Nourishing Flourishing

So, it seems that everyone is writing fabulous recaps of the Healthy Living Summit, chock-full of photos and fun stories. Um… I had a great time, but usually when I have a great time, I am a terrible blogger ignore my camera. I know, for shame! I’m too busy laughing, eating, and generally conviving (<– not a real word). However, between the sessions, I did manage to venture out to Sweet Freedom Bakery with my roomie (and fellow Classics nerd) Evan, where we met the lovely Cynthia and her husband for a treat. It was such a highlight of the trip! (This was before I got stuck in the Philly airport for like eight hours the night before my grad classes started, but whatevs…)

This place is not only gluten-free — they are corn-free, soy-free, peanut-free, refined-sugar-free, and vegan, much to the delight of those of us who have cuh-razy allergies and sensitivities. I can tell you that I felt 100% safe eating there, and it was worth every celebratory calorie. I choose my indulgences wisely, and I am so glad I saved room for this. You definitely do not have to be gluten-free or vegan to enjoy this bakery’s nom-ables. Seriously. I promise. (And no, I’m not endorsing them for any reason other than that I love small businesses, and this one in particular blew me the bleep away.)

Case in point… I order the sticky cinnamon bun. It’s made of simple components like coconut flour, garbanzo bean flour, and agave. All the ingredients are listed, and I’m pleased, hopeful… but a little suspicious. I did eat gluten for a long time before I realized what it was doing to my body, so I wasn’t certain this was going to make the cut of my childhood memories. (Note I did figure out a cinnamon roll of sorts –but not a true sticky bun — here.) I’ll just let the photos do the talking…

Conquered.

Evan and I were in awe. It had a nice crisp texture on the edges, and the center layers were just as gooey, doughy, and even yeasty-tasting as all the sticky buns of my glutenous past. I couldn’t stop raving about it; it was legitimately better than any other sticky bun (glutenous or not) I have eaten. Get to Philly. Or order it online from Sweet Freedom’s online store. Cynthia already ordered some birthday cupcakes in advance, and I’m planning to do something similar once October rolls around. Yeah. It’s *that* good.

P.S. You should definitely check out Evan’s awesome recipes – especially if you are GF. He is such a talented cook! Plus, his recipe was the inspiration behind the dessert hummus extravaganza! I know, now you’re motivated : )

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten all week?

So, you got an idea of what we did last week with my folks, but here is (finally!) an update on just the husband and I’s pseudo-anniversary trip. Our actual anniversary is in December… but when we were driving around in our rental car a few days ago, we heard Christmas music on the radio. Confused, we eventually put together that it was a “Christmas in July” theme, and we also got a really good laugh that it was our “half-anniversary.” This trip was partially planned under the guise of a very, very, very belated honeymoon, as our actual honeymoon was (intentionally) short and simple. (But that’s a story for another time.)

We were able to take this trip thanks to the generosity of my mother and father-in-law, who were so kind as to let us stay for free in their condo the entire time. You can imagine how grateful we are to them! Thank you Mom and Dad S! Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to. (Also, if you would like a recommendation of where to stay in that area, shoot me an email or leave a comment. The place we stayed was AWESOME.)

[Show as slideshow]

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At the resort, I didn’t catch photos of the wildlife, but did try to savor getting to see such diversity up close. Everywhere we looked there were ducklings (have you ever seen a Muscovy duck? So unique!), turtles, lizards, egrets, ibises, and even giant iguanas. Such beauty! We lounged on the beach (couldn’t you tell from my 8000 photos of sunsets?), read books for fun (not academic works), and took lots of walks. Generally, we spent a lot of time away from technology, just basking in the wonder of nature and each moment we shared.

Things should be nearing normalcy this week; no more big trips anytime soon : )

Thank you for all your sweet encouragements to just enjoy the vacation; it can be hard for me to take a break from anything, including blogging, but with such support I took your advice to heart. <3

xo

There are several layers to this celebration trip. I wanted to show a couple of them in this post. I have been dreaming of returning to this area of Florida since we took a brief, but magical, family trip when I was 12. Whenever I needed to envision a “happy place” — an oasis of mind, for a moment –, this is where my thoughts would settle. My toes in the water, a floor of soft, white sand, and sun shining brightly overhead. My favorite people at my side.

