The Allergic Scientist

2009-11-23T22:00:00.001-05:00

My assistant showing my remedial sewing skills. Getting better!

Scarf Tales from the Craft Den

2009-11-18T23:38:00.001-05:00

Pins are in! It is 11:30PM and I have 7 left to pin. Hubs should be home soon, I think I am done for the night!

The Joy's Hope Scarf Along Challenge

2009-11-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

I am in this thing for real!

I'm doing the "Scarf Along" Challenge to help me get over the fact that I am afraid of my sewing machine.

I love my sewing machine, but I am so uncomfortable and afraid of making mistakes.

Julie @ Joy's Hope is changing this for me.

I cut my fabrics! I gave the dog an elk antler to keep her busy, next comes sewing....... eek!

Laboratory Farming

2009-11-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

This is what scientists do at lunch when their minds wander. Welcome to the Lab Avocado Farm!

What am I up to?

2009-11-18T19:31:00.003-05:00

I heart the farmers market!

2009-11-15T08:22:00.000-05:00

Summer was quite interesting here at Casa Allergic
I had a back injury and was not working.
Money was a little tight, we got a new puppy and I was rehabbing my injury.
I started to look for ways to save money and help myself get better.
My puppy needed to socialize.
I found a solution to it all!

The local farmers market

The dog got to meet people and learn how to behave in public
I got to walk around and re-learn movement
I found fabulous produce, saved money and supported local agriculture

Seek one out in your neighborhood!

Recipe: Tuna Pasta Salad

2009-11-13T08:25:00.000-05:00

I work full time
I get home from work around 6pm, sometimes as late as 10pm
I'm starving when I get home and I'm not great at planning/cooking ahead
One of my favorite go-to meals is pasta salad

So us allergic folks have to get a little creative

Most imporant is noodles!!
I have found my favorite:
Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta
I love this stuff, it is a corn/quinoa blend
Even non-allergic "hates all my hippy food" hubby loves it!

Here is my "recipe"
(I don't measure, it drives people crazy but I just can't do it, too much work)

Tuna Pasta Salad:
Pasta noodles, boiled
Mixed veggies, cooked
Mayo of some type ( I love the new olive oil mayo)
Tuna ( I prefer chunk light)

Mix things together, it's super tasty if you can remember to make it in the morning so the flavors can mingle
It's not pretty but it sure is tasty!!

2009-11-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

Frugal Product Review - Nellie's Dryerballs

I happened across these at my local ALDI on the clearance rack for $4. You just pop them in the dryer with your clothing and they claim to soften, reduce drying time, and reduce lint and wrinkles.
I do try to line dry when possible, but usually just towels and things. I find line drying makes clothes very stiff, so I have to tumble them to soften them. Some days we have time, some days they go right in the dryer. Maybe we can make the clothes dyer just a little bit "greener."

The verdict:
I am somewhat undecided about the effectiveness of this product. I do think it is helping with drying time, I'm not sure about any of the other claims. Because I got them on clearance, I think it was a good buy, I'm just not too sure I would pay full price

Frugal Finds: Oriental Grocery Store

2009-11-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Gluten free and frugal?

It is possible!

Soon after your diagnosis you will go shopping.

You will gasp at prices, you will nearly faint at the health food store.

You'll cry when something you bake falls apart, and you add up the cost.

How on earth is a frugalista supposed to be gluten free and fabulous?

Meet your local Oriental grocery store.

Hunt around; its in your town somewhere

Why is it worth the hunt?

White rice flour from the health food store is usually $5 a bag

At my local Oriental store - $1.19 a bag

Soak that in people, that's huge!

I also found tapioca starch for about a $1 a bag, and rice noodles for about $1.50

Hunt and search for an Oriental store, Mine is tiny but packed to the gills with amazing finds.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Ice Cream Cones

2009-11-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

Dole whip and Gluten free ice cream cones

Don't you love summertime? It's fun to reminisce about all the fun things we used to do as kids. I lived 1/2 mile from the local Dairy Queen, it was such a treat to ride our bikes as a family up there and get ice cream cones.

Then came the allergies...

Gluten free and dairy free people need love too!

Meet your new love, the dole whip ice cream cone

Fist thing first, the cone

Goldbaum's gluten free ice cream cones:

These things are great, I have not had a cone in many many years, but it is exactly what I remembered!! They can get a bit drippy if you take too long to eat. I savor every bite!!

Next, Dole Whip.

Now, this is gluten free but its not 100% dairy free. I've been dealing with my allergy for many years, so I know what I can handle. I can have tiny amounts of casein, but not whey.

