What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ahh the question of our youth....What do you want to be when you grow up? That is something that I have constantly tossed around in my head. Are you ready to get to know me a little more? Here goes......

As a teenager all I wanted to do was dance.  I loved Ballet, I loved the way it made me feel and I loved performing.  However; six knee surgeries later, Ballet was not something that was going to be in my future...that was a whole painful period of my life but also one that I have really grown from.  After coming to the realization that Ballet was not in my future and college was closely approaching I had to make a decision on what and who I saw myself becoming one day.  I started out with photography and was accepted to a few schools as an art student.  Then I began to reflect, do I really WANT to be photographer or is it just a hobby?  I decided it was a love of mine but not something I wanted to spend a college tuition on.  So moving onto education.

I thought I could teach elementary age kiddos!  About a month into the program I observed an elementary classroom and that was the end of that.  I applaud teachers for all they have to do!  I just couldn't see myself having to deal with all the different behaviors and things a teacher has to get to in one day. I myself was home-schooled 3rd grade through 8th grade so this was a different experience for me. THEN, I thought hmmm maybe I can put my love for art and my interest in teaching together! So I changed majors once again to Art Education.  The draws where, being able to teach art and also sending the students back to their teachers after 40 or so minutes! Kind of like being a grandparent!  I loved the Art program I was in and loved working with the little ones! Older students ...not for me.  Getting asked to the prom everyday is a bit embarrassing and awkward! Then it was time for me to graduate and get out in the "real world".  What they do not tell you in the "real world" is good luck finding an art teacher job because there are not too many openings!  I went on a couple of interviews, but no dice.  I had one person tell me right before on of my interviews, "We are going to hire the student teacher we had, but we would still like to interview you,"  WHAT! AHHHH! 

In the meantime, I have been working with students on the Autism Spectrum. Working with these children has taught me more than I could ever imagine! I have loved every child I have worked with and each has taught me something wonderful about them and myself.  I truly believe things happen for a reason and that I was meant to work with these children.  I decided I should go back to school for my masters in special education.  However; the more I was in the program the more I felt it wasn't the right fit for me.  I love working with students with learning disabilities but everything that comes with being a special education teacher didn't seem like it would be something I could always do, burnout would eventually happen.  I was then off to change my major once again! On to literacy? Sure why not! 

In graduate school I have proved to myself two things, one you are capable of getting a 4.0 and two, education is not your field.  WAIT HOLD ON! Did you just say what I think you said?! Yes you read that right folks.  After much soul searching I finally understand who I am suppose to be and who I have always been.  By this blog you can probably guess what one of my interests are, food and all it has to offer and not offer us.  I recently read a book about clearing your mind and just doing what makes you happy. Well what makes me happy is finding the best ways to nourish myself, whether it be food, exercise, art, etc... I do not regret for one minute going to graduate school, because if I hadn't, I don't think I would have come to this realization and I still would be wondering what it is that really makes me happy and motivated.

Once I came to this realization, so many things started lighting my path.  I started doing research for a nutrition school, and found the School for Integrative Nutrition. I asked one of my fellow Ballet dancers (who knows a lot about nutrition) if she knew anything about the school and found out her husband is an ambassador for the school!  I talked to him and did a webinar through the school and realized this is for me! Without a doubt this time! So it is my goal that in September I will be enrolled in the school and on my way to becoming a health and wellness coach! :-) I couldn't be more excited and happy that I finally get it, I finally know what I WILL be when I grow up! I have had many things happen since I have opened myself up to this realization, many of which some might call coincidences, but; I do not believe in coincidences.  I believe once your intention is out there and you are completely aware and open then the rest will fall into place. Which is probably why I haven't gotten an art job yet, because I wasn't completely sure of myself. 

Anyway! I will stop rambling on but I felt like this was an important blog because we all have our dreams, even the ones we are not aware of.  I have always been interested in nutrition and wellness but didn't think I could do anything about it, till I found the holistic approach to nutrition and found my place. Never be afraid to follow your dreams and see your true potential.  Are you happy? Are you living everyday fulfilled and wanting more? If not then you might not be doing what you were meant to do. Don't go and quit your job right yet though, just do some soul searching sista's and brotha's and unlock the potential you have inside you!  Trust me when you do, it will be amazing .....I cannot wait to see what happens next for me, everyday brings something new to research and another piece falls into place.  Make your dreams a reality!  For now I am going to continue working at the school and hopefully work at a health food store to save money for nutrition school and learn all I can on my own and see what kind of journey it will take me on.


