Looking For Space John Denver

A hundred years ago, when I was young, this song reassured me that I wasn't the only lost soul in the world.

When I heard that John Denver had been killed in a plane crash I cried.
It is 14 years ago today, and I still cry.

Wordpress

I've moved!
At least I think I have :-)
Check me out at http://ninehundredandseventytwelverecipes.wordpress.com

Please! xxx

First things first...

Blogger is not letting me make comments to anyone else who is on blogger. I'm grumpy about that. I don't want to lose touch with anyone and I know what a thrill it is when I get a comment, and I'm assuming it's the same for you?? And, I have OPINIONS - and no-one at home listens to me... so you are important! :-)
Sleeping Horse has offered to loan me her son (his techy expertise ladies! - control those grubby minds!) - he is to help me shift everything to Wordpress... cos I sure as heck can't do it myself - what do you think? - is it a good idea??

Diet up-date.... sigh

No weight loss ... no gain either, so I guess it's not all bad...
I still feel very much better overall - this is in spite of being glutened at dinner in Wellington over the weekend. I'm still not fully recovered from that, but if you discount the explosive gut issues (tmi? - lol) I feel great. No brain fog, no mid-afternoon fatigue, I'm sleeping really well... and the food is great!
I'm not going to lie - I do wish I had lost some weight and I guess it would be easy to say this isn't working, let's try something else... but I've done everything else, and that didn't work either. At least this way I don't feel deprived and cranky - and feeling good is not to be sneezed at!

And while we're talking about diet food - have you seen this?

Available at a supermarket near you! Inside are two little pottles of guacamole - avocado in perfect condition in your fridge any time you want it! - and it's gluten free too! Yay! (I use far too many exclamation points - if you could see me in person, you would know that I wave my hands when I talk... if you tied my hands behind my back I would be unable to speak )

Enough about me and my diet. Happy Birthday to Her Majesty and thank you ma'am for the holiday, which we will spend tidying the garden and cleaning leaves out of the guttering... and packing our bags for Rarotonga (www.royaletakitumu.com)

Wellington

There is a saying that is world famous in New Zealand... "You can't beat Wellington on a good day."
It's true! We went to Wellington on Saturday for the Wine and Food Show, which was ok, but I don't know that we'd go again.
Wellington however, is probably my favourite place in the world. It's a compact, friendly place. And it's beautiful. This is the view from our hotel window. The tinted glass makes it look a little dark. Actually it was the most glorious autumn day - the breeze a little cool - but otherwise PERFECT

Tagged - gaaarrrgh!

Michele the Bodacious Boomer tagged me!  Eeeek! Now I have to answer some questions and tag eight (8)! new people, who have not already been tagged... I'm not sure I know 8... eek, the pressure...sigh...

Ok, so...
1. Do you think you are hot?
Not unless you count the hot flushes. (Too much information? - well too bad - I didn't start this!)

2. Upload a photo that you are using right now.
Ahem, using for what exactly? There is the one I am using as a 'before' to spur on my new way of eating... and I'm showing no-one that! - no matter how much you tickle me. I've tried taking self-portraits to use as a profile shot, but I always look like an ax-murderer (don't ask me how I know what an ax-murderer looks like), so this is the photo I like most right now...

3. When was the last time you ate chicken?
Tuesday... chicken thighs wrapped in bacon... I am loving this caveman diet. For more information see www.marksdailyapple.com. It sounds crazy, but is really working :-)

4. What song/songs have you listened to lately?
Abba, greatest hits - as I exercised on my rebounder (rebounders (mini-trampolines) are perfect for me, as I have arthritis in my knee and hip since breaking my ankle in a nasty, twisty two breaks kind of way a few years ago)

5. What were you thinking while doing this?
I hate exercise, I hate exercise, I hate exercise....

6. Do you have any nicknames
I was (nick)named after a race-horse which had a name similar to mine.... and, of course, we looked alike - tall, long skinny legs, flowing auburn hair (NOT! - I've never been tall, long legged or skinny in my life!) ... but she ran like me... slowly... so we had ONE thing in common. That nickname is my password on lots of stuff - so I can't tell you.
Rick sometimes calls me Petal - but only when he can't remember my real name...

