Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Sadly, I am not doing anything at all for Halloween this year. I have to work both jobs, and one jobs forbids dressing up, so I'm not dressing up for either. Because I have to work all day, I won't be handing out any candy, or going to any parties. My hubby isn't much for dressing up, so although I'm sure we could find a party to go to on the weekend, I won't even bother. I'm just going to let this one pass without any fanfare at all. And that is totally okay with me.

I think.

La Bamba Cafe in Saskatoon

On Sunday, my husband, best friend and I had dinner at La Bamba Cafe. It's another one of those hidden gems. It's just off of 8th St, which is a busy thoroughfare, but the restaraunt is in a strip mall that includes a dry cleaner, a pet groomer, a confectionery, a dentist, and a Christian Science bookstore. It looks a little sketchy, and I questioned that I was in the right place, and then I wondered what I was about to walk into.

The Hollows in Saskatoon

The Hollows is this little gem of a restaurant, buried in an iffy area of Saskatoon. Driving by, it looks like a run-down Chinese restaurant. A out-dated neon sign reads The Golden Dragon. Underneath, broken neon lights list typical Chinese dishes this restaurant once served. The large window nearest the door has a new, white window decal that reads The Hollows.

My Trip to Saskatoon

I got back pretty late last night, after a full and emotional weekend.

We drove up to Saskatoon on Saturday, but we didn't leave until after six, so we got there pretty late. I dropped M off at the apartment he'll be staying at, and then went to my friend's house. She had a pretty rough weekend, family-wise, so I stopped at a gelato place on the way. Gelato is way better than ice cream at fixing problems.

We stayed up late, talking, and then driving around, and I slept in her bed and she slept on the couch. She insisted. I was totally okay with the couch.

We went to her church in the morning, went out for lunch, met up with some of her friends who were in town for something else, and then went shopping. After that, around four, I met back up with my husband, spent some time with him, then went for dinner with my friend and husband. After dinner, I dropped M off, said goodbye and drove home.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and a blistering mix of happy and sad.

Here We Go Again...

Pros of my husband being in a trade:

1. He loves what he does
2. He makes physical things every day, and feels accomplished
3. He works approx. 10 months of every year, instead of going to school for 8 and only working for 4
4. Every time he goes to school, his apprenticeship level increases, and he earns more money

Cons of my husband being in a trade:

1. Once a year, he leaves me for two months

Do I think the cons outweigh the pros? No. Do I think that is a really sucky con? Yes.

Annie's Pasta and Cheese

I got around to making my little box of Annie's Rice Pasta Shells & White Cheddar. Let me just say, I will definitely be buying more of this. It is quick, convenient, cheesey, and most importantly, gluten-free. Now, I know I threw my whole dairy-free thing in the can with this, but I so don't care. 

Catelli Gluten Free Pasta

Catelli came out with a GF pasta! I'm not sure when this development took place, but I love it. All of the gluten-free pasta I've bought so far has been brands I'd never heard of before, which isn't a problem, but it certainly is nice when you can buy something made by someone you've enjoyed before.

What I really like about Catelli's pastas are that they are made with four grains. White and brown rice, corn and quinoa. Most GF pastas are either rice, or corn. If I only bake with a blend of flours, why would my pasta be made with only one?

Nail Polish Strips

Let me do a review on something completely unrelated to gluten: Nail polish.

I've bought gluten-free pretty much everything else. If it soaks into my skin, scalp, or hair, it has to be gluten-free. However, nail polish is just something I'm not worried about. Mind you, a few months ago, I wasn't worried about anything other than lotion, so that might change. If you can prove I should be worried about it, I might be.

In the meantime, I will buy whatever nail polish, and happily paint my nails a million colours. I've always loved painting my nails. I find it relaxing. I tend to chip it off within the day or two, but the more complex it is, the longer it tends to last.

So when I stumbled across the idea of nail strips, I thought it was brilliant.

Finally! A GF Pasta in a Box!

My best friend has long since raved about her favourite boxed pasta and cheese. I'm not really sure what makes it so special, but it's probably more wholesome and less processed than Kraft Dinner. I mean, I love me some KD, but I have always avoided reading the ingredients. Ah, this is Old Me talking. Old Me loved KD. I would eat it every once a month, maybe two months, but when I did, I ate a whole box by myself.

I never bought a case, and I hardly ever had a box on hand, but suddenly, out of nowhere, a craving for some bright orange super-processed cheesey pasta would hit, and it would all I could think about eating until I ate it. M hates it, always has, always will. Partly because he doesn't like pasta, partly because processed cheese makes him sick.

Soy Pudding

When I found this soy pudding for just a little bit more money than normal pudding, I was sold. First of all, it says Gluten Free. The normal pudding doesn't, but it doesn't directly contain gluten, so it's a bit of a risk. Second, this stuff is lactose free. Not dairy-free, per se, but lactose is close enough for me. It's not like I have a casein allergy.

I was, admittedly, a little bit skeptical, but I love pudding, so I just dove right in.

Gluten Free Chex Mix

M's dad lives a 16 hour drive from here. I am told only Canadians measure distance with time, but it's the only way I know how. So his dad (and sisters and grandparents) all live South of the border. Which is great, and we've gone to visit them a couple times, both over Christmas. His grandma makes Chex mix every single year for Christmas, and M's dad picked up the habit (and the recipe). I'm not hooked on it, because I've only had it two Christmas's, but M loves it, and misses it around the holidays.