OK that is all for now and I promise to be writing more.  I have been doing lots of research that I am excited about and also will be changing the title of my blog to match my URL ...gluten free palette.  I will explain that later though ;-)  Alright time to get off my butt and shovel!  

P.S. Are you the person you want to be? What did you want to be when you were a child?


Peace, Love, Eat Well, AND Live now!
                                                      Ashley

The Power of Green!

I have always loved the color Green.  I also have always had to paint my kitchen green in the places we have lived.  I looked up the meaning of the color green , and found this;

"GREEN – Heart Chakra (centre/left chest)

This uplifting, peaceful and serene ‘in between’ colour – neither warm and active nor cool and passive - is the healer and balancer of emotions, but also enhances creativity and focus. Green stimulates growth – be it mending broken bones or rejuvenating tissue – lowers blood pressure, alleviates sleeplessness and counteracts nervous disorders and muscle tension.

Green produces the image of stability and efficiency. We appear calm, controlled and at peace with the world. Green is also the colour of Mother Nature."

It makes a lot of since after reading this definition why I have always felt the need to paint my kitchen green.  When I am cooking I feel calm and creative and inspired to try new things. I also love eating green foods, except for boogers gross!( Just making sure you paying attention ;-) )

This leads me to one of my favorite green things to do in the kitchen, juicing.  Around this time of year, and working with children it is important for me to keep my body healthy.  I love to make green juice to keep my immune system thriving to fight off those pesky germs.  Plus it is really fun to go to work and watch the faces of pure shock that I am drinking something so green!  It is usually faces of ewww! but there is nothing ewwy about fresh green juice filled with organic vegetables that will jump start your immune system and make your head feel clear and give you lots of energy.  I have been juicing more and more lately, in fact just about everyday.  

So how do I do it? I eat a lot of vegetables every week, and I save the stems of things like, celery and broccoli and the end of carrots.  To make a truly green juice, you should only use green veggies and fruit, I like to add the ends of carrots but this does make the juice less green.  

My favorite things to add are;

2 handfuls of spinach

2 kale leaves

2 handfuls of romaine lettuce

1 green apple

1/2 cucumber ( I add a whole in the summer due to having them in my garden, but damn they are pricey this time of year! so a half it is)

1-2 celery stalks or your celery ends

Broccoli stems and carrot ends

What is even more amazing about green juice is how you feel afterward.  I have stopped drinking coffee this week, something I have done in the past and the caffeine withdrawals were intense! I had severe headaches and felt exhausted and I only drank 1 cup a day!  This time around I am supplementing my coffee by drinking  the green juice and some green tea in the afternoon.  Guess what! NO WITHDRAWALS! I have energy in the morning and no headache.  This morning I had a full glass of green juice for breakfast and ended up having a super productive day, wrote a paper, did laundry, chased my dog around the house, cleaned the house (including scrubbing the bathtub, which is something I never have energy for), read a few chapters in a book, now I am writing to all of you! after this it is time to make some dinner. Not to shabby.

Juice is powerful stuff and I do not mean the stuff at the grocery store. The juice at the grocery store is full of sugar because the fruit settles and gets all comfy and cozy in the nice little bottle, really the sugar content in these juices are the same as drinking a can of soda, you may think you are making a wise choice but its a no go.  You can save the juice you make for no more than 24 hours, I often like to supply myself for 2 days worth, I will juice and drink half that morning and then save half in a mason jar to have the next morning.  This is also something kids would love! Seeing the veggies turn into juice is pretty fantastic and better than giving your child a "can of soda" with their breakfast.

So there it is! I love GREEN and GREEN loves the body!

This mornings juice!

Peace, Love and JUICE!
                                 Ashley

First Restaurant Experience!

Well it was bound to happen.  For a girl who used to love going out to eat; not being able to eat Gluten and going out to eat do not mix!  At home I can cook my meals with the knowledge of every ingredient that goes into them.  Still who doesn't love going out to eat once in awhile?!  My husband and I got together with good friends of ours and decided we would all go out to eat.  My first task was to research.  I got online and looked at a bunch of restaurants in the town we were going to meet.  I stumbled upon one restaurant that looked pretty decent and had something for everyone.  

