Managing Life With Bumps In The Night

So, the bumps had returned. So I did the best thing I knew to do: I went online in search for answers! Well, sort of.  In all honesty, I went online to get a phone number for an allergist in my Hometown and did what any reasonable adult would do: called my mom and asked her to set up the appointment for me, even though I had looked the number up.  I got scared so I had her do it. Pathetic, I know.  But, in all fairness, the allergist's office has been my dad's family's doctor for over 50 years! So my mom, dad, and brother are all well acquainted with the office and I knew she would have more sway about getting me in on the exact and only days I would be available for several months. 

And sure enough, she came through! They scheduled me, somewhat unwillingly, for allergy tests over the exact two days that I was planning to be in Hometown.  They told my mom that there was a good chance the tests would be inconclusive, but I persevered and thought it would be worth going.  So I stopped my medicine for a few days, became quite irritable and bumpy and itchy, and then went and got a lot of scratches and a whole bunch of food injections.   The tests showed that I have food sensitivities to, oh, pretty much everything that any normal person would like to eat.  

Seriously.  I'm sensitive to wheat, coconut, garlic, blackberry, cauliflower, strawberry, pear, pea, kidney bean, grape, red and green pepper, chile powder, brewers yeast, oat, rice, banana, pecan, spinach, apple, celery, coffee, watermelon, cow milk, beef, lobster, shrimp, tuna, halibut, apricot and peach.  

If you made it through that list you will probably be thinking two different thoughts, simultaneously. Those are 1. Man, that is a lot of food; and 2. There must still be tons of other foods that you are not sensitive to and therefore, what is with all the whining?

I know, because I had these same thoughts for about a month before I got a handle on myself. For a while, I tried to eat other foods they tested that I had no reaction to. Things like chicken, corn, pinto bean, cherry, etc.  And I think I was doing okay, but the bumps kept coming and I kept cheating on things like coffee because it can be really discouraging to limit your diet. 

But eventually, I realized I needed to see a nutritionist to figure out how to truly eliminate the foods I knew I was sensitive to and how to still eat a relatively healthy diet.  The dietician taught me a number of things I never knew, introduced me to foods I hadn't heard of, and advised me of other foods that weren't tested but were in a like family to those I were so I could stay away from them too. 

I think it has been almost two months since I saw her, and since that time, I have been doing better at staying with my safe foods and not cheating by eating unsafe foods.  I did have one more pretty bad attack and have had some other slip-ups, but overall I'm doing okay with "safe" foods, many prescription drugs, and now, some digestive enzymes.

I'm not sure how long it will take to get over this bout of illness or if it will be something I live with for many years.  Right now, this combination of things seems to be working, and I'm trying many different types of cooking and recipes that I likely would have before these issues. 

We were trying to generally eat healthy for a while before the bumps started, but in all honesty, I wasn't deterred enough from things like cheese to really eliminate them.  But now that I have essentially been forced to rethink food and diet, I don't even miss most of those things we have eliminated.  It may be partly because it makes me feel better as far as hives go, but I think I generally feel better in life, too.  So I'll keep eating "safe foods" until something changes, and that makes things like preparing my own Thanksgiving a lot less worry free, since I knew exactly what was in everything I was eating. 

Stuffed. In A Really Good Way.

Some of these 

 

Stuffed with a little of this

And arranged like so

Makes for a happy, delicious weeknight meal. 

Mmmm. 

Go ahead. You know you want some!   I'm here. And I'm still writing, 

Traditional Green Food.

I don't believe I have ever had the traditional Irish corned beef and cabbage dish that is so popular on St. Patrick's Day. I know a few places in my town that make it, but I'm not sure I'd like it. But then again, I probably would, because I like most foods.  So have you ever had corned beef and cabbage? On Saint Patrick's Day or even on any other day? 
Maybe you have made the dish and care to share a recommendation about whether I should try it, and maybe you even have a recipe.
There is a specialty foods store in town that has been advertising its corned beef so I might really only have to learn how to make the cabbage. This is all assuming that Mr. Ruggedly Handsome would consider eating it and assuming that I have time to whip it together tomorrow.
Anyhow share your recipes and if I make something I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Snack. Attack.