When my family, up here, decided to have a Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner, I had to figure out what to bring. Something gluten-free, without being really obviously gluten-free, and something everyone would enjoy. I thought of Chex mix, for M's sake. I didn't use his dad's recipe, I used a recipe I found online that called for a slow cooker.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This is my second major holiday of my gluten-free life. There really are only three a year: Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I tackled Easter by avoiding my family and having dinner with friends, and the friend who cooked made everything completely gluten-free (and mostly vegetarian).

I did have a big family dinner back in May, which I cooked, and made completely gluten-free. (That family was just my parents, siblings and SO's.)

But this time, we had a big family dinner. My grandparents, their children, their children, and all the SO's involved. Oh, and one great-grandchild. In years past, we would all gather for Christmas at my grandparents' and do a gift exchange. It was our family tradition. In the past five or so years, my grandparents bought an RV and started driving south to Arizona every fall. They come back up in the spring, and completely miss Christmas (and, of course, all of the snow).

Guacamole

Happy thanksgiving! Well, to all you Canadians. Any Americans reading this are probably wondering what on earth we're doing eating Turkey in October. Well guess what. That's when thanksgiving is. So suck it up.

I'll tell you all about my thanksgiving weekend later, but right now I need to tell you about my latest addiction.

Guacamole.

Oh my gosh, you guys. This stuff is amazing.

I was never a fan of squishy green stuff as a kid, so I don't think I had real guacamole until after I was married, and every time I've had it since then, it's a "Oh my gosh this is so freakin' amazing, I need to eat this every day" moment.

So recently, I got a craving for it, and when I looked for it at my grocery store, this is what I found.

Pizza!

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, I'm not one to go all out on most of my meals. Every now and then I get in a mood and whip up something fancy, but on the norm, my cooking is just like my mom's; plain, simple, easy, and delicious.

So when I found some GF pizza shells on the 50% off rack (read: about to expire), I picked up a squeeze bottle of pizza sauce and some ham. Time to test this cheese stuff on a pizza.

(Un)Cheesey Eggs

For my second adventure with non-dairy cheese, I made eggs. Oh so exciting, right?

I often eat eggs for breakfast, and the quickest, simplest, and yummiest way that I've found is to crack two eggs into my little egg pan, and then stab each of the yolks with a fork. After it's mostly cooked, I flip it and cook the other side.

It makes one round piece of fried egg, without dirtying a whisk or having any runny yolk. I usually crack some sea salt and pepper over the top too, but today I tossed on some shredded cheese, and let it melt while the second side cooked.

(Un)Cheese Toast

Well, my forays into dairy-free eating have begun. I still have this magical ability to sabotage myself instantly. I had a glass of almond milk, and then some cottage cheese. I made the following cheese toast, and then ate nachos and cheese. I can't do it, guys. I don't know what's wrong with me.

So, although the "cheddar flavoured loaf" scared my pants off, I opened it up and sliced a couple pieces. It actually felt like play-dough (which - OMG - I discovered has gluten in it!), blech.

Back to Glutened

Well, it's been awhile since I felt this way, but I guess I got sick again. Like, gluten sick, as opposed to dairy sick, and contagious sick. It started Wednesday night, right after my fifteen minute break at work. All of the sudden, I felt like I hit a brick wall. I was sapped, and had zero energy, and then my stomach started cramping. My coworker said I looked like I was going to throw up, and I should just go home, but I really wanted to stick it out and make it through the night. There was less than an hour left at that point. So I sat down a bit longer, toughed it out, and went home, feeling like total crap.

All day Thursday, I just got worse. I wanted to curl up under my desk and die/nap. A couple of my coworkers could tell, and one of them told me to go home, but I had to work after work, and I didn't want to miss both. In fact, I didn't want to miss either.

Thoughts of Halloween

Well, it's October third. Do you know what that means? It means I woke up and didn't want to leave my blankets. It means my cardigan isn't warm enough for being inside. It means my wet hair felt crunchy by the time I got to work. I means I'm moving to Florida.

Okay, I'd probably never move to Florida, but this time of year every year, I daydream about warmer places, I look at plane tickets, and I resent my winter coat.

And yet, I still live here. And I am going to keep living here, at least this year. I will most likely suffer through a snowy halloween, or at least the kind where children wear costumes over their snowsuits.

So anyways, enough complaining about the cold. I will embrace it. I will learn to love it. I think.

Attempts to eat Dairy Free

So, I've (mostly) come to accept that maybe I can't eat dairy. I feel unwell every single time I eat cheese, ice cream, or a cream sauce. Milk in my cereal seems to be okay, but nevertheless, I decided to try cutting it out.

I went to the grocery store last night with this in mind, and looking for something to make/eat for dinner. M wouldn't be home, so I just had to feed me.

I grabbed some soya cheese (seriously though, my cheese should not be called a "loaf"), and some other things, and then realized I was holding a cheese and grapes platter. Come on, Robynne. I put that back, thought of some other ideas, and then went to pick out some whipping cream for alfredo sauce. Come on! I picked up some almond milk, and then debated yogurt. No, Robynne. I ended up with cottage cheese, because I just couldn't think of anything to eat, and then I forced myself to leave.

Pizza Hut

I drove by Pizza Hut yesterday, and for the umpteenth time, I noticed their sign proclaiming they now have a GF crust. I've considered and discarded the idea over and over, and yesterday, I thought, I'm feeling brave and lazy, let's go to Pizza Hut. M was all for it, so that's what we did for dinner.

When our waitress brought our water, I asked, "So, tell me about this gluten free crust."

And she did. She said it can not be 100% gluten free, because they have an open kitchen and an open oven. She said the only toppings I could have are ham, pepperoni, and all the vegetables. She also said they will wipe down the counters, change gloves, wash the knife, etc. Awesome. So I ordered ham and pineapple. M had the buffet, which is just great for him.