Medetative Cooking

I opened my door today to silence. I flipped on the light switch and saw darkness. I realized as I stepped into my house, that even the fish tanks vibrating bubbles were missing. I was attuned to the silent refrigerator. I heard my breath in and out.

The dogs began to stir; I realized the power was out.

I've never noticed before how incredibly silent life can be with no lights, no noise, no movement. It was incredibly peaceful.

I quickly let the dogs and out and returned to the silence. As I lit candles, the energy quotient in the house increased. While the peace remained, the house became less still. I breathed in the beauty of our house by candlelight.

After a few breaths, I was reminded of my groceries. I hastily put them away, took a few more breaths in my kitchen lit by a single candle, and decided upon cooking in the dark.

Each movement was quiet, slow, suiting the surrounding environment. If I drove my knife through the pile of veggies, I risked cutting myself. I lit the burner for the Basmati rice with a lighter and watched the flames dance for a few seconds before I put the pot on the stove. Instead of sight, I relied on smell and feel, making sure my red bell pepper was thin enough, smelling the just melted butter in the pot on the stove. Just as placed the lid on the rice, the power came on. My heart skipped a beat.

I blew out my candle and shrugged, having just put the potatoes in my frying pan. The power went off again. I smiled, breathing in happily. After a few exhales, the power was back on. This time it stayed on. I finished preparing dinner and sat down at my candle lit table with my book as my companion. If every meal was made with such serenity, I might be eternally filled with it's peace.

Basmati Rice
If you've never tried this Indian rice, you should- it's incredible melt-in-your-mouth good and very flavorful. Eschew your rice maker; it is best prepared on the stove. The proportion of water : rice : butter is easily halved or doubled.

You'll Need
2 cups water
1 cup Basmati rice
1/2 stick of butter
pot with a tight fitting lid

1. Melt the butter in the pan over medium heat, moving continuously, as not to burn it. Add the rice.

2. Continuously stir the rice in the butter until it comes to a "boil."

3. Add the water, and let the mixture return to a boil.

4. Once mixture is at a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.

5. Cook for 25 minutes, making sure to never, ever, ever take off the lid. Once the rice has cooked fully, take off the lid and fluff with a fork.

Article

From Medscape Medical News

Celiac Disease Diagnosis Up 4-Fold Worldwide

Megan Brooks

Authors and Disclosures

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July 30, 2010 — Studies from the United States, Europe, and elsewhere indicate that the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) has increased significantly in the last 3 decades — possibly by as much as a factor of 4.

"More and more studies indicate a prevalence of CD of more than 1% in both adults and children. This should be compared with lower prevalence figures [from] 20 to 30 years ago," Jonas Ludvigsson, MD, from the Department of Medicine, Epidemiology Unit, at the Karolinska Institute and Orebro University Hospital, Sweden, and an expert in CD, noted in an email to Medscape Medical News.

"The reason for this increase is mutlifactorial, but there is probably a true underlying increase. This has been shown when old sera have been analyzed with modern techniques, (eg, in Finland)," Dr. Ludvigsson pointed out.

Mayo Clinic Research Confirms Rise in CD

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic also report an increase in CD, according to an article in the summer issue of the Mayo Clinic's research magazine Discovery's Edge. Joseph Murray, MD, and colleagues analyzed stored blood samples, taken from Air Force recruits in the early 1950s, for gluten antibodies. They assumed that 1% would be positive, mirroring today's rate. That assumption was wrong — the number of positive results was far smaller, indicating that CD was "rare," Dr. Murray noted in the article.

This led him and his colleagues to compare those results with 2 more recently collected sets from Olmsted County, Minnesota. Their findings suggest that CD is roughly 4 times more common now than in the 1950s.

"This tells us that whatever has happened with CD has happened since 1950," Dr. Murray said. "This increase has affected young and old people. It suggests something has happened in a pervasive fashion from the environmental perspective," he added.

Excess Mortality Seen With CD and Latent CD

Recent research by Dr. Ludvigsson's team (JAMA. 2009;302:1171-1178) and others supports the concept of "latent CD" or "gluten sensitivity." Latent CD, defined in the Journal of the American Medical Association study by Dr. Ludvigsson's team as having normal small intestinal mucosa but positive CD serology, is something that is estimated to occur in at least 1 in 1000 individuals.

Dr. Ludvigsson's team has also reported evidence that in 1 year, 10 of 1000 individuals with CD will die compared with an expected 7 in 1000 without the disease.

"Not only is the mortality raised in patients with [CD] but also in those individuals with latent [CD]," Dr. Ludvigsson noted in a statement from the United European Gastroenterology Federation.

However, in comments to Medscape Medical News, he emphasized that "although patients with CD are at increased risk of a number of disorders, and at increased risk of death, the absolute risk increase is very small."