I plan to do a post that allows more space to reflect on what this vacation has meant to me. But for now, let me share a few glimmers from our first week:

Clouds didn’t make it any less beautiful.

Mom and Dad have been married for 36 years, as of July 12th.

And they have adored each other through it all.

I think that’s worth a celebration trip.

(Fun Family Fact: The Husband and I started our relationship on the same day my folks did — April Fool’s. Turns out it wasn’t a joke for either couple. Both couples also happened to be on trips at the time. Just a little Nourishing Flourishing Family Trivia, in case you were dying to know. [Obviously, you were.])

Haven’t seen an ugly beach yet.
Never will.

Quality time.

(One of us tans. The other doesn’t. Guess which one of us is Mediterranean, and which Scandinavian?)

Rest.

Preferably in the fashion of an older woman.

With lots of sunscreen on.

(This photo makes me feel like this: <3.  x a million )

What can I say? I love me an adorable older Scandinavian slathered in sunscreen.

Finally, we returned to Sanibel!

We had been only in Naples up until this day, and were at last able to muster some energy to drive over to where we really longed to revisit. Sanibel is the island we took a trip to over a decade ago as a family. It’s been a delight to explore Naples, but Sanibel will always be special in my heart (and memory)! More on that later.

We didn’t go through the painstaking process of creating this out of shells, but we did watch the woman who did.

You go, anonymous woman!

And then…

after dinner, we made it to a beach just in time for sunset…

and moon rise.

We walked and savored every morsel of this day.

I have truly amazing parents.

Seriously.

THEN the next celebration — it was my dad’s birthday on July 15th!

His one desire?

Go see the new Harry Potter on opening day.

We happily obliged.

xo. More soon.

So. I’m not dead. I have just been following my own advice and nourishing flourishing in my life by taking a break. The past two weeks have been so rich, I wanted to backtrack before I fill a post with my most recent adventures. You’ll remember that we started our travels in the mountains of Colorado, gathering for a family reunion (or, if you’re new to the blog, you won’t remember. Hi! Know that I usually post more food, and more frequently ; ) . It was really a memorial celebration for my grandmother (aka G-Funk), this one much more personal than the funeral. While obviously sad, it was so special to spend a few days with people I love, remembering the best woman I’ve known. I think G-Funk would have been delighted with how we toasted her life and imprint on the world:

we swam with the young’ns…

we stopped to smell the (wild)flowers…

we examined the intricacies of wonders big and small…

we played…

we awed…

we let thankfulness wash over us…

we laughed…

hugged tighter than ever…

and trusted that her legacy of love would continue.

And then a few of us (Mom, Dad, Husband, Me) headed down to one of her favorite places in the whole world…for more celebrating…

(stay tuned — I’ll be back on Wednesday with the next chapter!)

xoxo

Where is your “happy place”?

I feel so blessed, and amazed, that I am physically, and mentally, in mine right now.

<3

Wow — what a week this has been already! Sorry this is late…things have been utterly nuts. We scrambled down the mountain yesterday and have been moving nonstop ever since. We went to bed around 11 last night, after frantically tying up loose ends like packing, laundry, dishes, and making sure our garden plenty was harvested and given to friends (we were amazed at how much our summer squash alone had erupted just while we were out of town this weekend). My parents, husband, and I were all up at 3:15am, and the BFF Manfriend dropped us off along with the luggage at the bus stop by 4am. He parked back at our place, and then rode his bike at hyper speed for a mile and a half, up a huge hill, and made it to the stop by 4:10 (Dad timed him). Yes, I married a rockstar. By 4:40 we had embarked on the hour and a half journey to the airport.

