Day fifteen of FODMAP diet: lactose challenge begins!

My diet has been going swimmingly. I have had a few hiccups along the way, mainly with gluten free products because I love my wheat so much. Today, I reached a new milestone on my march towards a free and independent digestive system: the lactose challenge phase of my diet.

After not having had any substantial lactose (or sugars found in milk) for the last two weeks, I did what any sane Oregonian would do. I went straight to my local coffee shop and ordered a straight up latte. The first day of the challenge invites the partaker to one forbidden item with a specified sugar in it just to make sure a severe adverse reaction does not occur. Tomorrow, I get to go overload on dairy products, that sweet nectar of my bovine beauties. So, I will be eating yogurt at breakfast, ordering a milkshake for a snack, and blessing my taste buds with a chicken quesadilla for dinner. If my stomach survives that onslaught, I will know that lactose is not to be feared or blamed for my stomach woes.

So, I made some cookies tonight. They're gluten free, and yes, I do plan on having one with my milkshake tomorrow. I am happy to be figuring this out, even while wanting it to be over so I can get back to normal life. I am starting to realize that my life is not normal. It's beautiful in its complexity and simplicity and always unique. I don't think I would change it.

As my questions are starting to get answered, I realize that the journey here will help me hold onto the discipline it takes to maintain health in the long run. The next challenges may mean giving up some of my favorite foods, but being healthy is worth it. Here's to a new start on finding goodness in the food. This too shall pass. ;)

Misadventures in dating

If you were here right now, we'd be sitting at Sweetest Thing Cupcakes in downtown Newberg sharing a cupcake and our hearts over some tea. I would laugh and tell you about my latest misadventure in dating while being happy because it's just one more foul ball on my grand slam quest. One of these days, hopefully soon, I am going to hit it out of the park. And when I do, I know you'll be there cheering for me.

I met him online. He was my first contact on a free dating website. We chatted online and on the phone one time before deciding to meet in person. He was going to call me a bit later that night, but I didn't hear from him until four days later, the day of our date.

When I finally did meet him, his first compliment to me was, nice butt. I should have ended the date right then and there. I confronted the behavior, and he said never pass up an opportunity to give a compliment. Seriously?!

We walked down the streets on Newberg long enough for all my favorite places to close and long enough for me to understand that this man was a self-proclaimed project. Ladies, can I tell you a hard fought truth I have learned from all my misadventures with men? If he isn't the kind of man you could see raising your babies with you right now, run for the hills and never look back!

We ended up eating an early dinner together at one of my least favorite places in Newberg because it's become the home of my almost but not quite connections with people. He rearranged the table as if he were a child. I think he thought he was being cute. I thought, what a spoiled brat! But, being hyper curious, I had to make sure I wasn't missing out on something good. So I fired my calibrated canon ball. I asked him what his life's mission was. He said it was to let go (pause for dramatic effect) and let God. I stared at him and started praying, "Jesus, how do I support that mission?" What a train wreck.

He couldn't wait to get out of there after that. I walked him back to his car. He hugged me and gave me a kiss on the head and told me it would be all right. Well, sir, I know that, but this date clearly was not.

It wasn't a complete disaster. We had some laughs, somethings in common, and he truly did listen to me. But I didn't feel valuable, cherished, or special when I was with him. I am no longer desperate, sisters! Let's hear it for progress!

I learned to trust my gut, that I can say no, and that I am worth being treated well. And, I am talking to someone else. I am excited to meet this guy because he shares his day with me and wants to hear about mine. I already feel special when I talk with him.

So, here's to hoping the next one sticks. And if not, I know my man will find me one day. It's just a numbers game.

Thanks for sharing my tea and cupcake with me. May you always have awesome dates and learn from the not so stellar experiences.

