it's my girls' world

Dear Gluten,

It's not you, it's her.  On Christmas Eve 2020 (Merry Christmas to us), we got a call from A's pediatrician saying she tested positive for celiac markers. In 2019, she had another autoimmune and had been experiencing intense stomach pains for quite a few months. We tried different things including meds (both OTC and prescription), natural remedies and physical work with her. Nothing worked and if anything , it was getting worse. We were relieved and overwhelmed all at once when we finally got a diagnosis. Relieved that we finally found a cause for the intense pain and discomfort but overwhelmed because hello lifestyle change for our little miss going forward.

We decided to become gluten free as an entire household (for the most part)  to make things easier for meal prep, to avoid contamination and to support A as much as we could. Sidenote, we are still finishing up as much of the crackers/appetizers in the house. As Darin and I went Keto for quite a while and then transitioned to low carb, it would not be a huge deal for us. For the goldfish obsessed chicklets in the house, another story.

So here we are more than a month into the process. As per our doctor's recommendation, she is going completely gluten free for a few months. Going forward, for special occasions if she wishes, she can indulge knowing that it will possibly cause some tummy trouble. We are hoping that with age it becomes less of an effect for her but who knows at this point? Her tummy pain has definitely eased up a bit though not completely. The way I'm looking at it, things could definitely be worse. 

                                    

We were all at home in January, a good thing since we've been able to experiment. We've found some wonderful substitutes and we've been trying different things. There are so many gluten free resources available. Takeout is a little more tricky but the couple of places we have tried have been so knowledgeable and helpful. 

So many available resources:

1- Word of mouth. One of A's classmates' moms found out and has been a wealth of information on different places locally and online. A neighbour of mine also has experience with different grains like millet and sorghum

2- A few  gluten free stores in town with so many delicious items. 

3- A couple local dedicated Facebook pages. It's put me onto different restaurants and different local products.

4- Our mainstream groceries, Costco and Amazon have so many different options available. 

Just a few days more days 'til the big day. In the season of all this festive fun, here are a few of my favourite, super easy Christmas themed treats.

1- I love, love, love a good veggie tray to squeeze those greens in any which way I can. There are so many fun ones out there. Here are a few that my mother in law and I have made. The trick is to put some greenery in there as well.

2- A boccocini olive wreath is always my staple at a holiday party. Mixed olives (be sure you get some red antipasto as well), boccocini and rosemary is all you need. A good one for vegetarians as well.

3- My kids help me make these simple grinch hats. Once again, all about the getting the fruit into those kiddos.... and the mini marshmallows are not unwelcome either ;-)

There are so many pretty ones out there. What are your favourite Christmas themed foods? Any (easy) ones to share?

Have a festive, fun weekend!!

Linking up with Andrea.

Hi, I'm Sarita and I'm a huge Trader Joe's fan. So much so, that probably every single time I head south of the border, I visit a store. I love all the unique products, some junky and some healthy. Their employees are so friendly and their environmental policies are also awesome. Here are some of the great (non perishable) products that I brought from my last trip to the US.

Happy Friday! Just like Holiday Eves, the Friday before a long weekend is extra special and even more festive. This weekend is going to be a busy one- our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We are filling it up with my three favourite F's- Family, Friends and Food ;-)

In honour of our Thanksgiving, I wanted to my very favourite Thanksgiving recipes (apologies to any American readers who think it's too early to talk all things turkey). Now there are the absolute necessities like turkey, stuffing, gravy and  kind of go without saying so I'm not going to focus on those but here are just five of my other favourites.

I always like to throw in a veggie when it's possible to do so and this green bean recipe is so simple and easy to put together. It literally takes 15 minutes but the trick is not to overcook those beans.

My friends love my macaroni pie as we call it in Trinidad (or Mac n' cheese for the North Americans). I don't have a full recipe for mine (something to work on) but if you're lightening things up, this butternut squash version is also awesome.... though let's face it, lightened up and Thanksgiving aren't really close friends. 

I made this recipe last year and everyone loved it. The sweet potato and boursin went really well together and the kale just disappeared into it. 

If you're looking for a twist on a corn dish, I love this corn pie and it pairs really well with all the other food.

 I couldn't not talk about Turkey. We brine our turkey, put a butter soaked cheese cloth and foil tent it and then finally inject it at the end with the pan juices. Do you have any other tricks you swear by?

