appetit for whole fish cooked in salt. We used Rockfish, one of my favorites, and it was not only delicious, but provided an excellent photo opportunity of my little one helping me cook.

The basic idea is you mix about 5 lbs of kosher salt with 5 or 6 egg whites, then put the salt in an oven dish, lay in the fish, who are gutted and scaled, and then cover it completely with the rest of the salt. It cooks at 400F for 20 minutes, then after ten minutes you bash the salt off with a hammer and take the amazing fish out.

I love cooking things whole, and was pleased to find such an easy recipe that seemed fancy. You stuff the cavity with a lemon slice or two, some thyme and parsley before you cook it. Fabu.

This week, I tried it again, only two REALLY important things were different. The most important is I only had two eggs. I add water and olive oil to create a more pasty feel, but as I ended up making the salt mixture in two batches, there was NO egg in the top layer of salt. It didn't crust up, so the fish was just covered in salt, instead of breaking neatly away. Secondly, I have no idea what kind of fish I had. The store said "Sea Bass" which is a close relative of, or possibly the same thing as, a Rockfish, but I think either I picked the wrong ones, or they lied. It was gross and undercooked, although my poor starving husband ate some. J helped make it, and really like the salt, but wisely wouldn't touch the fish.

Next time, I will follow the directions. Sometimes I can fudge it, but apparently, this was not one of those times.

Yikes. Thanks for reading,
-Anne

Fruit Strike!

I swear my next post will be about food, not poop. Bear with me.

This kid is on an all-out fruit strike. He'll eat bananas, but that's it. I have been giving him "Naked" juice that's like a smoothie with the seeds remved (no dairy, of course). He won't drink homemade smoothie anymore. He also refused homemade popsicle. Too dang smart.

Other than that, he's been fairly healthy, not counting the birthday-cake episode a week ago. I let him have a small peice, and an hour later The Mess was backl. He recovered pretty quickly, though, and had has these miraculously poop-shaped poops.

I've been adding flax seeds to his sandwiches, becasue I am sneaky. I've also discovered he likes baby broccoli, and there's always squash and sweet potatos. I am so looking forward to getting the answers to his puzzle. I'm no good at waiting for results, but then again, who is?

More when the mood strikes me,
-Anne