Day five of FODMAP

My daddy once told me that it's learning to want what is good for us that's the hardest part. Well world, I am learning that I really enjoy not only the food on my table also but the way I feel at the end of the day.
I am learning that this holds true in life too. There are these temptations that seem so good at the time. My stomach turns sour and body stops moving under their influence. Could it be that healthy people and a healthy relationship will cure my ales here too? I don't know, but I plan on finding out.
Truth is, I want to love someone and be smiling at the end of the day. I don't want to think of my man and be crying at the end of the day. So baby, here I am. Come show me that there's joy in the letting go, and the good is worth sacrificing for.
Keep dreaming, knowing that when you open wide your mouth, the Lord will satisfy you with every good and perfect gift from His hand. Surely my Maker knows what's best for me.

FODMAP adventure day one.

I created a collection with HTC Share and I want to share it with you. Click the link below to check it out. https://share.htc.com/q8mdzIlC4 "FODMAP here I come!"

I have IBS. Today was my first day controling my FODMAP intake (carbs that are hard for the body to break down) and I feel amazing! I had coffee, cornflakes in rice milk, and a hard boiled egg for breakfast. Lunch consisted of my usual turkey and swiss sandwich with mustard minus the bread. In its place, I had lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber. My snacks were gluten free brownies and a piece of corned beef. And my dinner is on display for you: the best pork fried rice I have ever had and some pineapple on the side. I don't feel deprived, my stomach has not been protesting my food choices, and I can actually feel myself digesting properly. It's fantastic!
If you've got food problems, know that you're not alone. You can overcome them and have a healthy relationship with your body and food. Know too that sometimes it's a bit of a journey. I've been trying to name my mystery symptoms for years, let alone find a viable option for treating them. Don't give up, and don't stop believing that you're worth saying no to temporary pleasure for a more fulfilled lifestyle. Food was made to be good for you. You can enjoy it and still be healthy. It's just a process of learning what your body's optimum fuel is. So don't give up.
You may just discover something delicious along the way.
Happy eating! ;)

New begenings

It's a new season, a new day in the garden. I've learned much over the last few years, and now it's time to put it all into practice.
I found myself in the garden last night, much to my delight. The garden symbolizes birth, new life, tenacity, and courage to me. When I am in the garden, suddenly the modern world dissipates. Life becomes simple once more. It's easy to believe life began in a garden, that people were simply meant to love each other, God, and the earth between their fingers and toes. We breathe a sigh of relief in the midst of the "boring" work of weeding, planting, and watering.
Maybe what we need in our world isn't more excitement but more connection. Maybe what we're craving is togetherness, the opportunity to belong to one another, to be acknowledged for our work, and to contribute to the good of those we love. Maybe life was meant to be simple. We are made to love in a garden. Find me there. I will be laughing and working shoulder to shoulder with the beloved of my Father.
Life is to short not to garden.

LAST PAPER OF COLLEGE CAREER

Well, here it is! My last paper ever. I am tired; my body has decided to quit on me. I am going to go take a nap now, but I finished all my papers. WOW! I can't believe it is over. My advise to anyone entering college is to get yourself a good research writing handbook. You're going to need it. Also, familiarize yourself with the citation tool in your word processor. It will make the process so much easier. I used The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger throughout my college career. It saved my bacon on more than one occasion  All the best to those still in school, just starting, or who have graduated. It's a lot of work, but just doing it is quite the achievement. I salute you!

Amy

Food Diversity in America

I love to eat ethnic food. I am an eighth Italian, and eighth Mexican, and a whole hearted fan of all things new and adventurous when it comes to food. One of my favorite types of cuisines that is available readily to all Oregonians is Thai food. I found myself with great delight sitting down at the Thai Peacock on the corner of Ninth Street and Oak in downtown Portland on Wednesday of last week to a house special, Peacock Curry. My Thai Iced Tea was a lovely orange color with the cream whirled around in it. A small bowl of rice was brought to me, sprinkled with sesame seeds of black and tan, for catching the sauce of the curry. The curry itself was a mixture of peanut and red curry sauces. Chicken, peppers, carrots, and some potatoes swam in the sauce, soaking up the flavor like a kid at the pool. Surrounded by great company, a truly Thai atmosphere, and wonderful conversation, this is a meal I won’t soon forget.