7. Tag eight blogger friends

Well I can't tag Michele... OR Susan...

Ina at http://glutenfreedelightfullydelicious.com
Sleeping Horse at http://sleepinghorse.wordpress.com
Emm at http://mydarlinglemonthyme.blogspot.com
Kim at http://keaslife.blogspot.com
Michelle at http://primaljourney.blogspot.com
Jenny at http://thebloggess.com
Tara at http://teaandcookiesblog.com
Tom at http://tallcloverfarm.com


Ok, so I cheated... some of these are people I stalk - they don't know me hardly AT ALL, but... I was struggling... really, really struggling

Who is listed at number 1?
Ina - is my much sweeter twin sister. We have the same cat, the same pots and pans... Ina lives in British Colombia, does yoga and blogs about recipes and life. She really is a MUCH nicer person that me, but I love her anyway...

Say something about #5
I don't really 'know' Michelle. She is a young New Zealander who has lost a ton of weight following a pimal/paleo diet - now she is encouraging other people to do the same thing. Check out her latest blog entry which has before and after photos of her friend's weightloss success... that will be ME soon. But without the photos... :-) Inspiring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did you get to know #3?
Reading a magazine in my doctor's waiting room, I came to an article about Emm. Emm is a young NZ mum, now living in Perth, Australia (but we won't hold that against her). Emm writes a beautiful blog about food and life.

How about 4?
I can't remember how I found Kim. I think she probably made a comment to someone and I stalked her back to her place. We connect because we are both cat ladies. Kim has her own cats, but she still makes the effort to rescue waifs and strays. The world needs more people with Kim's kindness.

Leave a message for #6
Jenny is a rock star in the blogging world. I'm too in awe of her, to talk to her - though I have (once or twice).  If anyone leaves me a comment I am so thrilled. Sometimes I even get two comments!!! Happy Dance... Jenny gets HUNDREDS of comments... on EACH post! She is awesome, and FUNNY! ... and she will never see this :-)

Have a lovey-dovey message for #2
SH you are a brave girl, sharing your journey as you cope with coeliac disease with such honesty. It isn't easy. But your learning helps me learn. You have no idea how much I look forward to your posts (and I really hope you don't stop blogging after the first year!)

Do 7 and 8 have similarities?
Both Tea and Tom are American. Both are sweethearts... both tell great stories and take great photos of their lives and surroundings...
Actually they are completely different. :-)


TAG! Your turn xxx

Found it!

Do you remember how he lost the mouse?.... well I found it....  gaaarrgh! Peg on nose stuff. I guess this would count as Primal?? - NOT that it will be eaten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Urk.

Autumn Garden

Rocket (argula) nearest the camera, and Coriander (Cilantro) and parsley, on a table under the kitchen window. Coriander/parsley have survived having Percy nest his large rear-end on them...

The mint has recovered from a drastic pruning at beginning of Autumn.

They say rosemary grows really well in a place where a woman is in charge.... don't tell Rick!

We're hoping for carrots - cats and drainage issues permitting...

NZ native spinach, which has appeared by magic. You pinch out the growing tips and steam it - delicious - with none of the furry teeth feeling that you get with regular spinach.

Progress Report

I've been hesitating to write about it - just in case I jinx myself...
I've lost 1 inch off my waist and 2kg so far.
I feel great. I'm not the smallest bit hungry, I'm sleeping really well generally (unless the students over the back start shouting at 2am - as they did last night!) and my tummy no longer looks 'pregnant'.
And as an extra bonus - my elbow and shoulder no longer hurt :-) .  I ripped all the muscles in my left arm a couple of years ago when I shifted furniture in order to paint walls. I had physio, but it never really came right - until now. You don't realise how pain affects you, until it stops - I know, slow learner!! :-)
The weightloss has been completely painless, and my Mum is interested in giving it a go, so all is good.
I'm taking photos, but doubt they will ever be published! They are a HUGE incentive though :-)

