A Valuable Lesson Learned!

Good Morning! Would you believe that it is 0900 and I am just waking up? We went to a great party last night at our friends’ house and stayed out much too late! It was great fun though.  We laughed and talked and had dinner. After dinner, I got to watch as everyone sang Karaoke in Hindi!  Wow! I have some talented friends!

This morning is not so much fun however….

 Dinner was potluck and everyone brought something.  My friends Carol and Hetal brought appetizers. Carol (thank you so much) brought organic corn chips with salsa and guacamole and Hetal brought a wonderful Indian dish made from chickpea flour called Dhokla.  I was safe and happy for appetizers.

Dinner was pizza….. oh how I love pizza.  However, you would have been proud of me, I abstained!!!! Of course it helped that I was stuffed on the fantastic appetizers!  I do think that from now on though I will call ahead of time and ask what the main course is for potluck because I could have brought my own pizza. I make great gluten free pizza with sheep cheese!

I was my own undoing. I brought the dessert. I guess that I have not fully accepted my new status in life. When I volunteered, I did not think about the fact that all of my desserts contain gluten and/or dairy. I got ready to make what I had planned and realized that it would not work with my life style.  Well, at this late stage of the game, I began to try and figure this out. The cake that I was making called for graham cracker crumbs in place of flour….. no fixing that unless I made gluten free graham crackers and then crushed them into crumbs. Poor planning on my part, not enough time in the day. So…. I made my favorite cake knowing that I could not even taste it.

 Then the other dessert that I was taking is a strawberry trifle. I had enough time to make the gluten free cake but I was afraid to take something with filling and whipped cream from a revamped recipe that I had never tried. So I used cow dairy instead. The desserts were a hit and I was trying to abstain. However, I caved! I decided to go for what I thought was the safest recipe, the Trifle. I thought that the cow dairy would be less harmful than the gluten. I also decided to have just a TINY bit! So I had ONE spoonful.

Fast forward to this morning. My rings won’t come off of my fingers, I have CANKLES( for those of you unfamiliar with this term it means that my legs are the same size from my calves to my feet, no ankles at all), I ache all over, my knees and wrists are painful, and my head is pounding. I feel like I am in a fog! Lesson learned! Next weekend, I am going to either find gluten free graham cracker crumbs on the Internet and order them or make some to put in the freezer. I am also going to call Vanessa and get her recommendations for the filling for my trifle. I already have a great recipe for coconut whipped cream, but did not use it since the rest of the filling had cow dairy. I am including the whipped cream recipe below!

I really have enjoyed this vegan whipped cream recipe ( I can't believe the words enjoy and vegan just came out of my mouth in the same sentence). I saw it originally on Pinterest and I am including the blog site so that you can check out the step by step pictures with the recipe! The only change that I have made is that Trader Joes sells coconut cream which cuts out the step of putting the coconut milk in the fridge overnight! Hope you enjoy!

http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/30/coconut-whipped-cream-a-step-by-step-photo-tutorial/

Have a great day. Talk to you soon!

Life is good!!!!

Hello! Hope your week is going well! I have had a GREAT week! I cannot believe the difference in my life! One week on Vanessa’s plan and I feel great!!!

I’ve lost 3 pounds!!!! But even better, I have no edema. I can see my ankles even after 12 hours on my feet. My rings are loose!!!! My knees don’t ache and my back doesn’t hurt! It has been years since I have felt this good.

The best part to me is that I don’t feel like I am on a diet. Vanessa assured me that this is a lifestyle change not a diet. Diets don’t work! I have not been hungry once this week!

One thing that I have learned though is that I have to think ahead.  Being gluten and cow dairy free is not difficult, however, it is sometimes a challenge to find a quick snack when you are out and about.  I am learning to take some portable snacks with me in my purse. I take nuts or my homemade trail mix with me in case I get hungry!

