Sweet Marie's

Going gluten free on Kauai hasn't been as difficult as we originally thought! I'll admit, I've been eating the buns on my hamburgers, but we've found several places that offer delightful eats for relatively low prices that he's been able to enjoy gluten free.

A few days ago, we visited the Pono Market for lunch. They serve up some amazing local food. We had pork lau lau and ahi poke. The poke was basically a raw fish salad, but MAN it was tasty! (Raw fish is not something that we venture to eat on a regular basis.) Lau lau is meat wrapped in spinach leaves and then cooked to perfection.

Then, two days ago we were on our way to a hike and were planning on eating breakfast at a sit-down restaurant. We drove right past it on the highway, lucky for us! We ended up grabbing some delicious muffins at this small gluten free bakery that I noticed on our way into Kapa'a from the airport. It's called Sweet Marie's Hawaii, and it was a great find. Even if you don't plan on coming to Kauai anytime soon, she has a small selection of wonderful baked goods that can be purchased from her website. If you live on Kauai, she has a variety of services, from catering and wedding cakes to cooking classes.

Needless to say, we will return to Sweet Marie's before our trip is over.

Gluten free vacation

Yesterday, Evan and I flew into Hawaii for our very long awaited honeymoon. Needless to say, we are beside ourselves with excitement. However, it is amazing how difficult it is to eat gluten free while you're on vacation. The airline gave us a complimentary breakfast, but it was a very sugary blueberry muffin and a ham and cheese breakfast sandwich. Both tasted okay, but they were certainly not the kind of fare you eat while trying to maintain any kind of diet, let alone a gluten free one.

This morning, we had a simple breakfast of eggs and pineapple. The pineapple was some of the most delicious I have ever tasted. It was perfectly formed, with wonderfully green leaves and that wonderful brownish-green outside. The inside was a delightful yellow, and simply flowed with delectable pineapple juice. Breakfast was easy. The hard part will be lunch.

As Spring comes...

In spite of the rainy weather, I can't help but look forward to the coming of Spring. I suppose technically it's already here, since March 21 is the first day of Spring, but you would know it with the rain, cold and lack of leaves on the trees.

But, it's amazing how just one small thing can give you hope for better times. Today, as I was riding my bike to school, I noticed leaf buds on the deciduous trees! That means that slowly but surely Spring is indeed on it's way.

I feel like this is how God helps us through tough situations sometimes. He lets us feel the full force of the consequences of our bad choices (and even sometimes the choices of others), but gives us glimmers of hope to let us know that he is still there, still listening. And, he reminds us that sometimes we have to go through bad things to develop into who we are supposed to become. He is constantly refining us, as gold is refined in fire.

I know this doesn't have much to do with living gluten free, but I think it's something we all need to keep in mind. After all, we all need encouragement sometimes, especially when we are making difficult lifestyle changes, like going on a gluten free diet. It always helps to have support, and it's wonderful knowing that you have the support of an all-loving and all-knowing God.

Excuses, excuses

It's amazing how easy it is to make excuses. I'm not going to go to the gym because I need to clean the kitchen. I am not going to do my homework because I feel tired. I am going to have candy, dessert and more dessert because I've got family in town.

You've probably guessed what I did this weekend. I ate a gigantic amount of sugar, and some gluten. I'd like to think I'll stop making excuses, but the truth is, it's so much easier to make those excuses. All there is really for me to do is to lean in Christ's love and trust that He is forming me each day to be better than I was before. I have to allow Him to teach me how to be a better steward of what he's given me, from my skills, to my money, to my body. I have to allow Him to teach me how He wants me to use these gifts.

After all, their not really mine anyway.

Pizza!

So I had been doing really well eating COMPLETELY gluten free, even when we went out to breakfast our last day at home. I'm a sucker for perfectly cooked pancakes, so this was really tough. Anyway, yesterday I was so hungry at work I felt lightheaded. A coworker had some goldfish crackers. Needless to say, I couldn't resist. I mean, who could, with their cute orange color and smiley faces? Just kidding. I should have stuck to the communal carrots. But, I have noticed an improvement in my energy levels even in the past couple of weeks of eating like this. And, I also noticed when we went out to eat (before my resolution, of course) and I got a heaping plate of pasta, I was unusually tired and grumpy the next day. This, I am certain, is no coincidence.

Now for the good stuff. Evan and I discovered a great recipe for gluten free pizza dough! We have yet to perfect the bake time on our pizzas to get the thin dough to be nice and crispy, but it still tastes delicious. This recipe is relatively easy to make, and you can find the ingredients at your local grocery store. No need to go to a specialty foods store!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups rice flour

2-1/4 tsp gluten free quick rise yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Xanthan gum

3 tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 cup warm water; divided

1 tbsp honey

Directions:

Combine flour, yeast, salt and Xanthan gum in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup water, olive oil and honey. Next, use hands to work the dough. Use the remaining water (as much as needed) to hold the dough together. Knead the dough for five minutes then cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 12 inch pizza pan and flatten dough into the pan. Press the dough into the pan and against the sides to make the outer crust. Top as desired and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Isn't it amazing how quickly we can fail? I've already eaten some gluten. Yesterday, Evan, my sister and I went to Royal India (an amazing Indian restaurant) and we ordered garlic naan. Of course, I ate some. It is just so delectable to dip it in the Indian curries - simply irresistible. At least to me. Like I said, I have very little willpower when it comes to eating gluten in social settings.

But, today is a new day. Today I can try again to be completely gluten free. Today, I have another chance. So far, I've succeeded. I haven't eaten anything yet.

New Year's Resolutions

At church this morning, the pastor did a sermon on New Year's resolutions. Supposedly, half of the people in America make New Year's resolutions and the top two resolutions are to lose weight and to save money.

I normally don't make New Year's resoltuions, because they are those things that people make on January 1st and forget about by January 7th. However, I think this year I'm going to give the resolution thing another try. You probably know that I've been eating (mostly) gluten free since Evan and I got married. I eat gluten every once in awhile, like when we go out to eat. So, I resolve this year to eat completely gluten free. That means no bread when we go to restaurants, no Olive Garden (for some reason, they haven't gotten the gluten free pasta message) and no cakes or cookies.

This will be REALLY hard for me. It's not difficult when we're at home because we don't keep gluten in the house. But, when we get into social settings, like parties and family get togethers I have very little will power. So, we'll see how this goes!