You’ve probably read about some of the travel exploits of the past (ahem — Trade Joe’s and a hobo fridge, anyone?)… So, I thought I would give you an idea of how I prepared for two vegetarians, of which one who is gluten-free, one diabetic supertaster, and one really easygoing mother as we faced a very long, busy day of flying, driving, running (between flights), and, apparently, biking. As a result, everyone is comfortable, healthy, and still excited to be together.

I figured we would need substantial snacks, considering we wouldn’t have access to a real meal until late tonight. I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to fit the following in our carry-ons along with our embarrassingly extensive book collection (observe just one of literally 15 books I, alone, brought, and crammed in with some food):

- organic cherries
- apples
- a LOT of roasted almonds
- organic raisins
- 3 large sweet potatoes, baked in rounds the night before (I am the only sweet potato lover in my family at the moment)
- one dozen organic, ethically-sourced boiled eggs
- baggie of salt and pepper
- gallon-size ziploc of salad with dressing (I know, this wasn’t my best idea…)
- an entire loaf of GF bread (which many of you may know, is like a 10 lb brick)
- organic cheese for the cheese-eaters
- Dad’s peanut M & Ms (for blood sugar drops)
- water bottles

We all had a little something before we left the house, and have been snacking on the peanuts that we were surprised with on our flight. Who knew that an airline had a gluten-free option?! There was much rejoicing from the girl in seat 38B. (Psst. I’m that girl.) I was worried that Dad might end up having a difficult time regulating his insulin levels, but the walking refrigerator (it’s the new ghetto fabulous trick) worked out very well! Sure, we might have been the not-so cool kids sitting on the floor in Atlanta’s airport, shelling eggs and smelling like the week after Easter, but we were totally delighted to not have a huge McDonald’s bag and super-sized gallon of Coke, like most everyone else seemed to.

Anyway, we are about to land in Ft. Myers, Florida — I can see that gorgeous water from my window! — and take our rental car to Naples.

I have been dreaming of this trip literally (<– for Gretchen) since I was twelve years old, when I first came to this area to visit a tiny island with my family. But more on that later. For now, I just wanted to let you know I’m still alive, and still doing ridiculous things when I travel.

Like that will change.

I am sure blogging will be a little weird over these next two weeks, but please know that I am so grateful that you keep reading, and if I could be more frequent and consistent in publishing without throwing my life into imbalance this summer, I totally would. When school starts up this fall, I have a feeling reliable routine will dictate more normalcy in posting (in contrast to the unpredictability of my travels and responsibilities recently). Thank you so much for understanding that this is what I need to do to “nourish flourishing” in my life right now  : )

What food do you usually take on plane trips?

What are you doing to nourish flourishing in your life at the moment?

I’m back! So, some of you saw my hints on Twitter and Facebook already…oh my word, do I have some stories to share. But more on that later. I feel badly that the blog has been kind of wacky lately. I would guess that, although you seem to enjoy laughing at my travel exploits, you might miss the recipes. Thus, today I will start with the food from our trip, and save the chronicles of craziness for another time. These aren’t really straight-up recipes; they are more methods that you can adapt to your needs and tastes. I just wanted to share some ideas, in case you’re overwhelmed with “What will I eat?!” camping dilemmas. Please do not assume that camping has to be rough just because you don’t eat gluten, or dairy, or meat. Even if you’re not in any of those boats, after this (egregiously long) post, you’ll know what to pack for your (high-maintenance) friends  ; )

These are some “essentials” for camp cooking that I personally bring, and recommend:
- cast iron skillet (even just a small one)
- heavy duty aluminum foil
- metal utensils (fork, spoon)
- paring knife
- substantial water container (more on that tomorrow…)
- Klean Kanteen

I prefer to use a firepit with a retractable grill instead of lugging around a propane stove. All you have to do is wrap your metal skillet, pot, or food itself (see below) in heavy duty foil. Everything will be fine. Really.

(And of course, please reuse what foil you can!)

Any guesses as to what I’m stirring?

The first night we arrived, I tried something a little different than our usual camp food fare: I made curry!