When we got to the restaurant I opened up the menu and immediately found what I was going to eat.  Pan seared Atlantic sea scallops over maple spaghetti squash and an arugula salad!  It was amazing! and thankfully I could eat it and not feel threatened by what I could be digesting because there were no hidden ingredients, even the salad had only balsamic vinegar on it!  YUM! Now unfortunately everybody else thought there meals were just OK and were drooling slightly over my delicious gluten free friendly meal.  

I think my favorite part of this dinner though, was how I felt after.  Which was amazing! I usually never leave a restaurant feeling that great.  I was usually bloated so bad that I wouldn't want to go anywhere but home afterward.  Also I usually never finished a meal because I would be hurting halfway through, not to mention the portions YIKES! This time around I practically ate the plate! Granted proportionally it was perfect but also it didn't hurt to eat it! I left the restaurant feeling light as air and as good as I did going in. 

It is my suggestion that if you want a good restaurant experience and you are going or are gluten free then do your research ahead of time. A lot of restaurants even have gluten free menus if you ask, for instance Olive Garden has one if you ask your waiter for it.  Also talk to your waiter, they are usually more than willing to find out for you if there might be hidden gluten in your food.  Calling ahead to find out about gluten free options is always an option too.

Even though I had a great restaurant experience, I still advocate to just eat at home.  Its cheaper and you know what is going in your body, without any hidden surprises. But for those special times that you meet with friends, family or have a hot date ;-) then it is possible to eat and enjoy, without eating and regretting.

P.S. I feel the need to tell you that I am writing this blog while indulging in a Liz Lovely gluten free oatmeal raisin cookie! SOO GOOD! Plus they were half off at the Portsmouth Health Food Store so that makes them taste a little bit sweeter!

me want cookie!

Peace, Love, and Eat Well,
                                     Ashley

Millet with Veggies and Black Beans!

So here is what was on tonights menu...I am sorry for the lack of a clever name but really I just lack wit sometimes.  But the recipe will taste the same and that's all that matters :-) Hope you like it, we sure did!

1 cup millet
3 cups water

1/2 head of cauliflower (spears)                                                                    

2 large carrots or 3 small(chopped                                          
1 med. onion, chopped
3 large handfuls of fresh spinach
1/2 can black beans
1 tbsp. earth balance butter
2 tbsp. roasted garlic mustard (stonewall kitchen)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot put in millet, water, cauliflower spears and carrots. Bring to a boil.  Once boiling cover pot and simmer for 25 minutes.  Meanwhile, saute onions in oil of choice on med. to low heat and let them get nice and translucent (can also caramelize if you wish) then add spinach.  Once onions and spinach are done turn off heat.  Your millet mix should be done by this time. Using a potato masher, mash together millet,cauliflower, and carrots. Once well combined and mixed, add your onion and spinach mixture.  Next, add black beans, earth balance and roasted garlic mustard and mix with a big spoon.  Then to finish it off add salt and pepper to taste. I also like to add a little bit of parsley (because I love parsley!)  Your millet should be almost creamy looking! and I think delicious tasting!

The finished product!

 If you you find yourself asking, What the heck is Millet? check this out! what you need to know about Millet!

 

Have you ever had millet?

Peace, Love, and Eat Well,

                                   Ashley

A productive weekend!

Well I haven't posted in a couple days and my posts will be spaced a bit now due to graduate school starting back up this week.  However, I needed to share some very exciting things that happened in my kitchen this weekend, including the wonderful surprise snow day I had that resulted in a kitchen experiment!  Firstly my snow day was full of research and baking! I found this wonderful muffin recipe that has; peanut butter, eggs, baking soda, vanilla, water and agave or honey, with some chocolate chips sprinkled on top. THAT'S IT!  I was skeptical at first; but sure enough they are delicious!  Just the smell of peanut butter makes you salivate before you even taste your first bite.  SO GOOD! I still can't believe that there is no flour!  I also made some coconut cream dough-nots.  I made these to try and replicate the delectable Lara Bar's coconut cream bar. I will post the recipe and pictures soon because, OMG these are mouth watering! If I don't say so myself haha. Not quite the same as Lara Bar's but hey I came pretty close and of course made mine into dough-nots :-)  I did some more research and after looking up some recipes, I was a cooking diva! Making my husband and I wonderful gluten free recipes that included, sauted Tempeh, roasted vegetables(fresh from the farmers market), and cruelty free egg frittata with fresh vegetables.  