Well hello there! This is Katie, your blogging friend that has been posting infrequently since school started back. Remember me? Ahh, surely it has not been that long. Either way, it really is lovely to see you again.

While you all have been busy reading other peoples blogs or going to school too, I have been reading and writing and reading some more. Oh, and going to class too. And organizing my pretty new notebooks and folders of course.

It has been a good time really. But with all of that busy-ness, I have been getting oh so hungry!

And you know me, the queen of cooking... {ahem, the (maybe someday) aspiring queen of cooking, more like foodie} has had to develop some creative ways to satisfy the hunger when I don't have hours and hours to cook (and when I haven't made another quasi-meal plan or gone to the grocery store for the supplies). And that creative way has been to keep some good man-friendly and Katie-satisfying snacks around the house. (When I say, man-friendly, I mean that the Mr. has made a trip to the grocery store and purchased snacks he likes). These are some of my favorites: (p.s. no one paid me to say this, or anything else for that matter).

Triscuits! We both really like the cracked pepper and olive oil ones.

Carrots! I like 'em plain...

and the Mr. likes his with some Ranch dressing. Here is my favorite, not-made-from-scratch Ranch: Litehouse Homestyle Ranch. It tastes almost as good as if your momma had made it!

And my favorite variety of the Sunchips right now happens to be... oh, any kind really. But I always like Original and the Mr. really likes Peppercorn Ranch.

And to finish it off, I must say that I'm a big fan of the Tillamook. And we both especially swoon over the Colby Jack. Can't find it sliced, but Handsome is pretty good with a knife, so we manage (and it costs less not pre-sliced anyhow!).

Now, of course, we only eat these in moderation. And no one has been making any meals of it.

So... what are your favorite snacks?

I Guess I'm the Turkey. (The Long Road to Domestication. Take I).

