While we want to continue owning this domain name, we now utilize this site for our business purposes!
http://www.ohforks.com
We hope to see you there!
Gluten Free for Me October Giveaway!
Gluten Free for Me October Giveaway!
This October, we’ll be at the Great Lakes Book Bash on October 10, 2015 in Kalamazoo Michigan! Leading up to our event, we’re having a large Facebook Like Giveaway! Look for us at Author Skye Falcon’s table, along with our samples, swag, and goodies you can snag if you visit!
Don’t miss out on our giveaway! To Enter, simply head to our Facebook page!
Here’s the link! https://www.facebook.com/glutenfreeforme.in
Once you’re there and have LIKED the page, look for the prize picture status! Give it a LIKE, and just like that, you’re entered!
There are other ways to earn MORE entries, too! The details are all listed on the prize picture itself! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!
In other news… We have FOUR e-cookbook collections LIVE on Amazon! We’re busily working on the new OHFORKS.COM website, plus another #OHFORKS e-cookbook!
Carrots, Carrots! Orange and Tasty!
Carrots, Carrots! Orange and Tasty!
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Do you like carrots? Do you use them regularly in your recipes, or have them for a midday snack? Maybe you like to chop them finely into salads, or julienne them and use them in your noodle base! Some like to steam them in broth until they are soft, or use them in their bone broth bases. Whatever you use them for, they are full of healthy beta carotene!
Here are some fun facts about carrots that you may find helpful!
*One Cup of raw carrots contains about 52 calories.
*Carrots are orange from beta carotene, and they contain roughly 16,000 IU of it.
*The longest carrot was over 18 feet, and the heaviest over 18.9 pounds!
*Carotenemia occurs when a person ingests too much beta carotene. This can cause a yellow-orange tint to the skin, especially in the palms of the hands, and soles of the feet.
*Carrots are 87% water.
*In 2004, carrots were the 7th most valuable crop in the United States.
*China is the world’s top producer of carrots, followed closely by Russia in second, and the United States in third.
*In 1607, the settlers of Jamestown introduced carrots to the world.
*Hippocrates created a broth recipe for good health consisting of carrots, celery, root parsley, and leeks.
*The Ancient Greeks called the carrot a philtron, which translates to “love charm.” They believed the carrot made both men and women more amorous.
GF4M: The Power is Out! What do we eat?!
GF4M: The Power is Out! What do we eat?!
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If you’re from anywhere in Fort Wayne, you probably had some effects from the most recent wind storm that seemingly came out of nowhere, and knocked power out to over 30,000 people in the county. A few days later, and finally our power is back on! Bet your non-gluten free buns I jumped on the computer fast as I could! Felt a little lost without her these past few days…but thankful I had my cell phone for internet service!
It’s pretty difficult to eat correctly during power outages, too. Most people who were out of power were frequenting fast food establishments and restaurants that still had power. Unfortunately for us, eating that way just doesn’t prove to be worth it in the end. Not only that, but the kids loved the idea of “indoor camping,” and once we knew the food and tortoise were safe, we could finally relax into enjoying it, too.
So, for our first night we had turkey sandwiches, chips and dip, and vegetables and dip. I also made gluten free tuna tacos, and we had some fruit bits. The second night I got a little craftier, and opted to cook some pizza and fries on the grill for the kids. To my surprise, the pizza turned out perfectly, and I was told the fries were “excellent” too! Pizza and I try to avoid each other at all costs…unless it’s a cauliflower or spinach based crust. I went for salmon on the grill & a sweet potato & GF butter noodles! Delicious!
Nights like these make me thankful that stove top cooking is easier, and less-stressful! I take lights, garbage disposal systems, and dishwashers for granted. It’s hard enough trying to eat gluten free and clean… even harder when there’s no power!
Here are a few treats that we’ve made to order in the past few weeks!! Party platters with roll-ups, frozen pies, fresh pies, strawberry bars, and homemade ice cream sandwich cookies! All gluten free, of course!!
And a garden update! Everything is growing like crazy, and I managed to save the large tomato plant that fell over in the wind storm!
Foods for Life: Sweet Potatoes!!
Foods for Life: Sweet Potatoes!!
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Sweet Potatoes! A true, natural super food for humans, fitting in to many dietary groups, too! Full of Vitamin A and antioxidants, one large potato can provide enormous amounts of protection against early aging, cancer prevention, and maintaining good eyesight. Very versatile, sweet potatoes can be used in everything from soups and bases, to main dishes, and even desserts! Packed with more nutrients than you can imagine, like vitamins B5 and B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and carotenoids from their orange color! Low in sodium and fat they fit with gluten free and paleo eating lifestyles!
