Gluten and Wheat-Free Cilantro Mango Chicken Recipe

This gluten/wheat-free cilantro mango chicken recipe comes from the website http://www.flourishingwellness.com and my cousin Carrie Marshall, a holistic health coach in Springfield Missouri.   Visit her website for information on food intolerances, recipes and more…

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
8 ounces plain yogurt
1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 large ripe mango, peeled, finely diced

1.Preheat oven (375 degrees) or BBQ
2.Combine 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup of cilantro, half of the lime juice, cayenne pepper and garlic. Coat chicken breasts with this mixture, marinating for at least 1 hour.
3.While chicken marinates, make sauce by mixing remaining yogurt, 2/3 of diced mango, 1/2 teaspoon lime juice and 3/4 cup cilantro in blender.
4.Bake chicken in oven for 25-30 minutes or grill on BBQ.
5.Place chicken on serving plates, pour on sauce and sprinkle with remaining mango, serve with extra sauce on the side.
6.Add a sprig of fresh cilantro for garnish.

Serves 4

This recipe combining the tastes of cilantro and mango, with the common staple of chicken, sounds incredibly simple and delicious, and is gluten/wheat free.  It is very similar to a marinade made with lime juice, garlic and cilantro that I frequently use at the cottage.  I put the chicken and marinade in a ziploc bag at home and transport it to the cottage like that so it is well marinated by the next day.   The addition of mango, yogurt and cayenne sounds interesting;  it will certainly be my next experiment in the kitchen or on the barbecue!

Lorieb is the mother of three sons, residing in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.  She is the proud owner of GARDENS4U, and spends most of her time designing, planting, and restoring gardens.  Her other interests include reading and writing.  Please check out her website at www.gardens4u.ca

Notes:

Rabbit Poop is great for your Garden!

I have noticed one thing in common in the gardens I have worked in this spring: lots of rabbit poop! There seems to have been an explosion in the rabbit population in my Kanata suburb of Ottawa. I see quite a few rabbits on my evening walks through our neighborhood  so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the increased amount of rabbit poop in the gardens…

The good news is that rabbit poop is great for your garden. Unlike cow, sheep or chicken manure that is considered “hot” requiring an aging or composting process before use so it doesn’t burn your plants, rabbit poop is “cold” requiring no such process before use.  The other advantage is that it only has a mild smell to it.  The smell actually brings back childhood memories of the pet rabbits my father used to bring home each spring at Easter time.

So, just dig it into the soil between the plants, providing a nitrogen rich fertilizer for your garden. You can also add a pile of poop to your composter as a nitrogen layer, or make compost tea by adding a pile of poop to a bucket of water, stirring well and frequently for a few days and then pouring the “tea” onto your garden.

Any way you use it, rabbit poop is a free and convenient fertilizer for your garden!

Lorieb is the mother of three sons, residing in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.  She is the proud owner of GARDENS4U, and spends most of her time designing, planting, and restoring gardens.  Her other interests include reading and writing.  Please check out her website at www.gardens4u.ca

Ten Signs You’re Gluten Intolerant

This articles comes from MINDBODYGREEN.COM, sent to me by my brother John.  I think it has some good information, worth passing on…

More than 55 diseases have been linked to gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. It’s estimated that 99% of the people who have either gluten intolerance or celiac disease are never diagnosed.

It is also estimated that as much as 15% of the US population is gluten intolerant. Could you be one of them?

If you have any of the following symptoms it could be a sign that you have gluten intolerance:

1. Digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea and even constipation. I see the constipation particularly in children after eating gluten.

2. Keratosis Pilaris, (also known as ‘chicken skin’ on the back of your arms). This tends to be as a result of a fatty acid deficiency and vitamin A deficiency secondary to fat-malabsorption caused by gluten damaging the gut.

3. Fatigue, brain fog or feeling tired after eating a meal that contains gluten.

4. Diagnosis of an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis.

5. Neurologic symptoms such as dizziness or feeling of being off balance.

6. Hormone imbalances such as PMS, PCOS or unexplained infertility.

7. Migraine headaches.

8. Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. These diagnoses simply indicate your conventional doctor cannot pin point the cause of your fatigue or pain.

9. Inflammation, swelling or pain in your joints such as fingers, knees or hips.

10. Mood issues such as anxiety, depression, mood swings and ADD.

How to test for gluten intolerance?

I have found the single best ways to determine if you have an issue with gluten is to do an elimation diet and take it out of your diet for at least 2 to 3 weeks and then reintroduce it. Please note that gluten is a very large protein and it can take months and even years to clear from your system so the longer you can eliminate it from your diet before reintroducing it, the better.

The best advice that I share with my patients is that if they feel significantly better off of gluten or feel worse when they reintroduce it, then gluten is likely a problem for them.  In order to get accurate results from this testing method you must elimination 100% of the gluten from your diet.

How to treat gluten intolerance?

Eliminating gluten 100% from your diet means 100%. Even trace amounts of gluten from cross contamination or medications or supplements can be enough to cause an immune reaction in your body.   The 80/20 rule or “we don’t eat it in our house, just when we eat out” is a complete misconception. An article published in 2001 states that for those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity eating gluten just once a month increased the relative risk of death by 600%.

Music is the Universal Language

There is no doubt that music is the universal language.  I have just returned from Earl of March High School where the junior and senior bands performed for an enthusiastic audience consisting of kindergarten through grade six students from Roland Michener Elementary School.