Now that I have mentioned the farmers market I need to also talk about that! If you are from the southern Maine area, there is on in Portland, Maine every weekend and one in New Hampshire that travels between Exeter High School and Wentworth Greenhouses in Rollinsford every other weekend.  This is an amazing way to get fresh vegetables and local goods throughout the winter. I highly recommend it.  It really is the best part of my weekend. I love seeing all the people out and enjoying the local products and everyone with their environmental friendly bags, those things make me happy, I guess I am easy to please!  Anyway you should definitely check it out if you already haven't.  I even was able to get gluten free french bread! You can check it out at www.BuzzsBakery.co.cc they have a lot of gluten free products.  Their site isn't quite up and running just yet but it is something to keep your eye one.  The bread was amazing! Oh and did I mention it was vegan too! Crazy good!  Anyway I cannot say enough about farmers markets, nothing tastes better then fresh vegetables right from the source.  I prefer to grow my own but when its winter this is the next best thing!

Well I must bid you adieu now, I have to relax before life starts in full force again tomorrow, between work and school and my gluten/hormone research! PHEW I am a busy gal! I was wondering though; how you all are doing with your gluten free adventures? I have gotten a few private emails but lets hear it! Let this be a place of support, you are not in it alone :-)  I soon will have the recipe for you for the coconut cream dough-nots and update you on my research.  

P.S. I am feeling MARVELOUS! Still no bloat! In fact my stomach bothered me a tiny bit this morning from who know what and I didn't bloat up! That is mind blowing for me!

Peace, Love and Eat Well,

                                    Ashley

What's for Dinner?

Veggie Lovin' is what's for dinner! 

1 tbsp. virgin coconut oil

1 onion, diced

2 stalks of broccoli cut into spears,( cut off stalks and save for juicing if you want!)  

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 red bell pepper

1 zucchini

2 celery stalks

5 baby portabella mushrooms

couple handfuls fresh spinach

handful of raw walnuts, chopped

handful of green olives( I like using the Lindsey Naturals)

handful of Kalamata olives

drizzle of Bragg's liquid amino's

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. cheddar cheese or vegan cheese per bowl (optional)

First heat pan with coconut oil, then toss in diced onion.  Once onion is in for a few minutes add broccoli spears. Then add about 1/2 cup vegetable broth with red bell pepper, zucchini, and celery.  Stir and cover pan for approx. 10 min.  Once veggies are soft add mushrooms, spinach, walnuts, and olives. Stir then add the Bragg's. salt and pepper to taste.  Stir again and once veggies are to you liking, spoon out veggie mix into a bowl and top with your cheese of choice.

After suffering from stomach pain yesterday and feeling under the weather, this was the perfect meal.  This is one of my favorite dinners! What is your favorite dinner?

Peace, Love, and Eat Well,
                                    Ashley

First Road Bump...

Well friends I hit my first road bump! So last night I thought, snowy weather, cuddling with my puppy, hot chocolate would be perfect right now!  I boiled some almond milk and stirred in some  hot chocolate mix that my brother gave me for Christmas.  It was perfect! Really hit the spot! Unfortunately half way through drinking it, it began to hit another spot....uh ohhhhhhhhhhhh!  I got up in search for the ingredients but the ingredients were not on the bottle!  I later found out it was thrown away.  Although I didn't need ingredients to tell me that gluten was the culprit. (probably a barely malt)  I started getting awful stomach pains, went to the bathroom a few times to many and spent the rest of the night on the couch in pain! No energy at all and I couldn't even bring myself to blog about it last night!  I woke up this morning feeling awful and had to visit all to familiar bathroom once again.  I started getting nauseous and feeling like I was going to collapse!  Needless to say, not a fun morning!  The rest of the day I was exhausted and felt like I was hit by a truck! :-(

This is such a bummer! I knew it would happen sooner or later.  Gluten can be hard to avoid, especially when sneaking into my hot chocolate! But like I said, it was bound to happen.  It just makes me realize how great it feels to feel great!  All day I just wanted to have that feeling again, instead of the ...I just want to sleep, feeling. I will be going to bed early and hopefully will wake up feeling wonderful again with all that energy back!

The hot chocolate I will be making from now on is;

1-2 teaspoons raw cacao powder
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1-2 drops of stevia

mmm, healthy, def. gluten free and delicious! 

I just love hot chocolate in the winter, especially when it's snowing outside.  Reminds me of when my brother, sister and I would play out in the snow all rosy cheeked and have hot chocolate waiting for us when we came in!  Next time I will reminisce without the agonizing pain afterward!

My little cuddle buddy!

Peace, Love and Eat Well,
                                 Ashley