Chocolate Chip cookies (no wheat)

I made chocolate chip cookies with my daughter today for Santa!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (no wheat)

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup barley flour
1 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp gelatin
12 oz chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla.
Combine flour, soda, salt and gelatin. Add to butter mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake 350 degrees for 8-14 minutes

The only bottle of wheat free soy sauce that I could find!

I was looking for a bottle of soy sauce that did not contain wheat and most bottles of soy sauce it seems that wheat is an ingredient before soybeans! (why not call it "wheat sauce" then??) Well here is what I found for almost $5 (a lot for a bottle of soy sauce) At least, it is soy sauce that does not make me nauseous!! (I guess well worth the $5..)

Macaroni and cheese recipe gluten free

I made a gluten free baked mac and cheese today. Yummm!!! I LOVE mac & cheese!! Even my daughter loves this (and she can eat wheat).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Brown rice pasta shells
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp potato starch
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
Dash pepper
1/4 cup minced onions
1/2 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated or cut in small pieces

Preparation (preheat oven 350 degrees)

Cook pasta and set aside (I use Tinkyada brand)

Heat butter on low heat. Add in potato starch and cook for a minute or two. Add in salt and pepper, then onions. Cook for a minute or two. Add in milk. Cook until thickened a little. Add in cheese. Let cheese melt in (must be uniform). Shut off flame. Add pasta to sauce. When mixed, pour into bake dish. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until top is browned a little. Enjoy!

Allergies

It turns out that I have a slight wheat allergy. By chance, my gastroenterologist told me to lay off the bread and pasta due to high triglycerides. Well, about 8-9 hrs after I ate minimal wheat products, my sense of smell came back, my hearing got better, my nose slowed down on the dripping and my gastrointestinal problems disappeared. Ever since, I have cut out the wheat products if it's in the first 5 ingredients but generally have cut it out all-together and my problems have not come back (yet). I feel grateful that I can smell things again, hear better and no gas, pain, bloating or diarrhea and/or constipation. Not only that, I just feel happier in general! It's not easy cutting out wheat (when your top favorite foods are: bread, cheese, pasta, and chocolate). I am also grateful that I didn't end up with Celiac Disease (would have meant avoidance of even more foods and it's way harder). I know that my MSG allergy had gotten worse over the past few years (to the point that if I eat a dim sum lunch with family at 28 Pell Street in Chinatown, NYC, then when I get home I will have headaches, gas, bloat, pain and diarrhea). I guess I must have developed this allergy to wheat? (as my MSG allergy got worse?) But like MSG, I can have a hand full of Doritos and I am okay (amount is key) and I can have some small amounts of wheat I am sure (before the gastrointestinal problems come back). The question is, what level? (how much?) I am afraid to find out just how much, and wheat is in virtually most foods here in America!! Good luck to me!

My new diet needs

Basically for the past month, I've been bleeding and have been very tired. It is hormonal imbalance due to low amounts of progesterone to estrogen. I would admit that lately I have just eaten what I wanted (under a lot of stress from my commute and job and lack of sleep as a mother with a child and husband on a later schedule than mine). I decided to go back to eating more organic foods and try as best not to eat anything treated with hormones (antibiotics and pesticides as much as I can). This means spending a little more money on the food that I eat (as well as time & thought on what I am buying - especially anything meat or dairy - and cooking up). When I do not have the time, I am eating Amy's meals because I know they do not contain hormones or GMO's and they are mostly organic. Life isn't easy, but at least things have gotten better since I've made the decision to care exactly what I am putting in my body (and on my body - it extends to lotions and other cosmetics too).

Making Lifestyle Changes

I'm finally ready to be serious about changing so old habits, namely the bad diet, adding in some exercise to my routine and caring more about health concerns.

working

This girl has been working an awful lot in addition to the long commute. I haven had much time for exercise. I did find out that there were some things that I wished I could have done differently or better. certainly there are things i feel i could work on to make myself better. one such thing is to be a better role model for my daughter.

Car problems are this girl's worst nightmare!

I've been having the most wicked car problems. I'm not mechanically inclined either (mostly, I don't like getting dirty, even if I understood every vocab word about cars, which I don't). I do love cars however, but as a girl, I also need something that doesn't let me down. My "hot mom car" has broken down too many times in the past 3 months at 115,000-118,000 miles for fuel pump failure and now starter failure. In between, I needed new rear brakes (including the calipers). For awhile, I fancied trading her in or selling her and getting something else, but in the end, I have decided to keep the car and work hard in order to score a new (probably used) commuter car to suffer the 130 mile round trip per day commute to and from my job.