xoxo, glutie: three bean chili.

this chili is a conglomerate of various chili recipes, and is gluten/wheat, soy, and dairy free. i like to use mexican-type beans in my chili, but feel free to substitute your favorites! also, remember to read labels and, if available, use fresh veggies from your local farmer's market! enjoy!

chop large onion, green pepper, and garlic. add to pot with a couple "rounds around the pot" of evoo. cook until the veggies start getting tender and onions translucent... careful not to burn the garlic. add fresh meat of your choice. i added ground turkey, about a pound or so. while cooking, dump your seasonings. get creative! my personal favorites (about a tbls a piece) are: cumin, brown sugar, paprika, oregano, basil, and a pinch or so of salt and pepper. if you like yours a bit spicy (my reflux can't handle it) add a pinch or more of crushed red pepper. brown your meat and let your spices sink in. other good add ins are a cup of red wine and some lemon/lime juice to taste. after your meat is browned, time to add your beans (don't forget to rinse them!). i use a can of red beans (kidney), garbanzo beans (chick peas), and black beans. stir in well. add tomatoes. i use diced, stewed (pat's fave), and rotel (or a bottle of salsa, which ever is available in my cabinet at the time). stir well. let simmer for at least 30 minutes to let all your flavors sink in. i usually throw in a bay leaf and/or a couple stalks of celery (remove later) to add in more flavor as the chili simmers. let simmer well before you adjust your consistency. closer to time of serving, if you find your chili is too thick, add a cup or so of water or chicken/beef broth (be careful that it's glutie-friendly), and return to a simmer. if your chili is not thick enough, add another can of tomatoes or beans as you like. it's your chili! serve up well with gluten-free sour cream, fresh cut cilantro, and shredded mexican cheese (i can't eat this, but pat LOVES his cheeses).

note: to add more mexican flair, feel free to add corn when you add your beans. i cannot eat corn, therefore i left it out of this recipe.

summer babies.

my beautiful nieces, elisa ann (left) and charlotte marie (right), almost 4 and almost 2 (in august). 

Anita Jo Burroughs Mabe.

this is anita. i had the honor of knowing anita for a short time compared to most, but to the people of walnut cove, germanton, and beyond, anita has been a stronghold in their lives for years. many have said that she is strength. she is a fighter. she is the face of too many women that are survivors of breast cancer. in her legacy, remember healthcare, and speak loudly for preventative medicine to be covered by insurance so that women (and men) can catch cancers much earlier, allowing survival rates to rise. also, remember people. anita lived as if all people mattered, because they do, and it showed. she volunteered. she was involved. she cared. even being sick, she worked granny nancy's funeral. why anita? i wouldn't miss it, she told us. and she was so strong. stronger than all of us during this hard time. she left granny nancy's funeral to have fluid removed from her lungs. no one knew that. that, my friends, is a true, die hard, fighter, and person. if we were all more dedicated to life and friends, and what that means to humanity, the world would be a much greater place. the world is greater because of anita. so fight. advocate for better healthcare. believe in people. help people. find strength within yourself despite what may be going on in your life. love life. oh, and never kill bumblebees. thank you, anita, for your life.     

Anita Jo Burroughs Mabe Obituary by Winston-Salem Journal

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day.

get your partner and yourself tested, and encourage your friends to do the same! it's easy and anonymous. protect yourself!!

POZ - POZ Magazine - POZ.com - Newsfeed : June 27 is National HIV Testing Day

PS. this link will allow you to find a testing clinic near you.

i'm OK @ VH1 storytellers.

xoxo, glutie.

small story behind this series of posts (will be updated often):

my great friend, who will very soon be an amazing doc and officer, and i used to meet on sunday mornings at webb's in the cumberland gap for western omelets (mine without cheese), potatoes, coffee (hill's with  A LOT of cream and sugar-- pretty much turns taupe), amazing girl time, and talk of saving the world's problems. this friend has an obsession with cupcakes (which actually led to a semester-long cupcake scavenger hut at lmu), and adoringly began calling me "glutie" as i could not partake in her cupcakes, webb's pancakes, nor her piece of kraft cheese atop her webb's grits.