I'm very lucky in that there is an ice cream shop about 6 miles from my house that sells Dole Whip. Call around, bug your local parlor until they start selling it!! It comes in many flavors, the favorite in my family is Pineapple.

It's my own personal trip back to Hawaii every time I eat it!

Cooking with Bette - Cream Soup and Biscuit Mix

2009-11-06T19:11:00.005-05:00

Cooking with Bette Hagman

Don't look here for Bette Hagman's recipes. go buy her book "Gluten Free Gourmet"
I'm too cheap to buy anything and I bought this book.
You will make every single thing in this book.

I will post from time to time tips and tricks for following her recipes.

Cream Soup Base:

I got my neat glass containers at IKEA, $2.99 and $3.99 depending on the size
To make my cream soup base dairy free I used store brand soy-based infant formula. Seems odd but it works!

Biscuit Mix:
I used the infant formula again and the tool you need to make this is a pastry cutter.
You will thank me.
Keep cutting the shortening until you just have a crumbly mix, not globs.
Make sure you store this in the fridge!

Baking - Hamburger Buns- gluten free/dairy free

2009-07-17T13:52:00.003-04:00

Every gluten free guy or gal usually starts out the summer with the bun less hamburger. A good ole meat patty perhaps wrapped in some lettuce, cut with a knife, eaten with a fork.

No more my friends!
We must stand up and fight this!
We deserve a hamburger bun!

So, as with everything else in our world; we take to the kitchen.

Meet your new friend, Kinni-Kwik:

All you do is mix this stuff with milk (or soy, rice, almond, hemp milk for the no moo-juices folks like me) and then bake in whatever format you need.

I needed hamburger buns so I looked around to see what I could use:

Ramekins! What are these things for anyways? We all have them, and I don't know one person who makes Crème Brule anyways.

So you bake according to the instructions on the back and this is what you get!

They taste somewhere between a bun and a biscuit.

Now what on earth can I use to bake hot dog buns??

Container Gardening

2009-07-15T08:32:00.005-04:00

This year was my first year "gardening." Because our yard is beautifully shaded by huge trees, its not so good for growing things. I decided since my front porch is the only place that gets any sun, I would try out container gardening. We arbitrarily picked out seeds that sounded tasty, next year I'll put a lot more thought into it.

We did lettuce:

It's in a big "pedestal" planter, covered in netting to keep my crazy squirrels and bunnies.

Seriously, they are nuts.

Next was bell peppers:

Yes it is growing in an upside down Mt. Dew bottle. I like the idea of those upside down tomato planters, but I'm too cheap so I made my own!

Lastly is the dying peas:

I forgot to take a picture before they started dying back. Very tasty but you have to grow a million plants to get enough to make a dish. Not on the plan for next year.

Watering your garden can be a pain since my hose is in the back yard, so I needed a watering can. Again, we are frugal and we like to recycle so here is what used to be an orange juice bottle we pulled from the recycling bin:

Hubby just drilled some holes in the top and it works perfect! It's the perfect size too, water is heavy and I'm not supposed to lift heavy stuff.

All in all I'm happy with my first foray into gardening. I'm amazed every day that I can eat something that started as a little packet of seeds! It's been very frugal for us, seeds don't cost much, and we either used pots we had lying around or re purposed things from the recycling bin!

Next project on hubby's list is to make a rain barrel, Can't wait!

Product review - Trader Joe's Gluten Free Brownie Mix

2009-07-13T12:24:00.003-04:00

mmmm, brownies

In the old days of evil wheat flour, I loved to make scratch brownies. My gluten free scratch baking attempts are still in the learning phase. So whats an allergic scientist to do?

Mixes.

Ahh yes, the insanely expensive gluten free mixes. So when I spied this baby at Trader Joe's I had to get it, gotta love their prices!

I added chocolate chips to the batter, and used all applesauce instead of oil.

seriously delish!

Hubby ate several, and he hates gluten free food

Gluten Free Boy loved them as well; I brownie bribed him to get him to help me out with some gardening

I ate a lot...

...worth every calorie!

I got married, and then I broke myself

2009-07-09T13:50:00.005-04:00

I'm married!
We got married May 16 in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was beautiful and everything I could have ever hoped for.But Kel, what did you eat?
Let's start with the night before the wedding. Uno Chicago Grill @ Birch Run.
What's an allergic scientist to eat at a pizza joint?
Freaking Pizza!!!!
It's a gluten free dairy free pizza that I did not have to make myself
I almost cried.
It was fan-freaking-tastic
I ate the leftovers in our hot tub in the honeymoon suite, seriously.