When I last blogged, I was working on my meals for the week. I wake up at 4am and I am at work at 0545 everyday. I get home somewhere between 5 and 7pm every night.  I do NOT want to cook when I get home. And as far as packing a lunch in the morning…. forget it! So, many years ago when my girls were small, I began cooking for the entire week on the weekends. Now, I am so glad that I have developed that habit.

This weekend, I prepared the following:

Grilled chicken breasts

Field peas,

Butter Beans,

Quinoa (for those of you who are not familiar with this food, it is a complete protein that I use in place of rice),

Spaghetti sauce

Spaghetti squash (again I use instead of pasta),

Red Curry Thai butternut squash soup,

Blue Cheese dressing for salad

Caesar Salad dressing for salad

Once I have everything cooked, I put it in Tupperware containers and place in the refrigerator. When I get home in the evening, I place dinner on a plate and microwave till hot. While dinner is heating, I pack our lunches from the menu above. I try to cook enough of each thing to feed us one dinner and one lunch each. On Thursdays we have a smorgasbord of whatever is left over and we go out to eat on Friday!

I had a great time cooking this weekend because I got to experiment using some of the different ingredients that Vanessa and I discussed to replace dairy and wheat.  The blue cheese dressing was the biggest success!  It tastes even better that the original recipe that I had. I used goat milk blue cheese, coconut buttermilk, and a goat milk sour cream. Shank complimented it several times and does not know that it is not cow dairy!

Life is good! Speaking of life being good, I want to show you the loves of my life!

Have a GREAT rest of the week! Talk to you soon!

Everything is not what it seems!

Things have been rather hectic and crazy this week! Fall is definitely underway! I am getting the house organized and enjoying cooking in my new kitchen.

I am now 6 days into my new gluten free and cow dairy free life. I have to say that it hasn’t been as difficult as I thought. In fact, I am rather excited with all the information that I am learning about gluten and dairy intolerance.

The hardest thing so far has been learning to read labels. Vanessa explained that it is extremely important to read EVERY ingredient label prior to eating a commercially prepared food product. I have been amazed at how many processed foods use wheat as filler!  Guess what the biggest shocker this week has been:

  

That’s right who would have guessed. I went out for Sushi thinking it would be a safe option. Of course, I called and talked to Q first to see if there was any hidden wheat/gluten that I should be aware of. That’s when I learned that some soy sauces are made from wheat.  Ok, ok don’t panic! You can buy gluten free soy sauce! It is called Tamari. Also, Q let me know that I needed to stay away from the imitation crabmeat in the sushi. Wheat is used as filler!!! With this information under my belt, I went out to eat for the first time gluten free.  Success!!!!

The second hardest thing that I have encountered is planning ahead. Shank and I are in the habit of eating out A LOT!!! This is suddenly changing. Don’t get me wrong, I can still eat out…. However there is no more swinging through a fast food drive through or ordering pizza. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the hospital cafeteria is not gluten/dairy free friendly. So, this weekend, I am planning a whole week of meals and cooking. Believe it or not, this is very exciting for me for several reasons. 1. Because I love to cook and 2. Because I won’t have to cook for the rest of the week!!!!! I don’t like coming in at night after working all-day and cooking and cleaning up afterwards. I am going to be able to just heat up 2 plates, eat, and put the plates in the dishwasher! I think this may be really good for my budget also! I will pack our lunches while dinner is being warmed up every night!

I will let you know what my first week’s menu was and how it goes in my next post!

I am really excited about my next meeting with Vanessa. We are going grocery shopping! She has promised me that for every item that I can no longer have, she will introduce me to a better tasting alternative! Wow, if I can truly eat better tasting things than I am accustomed to and FEEL better, this is going to be life changing.

Starting the first day of my new life!

Where do I begin???? I am excited and nervous at the same time. What a day!

