Quercetin Confirmed?

QuercetinA while back I shared that I had started taking Quercetin to help control my allergies. Quercetin is supposed to be anti-inflammatory as well as block the release of histamines. There are so many factors playing into my allergies that it’s so hard to tell what I’m doing that is making the most difference. I’m just thankful that I’m still feeling so much better than I was at this time last year.

Yesterday I unknowingly forgot to take my Quercetin in the morning. The unknowingly part is very important because if I did it on purpose there would be no telling what was actual symptoms and what was my brain making me think it was symptoms.  All day I was itching my nose, blowing my nose, and sneezing. I was trying to figure out if I had eaten something I shouldn’t have. I know we didn’t spend too much time outside because it’s SO hot! I hadn’t changed anything around the house. I couldn’t figure out what bothering me so much.

It wasn’t until I went to take a different dinner-time pill that I realized my morning pills were still there. Coincidence? I think not! These same symptoms also happened one other day that I forgot to take my Quercetin. Only that day I had been cleaning out our closet, switching out winter clothes for summer clothes. So I had no way to tell if my allergies that day were from my missed dose or from going through winter sweaters and such.

You never know how true the claims of these herbal type vitamins will be, but I’m convinced that this one is worth the small cost to keep taking it. I made sure I remembered to take it today, we’ll see how much better I feel than yesterday.

Terra Chips

Terra chipsI’ve discovered Terra Chips, another allergy friendly snack. It’s really hard to find any potato chips that I can have. I haven’t eaten chips in months, ever since my food allergy (wheat, soy, and corn) diagnosis. I stumbled across this brand at the health food store yesterday, I can’t believe I didn’t notice them sooner.

I bought the original flavor to try first. This flavor has “a seasonal mix of root vegetables” including sweet potato, parsnip, batata, taro, and yuca. I had to do some research to find out what a couple of those are. They taste great. They are so similar to regular potato chips only each one tastes a little different because they are all different roots. And they really are as colorful as they look on the package, which makes them even more fun to eat.

I’ll have to be careful in trying out some of the other flavors because I noticed that some flavorings did contain wheat and soy. But overall they are a great find at a reasonable price, in comparison to other health food store snacks. They were $3.39, not too bad. Looking forward to eating more of these in the future.

Homemade French Fries

I like my new french fry cutter from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I got a gift certificate to there for my birthday last month and this is one of the things I bought with it. Last week I made sweet potato fries and last night I tried it with regular potatoes. It had been quite a while since I’ve had fries and they sure were yummy.

The first time I used it I wasn’t sure I was going to be all too happy with it because it was harder than I thought it would be to cut through the potatoes. I was pushing down on the handle so hard I thought I might break it. But this time I cut the potatoes in half lengthwise first and it worked much better having less surface area to cut at once.

Peeled potatoesFrench fry cutter

Then I tossed them in some olive oil and spread them out on a cookie sheet. I added a little seasoning of salt, black pepper, and a little red pepper.

Seasoned fries

I think they turned out great. I just need to work on perfecting my oven temperature. With the sweet potatoes I had the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes and they seemed to be a little undercooked. This time I did them at 400 for about 40 minutes and they were better, but they weren’t all very crispy even though they looked done. I guess we’ll just have to keep eating fries until they turn out perfectly. Any suggestions?

French fries