Norwitz Notions

Multiple chemical sensitivity is a lovely disease. With a lot of other disabilities, the issue of access is simply that: getting in. With MCS, it’s all about survival.

Like anyone else who doesn’t remain homebound, I get whammed once in a while. Depending on what the chemical is, I’m usually okay after a few minutes or hours (with a few notable exceptions!). I may need to shower and change, or use oxygen, but I recover. More chronic exposures are the ones that get me, and I almost never have those anymore.

Last week, a friend of a friend passed away and we went to the funeral on Thursday. I couldn’t tell if there was anything bad at the mortuary but there were large numbers of people wearing fragrance (why?!). The ceiling was high and I wasn’t in terrible shape, though I got a headache.

The next day, Friday, we went to the widow’s house for shiva (visiting the mourners who are sitting at home for a week) and I was exposed to scented candles (unlit). It wasn’t terribly strong and I stayed away from them as best I could. That evening, I had dinner in someone else’s home where the condo itself is safe but the association sprays outside (nothing recent; I didn’t notice anything, but I get a bit worn down when I’m there).

Saturday was a party at a home that is mostly safe, but there are lots of little things here and there, and various scented people. Also a long drive to and from past cities and refineries (air on recirculate of course, but some gets in anyway).

By that evening, at a very safe meeting in a very safe building, I was toast. Burnt soggy toast.

Any one of those exposures would have been enough to get me for a few hours, some with headaches, but they would have cleared. Put them all together and I’m a dysfunctional mess.

I had a revelation that day, yesterday. The fuzzy head, the inability to feel properly inside my body, the feeling that someone else was talking for me, not being able to focus, going to a lecture and knowing there was no way I could take notes, and of course the constant background headache and body pain and just plain malaise…that’s how I felt all through grad school.

That’s why I couldn’t get work done. I wasn’t “sick” persay, most of the time, but I wasn’t there. It isn’t a lack of motivation or desire, but I couldn’t pull back and look at the big picture. I was stuck, moment by moment, in a body that didn’t function and a brain that was like mush.

Grad school was when I was diagnosed with MCS (the symptoms started earlier but mostly didn’t interfere with anything, except going places with cigarette smoke). But I always assumed most of my inability to do my work was emotional. But here I was yesterday with the same feelings, the same dysfunctions, all clearly caused by several mild to moderate exposures adding up into one big neurological tangle.

I’ve been having other symptoms as well. Migraines, focused joint pain in my left little finger and left ankle, and edema in my lower legs, something I used to have regularly but haven’t had for about 3 years.

I take care of myself these days. I do have exposures here and there, but I spread them out and don’t take foolish chances. So, for example, I’ll go shop at Costco, but I won’t go down the laundry aisle. Or I’ll go to a lecture, but I won’t go to an outdoor rally. It is possible I was exposed to something I don’t know about (like a pesticide, though I haven’t been getting any of my other usual pesticide symptoms) or this could just be about repeated exposure.

I’ve been lax since Miriam was born about taking my supplements every day and other things that used to be necessary to keep me going. And I’m not always good about doing all the other things I need to do.

Survival Techniques:

* When returning home from an event with an exposure, immediately put clothes into the laundry (don’t sit on anything).
* If there is any chance of lingering chemicals, shower and wash hair.
* For really bad exposures, take charcoal (drink extra water and don’t eat or take anything else for 1-2 hours).
* Take vitamin C. Lots of it. Repeatedly.
* Take other supplements. Basic multi, B’s, other antioxidants, etc.
* Eat fat. Good organic fat.
* Drink lots of water.
* Eat protein and fiber and no junk.

I woke up with a nasty migraine this morning and then realized my hair smelled like perfume. I hadn’t smelled anything on me before (and I had been changing my clothes and rinsing my face, arms, and head) but here I was violating my own rule. So I showered and washed my hair and had Michael change my pillowcase. The headache went down into the background.