Steak and Kidney Stew

This Primal eating thing is going really well... mostly.
I started out eating quite a lot. Now I find I'm not eating that much at all...
Because I have some weight to lose (and a holiday involving swimsuits coming up), I'm trying to keep the carbs to a bare minimum - which means I'm eating quite a lot (compared to before) of meat, fish, poultry and eggs.
I think it might be going easier for me because I was already gluten-free, and because I don't really eat a lot of grains at the moment at all.
I had a headache last week, so had a quiet day. The headache passed and apart from that, I have been feeling very much better.
I made steak and kidney stew in the slow-cooker.
I cut some beef (blade steak I think) into cubes, added some onion, garlic and tomato paste, added some gluten-free stock (home made) and cooked it all on slow for about 4 hours.
Then I chopped up some kidneys and put them in, stirred it all around and added some sliced leeks too.
I cooked that for another couple of hours.
I seasoned it with salt and pepper.
It is really good - I froze some and have eaten the rest over a few days.
I'd take a photo, but... it's ... brown.... I need to figure out how to make brown stew look as good as it tastes :-)

Last night we ate out. We were careful to make sure it was gluten-free.
I ate a small meal, but it did include sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots and peas.
I woke this morning with severe cramps and an upset gut.
I've been reading some of the primal people's blogs and they suggest that too many carbs can do that to a person. In my 'old' life I would regularly have eaten as  much (which is perhaps why I have weight to lose???) , but I have learned my lesson and won't do that again! LOL
It's all a learning curve - but I really am feeling good so far...
PS This blog started as a place to put all my many recipes, but has skewed off in a different direction... My Mum (who to the best of my knowledge has never seen any blog - let alone mine!) tells me that all bloggers are self-absorbed...  are we? ... and is that necessarily such a bad thing? What do you think?

Animals in Japan

My friend Kyoko sent me this email.
If you would like to, please add your 'signature' to the petition. The animals need all the help they can get. Thanks.

Hi Janet,

How are you? Has winter come to PN yet?
It's been 2 months since the catastrophe, and the nightmare still goes on in Fukushima where the nuclear plant has been in critical condition.
There are still a dozen of people who live within 20km from the plant, so called radioactive contaminated zone. They live there with their strong determination that they wouldn't leave their family or farm animals behind. But the government decided to make it a law for these people (without animals) to evacuate from the area within 20km from the plant. This law makes NO ONE can stay and go in the area except the workers in the plant. This means the animal owners have to leave their animals behind to death and no volunteers can go take care of or rescue the animals left their. There are hundred thousands of animals there! Now so many farm animals and pets have been dying of hunger, most of them stuck indoor. Many volunteer people (no government involved!) have headed to rescue as much as animals as possible so far and about 2 thousands pets have been rescued. But there are still more waiting. Could you please access the site below and sign for the petition to reach our voice to the cruel government and its leader, prime minister of Japan. They are trying to starve all the animals left to death in this area. There are so many volunteers willing to go rescue with lots of food and water and love! We can save these animals and they don't have to die, but the government won't let them go! These animals were not killed by the disaster or radiation but will be by the government. This is insane. This will be recorded as the cruelest animal massacre in our history.

I'd very very appreciate you if you could forward this to as many people as you know, if you agree to the petition.
love, kyoko

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/26/save-animals-in-Japan-evacuation-zone/

Percy

I was watching a movie recently. (Am I the last person on earth to see The Time Traveller's Wife?)

Eric Bana - Oh My!


I heard a strange noise....snoring

MEN!

What to do?

We went for dinner at a friend's home on Saturday.
They are fantastic cooks - the Masterchefs of our group.
They know I have celiac disease and what it means.
They told me to scrape the crumbs off the top, so that I could eat the fish.
I did.
The acid burn started within 10 minutes and the tummy grumbles within half an hour.
I took 3 losec when we got home, but still had a bad night.
Sunday spent close to the loo, and I was tired and VERY grumpy and depressed.
What would you do - in the same position?
I didn't want to hurt the feelings of these lovely people who had gone to so much trouble for all of us.
But, I don't want to be unwell either.

