Over the last while when I haven't been able to blog much, I had my first experience with non-secretor teeth. My baby teeth were full of cavities, so we got sealants on my adult molars. These are wearing off now, and at my last dental appt I had 4 small cavities. I thought, no big deal, they're superficial, so scheduled all the fillings at once. Didn't realize until I got there that they were on all 4 sides, so I had to get 4 shots and walk out with my entire mouth numbed. The actual appt wasn't bad, less than 45 minutes in the office. Coming out of the numbing was not fun though, and my TMJ lion was reawakened. So for a couple weeks I couldn't eat steak, not fair for an O, but now it's about back to normal.

Part of the problem is that when I had children and became a stay at home mom, my morning routine went out the window, and I often forget to brush my teeth after breakfast. Now that I know I am afterall 100% non-secretor, and not completely invincible, I'm taking more care to brush more often.

More adventures to share soon!

The BTD provides us physical strength and emotional balance...so why is it that when we need these things the most we follow the diet the least? This editorial "we" means me and I.

Winter holidays are a challenge to the immune system, yet do we combat this by avoiding sugar and avoids, or do we binge on the stuff? I'm afraid the latter answer applies to me.

I could make plenty of excuses, I have them, but truth be told, my body doesn't accept excuses. If I have to do less and leave a room a mess in order to cook and eat properly, that's what I'll have to do. The last few months I've been blessed by other's cooking generosity, and I requested the most important dietary limits, but often ate food I normally wouldn't for the sake of getting adequate calories. As close as a celiac can come to a see-food diet. I've paid the price for that, and now I'm going to take back control.

So far so good today, there's still a bit too much candy lying around, but I'm getting more self control. I've been cooking and eating real food, and trying to build up some immune strength and physical endurance. It may be hard to always do, but I owe it to myself, my body, and my family to do what it takes to be healthy!

The last four months have had enough adventures and pain to write many chapters, but in summary it's starting to make me snicker a bit...oh well, I won't go into to much detail. Today I fell on my knee on the sidewalk, so I may be in for it with that, but I put an ice pack on it (and my hip and back) and I'm taking it as easy as possible today. So far it's feeling fine other than the bruise, so I'm crossing my fingers and avoiding the avoids.

I went into the doctor yesterday for my 6 week follow up exam. When I got there I realized I should have gone in sooner before the flu outbreak, but I was relieved I had at least cancelled my sons' appointments. Everyone else in the full waiting room was coughing and looked miserable. I had already gone to great effort to get there and arrange a babysitter, so I stayed, but used up a small bottle of purell while there. My doctor said they had 8 confirmed cases already that day by 11 am. He also said not to bring my boys in for anything that can wait until after the outbreak. (I was hoping to postpone the baby's immunizations anyway, which ones he'll be getting) So far I don't seem to have caught it yesterday. Last year's flu season wasn't this bad, but I'd rather avoid this one. My mom called later in the day because some relatives came down with it soon after Christmas and she was afraid the baby's stuffy nose meant we were getting it too, but nope, we're fine.

The appointment went well, and I cleaned up and showered thoroughly when I got home, before touching anyone or anything. We're now hitting the elderberry more, and staying out of public places as much as possible. I've stocked up on the homeopathic flu remedy you can now get everywhere, including Costco. So, I think we're prepared.

I meant to pop in and wish everyone a happy winter solstice and a Merry Christmas. I guess I'm only in time for wishing you a Happy New Year. For me the winter solstice has more significance than New Years, because it's my turn-around day. Having Seasonal Affective Disorder it should be my worst day, but being the shortest day of the year things can only get better, so it's a good day for me. Oddly, I'm on a fall/spring bipolar-SAD cycle, rather a winter/summer. Anyhoo...time for a turn-around.

The last 4 months have been hard for me, though my spirits have stayed good. Early labor, bedrest, colds and coughs aplenty, then the labor and birth happened so fast I was in a bit of shock, more coughing, more pain, another cold or two, throw in an epic stomach flu, and I started to worry what was in store for me next! I'm not worrying about that any more though, not really. I'm feeling like I can start to take control of my life and my family's life again.

I asked for a baby/toddler scale for Christmas. I now have mixed feelings about it, because my toddler hadn't gained as much as I thought he had. He's growing taller at a good rate, just not gaining much weight. He seemed to make faster progress before September, so I think all the cooking I used to do was beneficial for him. Don't know how long it's been since I made him waffles or turkey meatballs and other favorites. I have made some pasta alfredo for him, which he's nuts about. I think I blogged the recipe for that a while back...my answer to mac & cheese. He's been complaining of tummy aches lately, so I think we need to watch those avoids a bit more and find out his secretor status. Time to commit to the BTD for him in earnest.

The baby on the other hand has already gained 4 pounds, that's about a 50% increase from his birth weight! Hungry little guy has been the only reason I haven't gained weight with my appetite and recent noncompliance.

Well, I have more catching up to do, but I'll sign off now and get my toddler to slumberland now that the baby is there. I've learned that I can follow my toddler around the house while holding the baby and the "baby chasing you" game gets them both tired out and happy. That's a good discovery.

Thanksgiving was a success! We had our own little family dinner the night before, then took gluten-free leftovers to the family event on Thanksgiving day.

I roasted a big free-range turkey, which turned out pretty well, though at times I was afraid I'd end up with it on my head while preparing it (a la Mr. Bean's Christmas). I have yet to make plans for all the leftovers. We also had Thanksgiving Risotto (search RecipeBase for this recipe) in place of stuffing and mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, bacon peas at my husband and son's request, mashed roasted sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, and goat chevre cheesecake (click here for link. --I just substituted the milk with soymilk, rice milk should work too. Then I used macadamia nuts for the crust and followed the graham cracker crust recipe, but then I processed the nuts too much, turning them into macadamia butter, so I added some sweet rice flour to make it dry enough to press into the pan. It was a great tart-type crust in the end, one I may not be able to replicate again!)

Here's my new favorite pie crust recipe: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipe/detail.php?rid=370 I use half rice flour and half sweet rice flour for the flour, then ghee instead of melted butter (butter burns when in the oven too long as in a pumpkin pie).

For the blueberry filling, I sweetened 2-3 cups of frozen blueberries with a bottle of St. Dalfour's blueberry preserves, heated and thickened with 5-8 tablespoons of arrowroot dissolved in cold water. I added a bit too much water, so had extra "sauce" that I ended up using on the cheesecake...

...to be continued...I can cook an entire Thanksgiving Meal with a 2 week old and 3 year old, but haven't yet found the time to write about it all!