A Tricky Disease

CD remains a "tricky disease," Dr. Ludvigsson said. "It can be asymptomatic; have so-called traditional symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, failure to grow (in children), fatigue, and malnutrition; and have nontraditional symptoms such as osteoporosis, depression, adverse pregnancy outcome; and increased risks of both malignancy and death."

The onset of certain autoimmune disorders including autoimmune liver disease, thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, and Addison's disease can actually signal CD, he noted. "This means that clinicians should consider CD in a number of symptoms and disorders."

CD Often Undetected; Cause Unknown

CD often goes undetected, although the percentage of undetected cases varies between countries, Dr. Ludvigsson noted. "In most countries, at least two thirds of individuals with CD have not received a diagnosis by a doctor." The reason for the high percentage of undetected disease is that the disease can be difficult to diagnose, and "it is sometimes almost asymptomatic," he added.

Detection Methods Are Improving

Over the years, Dr. Ludvigsson told Medscape Medical News, "we have improved existing means to diagnose CD. Antibody tests are becoming better and better, although a positive antibody test should be confirmed with a small intestinal biopsy before the diagnosis is certain. Transient increases in CD antibody levels occur. In the future, I expect microscopy in the very small intestine to become a tool for diagnosis."

Alternatives to the Gluten-Free Diet?

At this time, Dr. Ludvigsson said, the gluten-free diet remains the cornerstone of treatment for CD. However, "in the future, alternative treatment strategies may be available. The recent discovery of the structure of transglutaminase 2 may help in designing inhibitors of transglutaminase 2 to treat CD," he said. "Another potential treatment strategy is to ingest enzymes that digest gluten, thereby increasing the safe threshold for gluten intake.

"There is also ongoing research on the topic of decreasing the bowel's permeability to gluten, Dr. Ludvigsson toldMedscape Medical News. He added, however, that the safety of this approach is unclear, as "a decreased permeability here might mean that the body cannot absorb other needed substances.

"Finally, agricultural research may mean that we can modify the gluten structure in wheat produce a kind of wheat that will not illicit an immune response in patients with CD," the researcher noted.

Counseling CD Patients Is Important

Although evidence is scarce, said Dr. Ludvigsson, "most researchers believe that a gluten-free diet will reduce the risk of complications/comorbidity in CD, and it is important for the doctor to underline this for the patients. In patients with CD who do not become better on a gluten-free diet, the most common reason is probably that the patients do not eat a strictly gluten-free diet," he said.

Dr. Murray advocates greater vigilance in CD patients. "It's not enough to say, 'You've got CD, be gluten-free, goodbye,' " he said. "CD requires medical follow-up."

This October, at the United European Gastroenterology Week in Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Ludvigsson will be 1 of 8 researchers to receive the Association of National European and Mediterranean Societies of Gastroenterology and United European Gastroenterology Federation Rising Stars award.

Tallahassee Trip #3

This weekend we desperately needed an escape, so we drove down to Tally for the weekend to visit Casa Buchanan. We headed down on Friday afternoon with some random clothes thrown into a bag and the barkers. Since Desi and Sean love and relaxing as much as we do, this was destined to be a great weekend.

Friday night we hit up Siam Sushi, a Thai and sushi place, a recommendation from Desi's parents. Their menu was huge and inspiring. I could have eaten muscles for an app, red curry, and a hand full of rolls on the menu safely. What I ended up doing was ordering two rolls and being (sadly) very full. I guess this means we'll have to go again to find out what the Thai side of the menu tastes like.

Saturday we all went out on the boat for a beer-drinking, beach-dancing, fast-tubing, scenery-seeing good time. We were thankful to not be baking in the 90 degree heat next to any alligators. The overcast, mild day seemed more like an Floridian October. The lack of blazing sun just meant we could hang out eating egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches and goofing off. One of our friends that we were boating with recently started eating GF, due to her rheumatoid arthritis. She's feeling quite a bit better. I introduced her to Redbridge beer, and she introduced me to her peanut butter balls.

When we came home on Saturday night, we were starving. Sean fired up the fryer full of canola oil for wings and sweet potato fries. After cooking up a massive pile of chicken wings, we covered them in a mix of hot sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's. The mandoline-sliced sweet potatoes, naked when they were fried, came out perfectly crispy and sweet. A little Kosher salt on the fries made me think we'd died and gone to heaven.

Each morning, Saturday and Sunday alike, we took our time to lay around in pj's and make breakfast food. We cooked up bacon and GF Bisquick pancakes for breakfast on Saturday, sweet potato home fries and GF pancakes on Sunday. Sean and Desi both really enjoyed the GF Bisquick, which makes me believe it tastes "normal." (At this point "good" and "not-GF-normal" are no longer synonymous.)

Sunday afternoon we headed to the flea market for perusing, book hunting, and produce buying. There were quite a few farmers selling their veggies at the open air market. Sunday night we grilled burgers with Angus beef fresh from the farm. Our sides were made with the fresh veggies from the flea market. I fixed up a batch of guacamole, and Desi grilled a squash medley and potatoes drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.


