antibiotics and anti-inflammatories: a story and a "pudding" recipe

Some of you may know that I have been battling an awful kidney infection since early December. I was lucky that the doctors diagnosed it so quickly when I finally broke down and went to the emergency room!

What followed, though, is what I find to be the biggest difficulty of living with non-top-8 food allergies, especially while being overseas. I needed an antibiotic  in order to heal, but everything the doctor tried to prescribe to me was full of either corn or gluten. Most of the time, the labels did not say "corn," so alerting the pharmacist and medical team that I had to avoid corn made no difference. The doctor gave up pretty quickly, so Ben and I had to spend hours after my appointment on a late Sunday night, researching the medications they had in stock at the pharmacy. Luckily, the pharmacist was patient and did not seem to mind taking out all the pill-based antibiotics there so we could examine the ingredient lists, check websites, and compare them to the very small database of possible "corn-safe" and "gluten-safe" medications others with my allergies have been able to tolerate. The few we did find were cross-reactive to penicillin, and I have a penicillin allergy in my file. (Later on, we did a lab test, since I had a bad allergic reaction last time I had penicillin. The penicillin  test came back negative a few weeks later, so I finally have confirmation that the previous reaction was due to the corn in the meds and not the penicillin itself!) We finally found one, and the pharmacist convinced the doctor to write out another prescription.

Because of the severity of my allergies, she suggested that I take the meds under a doctor's care, so I had to make a follow-up appointment with a family practice doctor before I could start my course of antibiotics. This appointment also took hours, but this time the doctor and pharmacists worked with me to try and find something that was effective and also safe! The issue is that we didn't yet have the penicillin results back, so I was limited by the food-allergies in addition to a possible penicillin allergy. I did have some minor allergic reactions, but after several hospital visits and hours of research, we finally found an antibiotic that was safe for me to take! Unfortunately, though, it was not the best antibiotic for getting rid of a kidney infection. We finally agreed that I would take the full course and then make a follow-up appointment in January if it didn't work.

Fast-forward two weeks, and the kidney infection that had started to go away was now back in full force. Luckily, I received the penicillin labs the same day as my doctor appointment (negative, yay!) and I was able to get a large (4 shot) injection of a strong antibiotic that I was assured should do the trick. The medical staff also recommended taking anti-inflammatory medication (which, of course, I can't take because of the allergies) and to use any home remedies for inflammation that I could find to help the antibiotics do their job.

So, here is the reason for this post! I did some research on several anti-inflammatory foods to help kidney functions, and then put a bunch of them together to create some new recipes. Below is my favorite - even once the infection is gone for good, I'll definitely be using this one. It makes a great, healthy breakfast or snack!

Anti-Inflammatory, Paleo-Friendly Pudding (it's not actually pudding...it's more the consistency of fro-yo or ice cream. I have no idea of what to call it! If any of you dear readers end up making it and can come up with a stellar name for it, let me know!)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup thick coconut milk (I use this one!)
- 1 frozen banana
- 10 frozen cherries
- 1/3 cup fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

**Optional:
- 1 tbsp flax meal (great anti-oxidant with lots of Omega-3's, and excellent for inflammation)
- 1/2 tsp D-Mannose (excellent for treating a UTI in case you ever have one)


Directions:

Simply place all of your ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth! If you want a thicker, fro-yo sort of texture, put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes before eating.

**Optional: Since I've been making this concoction every day for the last week or so, I've been experimenting with some ways to change it up a bit.

- Exchange 1/3 of the coconut milk for 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt, especially if you're taking antibiotics! That "good" bacteria is important!
- After blending, add some mix-ins! I like to add some crunch to mine, so I've added different combinations of the following: cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, granola, or even a few chocolate chips to satisfy a sweet tooth!

pumpkin spice and everything nice: an ice cream recipe

It's almost my favorite time of year: autumn!

The recent typhoons have brought cooler weather and our thoughts are on what comes next: leaves falling, sweater weather, and pumpkin spice everything!

I've been experimenting with ice cream flavors and decided to try out a pumpkin spice. It's like autumn in a bowl!

Ingredients:

-1 can full fat coconut milk (I prefer Native Forest - it makes the creamiest ice cream out of all the kinds I've tried.)

-2 T. raw cacao powder

-1/4 cup agave nectar, coconut nectar, 100% maple syrup, or even pure honey (I only use 1 tablespoon, but I don't like my ice cream very sweet)

-2 T. pumpkin spice blend**

Whisk until blended and then pour into an ice cream maker. **If you don't have one you can put in the freezer for six hours, stirring every hour.**

If you are looking for some crunch, I sometimes add a few Enjoy Life crunchy cookies after pouring the mix into the ice cream maker. Crumble 'em up and toss 'em on in!

**Pumpkin Spice: I make my pumpkin spice blend in bulk but you can put less of each in the batch if you don't use it often:

-1/3 cup ground cinnamon

-1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

-1 tablespoon ground ginger

-1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

-1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

a gluten-free thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a hit!

I will admit, I was worried.

Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year and I was already feeling a bit blue about the whole thing, knowing that we'd (again) be spending it away from family. So messing up my first gluten-free Thanksgiving meal was not (do you hear me? NOT) an option!

Luckily, my fretting was in vain, because it was the best Thanksgiving dinner we've had since moving away and having to learn how to cook it all myself.

On the menu:

Turkey, of course! We roasted a lovely free-range turkey, stuffed with various fruits and vegetables. It was the most moist turkey we've had in a while.


Stuffing! My mom's favorite stuffing has all the best stuff. It's got celery and carrots. It's got onions and spices. It's got pancetta (which we found for the first time since we have lived here! Someone's looking out for us!!) and Italian sausage.