This is a method, not a recipe; and I assure you, anyone can pull this off! Just trust yourself, and taste along the way. Place your (foil-laden) pot on the grill, and cover the bottom of the inside with a thin layer of curry powder, a generous sprinkling of cumin and turmeric, and a little ginger or garlic (powder, for ease). Give the spices a stir, and once they are a bit fragrant, pour some olive oil in, and stir. Add chopped onions and carrots. Stir. Add more veggies — whatever you have. We used cabbage, and precut cauliflower, broccoli, and zucchini. I also added the bag of frozen peas for protein; I love using them as “ice packs” on trips!

Add a splash (or a few) of water, and keep spicing as you go. Make the dish suit you. And don’t forget to add salt — copious amounts of salt.

Happy campers, indeed.

Save dishes, and trees: just eat right out of your pan (and lid)… Ain’t no shame in my game.

The next morning, we awoke to rain. It was not only a great excuse to snuggle into our sleeping bags a little longer, it was also the ideal setting for a hot breakfast once the sun broke through…*

And by hot, you knew I meant made with fire, right?

(Yes, I almost burned down my house as a child once. Why do you ask?)

Grilled toast (for the BFF Manfriend). Just place bread on the frame, watch, and flip. Easiest toast ever.

These (ethically-sourced) eggs were awesome, I’m not going to lie to you.

But that’s not all…

Slice. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, wrap carefully in foil, set directly in hot coals, near a flame if possible. Turn it halfway through to cook the other side. This method works with regular potatoes, as well as squash! Just keep it upright, so that oil doesn’t leak out. Remove and carefully open the foil to check for doneness. You can always reseal it and drop it back into the heat.

I also diced half the sweet potato and fried it in the cast iron until crisp — ’twas perfect!*

Can you see something hiding in the coals?

Both methods are superb. Just don’t be so adult that you leave your agave ketchup behind… Adulthood is overrated!

At this point, we embarked on our hike. Which, again, is a tale in itself, and shall be recounted in detail soon. I will share that we were utterly depleted when we reached base camp again, and I was not about to spend an hour slaving over a hot stove burning fire. At this point in the camping day, I like meals that I can just throw into coals and walk away from. Call me lazy.

Foil-Wrapped, Fire-Cooked, Easy Stuffed Bell Peppers

2-3 green bell peppers
1 can of black beans
1 can or small jar of salsa or Ro-Tel (or a mix)
organic cheese or Daiya, if desired

1) Carefully cut tops of bell peppers, like you would a jack-o-lantern.
2) Remove seeds.
3) Pour beans (I rinsed and drained mine a couple times in the can) to cover the bottom of each pepper.
4) Add a layer of salsa/Ro-Tel.
5) Repeat.
6) Replace top, and carefully wrap in foil. Keep upright and place in hot coals/fire.
7) Turn halfway through (again, check for doneness at any point, just be careful when resealing).
8 ) Remove and top with cheese if you prefer. Eat directly out of foil with a fork.

If your significant other tries to pass off their pepper remains to you once the filling is gone, fight the urge to selfishly devour it, and hint that some salt will really bring out the flavor. Be patient with his or her skepticism. Then bask in the glow of a happy spouse and no leftovers.

Whew! That’s a serious recap. But I know that so many of you are traveling this summer, and I don’t ever want you to feel left out because of a dietary restriction. Hopefully these examples can provide some inspiration and encouragement for your own creative camp meals. And don’t be intimidated by the fire: remember, everything tastes better when cooked outdoors! : )

Featured in Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free

Any other camp cooking ideas?

*Sorry for the inconsistent quality in photos… The lighting was a bit tricky to work with on this trip!

Here are some of the highlights from our trip… (Seeing family was of course the main highlight, but I don’t think everyone is keen on being plastered across my blog ; )

To my Philosophy-Soccer friends (aka Team Qualia): Notice that J’s legs are gash-free. For once.

Totally succeeding in prioritizing this goal.

I’m looking ironic here because my BFF Manfriend was way too excited about this rock formation.

That, and the sun was quite blinding. Especially after 40 pictures. (See above.)

Oh, yeah — and this sign:

Pfsh. I am hardcore. I would have just glared the snake straight in the eye, and intimidated it into submission.

Duh. You knew this.

I wanted to show you a picture of Kyle as Mark in RENT, but can’t find any photos for free use. The bright side to using this photo is that you get to see my super cute sister-in-law, Abby, as a bonus. It was her birthday this week. Manfriend and I made her some curry to celebrate.

Not sure yet if that makes us fun, or terrible, siblings. I think it probably depends on how bad the curry was.

Oh, and after the whole ghetto fabulous dinner thang, we drove home from the show in Scottsbluff at 11pm, and had to cross into Wyoming and far northeastern Colorado for a few hours…

While you can see the hail wall forming at our windshield, and the lightening aimed directly at us, this (otherwise professional) drawing leaves out the locusts, frogs, and several other plagues of the apocalypse. Which we, somehow, survived.

We alternated between frantically chanting, “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die,” and laughing hysterically, “We’re idiots! We’re idiots! And we’re gonna DIE!” …In unrelated news, after this trip, we decided to become real adults, and in the future shall purchase a hotel room instead of driving through strange lands with infamous weather habits in the middle of the night.

These are the moments we won’t forget. Because they are so, so special traumatizing. Cherish them. <3

Welp, those were just a handful of moments. Back to normal(ish) soon : ) Workin’ on a recipe today!

xoxo

Highlights of your week?

Have I been MIA or what?!

Oy vey. My apologies. Travel tends to do this to me… I’ll recap a little more of our trip in the next day or so, but for now I thought I’d jump ahead to a special moment.

We left eastern Nebraska and drove for about 10 hours or so to get to Scottsbluff. My (soon-to-be) brother-in-law (lots of hyphens) was hired to play Mark in RENT there this summer. Kyle is a wonderfully talented actor, and we love theatre — and more importantly, we love Kyle. So we thought a few hours of detouring would be very worth the late night drive back to Boulder, Colorado. It certainly was! Even after seeing the show on Broadway, I have to say: Kyle nailed his part. But we also had some…weird things happen along the way.

I wrote out the whole story, and deleted it, because I just didn’t think anyone would find it as hilarious as we did. I just want to offer the caveat that this might be a “You Had To Be There” kind of thang. You couldn’t see the looks people gave us, or the exasperation of our hour of driving through a town that takes 15 minutes to reach the edges of, or our attempts to get close enough to all the drive-through menus without setting off the sensor and having to explain that, “We don’t eat meat — and we’re just looking to see if you have absolutely anything that doesn’t contain bacon and American cheese.”

Awkward.

(Also: No. They don’t.)

Finally, we reached the end of town. And the Wal-Mart. In desperation (and our growing suspicion that they didn’t, in fact, really have a grocery store), we walked in, and started checking ingredients. After seeing that the bean, salsa, and guacamole dip has a list of ingredients 40 lines long, we moved on to the canned aisle. Refried beans. That’s innocent enough, right? Mashed beans. Protein. Cheap. Yes. Except that all but one brand had lard in it. Again, literally. I’m not being hyperbolic here. We realized we needed a can opener, and went to the deli to ask if they wouldn’t mind opening it for us after we purchased it. “Um…wow…Hmm…I don’t…I don’t know.” …Uh. What? “You’ll have to find a manager…I just don’t know…” About 3 minutes of this evasion and “I don’t know ’bout that”-ing. You would have thought we asked if we could slather ourselves in the leftover fryer grease and run naked through the aisles. “I just don’t know ’bout that…”

We just bought a flippin’ can opener.

It is staying in the car from now on, for moments like this.

Time was quickly closing in on the start of the show, so we waited until we got to the theatre parking lot to start “dinner.” We were tired, road-worn, and looked like we needed a change of clothes and a shower. As people began to filter into the venue, we hurriedly crammed food down our gullets in our car, which was packed to the hilt with firewood (for camping) and bags. Utensil-less, we were scooping our refried beans from the can with crackers; J was ravenously biting chunks right off the huge 5 lb block of organic cheese we had brought in the cooler.

It took us a moment to realize that people were staring at us as they passed.

And then it took about five seconds to connect that they were staring because we LOOKED HOMELESS. All we needed to do was start a bum fire in that front seat and you would have thought so, too.

The fact that we started laughing maniacally about this afterwards probably didn’t help things…

On the bright side, I always wanted to be a hobo when I was little.

Reach for your dreams, kids.

Please tell me you’ve done something equally weird.

I thought it might be fun to do a little update on how our meals have gone so far as we’re traveling (we are currently in Nebraska…just in case you didn’t read the title). While it has been a different experience than what we are used to, we have a wonderful, large kitchen and a mother(-in-law) who lets us make ourselves at home. For me, that means cooking up a storm, and unleashing chaos on her counters (sorry, Mom S.). No one seems to mind too much that I’m still taking (bad) photos while they are patiently waiting for dinner to be served (cold food, of course — seeing as I’ve been angling it toward the window for about 10 minutes already). It’s nice to be able to maintain some normalcy despite being in another state! Thanks Mom and Dad S. for your hospitality and understanding. And for being so willing to try the crazy things I make… True love.

So, while we’ve been in Nebraska we’ve eaten the following:

Zucchini Fries

Summer Grilling Marinade and Vegetables

Blueberry Scones

Vegan Mango Lassi (actually, this is on the docket for today!)

And a variation on 5 Minute Vegan Pesto

Some of the family’s various favorites that they have made or tried in the past included:

The Cheapest, Easiest, Vegan Split Pea Soup in The World

Best Bangin’ Marinara and Eggplant Faux “Parmesan”

Simple Lime Mocktail

The BFF Manfriend and I have been supplementing with lots of big, fresh salads, fruit, and nuts (and organic cheese, for him — he’s trying to cut back, but it’s a process ; ). Thus far, I think J has found being vegetarian in the Midwest to be fairly doable, so long as we’re responsible and prepared. We know full well that it is our job to make sure we have food that meets our needs, and we would never place expectations on anyone else. But this week has also made us more aware of and grateful for how lucky we are to live in an effortlessly accommodating town, if only for a short season in our life. Boulder ranks high on the GF and veg-friendly list of places to live, and thus makes our lifestyle painlessly straightforward — this is not the case in other parts of the country. It has been encouraging to see that while we could have done things better at certain points, we can certainly manage our health and lifestyle quite well while traveling. I hope you find the same to be true for yourself this summer, regardless of whether it is in the food allergy, veg, or general healthy-eating category, and celebrate yourself as result!

Do you have a favorite recipe on here?

What would you like to see?

I drove a long, long way yesterday. Well, technically we drove. On the way, I brainstormed new recipes and adaptations.  As soon as we got in the door at our destination (more on that later), I got cookin’. Literally. We are staying at a place with so much natural light I was giddy – anyone who takes photos of their food knows what I’m talking about. The sun was shining through large windows still, because hey, it’s summer. I proceeded to consume nearly all of my recipe with satisfaction. It was even bright enough at this point for a nice long walk in the woods. What a wonderful evening.

Or so I thought.

This was especially frustrating because I’m usually a meticulous packer. Nevertheless, I’m on the hunt for a replacement. I’ll keep you posted. Again, literally.

#Winning

In less fail-related news, thank you for all your feedback on the poll! It was great to read all the comments and hear about what you’d like to see more of. Some of you mentioned that I should show off my photoshop skillz more often. Psh, obviously. Because I’m a photoshopping master. (If by master, you mean, crudely throwing together bad pictures and making jokes about them because they are ridiculous.)  Welp, it looks like this week, being sans camera cord, you might just get your wish… Oh, and guess what?

Mr. Adam Deane, that’s you! I know you’re moving, but send me an email at NFKatie[at]gmail.com so we can find a way to get a little care package to you in thanks for your feedback on the other day’s post. : )

Anyone else have a D’OH moment this week?