The roundabout road to gratitude: Day 4

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

I assumed somewhere in December there would be a day that I didn’t feel grateful. At all. And the more I tried to talk myself into gratitude, the crabbier I would get. Well, I didn’t expect that would be day #3.

On Dec 1st I lost a filling, which I don’t like, but no biggie. On the 2nd, OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI lost a 2nd filling…and thankfully I didn’t lose three on the 3rd, BUT I  found it will require intensive dental work to get these babies taken care of and will likely take at least the next 5 weeks to complete (long story…). After spending most of September on soft foods, smoothies and liquids for the last obnoxious round of dental misadventures, I’m hugely tense even thinking about this. I’m angry. I’m frustrated. It feels unfair, and I feel like I need to justify myself, like I’ve done something wrong and it’s all my fault.

And I got so stressed over it that I had an autoimmune flare which feels like a piece of glass is in my eyes, which is what happens when I get over-stressed.

Sigh.

Fortunately, I rarely have the eye symptoms and that was enough to snap me out of my misery overdrive.

Sometimes when I have chronic pain I’m furious at myself for being “weak”. I’m enraged in “why me” and “this SUCKS” and “seriously, what did I do to deserve this?” When I’m lucky, I’m able to step back a little and realize the self-loathing is worse than the pain.

It’s as though there’s a little girl, crying because she’s in pain. And my habit is to unleash fury that her pain is interfering with my life, my plans, my dreams, my goals. How dare anything get in my way. And when I’m able to see her eyes and really feel, deeply, that she doesn’t mean to do anything wrong, that she didn’t choose to be in pain, I finally can feel compassion and grief.

Because it can be sad to have pain and limitations.  But it’s much sadder to be furious at my body, at myself, when I’ve always done the best I can. Obviously there have been many mistakes in hindsight, but those are mine, too.

So there’s real joy moments when I’m able to re-claim my own story, to hold my own pain with compassion and know that this, too will be okay.

And then I can get back to the business of gratitude.

So I’m grateful for self-compassion, I’m grateful for resiliency, and I’m grateful for eye drops.big orange flutter

More on the December Sanity Retreat 2013

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! It’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

My 30 days of gratitude:

Posted in cheryl's musings, December Sanity Challenge, self care carnival | 3 Comments

Gratitude for Amazing People!-Day 3

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

I was having trouble writing a post for today (I’ll share more tomorrow on why) and I saw this video making the rounds about Alice, a 109 year old pianist and Holocaust survivor who speaks of her great love for people, music, and just about everything else. She knocked my socks off! And clearly she is a gratitude pro with an amazing gifted ability for living well.

So…I’m grateful to Alice for sharing her story. I’m also glad that the internet makes it so much easier to hear about inspiring, wonderful, touching, funny stories. I need those reminders.

More on the December Sanity Retreat & Contests

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARetreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! I wish I could say it was all about altruism, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

My 30 days of gratitude:

Posted in cheryl's musings, self care carnival | 1 Comment

Grateful for Genghis Khat-Day 2

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

GenghisKhat I fully recognize that if you’re looking for unconditional love, adopting a cat is generally not the wisest of strategies. But I got lucky. Genghis adopted me, and he clearly knew what he was doing.

11 years ago, we were renting an apartment and I had an itty bitty garden. You can kinda see it in the pic. After countless hours of work, I got about 2 peppers and 4 tomatoes out of it, but I did meet my darling. He would come and watch me dig and plant, and when I got lucky I was permitted the honor of petting him. He was so skittish way back then that if I was petting him with my left hand and then decided to get all wild and crazy and used the right, he’d get scared and run away. Despite his scaredy-cat nature, he had no problem commandeering our patio, so we called him the Emperor. That morphed into Genghis Khat.g yourself

I won’t lie. His name is totally appropriate, because he’s an Imperial bully and rather insistent on having his way. But for me, he couldn’t possibly be more perfect. I’ve never owned a cat before, or should I say, I’ve never been owned by a cat. So I’m pretty new at this. But it was love at first sight, and I love being his human. Although it’s entirely possible that if he finds out that I’ve shared such an undignified pic of him, I may become his former human. So sssh! don’t tell.