I have more commitments that will involve exposures but I will be cautious. Tonight we went for Kaddish (the prayer for the dead, which requires a minyan (10 Jewish adults)). The scented candles were lit this time but the house was full and I knew there was more than a minyan there, so I stayed outside while Michael quickly explained things and we left. We will return during the week when fewer people will be there and the candles will be unlit.

I lived like this for years. Constant symptoms, always in crisis, small exposures pushing me over the edge so I felt like nothing I did was safe. When you have chronic exposures, it becomes impossible to figure out symptoms and causes from timing or anything else. They meld together. So sometimes you think the entire world is dangerous or that it is really all you and not anything external.

When you take care of yourself, these chronic symptoms go away. I’m not cured, obviously, but I do pretty well when I am careful. So many people new to MCS (and many who are old-timers) haven’t learned this yet. Sometimes it’s because they live someplace where it is impossible to get away from exposures, or they must work and it’s not safe there, or they know the lesson but had too many chemical injuries and now have severe damage.

It’s hard to pull yourself out of the world enough to make your life safe for you. It’s easier to make excuses. I don’t get worse when I use my shampoo, so there must be nothing bad there. Except that, with a chronic exposure, there is no way to know.

Leaving grad school and giving up my career and dreams was the hardest thing I ever did. I had no choice at the time: I was simply unable to do the work. Not working now, and giving up on my other possible careers, is equally hard. Missing out on social opportunities and parenting networks, losing religious community (I can’t go into most of the synagogues around here due to pesticides and perfume), limiting my outings. All very difficult. But doing it has made it possible for me to have a life. A child. A spouse. A brain.

As I wandered the dozens of aisles at Expo West 2008, I collected information on nontoxic makeup. This is hardly a comprehensive review. I haven’t included brands I already knew well, or even every brand I saw. Just a handful of new or interesting products to share with you all.

Information is based on company documents or on personal conversation with representatives. I have not verified facts, aside from looking at ingredient lists and things like that.

No-Miss Healthy Alternative Cosmetics

6401 E. Rogers Circle, Suite 14
Boca Raton, FL 33487
(800) 283-1963; fax: (561) 994-696
http://nomiss.com/

This company mostly produces lower-toxic nail products, the sorts of things most people with multiple chemical sensitivity couldn’t handle, but that could make a significant difference in cases of mild sensitivity or living with someone who must have their polish.

NAILS
nail polish
glitter polish
glow polish
strengthener
base/top coat

NAIL CARE
polish remover
fungus killer
cuticle cream

MAKE UP
mascara
lip gloss
lip healer
eye shadow
make-up remover
kits

They told me that none of the products had synthetic fragrance but some had bergamot (an essential oil). The eye make-up remover has preservatives. The ingredients for the mascara look pretty straightforward and safe. Some of the polish ingredients are iffy (alcohols, etc) but aren’t terrible.

Herbs of Grace: Natural Look Mineral Makeup

301 Young Rd.
Mossyrock, WA 98564
888-817-1831
http://herbsofgrace.com/

Vegan, no fragrance or preservatives. Looks like very simple, basic ingredients. Home business.

Foundations
Eye Shadows
Blushes
Lips
Shimmers
Bronzers
Brushes
Accessories
Vegan Lip Balms
Gift Sets
Samples & Testers

PeaceKeeper

Peacekeeper Cause-Metics
50 Lexington Avenue
Suite #22G
New York, NY 10010
info@iamapeacekeeper.com
http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/

Some are vegan. Low toxin ratings from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Natural Lipsticks
Natural Nail Polish
Natural Lip Gloss
Natural Lip Balm

Honeybee Gardens

1082 Palisades Drive
Leesport, PA 19533
Tel: 610-396-9225
Fax: 610-396-922
http://www.honeybeegardens.com/

Some products have really nice safe ingredient lists, others have things like methanol and other alcohols (polish remover) and even synthetic fragrance (hairspray, deodorant). At least they are upfront about their ingredients. I have one of their lipsticks and really love it.