Ok, first off, if you haven't given me feedback about yesterday's post, please go there and do so! Thanks. (This is because Handsome likes the bracelet, Kelley likes the pearls, and Brittney likes the black necklace... which means I am in the same situation I was before I posted! And... time is still running out!)
Anyhow.
Now its time for a Thanksgiving-related story.
For Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to my Nana and Grandad's house, as my family has done almost every year of my life. Handsome joined us for the very first time and it was a fun occasion for everyone. Not all of my aunts and uncles and cousins were there, so it was definitely more relaxed than usual.
Now, you see, I'm honestly not that big of a fan of "Thanksgiving". I know its a nice idea an all: giving thanks. And I really do like the idea of giving thanks to God, but that is something I would like to do all year, and not just on one day. (That is too much pressure for me for one day). So its a good concept, Thanksgiving, but I just haven't gotten into it.
I even like America, so you would think I would like a holiday that is purely American. But I just can't get into "Thanksgiving dinner." Being a foodie, self-proclaimed, if the food that goes with a holiday or memory is not that great, the I don't get into it. Okay, so I am completely and totally superficial in this way. (And I'm not exactly proud about it, but its me, for now. I'm being translucent here. Please don't pounce on me for it). So Thanksgiving dinner. I think turkey is okay, I'm kind of "bleh" about dressing or Thanksgiving-style gravy. I don't have courage to try ambrosia or cranberry sauce again, as I really disliked them both the last time I did try them.
Now, I don't want you to start thinking I am really negative so there are a few things that I do like: for instance, mashed potatoes and rolls! (Call me a carb girl?) And I will say I love the casseroles. I like brocolli and cheese, asparagus, and green bean! Any of the three is good with me, and its primarily the only thing you find much of on my plate each and every year. (Funny that those are, of course, the most calorie-dense foods! Eh., what can you do? Its only a few times a year that I actually eat the stuff and I could use a little extra padding during the cold winter months anyway!)
So this past year, like most years, my dear mom made a casserole and an appetizer tray to take to my Nana's. She and my brother were running a little late so my dad, husband, and I all made the short two-ish mile drive to the family affair to begin chatting before the meal.
Oh, I suppose I should go into the backstory, that is the actual story, because this isn't a story about the actual dinner, but about the pre and post dinners.
My mom was busy cooking up a storm Thanksgiving morning and our lunch at my dad's parents is usually around 12ish. Or 1ish. My mom and I and brother and husband all thought we were going around 1ish this year, but turns out, our presence was requested around 12:30. So my mom had arranged or planned her morning schedule for a 1ish arrival, but around 11 a.m. I happened to mention something about the time to my dad and he said we were to arrive earlier than we had been planning. So now you can understand more why my mom and brother were running late. She had planned out her shower, cooking, etc. all based on the 1ish time and didn't find out in enough time to rearrange.
But rearrange we tried! My dad and I started scurrying around in the kitchen with her to prepare the deviled eggs and other things my mom had planned for us to take. In the process of getting everything ready, we likely probably created more confusion than we helped, but we definitely tried to speed along the process.
My mom was going to make both an asparagus casserole and a green bean, because she loves me very much and likes for me to have some variety on my plate, but I thought that in the interest of time we should just make one. So while she was in another part of the house, I gathered all of the ingredients for the g.b. casserole. Now, this may have been the first time in eleven years that I had looked at the recipe for it, and I'm not sure if my mom has a written out recipe somewhere or not, but I decided to look to the wisdom of French's Fried Onions and got those ingredients ready.
Its a very simple recipe really. All you need are a couple of cans of green beans, some fried onions, a little milk, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a bit of pepper (I think).
So I gathered and got together the appropriate measuring utensils as well. And off I went. I had helped aplenty!
Some time later I returned to the kitchen to find my mother assembling the casserole. And I promptly made the statement about how she mustn't forget the milk in it and she said something to the point (or at least I took it this way) that she didn't realize you used milk in it. (Now, looking back I think she was just joshing with me because its such a simple recipe) but let's just say I took her to heart.
So flash forward, post-Thanksgiving, and post-me-not-enjoying-enough-g.b.-casserole-to-satisfy-myself-for-the-year-apparently, to Monday afternoon. As I sat, dazed and confused from a strange Sunday drive averting some snow storms that took a few hours extra than normal, and an *almost* sleepless night as I finished another paper that was due, and this girl was totally craving the g.b. casserole.
So I text Mr. Ruggedly-and-oh-so-sweet-sometimes Handsome and said that in my tired state I thought we should get a rotisserie chicken and I would make the g.b. casserole for dinner. So we went to the store to get the ingredients once he came home from work and we came home and I whipped it up. And I definitely didn't bother with the extra step of measuring the milk, since apparently that is how my mom does it, and she probably for sure knows more than French's because her casserole is completely creamy and delish!
So I separated the g.b.'s from the juice and I stirred the juice in with the condensed cream of mushroom soup, just like I thought I saw my mom doing last Thursday. We found a nice casserole dish to bake in and before we both knew it, dinner was cooking and things were starting to smell wonderful.
We cut the chicken and I spooned up the casserole after it finished baking. It looked completely divine. I could hardly wait to eat it as I had been craving it for a solid like four hours after the idea popped into my little head.
But when I tasted the first bite, it was, umm how do I say this? ... Well, it was not so creamy at all. And it mostly tasted like g.b.'s and did I mention it was so not creamy at all?
And I'm not even going to mention that the chicken was cold by the time we were eating.
And that is the moment I realized that I must not try to tell my mom things about how to do things in the kitchen, because she has soooo much more experience than me. And she must have been kidding with me. And gosh. dang. it. WHY did I not just add the milk?
So the moral of the story: Don't act like you know more than your mother in the kitchen. And when in doubt (ok, here I wasn't in doubt, because I thought I was doing what she would do, but in the event that you haven't made something on your own before) at least follow the recipe the first time. Or better yet, call your mother.
I'm here. And I'm still writing...
post. script. What makes this even more ironic, is that we had a "how-to" writing assignment in high school. The assignment was to write a recipe that was important to you and your family from Thanksgiving and give a "how-to" make it story. So of course, I wrote about g.b. casserole since it is basically the only Thanksgiving food I eat. And my teacher thought it was totally lame, because people were sharing their secret family recipes for sugary sweet potatoes or stuffing that their great-great-great-grandmother made perfectly ever since she arrived to the Untied States on the Mayflower(!) and here I was, sharing a recipe that apparently, every, American family knows and uses all the time. So the shame I feel now is even heightened by this!
second. post. script. Mr. Handsome gobbled it right up. And he was so sweet saying how he liked it and then he even ate it for leftovers the next night.