From everything I understand, he can be very un-cat in many ways—generally he comes when I call, even if I’m not holding salmon. I mean, he’ll even leave a heated floor mat to come snuggle me because I’ve asked nicely. Pretty much any time of day or night, he’d love a good hug your catsnuggle, as long as he’s made sure he’s perfectly comfortable. He’s also extremely affectionate, and LOVES hugs. Although it’s taken him a few years, he’s often my meditation buddy and will sit still with me, unless birds or squirrels come up on the porch.

One of his entertaining habits is that he loves hanging out with his humans, but doesn’t want own up to it, so he’ll follow me from room to room, and then ignore me when he gets there. It’s kinda like when a 5 year old thinks they’re outsmarting you, and it’s quite endearing.cheryl and genghis

Being with Genghis fills me with a tremendous amount of gratitude. Cats only visit with us for such a short period of time, and G is already 14. He was pretty sick last year, and it was a rude awakening to me to realize he’s not always going to be here. I’m often aware of treasuring the time we spend together, because I can’t imagine not having him by my side.

I bet many of you also have furry, feathery, scaled or finned creatures you’re grateful for, too!

More on the December Sanity Retreat & Contests

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARetreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! I wish I could say it was all about altruism, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

My 30 days of gratitude:

Posted in self care carnival | 2 Comments

December Sanity Retreat: Day 1 Gratitude

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

I’m really excited to be starting the 6th installment of our self-care retreats—the 3rd December Sanity Retreat! (More on the retreat & contests below.) Every year, I always post on the things I want to add or simplify in my life: more movement, more meditation, more mental/physical/quiet space. This time around, I plan to try something totally different and post each day on something I’m grateful for, because that’s what’s calling to me now.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

To be totally honest, I’m both eager and intimidated. I’ve never tried to post daily, and there are times when I skip weeks! And I also know that it’s easy to think about maybe 10 or so things that I’m grateful for, but 31? That’s a lot. I do tell Mr. Dude the things I’m grateful for on most days but it’s about a 30 second listing, not something where I take a good 5-10 min and marinate in the good stuff.

To me, gratitude is simply expressing joy and appreciation for something. I need to get this out of the way first: gratitude isn’t the same as positive thinking. I remember when I first got sick, and a whole lot of people babbled to me about healing through thinking happy thoughts. What can I say, it seriously pissed me off. The stated and/or not so subtle the implication was that it was my fault for being sick. And it also meant that I was “bad” when I expressed painful emotions of grief and sadness.  It felt like code for painting on a happy face no matter what. While it’s lovely to always look on the bright side, “enforced happy” or some sort of always happy obligation just doesn’t fit for me.grateful

What I did learn is that gratitude DOES fit wonderfully well for me. No matter where I am or what is going on, there is always some silver lining that I can find if I chose to, some gift in the mix. I don’t need to deny any part of my experience, but I can decide which part of my reality I want to consciously focus on. For me, that feels authentic and empowering.

And so, here goes. Today’s gratitude will be short!

I’m grateful for having this space to express myself. I had no idea what to expect when I started blogging—I just wanted to share recipes and ooh and aah over yummies. That was almost 6 years ago. For me, blogging has given me a space to ramble when I wish, an invitation to express my thoughts, and most importantly of all, connect with others. 9 years ago the gluten-free world was small and scattered. Reading blogs, and later blogging, helped me feel connected, supported and inspired. I never would have imagined that I’d see blogging as a community, or develop beautiful friendships. It’s been a blessing to me.

More on the December Sanity Retreat & Contests

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! It’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice! big orange flutter

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for.

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: a box of fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

My 30 days of gratitude:

 

Posted in December Sanity Challenge | 15 Comments

December Sanity Retreat 2013

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

December, here we come. I spoke with my sweetie a week ago, decided I didn’t need anything for the holidays and that we’d just find a needy family and gift our holidays that way. And then oh, the sweet seduction of all of the sales that have poured into my inbox since then. All of a sudden I “need” tons of stuff. To think I was all set just a week ago!

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! I wish I could say it was altruistic of me to host, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, (they’ll be well marked) and a comment will be chosen at random as the winner.

