WIAW #35: A Gluten-Free Guest Post

As you know, Marisa is at camp this week and that means no blogging - an atrocity, I know. Rather than missing a week of WIAW, Marisa asked me to fill in for her. So, I’m guessing your thoughts right now include “who are you?” and “how will you ever begin to fill Marisa’s shoes for even just one day?”. While I don’t have an answer for the second, I can easily answer the first - I’m Jen and you can usually find me over here. Marisa and I are childhood friends, dating back to the days of middle school when we shared a lunch table. I put serious thought into sharing a photo of that lunch table but figured that if I wanted to be invited back, I probably should refrain and well, I like it here.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. Marisa and I have been friends for more than eight years and in that time, she taught me a lot about adventurous eating. Believe it or not, my family had never had chinese food - my first egg roll? With Marisa. V8? Marisa. Cous cous? Banana bread? I could go on, but you get the point. Now, combine that with five years of waitressing experience (three of which were at a fine dining French restaurant), lots of traveling and falling in love with a chef and you have the new me - an open-minded (usually) healthy eater. 


Somewhere along in those eight years, I was diagnosed with severe food allergies - to wheat, oat, soy, milk and peanuts. Luckily, I’ve been able to introduce oats, a tiny bit of chocolate and the occasional Snickers bar with peanuts back into my diet but I’m always thankful when Marisa posts gluten-free recipe (and even more thankful that the chef.. well, he doesn’t eat wheat either).


Unfortunately, from the look of this post, you might assume that I am a terrible eater who survives on cookies and red meat but I promise you that is not the case. My typical diet falls more along the lines of salads, omelets and steamed veggies. You see, my boyfriend works five nights a week as a waiter at a super ritzy ranch in Montana (even though he has a culinary degree) and that means our culinary pursuits all end up squeezed into one day. I’m also in the process of remodeling our bathroom so substantial meals are in order. The rest of the week, we squeeze in breakfast together before the gym but that’s all we get. So yes, we were glutinous but at least you can reap the eye-candy benefits. And like I said, we go to the gym every day to make up for it - but more about that after.

So.. in honor of glutinous, gluten-free dining, here is what I ate: 

Breakfast

Gluten-free Certified Instant Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, 

Fresh Banana Slices & a Splash of Almond Milk

with an Iced Chai Latte

(I use Tazo Organic Chai concentrate & Silk Vanilla Almond Milk)

If you’re a fan of chai (and hey, that’s another love Marisa taught me), I highly recommend checking out the coffee and tea aisle of your local grocery store for this concentrate - it’s the same Starbucks product and you can make five or six lattes for the same price!)

Lunch

Brown Sugar Ham & Smoked Provolone Sandwich with Garlic Parmesan Mayo, 

Spring Mix & Red Onion on Udi’s Whole Grain Gluten-Free Bread

(with a glass of homemade sweet tea, of course)

If you’re gluten free & haven’t tried Udi’s - you’re missing out.

Afternoon Snack

An Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Square 

that I was hoarding from a Go Picnic boxed lunch

Dinner

In the spirit of Marisa’s “Grilling with Aaron” feature, I thought I should point out 

that much to the same effect - grilling is not my thing and so, 

the credit for this dinner goes to Trevor - my boyfriend and favorite chef. 

Steak a la Plancha served over Homemade Savory Sweet Potato Fries

and covered in a Smoked Paprika and Red Onion Caramel Sauce

served with Angry Orchard (Apple Ginger) - my idea

and a great gluten-free alternative to beer

At this point, you might be wondering why on earth every photograph was taken outside (with the exception of Trevor in our funny retro kitchen). You see, we recently moved to our new home and while Montana may have a frighteningly cold winter, our summer days are warm, breezy and wonderfully long. Between working and remodeling, we don’t have as much time to enjoy the scenery as much as we’d like and so we make it a point to eat our meals outside. All of them. You should try it. (Besides, if you lived here, I don’t think you’d argue.)

Dessert

And, in the spirit of gluttony - we enjoyed an after dinner camp fire while these

 gluten-free chocolate chip cookies baked inside. 

Combine them with some Almond Milk and a good movie 

and you’ve got the perfect ending to the day.

Exercise

I promised Marisa that while I was taking over her little corner of the internet for the day, I’d make a point to talk to you about exercise. Unfortunately, I have to talk about the hot, sweaty, calorie burning type. (Even though I like Marisa’s definition better... sleeping outside? reading books? I’m in.)

