Milestone!

Boy, am I happy! Since going gf in January, my body is responding well! The unexplained puffiness of the last few years is going away! I noticed some waning right away, but I continue to shrink. I was blown up like an oompah loompah for at least three years.

And today, (drum roll) I have pulled all my old favorite shorts out of the Goodwill bag because they fit me again! Yahooey! I missed my comfy old duds! I missed being my comfy old size!

I wish I had photographic evidence, like Sally over at Aprovechar. You should check out her amazing transformation! But I was careful to avoid cameras when I was lugging around my Santa-belly. Now I have my concrete proof. Waistbands don't lie!

This tiny pitcher holds the dozen or so four leaf clovers I've found in the last two days. I am, indeed, a lucky girl!

I'm so amazed by the weekly menus many of you post! You're so organized. And you've given me lots of ideas.

I'm still in the "playing it safe" portion of my new gluten free lifestyle. I can't use any powdered spices except salt and pepper. I can have a little red meat, once in a while. I can have a little dairy. I'm not giving up butter, but I try to substitute rice milk or goat milk products. No corn. No soy. No "gums." The entire cabbage family, and legumes, bananas and pineapple are out. I can't use any products that come in a jar or a box or a can. So my options are limited.

I eat my safe foods every week. I generally spend one whole day or night in the kitchen. I bake bread. I bake a chicken and some pork. I steam a pot of green beans. Some weeks I fix a big stirfry, or saute vegetables.

I sometimes miss the convenience items I used to buy, but I'm slowly making my own from scratch. The pickles worked out well. Now I need to work on a homemade mayonnaise. I'll try ketchup when my tomatoes are ripe. I am suspicious of mustard, because it comes in a jar. If anyone knows of a "free of nearly everything" brand, I'd appreciate a comment.

I enjoy eating like a pioneer woman. It's gotten easier, and I'm accidentally poisoning myself less these days. I feel sooooooo much better that it's all worth it!

After a sweltering Friday, I was sipping a RedBridge on the Chatterbox patio when the tornado sirens roared. So I headed home to batten down the deck furniture.

I was enjoying yet another night of weather radar on tv. More big storms. Luckily, the bad stuff missed my house. But there was lots of entertaining lightning. My kitchen work counter faces north, and that side of my house holds a picture window, double glass doors and a bay window. Good for viewing summer storms! There's a tv between the picture window and the glass doors, so I don't miss weather updates. Gotta have my radar!

I was feeling bold, and decided to try a safe version of shepherd's pie. The layered dish lends itself to substitutions. I'm sure you all have a version that fits your needs. Here's mine.

I peeled one enormous Idaho potato, cooked and mashed it with salt and pepper and a little butter and milk.

I fried up about half a pound of hamburger with some diced spring onions, salt and pepper.

I sauteed a half pound of mushrooms in a tablespoon of canola oil.

Then I built my casserole. Hamburger on the bottom, then mushrooms, then Monterey jack cheese, then mashed potatoes. I baked it for abour 25 minutes at 350.

It was the perfect dinner for a stormy night. I missed the layer of sweet peas that my original recipe calls for. They're too legume-y for me. Next time I might try it with steamed snow pea pods.

The rain that missed me last night hit at 7:00 a.m. There was LOUD, constant thunder for half an hour. The trenches in my potato garden look like little canals. Again. I don't think potatoes like living underwater. I may have to replant. Maybe next year I'll try planting them above ground by stuffing starts into a bale of hay. I've seen this work for others, but never tried it myself.

I will not complain about the amount of rain I have had. Areas to my south and west got over eight inches this morning. Roads are closed, big roads like I-65 and I-70! I am a lucky (and merely damp) girl!