Iron Deficent Anemia

I've been wearing long sleeves the last week.


One of the side effects of the seven years it took from onset to diagnosis of my Celiac Disease is permanent damage in my gut from eating gluten. This means my gut simply doesn't absorb most nutrients from food the way most guts do.

As a result, I am chronically anemic.
For years, even after diagnosis, the doctors would look at the lab numbers, see I had low iron levels and tell me to take iron supplements. I would comply, but my iron levels remained low. Eventually, the hematologist began IV iron to bypass the gut entirely.  With experimentation we arrived at a treatment plan that seems to work quite well. I try to eat a lot of dark leafy greens (usually in smoothies), and taught myself to not gag at meat, particularly red meat. It would be really good if I could teach myself to tolerate liver. But, I'm not quite there yet.
I tracked when I would begin chewing ice like a mad dog as that, along with increasing fatigue, is a good indicator that my iron levels are dipping. We settled on a treatment plan of a round of IV iron every four months with each round consisting of four sessions, at least a day apart of 200ml. I will do this for the rest of my life.

This round was pretty good until the last session. The IV's are administered by Oncology Registered  Nurses who are amazing. They start IV's all day, every day. Even though my veins are difficult, they really do a great job. Unfortunately, there are days when my body has had enough and refuses.

Six sticks, two blown veins and still only managed to get 100ml of the last session.

See me on the street and you might mistake me for an addict!

Garlic Chicken and Vegetables - Chinese Take Out

I have a few restaurants where I feel secure eating because I know I will not get sick.  There is a strip-mall Chinese place I love which is so, so good and reasonably priced, especially if I pick up the lunch special.

They don't know how to spell and apparently do not have a proof reader because with every menu there is a new and even more hilarious error.  The latest menu advertises "Restanrant" instead of restaurant and they offer gralic chicken, which I think is a Gaelic dish with Chinese influence.

Regardless of spelling errors, they know how to cook and they can spell the whole menu wrong as long as they keep offering gluten-free delicious food. 

The Egg Foo Yung (savory omelet made with choice of meat and veggies) and the Mai Fun (rice noodle dish) are delicious but my favorite is the garlic chicken (or gralic chicken until they change the menu).  They know me well and are very accommodating when I order extra vegetables with no rice or sesame chicken with no breading.

Side note: One of the cooks, not sure if male or female, looked beat to hell the first few times I was there.  I thought maybe s/he was a cage fighter or did martial arts or was the victim of a hate crime/domestic violence because her/his face was so beat up.  After a month when the coloring didn't change and I got a better look, I realized it was a birth mark.  I was happy no one was beating up my favorite Chinese cook and also felt grateful that my physical maladies are on the inside and not worn on my face. 

So I order garlic chicken, no rice, extra vegetables and I have a complete and perfect paleo meal.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread is something I love and crave and often make for part of my cheat meal away from the Paleo diet. It is best right as it comes out of the oven with butter slathered on it and reaches perfection if it is the end piece.

I made mini-muffins with some of the batter this time and my son ate them all within a day.  There is something cute and tasty about a mini-muffin which makes them irresistible.  He kept asking if they were really gluten free.  Yes! (with a double fist pump).

Banana Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and set aside:

2 cups gluten free flour (I prefer Pamela's gluten free baking mix)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Cream eggs and sugar and then add the rest of the ingredients and then slowly add in the dry mixture.

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup oil  (coconut oil is my choice)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Bake according to the size of your pan.  Bread pan, 1 hour.  Mini-muffins, 10-15 minutes.

To make a delectable dessert, spread cream cheese frosting on them and go ahead and die happy.

My roommate has so many great baking items and there was a mini-muffin pan from Pampered Chef in  her cupboard which was still in the plastic wrapping.  I made a regular bread loaf pan and then put a tablespoon of batter into the mini-muffin tin.  Interesting fact I read on the instruction sheet; put water in empty tins if you don't have enough batter and dark tins require less heat.  I learn something new every day!