so what can i eat?? this is a question i get a lot, and honestly, sometimes, i do not even know what i can and cannot eat. as for the major no-nos in my food allergy list: wheat/gluten, cheese, soy. minor no-nos that come and go (seem to be...): corn, nuts, dairy, soy. the reason i label these minor is because one day i can eat popcorn, but the next i'll have an allergic reaction to corn tortilla chips. really, really, super frustrating. i have been trying to figure all of this stuff out for about 2 years now. i began by completing the elimination diet, which was highly recommended to me by a doc at dcom due to my unusual stomach issues, migraines, anxiety, etc. that were unexplained by other medical things. diet, you see, affects your body much, much more than you think. elimination removes toxic foods, drinks and ingredients, detoxes you, then allows you to rate your body's reaction as you slowly add these back in. i realized we put horrible toxins in our bodies that could be causing many of our day to day ailments, and we don't even know! if you choose to try the comprehensive elimination diet, the article above is great because it even includes a grocery list! also, if you try, do it the full two months of taking and adding, stick to it though it is hard the first couple weeks of giving up certain foods. i promise, you will eventually find how to keep yourself full on better-for-you foods.

as for xoxo, glutie, this is how i sign my email/texts to my cupcake friend, and i am now labeling my first series post of recipes (and good tips) i find/make and can eat that do not make me sick! i'm hoping this helps others out there that deal with the "i can have this but not that" on even health food labels (psh), explaining yourself at restaurants and being very, very picky (or not eating out at all), and feeling really, really left out. here goes glutie...

first, i will explain to you, if you have food allergies or think you have food allergies, read, read labels! write down what you eat, if you start seeing a trend, seclude that ingredient or food and douse yourself with it to see if it's really the villain (sucks, i know, but at least you'll be sure). also, with celiac disease (which docs cannot say i have 100 percent, but i have many symptoms), you must watch artificial ingredients-- colors, flavors, etc. this means, safest of safe foods are good 'ole fresh fruits and veggies (except, for me, i have a weird thing with corn-- see above). bananas, apples (except if you're laura craig), oranges, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, spinach... you get the gist. nothing artificial about it, especially if you shop your local farmer's market where your foods are guaranteed organic, fresh, and you're supporting local business (go local!). as for my worst nightmares: anything that is a microwavable meal in a box/bag, fast food (never, ever know what that stuff touches, what it is cooked with, or what it is really made of), and casseroles. i know, seriously, sounds weird, but casseroles are filled (literally) with tons of ingredients that are hidden (usually under some type of cheese or bread-- my no-nos) and almost always make me sick. you never know if someone has used breadcrumbs, cream cheese, for example, to keep the casserole (dips too) "together" or add taste. speaking of taste, more great ingredients that are safe (for me) are herbs and spices (preferably fresh, but bottled is not bad-- read labels anyway). as long as the spices are not pre-blended, like mrs. dash or seasonings mixes (taco seasoning, gravy mix, sloppy joe seasoning, etc.). read the labels and be careful. 

first recipe: my go-to sauce (compliments to my sis-in-law, kara).

sauces are horrid to those that cannot eat wheat/gluten because sauces are almost always thickened with flour and corn syrup (which i additionally cannot have). therefore, most sauces (i have even made bbq sauce!) i usually make myself. this sauce is one i adapted (which is how i usually come up with my recipes-- adaptations of "normal" recipes using gluten-free ingredients) from my sister-in-law's italian white sauce recipe. it goes great on everything from pasta to fish to chicken. i'll show you how. don't forget to stir, stir, stir!

using a small to medium saucepan, melt 2tbls. margarine/butter (adapt to your taste and diet needs) over med. to med. high heat (i usually don't turn it up to med. high until later). this is where you can add sea salt (more natural), pepper, minced garlic (especially if you're doing italian), or other herbs/spices depending on your meal theme. add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour (i use hodson's mill wheat/gluten free all-purpose flour). keep stirring, as things will thicken fast. kara adds a pinch of baking powder to rid of the floury taste-- you can do so as you please. as things melt, add 2 cups milk (to adapt, i use lactose free milk or coconut milk). keep stirring. i now turn up the heat a bit and use a whisk to break up the flour/butter mixture and incorporate into the sauce. once the milk gets hot enough to bubble a bit (boiling will burn your sauce to the bottom of the pan), your sauce should start to thicken. keep stirring until desired consistency is achieved. simple, right? and a simple glutie adaptation.

uses: add dill to the cream sauce to put on fish, especially salmon (yum); pour over your favorite pasta (or wheat/gluten free rice pasta) and add broccoli, spinach, or peas if you like; add mushrooms, chicken broth/chicken, or celery for your very own wheat/gluten free cream of ___ soup-- we gluties cannot use condensed campbell's, which we all know is essential in cooking.

essentially, this sauce can be great plain or with additions to go with your favorite meal! kara and the fam enjoy this sauce with a little salt and pepper over true italian tortellini sent to her by her parents. chao!

get in the loop.

my family always says i help keep them "in the loop" of happenings around the world. the white house blog is a good way of keeping up with where our government is and what they're doing. there are specific committee blogs on the side of the page as well. happy blog reading!

