My year working out

So, at the end of last December (2017) I was approached by a friend to try a week-long trial of a workout program that she was a coach for and to say that I was skeptical is an understatement. I have always been proud of the fact that I did not work out and have even referred to myself as a ‘skinny fat person’. And it was true, I was thin, but incredibly out of shape. But I tend to go to the direct sales parties, the independent concerts and I try to buy all of my friends’ albums and books. I think that it is important to support friends when they are starting out in a new business, so I said yes.

I also had two ulterior motives. The first is that I am getting very close to 40 and am desperately afraid of gaining forty pounds when hitting forty. It is in my genetics to get heavier as we age, and although I had managed to stave off the weight so far, the 60 pounds I easily gained during my pregnancy still lingered near the front of my memory. I did not need a repeat of that weight gain. Truth be told, I never fully lost the weight from my pregnancy and was still about 20 pounds heavier than I was before. Let me be clear, my son is 12, so it is not like I was just being impatient with myself, I was not going to lose the last twenty pounds without putting in some work.

The second reason is closely related to the first; I love to eat. I really do. All my life I could eat anything I wanted and never have any consequences. As an example, every day in high school I had a snickers bar and can of coke for my lunch and I stayed 90 pounds. Even as a 38-year-old adult, I could eat practically anything I wanted, but I noticed that I was starting to creep up from that comfortable 115 to a less comfortable 123. I could no longer binge eat chips in bed with a glass of red wine. I knew that if I kept that up that the scale would keep moving in the wrong direction and that I would get more and more out of shape.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I was not ashamed or embarrassed by my weight. I in no way thought I was fat or had a problem. However, I knew I was out of shape. I couldn’t jog up the stairs at the metro without being out of breath. I was tired all the time and just not feeling great. So, I took the chance that a program of daily exercise could help. I found out very quickly how out of shape I was, as these 20-minute exercise programs were kicking my butt! I couldn’t even do one unmodified push-up, not one, and I could barely do modified ones. Well, that settled it for me. I signed up for a year-long membership and started down a path that I don’t think I will ever leave. I started working out every day. I wouldn’t let myself miss even one day early in the program, because I knew I would not go back if I started allowing myself ‘skip days.'

After six months do doing this straight, I was able to relax a little, having built not only a habit of working out but a love for it as well. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the way I look. I really enjoy the activity itself, but I LOVE how strong I am now. I can now do sets of unmodified push-ups. I have cardio endurance that allows me to keep up with my 12-year-old as we play basketball. And honestly, I am way less tired. Although I don’t follow the program's nutrition and diet, I have altered my eating habits. I don’t eat junk food as often, once or twice a month now, versus once or twice a week. I have lowered my portion sizes and have removed soft drinks almost completely from my diet. I do still splurge, eat out, snack or enjoy some wine…who am I kidding, I was not going to give up wine. But I can do so, knowing that I am working hard every day, so that these indulgences won’t do me in.

Now for the results. I have lost about 10 pounds over the year and am consistently keeping it off. I used to have very sore knees after a long period of walking, but after slowing building up strength, my knees no longer hurt. I can do 30 push-ups within a 30-minute workout routine, not to mention all of the squats and lunges.

Let me end with this. I have grown to love working out every day. It has changed my life and I will continue to do it. I do it for me. Not because I think I am fat or because I am unhappy with the way my body is or was. I do it so that I can still indulge when I want. I do it so that I can be fit and happy, keeping up with my 12-year-old. I do it inspire him to stay healthy as he grows.

So here are some pictures so you can stop having to read this post. Lol (excuse the bad bathroom selfies...and the lack of makeup and all of that.)

Before: February 27, 2018. 37 years old 123 pounds

July 2018

December 1^st, 2018, 115 pounds

These last ones are from December 22, 2018, 115 pounds.

So now what?

Well here it goes, a more personal blog post than I usually do.

Let's be honest, I don't blog often enough to make that statement but I am making it anyway.

I am having a bit of an identity crisis.  I am too young for this teenage angst and not yet old enough to be having a mid-life crisis, yet here I am, experiencing both.

Let me explain

Since leaving home right after high school graduation, I have always been on the move. I spent 4 years in college, then got married. My husband and I moved from one community to another over the first 4 years, but always within the same general area. In this time I had four different jobs, all within the same field, always experiencing a 'promotion' with each job.