It was heart warming to see the response from the audience, ranging from the mere toe tapping of the older students that were mostly slumped in their seats, to the wiggling, bouncing, dancing, arm waving, younger kids that were perched on the edges of their seats.  The diversity of students present from both schools proved that  music is indeed the universal language, capturing the interest of all ages as well as all ethnic backgrounds.

It is unfortunate in this era of budget cuts that music is one of the first programs schools lose, especially when it has been proven that students who are encouraged to develop their music skills in school have better grades in mathematics and other subjects.

Kudos to Andrea Lypchuk, Krista Norton and Gord Birkenshaw, the dedicated music teachers from EOM, for sharing  their obvious love of music with their students,  and to Cassia Lane, the principal of Rolland Michener school, for enticing her students into a school music program.  Each of these teachers must be commended for recognizing the important role that music, the universal language, plays in the lives of our children.

Lorieb is the mother of three sons, residing in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.  She is the proud owner of GARDENS4U, and spends most of her time designing, planting, and restoring gardens.  Her other interests include reading and writing.  Please check out her website at www.gardens4u.ca

an Amazing Race in Kanata

Are you looking for something different for an End of Season or Team Bonding party for your teen’s hockey/soccer/football/ringette team or for a Birthday party?

I have created an Amazing Race for my son’s hockey team for the past 4 years, so have plenty of experience and ideas on how to make your event a great time.  Over the past few years, I have had many people ask me about this idea, so have decided to offer my services…

I can create a customized Amazing Race throughout Kanata for your group/team to provide hours of fun.  You  provide the contestants, the drivers and a few other parent volunteers to supervise the challenges; I can provide the rest!

For more details and questions, contact me at gardens4u@mail.com

 

Spring Garden Clean-Up in Ottawa (zone 4 or 5)

As soon as this last storm is over, you can get started cleaning up your gardens in the Ottawa area.  I refer to Ottawa as zone 4 or 5 because it depends on which part of Ottawa you live in, as well as which direction your gardens face.   I live up on the hill in the suburb of Kanata, where my front garden faces south and is sheltered by my garage and house, allowing for plants hardy to zone 5.   My back and side gardens face north and east, where I have to stick with plants hardy to zone 4.

I spent a few hours earlier this week cleaning up my front garden, as it  has been free of snow for a while now.  The following is a list of the things you can do to clean up the perennials in your garden when the snow disappears,  even though the temperature is still on the cool side:

-cut back perennial ornamental grasses to the ground (this should be done BEFORE new growth starts).

-give tufted grasses (blue fescue, sedges, blue oat grass etc) a haircut, shearing back to approximately 3 inches from the ground, removing any loose and dry foliage.

-remove  all stems and leaves from  perennials such as coneflowers, hostas, euphorbia, daylilies, sedum, and black eyed susans, cutting them back to their base. (they should be dry and brittle, coming off in your hand).

-remove only the old large leaves and stems from semi-evergreen perennials such as heuchera and hellebores,  leaving small leaves at the plant center intact.

-cut back woody perennials such as artemsia, salvia, russian sage and lavender to 6 inches from base.

-prune/trim most roses (except for shrub type that bloom only once; wait until after they have bloomed), as well as sandcherries,  spirea, dogwoods, smokebushes, burning bushes,  euonymus, and some hydrangeas (PG type only, the rest should wait until summer)   Remove all crossing, diseased or damaged branches.   To shape or control size, cut back one quarter of old stems to where they meet the central branch or right  back to the ground if need be.  Then cut all remaining stems back to one half their length.  If new growth shoots up too quickly and gets out of shape in summer, cut off the tips.

-empty any pots/containers you had annuals in, dumping the soil into a large garbage can or bucket.   Add some peat moss and compost to the bucket, and stir it up.  This soil can now be used for your containers this summer.  While your pots are empty, clean them out with soapy water and air dry until you are ready to fill them again.  Unfortunately, you will have to wait until mid/late May for that.

Even though it is miserable out today in the Ottawa area, with freezing rain and snow pelting my window, next week promises to bring better gardening weather….

 

Lorieb is the mother of three sons, residing in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.  She is the proud owner of GARDENS4U, and spends most of her time designing, planting, and restoring gardens.  Her other interests include reading and writing.  Please check out her website at www.gardens4u.ca

Delicious Wheat/Gluten-Free Quinoa Salad with Lime, Cilantro and Curry.

I made this delicious gluten-free quinoa salad for Easter dinner to have with my turkey when everyone else was having stuffing.  I found the recipe online at allrecipes.com   It is easy to make ahead of time and makes a good lunch the next day too!  If you don’t like some of the ingredients, take them out or switch them up, but be sure to leave the quinoa, lime, curry powder and cilantro for the unique flavor…

Ingredients for six servings:

1.5 cups water

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

1/4 cup chopped yellow pepper

1.5 tsp curry powder

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 lime, juiced (or equivalent amount of bottled juice)

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/2 cup minced carrots

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Cook the quinoa: bring the water to a boil in a saucepan, pour in quinoa.  If you don’t have fresh cilantro, you could add the paste type (found in most produce sections) to the water with the quinoa at his point.  Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed.   Refrigerate the quinoa in a bowl to chill it.  Stir the remaining ingredients into chilled quinoa and serve…

Lorieb is the mother of three sons, residing in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.  She is the proud owner of GARDENS4U, and spends most of her time designing, planting, and restoring gardens.  Her other interests include reading and writing.  Please check out her website at www.gardens4u.ca