I met with Vanessa today to get her recommendations on my health. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. I am not really sure what I was expecting, but my experience today was totally different from what I had envisioned. We sat down and began to talk. Once again, I feel like I have known her forever and that in her eyes, I am a person and not a number. Looking back, I think that was the most surprising part of the entire visit. The only reference that I have to compare to is the communication that I have had within the medical community. Do you know what I mean? Usually when I go to the doctor for a follow-up, I spend several hours in the physician’s office but in reality, I spend less than 10 minutes actually talking to the physician. The physician will tell me that my results are back and then do one of three things: Tell me everything is normal and to come back when needed, tell me that something is abnormal and write a prescription for a medication, or tell me that I need further tests and to see the person at the front desk to arrange for the test.

Since Vanessa is not a physician, she takes a different approach. First she explained how she had reviewed my entire medical chart that I had provided, including my medications, lab results, and family history. She explained that after doing this she spent time researching all of the findings. At this point, she pulled out a huge dossier that she had designed just for me and we began to go through it.

She explained to me that her goal is to increase my health through the use of diet and lifestyle change. Based on my health issues, my lab results and my physical complaints, she recommends that I change my dietary habits. Specifically removing gluten and cow dairy from my diet. At first, I thought I would pass out from shock, and let's face it fear. My 2 favorite things in the world bread and dairy! But she immediately assured me that I was capable of achieving this and that she would be with me every step of the way.

She told me that she has been gluten and dairy free due to being diagnosed with Celiac disease and that she would not take anything away without giving me multiple food options to replace the items removed.

The dossier had important information about going gluten free and she even had recipes and daily meal plans if I felt that I needed a structured plan to work from.

After talking for a bit, I decided that I want to give this a try.  I am tired of feeling physically ill, overweight and being exhausted all of the time. I am also tired of feeling that my life is out of control.

The next step is one that I am really looking forward to! Vanessa is taking me shopping! She is going to help me learn to shop gluten and dairy free and is going to help me learn to make better nutritional choices.

Before leaving, I was given phones numbers where I could reach Vanessa and Q if I should have issues or questions and Vanessa told me that I could text her at any time and she would text me back!

This is the first time in a long time that I am actually hopeful and excited about changing my lifestyle. Let me know what you think!

Next time you hear from me, I will be gluten and cow dairy free!

Confessions of a person with OCD

 For those of you who don’t know me personally, I think that you probably need a History 101 on Cay in order to appreciate what I did today:

 Hi! My name is Cay and I am extremely OCD when it comes to my personal life! I cannot tolerate disorganization! I have been this way my entire life. I am a type A personality.  As a child I would spend hours in my room cleaning and organizing my things.  I would pretend that I lived in a tiny one-room apartment in New York City and I would work to get everything neat and tidy! Sad, huh? My play kitchen was in the closet! (That way, if unexpected guests arrived and the dishes weren’t finished and put away, I could just close the door and pray that no one asked for an imaginary glass of water!)

I am also a list maker. As a child, I would drive my mother insane. She would send me to my room for a task such as cleaning out my clothes that I had outgrown or didn’t wear any more and she says that she would not see me for several hours and would think that I must be doing an amazing job. However, when she went in to check on me, I was still making lists trying to decide the best way to tackle the project. This was and still is true about everything that I set out to do!  When I have a project, I start by imagining the end result and work backwards. I lay in bed at night thinking about different options to my latest and greatest task!

Oh, one other fact that you may not know: we just moved into a new house.

Now that you have all of the facts, today I had a custom closet put in. The old Cay would have done it herself (yes, I am a DIYer), but the new Cay, the one seeking sanity (for herself and Shank) decided to bite the bullet and pay someone to do it.

A quick History 101 on Shank: He is the most wonderful man I know. He is bright, intelligent, funny, a great money and finance person, and best of all, he tolerates all of my eccentricities! He however is not OCD about anything except money. Don’t get me wrong he is not a slob. He just doesn’t care about perfection in anything except his finances and his appearance.

