Weighted Blanket - The Comfort of a Hug

Many of us, especially as we get older have trouble falling and staying asleep.  I'm no exception.  I tend to be a "restless" sleeper often waking up my husband tossing and turning and I usually steal the covers, even in warmer temperatures.

So I thought I would try out one of the ever-popular "weighted" blankets that are said to help with sleeping issues.  They have a number of benefits, but rather than type them out here I'll provide a link.

https://www.sensacalm.com/blogs/news/benefits-of-weighted-blanket-therapy

So I bought one.  I first purchased one from Mosaic who has one of the more popular blankets and a wide selection of fabrics.  They recommend getting one that's 10% of your body weight so I bought the 15-pound one.

It was really pretty, and the construction was tight, but I ended up giving it to a shelter because
(1)  15 pounds was just too much for me, I weigh what I do because I'm really tall, not because I'm large so I found it too heavy and too hot
(2).  The "beads" inside made WAY too much noise if I moved around.
(3)  The squares the housed the pockets were pretty big and not baffled so if I wanted to sleep on my side the pellets would all go to one end and not provide even weight distribution.

However, I WILL say, if you aren't a light sleeper that small sounds will wake you up and you start with a lighter weight you'll probably love this blanket - it was very pretty and very well made.

So I purchased another brand.

This was the Calming Comfort Blanket by the Sharper Image.  It was a LOT cheaper than the Mosaic blanket.  It was also a lot smaller. It worked for me but if you are over six feet tall, it will not cover your feet. On purchasing through Amazon I was also able to order a washable duvet cover for it since this brand requires hand washing.

I placed it on the bed in the small second bedroom in the back of the house (we turned the master bedroom into an office/den, with all the windows it was always warmer or cooler than the back bedroom, and being in the front of the house we had the traffic noise.)

So even though it was smaller than the Mosaic blanket it was enough to keep me snug overnight, even if my husband had to just deal with his old quilt (and yes those are Tardis pajama bottoms).

On the plus side, the material of the covering was SUPER soft and snuggly, almost velour-like, perfect for using it to lounge in front of the TV and the "beads" inside were considerably quieter than my first blanket. Night one, I fell asleep much faster and when I woke up my husband said I didn't toss and turn near as much. Night 2, I slept so sound I actually woke up an hour earlier than normal, totally rested. This one is a keeper.

The blankets run in the $100 - $200+ range, and may have to be hand washed, but if you suffer from sleep issues I'd certainly recommend one (though they say not to use one if you have sleep apnea or serious snoring as the compression on the chest is not good).

So go give yourself a hug!

Einkorn Sourdough Pancakes (Vegan AND non vegan instructions)

Having great fun with my Young Living Einkhorn flour I purchased, I tried to come up with a fluffy pancake that was not only vegan (as I eat meat free at least two days a week) but was extremely low in gluten. Eikhorn flour, which is not hybridized, is VERY low in gluten compared to genetically modified modern wheat flour and most people that are gluten sensitive (not Celiac) can eat it without issues.

I love the taste and it IS more digestible than wheat flour.  The sourdough starter doesn't leaven, as these have no rise time, but add healthy probiotics and a nice taste.

Note:  If you don't have sourdough starter use an additional 1/2 cup flour in place of it and a total of 3/4 to 1 cup milk.  You can also use butter, ONE egg, and dairy milk if you aren't doing a vegan version of this recipe.

Vegan Sourdough Eikhorn Pancakes  (they're so fluffy!)

3/4 cup sourdough starter (made with whole wheat Eikhorn flour and wild yeast sourdough starter from Azure Standard or the King Arthur Flour sourdough starter, both are excellent).
1/2 cup Eikhorn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup nut milk (if using sourdough starter) OR 3/4 to 1 cup nutmilk if using extra flour in its place
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread (melted) or vegetable
egg substitute:
1 T. flax seeds
3 Tablespoons warm water

Egg Substitute Directions:  Put 1 Tablespoon of flax seeds in a blender or food processor and pulse until ground. Place in small bowl and add the warm water, stir and set aside for 5 minutes so it can "gel".