While orange is the favored and most available color of sweet potato, there are also yellow, white, and purple varieties available. Orange and yellow contain the most vitamin A, but purple contains a myriad of antioxidants great for the body!
Help your heart! Sweet potatoes are GREAT for heart health! B6 helps to break down homocysteine, which is a substances that hardens blood cells and arteries inside the body. An orange sweet potato has an average of 440mg of potassium, which is also very heart healthy! As an electrolyte, potassium helps regulate your heart rate.
Along with heart health comes immune benefits, too! With such high vitamins A, C and E, they have high levels of anti-inflammatory properties. This is why sweet potatoes are seen as a staple in many paleo lifestyles and diets. The magnesium contained by the sweet potato can help regulate stress levels in the body, naturally. The dietary fiber can also work to keep the gastrointestinal tract regular!
There have been numerous studies done on the effects of beta-carotene on cancer patients, and specific kinds of cancer. In certain instances, breast cancers patients did benefit from eating more orange vegetables, high in the levels of anti-carcinogenic properties. For these studies, purple and red vegetables showed to be MORE beneficial than the super orange foods.
The Downside of Sweet Potatoes
While these are some of the healthiest vegetables on earth, they are also very high in carbohydrates, and calories. They also have more sugar than regular “white” potatoes. Eating orange vegetables frequently can cause a slight orange tint to the skin, and fingernails. No other major side effects had been reported.
Sweet Potato Facts
Christopher Columbus took sweet potatoes to Europe after his first voyage to the New World in 1492.
Sweet potatoes are roots, whereas regular potatoes are tubers (underground stems).
Sweet potatoes are native to Central and South America and have been grown for at least 10,000 years.
By the 16th century, Spanish and Portuguese explorers had taken sweet potatoes to the Philippines and to Africa, India, Indonesia and southern Asia. Around this same time, sweet potatoes began to be cultivated in the southern United States.
George Washington grew sweet potatoes at Mount Vernon.
China grows about 80 million tons of sweet potatoes each year, Africa produces about 14 million tons, Central and South America churn out about 2 million tons and the United States harvests about 1 million tons.
George Washington Carver developed 118 products from sweet potatoes, including glue for postage stamps and starch for sizing cotton fabrics.
Sweet potatoes are North Carolina’s official state vegetable. North Carolina is the leading producer of sweet potatoes in the United States, producing about 40 percent of the national supply.
Resources Used:
livescience.com
OH, FORKS! Upcoming Event & Important Nutrition Information Disclosure
OH, FORKS! Upcoming Event & Important Nutrition Information Disclosure
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Busy! Busy! Busy! I’m preparing for this weekend big event with the Jorgenson YMCA in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I’ve almost got the taste testing list solidified (yes, there are still a few last minute decisions, I know, shocking!) and I’m waiting on one of the last table decorations to get here today! This process has been similar to preparing for a book event, but so much more involved! Assuring that banners, signage, and social media postings are done appropriate is a LOT of work! And of course, making sure that the treats I’m making for everyone are P E R F E C T. *wipes the sweat from my brow…* I’m excited to reveal the table décor on our Facebook page very soon!
Now for the serious…
And of course, this morning I had a message from a fellow self-publisher that I needed to check out immediately. The article was from another foodie blogger, who has been threatened with a lawsuit by a reader. Why, you ask? Because the nutrition information they posted wasn’t correct to the recipe the person made. Wow. I had to re-read it four times. You may be wondering if that’s even possible….it is. Unfortunately for people like me.
First, let me discuss nutrition labels. I like them, because it gives those paying close attention to calories and fat the numbers they need for their diets. Second, I like being able to show how my recipes fair in the “health” section. Third, I don’t like to be misleading with my recipes. So, I added nutrition labels in to the OH, Forks!! Cook book.
That said, those nutrition labels are for informational purposes only, and are not “scientifically correct.” Yes, I did use the great website to make them all, and many big companies and places use them, too. Yes, their numbers are correct for the brands, amounts, and products I used in my recipes. However, if you omit something, use a different amount, substitute or what have you…those numbers may change a little.
Being completely honest, I don’t pay much attention to calorie counts, fat counts, or the like. I didn’t add in my nutrition labels to claim “complete health and perfection” with any of my recipes.