So today the closet went in. I have been planning this closet since July. I have thought about the arrangement and layout and have been to the Container Store too many times to count.  I spent numerous nights trying to decide between birch or white… single or double hang…. how many and what size drawers. After the installer left, I spent the afternoon putting everything back in the closet.  I am tired but happy. Even though I am excitedly anticipating the matching shoeboxes that are to come and Shank refuses to divide and remove the plastic from his dry cleaning so that I can color coordinate his shirts, it is finished!  The old Cay would be stressed beyond belief about the plastic and the lack of color coordinating, but the new Cay is taking a deep breath and moving on.  Check out the new closet!

Beginning the road to recovery

I met with Vanessa today! What a great experience! I was very surprised when I arrived at the office. I was expecting a typical Dr.’s office environment. I could not have been more mistaken.

Q met me in the lobby to welcome me and to show me around the office.  There is a beautiful kitchen that I am told is where they host classes on healthy cuisine and meal planning. I then had the pleasure of spending time getting acquainted with Q in her office. She asked questions about my life and I could tell that she was genuinely interested in me as a person. I am sure that I don’t have to tell you how unusual and unique that is for a healthcare facility. She explained that I could call her anytime I had questions and that she would love to talk to me and answer any questions.

Suddenly, the tiny whirlwind known as Vanessa comes in. She has the biggest presence in the smallest body that I have ever seen. She is like an animated porcelain doll! I was invited into Vanessa’s comfortable “office” complete with stuffed chairs.

Vanessa and I sat and began talking. She asked me questions that no one had ever asked me before. She wanted to know about my life and lifestyle. She asked about my husband, children, grandchildren and parents. We discussed my genealogy and family history.  We moved from the topic of family to questions about hobbies, work/ life balance and home life. 

Then Vanessa asked me questions about my physical health. I was amazed and extremely happy when instead of cutting me off in mid sentence or telling me “ oh, that’s normal for a woman your age”, she instead listened and assured me that there had to be an explanation for my symptoms. Never once did she tell me that what I was experiencing was normal, nor did she make light of my symptoms.  She also reviewed the medical information that I had brought with me. It was the first time in my adult life that I was able to describe my concerns and feelings without being cut off or made to feel that I was racing a clock. In fact, when I entered the office, Vanessa took her watch off and put in out of sight.

When I finished telling her what I felt were my physical and health issues, she asked me several questions. She then told me that she thought she had an idea of what was going on with me and that she was going to research and review everything and she would like for me to come back in a week.

I left the office feeling like a weight had been lifted! Never in my entire adult life has anyone in the health field really listened to me. I have always felt rushed and herded like cattle in healthcare settings.  As I started the engine of my car, I looked at the clock. I had been with Vanessa for almost 2 hours.  She had given me 2 hours of her time and actually LISTENED to me!!!! The funny thing about it was, I did not feel like I was talking to a healthcare provider, I felt like I was with an old friend.

I can’t wait to go back next week to find out what her plan is.

My India Association Family

The more I think about the celebration yesterday, the more I realize how much my India Association family means to me. We always have fun and I really enjoy being with them. I decided my recount of the day was just not complete with out the  pictures from the set up and events at the India Association tent! So here are my pictures! Thanks to all of you who have accepted me as one of your own! 

Love yall!!!!

Celebrate Nashville!

We spent yesterday at Centennial Park in Nashville at the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival! Wow did I have a great time! This event is hosted by the City of Nashville and is free! It promotes and educates the population about the numerous and diverse cultures in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

The weather was beautiful, the food was out of this world, and the entertainment was phenomenal! Shank and I were there with the rest of our India Association family hosting a tent with free Mehndi painting (Henna tattoos).

For anyone interested in learning more about the diverse culture in Nashville, check out the

 Celebrate Nashville website and another great website to check out is the Conexion website

Words cannot describe the festival, so I am including pictures from yesterday! Enjoy!