As a total asthmatic, exercise wasn’t my thing until after I’d graduated high school - there was an embarrassing incident involving gym class and an ambulance that I just couldn’t get over. While in college though, I began to train to participate in a 46 hour dance marathon which involved no sitting or sleeping. The only way to make it through that kind of leg torture was with months of torture leading up to it, and so I started to run on the elliptical daily. Then, I fell in love with the chef and low and behold, he’s also an avid fan of exercise, especially the lifting heavy weights and tugging on free cables kind of exercise. As I’m sure you can guess, this new type of exercise started spreading into my own life. (Thankfully he at least likes to add some basketball into the mix.)

And there I was, running and weight lifting and feeling great about it.. Until my doctor suggested yoga for back problems I was having. Well, I put that last piece of advice on hold for a few months but with a community yoga class offered for only $35 for 3 months? I thought, why not? and I fell in love. It was relaxing and a great addition to our daily gym visits.

So, I’m here to tell you that even if you’re not an exercise guru - if you’re the type who likes to sleep outside or read books, then perhaps yoga would be a great exercise for you! It can be intimidating to start though so I wanted to share five important tips with you!

1. Invest in a great yoga mat. 

Sure, you can pick up a mat for $10 maybe $15 at your local Target. While these function okay for yoga at home over carpet or yoga studios that aren’t heated, doing Bikram yoga or power yoga is nearly impossible on these products typically made from PVC. The studio that I used back home relied heavily on eco-friendly mats made from jute, I found that they started to biodegrade while you were still using them! Instead, I want to suggest this mat from Manduka. While this type of mat is a big investment, it will hold up well, sweaty palms and feet won’t slip, and your joints will thank you for the extra support!

2. Stay hydrated.

Perhaps you only have time to fit yoga in once each week, that’s okay but you have to keep your body hydrated seven days, just the same! While it seems less intense than other forms of exercise, yoga still makes you sweat and you’re less likely to feel achy afterwards if you’re well hydrated. My rule of thumb is to take your body weight and drink half that number in ounces each day. (Unless, like me, you live in a high altitude with a dry climate. In that case, your body weight in ounces may not even be enough!)

3. Ask for modifications.

Going into yoga, I knew that my knees and lower back would pose problems for some poses. Thankfully, I was blessed with great instructors and older classmates who knew the best modifications to make poses less strenuous on those areas. Most poses can be altered and any instructor should be willing to help you make yoga safe and comfortable for you. If not, I suggest finding a new teacher!

4. Practice at home.

This is advice that I don’t take enough myself. I’m much more motivated when in the studio and find it embarassing to drag my mat out in front of my boyfriend. But, there are great advantages to practicing at home. If you can find some time alone, it’s a great time to practice difficult to hold poses like the infamous crane. Practicing at home also means more time practicing and stretching and that means advancing more quickly in your poses. Yoga Journal offers some great at home videos and Yoga Today offers a free video class each week! (If you are nervous about whether or not yoga is for you - try a few of these videos before signing up for a class at a local studio. Plus, most studios offer a free class or two to beginners. If you don’t love the first studio you try, try another!)

5. Relax!

This is probably the best lesson I’ve learned from my yoga studies. I’m a type A personality with a very busy schedule. Relaxing to me usually means blogging, cooking dinner or giving our Pit Bull a bath - not relaxing by most definitions. Yoga classes are one of the times that I am able to shut off my phone and take a break from everything. That hour or hour and a half is a great time to relax and think about only positive things! (Thinking about anything else will disrupt the flow of your practice, trust me!) One important thing to avoid in class is comparing yourself to others. Everyone in a class is at a different level - different lengths of time they’ve practiced.. some do yoga daily.. others only once a week.. some are ex-gymnasts with amazing flexibility.. some may be doing yoga for the first time. If you let your eyes and mind wander to what those around you are doing, you won’t relax. Like Theodore Roosevelt said, “comparison is the thief of joy.”

Hopefully these tips will get you motivated to try a yoga class or two - or to find another type of exercise which works for you! I feel that most of these tips can be transferred to your practice, whether it’s pilates or zumba. Plus, with Marisa at camp and unable to blog, you should have some extra minutes over the next few days.

As much as I’ve enjoying sharing some gluten-free grub and yoga tips with you, I’ve got a bathroom to remodel! If you’d like to grab some gluten-free recipes or stare at photos of beautiful Montana, please stop on over! (Plus, rumor has it that Marisa’s going to guest post for me soon.)

Love,

the College Cuisiner’s Guest for the Day