English Weather, New Recipes, and One Very Cute Collie

Yesterday was a beautiful afternoon in eastern England. I spent my Friday evening flipping through my National Trust book, planning my Saturday visits. I settled on Dunwich Heath and Beach because it was dog-friendly (many National Trust places are, but this beach welcomes off leash romps too, which is Ranger’s favorite way to explore) and the views seemed favorable to practice landscape photography. Well, let’s be honest, the majority of shots would have been my Border Collie, with a rocky coast background. So that was the plan. Then I woke up this morning and IT IS SNOWING. It’s not sticking, but big, fluffy flakes are coming down like mad. I guess the beach will have to wait…or will it?

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Thursday evening, I helped a friend edit her paper. We made a dinner date of it as I was eager to try out this recipe from Minimalist Baker (omg I love her blog). Ladies and gentlemen, it was delicious. I mean, no leftovers, plate-scraping, exclamations of delighted “mm mm mm”s, delicious. I paused for a photo, but didn’t even wait to see if it turned out before we pounced on the serving dish. I think all of it (including the white wine) was gone in under half an hour.

This was gluten-free, and low dairy (I used the olive oil version, omitting the butter, so the only dairy was the Parmesan cheese, which is low-lactose anyway).

Which reminds me, the Nutritionist appointment! I think it went well; it was really informative and I have a follow-up appointment in 4 weeks. In that time, I am on a
low-lactose, low-gluten, low-caffeine (ah my heart does break), low-fiber diet. I am keeping a food diary, and logging how I feel for two hours after each small meal. The nutritionist believes, though I am not allergic to milk, I may have an intolerance to lactose as well as gluten. I’m learning though that a lactose intolerance does not mean I can’t have milk (the fiber/carbohydrate content gives clues on the amount of lactose in a dairy product). The low fiber and caffeine is to slow my digestion and allow my body to contemplate lactose and gluten properly, to determine whether or not I really have an intolerance. We will see how it goes, so I am typing and sipping the one coffee (down from 3 -4 a day) I allow myself each morning, this morning’s made into a coffee latte with frothed Lactaid milk.
This is Day 4 and I honestly feel much better. Time will tell though. ❤