Carol Collett

Adventures in Gluten Free Baking

Carol — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:36:39 +0000

Over the past few months I’ve learned many things about living gluten free, not the least of which is that learning to bake gluten free takes patience and a sense of humor. Thankfully I have both where baking is concerned.

These photos are items I made for Christmas.

Thoughts From Ecclesiastes

Carol — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:11:32 +0000

In our Sunday night Bible study Pastor Jon asked a question which has camped out in the back of my mind all week. He asked “What do you believe is the work God gave you to do on the earth?”

I should pause here to tell you we’re studying Ecclesiastes. Um, yeah. It’s one of the books I’ve always kind of skimmed over. Mostly because it brings me down and I don’t really get it.

Back to the question. The verse on which this question was based is Ecclesiastes 3:10. It makes a difference which translation you use:

The Message: I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do-busywork mostly.

New King James: I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

I get two very different pictures of this verse from these two translations. Most of the time my day job feels like busy work, like a way to pay the mortgage and buy groceries. It doesn’t feel God inspired at all.

But sometimes when I’m writing it feels like the second translation, like it’s a God-given task.

Maybe I’ve just stumbled on my answer.

Dog Training Is Hard Work

Carol — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:46:39 +0000

Saturday, Daniel and I took our dog, Jack, to meet a couple of our friends and their dogs to work at Happy Dog Ranch. We had a great time and learned a lot. Mostly I learned that training a dog is really, really, really hard work for the humans and the dog. Thankfully, Jack is smart and wants to please us. The biggest hurdle seems to be me learning to speak fluent Border Collie. I’m not gifted at languages, especially not Border Collie. But Jack’s very patient with me, and I’m learning.

Daniel and Jack at Happy Dog Ranch

Gluten Free Friday

Carol — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:41:45 +0000

Shannon Brown started a new website dedicated to gluten-free living in December. Though her site is only a month old, it’s already one of my favorites.

Over Christmas I tried the recipe for Magic Oat Bars from her December 17 post. The family loved them.

Check out Enjoying Gluten-Free Life.

Mid-Month Goal Check-In

Carol — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:33:13 +0000

Accountability time. So far I’m doing well working toward my goals for this year. No cause for too much excitement since 2012 is only two and a half weeks old. But still, I’m happy.

Blog three times a week? Check

Finish rough draft of current story by 1/31/12? On target, well, maybe a little ahead of target.

Next up? Work on Genesis Contest entry the minute I finish the rough draft of the current story.

Honesty Versus Kindness

Carol — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:19:45 +0000

If you’re sitting at a local coffee shop having a cup with a friend do you tell her she needs to wipe her nose? What about if you notice your co-worker’s pants are unzipped after he returns from a break, what do you say? Do you tell your BFF if her jeans really do make her butt look bigger?

Okay, just to make this clear, if you see me and I need to wipe my nose, please tell me. Please.

Maybe the trickier situation is when your friend is an artist, let’s say a singer, and she sings a song that just isn’t suited to her voice. How do answer that when she asks your opinion? Or what if she doesn’t ask your opinion?

In the world of hypothetical situations or vague blog posts it’s easy to decide. But in reality? It’s hard for me. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s especially hard when the event is already public, when the embarrassment factor multiplies exponentially.

Gluten Free Friday

Carol — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:27:06 +0000

One of the first websites I discovered when I decided to try a gluten-free diet a few months ago was Gluten Free on a Shoestring by Nicole Hunn. Her cookbook by the same name is the first gluten-free cookbook I bought as well.

I’ve tried several of her recipes and find them easy to follow and quite tasty. I’ve also purchased a couple of the products she recommends on her site and find her reviews accurate and fair.

Thoughts of Themes

Carol — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:33:36 +0000

In working on meeting my goal of blogging three times a week, I’ve been trying to think of possible themes for certain days. For instance, I think Fridays will become “Gluten Free Friday.”

My plan is to blog routinely each Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I just can’t come up with a theme for Mondays and Wednesdays yet. But I will.

Some come back Friday for my first Gluten Free Friday.

End of the First Week Goal Update

Carol — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:37:08 +0000

So after the first week of the year I’m doing pretty well with my goals except for the one where I’m supposed to blog three times a week. I totally forgot about it today. But here I am, getting in the first of three blog posts this week.

After so many failed attempts at getting a blog going regularly I’m determined to succeed. So even though this post is really about nothing, it counts.

Now to add “write blog post” to my task calendar complete with reminders so I can post in a more timely manner.

I Got Glutened

Carol — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:27:35 +0000

Sunday after church we went to eat at a local restaurant. I thought I was reading the menu carefully. Clearly, I was wrong.

In October I removed gluten from my diet in a kind of experiment after my mother received test results indicating a gluten allergy. I didn’t think it would amount to anything. I thought I’d be back on my usual diet after a couple of weeks. Nope, within 48 hours of ingesting no gluten I could tell a huge difference in how I felt.

I’ve learned a lot since then. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s not easy learning to read food labeling-the whole label-not just nutritional values.

Another lesson learned Sunday-tell the restaurant staff the food must be gluten free. I ordered a grilled chicken breast with grilled veggies on a skewer and a sweet potato. Seems benign. Nope. The chicken was served on a bed of rice pilaf and instead of asking for another order, I just took the chicken off the pilaf and tried to scrape any clinging pilaf bits off the chicken. Then there was the matter of the sauce on the chicken. It was a creamy parmesan sauce which I assumed-see that word-would be okay. No. No. No.

Within an hour of eating, I had stabbing stomach pain with nausea, a headache, and various other symptoms. I’m finally feeling back to normal this morning.

Here’s a link to an article at Gluten Free Easily my friend Shannon shared with me about how to recover from being glutened. I found it a very interesting read.