Lipstick
Nail Polish
Polish Remover
Eye Liner
Lip Gloss
Truly Natural Mascara
Lip Balm
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hair Spray
Eye Shadow
Deodorant Powder
Facial Toner
Cleansing Gel
HydroSol
Bubble Bath
Goats Milk Soap
After Bath Powder
Aftershave

Naturenvy

PO BOX 6114, Santa Barbara, CA, 93160
(805) 453-9658
ask@naturenvy.com
http://www.naturenvy.com/

“Naturenvy is the importer of a vibrant collection of natural skincare lines produced near the picturesque, seaside port of La Rochelle, France…All Formulas are free of Parabens, Allergens, PEGs, Phenoxyethanol, Silicon, Phthalates, Glycol Ether and Paraffin. All products are free of animal derived ingredients and never tested on animals.”

Sweet’Coton line is certified organic by ECOCERT and certified fair trade by MAX HAVELAAR.
So’Bio Rose is an innovative skincare line certified organic by ECOCERT.
Bio’Etic is a certified fair trade and organic skincare line featuring exotic ingredients.
Floressances offers several lines of natural skincare products such as Argan, Olivier & Bourrache.

A couple of months ago, I found myself at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, by the Primavera Tortilla stand. Primavera is a Sonoma County-based company that makes their own masa (tortilla/tamale dough) from organic stoneground corn. The handmade tortillas looked good but were pricey (and the fancy flavored ones had dairy) so I bought a bag of masa instead.

Primavera
17070 Sonoma Hwy. (Hwy. 12)
Agua Caliente, CA
(707) 939-9350

Some good articles:
Tortillas a mano
Rancho tamales are a family affair
Primavera in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
Tortilla Spat: How Mexico’s iconic flatbread went industrial and lost its flavor

The seller told me it would keep in the fridge for a few days but I could freeze it too. I didn’t get to it right away, so I stuck it in the freezer. Between then and now, I had my tortilla-making adventures using masa harina (flour you mix with water). I defrosted the Primavera masa about a week ago.

Various articles I’ve seen talk about how it freezes well (both the dough in general and Primavera’s in particular), but mine didn’t fare as well. When I tried to form it, it was both soggy and dry. Tortillas made with it came out tasting good, with decent texture, but they are very thick (not a bad thing!) and fall apart.

I had better luck adding a bit of water and kneading the dough for a minute or two, as if it were being made from flour. Then letting it sit for a couple minutes. It still sticks to the tortilla press (despite using plastic covers) and falls apart, but not as badly.

So, tonight, I came up with a different plan. I added water to the rest of the masa, kneaded it, and set it aside. Then I divided it in two for top and bottom. The idea? a giant pupusa.

First, I sauteed some sliced onions (on a mandolin) in olive oil. My original idea for the filling was to saute onions and also fry up some tofu bits with curry. But I forgot and was too tired, so it was just onions.

Next, I put oil, then some cornmeal, in a hot cast iron pan, and plopped in half the dough, flattening it the best I could with the spatula.

Topped it all with a healthy dollop of onions.

Then added the rest of the dough on top, spreading it out first with the spatula, then with my fingers.

As I took pictures, I kept thinking that I should post it all anyway, as an example of failed meals. I get ideas in my head and, trust me, sometimes they come out pretty awful. I was sure this was another of those times.

Then I realized I needed to turn the pie over. I cut it in quarters (chop hard to get through the onions) and flipped them one at a time, adding more olive oil underneath. I stood back and looked and knew I had made something good.

Yep, these taste as good as they look. You can use any filling you want. The plain onions were a bit bland, though savory. Cheese would be amazing, if you eat it. You could make this a main dish by adding meat or tofu or another protein.

Serve it for breakfast…for the first time in 2 years, I felt like I could have omelets again. This is the closest I have come without actually eating eggs. It would be fabulous brunch food too. But I enjoyed it for dinner, with a big salad.

When it came time for Miriam’s 3rd birthday party, we didn’t know where to hold it. Our house is too small and full of cats. The weather is too iffy to plan something outdoors. And we can’t stand most of the venues that turn children’s parties into entertainment extravagances.

