I was hanging at the pool one gorgeous afternoon and received a call from my GP. She had some interesting test results. She was getting ready to tell me something I had figured out a while ago but had not wanted to remotely admit. You seem, for sometime I had noticed I felt bad after eating breads or pasta and my symptoms were getting increasingly worse. As as I said I was by the pool...so it was late Spring...I had been sick since Christmas. I started asking for tests because I was dizzy, exhausted and had tingling in my feet. The preliminary tests had shown vitamin deficiencies and low thyroid.
I did my own research. I knew that there should be an underlying reason for all of this. And I wasn't satisfied just taking supplements. Anyway, my doc confirmed (kinda) my suspicions.... My gene testing for Celiacs was double positive.
Even though I expected the results to be positive, I was at once overwhelmed. My DH immediately got me a beer (how could he know that it was a big slap in my gluten-sick face?). I gratefully drank said beer and followed it with a couple more...All the while knowing we were headed for a painful break-up...
The next day...I started my gluten-free diet. Friends were nice. They brought by every gluten-free beer they could find. I still haven't found one that will do...however, I plan on trying them all.
All I can say about the Rachael Ray Cookbook, 365 and No Repeats! (written in a slang-laden, simplicity-encouraging, style that caters (pardon the pun) to User-Friendliness), is that RR has forgotten a few things now that she's ubiquitously uber famous:
We don't have sous chefs to chop, dice, and julienne everything, so it doesn't take only 35 minutes prep for us- that timing planner box is WAY off!
We don't have people to handwash 3 pots, a pan, and a Baking Dish for one meal
After we just chopped and julienned until our arms got shin splints, and soiled 3 pots and a pan (I said screw it! Forget the Baking Dish part), we don't want to break out the blender, too!
We can't afford fresh herbs, fresh ginger, fresh everything (and I DO have an herb garden! And I don't know if it has paid for itself in the time, effort, worry, water, and money I put into it!)
When you say recipe 241 is just like 240 but you swap the chicken for pork and take out the wine, the ginger, the this and the that and omit this action and add this action...we feel like you should've just written a fresh recipe out!
Chicken and rice---> not a complete meal. Scallion isn't counting as a full vegetable. Half the plate should be veggies, Foodista!
Oil, butter, EVOO, butter--RR, we sometimes use spray butter and Pam because we don't wanna clog arteries 365 days a year. I hope you have LifeALert!
Lastly, if it's good, we should WANT to repeat it! (And the Honey Chicken with spicy lemon rice was great! But, we were so tired from all the chopping, cooking, cleaning, that we decided to eat leftovers the next night-too tired to cook again!) And I only chose that recipe because the other one had the blender!