I felt the need to post a permanent disclaimer on the nutrition label side of things, if for nothing else, my own protection. In the past few weeks, I’ve taken extra precautions to protect ALL of my work, which for this cook book means the labels, pictures, recipes, words and more. There are a group of people out there that just don’t have enough to do with their spare time, and have taken up stealing author’s work and reproducing it under their own names, profiting all the way. It’s disgusting, and I’m NO FAN of pirating sites, or this type of behavior.
I appreciate those who have stuck by me, supported me, and backed this entire cook book endeavor! I’m hoping it brings you happiness, as well, knowing the project you support is indeed making headway in the public, and has begun doing events!! 🙂
Our First Event is Coming! April 2015!
Our First Event is Coming! April 2015!
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While the excitement and anticipation is steadily building, I’ve also been racking my brain trying to decide which foods to bring for everyone to sample! As with any event, there’s the standard needs of advertising and marketing…even some handouts! I’ve spent the past few weeks designing new “swag” items that I can hand out at this event! So far, I’ve designed some informational post cards, buttons, banners, bumper stickers, AND book marks! Still contemplating doing another round of recipe cards, with recipes NOT already included in the cook book!
Although I haven’t gotten my taste testing list one hundred percent finalized, I can tell you that I know one thing that will absolutely be there! My new Chocolate Avocado Dessert Bars! In all of my recipe creations, transformations, and flops- this one has to be one of my all-time favorites!! These frozen treats make the perfect paleo summer treat, and have NO added sugar! There are even a few slight alterations one could make to this one to personalize the recipe even more! I can’t wait to get more feedback on this one!
So, if you’re out and about in Fort Wayne on April 25, 2015… make sure one of your stops is at the Jorgenson YMCA! They’re having their Healthy Families week, and we’ll be holding down a table with plenty of copies of the OH, FORKS!! Cook book for sale! Certain proceeds from these book sales are going to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and to the Scleroderma Foundation!!
If you want to check out the cook book on Amazon, use this link!
Gluten Chatter: Doctors & Missing Diseases: So, What else are they Missing about Gluten?
Gluten Chatter: Doctors & Missing Diseases: So, What else are they Missing about Gluten?
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There has been a lot of chatter recently in the news about gluten, what it does to the body, and the myriad of diseases and diagnoses that are often misdiagnosed because of the lack of information to some doctors about gluten in general. Just yesterday, discussing gluten reactions with someone whose family member suffers from MS, and they had just gone back on gluten, because they had “no real problems, and the doctor said it was okay.”
This confused me. Of course, I don’t think removing gluten would cure all symptoms of MS….but removing an inflammatory agent from the diet of one who has inflammatory diseases seems logical. Gluten inflames things inside you that you cannot see. It inflames things that may not affect your body immediately- well, you may not notice immediately, I mean. It’s a personal decision to many, and that I would never judge, but I have to wonder if the doctor in this situation knows the full realm of what gluten does.
In my wonderment of doctors and their ability to prescribe a new pill for any new issue at the drop of a hat, I cannot help but wonder if popping all of these pills is contributing to many peoples issues, with a myriad of different things in our world.
For example, I’ve pulled myself off of many “extra” meds for cholesterol, high blood pressure, steroids- the list is endless. I was having more side effects than ever, and the main issues were only worsening. I couldn’t wrap my head around continuing to take medications that were only making me feel worse. I finally hit that point where I began to turn to functional medicine, and healing my body naturally. OF course, certain parts of my own diseases are not curable by any medication, so be clear that a cure is not where I’m going with this. Removing gluten, grains, dairy, soy, and sometimes eggs, has been the best and hardest choice I’ve made. Many of my side effects are gone, and those pills are a thing of the past.
I just can’t help but wonder if some of you out there dealing with crazy emotions, worsening body symptoms, and popping a pill for each and every ailment are really doing yourselves more harm than good. Would you know if you were? If you’re only taking into account one doctor, and haven’t researched about toxins in the body, including gluten…..are you really fully informed?
I’ll never be a professional is this area. I only know what I am learning from my own worsening issues, and that of my children. The news I received from my last doctor visit was pretty much horrible, but rather than sinking into the pit of pills and despair, I’m still fighting for my own health, knowledge, and growth.
I just wish some of my friends would consider changing their lifestyles before putting more poison into their bodies.