Another Something Delicious. Oreo Truffles.

So last weekend I had two "events" that required me to bring "something." One was a baby shower and I told a hostess I would bring something sweet and the other was Mr. Ruggedly Handsomes Church team v. church team softball duel and bbq. Seeing as I was making some sweetness for the baby shower, I figured I could just make double the fun and knock out both events with one recipe...

I have been wanting a reason to make those awesome cupcake pops Bakerella makes, so I really thought that is what I would do... that is, until I started going through her site! And happened upon these little round balls of fantastical joy for the mouth!
You may have tried them... or maybe you haven't. Either way, you should make them very soon because 1. they are super simple, 2. they don't require very many ingredients, and 3. oh. my. goodness. people will love you and sing your praises if you share. Okay, maybe they won't sing, but these little guys are a great ice-breaker and someone is surely going to want to be your new best friend for sharing.
I attached pictures, even though you can see them in at Bakerella!
Oreo TrufflesFor one batch you will need:

1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate bark

1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later. (I kept 14 because I doubled the recipe and had way too much cookie crumble left over.)

2. Crush remaining cookies (I started to do this in a ziplock but it wasn't working correctly so I whipped out my handy little food processor and did it that way. This was the part that was most difficult because none of the recipes I read told me whether it would work in a ziplock. Trial and error! :)) Then stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.

(It will look smooth after you finish with the food processor. Then you can add in the cream cheese!)

3. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (You can kind of see in the photo my cookie dough scooper... I used this to get the correct amount and then rounded them in my hands!)

4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration.

5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy! (You can see I topped some with the crumbled cookies, and others I left alone. I think they looked prettier with the topping, but they all taste very good!).

One batch makes about 36 truffles. (I doubled and ate a bit along the way and came up with 70 and had the perfect amount of dipping chocolate.)

And apparently, you can make them with any flavor of Oreos or Nutter Butters in milk or dark chocolate are supposed to be yummy too!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

So I promised a recipe (some time ago) and it is finally coming!
Handsome's birthday was August the 8th. We were planning to be out of town from August 7th(ish) to August 12th(ish), so seeing as I had nothing really going on except trip preparation on the 6th, I decided I could prepare a birthday dinner for the man. I bought some bone in rib eyes and stuff for a salad, but most importantly I bought fresh strawberries, fresh rhubarb, pie crusts (I know I was cheating), and a few other necessary ingredients for the man's birthday cake...eh hemm, pie.
Mr. Ruggedly Handsome's absolute, most favorite dessert is Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Prior to dating the man, I had never even heard of this. And after we started dating it took several trips to a local dessert bakery for me to gather enough courage to try it... but I did and now some three or four years later I have finally made one.
Some time before his birthday, but after we knew we would be on a trip, the Mr. requested a pie for his birthday. The idea of making him a pie was not that exciting to me for two reasons: 1. I don't know how. and 2. I don't really like pie. Actually, maybe three reasons with the final being 3. Handsome's mom makes him this pie for his birthday each year and everyone knows a good wife just really can't compete with a good mother as far as the man's favorite birthday dessert. (Oh, we don't all know this? Well, my man's mom is a really good cook... but I digress).
I searched the web and came up with this recipe which I thought looked simple enough to attempt, yet also delisch.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
• 1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
• Unbaked pastry for two-crust 9 inch pie

The instructions say to cut up the strawberries and rhubarb into little-ish pieces. Mix together with the sugar, quick cooking tapioca, salt, and orange peel.

You let this sit for 10 minutes while the oven is pre-heating to 400 degrees. It will get gooey.

I rolled out one of the pre-made Pillsbury piecrusts and floured it just a bit (per package instructions because of the sugary-ness of the pie).

