It is finally feeling like summer. As I plant more seeds and thin out the rouge dill/fennel/borage/mustard/cilantro I am adding some minutes of self care and hygge to today’s gardening. I’m hygging in the shade with some coffee cake, coffee, beach playlist, and flowers thinned from the garden.
I enjoyed my winter holiday hygge challenge and have been tying to make my breaks a little more special.
When traveling our safe food is Sushi. It can easily accommodate for our Celiac needs and food allergy avoidances. Following are the two restaurants we visited while in the Denver area.
After hiking Dinosaur Trail we headed to the city of Golden. The town is cute and has lots of shops and restaurants. We ate at the new Okinawa. It had some great options and I was excited there was a roll with fruit and greens I could have.
The next day after hiking around Red Rock we ate at Motomaki in Lakewood. Motomaki is Sushi Burrito’s and Bowls. It is much like a Chipotle where you choose what goes in your Burrito or Bowl. There menu is clearly marked with the gluten-free ingredients and the employees were happy to answer questions we had about any ingredients. The sushi burrito was good and the bowl looked tasty.
Traveling with Celiac and food allergies always take more planning a preparation.
For the I bought chips, chocolate, and other sweets for the flights. I bought enough safe snacks for the flight to Denver and the return flight. I put half in my checked bag for the return flight.
For this trip I bought my favorite BoBo’s Bars. I like the original and the Apple Pie flavors. I like to carry three in my carry-on for flights. I bought my nightshade eating child Kettle Chips, and for me Heart Keenwah “Herbs de Provence” . For treats I had Sunflower Butter Cups Free 2 B, and one mint cup, some Junior Mints, CoComels, and Pumpkin Seed barkTHINS.
I was pleasantly surprised to find two of our staples at the Denver airport on the way back. 
One thing I learned is that some granola type bars (like my beloved BoBo’s) can cause your bag to be searched. During one of my last trips the TSA agent (who knew what BoBo bars were!) had told me to put all my food in a separate bag inside my carry-on and have it go through the x-ray machine separately. When they asked if I had any snack bars I was able to remove the separate bag and send it through on it’s own.
What do you take with you on your flights for snacks? Do you buy anything in the airport? Happy allergy travels!
I try to make a sandwich spread each week. One that I love is ham salad.
Finding a ham that is free from maltodextrin is hard to find. There is one at Aldi that is Gluten-Free and Maltodextrin-Free (also free of dairy, soy and nuts). I like to use it for this sandwich spread.
It is also hard to find mayonnaise that is free from paprika. I usually make my own mayonnaise and hope to get a video up soon of that recipe.
I like to have this with thickly sliced cucumbers that I use to scoop up the ham salad. In the above photo my lunch consisted of ham salad, chopped kale, cucumbers, and mustard greens from my garden.
Like most combined salads this is best made a day ahead of time.
As things become ripe in my garden I often add them to this salad – lovage, chives or chive blossoms, radishes, or other herbs.
Enjoy – Susan
For my household summer is finally here.
Organizing wise I am washing and packing away the rest of the winter coats. I had packed away the boots and snow pants a few weeks ago. My kids are older and the amount of “after school’s out” paper deluge is becoming less and less. In fact I only have one packet of papers from one child and a small pile from the other. Such a relief.
We are having a few friends over to celebrate the end of school and are planning a super simple menu. Chips and salsa, fruit, drinks and some yummy baked goods. (Including the awesome little sugar cookies in the above picture!)
In the garden I have lots of seedlings coming up and have planted plenty of tomato plants. I know, “but you can’t eat tomatoes”! But I feel a vegetable garden is not a garden without tomatoes. So this year I have 5 different types, and a few pepper plants too. My favorite part of gardening is letting things bloom and go to seed.
In part of my garden I currently have a blanket of fennel, dill, cilantro, mustard, and borage seedlings. It smells heavenly when you walk through them. I’ll pull most of it up in a few weeks when I plant another round of seeds.
The Nourished Festival is in Chicago this weekend. If you are new to Celiac/Food Allergies it is a great place to get know companies that truly care about allergy friendly foods. If you have been living with Celiac/Food Allergies for awhile it is always good to scope out the new finds and sample some of the new products that will be in stores soon. I shared the event on the Cygnet Organizing facebook page and if you buy tickets ahead of time there is a discount.
Part of being an AllerCoach™ is Auto injector education. Always have at least two auto injectors with you.
I’m not sure I would be brave enough to not have my auto injector secured inside of something, but this made my day to see this woman biking. I usually use a running belt to hold my Auvi-q’s and phone while biking, but may need to get a real bike shirt.
I hope summer arrives for your home soon. -Susan
I love this salad and have made it for multiple potlucks and parties. The dressing is what makes the salad. It is creamy and garlicy and wonderful!
I make it both with chickpeas and without. I often cut up the veggies the night before and make the dressing right before the event. Since the dressing is avocado base it does turn a little gray after 24 hours. Leftovers still taste good!
Enjoy this yummy salad.
The weather is so nice here in Chicago. I have many seedlings coming up in my garden. Today while checking the seeds I planted I enjoyed a bowl of Peas Salad leftover from our Easter dinner.
It’s Earth Day and I am reflecting on the the things I do each day of the year to be kind to mother earth….
There is always more I want to do
I’m sure both lists are longer. I hope you are able to find some way to boost your help of mother earth this year.
Urge your elected officials to support the FASTer Act.
This legislation will further the safety for all those with food allergies.
https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=6122
Life seems to get busier with every season. Everyone says “enjoy it the kids will be out of the house before you know it.” Part of enjoying the time is not stressing over dinner. Easier said than done with so much going on and so many foods to avoid, I had read that pasta in a pressure cooker was easy. I was skeptical but it turned out really well.
I browned the ground beef on the stove instead of using the sauté mode of the pressure cooker. I just find it easier. You could definitely do this the day before or earlier in the day.
I still feel new to the world of pressure cookers. I haven’t been wow’d by everything I’ve made and there are a few recipes that I am hoping to improve upon.
Enjoy this fast dinner.
I’ve been going over my January 2019 Wish List. I did almost everything.
I did not order any seed catalogs since I am trying to minimize the amount of paper coming into my home, but I did look at them online and checked out a few gardening books from the library.
With all the travel I did this month and the multiple days off of school from weather, I did not volunteer anywhere new. I did do some research and hope to check this off early this month.
I did make hot chocolate, had an amazing Vision Board weekend retreat, took a walk in the snow, made chili for the nightshade eaters, made rocks with my words for the year, read a winter setting book, donated unused holiday decoration, and had many fires in the fireplace.
I have always made lists. There are multiple ones on my counter at all times and my planner is full of them. Mostly they contain thing I have to do for my, job, my kids, household chores, and appointments to make.
I wanted to start doing more things that made me happy, started in December with my Hygge moments. A list of events that made me move forward through each month/season with intention and purpose.
For February I want to enjoy the winter, celebrate the holidays, and of course cook some wonderful gluten-free/dairy-free treats.
Happy February.
Cygnet Organizing 