Here are the Top 15 Misdiagnosed Issues
IBS-Celiac Disease-Fibromyalgia-Rheumatoid Arthritis- Multiple Sclerosis- Lyme Disease-Lupus-polycystic ovary syndrome- endometriosis- migraines-cluster headaches-hypothyroidism- Diabetes- inflammatory bowel disease-mysterious digestive issues.
What if Gluten is as Bad as They Say?
What if Gluten is as Bad as They Say?
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It’s amazing how many people still think the whole “gluten free” thing is a fad. Some sort of crazy behavior, or something that certain people do to be difficult. There was a point in our path down the gluten free road where I did question if being gluten free was really working, or doing anything at all. Not anymore. I’ve spent years learning about the effects of gluten, damage it can do to your body and brain, and how I can avoid it as much as possible. I live it every single day. So does my daughter.
People still argue with me when I tell them that gluten is an inflammatory protein that causes inflammation in any human when consumed. Some humans just tolerate the protein better than others, and some like myself, the inflammation causes a myriad of other issues that complicate the immune system, and weighs the body down. Quite literally.
So, what if, just what if….all of these “crazy gluten free freaks” are right? What if every time you’re indulging in that wheat bread, you’re really inflaming your gastrointestinal tract, and you don’t even know it? What if that pasta dish is silent creating holes in your stomach, intestines, and tricking your body into thinking that you’ve contracted a virus?
Maybe you’re wondering why tricking your body is a bad thing. You’re probably getting ready to talk about bio-identical hormones, and the like. Every time your immune system is turned on to react to an “unknown” agent, particle, germ, or what have you; it takes note of this new “foreign body” and attempts to remove it in a very non-ceremonious style.
This is something that’s become so important to me to remove from my children’s diets. I’m no doctor, but in the research I’ve done, the more of this gets pumped in over the years, (along with GMOs, preservatives, fillers, and toxins) the greater your risk of developing a full blown autoimmune disease, allergy to whatever the item is, or horrible reactions to anything “sort of like that” item you ate.
SO many books out there about this, but the best written, and easiest to read and follow (so far) is the new release by Dr. Amy Myers, The Autoimmune Solution. From the basics of gluten, to the complexities of why it reacts with certain bodies the way it does, plus lots of information on “the Myers Way,” this book is a must own!
Here’s the handy dandy Amazon link for you to check out Dr. Amy Myers The Autoimmune Solution book!
Even for me, the person who has read hundreds of books of Celiac’s disease, Scleroderma, Gluten Free eating/living/working/life, I still learned a mass amount of information from this book! The recipes included in it are fabulous, as well! Give it a try, it’s so worth it! Whether you’re suffering yourself, or a family member or friend is suffering- get this, and really read it for them! Have faith in healthy food, and hope that it can help heal your body
Gluten Free SuperBowl and SnowPocolypse 2015
Gluten Free SuperBowl and SnowPocolypse 2015
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It’s definitely been a bit since I’ve updated, and I apologize about that! January has proven to be a rough and tough month, and I’m hoping February will have the answers I’m desperately seeking! While I’m typing this, our area is under a Winter Weather Warning, due to the expected 14” of snow for us. Now, that’s nothing for the upper East, as they’ve just gotten over three FEET of snow…but people around here are panicking and buying milk, bread, and beer like the world’s shutting down!
And, of course, it’s SuperBowl weekend! Our team has gone through the ringer, for sure. Yes, we are Patriots fan. No, we’re not keen on the cheating scandal….but….as with all of the other scandals the NFL has had to face (ahem: rapists, murderers, dog murderers, other cheating QBs, and the like) we figure it’s all in game, in the grand scheme of things. Today, I read on someone’s Facebook page that “cheating was only bad if the team got caught, and since they got caught, they should be disqualified.” Hmph. Well, all that for ball air, in a game where the other team forgot to show up? And then the rapists keep playing? And the dog murderers come back like nothing happened, after a few monetary fees paid? I think not! Anyway, don’t tread on me about it…. It’s a game I watch for a few hours of entertainment, and then it’s over.
For our football festivities, we’ll be having a number of gluten free goodies! A few new recipes, I’m thinking, are in order, too!! Taquitos, Chocolaty Football Mix, Cheese-ball, and mini-sliders are just a few of the planned items on the menu! Who knows what all I’ll come up with!! Stay tuned for the blog on all the snacks we made!!
If you’re interested in purchasing an Oh, Forks! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free Cook Book, please email us at glutenfreeforme@skyefalcon.in, or send on a message on our Facebook page!! Thank you for your support, and following!!