Then we had our son and felt the need to live closer to family, so we made our first provincial move as a couple, from British Columbia to Manitoba. Over the next three years we moved twice in Manitoba. I got my first pastoral job, and boy was it a job. It was amazing and frustrating and scary and exhilarating all at the same time. Looking back I was awfully inexperienced to be running such a large department and at times it showed. It was a breathtakingly painful experience to work in that church. The pressure, leadership, friendship and grace were intense at times but in the end it was not a fantastic fit for me or my family, and we found ourselves moving provinces again.

This time we landed in Saskatchewan, where I worked at one church and my husband took a job at another one. We both loved what we were doing and where we were. We were developing friendships and a community until the unexpected happened. My husband was offered an amazing opportunity in Montreal, and we just had to let him take it. This left my son and I alone in SK keeping on with life in the most normal way we could. This continued for two years, until his employer offered him a permanent position and we decided to move to Montreal, ending our 4 years in SK.

Fast forward to today. We have now been in Montreal for just over three years and if you have been paying attention, 3-4 years is the longest we tend to stay in any one place. We have had the same house, church, and school for 3 years. I have already started and finished a master's degree and am starting a PhD this week.

So here is where the identity crisis starts. I don't know how to live in place past 4 years. How does one stay in a place that long? How do I take those friendships and turn them into deeper friendships? How do I challenge myself in an employment that is starting to feel like the 'same old thing'? I think that starting my PhD will help keep me challenged and excited and in many ways it will, but in some ways it won't. More schooling does not have the same excitement as starting again. There is a thrill in applying for jobs, selling homes and moving. But I know that there is a sadness and stress in them too.

I don't know how to survive in a place once the excitement has worn off. And worse than that, I don't know how to survive in a place when my polish has worn off and the others around me can see my short comings.

This lack of long term experience in a place is freaking me right out. I just want to quit everything that I am doing and pack up and move. The question is where would we go? And for what reason? Could I do that to my pre-teen son? Could I move him again when he is just really starting to make great friendships here.

I can't. I know I can't.

I guess that means I need to learn how to put down roots in a place. I need to learn how to not fear failure, knowing that I can't run away from it. Not this time. Not right now at least.

Not right now.

Surprised by care

I was completely surprised the other day when I put what I thought was a pretty harmless and rhetorical question on Facebook about how tired I was. I expected few responses. At most I thought I would jokes about how much coffee I drink and how being a parent is just a tiring job. Boy was I wrong!
Suggestions poured out of my friends like water from the faucet. To be honest I was a little overwhelmed at first, but then I saw the suggestions for what they really were. Care. Each question and comment was wrapped in genuine care for my well-being. Each comment that said "I've been there..." also said "You can do this." Each suggestion was a helping hand from a friend who wants me to succeed.

So I was totally surprised and a little overwhelmed but very, very appreciative.

First day as a teaching assistant

Well here goes nothing. This is my first day as a teaching assistant (well since high school, but that doesn't really count). I am excited and a little nervous all at the same time. I don't really know what to think or how it is going to go. Really I am going to be the one doing very little for most of the class. I will help with marking, class prep if the teacher wants and I may present my thesis project at some point. It will be an interesting class to sit in on. It is Toy, media and children's popular culture.  Right up my alley. The class will have about 60 students and it is in a lecture hall. My undergrad experience was very different from that, so I am curious to see how it turns out.

I'll report back later!

Peace.

Crazy productive day

Have you ever had one of those days where you are so productive that it makes you questions what you are going wrong every other day of your life? Well today was one of those days for me. I started the day with a bit a of a sleep in, I only got out of bed at 8:00 but I was feeling refreshed and after half a pot of coffee I ready to face the day. During my coffee drinking I checked my email, reading the positive and constructive feedback my supervisor gave me on my PhD application letter. I got quickly to work updating the letter with her suggestions and sent the next draft back to her and my reference letter writers before 10:00. 

That's when I hit the upstairs of my house, assembling two Billy book cases from Ikea, placing all the books on the shelves and vacuuming the entire floor. Okay, not the entire floor, I have not made it to my bedroom yet, that is a project that will take a different day. This was no small feat and it took me until almost 2:00 with only a brief lunch break with my son. 

