Thanksgiving Recap

Ok, here it comes folks, this is gonna be a long one so settle in!

My first gluten free Thanksgiving was great. My mom did a wonderful job of adapting her traditional feast so that it was safe for me to eat, and eat I did. All day...
There were a few things that my mom wasn't going to adapt for me so I spent Wednesday afternoon and evening in my kitchen preparing them. The most important part of Thanksgiving for me is the stuffing so that was my main focus. I decided to use a pretty basic herb stuffing recipe with Van's waffles for the bread. It tasted great but the waffles didn't give me exactly the consistency that I was hoping for. I think the next time I make it I'll use bread instead. I'll post recipes in individual posts later, for now here are some photos and general commentary.

Stuffing
Stuffing! Once it found it's way to my plate and was lathered in gravy I was very happy with the result. I didn't get a shot of my plate before I devoured it. I thought I had room for more stuffing since I had made so much of it but I didn't. This was the aftermath. I brought some of the corn muffins I made a couple of weeks ago as my bread. They were great thawed and heated up in the microwave.
My Dinner

The guests arrived at 12:00 and we don't eat until almost 2 so there are always some foods to snack on. I made coffee cake muffins and brought some Glutino crackers for cheese and crackers. It worked out perfectly. I want to do some tweaking on the muffin recipe and I actually was a little short on the flour for these but they still tasted great.

Coffee Cake Muffins

And of course, you have to have desert! My favorite is apple pie but I didn't have time to make one so I bought this one at Whole Foods. It was delicious, but next year I'll make my own. Or maybe for Christmas I'll make one.

Apple Pie

I did make these pumpkin chocolate chip bars from a recipe that's floating around my bloglines feeder somewhere. I will give you credit once I figure out where I got this recipe from!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

These were delicious too, even though I don't love pumpkin. But they were a little too rich. I think I'd alter this recipe to make them less chocolatey. (did I really just say that?!?!)

I was actually kinda sick all day but it wasn't because of the food. I've been feeling miserable for a long time, weak and sick and tired and nauseated all the time and I couldn't figure out why. I thought it was the Crohn's or getting glutened but the problem wasn't with my stomach, it was everything else. I missed a couple of doses of my medication this week and noticed that I felt a lot better. So I just stopped taking it altogether and the difference is remarkable. I spent an hour and a half at the gym today. I haven't done that in months. I could've stayed longer and worked out harder too but thought better of it. I ran into my friend Nancy there and she said that when she ran into me last week and talked to me about taking the next session of kickboxing off she couldn't get over how different I seemed. She said I just wasn't myself and I seemed really out of sorts but she wasn't sure if she should say anything but that today I really looked and sounded so much better. I also have determined that I am NOT going to take any time off from kickboxing. I love that class and I'm good at it, and she said the same thing, she said "you can't quit! that would be crazy!" and she's so right. But I just haven't had the strength lately, it's been so bad that there have been days when I've barely made it through 15 minutes at the grocery store without feeling like I was going to pass out. I can't believe how much better I feel now that I've stopped taking that med. I am still on the other one but don't seem to be having any adverse reactions to it. I have my next appointment with The Doc on Friday. My cousin was talking with me on Thanksgiving because everyone could tell that I wasn't feeling well, and she suggested that I consider getting a second opinion as far as treatment options go. Clearly what's going on right now is not working, it's just making me worse. I'm not sure at this point what I'm going to do. I'm going to talk to my doctor on Friday, first things first. I'm just so glad that I'm feeling better. I was really starting to get very depressed and it was showing. I am so glad I ran into Nancy today and that she told me how concerned she's been about me lately. It was good to hear an outside perspective, I knew I wasn't myself but didn't realize just how much I'd changed since going through this over the past 6 months.

Last night I went out with the kickboxers for dinner and dancing and it was so much fun. I didn't realize how much I missed them all and now that I'm feeling better I'm really looking forward to getting back to class. Not only that, I'm really really looking forward to taking off this extra weight I've put on this year. I know it's not a huge gain but when you worked so hard to lose the weight and then putting it back on was beyond your control it's tough to handle. I finally feel like I have the control back and now I can get to work on getting back in shape!

Ok, well thanks for reading and I'll be updating later with those recipes!! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I've already seen some of your updates and they look great!

Comments

Liz said…
Yum! That food looks so good! I have some pureed pumpkin just waiting for a good recipe; I'll keep an eye out for that pumpkin bar recipe.

I'm glad you're figuring things out with the meds; and getting a second opinion is a great idea. Not that I know a whole lot about Chron's, but have you looked into controlling it completely with your diet and forgoing meds altogether?
Lisa said…
Jenny,

So sorry you've been feeling so crappy. I hope that your doc can figure out what medications work best for you! I have been feeling crappy too from nerve pain from my surgery. I wanted to tell you that you inspired me to get out and take my walk today, despite the pain. It really did help and I feel a little better now. At least it helped change my attitude! Thanks!!! :)

Lisa
Jennifer said…
THat sounds like such a great thanksgiving!

Those muffins... tweak soon- they look delish!

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