The next day was the big day!
The Bavarian Inn at Frankenmuth is awesome, their head baker has Celiac, so they cater to us allergic folks! So, I got to eat an actual meal at my weddingIt was fish, it was really really good.
Especially with a glass of German Riesling
...drool

So when I got diagnosed, I realized I would not be able to eat wedding cake, cut the cake, take silly pictures etc.
Oh no my friends, remember the aforementioned Celiac baker at the Bavarian Inn??
That right there is heaven, aka Gluten Free Black Forest cake. The whole thing
I almost cried for this one too, it was so amazing.
The few remaining slices were split between gluten free boy (A friends teenage son who has Celiac disease and is my gluten free taste tester) and myself
I may have eaten leftovers in the hot tub
...perhaps

So did I mention I broke myself?
I managed to herniate a disk in my back
It's very painful, physical therapy is hard
But all that matters is that there is some progress
Gotta get back in the kitchen and make some good food!

Gluten/Dairy Free Finds and Reviews

2009-03-31T14:44:00.003-04:00

What's left to eat?

I just ordered 12 lbs of Pamela's Products Amazing Bread Mix because its so good I could weep.

I bought more Glutino Lemon wafer cookies last night, they taste like the normal wafer cookies I ate as a kid.

K-toos - not very good by themselves. They leave a weird aftertaste that I am still trying to figure out. I'll name it the Icky Gluten Free Taste. Not at fan of the IGFT. I still hold out hope for a purpose for these cookies, I miss my Oreo substitutes, Joe-Joe's from Trader Joes!

Glutino Multigrain crackers - Too savory! I'm not a huge fan of lots of herbs and seeds in my crackers, these have a LOT. Very good crunch, I just want them to be bland crackers to eat topped with tuna or peanut butter etc.

Envirokidz Cereals - so far so good! I bought one of each flavor, so far The koala rice krispie imitations are awesome, chocolate flavored even! Today I had Panda puffs, reminds me of Kix!

Lunch every day
I live for my lunches! I have a sammy with homemade bread, olive oil mayo, fresh cracked black pepper (yes we keep a pepper grinder at work) some turkey lunchmeat and sky high grean leaf lettuce. I also have an apple, grapes, carrots with hummus and some sort of snacky cookie like thing

More to come on dinners!

Gluten free??

2009-03-29T22:38:00.005-04:00

I shall now be known as the gluten free scientist. Actually, the dairy free, gluten free scientist.

After MANY trials and tribulations with my health, my neurologist of all people recognized that I may have an intolerance to gluten. So I've been gluten free for a week now, with some occasional "oops, I didn't read that label good enough."

I'm feeling better. Not great yet, but better. I kind of didn't want this to be the answer, like what is left to eat??? But I'm doing good, granted I have spent about $300 in a week on food and supplements, but I like to eat!

So here's the plan according to the doc (who spent over an hour in the room with me and I seriously love, she made me feel normal when everybody else made me feel crazy!)

maintain my dairy free diet
additionally, go gluten free
drink copious amounts of water
take 4 prescription fish oil pills every day (they are good, no fishy burps!)
take B-12 supplement
take Histidine supplement (its an amino acid)

So that is in addition to my heart medicine, and my vitamins and as healthy a diet as is still available to me!

I've done a lot of cooking/baking/eating

Verdicts so far:
Bob's Red Mill GF Flour (all purpose) not for making cookies!!!! It's very "beany" the aftertaste is the strangest thing EVER

Pamela's Products GF bread mix is heaven sent!! I made it in my bread machine today, Oh Pamela, I love thee!

Glutino Flax bread, in the freezer at Hiller's - decent, like dry multigrain bread, good with a nice dollop of mayo, black pepper, turkey and an insane amount of lettuce. Would make a terrible PB &J tho

More to come, this scientist needs to go to bed, busy day in the lab tomorrow!

How to Install a kitchen sink

2008-10-26T14:39:00.018-04:00

How to Install a kitchen sink

Difficulty: 2-3 beers, one handy homeowner, and one future father-in-law

First: assess the situation

Sure, it doesn't look that bad at first. Then I'll explain to you that the little bowl is really really little, and also happens to be where the garbage disposal is. The faucet is ancient and difficult to maneuver and adjust. And, it is UGLY. Washing dishes sucked.

Besides, once I saw what I could have instead:

Isn't she pretty? Thank you very much generous people that came to our housewarming party! Your Lowes cards got put to quick use!

So now it is time to do battle. Turns out Sir Ugly Sink is cast iron. Heavy would be the word I would use. Larry and Dad had more choice vocabulary.
Dad appears to be field dressing the sink or something. It's dead man, let it go.