Next was the main floor, it needed to be vacuumed so badly! We have two small dogs and between the dog hair, paw prints from the constant rain and left over pine needles from the Christmas tree it was disgusting. So, by the time 4:00 rolled around I had vacuumed and mopped the first floor, tackled my kitchen and got supper going. 

Now all of this to say that I have absolutely no idea why some days are so good and others I can barely keep the family in clean clothing! I never know when these days are going to hit, but I sure do love it when they do. 

I've try to examine the days leading up to a super productive day. wondering if there is something that I can pin point as a trigger, and I have yet to find anything. I wish I could. I wish I could bottle this energy and save it for another day. More than that I wish I could reproduce it and use it when my to-do list is getting long. But alas, I can't. So now I must just try to keep the momentum going. 

But not tonight. It is almost 7:00 p.m. and my supper is done, kitchen is clean, (dishwasher timer set) next load of laundry is in and my feet are up. I'm about to log into Don't Starve Together to kill the next hour playing before I should get my son started on his bed time routine.  

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring for productivity!!

Peace

8 ways I am "nickle and diming" my way to fewer expenses (part one)

Okay as some of you know, I am a student right now and I am not working much (a few sub shifts here and there) so as you can imagine money gets tight now and again.  So my husband and I decided, even before I started school, we were going to do our best to live on less.  It is almost a bit of a social experiment for us, and I have to say it has been working.  There are a few minor ways that I have cut back that are saving us some actual money. Now when I say 'actual  money' I don't mean thousands, I actually mean nickles and dimes but over the last year I have noticed a return for my efforts which is more than I can say for most of my money saving efforts over the years.

Part one of these money saving efforts revolve around food and food choices, as I find that is a very tangible place to save a few bucks if you are willing to put the effort in.

1. I don't buy pre-packaged yogurt any more.  Seems simple, but I buy tubs of yogurt and send my son with a reusable container filled with 4 oz of yogurt everyday in his lunch. I hated doing this at first.  It is so easy to buy the individual servings and I hate creating more dishes to wash, but I end up saving a buck or two each grocery bill and the landfill from a few less containers (or recycling bin). I have to say, I thought my son would loss each and everyone of those reusable containers but he has not lost one...yet.

2. I keep a well stocked pantry.  This was the hardest for me as it seemed so counter-intuitive.  When items go on sale, and I am referring to a really good sale, not just a few cents off, I purchase as many of them as I can store (spending more at once than I like to), creating a well stocked pantry.  But that limits how many times I will have to buy that item when it is not on sale.  Saving me money.  This isn't always easy, as I have limited space to store things, but I try.  I do love looking at all of the flyers, so I often will shop at more than one store to get all the sale items, but if I do it well, it doesn't cost much extra in gas (as most of our shops are within 2km).  I have also discovered that items go on a 'good' sale about once every six weeks, so I try to pick up what I would use in six weeks.  My sister always makes fun of me for my 'back up' items in my pantry but I know why I do it and I am super glad that I do!

3. I cook for left overs...and we have started using them.  We used to be so bad at using leftovers, they would go yucky in my fridge, while I'd be cooking new meals each day and eating out for lunches.  Well as you can imagine that is a HUGE waste of food and money.  So now I cook with the intention of having left overs for both lunches and suppers.  My classes are night classes, so the boys fend for themselves for three suppers a week, which is made much easier when they know that there is 'scoop and nuke' in the fridge (our nickname for left overs).  We rarely eat out anymore and that even includes popping out for coffee, which leads me to number 4

4. We bought a burr grinder for our coffee habit.  We drink a lot of coffee, a lot of whole bean, organic, fairly traded coffee, which can get pricey. (this is one of those items in #2 that I buy lots of when it hits a really good sale).  We used to go through about a pound a week when we used a blade grinder but we thought that we should up the quality of the grind and try a burr grinder and not only are we getting a bit of a better taste, we are using way less coffee! Now we are going through approximately 1/2 to 3/4 pound a week this adds up big time.  Another we have started saving with our coffee is we now order it in 2 pound bags through our church.  The company is Just Us! Coffee and they have a wonderful selection of coffees, teas, chocolates and sugar to be purchased.  Great product for a great cause.  Please check out there WEBSITE

Okay, so that is part one how I am currently saving money, as little as it is.  I will post part two with 4 more ways  (non-food related ways) that we have trimmed the expenses.  If you have ways that you have found helpful in saving a few bucks, please share them with me! With the current economy every penny...oh yeah no more pennies, every nickle counts!

Two dairy free 'Christmas' recipes I just have to share

Okay everyone, so we know that Christmas is over but I still have TON of baking left over in my house.  Much got nibbled on, some got tossed (unfortunate I know, but there is only so many shortbread cookies one can eat) and some got given away.  But there are a few I just am not ready to get rid of yet.  So I thought if I love the treats so much I can't part with them, then I should at least share the recipes!

The first is a dairy free caramels recipe, that I found here Vegan Caramels.
I have tried several recipes over the years with different dairy alternatives and this one gave me the absolute best caramel.  I followed the directions exactly, which I almost NEVER do, but I was desperate for home-made turtles so I sucked it up, read the recipe and pulled out my candy thermometer.  It is well worth it.  I know that everyone would tell me to use a coconut milk recipe, but I tried and I couldn't find one I liked.  So soy milk it is.
Once I knew that the caramel was going to solidify nicely, I quickly pressed in pecans and let it cool completely.  Once cooled I cut my sheet of pecan pressed caramel into small squared and hand dipped into melted dairy free dark chocolate and left to harden on parchment paper.  They are simply AMAZING!! I am keeping them in the freezer so that I don't all of them instantly and they are just as good frozen! What a great treat.

The other recipe is a dairy free 'Bailey's' Irish cream wanna-be that I found HERE. I was always a little sad when my friends and family could pour that sweet creamy goodness into their coffee during the holidays and I did not want to miss out any longer.  This recipe was surprising easy and so GOOD! According to my husband, it is almost as good as the real thing, but seeing I don't know what the real thing taste like, I am just happy that it is so delicious.  There are a few differences from the dairy to non-dairy versions.  First, you have to keep the non-dairy in the fridge and you don't (well we don't) have to keep the Bailey's in the fridge. And secondly, the cream in the coconut milk will float to the top, while the whiskey will sink to the bottom, so you need to give it a good shake before you pour it into your coffee.
I have to say, this will be a yearly tradition because it is so yummy in coffee or on ice.  I will make it again!

So there you have it, two great and pretty easy dairy free treats.

ENJOY!

Confessions of a nervous Nelly

Okay, I'll admit it, I am a nervous Nelly.  I get nervous doing silly little things, like finishing a blog post (what if no one reads it ? ... or worse, what if someone reads it and hates it?). I get nervous answering the phone (what if it is someone calling with really bad news?) and getting the mail (what if there is an unexpected bill in there?) I even get nervous taking a new route on the bus for the first time  (because we all know that I could end up going in the wrong direction).

I tend to be okay with the bigger events in life, things that I am able to control, like applying for jobs, interviewing and going back to school.  These are activities that I have some level of control over, things that I can put into my calendar and prep for. These activities still make me nervous  but in a different sort of way. I find them way easier to deal with then unknown that comes with the little things. And there are times that I let the little things paralyze me.  My mail sits in the box a few extra days, the phone goes straight to voice mail on numbers that I don't know and my blog posts sit un-posted.

But not any more.  I will not have the extra time or emotional energy to feed into this nervousness when school starts in a week.  More than that I do not believe that people are created to live in fear and anxiety, yet we are all suffer with it in different ways over different things.  It is not a new problem, brought on by increasing technology, societal pressures or recession, this is a problem that has been around for centuries and will continue to be around for centuries to come.  So what can be done?  Well for starters I am following the writings of the Apostle Paul as he wrote in Philippians 4:4-8:

   4  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

There are so many good reminders in these verses to help combat those nagging fears! For me these verses boil down to shifting my focus from myself and my fears, to Christ and all of the great things he has done and will continue to do.  Now that is so easy to say, but so hard to do when the bank account is dwindling, the phone is ringing and the mailbox is full.  So I am starting small, I am working on seeing the little things each day, the things that I can offer thanksgiving for as I offer my requests to God.  Little things that make me smile, that touch my heart, that make me laugh, that cause me to rejoice.  Some days it is as simple as a hot cup of good coffee in the morning and other days it is my wonderful family that cause me to rejoice.  I will try not beat myself up too much on the days that I fail to see all of the amazing gifts around me, I will just repent, repeat the verses to myself and start over, rejoicing in the little things.

I know I will still have times when the mail sits in the box, the phone will go straight to voicemail and I will start more blog posts than I will ever finish, but God has grace for that.   He has enough grace to cover my fear, to reassure me with the peace that transcends all understanding and to give me strength each day to look for the little things which lead me to rejoice in him.

Netflix is my new best friend

My husband asked me a while back why I watch reruns on Netflix when I have a book half started.  He just couldn't understand what the appeal would be for me.  After my original reaction of telling him not to be so judgy, I had to think about it for a while.  There are several possible  reasons why I would choose to watch an episode of a TV show verses read a book, it seems like at times it is because I am not 'grown up' enough to enjoy 'airport dad novels'.  This might be true.  I love to read, but often after a long day I tend to lean towards watching a show verses reading a book. Maybe that makes me less intellegient or grown than some, and I am ok with that.
My thought on why I tend to watch a show on Netflix verse read is this: I don't like being alone.  Let me explain.  I am alone for the better part of my day, most of that is spent in realative silence.  Sure there is the patter of the dogs paws on the ground or the sound of the a car driving by, but there isn't much in way of 'voice' throughout the day.  I need that voice.  I need to hear people, even if it is little actors coming through the speaker on my ipad.  I need to feel like I have had some contact with people throughout the day.  And there are times when picking up a novel will give me that connection with the characters, but in my world of silence right now I need more than that.  I need to hear the voice.  So until I am able to build up my connections to the real world, until I can  fill my need for 'voice' with friends, classmates or co-workers, Netflix will fill that need.

That being said, I am working on a blog post about why I have since given up Netflix for Lent.  Until next time

Dairy Free bran muffins

I love having home made muffins in the morning for my boys to have at breakfast, or to throw into a lunch kit for an extra snack at school or work.  And let's be honest, I love to eat muffins too, all kinds, but if you suffer from a dairy allergy you know that muffins are something you normally should avoid.  Most store bought muffins contain milk, often buttermilk, so I make my own.
I use almond or soy milk as my dairy alternative, depending on who will be eating the baking, and I fake the buttermilk component by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to my almond milk a few moments before adding it.  You would never know the difference.  I love this recipe because it can last well mixed in the fridge in a sealed container for two weeks so that you can quickly bake some up on a Saturday morning for a quick hot breakfast.
In my new house my fridge is pretty small, so I just make half a recipe and bake them all at once, then I individually wrap them and freeze them in a zip lock bag, ready to grab one to place in a lunch kit.

Originally I got this recipe from a friend, and I am unsure as to where she got it, but I have altered it over the years.

Bran Muffins (Dairy Free)
Pre-heat oven to 400

4 cups Flour
4 cups bran
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda
2 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 cups almond milk (add a tsp of white vinegar to your milk. Any milk alternative will work. Or if you don't want it to be dairy free, buttermilk)
2 cups oil (I usually use canola)
1/2 cup molasses (I like fancy molasses, but I don't think it matters)
2 cups raisins (or cran-raisins or a mix of both)

1. mix dry ingredients
2. mix wet ingredients in separate bowl and add to dry.  Stir just until blended, Do not over mix.
3. add raisins.
4. bake at 400 for 10 minutes then lower oven temp to 350 and bake for additional 6-10 minutes.  my oven only takes an extra 6 minutes.
You will know that they are done when they crack on top and are slightly firm to the touch.  If you want you can test if they are done by inserting a tooth pick into a muffin and if it comes out clean they are finished. The muffins should be nice and golden brown and smell delicious.

Suck it up Mister...and other things I say for his own good.

There are some days that I feel like the worst mother in the world, I think we all have those days but today was one of those days.

We recently moved to a new city, and my son has not adjusted super well to a new school and new friends.  To be fair there are days that I haven't adjusted well either, I'm just 'old enough' to deal with my emotions and more often then not, pretend they don't exist.  So I am trying to help my son learn how to discern when he can share his emotions and when he should pretend he doesn't feel them (see...worst mother in the world).

My son is a super sensitive 8 year old boy with a strong passion for justice and fairness and he is very compassionate.  All amazing qualities that I don't want to squish.  But with that often comes over emotional break downs, drama like you wouldn't believe and tears, oh the tears. So I find myself saying some of  my mother's favourite phrases "suck it up",  "Life isn't always fair", "you reap what you sow".  Man is it hard to tell your crying son that he needs to tough it up before the school bus arrives.  I can barely do it without crying myself, goodness I am almost crying just typing this, but he needed to hear it.  He needs to know that there are times that crying is good and right and appropriate and then there are times when he needs to hold it in.  School isn't as safe of a place emotionally as I wish it was.  I wish that he could express everything that he was thinking and feeling and have his class look at him and say 'boy that kid is sure in touch with his feeling and he makes a good point, we should all care as much as he does", unfortunately that isn't the case.  He is just getting to be known as the 'weird crying kid'. And it breaks my heart.  I want to sit outside his school and watch him each day.  I want to talk to each kid in his class and make them be his friends.  I want to shake each teacher and tell them that they should make the kids in the class be friends with my sad little boy, but none of those things will help him.  I want to tell him that one day the most perfect friend will just show up and come and talk to him as he sits there crying into his sleeve on the playground and that they will be best friends forever, but this is not an after school special.  This is real life.  If he wants friends to play with him, he may need to ask them to play.  He probably needs to take a deep breath, wipe his eyes and for the 15 minutes that recess is, pretend to have fun.  Pretend so hard and so often that before he knows it he is having fun.  He needs to ask for phone numbers to create play dates, he needs to stay in class, instead of heading to the office to cry. He needs to change his attitude, even though it is hard.

And he needs to suck it up.  And so do I, and there are times when you probably do too. As adults we know that we can't go around crying through meetings, dinner with friends or on the bus, we need to hold on to those emotions until we can release them with safe people, in a safe and appropriate place.
So along with saying 'suck it up' I am trying to create that safe place, here at home for him to release that sadness.  I am trying to help him nurture relationships, new and old, where he can express those emotions without judgement or fear.  I am trying to help him grow into a man who knows when to be strong and in that strength know when and how to express how he is feeling.  I am trying to teach my son that his compassion and sensitivity can be shown to the world through words, deeds and acts of justice, not through drama.

And that is not easy.  Thankfully I am not doing this alone.  We have friends and family and a church family (past and present) who are leading by example as well as with words of encouragement and prayers of support.  Even the school is trying their best to support him in this transition.  And he does have some great friends here and in our last city who are keeping in touch and helping him be happy.

I will keep being that mother who tells her son to suck it up, and I will be there to hold him when he just can't and celebrate with him when he suceeds.  This is just a season of our life.

Cross Posting

Ok! I won't do this for long, but for now I am cross posting my Mennonite Treasury of Recipes post here. So if you are looking for the great menno fun, follow this link.

http://mennonitetreasuryofmemories.blogspot.ca/

Stay tune for a few new blog posts for Highballs and Hair dos in the next few days.


Thanks everyone!

Treasury of Memories

I have always loved to bake and cook, ever since I was a little girl. It probably had something to do with the fact that my mother is a cook and baker.  If you need a meal cooked, a banquet catered or a recipe, my mother is the person to go to.  She has been cooking for fundraisers, schools and churches for as long as I can remember.  She would always convince me to help her with her cooking endeavors and I would always readily agree.  I would love to spend hours in the kitchen with my mom preparing meals for others, reading recipes and making up our own as we went.  One of her go to cook books was, and very much still is, The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes.

 This classic cook book filled with tried and true recipes was so worn that it no longer had covers, there were notes written in every margin and each blank space had other recipes scribbled in.  Some pages had been so used and spilled on that you could barely make out the recipe, then again those pages were mostly memorized already and consulted only as a formality.

I loved this cook book as a kid.  So when I saw it on the shelf of my local Ten Thousand Villages store in Saskatoon this past June I quickly bought.  I love thumbing through the recipes looking for the next one to try.  And that is when I decided that I would cook my way through this wonderful cook book.

