Magnesium

For those of us who are gluten sensitive, gluten affects us in three ways:

• Damage caused directly by the gluten.
• Damage caused indirectly as gluten reduces our ability to absorb vital nutrients.
• Distraction of our diets away from essential foods, namely vegetables and fruits, nuts and legumes.

One interesting nutrient that gluten inhibits is magnesium. I’m no expert, so here are some links to interesting articles I’ve found about magnesium:

Quick summary, easy to read:

Diet Blurbs

More in-depth but still very readable:

National Institute of Health

Here are some interesting facts I learned that hit home to me:

* Magnesium deficiency is responsible for nervousness that prevents sleep.

* Calcium and magnesium produce calming effects on the brain, essential for normal sleep.

* The lack of magnesium can cause leg cramps and may be associated with restless leg syndrome.

* Talking (and/or walking) in sleep may be related to magnesium deficiency.

Here’s a very interesting article on magnesium and sleep:

Yahoo! Answers

I’ve also learned that magnesium deficiency is associated with diabetes, irregular heart beat, and seizures.

If you are consuming sufficient quantities of magnesium and still have symptoms, you may still be deficient if your body has trouble absorbing it (maybe due to all that gluten!)

More Indulgence

 

Ostrich Fillet, squash, cabbage, red pepper, leek, mushrooms, brown rice, fresh basil, sea salt.

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, plain yogurt, toasted almonds.

Tuna steak, cabbage, tangerine, purple broccoli, fennel, mushrooms, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme.

Pear, grapes, pumpkin seeds, plain yoghurt, cinammon

Salad: Beef fillet, bok choi, leek, fresh pineapple, fresh mozarella, fresh thyme, olive oil.

Chicken breast, red onion, fresh garlic, mushrooms, cauliflower, red pepper, yellow beet root, some sort of orange fruit that looks like apricot but tastes like mango, seaweed, apple, fresh chives, butter, sea salt (with coriander), brown rice.

Flowering green tea

Figs, mango, kiwi, lychee, plain yogurt.

Hard boiled eggs, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, grapes, yellow beet root, butter, sea salt

Smoked salmon, aubergine (eggplant), okra, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, fennel, seaweed, butter, sea salt.

 

Salad: Smoked salmon, mistralou cheese, purple broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, olive oil, fresh chives

Plum, kiwi, toasted cashews (unsalted), plain yogurt.

Barramunda fish, mushrooms, onion, courgette fleur (flowering zucchini), red cabbage, broccoli, dandelion, fennel, organic lemon.

Raspberries, blueberries, pistachios (unsalted organic), plain yogurt.

Indulgence, Mother Nature Style!

Two weeks ago when I called my brother Wayne on his birthday, I announced that I had gone gluten-free, in addition to sugar-free. Perplexed, he asked, "what's there left to eat?!"

In fact, I eat extremely well. I've discovered that Mother Nature is an unbelievably good cook. I'm so sorry for all the years I've wasted eating garbage food, when there's so much to be had that is so tasty, straight from Mother Nature's kitchen. And EASY - all I have to do is rinse, and sometimes remove the natural, bio-degradable packaging Mother Nature ships her treats in, heat, and EAT! That's it!

But, this seems to be a well-kept secret. It wouldn't be fair to keep this indulgence all to myself, so here - I'll share what I've learned!

There is really no recipe needed - or planning, since Mom N does all that ahead of time, for you and me, with amazing variety. Every Saturday morning, I take my Genuine Sholley Trolley to the local farmers market, and see what she has on for the week. I'm very lucky to live a 15-minute walk away from the world-famous Borough Market of London; might as well take advantage of that! I think Borough Market must be Mom N's national headquarters.

Here's what yesterday's haul looked like before, and after I unpacked my trolley:



It used to be that I could put the cover over the trolley for the walk home, but my appetite for Mom N's cooking has increased so much that I don't hold back any more, and the lid has to stay up. Believe it or not, all that food will be gone by next week! It's actually food for one and a half people (I count the occasional guest), for breakfast and sometimes lunch, and snacks in the evening and weekends.

Isn't it beautiful?? It is such a joy to unpack the beautiful treats from Mom N every week.

Here are some meals I've had in the last couple of days:



Ham cooked with pineapple, onion, and mushroom. Fennel, broccoli, red pepper, seaweed, spinach, green beans, dabbed with butter and sprinkled with sea salt.



Desert: Plain fresh yogurt with kiwi, grapes, pineapple, plum, and toasted almonds (I toast the almonds myself to ensure the integrity of Mom Nature's presentation). Credit for the beautiful arrangement goes to Drew (my personal trainer) - I usually dump and eat, but he likes to make it pretty, too!



Swordfish cooked with fresh rosemary, onion, and big mushrooms. Okra, cherry tomatoes, miniature turnips, spinach, fresh garlic, and pine nuts; dabbed with butter and sprinkled with sea salt.



Dessert: Asian pear, stuffed with chunky natural peanut butter (no emulsifiers, no sugar) and organic raisins. The top of the pear had gone bad, so I had to cut the top off. It was still lovely.



Tuna steak cooked with shallots and fresh basil. Purple broccoli, courgette (zucchini) in two varieties, organic lemon, and some sort of pretty lettuce (yes, you can cook lettuce, too!)