Any other awesome recipes to share? What are your Thanksgiving must haves?

Have a wonderful weekend, lovelies! 

 

Linking up with 

Andrea, Erika and Narci for Favourites on Friday

and Caroline and April for Five on Friday!

 

So my husband and I are done our 21 day fix! And we lived to tell.... seriously though, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so we are kind of continuing still on a modified scale.

So the 21 day fix is a series of workouts and a meal plan that you follow. When you buy their program, you're given the DVDs, containers and the Shakeology protein powder. Based on your weight, you fall into a category and you eat the food from the amount of containers allotted for the day. It's basically combining portion control with regular physical activity to eat cleaner and lose weight in three weeks. It sounds super complicated but it really isn't!

Green: veggies, purple: fruit, red: lean protein, yellow: carbs (and cheats), blue: good fats, orange: seeds & dressings and teaspoons: nut butters and oils.

Since lots of the recaps online are by beach body coaches, I wanted to put out a review out there that was unbiased. Here's what I think:

1- I was never starving. I mean some nights I could have eaten double the amount of carbs for dinner but I was satisfied! And you can have a few cheats several times a week. 

2- I loved the amount of veggies/fruit/nutrients I ingested daily.

3- The workouts were challenging but doable-- truth be told, I also worked out on my own as I found them a bit easy for me but did the Fix workouts to support  D. If you're not used to exercising, they can really push you! 

4- I loved the Shakeology shakes. They're the only protein powder that I can handle . I don't like the too sweet or processed taste of most protein powders. They're supposed to be so good for you too. My kids had a bug at the time and I escaped it--- that never happens! And I think that having that chocolate shake at 3 pm everyday helped me not to crave sugar too much. 

5- My friend Jenn, D and I along with a friend did it at the same time. The text messages and conversations were hilarious! There was strength in numbers. 

6- You get used to the process and it's very doable. My friend Carla is a coach and has been trying to get me to do the Fix for a while and I always pushed back but it's easier than it sounds. 

7- I got creative with healthy meals and there were ton of recipes on the beachbody website that I loved and adapted. My favourites were:

Turkey Meatballs (made with OATMEAL)

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai ( I used shrimp instead of Tofu)

Chicken Enchiladas (Jenn made these and shared them and they were YUM!)

1- Meal Prep that first week was so tough--- especially packing lunches for D to take... that added at least 20 minutes to my morning-- cutting veggies, measuring into containers etc. I got smart after and cut and portioned out supplies on a Sunday after that. 

 2- I got a bit sick of having very similar breakfasts (oatmeal and fruit/smoothies) almost daily. Weekends were a bit better as I would have an egg or a wrap.

3- Even though I love it, I got tired of the Shakeology too. Maybe if I had different flavours it would be good but it's expensive. 

4- The package is kind of pricy. That being said, you get the containers and the DVDs to keep so you could swap out the shakes for a cheaper brand and repeat the fix

5- I had a couple cheats along the way for a few events with a couple glasses of wine, more cheese than the allotted amount. It's hard when you go to parties or get togethers to eat totally clean. And we ate out a few times too.

And the results.... I lost 5.5 pounds but 10 inches. D lost 10 pounds and 5.5 inches--- funny how our stats got switched around!

I would definitely do it again. And we are! We're  continuing it on a modified basis at least until the Thanksgiving weekend. It's been a good one!

Linking up with Amanda.

D & C woke me up bright and early on Saturday morning to head to Cora's for breakfast. A was not pleased-- we have realised that she is just not a morning person! 

Mexican and ice cream for dinner.... followed by a night of throwing up for C.... and a night of changing bed sheets and night clothes for D and me! Yeah, not such a fun part of the weekend.

We met D's cousin and his family for a very nice brunch at Cambridge Mills on Sunday... when I say nice I'm talking champagne, oysters, king crab kind of nice... 

These three boys really ate their money's worth!

C on the other hand certainly did not... so much so, they didn't even charge for her... Poor thing, the Mill is one of her favourite places and we rarely ever go... that should tell you how sick she was.

And then we headed over to Brampton to my sweet friend Andrea's house for more food(home-made by her sister Jo aka Best Cook Ever), cake and fudge.... I baked a pumpkin spice cake to take and the kids really loved it! 

Great friends give you lots of leftovers-- these girls are the best!

I woke up this morning with a sore throat, stuffy nose but happy heart! Happy Monday, everyone!!