Then you fill the empty crust with the cut up pieces of strawberry and rhubarb mixed with all the other ingredients.

Here you need to trim the edge of the bottom crust. Then you will cover with the second pie crust...

Fold the excess of the top crust underneath the bottom crust once its on.

Then you have to press it together, make it pretty and cut slits in the top to let heat escape while cooking.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30-40 minutes. And cool on a rack.

If you cut it while its hot it will be runny and gooey... but if you wait until it cools, it will stay together a little better and you can enjoy a piece. (I like mine with chocolate ice cream... He likes it with vanilla.)

So there you have it... Happy Birthday Pie for the most handsome man I know. We enjoyed it. I hope you will too.
I'm here. And I'm still writing...
P.S. I got the recipe from Simply Recipes (and their pictures are a little better than mine :)...)

Case of the Missing Food.

I am admittedly very hungry right now, but I'm going to a friends for dinner, so I should be trying to hold off. 
You see, we need to go to the grocery store, because our pantry/refrigerator/shelves/lazy susan seem to be missing food.
For instance... I finished off my last can of soup a few days ago, and not realizing this, came home on lunch one day hoping to make it, but there was none left.
And then today someone finished off my Sun Chips, between the time I left at lunch and was ready to eat a snack about 20 minutes ago. Dang it!
By the way: they were French Onion, not Sour Cream and Onion, so my mistake yesterday.
And this morning the fruit was missing! I suppose it was either thrown out or eaten between yesterday morning when I prepared some to take to work and this morning when I planned to do the same thing.
And the big block of cheeese I bought not too long ago, seems to have also disappeared. I have not cut many slices, so I can't imagine that one other person could have eaten the entire thing on his own, but I have been wrong before. 
And lastly, the milk is gone, so I had a little bit of dry cereal to fend off the grumblings in my stomach.
Except for the soup, do you see a pattern? 
My life does not revolve around food people. I promise it doesn't. Okay, actually maybe it kind of does, but that is besides my point here. 
My point is that my food is disappearing and I have never had this happen to me before!
So maybe tomorrow I'll go to the grocery store. 
That could possibly be fun. And I'll be able to replenish the food and hopefully not have it all disappear in a matter of days. 
But I'm going to have to start buying food that the man doesn't like so I can count on it being around when I need some nourishment.  I feel like I'm living with a teenage boy. Which I have done once in my life, when both my brother and I were living at my parents house, but my mom was better than either my husband or I at keeping the kitchen stocked and he and I didn't always choose the same foods for snacks / meals, unless they were chosen for us. So this is my first real experience with having the food I like just disappear. 
I would have investigated, but I'm fairly certain I know the perpetrator.
 So having just eaten peanut butter sandwiches and fruit and cereal and english muffins for basically all of my meals this week, except for two, I am excessively pumped about dinner. 
And maybe for breakfast, too... if I can manage to go out to a very sweet little diner that I have been wanting to go to for weeks.

Twittering Moment.

This post would probably be more tweet worthy than blog worthy, but I do not have Twitter, so here it is.
I can't decide if I prefer Tostitos with Salsa or Sour Cream and Onion Sunchips. Man. I'll just have both!

Another. Dinner Post. Chicken Georgia

(Update: 6:46 pm. Dinner is not going to be cooked by me tonight. I've just spent the last hour-ish, crying about my returned draft. Needless to say, Prof didn't like it. Not one bit. It apparently needs a lot of the work. So...prayers for me for the next five weeks would be greatly appreciated. And sorry for being a Debbie Downer. Or Katie Cryer I suppose.) But this recipe still looks pretty fab if you ask me. Or Paula. :)
So I know I have been posting a lot about dinner lately (well, two nights in a row), but I'm just gonna go ahead and do it again. Thats three nights of (actually) cooking at home!
I have had a relaxing morning this morning and I saw Paula Deen make this recipe that looks fabulous: Chicken Georgia. And thought its somewhat similar to what I made Monday night, I think I'm gonna make it later today.
It is so simple and it looks really delicious! recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese 

Directions

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Cook and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts.