Very Nearly Hippy: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Coconut Rice and Peanut Butter Sauce

so i've obviously recommitted to eating gluten free.

i love my stir fry. so so much. but seriously, it's RIDDLED with gluten. everything in it. soy sauce... gluten. store bought stir fry sauce... gluten. packet of instant egg drop soup... you guessed it. now don't get me wrong, i made each and every one of those things for hubby for dinner, i just can't eat it. but what i did make for me? oh my dear sweet baby Thor, it was good. i was very proud of myself and posted a picture of my dinner on facebook, and my friend Kathy asked for the recipe, so here you go. i'm including the sites where i found the original recipe as well, but i'll list my substitutions/changes here

Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice here

1/2 c brown rice
1 can coconut milk
1 c water
1tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt

dump everything in the pressure cooker and put on high. once the top starts swinging (i have an older model), let it go for about 3 minutes, then turn off the heat. when when it stops rocking all together, release the rest of the pressure, then open when the pressure is totally gone. ALWAYS follow proper safety instructions (especially if they differ from mine) when using a pressure cooker!

Peanut Butter Sauce here
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c water
2tbl lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2tbl apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp corn starch
mix everything together and heat up till it starts to bubble. pour over stir fry veggies, and serve the whole thing over the coconut rice

mmmmmmmm

Sunday, March 30, 2014

It started out as a simple experiment

I started to eat gluten free to see if I felt better. To see if I could get the bloaty feeling and the stomach cramps (that could get quite bad, actually) to go away. Id already switched to regular soda from diet to see if that got rid of my migraine headaches, so in the 'let's get healthy' push that seemed the next logical step.

And I did feel better. Quite a bit better. Bloat gone. Cramps, all but disappeared. I even lost a bit of weight. That honestly is no small feat, im a stress eater, and this was a particularly stressful time. (Issues) I even managed to go to a Con and stay mostly gluten free. Yes, it involved taking all my own food with me, but I did it dammit.

But finances being what they are (we like to be silly and pay all our bills when they are due), and our completely frakked up-corporate-owned food system being what it is, hubby and I had to make a tough decision when it came to groceries. We could get gluten free food for me, and everyone else would have to eat processed cheapass "food", or we could eat as unprocessed as we could for the whole family, and I would have to eat gluten.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Its been two days. And this experiment is now concluded. Im absolutely certain that if I dont have celiac disease, im at the very least gluten intolerant. Within these two days ive had massive stomach cramps like someone socked me right in the gut, headaches and now a full blown migraine, every joint hurts. And im not even going to get into what goes on in the bathroom. Its not pretty. Or fun. For anybody in the house.

So thats it. I have to be gluten free. While I haven't been tested, I think I know my own body well enough to know that something is wrong with it. I didnt run to a doctor when I broke out in hives when I eat dates, I know im allergic. (Actually in that case I do, they will kill me, but the analogy is sound) The next two weeks will be tough, but I see a lot of rice in my future. Thankfully most of the groceries we got, I can have. Ill be having green beans on mac n cheese night, though. I may have to leave some stuff off my plate, but ill manage. This, like everything else is a work in progress.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

the sword holder

my friend Jodi found this adorable sword holder on pintrest. i absolutly had to make one for bam. but the link was dead of course.

so i decided to bust out the pen and paper and make my own.

the pattern itself only took 20 minutes to make (i'm a professional remember) and it sewed up like a treat. see...

here is the pdf for the pattern.

SWORDHOLDER

construction is super easy. cut out two of each patter piece, plus one of interfacing if you're using a thin material (i used canvas for this one), sew the front and back of each piece together with a small (1/4 inch) seam allowance. notch, flip, and press. take the "sword piece" and make a 3 inch slot with the zig zag stitch with the stitch legnth as small as you can make it. make it in the shape of a rectangle about a 1/4 inch in width. i used bias tape on the very top of the sword piece. now put the sword piece on the shield piece, and stitch it on, leaving the top (bias taped bit) open. top stitch the sword/shied bit. now attach the shield/sword bit to the belt bit however you like. put on your favorite belt.

adorable.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Planet ComiCon 2014 (photo heavy)

Here are the pictures i took at PCC this year.

my Doctor

playing in the back yard

loves

sillies

Geeky Family. Uncle Barbossa, Daddy and Sissy

Greg as Midnight Barbossa

Steampunk Jo

Creepy Clockwork

I love these guys

Jay and Silent Bob

Bat Family

Dalek

He loves Deadpool

the cutest Dalek

Radaghast

Map Room Indy and the Girls

like father like son

Rose and 10

Captn Jack and 10

Big Daddy

Bam and Hellboy

John Snow

Pyramid Head

WarMachine ROX

Iron America

so this is the first Brony i've encountered. Not bad

then he showed me his cutie mark

Map Room Indy and the bunny

Joker and Bane

Joker, Hockey Pad Batman, and Bane

(i think somebodys gonna get beat)

Very Awesome Catwoman

Blues Brother

i'm not sure if this is a costume, or if it's traditional, but it was beautiful

Charlie Brown. He said next year he's coming in costume

so John Ratsenburger stole my camera and took a picture of Bam sleeping on my back. Im not kidding. Mac from Cars took my camera and started snapping photos