Now here is the catch.  As much as I love this cook book, it has some quirks that may make cooking my way through it rather interesting.  This cook book was published in the 60's, a time of jellied food and easy casseroles.  Many of the recipes also take for granted that you know a lot about baking or cooking and they use many vague phrases like ' mix until it feels right' or 'add just enough flour' (without giving a quantity). So the results could be...interesting.  I will be picking recipes to make, following them to the best of my ability, with no changes or alterations, hosting friends to try the recipes and then blogging about them.

So come back often to check out what I'm cooking next.  I'm going to end this post with a quote from the introduction:
        "By the time the book was on the drawing board it was decided to add a chapter of Mennonite recipes. Many of these originate from times of want and austerity and are no longer in use but may be of interest for coming generations, perhaps as inspiration to adventurous cooks."

Consider me inspired!

5 ordinary products you would never believe contain dairy

I am one of the 2.5 million people in Canada with a food allergy.  Mine happens to  be milk and milk products.  And before you ask, I am not lactose intolerant, I am allergic, there is a difference.  I can not have any milk product or by product, whether they include lactose or not.  If I do, I get a full range of symptoms that include more than intestinal issues.  I won't go into the details.  Thankfully my allergy is not overly severe, but it is bad enough that I read every label as often as possible to avoid the symptoms.

Over the years I have discovered that you just don't know what you will find dairy products in, so I have put together this brief list of products that always seem to surprise people when I turn them down. There are of course many other strange products that contain dairy, but these are a few that have been served to me most often in an attempt to make a meal safe for me to eat.

I have listed them in no particular order.

1. Luncheon meat.  Well really processed meat of many kinds.  This includes most deli items, sausages, breaded cutlets and even some canned seafood.  The saddest for me is when I am celebrating Christmas or Thanksgiving somewhere and the host has used a pre-basted turkey, or a pressed ham, unfortunately I can not eat either *but cheat a little...you know I can't be rude and refuse all the food offered*  Thankfully there are a few companies processing and packaging more natural meats with less preservatives and by products.

2. Margarine.  That 'great' butter substitute contains whey, which is a dairy by product and will unfortunately will still trigger a dairy allergy.  Many super kind people would bake for me using margarine thinking it was safer than butter, and because my allergy is not as severe as some I would still sample their baking, but it would still trigger an allergic reaction.  There are a few companies putting out a vegan margarine which has a nice taste and is completely safe as allergies go.  I personally bake using a vegetable shortening but use a vegan margarine on toast.



3. Chips.  I know what you are thinking, 'oh good, those nacho cheese chips I love so much actually have some real ingredients in them'.  Well they do have dairy, but so so some brands of salt and vinegar, all dressed, ketchup and even some hint of lime taco chips.  Always read the labels.




4. Bread.  Many store bought breads have some dairy or modified milk ingredients in it.  I find this food one of the hardest to avoid, not only because I love bread, but because it is often the 'safest' item served at a meal.  Without being able to check every label in a restaurant or a friend's house, plain dry bread will most likely contain less dairy than a pasta sauce or salad dressing.  When possible choose a rye bread, as it has been my experience that they have little or no dairy in them.  This of course varies from recipe to recipe and brand to brand.  I have some great bread recipes that I make at home that are dairy free that I will share on this blog at a different time.

5. "Non-Dairy" alternatives. Many dairy alternatives still contain a milk by-product called casein, which does not have lactose, so is safe for those who are lactose intolerant but is not safe for those with a milk allergy.  This includes some 'cheeses', frozen dessert products and whipped dessert toppings such as Cool Whip. Just make sure you read all of the labels, or look for products that are labeled vegan as they will definitely be safe for all levels of dairy allergies.

Now, listing all of these things that you should be careful with a dairy allergy (and these are just some of the 'sneaky' ones) always makes me sad, like I am missing out on so many yummy (if not unhealthy) foods that I thought I would list one food that you would expect to find dairy but does not, Oreo Cookies!! To the best of my knowledge of food labels, Oreo cookies are dairy free! So bring on the Oreos!!

Over the next while I will post some recipes, great alternatives and 'work arounds' that I have used to cook well dairy free.  I will also share some of the online resources that I have found helpful as I have been working towards having a dairy free life.
Stay tuned.