The tricky part was going to be the bread. I have been trying to bake a perfect loaf of bread since I was diagnosed as a Celiac in June...and it hadn't happened yet. I've made runny bread. I've made grainy bread. I've made perfectly cooked bread that tasted like cardboard (in fact, I would have preferred the cardboard).

Luckily, I discovered Jules gluten free flour, just in time. My first loaf of her bread was so good that I thought about NOT making stuffing so I could use the bread to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yes, I'll admit that's a bit crazy, but I haven't had a piece of GOOD bread since June! I held out, though, and the stuffing turned out to be A-MAZ-ING.


Green Bean Casserole... Some of you already know the torment that cream of mushroom soup has brought upon me this month. Luckily, I had worked out how to make it already and was able to whip up my homemade-from-scratch cream of mushroom soup for the casserole. Then, I used a recipe from another gluten free friend for the casserole itself. It was the best green bean casserole I have ever tasted! It didn't have that fake-tasting onion topping. Instead, it had real grilled onions with gluten free coating. (The recipe is at the bottom of this post if you want it! You can do whether you're sticking to an allergen-friendly diet or not...it was that good.)


Mashed Potatoes. Thanksgiving isn't complete without mashed potatoes. There was really nothin' special about them; just plain ol' mashed potato-y goodness.


Cranberry Sauce! This year I made orange cinnamon cranberry sauce. It was surprisingly easy to make and it was fabulous. I usually don't like cranberry sauce, but I enjoyed this one. (The recipe is at the bottom.)


Pumpkin Pie and Gingersnap Ice Cream... Last week, I made homemade graham crackers for a Saturday-night-bonfire. They were great for s'mores and I used the leftovers for my pie crust. Delicious! I also saved a bit of my graham cracker/gingersnap dough to use for some ice cream to go with the pie! I used my typical vanilla ice cream recipe (recipe below) and added pumpkin pie spice to give it a nice flavor. Then, as it was churning, I added ribbons of the gingersnap dough. Oh goodness, the pie and ice cream together were a bit of Thanksgiving heaven!


So, we made it through our first gluten-free Thanksgiving, and will reap the benefits of not having to cook for the next several days!

RECIPES:

Green Bean Casserole, courtesy of Angela Glunt, my Thanksgiving hero!

**I substituted some Oikos greek yogurt in place of the sour cream since I have issues with lactose. I also used lactose free Kraft Mozzarella and vegan buttery spread instead of real butter.**


Casserole Ingredients: 

1 large bag of frozen green beans. (NEVER used canned!)

1 C. of Sour Cream

10 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (divided)

Morton Brand: Nature's Seasons to taste

1 Med. yellow onion, chopped and sauté in butter

3-4 fresh Garlic cloves or 1 Tab canned, minced and sauté with onions

4 oz jar of pimientos with liquid

Topping Ingredients: 

3-4 cups Corn or Rice Chex cereal. (I used corn and it was really good, not too overpowering.)

3 or 4 stalks Green Onions chopped

Garlic Salt with Parsley-to taste

Onion Powder- to taste

*Blend cereal and seasonings in food processor until well chopped then add onions last and pulse until blended. 

Directions:

*Mix all ingredients in large bowl until everything is well coated. Put mixture into large greased casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 365 for 30 minutes, then add Topping and continue to bake for additional 10-15 minutes.

Cranberry Orange Sauce, Courtesy of the Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 orange, zest cut into strips and juiced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick

Directions

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cool and refrigerate. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream (Note: I use an ice cream maker for this recipe!)

Ingredients

• 14 oz. coconut milk (I use Goya - it's certified gluten free)
• 1 cup almond milk or soy milk
• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• Seeds of one vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

Directions

1. Chill coconut milk and almond milk for at least a half hour prior to making. (Also, make sure you have your ice cream maker prepped.)
2. Mix all of your ingredients in a blender and pour it into your ice cream maker.
3. It takes about 20-25 minutes of churning, depending on your ice cream maker. 

**If you want to add toppings, wait until ice cream is about 2/3 of the way through the churning process. Then slowly add toppings to ice cream maker.

kari on ice

This week was busy..my poor car ended up having to be taken to three different shops to take care of all these problems. Other than that, this week's been pretty darned good!

The store is being renovated so it's crazy. It's amazing how impatient people can be! I read a statistic that the average person will refuse to wait for more than one minute in line to check out at a store. If it goes further than that, they are extremely annoyed and usually take it out on the cashier. Make them wait two minutes, and they will usually walk out without making their purchase. Our society is so impatient! I think that every person should be forced to work a retail job at some point in their lives, just so they understand what it's like. Maybe people would be nicer to that lady who rings up their food at the supermarket or the person who can't find the shirt in their size even though a computer says it's in stock.

I went ice skating on friday night..it's been about five years since I've been out on the ice, so it was quite the site to see. I worried myself for about the first 20 minutes or so but once I actually started trying to get it right, I improved immensely. For most of the evening, we had the rink to ourselves so we could do whatever we wanted. We were able to try out professional moves...ok, maybe not, but at least there was nobody else to laugh at us. After that, we went to the Hilton to go to tcby. (Yeah, we went to get ice cream on the coldest night of the year. Go figure.) We saw these kids hanging around, quite suspiciously I might add, and one of them was holding a huge wad of $20 bills in his hand. Apparently, they had found $8000 on the floor of the casino, or so they said. Hope that's true, because casino security is *usually* quite on the ball with these things, and these kids didn't look like they'd hold up well in prison.

ps i got new socks today..good times..shopko had a sale and they had all these festive socks for 99 cents a pair. I got 10. Sock fetish? I think so.