Gothic Granola

This is going to be one of those self-absorbed posts wherein I talk about what I did and not about what I've made. Week before last, TC's mentor asked him to come to DC to work on his house, and TC insisted that I accompany him. We both worked, a lot. While I pulled days in the office with significant overtime, TC put his mentor's house back together (not a small exaggeration there).   Before we left, we saw these two kitties in a dusty window on Main Street.  

It's Thursday, and it's time for a roundup of wellness bits and bobs, readers.

This post has two geneses: as Fall rolls around to Northern Colorado (37 degrees yesterday, what?!), TC requested an apple pie, after I made Key Lime Pie a few weeks ago. One of the two things I didn't do before I left DC was to make VGF pie with my friend Andi. This is for you, Andi, since it's unlikely I'll be back in DC to bake pie with you anytime soon.  

Being GF is not a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's sometimes not a choice ( id est , coeliac, IBS, leaky gut, intolerances, allergies). A recent NY Times article by Kim Severson pointed out how life as a GF diner is becoming somewhat easier.  I do and don't understand why someone would become gluten-free just to try it. After initially losing weight due to losing an entire food substance from one's diet, being GF (or being vegan, for that matter) is no guarantee of weight control/maintenance. This dog is GF because he has food allergies.

Being GF is not a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's sometimes not a choice ( id est , coeliac, IBS, leaky gut, intolerances, allergies). A recent NY Times article by Kim Severson pointed out how life as a GF diner is becoming somewhat easier.  I do and don't understand why someone would become gluten-free just to try it. After initially losing weight due to losing an entire food substance from one's diet, being GF (or being vegan, for that matter) is no guarantee of weight control/maintenance. This dog is GF because he has food allergies.

"Start your two day life on a two day vacation" Fasting brings me back to the natural swing of things: fatigue, hunger, boredom, interest, what gives me joy and what causes me pain. It takes a chainsaw to the social, political, religious,  et aliis  reasons and justifications I build around certain behaviours.

Happy Almost-Halloween! Let's begin with a product review. Finding these tortillas was a treat. I half-assedly put "tortillas" on my shopping list since the Engine 2 brown rice tortillas had gone mouldy in my fridge (I bought them in September; what did I expect of 'natural' food?). I digress. These La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Wraps are made from tapioca, teff, and millet flours, among the other fabulous ingredients present in most industrially-produced foods. They're not vegan since they contain honey. Honey is one of my two exceptions to veganism, one that I really ought to give up since it gives me the same kind of crash as white sugar. I digress again.

This being the month of January, it’s time I took stock of a few things.  Some people (who are not related to me) have been incredibly good to me in the past few weeks whom I’d like to recognize.

After intern work on Friday, I metro’d to Trader Joe’s on the way to my brother’s apartment and bought dinner and dessert ingredients.  My parents are in the area, visiting my brother and me.  We ended up going out to dinner, which meant two OK salads for me and cider for dessert. At least I had time to make some sweet cornbread to sneak with me, for edible grains and solid dessert purposes.