Mix sourdough starter, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda in a bowl.  Add or egg substitute and 2 Tablespoons melted vegan buttery spread or vegetable oil.  Add enough milk so that the batter is quite thick but pourable (this depends on the amount of liquid in your sourdough starter).  For a thick starter it may be as much as 1/2 cup, for a watery starter, it may only be 1/4.  Add the smaller amount in, stir, then add more as necessary. If using flour instead of sourdough starter you'll add 3/4 to 1 cup milk

Cook on preheated griddle until starting to bubble up in the center, with dry edges, flip and finish. Serve with buttery spread and syrup or jam.

Einkorn Bread Machine Bread

I love bread, but bread doesn't love me as gluten is a trigger for my IBS.  So I was really to find that ancient grain Einkorn flour, which has retained it's simple, primitive DNA code of 14 chromosomes compared to Frankenwheat's 47 is easy for me to digest and it's really nutritious. It's the only wheat not genetically modified.  The makers of my favorite brand support traditional farming methods and use only non-GMO ingredients.

I've done some muffins using my Young Living Einkorn flour.  They also do an Einkorn pasta and berry granola that is awesome.  Young Living products aren't sold in stores, but you can go to their website and purchase for retail or become a member and get a 24% discount plus incentive products for free which is what I did as I love their essential oils and nutrition products.

• Become a Young Living Member or Purchase Retail

Today I was hankering after some bread.

However today I was also quite lazy, so I played around with a recipe that would work in a bread machine.  This turned out perfect and had a  dense texture suited for a sturdy sandwich or toast and a delicious nutty taste. It only takes 5 minutes to get it started.

Einkorn Bread Machine Bread

1 cup milk mixed with 1/4 cup water, warmed in the microwave (not hot as it will kill the yeast)
2 Tablespoons butter or vegan spread - melted
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons molasses
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups Young Living Einkorn flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast.

Place liquids, fats, sugar, molasses, and salt in the bottom of your bread machine loaf pan (make sure the paddle is installed).

Place the flour on top of the liquids, making sure liquids are covered.  Make a "well" in the flour and place yeast in there.

You want to use a short cycle.  Einkorn should n t be allowed to rise as much as most bread because with its weak gluten content it will not be able to handle the air bubbles doing baking and it will collapse.

For my SKG bread machine, I used a quick bread cycle for a 2-pound loaf to make a slightly denser loaf for sandwiches.  I've also made this on the whole wheat cycle (5 hours) which makes for a lighter texture for toast.

Turn off preheat.
Knead 10 minutes
Rise 1:30
Knead:  5 minutes
Rise:  2:30
Bake 45 minutes.  (if you don't have second knead cycle it should still turn out.)

 For other brands of machines simply pick the shortest cycle available for a yeast bread.

Vegan homemade "Kraft Dinner" style mac and cheese

One food I seriously missed when I started to give up the main triggers for my IBS, namely gluten, sugar, animal fat, and dairy was boxed Mac and Cheese.  My favorite was the Canadian KD (which is boxed as Kraft Dinner in the US) which to me always tasted better than the US Brand.

So I was surprised to find a lovely vegan alternative that is super low fat and non dairy from a young lady named Sam Turnbull author of my all-time favorite vegan cookbook "Fuss Free Vegan" (and trust me the spiral bound one is worth the cost, it's really professionally put together and a size that makes it easy to open and use on a counter).

Her blog "It Doesn't Taste like Chicken" had a recipe for a vegan mac and cheese powder that makes really good cheesy tasting mac and cheese, just no fat or dairy.  You can make a little or a lot and store for when you get a mac and cheese craving.  I used gluten free flour and gluten free pasta but outside of that made no changes.  My favorite gluten-free pasta is Tinkyada brand brown rice pasta (Vitacost or Amazon or direct at www.tinkyada.com)  It's never mushy or gritty like other brands and cooks up perfectly.