Fortunately, we discovered the Boys and Girls Club. They are national, and Petaluma alone has 10 clubhouses. We used the main Petaluma location:

Boys & Girls Club Petaluma
Lucchesi Park Clubhouse
203 Maria Dr., Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 769-5322
http://www.petalumabgc.org/

This is a large building with several function rooms, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen, a teen room, and a central space with game tables. Most are for rent by the hour. We chose the multi-purpose room, which is quite large, with plenty of tables and chairs. There are lights and electrical outlets, but no water. Bathrooms are across the hall. The kitchen is a couple rooms down.

(Miriam watching her friends play musical chairs)

The cost? $40/hour for the room and $10/hour for a staff person to be on site. We chose Sunday, March 2, 2008, and had the place completely to ourselves. These folks are very accommodating. I didn’t even have to negotiate but they gave us kitchen privileges and an extra half hour before and after the party at no additional cost. They even allowed us to have the gym as a backup for the piñata if the weather was bad. So, for a two hour party and an hour of setup/cleanup, the total was $110 (2 hours for the room, 3 hours for the staff person).

One wrinkle: to rent the space, you must provide a liability insurance waiver. If you have homeowner’s insurance (or possibly renter’s insurance), you simply go to your provider and they give you the waiver for next to nothing. But ours said they didn’t do that. The only other solution was to go with the independent insurance the club recommended. But they wanted $175!! For a two-hour children’s party! Others were similar.

After a day or two of sheer panic, we simply switched homeowner’s insurance companies. We ended up saving hundreds of dollars a year on our premium and the waiver cost a whopping $4.

(Miriam in background with her cousin Jaiden. In front, from left, Aunt Kim, cousin Kalea, cousin Stephanie, Grandma Julie)

A rare trait among public buildings: The Boys and Girls Club doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides inside or outside. They also don’t have air fresheners. (The director couldn’t understand why anyone would consider using stuff like this around kids.) When I went during the week to check it out, the bathrooms and other rooms had little to no scent at all (except for some paint smell in the art room). It was very nice.

The day of the party though, the whole place had a mild but persistent cleaning chemical scent. We opened the windows in the party room and wiped down the tables (they were thick with cleaning residues) with our own cleaner. This made a big difference and the chemically sensitive among us survived.

It’s important to me to be able to provide my own food (too many allergies to risk it) and that was no problem here. Just no alcohol (you can…but it costs extra). And I liked having our own games and other activities, not orchestrated by staff or a preset menu of options.

Partway into the party, some of the older kids (age 6 or so) told me they were bored (they loved the games I had but they weren’t nonstop so they didn’t know what to do with themselves). I resisted the urge to fix it and entertain them. I expressed sympathy and told them what was coming up and went to work on something else. Before I even turned back around, they had discovered the crayons I brought and a stack of paper plates make great fun.

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about with the rental is that you’re required to clean up, or you forfeit all or part of your hefty deposit (ours was $400). That sounds reasonable in theory…until you’re rushing to get folks outside for a piñata (without them going home) and, in addition to picking up, wiping off food residue, and putting the chairs back, you have to scrub all the tables, vacuum the floor (they loaned us a vacuum), and even take out the trash (hey, at least they didn’t make us clean the bathrooms, though I was required to check them). I would have gladly paid the staff person another $5 for a half hour of cleaning, but it wasn’t an option. On the bright side, I totally forgot to take out the trash (it was all in one bag in the can) and they didn’t ding us for it.

The club had some nice outdoor space too. Since it was a gorgeous day, we had our piñata outside. It was a huge errr…hit.

All in all, I was happy with the space. The room fit our needs perfectly. I would have preferred another hour though (people showed up late so there wasn’t enough time to do everything; we skipped present opening and held the piñata bash after the official end time). From an MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) perspective, it was a decent choice, though I’d look into the possibility of providing them with some cleaning products ahead of time for a larger event.

Why I don’t get enough sleep.

