Losing Pounds, Harvesting Herbs & a Growing Puppy

Is part of growing up feeling like life whirls right past you? James and I skipped August-or you'd think so if you saw our pantry calendar that was still on July the first weekend in September.. We blinked and now it's the fall!


Before I share about my adventure of harvesting herbs I figure I'll give updates on 2 major aspects of our lives: James has lost 6-8 pounds since we changed our diet to eat allergen-free foods, and Rocky now weighs 37 pounds (I could barely hold him and stand on the scale-guess I need to up the iron at the gym, again). James is full of energy and is losing that 'gluten-belly' as we call it (same theology as a beer-gut, but just caused by gluten in various foods. Or in his situation, a combo of all the allergens his body couldn't digest properly).  We'll be adding new pants to his Christmas list, if not sooner. Rocky hasn't chewed through anything major (knock on wood); although I do wonder why we buy him toys when he loves empty water bottles and paper towel rolls... He had a glamor shot photo shoot a while back, check out this beauty:

Thank you Senora Neale for such wonderful shots of Rocky!

Now onto harvesting of the herbs! I searched online for the best method to harvest herbs. I finally decided on harvesting the herbs, washing & drying the herbs, then combining the herbs and olive oil in a food processor.

 

Finally, scoop the herbs into ice cube trays and let them freeze/set-up for a few days. (Yes I am using some heart shaped ice cube trays) Then, transfer frozen cubes into a labeled freezer bag.

So far, we have enjoyed the cilantro I froze with rice, even though I haven't bought fresh cilantro since we made salsa earlier this summer!

I am also trying simply harvesting the herbs and putting the herbs straight into a freezer ziplock bag (after washing and drying of course-so many other critters enjoy herbs!).  I am mainly trying this method with Rosemary, as I read an easy way to get the Rosemary off the branches is to roll a rolling-pin over the bag after they've been frozen for awhile. I'll let you know how this turns out!

Additionally I have been harvesting seeds, so that next year I can grow more herb plants and eventually be able to stock up and share my fresh herbs with friends and family! And Rocky enjoys smelling the herbs every day, so if nothing else he can have some air fresheners.

Until next time,

RR

"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her."
~Marcelene Cox

Cooking Adventures of the Paleo/Vegan Diet

We recently learned my husband James has quite a few allergies: dairy, egg, gluten (to name a few).  We've decided to change our diets for awhile to see if the change affects headaches and stomach aches he has recently been having.  In our attempt to find allergy-free recipes, we have decided we are really adapting a paleo/vegan diet: eliminating processed foods and staying away from dairy and eggs, but still eating meats.  So far we have cleaned out our pantry, restocked it with allergy-free ingredients and products, researched appealing recipes and have started adapting to our new lives.

As my doctor told me, allergies are like a cup of water: as you are exposed to an allergen, imagine pouring some water into a cup; the more allergens you are exposed to, the fuller the cup, until your body goes completely haywire and your cup overflows.  When my younger brother was in the 8th/9th grade, this is exactly what was happening. He was skin and bones and had stomach issues.  We did a blood test on him and found he was severely allergic to soy, gluten and eggs, basically the only food groups he was eating.  Since he has changed his diet, he feels great, looks great, and is now a healthy senior in high school. I admire him; I couldn't imagine being 18 years old and not eating cake, hamburgers, drinking pepsi, and so much more.

With my brother's experience, my whole family changed our diets, so this new diet to accommodate to my husband's newly found allergies wouldn't be too different for me. The change, however, will be the cooking of the foods, as I have rarely cooked many allergy-free foods.

Today I changed up my usual crock pot roast so that it would be soy and gluten free. Normally I plop the roast in the crock pot, empty about half a packet of Lipton Onion soup mix packet on top and add some water. Today however, I used some different ingredients:

Roast from the 'Lewis Place', half of a small cooking onion, half of the package of dried portobello mushrooms, and half of the carton of organic, allergy-free mushroom soup.

We absolutely love returning home from work to the smell of a crock pot creation, especially roast! 

The roast tasted the same, if not better, than my traditional onion soup mix recipe; the main difference actually comes with the higher cost of the allergy free ingredients. I altered my mashed potatoes to use only Original flavored Almond Milk (normally I pile in the butter and regular milk).  The mashed potatoes were creamy and tasted just the same! Of course the gravy from the roast would have masked any odd flavors if there were any!

All in all, we had a successful dinner and, besides for the initial 'full' feeling, felt amazing! No discomfort or drowsiness at all. I look forward to adapting more of my recipes and trying new ones as we experiment with our new life change!

Is anyone else trying a new diet due to dietary restrictions? Any suggestions or recommendations out there?

Yours truly,

RR

"Do not live life attempting to make your presence known, 

but live in a way which makes your absence felt."