Now begins the fun part. It should have been easy, we bought the same size sink as was in there already. Should drop right in.
Ha
again I'll say it,
Ha!

New beauty sink is much bigger
So now what do we do?

First get one of these guys; a handy homeowner

and...
a few saws.
There was a lot of sawing involved. I'm still finding sawdust in my spice rack. I don't ask questions.

So now here is where we stand:
Did I forget to mention I'm also getting an under sink water filter?

There is my handy homeowner man putting it in right now.

So anyways, after much swearing and a leak that required a trip to the hardware store, here is what we have:
fodder for the scrap yard

a new water filter! No more brita pitcher! Aren't you all so jealous?

a beautiful new sink and faucet! She's so pretty it almost makes me want to do dishes.... almost.

And most importantly:
Happy homeowners!

It's a beautiful day for demolition

2008-09-27T08:39:00.012-04:00

I love our house, I love the size of our yard. I did not love all the crap growing everywhere. Crap is very hard to get rid of; gardening and landscaping are not for sissies.
Let us just take a moment to really understand what we are working with here:
Kind of hard to see, but seriously, stuff is eating the porch

it gets better

What is that thing?
I think at one point in it's life it was a raised flowerbed
Now it's where bushes and disgusting plants go to die a horrible death

Oh, you want more?
There you go.
Just let that all soak in
Scary bad, isn't it?

So begins the demolition
day one: remove the crap
This was really hard, the bushes had really deep roots
Estimated weight loss from sweating: Kelly - 2lbs Larry 10lbs

But, we got somewhere!

Larry and I got it to this point
Then the reserves were called in

The rest of the job got pawned off on Larry's little brother
Why did he have to do this you ask?

Here's your answer:

this is little brother's truck
with Larry crawling in the engine compartment
I think we've answered all the questions now

Back to the matter at hand

Are you dying to know what my yard looks like now?

Success!!! It's amazing how much different it looks with that awful thing gone. I've been working a lot in the flowerbeds in front of the house too, they already look better but have a long way to go.

Home ownership is not for sissies, and we haven't even got to the good stuff yet!!
Next on the list is outdoor lighting and a new kitchen sink.
Stay tuned!!

Tales from the backyard

2008-07-14T10:40:00.002-04:00

One of these days, I promise I will get outside and post pics of all our hard work. We have been working in the yard the past 3 weekends and it is really coming along great. I love my house and my yard, the yard just needs a lot of work, but we are doing wonderful things with it. Our yard is 1/4 acre and has been a little neglected but it already looks so awesome. I love my riding lawn mower, I mow the lawn and Larry weed whacks and rakes. We have a good system going. Yesterday we chopped down grape vines that are taking over the entire corner of the backyard, along with a bunch of trees and bushes. Can't wait to get out there again next weekend!

Why yes, I am a homeowner

2008-06-13T21:30:00.003-04:00

Really and truly, we own a home!!
Today is Friday the 13th and we closed on our first home today. Brave souls, aren't we? We get the keys on Monday!! So this weekend will be spent packing and getting things ready, the next few weekends will be spent moving. Wanna help?

I'm getting married for real now!

2008-06-08T08:39:00.000-04:00

It's all so real now!
We gave people money, so it is going to happen!
We are getting married in Frankenmuth, with our families with us. I think it will be nice and intimate, I didn't want a huge blow-out affair, not to mention we don't have that kind of money! I am sill in shock at how easy it was to set everything up. We went up yesterday, saw the site and the restaurant, put down deposits and that's it! It's like having a wedding coordinator. Both places will call me the week before to finalize some details but basically all I do is show up and they will make everything else happen! We even picked out napkins and centerpieces, food, everything. We just have to figure out what songs to walk down the aisle to. I don't even have to worry about flowers, they call me and ask colors and do the rest. So really I just have to get myself a wedding dress and Larry has to get a suit, other than that its mostly like just get there, the will get us married!
Best decision we made about the wedding so far! I know we are kind of bummed we cant celebrate with our friends, but that's what our epic housewarming party will be for!!!!!

My Dad retired, I guess I'm getting old

2008-06-06T14:19:00.000-04:00

My daddy retired after a long career at General Motors. How do we celebrate such a momentous occasion? Well thats easy, our clan looks for any excuse to have a party!

Here's the man of the hour, accompanied by his "real boss"

Also in attendance, my apparantly narcoleptic Grandmother and myGrandfather
seriously, I took like 3 pictures, eyes shut in all of them. I give up Grandma!

You might recognize these 2 people:

Perhaps we should have a toast to this wonderful occasion, and who better to give it?
it's Eric! My favorite little brother! His speeches are always...well....memorable!
Let's toast!
ok Dad, what you got to match Larry's gigantic beer?
Dad's in heaven with his scotch and soda.