Rice

     Rice is a staple in most cultures, and Thailand is no exception to this rule. In the primarily agricultural system of Southeast Asia, rice is the dominate cereal crop and is valued far beyond its nutritional value (Esterik, 2008, pp. 19). Rice is considered to have a soul that must be nurtured, and the best known of the 120,000 varieties grown in the region is Jasmine (Esterik, 2008, pp 19). “Thailand is the largest exporter of rice at about eight million metric tons.” (Esterik, 2008, pp. 19, 20) People prefer to eat the local variety of rice for their meals, the kind that like them has adapted to the climate where they live (Esterik, 2008, pp. 20). “Rice for household consumption is always separated from seed rice to be used for the next season’s planting and from rice that will be sold. Elder women select the best seeds of rice to be kept for seed.” (Esterik, 2008, pp. 20) Clearly, rice is a key ingredient to any truly Thai meal. I used mine to soak up extra sauces and help fill up my belly.

Chicken

    Americans love to eat meat, but this is not the case the world over. In Thailand, meat is rarely the centerpiece of the meal, with only a small quantity included for flavor of whatever meat is being used (Esterik, 2008, pp. 31). When meat is used, the whole animal will be included, with cuts like the brains, entrails, and other organs being sold for a comparable price to the muscle meats Americans so highly prize (Esterik, 2008, pp. 31). My curry dish being focused around the chicken in it is a prime example of Thai cuisine being westernized to please the palette of the customer. I appreciate this, however if I go to Thailand I know not to expect meat in every dish.

Curry

        Curry is something unique to regions of the world that have access to spices, and Southeast Asia is known for its spice trade.

Southeast Asian cuisine has been described as a balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet. These flavors are accomplished by blends of spices and herbs, all locally available and highly valued. It was spices that first drew Arab and European traders to the region. And spices still form an integral part of Southeast Asian dishes. (Esterik, 2008, pp. 32)

A mortar and pestle are used to grind plants and spices together to make flavor pastes to be

used in that days cooking (Esterik, 2008, pp. 34). Hard, dry ingredients are added first to the ensemble of ceramic, wood, or stone and ground with subsequently softer, watery ingredients being added later in the process (Esterik, 2008, pp. 34). The recipe and flavors variey from region to region and chef to chef  (Esterik, 2008, pp. 34). Curry powder was developed by the Britsh originally to recapture the taste of Indian cooking while at home (Esterik, 2008, pp. 35). Evidently, my dish was not authentically Thai but a hybrid of modern convience married to Thai tradition.

Vegetables

     Although the vegetables found in my particular dish are not in common use in Thailand, vegetables are highly prized in Thai cooking for their freshness and texture (Esterik, 2008, pp. 27). Vegetables are regularly grown in home gardens and sold at markets (Esterik, 2008, pp 27). Common vegetables of the region include water spinach, onions, garlic, eggplant, “banana blossoms, bitter melon, lotus, bok choy, rapini, napa cabbage, sweet potato, green onions or scallions, Chinese chives, bean sprouts (from soy and mung beans), and a wide variety of local greens.” (Esterik, 2008, pp. 27, 28) New world vegetables have been added to the cuisine as well (Esterik, 2008, pp. 28). The inculsion of carrots, peppers, and potatoes in my meal then seems typical of the style while still being true to the region of the world the restaurant has been established in. These people are known for using the vegetables readily available to them and adapting non-native vegetation to their particular brand of cooking in a way that compliments the flavor profile of their culinary heritage.
   Enjoying the food of Thailand in its Westernized form, I have learned that food cannot be taken out of the cultural context without adapting to the ingredients available within that region. I also am thankful to be an American living in the Pacific Northwest. Incredible bounty of produce and animals thrive here. This directly influences the food choices not only of local fare, but also those of other cultures who chose to come and make this place their home. I enjoy all the various tastes, traditions, and cultural diversity that my beloved Pacific Northwest fosters. There’s no other place like it, and I am blessed to call it home.

Bibliography

Esterik, P. V. (2008). Food Culture in Southeast Asia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing

Group.