The White House Blog | The White House

...i'm a tennessean.

well we've officially made it to crossville, tn, and on to the next chapter of this journey we call life. the move started pretty hectically, as i had "reserved" the biggest u-haul possible to be delivered for us to pack last saturday. "reserved" is a mythical statement here because apparently, unknown to us, u-haul will actually rent out your truck to someone who "reserves" a truck online and comes to pick it up right away. why even make reservations, u-haul?? if i'd known we could just steal someone else's u-haul, i would have just drove around until i spotted the one i wanted and drove off with it. bump whomever "reserved" the truck a week ahead of time, right?! geez. at least now i know how u-haul "does business." after "our" truck getting rented out twice, and having to drive to pineville and back to middlesboro, ky, we ended up with a one-size smaller truck, many apologies from u-haul, a free day with the truck, as many miles as we needed (tn to nc and back to tn), and we probably took someone else's truck. thank you, u-haul. strategically, the u-haul was unpacked in walnut cove, then repacked in statesville, nc. all together, our u-haul carried two full bedroom suits, a large coffee table/ottoman, a dining room table, some chairs, lots of boxes and books, kitchen stuff, clothing, a converter couch, and me and pat. that, my friends, is a WHOLE LOT in a 17 foot truck!

it was great being in my pop and mamaw's house one last time before it is likely to be sold or rented. emptying out the drawers of our "new" furniture brought back many emotions and great memories. i took with me a small plastic bag of small trinkets of my mamaw's that probably would be meaningless otherwise, but because they were her's, i decided to keep them around. i also chose a few great classic books off my pop's shelves. my parents kept complaining of the "old smell" of the furniture, bedding, and such in the house, and how we would have to febreze them over and over. i love that smell. that smell brings back some of the best memories of my life. the smelly fishing poles in the carport reminded me of days on the banks of lake norman learning to fish with my pop. the smelly office/back bedroom reminded me of days i spent playing office with the old typewriter. the smelly living room reminded me of nights at the "kids' table" eating dinner with my family, and wishing with every ounce within me to have that one last time. the smelly backyard, in my mind, was still filled with a huge garden of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, sunflowers, grapes, blueberries, etc. oh, and beans that made my skin rash when i picked them. the swing was there, too, in my mind, on the large limb of the huge tree right outside the back door. my pop would toss a rope over the lowest branch, attach a piece of wood to the rope, and swing us as high as we wanted to go. summer was there, and i was playing in the kiddy swimming pool beside the birdbath where i got stung by a bumblebee. they always were in the flowers around the birdbath. it was all there. in my mind. the most precious, priceless memories of my family and my mamaw and pop-- the greatest people to have ever touched my life. missing them is the hardest thing i've ever had to do. the gift, however, is that i still remember. i remember it all. i can't even remember what i wore yesterday, but god has granted me these vivid memories going back years and years because he knows they bring me peace. i will treasure my smelly trinkets forever.

crossville is different, but nice. we have a lowe's. that's a step up. also, our kroger(s) (if you're from middlesboro, you add an "s" to the end of store names) has a "nature's market" with all my special foods (even found waffles!), and i've already scoped out a great local farmer's market for produce. definitely more civilization. oh, and there are bars here, and restaurants where you can order drinks. a whole new tennessee world. i'm going to miss my little piece of ky, though. that long tunnel that took us from harrogate to middlesboro opened a lot of first doors for me. first real job. first dry town. first look at "coal town" life. first education in "bump-its." first time seeing almost an entire city on "checks." first time loving bluegrass. i know some of these sound horrible, but as a (now) rural social worker, this was an amazing learning experience. i think all social workers should have one great rural experience. it changes how you see the world, and how you "do" social work. question: how do you provide resources to people in need when there are none? how do you find someone food with no food bank in the area? you see, even as social workers we get spoiled by having a laundry list of go-to resources for those in need, but, as i have learned, those are not always available-- we must be creative. above all, we must continue to believe in the power of people. the power one possesses within one's self. there are many times i had to encourage over and over because that was all i could offer. i could not give money or things or pay someone's bill, and there was no where else i could turn, but i could tell them they would get through it. i knew they would. they had to. we all have to survive, and we find every way to do so. in closing, thank you kentucky, for your beauty, inside and out. thank you for all you have taught me. thank you for allowing me to be a wildflower. catch ya on the orange side. go vols.