We have a party coming up on Friday - to celebrate the royal wedding.
We have a brunch today to decide Friday's menu - it will be a kind of pot-luck meal... Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Gravy... Trifle... probably nothing I can eat...
Would it be rude of me to bring a dish I can share... PLUS a picnic box for myself?
I don't want to call attention to myself - there will be heaps of people there - it's not a sit-down meal...

What do you think?
What should I do?

I am so lucky

and this is why...

http://www.moreish.co.nz

If I was a critter

I'd be a hedgehog.
Prickly on the outside... soft in the middle...

My Nana gave me this when I was 18. I suspect she'd be disappointed that I haven't changed...

What I do all day...

Feed the wild birds

The trees in our street are losing their leaves... the leaves blow down our driveway...

I swept them up and put them on the veggie garden...

I cleaned the windows... if you look carefully you can see the birds eating their seed....

I watched the birdies while I made fish pie...

Oh, yeah, I also did two loads of laundry, made a big pot of chicken stock, did the supermarket shopping, dead-headed the hydrangeas, checked up on an elderly neighbour, did 2 hours of typing for Rick and listened politely as an Insurance Broker told me - if anything happened to Rick, I  might have to get a job.
She put me down on a form as "A Professional Executive"... even though...of course... titter... you are not." I asked did they not have a title 'housewife' - her reply? "Well, yes they do, but it doesn't sound as good, does it?"

Sounds just fine to me....

I made her change the form.

Maybe one day, I won't need to have a star at all.

What do you do all day? Is a question I dread. When I am asked this question, I know the asker actually wants to know how I can justify my existence when I don't go out to work, in order to earn money, in order to have my lovely lifestyle. Why do I get to have a lovely lifestyle, when 'they' do not?
A wise friend tells me not to feel bad, because the askers of this question are simply jealous. While I'm sure she is right (and she has a similar lifestyle to mine) - the question still makes me cringe. How am I supposed to respond? And, more importantly - why, WHY do I feel I have to justify myself?
We have made choices, Rick and I, that enable us to live the way we do. Choices and circumstances have lead to this way of life. We chose to not have children. A choice for which we have been criticised. I have been told I have a small life because I don't have kids (thank you, old friend).
I didn't leave my job - the one I loved - it left me, and in no shape to get another. Rick works all the hours God sends - and then some - in a job he loves and at which he is very,very good. I help him all I can. If I could figure a way to force him to relax, I might be happier with myself, but I guess I can't have everything!
My health over the past few years has been pretty rubbish - though it's getting better all the time (thank you, new friends, for the advice and encouragement).
The bottom line? I do have a good life. I know it, I am greatful every day. And - if I'm allowed to make a belated resolution for this year - I choose to not feel guilty for not working three jobs, when I simply don't need to. I choose to not feel guilty, period.
For many years I have kept what is apparently called a 'commonplace' book. It is like a diary, but not really. My commonplace books (I have three so far) are simply notebooks in which I write quotes I find, pictures cut from magazines that appeal to me for some reason, passages from books I have read that have a special meaning for me. If you read my notebooks, you would know more about me and the way I think and feel - than if you actually met me! This is one of the quotes -

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to give myself a gold star for being ordinary, and maybe one of these days I'll give myself a gold star for being extraordinary - for persisting. And maybe one day I won't need to have a star at all.  Sue Bender

I am a natural hermit

I did the supermarketing today. Shopping is not really my thing. I know it is one of the most popular hobbies in the world... I don't understand those people. I know some people who go to the mall and just wander around... I go through the mall at a speed so fast I blur...  So, a good day shopping - is a really good day.
I found this stuff

Gluten-free Soy Sauce!!! From the Supermarket!!! No more going out of my way to get the seriously expensive Tamari Sauce! Yay!