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate. they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options. And there’s much more than nuts–many treats and flours, some even nut free. (US/Canada)

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season:

  1. Balancing commitments to others with commitments to yourself
  2. Incorporating joyful movement.
  3. Creating a happy balance around food
  4. Getting enough sleep!
  5. Expressing yourself artistically
  6. Making wise financial choices
  7. Focusing more on living beings than material “stuff”
  8. Tending to whatever spiritual or religious commitment touches your heart
  9. Whatever else speaks to you along these lines

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with fantastic blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Round ups of our past adventures:

Posted in self care carnival, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Coconut Chickpea Stew

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

chickpea curry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a silver lining to everything, and for me, the bright side of winter is soups and stews. And this soup has it all–creamy, warming, spicy, filling, satisfying and yummilicious! At our annual pumpkin carving party, all food has strict criteria. All dishes must be:P1020242

  1. gluten-free
  2. completely delicious
  3. something that keeps well over time
  4.  allergy/food restriction friendly
  5. Easy if possible

I mean, when I’m cooking for 40 and making 12-15 dishes, easy counts for a lot.

So we went for a vegan stew this time around, and I absolutely loved it. I made this stew in the crockpot, but it could be totally made on the stovetop, too, just with a little extra broth or water.

  • 2 TBSP coconut oil
  • 1 big onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 Serrano pepper, diced
  • 2 TBSP ginger, minced (approx 1.5 inches of ginger root)
  • 2 cans of garbanzo beans (I always buy Eden, which is tested for gluten and BPA free)
  • 1 can tomatoes with onions, including the juices OR 2 cups tomatoes when the season allows
  • 1 can lite coconut milk (I assume the regular works–it doesn’t work with my tummy)
  • 2 TBSP coconut flour
  • 1.5 TBSP garam masala powder or curry powder (curry powder is a little hotter)
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • rice if desired

Sautee the onion, garlic and ginger in the coconut oil over medium high heat until browning, 6-8 min. Add to the crockpot, along with the other ingredients through garam masala. Cover, cook on low for 4-6 hours. Garnish with cilantro, serve over rice.

I may add in a diced potato or sweet potato next time around. Mmmm…

Posted in main meal, recipe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A G-Free Thanksgiving- Tips, Recipes, Turkey list & more

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

I don’t usually cross-post from my “work” job www.harriswholehealth.com but I put SO avocadotinymuch effort into all of the recipes and turkey list that I really want to share! If you’d like to receive my monthly g-free newsletter, see www.harriswholehealth.com

Thanksgiving tips

Recipes

News! Really exciting conference & giveaway

Thanksgiving tips:

It takes a little planning ahead to guarantee a great Thanksgiving. In many ways, it’s easier if you’re hosting, because you know what you can and can’t have. Most people hate to impose on their hosts, but it’s easier on you AND your host to ask beforehand than sit through a four-hour meal and watch others eat. Remember, nothing is more important that staying safe!clip-art-thanksgiving-turkey-free1

Turkey:
Though it’s always good to check, the good news is that all plain fresh turkey is naturally gluten-free–again, that’s ALL plain, fresh, turkeys. So you do have to look out for stuffed turkeys or self-basting turkeys, and gravy packets, but there are no brands of plain turkeys with gluten. Obviously this is fantastic news. Again, ALL of the companies I called do not contain gluten. The only exception Tofurky, which has gluten. Also, some glazed hams DO contain gluten. As always, read carefully! I have a gluten-free turkey list updated in 2013, with has manufacturer contact info.

If you’re not hosting Thanksgiving at your house, talk to your host as soon as you can. You’ll need to talk about:
* Broth used for basting
* Seasonings
* Stuffing in the turkey
* Cross contamination

Gravy

Almost all regular canned gravy and gravy packets are not gluten-free. Gluten-free gravy is available online, and Trader Joe’s sells some now. Also, it’s pretty easy to make a simple gravy with gluten-free broth and cornstarch instead of wheat (and if corn is a problem for you, arrowroot can be substituted 1:1 instead).

