I Outrun CF

March 21, 2011 By 1 Comment

Yesterday Jesse and I participated in the Outrun CF Virtual Race.  Hundreds of people across the country signed up.  Everyone mapped out their own course near their house.  It’s so neat to think that so many of our CF friends were participating in this cause at the same time.  Check out the Outrun CF facebook page to see how others ran their race.

Outrun CF

How did we outrun CF?  Well, we actually walked.  Jesse has a nasty sinus infection that is slowing him down a bit lately and I wasn’t feeling too great myself so we determined that running wasn’t the best idea for us.  But we still wanted to be in on the action.  We put on our running shoes and did a lap around our neighborhood.  That’s what was so great about this race, no expectations about how far or fast you needed to go.  Everyone participated to the ability that they were able to prove that CF was not standing in the way of what they wanted to do.  We are definitely looking forward to future races where we can push ourselves a little harder.

Filed Under: Cystic Fibrosis Tagged With: , , ,

Allergic Girl by Sloane Miller

March 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

Sloane Miller’s Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies is a great book. It is definitely a must read for anyone with food allergies or anyone who cares and cooks for someone with food allergies.

Allergic Gril

In my never ending google-ing for information to make my new, food-allergic life easier, I came across a blog called Please Don’t Pass The Nuts. I discovered that the author of the blog had also written this book. Sloane is a psychotherapeutic social worker who coaches people on how to live with their food allergies. I found that since she deals with multiple food allergies herself, she had tons of helpful advice and stories that I could relate to.

Here is what I learned from Allergic Girl:

1. Know when you’re having a reaction, and when you’re not. Let me explain. One of the first things that my allergist had me do after the results of my allergy testing was start keeping a food diary. I wrote down every single thing that I ate and any reaction I felt as a result. I now think that was the worst thing I have taught myself to do. Before long I couldn’t tell if I was imagining symptoms or actually having them. I was concentrating so hard on every little throat tickle that I was afraid to eat. I began crossing more and more foods off of my safe list. This book let me know that I was not alone in my ability to worry symptoms into reality. Now when I feel something I take a deep breathe, drink some water, and reevaluate when I’m calmer.

2. Love your food. I’ve always loved food, especially pasta and sweets. For a while I felt like my world ended when everything was eliminated from my diet. It wasn’t that I was going hungry, but I sure wasn’t feeling satisfied with my food life. This book helped my to start to discover my inner foodie by focusing on all the foods I could have instead of the foods that I couldn’t. I’ve been enjoying foods I’ve never had before and never would have been willing to try before. Cooking is still difficult because it still takes a LOT of planning, but it is also fun and exciting!

3. How to eat away from home. I haven’t tried this one out too much yet. I feel so much more comfortable at home where I know every ingredient and exactly how everything is prepared, but eating at home is not always possible. I’ve learned to trust that other people are just as capable at cooking within my new rules. I feel more confident that I can communicate my needs to others and still stay safe. This will really be put to the test this summer, as we are planning a trip. We will be away from home for a whole week (yikes)! When the idea of the trip was first presented to me I thought there was no way that I could go, but now I’m determined to work it out. Even though I’m still a bit scared about the idea I know that with some extra planning it can be done.

Filed Under: Allergies, Food Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Zero Cook Time Dinner

March 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been really excited about trying new foods and new recipes.  We sure love our steak and potatoes or some salmon and veggies, but it doesn’t hurt to throw in some less expensive meals in the mix too.  With our old easy choice of pasta dishes off limits, I’m always on the lookout for new, cheaper meals that are also filling.

I’m not always a huge fan of tuna, but we really liked this one from Taste of Home.  It was quick, easy, and… no cooking.  It’s perfect for summertime when you don’t feel like sitting down to a hot meal.  It was very filling and made for yummy leftovers too.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

Tuna salad

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1 15- to 19-ounce can beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas or kidney beans, rinsed
2 5- to 6-ounce cans water-packed chunk light tuna, drained and flaked
1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
4 teaspoons capers, rinsed
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup lemon juice, divided
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 cups mixed salad greens

Preparation:
Combine beans, tuna, bell pepper, onion, parsley, capers, rosemary, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons oil in a medium bowl. Season with pepper. Combine remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 tablespoons oil and salt in a large bowl. Add salad greens; toss to coat. Divide greens among 4 plates. Top each with tuna salad.

My changes:
I picked kidney beans, mostly because they were most colorful in contrast to the tuna.  I skipped the capers, I looked for them at the store but I didn’t know what they were or where to find them.  I also added celery, since I had it out for another recipe I was making and it’s fun to use the chopper.  Instead of using the tuna salad on top of salad, we used our new favorite idea of using lettuce wraps.  We rolled the tuna salad inside iceberg lettuce leaves and ate them like a sandwich wrap.

Celery

Try it out, I think you’ll like this one!

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