Restaurant, T. P. Peacock Curry and Thai Iced Tea. April 17, 2013, Portland.

Woman: Journey Toward Feminism

When I first met Curtis, he told me he was a raging feminist. I laughed and told him I wasn't. This has been a topic I have struggled with all my life. Feminists in my mind were those women who could not accept their place in the home, saw their God given ability to be mother and wife as something of a nuisance and were not content with the role they were given to play in this world. In my mind, nothing good had come out of the feminist movement.

When I talked to Curtis about my core values, he challenged me that they were all feministic in nature. I believe in the equality of all people. I believe that everyone has something to contribute in this world. I honestly believe that if a woman has the drive and ambition to work her way toward the position of CEO in a company, she should not be denied that position because of her gender. I also believe that men can be just as good, if not better, homemakers as women. I have known some men who are excellent care takers of children, and to deny them the right and privilege of raising their babies seems a bit narrow to me too. He said I was a feminists, and I laughed again and told him I was an individualist. (Of course I had to coin my own term for it! I must be different for the sake of being curious.)

This semester has further challenged my beliefs about where exactly I stand on the whole feminist movement. My biggest problems with the movement in no particular order are
1) neglect of the home in favor of pursuing one's own ambition~ I believe family is worth sacrificing for, that children should not be raised by childcare, and that people do better when they know they are loved, wanted, and valued. Most children in America get 15 minutes of one-on-one time with a parent a week. I worked in mentoring. When an adult would take just one hour a week to devote to a child, their grades and test scores would improve; their self-esteem would rise; and they were less likely to get into trouble with the law. The neglect of the family in favor of career has a serious impact on our society. If both can be managed, awesome. But to give up on those who are nearest to you and need you most for something as "common as money" is a travesty.
2) disrespect of men~ I love men. I love how they are aggressive, logical, adventure seekers, and love to protect and provide for their own. I love the fact that they roam in packs when they are young and give all that up to be the best friend of a woman. Granted, they are people, and there are times when they say things about women that irritate me to no end. I am smart; I am capable, and I can make good choices without the help of a man. But a choice for relationship always seems preferable to me because people are the most important thing in my opinion. When pointing out differences, it seems to me that men get disrespected a lot by the feminist movement. I know this is a reaction to the disrespect women feel, but fighting fire with fire does not seem like a good strategy to change anything on either side. It just seems like it's going to burn the forest and the common ground down on this one.
3) self-reliance~ I have tried to be a strong, independent woman my whole life. I suck at it. I need people, need to be in community. My phone bill alone shows this. I do best when I am focused on others, giving, and  involved in group activities. To me, being a feminist has always meant giving that up.

But this semester, something changed in my thinking about this movement. I started a painting class in which I  explored the theme, Female In God's Image. As I painted, I realized how much joy my female relationships have brought to me. Each painting became an explosion of color and life. I want all of these women to have the best life possible for their unique self. I also learned about the convention of Seneca Falls where the feminist movement was born some 72 years after our country and 72 years before women got the vote. What I saw there was a community that felt they needed to speak up for the marginalized and were not allowed to because of their gender. They wanted the right to vote so they could end slavery, the right to divorce and keep their children to end the cycle of abuse, and the right to work to support themselves if they had no one to do it for them. I could relate to these women. I feel compelled to speak out for those who cannot speak up for themselves. I have had to divorce my husband to end the cycle of abuse. I am so thankful to be able to work as something other than a prostitute or servant, thankful to be graduating college. All of these good things in my life would not even be possibilities without the feminist movement.

I was talking to Carrie in art class yesterday about my main concern with the feminist movement being a devaluing of what I ultimately want to do with my life: raise my children inside of a healthy marriage and work if I must within my home to help with the finances. She told me that feminism could embrace that, and that there was nothing incompatible with my dream and being a feminist. I sighed a little sigh of relief. It seems to me that I can be a strong, lovely, empowered woman and still want to stay within my home. Maybe I am a feminist after all, just one that embraces men too. After all, we're all human, all a part of this dance called life.