Herb Gravy From Elana’s Pantry

Gravy using Cornstarch from Simply Recipes or see this link for recipes.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Side dishes

There are lots of good options here. Green bean casserole (or get creative–we do roasted green beans), baked yams, cranberry relish, gelatin salads, butternut squash soup, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, applesauce…all of these things are easy to adapt to food restrictions, and they’re healthy and delicious to boot.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Sides:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My Cranberry Fresh Fruit Relish

Crockpot Applesauce by Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free

Green Bean Casserole from Ginger Lemon Girl

Simply Tasty Asparagus from Celiac Family

Roasted butternut squash soup from Jules Gluten-Free

Stuffing:

This is obviously more of a challenge. You can go the nontraditional route and do a wild rice, buckwheat or quinoa stuffing. You could use a gluten-free cornbread or pre-made bread crumbs.

Cornbread stuffing with roasted acorn squash from the Gluten-Free Goddess

The NY Times Blog had a G-Free Stuffing section with a few recipes

Dessert!

For many people (myself included!) dessert is the highlight of the Thanksgiving route. If you’d like to use your standard recipes, you can easily make a crustless pumpkin or sweet potato pie or check out Whole Foods’ crusts. Or, you can easily make a crust from crushed up cookies, shredded coconut or almond meal. Apple crisps are also simple, too. And, of course, now with the new GF Betty Crocker mixes, a cake or brownies are pretty simple, even if they’re not traditional.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Best Pecan Pie (one of my very favorites)

Sweet Potato Pie (vegan), pictured right here—>

Easy, Crustless Apple Pie from Gluten Free Easily

Ginger Lemon Girl’s Pecan Pumpkin Pie bars

T Day Recipes:
It’s dangerous when someone asks about food while I’m hungry. When I was asked for Thanksgiving favorites, of course I started thinking (and drooling) about all the wonderful things that would make for an absolutely amazing gluten-free feast! Here are a bunch from some of my favorite GF bloggers.

News:

As always, wishing you and yours a joyful, peaceful and yummy holiday season.

Harris Whole Health offers individual sessions, family sessions and group classes to help people eat healthier and feel better! Cheryl works with people to feel and look their best with a range of specialties, including Celiac Disease, food allergies, pregnancy, breastfeeding, vegetarian and vegan diets, preventing diseases and “whole foods” eating. Let’s get you on your way to achieving your goals. For an appointment with Cheryl Harris, Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist, please click here, email or call 571-271-8742.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Kind Bar Giveaway: Treats, no tricks!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

kind barHappy Halloween! To celebrate, a lucky winner is getting a big box of treats from Kind Bars—24 bars and 3 pouches of granola. Yowza.

(see info on the winner below!)

The kind folks at Kind Bars contacted me and let me know about their products. I knew Kind Bars were gluten-free and easy to find, which is a huge plus. I didn’t realize how awesome the flavors are, like Chocolate Chili with almonds  or Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt. I’ll give you a second to ponder the wonder of chocolate and chili paired. And they even have mini Kind Bars.

They are obviously gluten-free, and per their website, they test all product to be under 20ppm. They’re also GMO free.

I set my gluten-free elves to the test of reviewing the box I received, and they were over-the-top enthused. These bars aren’t “good for gluten-free”, they’re GOOD. All reviews were rave reviews. One of my guinea pigs commented that Kind Bars should be available everywhere. Another was particularly delighted that the sugar content was so low.

One caution—somewhere along the way I “learned” that Kind Bars were dairy-free. While some are dairy-free, others do have milk powder. There are actually a wide range of kinds (ahem!) of bars, from ones that are higher in protein, ones that are higher in fiber, to ones with whole grains, etc. Most of the bars do contain rice, but the Almond Cashew with Flax bars are grain-free.

So…if you’d like to enter kind barsto win the bars and granola, you can do so until Weds, Nov 6th, 10pm EST.

  1. What flavor do you most want to try? Leave me a comment.
  2. Follow me on twitter @CherylHarrisRD and leave me a comment here telling me you did (or if you already do, just let me know)
  3. Like me on FB and leave me a comment here telling me you did. (or if you already do, just let me know)
  4. Share on FB or twitter.
  5. Tell me your favorite gluten-free snack!

One entry per item above!

CONTEST CLOSED.The winner is Cathy V! Dark chocolate nuts and sea salt sounds yummy, but so does chocolate chilli with almonds! I’ll just have to try both ;)

Disclaimer: I did receive yummies from Kind free of charge, and they are donating the goodies. The views expressed here are my own.