This is what happens when I get up in the wee hours to use the bathroom…

My go-to dish. Super easy to make and Miriam’s favorite. If you ask her favorite food, she’ll tell you “kidney beans!!!!!”

Normally I like to make beans from scratch, but it’s hard with a bunch of different kinds (because they require different cooking times). So canned is loads easier.

Recipe:

4 cans of plain whole beans. Any combo you wish; use 3-4 different kinds. I like kidney, Garbanzo, pinto, black, and white.
Good quality extra virgin olive oil (about 1/2 cup).
Apple cider vinegar (about 1/3 cup).
Several big squirts (a couple of tablespoons) of good brown mustard. Don’t use yellow stuff! I like Annie’s Horseradish Mustard, Whole Food’s German Mustard, and others like that.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Several tablespoons of freshly chopped oregano. Or another fresh herb. If you use dried, put in about 1 tablespoon of oregano, thyme, or whatever you like.

Open the cans and pour into a colander so the liquid drains away.

Put the drained beans into a large bowl.

Add the oil and vinegar, adjust acidity as needed.

Add mustard, salt, and pepper. Taste. It’s easy to under-salt this dish because the beans are very bland.

When everything is right, add the herbs.

Mix well (without crushing beans) then taste and adjust! My amounts are just guesses. The amount you will use will depend on the ingredients (they’re different each time) and your personal taste.

Put in fridge. It is best the next day but you can eat it after it chills. Or right away, if you prefer.

Rock fish, rock cod, plain cod…I don’t know. But it made a tasty stew. I got fillets at Costco.

Don’t fuss over ingredients. I made this out of what I found in my fridge and freezer. Next time I’ll make it with completely different vegetables. And why are there 4 carrots in the picture but 3 in the pot? because I always grab an extra one to munch on while cooking.

Ingredients (this time):

Rock cod/fish, about 2 lbs of fillets, diced
3 carrots
1 green pepper
Cup or so of chopped fennel stem/leaf (frozen)
2 cups or so of thinly sliced onion (frozen)
Crimini mushrooms, a couple big handfuls
Diced tomatoes, 1 can
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Water as needed

Saute the onions in olive oil until they sweat. Add carrots, mushrooms, and pepper and saute for 5 more minutes or so.

Add the other ingredients. Turn down heat, cover, and simmer for about half an hour, stirring frequently and not letting it come to a boil.

Would be absolutely amazing with Monica’s Olive Bread. We ate it plain, for two days.

When I was at the Marin County Fair on July 4th, 2007, one of the booths was promoting healthy eating for kids and they had samples of a blender drink. All fruit (no juice) and no added sugar. It was fabulous on that blindingly hot day (about 100*F).

Their slushie recipe:

Ice cubes (between 1/3 and 1/2 of the blender)
Fresh watermelon (a cup or so)
Fresh strawberries (a cup of so)
Lime juice (freshly squeezed, maybe 1 lime’s worth)

I’ve made a lot of smoothies, usually with soy milk, but only rarely have made slushies. The difference is the ice. Slushies are very cold and have that wonderful bumpy texture.

My recipe is more intense because 1) I like it that way and 2) I can’t find my ice cube trays. But the diluted (with ice) kind would be better on a very hot day so you could drink more of it.

Soon after the fair, a vendor at the Farmer’s Market had a ton of organic strawberries they were practically giving away. They said they had been rejected from Whole Foods because they were too ripe. Indeed, they were at their peak and wouldn’t have lasted overnight without refrigeration. So we got a whole flat (12 overflowing baskets) for a mere $9. I gave away 2 baskets, put 3 in the fridge, and froze the remaining 7.

I poured the strawberries into a bowl of cold tap water (no chlorine in ours). Then I pulled off the caps by hand and put them on a clean dish towel on a cookie sheet. When they were done (I did this in two batches), I put them back into a fresh bowl of water, swished, and scooped them back on to the towel. Then I poured them off the towel on to the cookie sheet. It’s best if you don’t wash them, but these were a bit older and I felt it was necessary.