The recipe is below for you to cut and paste into your browser to go check it out!

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/homemade-vegan-mac-cheese-powder/

Sam's blog is just delightful and I'm so glad I found it.

Vegan / Fat-Free Einkorn Muffins

I was trying out some new recipes using my Young Living Einkorn flour (I love their essential oil and nutritional products so much I became a distributor). Einkorn is one of the few non-genetically modified wheat products out there, with only 14 chromosomes compared to the 42 found in most Frankenwheat, making it MUCH easier to digest especially for people like me who are gluten sensitive (I do NOT have celiac, but the blood work did show a marked sensitivity to gluten).

It also has a lower molecular weight compared to processed flour which makes it easier to digest as well and it's more nutritious than most store flours.

This recipe is on the bag of flour, I only modified it slightly by omitting the egg to make it vegan and adding extra applesauce in its place. I also used slightly less sugar. They turned out very tasty and incredibly moist.  My husband, not a fan of most "whole grain" items, promptly ate 2 of them and has been spotted stalking the kitchen looking at where I put them away.

Einkorn/Oatmeal Muffins

In a bowl combine until mixed thoroughly:
1 cup well-ripened bananas, mashed, this was 2 small to medium bananas for me
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup Einkorn flour
1 cup oatmeal (I use Bob's Red Mill)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of Cardamom (optional)

Bake in preheated 350 F. oven for 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack and remove from pan before completely cool.

Sorry Charlie - Chickpea of the Sea

I love tuna salad sandwiches or salad and could eat that for lunch 2-3 days a week. I grew up a stone's throw from the canned tuna capital of the world, Astoria Oregon, and as school kids,  we'd visit the Bumblebee canning operations on field trips, before they suspended production there in 1980.

Tuna sandwiches and tuna casserole were staples in our house growing up, along with the Salmon and Steelhead Dad caught fresh.   But today,  that much tuna is NOT a good idea, given the amount of mercury in today's polluted oceans, not to mention the other species of sometimes endangered fish that end up being killed for no good reason as the tuna is harvested.

But how to satisfy a craving for quality albacore tuna without animal protein or cruelty?

Chickpea of the Sea 

Cholesterol free and vegan - adapted from a great little vegan cookbook called The Kripalu Cookbook, I found a nice sized bottle on amazon for only about $8 and it's great in other things such as a sauce for fish or grilled tofu  - mix 1/4 cup each of the vinegar and honey or agave, add 2 T. olive oil and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon - incredibly good as a glaze on fish or tofu or as a stir fry sauce.

My husband had already had a PB sandwich when I got home from the store with the week's groceries and the ingredients, but he took a bite of mine just to try it as he was a bit skeptical looking at what I was tossing into the food processor.

He then proceeded to make ANOTHER sandwich out of the mixture and ate it as well. It only took five minutes to make so we'll be making this weekly for packed lunches.

In food processor pulse 2-3 times

1 - 15 and a half ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed (or two cups cooked ones - easy to do, just soak overnight, drain and add fresh water to simmer about 2 hours, store and use for dishes and salads through the week).
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons umeboshi vinegar.

In another bowl mix:
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon Vegenaise (or mayo if you do eggs)
2 Tablespoons chopped green onion or scallions
1 large stalk of celery - chopped into small pieces
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons celery seed (SEED, not salt)
a few grinds of cracked black pepper
a tiny pinch of red pepper
a dash of James Krazy Mixed up Salt (a low sodium herb/salt blend) - optional

Add to chickpeas and pulse 4-6 times, until the consistency of tuna salad. You're looking for some texture to it to give it the mouthfeel of tuna salad., so don't process it til it's smooth.

Serve on whole grain bread with lettuce, on a bed of mixed greens or on whole grain crackers. Makes four sandwiches. My husband was right - it had the genuine taste and texture of tuna salad, but was even fresher tasting.  With whole grain bread, you can have a nice sized sandwich for around 300 calories with 16 grams of filling protein. Yummy!