This next one is not from the supermarket. This is from a butcher/deli I go to. They are young people who run an old-fashioned style butcher shop, with personal service and top-quality produce - most of it organic, free-range and really good. I went for some meat and some Proper Crisps.... which are delicious, but they didn't have any in stock (coming soon though). BUT, the did have these:

Kumara is sweet potato, and these are fab! Thank you Moreish - you guys rock!

Facebook! Bah!!

Am I the only Noddy in the world who can't figure out how to make Facebook work? No-body laugh! I think I might just stick to Blogging.
We're going out for dinner tonight. I have phoned the restaurant, they say they have one or two gluten-free options on the menu and please would I talk to the wait-staff when I order. Ok. But, how hard would it be to just put a small label on the gluten-free options?
I think I will end up eating steak and salad - usually the only thing I'm confident in ordering these days... but I WILL check.

Food is about love and nurturing.

On with the cooking. I've made risotto before, but only by baking it in the oven - no stirring stock in ladle-by-ladle for this girl..... Until now. I was in cruise-mode, wanted to take my time, make it last. I There was a little bit of fantasy involved too - I imagined myself doing this from a farm-house in Tuscany. I would love to live that kind of simple life, but here in NZ - I would love to visit Italy, but NZ is home.
 Of course I understand that the simple life is hard, hard work. But so is this life - not mine - I'm a stay-at-home mother of two cats for heaven's sake, but I'm married to a man who is married to his job. This has its advantages  - it meant, when I was made redundant, that I didn't have to get another job - and as my job had taken its toll on me (especially in the lead-up to redundancy), I chose not to.
I keep house for us, I do his paperwork, I try to make his life run as smooth as possible. But I worry about him. He works long hours. Even when he gets home he is still thinking about work. He works part of most weekend. When he's not working, he sleeps (it's called watching sport on tv). Last winter he had something of a melt-down. It was nearly the end for us, we survived, but I can see the pressure building up again and it worries me. It's not good enough. I want more for him. I want different for him.
And since he doesn't listen to me, the only thing I can do for him is cook something nice. He likes to eat nice food. This was nice.

Zucchini Risotto with Prawns

the white part of 1 leek - finely sliced
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
300g arborio rice
1 wine-glass of dry white wine
1.5 litres of gluten free stock - I use the Massel brand - heated in a separate pot
1 medium-ish zucchini - thinly sliced into batons
80g parmesan, plus extra to serve - grated
50g butter

Heat some oil (about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil) in a large pan.
Add the leek, garlic and rice and cook a couple of minutes, stirring to coat all the rice with oil
Add the glass of wine and stir until absorbed
Add the stock a ladleful at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next.
Continue, stirring until almost all the stock is gone.
With a couple of ladlesful to go, add the zucchini
Stir to combine and continue adding the stock until it is gone. This should all take between 15 and 20 minutes.
Add the butter and then the cheese.
Cover and keep warm

Prawns
Stir fry some prawns in a non-stick pan over medium heat until opaque 3-4 minutes.
Serve the risotto topped with prawns and sprinkled with some extra parmesan.

So, it all went well...

the results are in and, thank goodness, no sign of anything nasty at all in my bowel, but I have to have an ultrasound scan to check the rest of my pelvic area.
BUT. I did throw a little hissy-fit at the specialist (eek - must've been the drugs)
Nice man, he came in to give me the results. I told him I had been talking via the internet with other people with celiac disease... He looked surprised and said "Do you have celiac - I thought the biopsies came back normal?"
Cue my hissy-fit.
HE TOLD ME he had seen the damage to my gut that only celiac disease causes!
HE TOLD ME the biopsies were just a formality - that he had seen the damage, therefore the disease was advanced.
HE TOLD ME!
I'm afraid I might've shouted.

He blinked a bit and then said - you must be one of the funny ones - we get them sometimes and we never know what to tell them...
I said "You tell them they have celiac disease. You tell them if they give up gluten they will feel very much better in a very short time."
Fucking Hell! (Pardon the language, but REALLY!)
He said he would do that in future - that I had obviously done a lot of research about the condition and that he was pleased the gluten-free diet was working for me, then he got out of there pretty sharpish....
Sigh!