Christy's Peanut Butter Balls

You'll Need:
Peanut butter (PB) (best if slightly chilled)
Peanuts/nuts
Dried fruit, such as cranberries, cherries, etc.
Dried coconut

How To:
It's not very measurement-dependent. Prep your area by taking out a mixing bowl and a small plate. Lay out a few large pinches of coconut on the plate.

You take a large scoop of PB (about 1/2 cup), and slap it into a bowl. You add a large pinch of the nuts and dried fruit- these help hold the balls together. Mix.

Take the PB mixture and form it into 1" balls. Roll the balls over the coconut. Enjoy!

Smoked Chicken, Red 'n Rice

We had another whirl-wind weekend. Friday night we balloon-bombed some friend's bedroom before they came home from Paris. (They a couple's room that just got engaged.) Saturday we dropped the barks off with their "Aunt Sarah" and headed up to Athens for a co-worker/friend's wedding. The wedding was a lovely intimate event at the Foundry Park Inn. We woke up late

this morning and headed back into town to get ready for Nick's parents coming into town later this week.

After so much activity, I am glad to have a simple dinner. While I smoked a rosemary chicken, I cleaned the house. Now that I'm done cleaning, I am cooking the red beans and rice with staples from the pantry and fridge.

Smoked Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 small white onion
1 clove garlic, sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Paprika
salt

1. Clean and rinse the chicken. Remove the innards.

2. Stuff the chicken with rosemary, onion, and garlic.

3. Rub the outside of the chicken with EVOO. Next, rub the chicken with paprika and salt.

4. Put into your smoker. Cook at 264-300 degrees Farenheight for 1.5-3hrs. (My 4 pounder took 1.5hrs exactly.)


Red Beans and Rice
thank you, Foodnetwork.com for this recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and small diced
• 2 (1-pound) cans red kidney beans
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper until tender. Stir in kidney beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer slowly while you cook the rice.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in rice and butter. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Fold rice and beans gently together and transfer to a serving dish. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Researchers Pinpoint Cause of Gluten Allergies

An article a friend emailed to me a few weeks ago...

http://www.livescience.com/health/celiac-disease-gluten-peptides-100721.html

Mellow Mushroom Goes GF

When my GF Pizza staple by work folded, I was pretty sad.

Skills Day is an annual event at work for nursing staff. Nurses and techs do their annual skills check-off for the year. If you are an attendee, it takes 1-2 hours. If you are teaching it, is a 15 hour day followed by a 5 hour day. I helped out with the "round two" teaching, from 3-9pm on Saturday. It might not be an ideal way to spend a Saturday night, but I didn't find it too bad.

On Saturday, we all shuffled into the hospital. Since we were teaching from 3-9pm, we planned to order out. Conveniently, another nurse educator, Mickey, has Celiac Disease. We called up the Mellow Mushroom down the street from work and placed an order for *gasp* GF pizza. Our GF pepperoni with extra sauce was great! The crust was thin and pliable, not crispy or chewy. Mellow Mushroom will be my delicious replacement for nearby GF pizza now that Pizza Fusion has folded.

Cost of Living GF

I think we all know living GF is pricey. I make the generalization often when talking about grocery shopping that everything in my cart is five dollars. While I am able to get my groceries between the "normal" grocery store and Whole Foods, not everyone is so lucky. Buying GF items at the "normal" grocery store may mean higher prices, or less choice. Purchasing groceries online is not wildly convenient, either. For some GF-ers, that may be the only way to sample discover products that are either "special order" or found only in a health food store.

For anyone who has every wondered, here is a short run-down price comparison of commonly purchased food items. Just think: if you have multiple allergies/sensitivities in your household, there may be more items that I have not listed. For instance, I do not eat soy, so items like mayo, peanut butter, salad dressings, etc. are an additional cost for me. Though limited, many mainstream companies, like General Mills and Betty Crocker are now coming out with certifiably GF items at a more reasonable cost. Outside of food, I also look at my hair products, eye make up, and lotions to ensure I do not come in contact with any gluten or soy.


The Gluten Free Cost of Living

Item Gluten Gluten-free
Bread $1.39 $5.38
Hamburger buns $3.85 $5.99
Choc Chip Cookies $2.43/pack $4.40/9 cookies
Spaghetti $1.75 $3.69
Brownie Mix $2.95 $5.99
Flour $0.72 $7.95
Fzn Personal Pizza $5.65 $8.00
Crackers 4.4oz box $2.47 $4.50
Can of Soup $1.09 $2.99
Cart Total: $22.30 $48.89

The price of bread was taken off of the national price of living guide. The other gluten-containing prices came from NetGrocer.com. All of the gluten-free prices came from an average when searched for GF foods via Google Shopping.