Posted in contest, Uncategorized | 36 Comments

Pumpkin Carving Party Pics & Recipes

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe had a deliciously good Pumpkin Carving party, and I’m eager to share the recipes in case you’ve still got a Halloween-themed party in the works this year! It was great fun, with 40-ish people and pumpkin goop as far as the eyes can see.

Everything always is gluten-free, and some things are dairy free, soy free, egg free, vegan, paleo, etc. to make sure that everyone is happy and well-fed.

Drinks:

Hot mulled apple cider

Appetizers:

caramel dip

Raw caramel dip from Whole Life nutrition and honey crisp apples

veg and dip

Tangy peanut dip (sauce made as a dip, from Paleo Cooking by Elana Amsterdam)

guac

Guac!

Desserts:

apple crisp 2013

Apple crisp Vegan, grain-free—one of my very favorites

choc pumpkin pie

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie—this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie didn’t come anywhere near filling my pie crust, so I made a chocolate ganache to go on top and fill it out some more.

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Chocolate Caramel Bars: A variation on this recipe, with a honey caramel. I’m not sharing the caramel recipe because the recipe I used didn’t work well. So I simply *must* make it again, right?

carrie's cookie plate

Chocolate Chip Cookies: I do believe there would be a riot if I didn’t make Carrie’s cookies every year.

pretty pralines

Pralines  This batch is made with a classic recipe

cheryl's pralines

And Vegan Maple Pralines! So amazingly delicious—refined sugar-free and vegan

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Pumpkin Raisin Cake with a Maple Spice Glaze from the Gluten-Free Goddess

spooky meringues 2

Spooky Meringues from Heather of Celiac Family

Food-food:

chickpea curry

Coconut curried chickpeas with rice

And for those of you who write me to say, wait a minute, shouldn’t all of this be healthy? We all define healthy differently. Everything at our parties is homemade and made with love. All of it is free of gluten, artificial whatevers, HFCS and trans fats. Some options have gobs of sugar, some have natural sweeteners or little to no sweeteners. And it’s a party. So that’s all I’ll be saying about that.

Here are pictures of the pumpkins

and previous party roundups:

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PRALINES!!! (vegan, paleo-friendly)

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Cheryl Harris

cheryl's pralines

Overall, I don’t miss the foods I ate way back when. I love real food and don’t feel like I’m missing much. But. BUT! I love pralines. And Mr. Dude loves pralines. And so I do still make them once a year, with the cups of sugar, butter and cream, and there’s not a thing about them that I can eat except the pinch of salt (pecans bother my tummy, so those are out, too). While I love the appearance and smell of pralines, it’s always made me a little sad not to have them.

And then…I did it. For reals. To be honest, I never thought it would work, but it did! Not only are they delicious, but they’re EASY and the recipe is quite forgiving, even, um, if you get distracted and forget about them.  Unless I’m the only one who does that. They also only have 5 ingredients.

For those of you who avoid candy thermometers like the plague: try it. I swear. It’s easier than you think. I use this one.

  • 1/3 of a cup of coconut cream (skimmed off the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk) If the coconut milk isn’t solid, use 1/3 cup +1 TBSP from the top of the can
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • Pinch salt
  • ½ cup almonds or pecans.
  • Pinch of ground vanilla bean—I’m sure vanilla extract would work, too.

Boil the coconut cream, the maple and the salt over medium heat until the thermometer hits 240 degrees, but even 250 still worked. (additional note: the thermometer should NOT be touching the bottom of the pan!) Remove the pot from the heat, let sit ~6 min–it will read 120 degrees. Stir in the vanilla and whisk until creamy. Stir in almonds, and portion out scant tablespoon clusters onto cookie sheets lined with wax or parchment paper. After 30 min, wrap whatever is left in wax paper and store in an airtight container.

If the “batter” gets hard and start clumping, return to the burner on low heat and add in 1 T more coconut cream.

That’s it.

You’re welcome.

The only hard part is not eating too many—too much coconut gives me a tummy ache, and I am SO not used to such a sugar rush.

I’m submitting this to Ricki’s Wellness Weekends roundup, where there are many other vegan, refined sugar free treats and eats.

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