Plain fresh yogurt with strawberries and blackberries, with toasted cashews sprinkled on top (I toast the raw cashews myself, too - no additives of any kind!)



Spinach salad with purple broccoli, courgette, fresh chives - tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh lemon juice, and dabbed with fresh ricotta.

Everything is fresh and pure - exactly as Mom Nature intended. Watch this space for more!

Boat Tasting

I don't know why we call them "boats", but that was my family name for oatmeal. "Come eat your boats," Mom would call.

Cooked boats always grossed me out. If I ate them fresh out of the pan, they were ok, but only if there was no milk on top. It was best if I could smother them in brown sugar, which would promptly melt if the boats were hot enough.

I once refused to eat my boats because they were cold, so Mom made me sit there in my chair until they were eaten. I held out and she held out. It finally came time to run to school, and the boats weren't eaten. Mom shooed me to school without any breakfast and I thought I was off the hook.

But after school, guess what was waiting for me on the table? Aaagh by then they were not just cold, but rubbery and grosser than gross. I sat there at the table and she busied herself in the kitchen to keep an eye on me. Bedtime came and the boats were still there.

I won't go into details of how I ended up having to eat my boats in bed. But Mom won, and it entailed a lot of tears (not just mine), and probably a bit of throwing up.

After that day, Mom never forced me to eat cooked boats again.

But guess what - I LOVE boats when they're RAW! Happily, Mom started poaring a few boats into my bowl uncooked. I would put milk and sugar on top, just as if they were cornflakes. And they were fantastic! Later I learned that cinnamon sugar on my boats was even better than brown sugar; the crispy texture of the sugar with the chewey grains of the oats were a very nice combination.

When I gave up sugar, I was reluctant to eat my raw boats, thinking that to me, they were just a carrier for what I really liked - the sugar. But, I went ahead and tasted a bowl of boats with nothing but milk a couple months ago, and to my delight, I discovered boats again for what they really are - a wonderful, nutty, chewy treat in their own right, holding their own sweetness.

Boats are boats. Or, are they really? Are all boats the same? I've decided to do a boat-tasting, to discover for myself which of all the boats are the best.

Here's the line-up; I limited the varieties to those that are certified organic:


Appearance:

My preference is big, fat flakes, because those are the chewiest and feel the best in my mouth. Of the five competitors, Waitrose Jumbo Oats, Jordan's Organic Porridge, and White's Jumbo Organic Oats had the best size. Quaker and Mornflake had smaller flakes, even though they were not advertised as quick oats. The smaller flakes tend to feel more powdery, and therefore dry in texture.

Here are the three with larger flakes, and the two with smaller:















Color-wise, White's is the richest, and Mornflake is the most washed-out.

Cartons:

Jordan's has the best carton. It has an inner bag for freshness, and closes easily at the top. Waitrose and White's both have plastic containers, which is fine for keeping freshness locked inside, but only if you have a clasp to secure the top. Quaker and Mornflake both have "easy-pour" spouts on the side. These are a nice idea, but the spouts are too large to facilitate any precision in pouring, making it very hard to pour directly into a bowl, or even a pan (maybe a garbage bin would be the easiest place to pour). Also, the flap on the spout is designed to hook into the carton, to lock it shut. I have a problem with that though, and keep pushing the flap too far into the box. When that happens, I have to dig in with my finger to pull it out. So, my vote is strongly against that design.















Flavour, in order of preference:

1. Jordans. This had a strong, nutty flavour that blossomed into a very nice aftertaste.
2/3. Waitrose and White's both had good flavour, and I couldn't distinguish between them. They were not quite as good as Jordan's.
4. Quaker. Compared with the top three, the flavour was flat, but considerably better than Mornflake.
5. Mornflake was mushy and tasteless.

The winner:

Driver's (er Driving) License

I'm going to learn to drive on the LHS! Watch out Britain! I've avoided this, thinking that it would ruin my driving reflexes for the rest of my life, but now that I'm here to stay for a while, I need to bite the bullet and get my license.

I had a pretty hard time learning to ride on the LHS on my bike. (It's hard enough actually being a pedestrian in a LHS city!) Just try making a U-turn to the right sometime and see how backwards it feels! The signs are on the wrong side, the traffic sounds come from the right, not the left, and you have to look over your right shoulder for traffic instead of the left. And - the front brake is on the RIGHT handlebar. Oh, and when you get a flat, its a TYRE, not tire!

In a car, the steering wheel is in the passenger seat and you have to shift with your left hand! AAAAaaaahhh

The process of getting a license in London is a lot harder than in the States, or so I've heard. My hairdresser had to take the driving part of the test four times before she passed!

So last week I applied for my provisional license, and it came on Friday. Guess when it expires? Get this: 2019! I can't remember for sure, but it seems like when I was 16, my learner's permit in Utah was good for something like three months. Unbelievable.

The packet of information that came with the provisional license clued me in that there are two tests: the theory test and the practical test. The theory test consists of two parts: a multiple choice part, and a hazard perception part.

Only 42% of those taking their practical test actually pass!! The test covers 24 key skills - what they are is something I have yet to learn! Watch this space...