Someone's in the kitchen ...

Today's been a pretty good day. I was somehow feeling both lazy and motivated, which resulted in my getting several items from my "to do" list accomplished, but at an easy and enjoyable pace. I finished making the bread I started yesterday. It was so easy, and it's really delicious. Finally ... I have gluten free bread that's light and crusty and wonderful rather than the dry, dense junk I've gotten from the market. Hooray! For lunch I made myself some butternut squash soup with a couple slices of my just-from-the-oven bread topped with brie cheese and mango chutney. I washed it down with a glass of pinot grigio. Delightful! (See photos.)
I also made a white bean and mustard greens bruschetta and a brie, pear and olive tart. The bruschetta's quite nice. I used a fig infused vinegar to add a little zest and it was the perfect balance to the slightly bitter greens and slightly sweet beans. I haven't tasted the tart yet ... I was to full from all the bread and bruschetta ... but it looks beautiful, and I'm looking forward to having some tomorrow. Perhaps I'll have a slice for breakfast with some bacon on the side? Mmmm.
When I wasn't concocting yummy treats, I was sweeping and mopping the entire house. I also tidied up the craft room so that I can stop having excuses and hopefully get my curtains sewn tomorrow. I'll put up some photos when they're finished.
Whew. So glad to have a nice day after the mutinous Monday yesterday. Here's hoping tomorrow's just as good!

Monday, Monday ...

Usually I have no beef with Mondays. They've generally treated me pretty well. We've gotten along okay. Today, however, Monday was a wee bit bitchy with me. Nothing extremely earth-shatteringly terrible happened. There was just a series of tiny little crummy instances that left me feeling a little undone. Now, normally, when I'm in a funk, I'll console myself by hopping into my pajamas, grabbing a glass of something numbing and resorting to watching something from my dvd collection for the millionth time. Today, I came home, feeling a little weepy, and put on my pajamas. I heated up a calzone, and finished the fourth Harry Potter book. Somehow, this was enough to put me back to rights. After that I did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen (yes, my kitchen is pretty much always in need of a clean), then cleaned an old tiny shelf that had been on my porch. I painted said shelf. I put said shelf in my bathroom and redecorated half the room. I also began a loaf of [gluten free] no-knead bread so that I can have the loaf ready by tomorrow afternoon when I will no doubt be hungry for a brie and chutney sandwich. With all that behind me, I'm feeling much less mopey. In fact, I'm feeling pretty darn good. Now, I'm going to grab that glass of wine and start on book five. Happy Monday!

Easy like Sunday morning ...

Sundays are generally my favorite days. More often than not, I indulge in a little lazing during the morning (after the animals are all taken care of, of course). Then I spend the late morning into the early evening cleaning and cooking and listening to public radio. Today differed only slightly in that the morning lazing was combined with some work on my financial budget. Budgets are always a little tricky, I think, whether they are arranged around money, time or whatever resource strikes your fancy. My budget is currently going to undergo a tightening as a direct result of the budgets of a couple of my regular clients undergoing some tightening. I'm remaining positive, though, that I will still be able to make all my bills as well as having some extra to save for home projects, a much needed vacation sometime this year, and Charlie's new diet regime. I've also been trying to start building up some kind of nest egg, since I've never really had one before. It's really outrageous to me that personal financial management is left out of our school curriculums. (But, I won't jump on that soap box just now ...)
Anyway, after the budgeting was done, and my emails were checked, I tidied the house, washed the dishes, and cleaned the kitchen. I made a lovely sweet and savory butternut squash soup that turned out even better than I had imagined it would. I also made several calzones and individually wrapped them so they'll be easy to grab when I'm in a hurry if need be. I did these, as usual, with the Bob's Red Mill gluten-free savory bread flour which makes for a terrific crust that balances really nicely with the sweetness of the tomato sauce, goat cheese and chicken apple sausage I used in the filling. Delish! I also got some of my mies en place together for a pear, brie, olive tart and a white bean, mustard greens bruschetta that I will finish making tomorrow. Then, I made myself an indulgent Sunday breakfast for dinner: cinnamon and cardamom [gluten-free] prairie bread french toast with a remaining piece of the chicken apple sausage and some crispy bacon. (Is there anything better than bacon bathed in the rogue maple syrup from a pile of french toast? I'm coming up blank.)
Hope your Sunday was just as enjoyable as mine. Until next time ... may your own experiments be met with success!

Charlie Casserole

Today found me doing the weekly grocery shopping: first at the Durham Farmers' Market and then at Whole Foods. After all the goods had been gotten, I set about preparing what I'm calling Charlie Casserole. It's basically a large batch of the raw foods that Charlie (my dog) will be eating on for the next couple weeks. Unfortunately, I had to get several supplements all at once, too, so the bill was quite a bit higher than I'd hoped, but I it's worth it if it helps Charlie to get better. Charlie has a systemic yeast infection, otherwise known as candidiasis. It is often overlooked and/or misdiagnosed by veterinarians, and can cause a random assortment of symptoms in animals and humans alike. (I battled candidiasis several years ago, myself.) I've switched Charlie to a raw foods diet. Let me just tell you now that he is eating a million times better than I am. When I returned from the markets, I set to work making up his meals for the next couple weeks. I pureed so many greens that I thought my blender might actually sputter and die under the strain. But, after about three hours, I was finished. I had a gigantic bowl full of pureed greens, chopped asparagus and green beans, pureed eggs and shells, dulse flakes and bee pollen. (See the photo ... the coffee mug and travel mug are there for size comparison.) I also bagged up all the raw chicken legs, chicken necks, and meaty soup bones so they could be frozen in individual serving sizes. The chicken livers are still thawing in the fridge. They were too frozen to throw in the blender while I was working. I guess I'll have to add them in tomorrow. Then I made up a meal for Charlie to eat today. (He had to wait much later than usual while I was buying and preparing it all.) He ate it with zeal, though his joints are really getting rather unstable causing him to slide around a lot while he eats. I know he is in a healing crisis, and this is normal, but it is still heartbreaking to watch. (You can see the worst of his hotspots - above his tail - in the photo.) I've started him on a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement for his joints, and have also started adding edible clay to his water. Soon I'm going to try to order some fulvic acid minerals and marine phytoplankton to help accelerate the healing. I've also gotten him some homeopathic sulphur to help rid his body of the toxic effects of past vaccines. Hopefully he'll start feeling a little better soon. He's a trooper, though, and, despite his obvious miserable state, is hanging in there admirably. He's still itching like crazy, but I really believe that we are on the right track to help him fully and holistically heal.
If you have any questions about canine candidiasis, or if your pet is experiencing some uncharacteristic symptoms, feel free to contact me, and I'll give you the information I have regarding candidiasis, systemic yeast infection, and links to some great holistic/natural remedies for animals of all sorts.
Thanks for reading!