April was certainly a fun month. Most of the April photos are actually tied up in my birthday re-caps which will be posted later this Summer. As you know, I celebrate my birthday for one month and that included April. I am actually still going through those posts just mixing them in now with my other posts because there were so many.
Life has resumed its normalcy for me and I am doing the things that I love. As a Winter baby I truly hate Winter and I love March and April when Spring finally comes around. The most fun I have in March in April outside of my birthday is watching the Earth come back to life and watching myself thrive with new life and possibilities for new excursions and fun and anything else that arises.
Beach and work day at Treasure Island
DIET AND FITNESS:
While celebrating my birthday or any vacation I always just eat whatever I want within reason of my dietary restrictions because I am a Celiac. Fitness and Food was actually good to me this month. In March I lamented that I had a flare up (relapse) in my getting better since having ingested gluten in January. I reset myself and just removed even more inflammatory things from my diet and by the end of April I was still feeling inflamed, but once my cycle reset I was better than ever.
Some changes I made. Well, I already told you all I stopped drinking wine back in 2016, but I still drank champagne. Well, I stopped drinking champagne. Champagne is not my friend in the sense that it is something that is inflammatory for me just like wine. It causes autoimmune reactions for me just like wine does and as a result I get super bloated and my arms and face usually get puffy even if I just have one glass. If you have ever wondered why Organic wines are a thing, it is because of people like me. A lot of people have reactions to wine and in particular the sulfates in wine. Anyhow, I wasn't even really thinking about it, I just stopped drinking it and I saw a difference within about two weeks. By May I was all good.
Next, this may seem kind of crazy, but I stopped buying the ingredients to make salads at home for now. On average I spend $48.00 bi-weekly on organic salad ingredients and a lot of times 25% to 50% doesn't get eaten because I am usually the only person eating it. We always have big salad nights, but if it is not a designated night chances are my husband will not eat a salad on his own and some of those ingredients will get incorporated into a breakfast omelet or spaghetti depending on how much is left.
In March I posted about the grand opening of Sweetgreen in Hyde Park Village. Well, I go there once a week for my salads and it is 13-14$ plus they have a rewards program. One salad makes 2 to 3 meals for me and if I don't feel like cooking hubs is fine with doing big salad night there. It cut down on a lot of planning and removed a lot of excess sugars from my diet from salad dressing (because I like Cesar, I make all my other dressings myself).
Going to Sweetgreen has tremendously reduced the amount of salad and ingredients I have to throw out when they go bad also. It also gives me a chance to incorporate a lot of high fiber items to my husbands diet.
Oh, I also stopped drinking sweet tea. Yea, I don't even drink sweet tea like that, but last year when I went to Melbourne I started drinking sweet tea and I only have like 4 to 6 ounces a day, but it was excess sugar I didn't need and I just stopped drinking it.
I will be back in May with an additional update. After 1 month of birthday celebration I was weighing in about 6 pounds heavier which was a bit crazy to me, but like I said I have a lot going on so I just went on ahead and got in front of it again. May is Celiac Awareness Month, but I do want to say, there is no time limit to get over the inflammation that occurs when you have Celiacs and ingest gluten. Celiacs Disease is an autoimmune disease in which your body attacks and destroys your stomach lining when you ingest gluten. Every time is different and it is different for everyone.
So, when I say I thought I was getting better in February, I may have been, but vacation probably triggered more of a flare up due to stress and a change in diet. This always happens when I travel to varying degrees. I just wanted to clarify that because all I can do is eat as clean as possible, work out, avoid gluten, and try not to stress because anything can trigger an autoimmune reaction, but gluten 100% will also.
1 year towards the end of March start of April I ended my weightless journey and basically have maintained where I was and resumed regular workouts (Yoga and Pilates). I still haven't used my treadmill lol.
TRADER JOE'S FINDS:
HAULS/COLLABORATIONS
Collaboration with Publix Atlanta
Belton Farms
Royal Mahout
Collier's
1957
Events:
DATE NIGHTS:
Union New American
Westshore Business District
Sweetgreen Hyde Park Village
Crisp & Green Water Street
Collaboration with Butterfly Cannon
Production process 7-8 year old Agave is harvested by hand and baked in traditional steam ovens before being mashed, fermented and distilled. Clementine peel, prickly pear and natural
colour extracted from beets are added to the silver tequila before filtration and bottling.
Tasting notes: A stunning natural violet blue liquid with a fresh citrus nose from the clementine and the prickly pear gives combination of the tastiest tropical and subtropical fruits, strawberry,
watermelon, honeydew melon, fig, and banana - while all the time the agave shines through. Long, rich and refreshing.
I used this lovely and bright colored tequila to make a floral margarita 🍹 it is so simple and easy to make. The range is 100% Agave Tequila from Mexico's most awarded distillery, done differently. Blue, infused with prickly pear and clementine with an astonishing natural blue color.
Recipe
1 ½ oz Butterfly Cannon Tequila
1 oz Elderflower liqueur (I used St. Germain)
½ oz freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
½ oz simple syrup
Ice Lime slices for garnish (optional).
Method
Add Butterfly Cannon tequila, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker or a mason jar with a handful of ice. Close and shake for 10-15 seconds until very cool. Strain into the prepared glass and garnish.
Serve immediately.
GLUTEN FREE HOME COOKED MEALS:
Collaboration with Royal Mahout Cheese
Paneer cheese is a very healthy option that has proven to aid in weight loss and act as a substitute for meat for vegetarians!
The overall uses of the cheese go far beyond the typical board; many people use it on the grill, in an air fryer, and even as an alternative to tofu!
- 1pound fresh baby spinach (about 8 packed cups)
- 2tablespoons ghee or regular butter
- 8ounces paneer, cut into 1-by-½-inch pieces
- ½cup finely chopped yellow onion
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1tablespoon freshly grated peeled ginger (from a 2-inch piece)
- 2teaspoons grated garlic (from about 3 cloves)
- 1serrano chile, stemmed and minced
- ½teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼teaspoon ground cumin
- ½cup heavy cream
- Steamed rice and Indian flatbread, for serving.
STEP BY STEP PHOTOS BELOW ALSO!
In a food processor, working in batches, pulse spinach until minced but not puréed. Do not pack the spinach too tightly or it won’t get evenly chopped. You should have about 3 packed cups of minced spinach.
Heat 1 tablespoon ghee over medium in a large nonstick skillet. When it shimmers, add paneer and cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 5 to 7 minutes. Using tongs or a fish spatula, transfer cheese to a plate, leaving as much ghee as possible in the skillet.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add the remaining 1 tablespoon ghee and the onion, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add ginger, garlic and chile, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and well incorporated, 1 minute. Stir in coriander and cumin until well blended.
Stir in heavy cream and paneer until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Divide rice and flatbread among 4 shallow bowls or plates. Pass the saag paneer to spoon on top.
As you can see this looks a lot like tofu. It is a cheese that does not melt!
Parboiling the spinach
Collaboration with Publix, Collier's, 1905, and Belton Farms
Cottage Pie
2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup cream, for a lighter version substitute vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 3/4 pounds ground beef
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon paprika
chopped fresh parsley leaves
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes.
While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef or lamb. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. If you are using lamb and the pan is fatty, spoon away some of the drippings. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute.
- Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small flameproof rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.
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