What do we like in this family almost as much as eating?

Presents!!!!!
comedy cd's for the long trip out west

what every retired person needs, a 12 ton air powered hydraulic jack

and the most perfect old man gift of them all....
it's a metal detector! We should have gotten him some tall black socks and sandals too, that would have completed it!

I'm so happy that my Dad got to have all this fun, he worked hard in the icky hot gross plant to give us all a great life. Thanks for all you have done for us Dad!

How to install an exhaust brake

2008-06-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, thats right, I'm going to teach you how to install an exhaust brake on a Silverado 2500HD with the duramax diesel engine. Cause I'm cool like that.

We did this a month or so ago, I just got the pics, they tell the story

First, obtain said truck and a large driveway, jack it up and place dad underneath

Then, obtain the services of a diesel mechanic that will work cheap

good, you are well on your way! Now you will need a seriously expensive exhaust brake after you convince your wife it will be worth it
Great! Now saw off your exhaust. Yes, seriously.
Perfect. Now you should pray. You crazy person, you just sawed off your exhaust! What were you thinking? Or, just have some fun with it all
Yes, I was helping, I was the tool girl
Then, crawl under truck to see whats going on

I got to put that clamp on. I didn't have enough leverage, so I had to brace myself of Larry. Dad said it looked dirty. He actually said much worse but I've put those memories out of my head

Next step, find wife, make her work too
Her job is to connect the air hose
Good job everybody! It works! Let's celebrate!

Wait, where is Kel? Oh wait, there are baby bunnies in a hole in the backyard. I suppose thats where Kel would be
Oh happy day!
Bunnies!

And that my friends, is how to install an exhaust brake!

Lazy Chicken Fajitas

2008-06-02T20:24:00.000-04:00

I just made a really yummy dinner that was so good. I tend to do my best cooking when I look online for some inspiration, then I throw away the recipes and just work with what I have. I don't measure, I'm lazy.

If I felt good enough there would be an awesome photo here. Maybe I'll take a pic when the Mr. heats his up

Recipe - kind of:
-a package of boneless skinless chicken breast cut into the size you like, about a pound or so
(extra points if you got them for 99cents/lb like I did!!)
-Season salt, probably 1 tsp or so
-Garlic, chili powder, cumin about 1 tbl
-Black pepper, a few grinds
-About 2 cups of assorted bell peppers, sliced into strips
I use frozen "Melange a Tois" from Trader Joes
-Onion, one small
I use the frozen diced onions found on the top shelf of your favorite grocers frozen veggies aisle
-Oil to grease the pan, grapeseed is my favorite to saute with

How to:
add oil to pan over medium heat, add chicken and season with season salt
cook chicken till no longer pink
add onions, black pepper, cumin, chili powder and garlic.
Cook a minute or two and add peppers
Cook until peppers are of uniform heat
serve with sour cream on soft taco/fajita wraps
For you dairy-phobes like me use Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, its awesome

I'll take a Merlot please

2008-05-31T08:12:00.000-04:00

I'm still not feeling well, the cardiologist thinks I have Pericarditis. It's basically inflammation of the membrane that surrounds your heart. It should be getting better but i still have a lot of pain and I'm so short of breath it's hard to do anything. Well, I shall try not to dwell on that. Let's move on to my house, I can plan all the fun stuff.
Home decor:
This is the current state of affairs in the master bedroom.
The floor is actually in pretty good shape, the early 90's ceiling fan makes me feel icky. Right now all the walls and ceiling are white. Darn near everything in the house is white, it reminds me of my apartment.

The Mr. really likes the color "Merlot" (his words, not mine) and really wanted to do something like that for our bedroom.

So this is the current inspiration picture, but with the color a bit more on the burgundy side. I can't remember what it is called, probably some fancy Frenchy wine name. I love the white crown molding. Now the question is, what do I do for the floors? We have those nice hardwoods and not much money to speak of. I also need to find a better ceiling fan, as much as I loathe ceiling fans I don't think I will win the battle to remove it. White? That's my guess for now. I guess I'll just have to take a nice walk through Lowe's and Ikea! I do love those places, its like new home heaven.

2008-05-30T10:39:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my little space on the web! I have always used my Myspace blog, but I figured now is the time to move on to bigger and better things. I'm into crafts, cooking, science and getting my life in order! I'm engaged to a wonderful man, getting married next year. We look forward to getting our first house in order and getting ready to build our family. My blogs will probably revolve around my attempts at putting together a home, and making it ours!

This is my new little home, it looks cuter in person though. We close June 16, so excited!!