I used 2 big cookie sheets. Ideally, you don’t want the strawberries to touch each other, but at least keep them in a single layer. The drier they are, the better. Freeze overnight, then transfer to zipper bags (they will take some prying) or your container of choice and store in the freezer. My 7 baskets made 2 stuffed gallon bags worth.

My slushie recipe:

Fresh melon (leftover from a holiday fruit salad: cantaloupe, honeydew, chopped mint, a touch of salt, and some liquid in the bottom of the bowl, about 1/3 blender full)
Frozen strawberries (about the same quantity as the melon)

It came out really well. We do have watermelon in the fridge, and I liked the watermelon/strawberry blend a lot, but I wanted to use up the melon salad first. I also want to do some with peaches (we have some older ones in the fridge). Lime or lemon juice would be good too.

I love that it is pure fruit. Juice is promoted as a healthy food but it’s just not. It’s stripped of fiber and a lot of the best nutrients. Commercial brands are extremely sweet (even if they don’t add sugar; they either use sweet fruits or add white grape or apple juice), use peeled fruits, are filtered, and are pasteurized. Ick . If you make your own juice, that’s different. though I recommend eating the pulp too (can be in a different recipe) so you get the whole fruit).

For a lower carb slushie, choose berries, melon (not watermelon), or stone fruit, and use ice cubes or water to dilute it some.

These blends would make great popsicles, by the way. Our usual source of strawberries says she puts her unwashed strawberries in the blender (she only removes the caps) and then puts the unadulterated puree into popsicle molds.

Now I have frozen strawberries to use in drinks or slushies all summer long. Slicing them would be easier on my blender (a couple got left whole) but it’s more work and takes more trays for freezing.

Since then, I’ve made slushies every which way. You need something frozen (ice cubes or fruit) mixed with very liquid fruit or firmer fruit with liquid added.

One recent recipe:

Frozen raspberries (a couple cups)
A couple squeeze of lemon
Various leftover fruit (a few slices of mango, half an overripe banana)
Water to make it blend and thin it out

This lovely eggplant dip or spread is quite easy to make and there are a lot of variations (even more so than for the spelling). I don’t follow an exact recipe. I just do it by taste.

Ingredients:

Eggplant (globe is best but you can use any kind; leave the skin on)
Tahini
Lemon juice (organic jarred is okay)
Olive oil (good stuff)
Salt & pepper
Seasoning (garlic is traditional; I like hot pepper)

First, prepare the eggplant:

Wash eggplant, cut off and discard caps.
Prick skin with knife or fork in several spots.
Put eggplant on baking dish.
Bake at medium heat (350*F is fine) until collapsed and soft, very very soft (this may take a while; be sure to turn the eggplants over partway through).
Mash as is (easiest in food processor; if you want to mash by hand, cook it more) or scrape away skin and then mash.

I prefer to leave the skins on the eggplant. I like the flavor better (there isn’t much of a different) and it adds color and nutrition.

Add the other ingredients to your mash. For every 6 cups cooked eggplant, add approximately 1 cup tahini, 1/2 cup lemon juice. If you use garlic, a couple of cloves will be enough for a mild flavor. Add pepper sparingly and don’t undersalt. This is just a base; you can make it however it tastes right to you. Process slightly chunky or make it silken smooth, your choice.

Refrigerate and serve cold or at room temperature (or warm if you like). Add olive oil (just enough to make it glisten without tasting too oily) before serving.

Use as a spread for wraps or sandwiches or eat it with raw veggies, crackers, pita bread, on salads, or just with a spoon.

Other spellings: Baba-Ganouj, baba ganouj, baba ganoush, baba gannoujh.

Foodlab is an internet mailing list for sharing recipes, tips, support and more while discovering and living with food allergies/intolerances. Monica started the list a couple of years ago, after realizing that off-topic discussions of food allergies were starting to take over a parenting list. Most of the folks on Foodlab (the active posters anyway) are parents whose kids have food intolerances and many of the parents have reactions themselves.

It’s an international list, with most subscribers living in the US. Monica lives in Los Angeles, and I got to meet her when I was in LA for Expo West last year. This year, we planned a potluck and invited all local Foodlab members. Unfortunately, there were some last minute cancellations, but we had a lot of fun.

(Miriam, Cyndi, Jessica, Monica)

Monica and Matt, and 3.5 year old son Donovan, hosted the event. Jessica came with 2 year old daughter Roxie. And Michael and I (Cyndi) were there with barely 3 year old Miriam.

(Monica & Jessica)

(Cyndi & Monica)

Our first order of business was to go through the several supermarket-sized bags of samples and literature I’d brought from Expo West to share.

(Jessica, Roxie, Monica)

Next we started cooking.

(Jessica making vegan curry)

(Jessica & Cyndi making tortillas)

And then we ate.

(Miriam, Donovan, & Roxie ready to eat, with Michael in the background)

All of the food was amazing. We banned any ingredient that none of us could eat (dairy, gluten) and anything that would cause a problem for someone if they got a trace (soy, canola, orange, egg, chocolate). We allowed but discouraged foods that one or more people had a problem with (reaction or a choice) but where a trace wouldn’t matter (meat, corn). And it was a given in this group that everything would be fresh and free of food additives.

(Jessica’s vegan curry)

Here’s what we ate:

Monica:

Olive bread
Crab cakes
Misc pre-dinner snacks (veggies & chips)

Jessica:

Keifer (non-dairy keifer grains fermenting apple juice)
Curry
Hummus with eggplant
Cashew cream with fresh strawberries (similar to my recipe)

Cyndi:

Pickled red onions
Corn tortillas (made on site with Jessica)
Halibut ceviche

I found these at Expo West earlier this month. This review got moved up higher on the list because they surprised me today with a box of samples in the mail.

I’m not sure what to make of them. They’re billed as sports supplements (even the kids version) but what they really are is candy. I don’t eat much candy (a couple pieces a year) so it’s hard for me to categorize them, but they are like gummy bears or gumdrops. They’re quite chewy but I don’t know if those others are too.

“Sharkies are fun shaped, chewable source of carbohydrates and electrolytes – your body’s preferred source of fuel during activities…Although children can and will consume Sharkies as a ‘better for you’ candy, none of the sugars in Sharkies are refined and half the product is rice syrup giving it complex carbohydrates for sustained energy.”

In other words…sugar. “Fun” is a matter of opinion, but they are cute little sharks. They are definitely chewable. And the carbs, well, each 45 gram package contains a whopping 35 grams of usable carbs (36 total minus 1 gram fiber).

But what are they referring to when they say “electrolytes.” Each package has 110 mg of sodium, which isn’t enough to replenish salts if you’re sweating. And 30 mg of potassium, which is, what? 1% of the daily requirement? No other electrolyte is mentioned (except calcium is at 0% RDA). They say: “The naturally occurring electrolytes in Sharkies come from the potassium in the fruit juice and the sodium in the rice and water.”

So I can do without their misleading marketing. They’re candy. Let’s accept that and move on to the rest of the review.

The good news is they are gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free (except for citric acid, which is usually grown on corn and can be a problem for exceptionally sensitive folks), canola-free, vegan, and certified organic. They also taste pretty decent. They are so-so when you start eating them, but grow on you as you chew (they last about 30 seconds), and the aftertaste is good. I tried the watermelon.

For someone looking for an all-natural candy, free of several major allergens, they’re a good find.

The bad allergy news is they are pulling the “natural flavors” bit so it can be hard to know what is in what. They do list the flavor combos on the front of the package though, and I just hope they are accurate. The watermelon doesn’t mention oranges and it didn’t make Miriam sick, so I’m pretty confident it doesn’t have oranges in it. The Fruit Splash has tangerine, so Michael took those away. Citrus Squeeze doesn’t say which citrus. I will have to call them.

Sharkies, Inc.
10556 Combie Rd., Suite 6672
Auburn, CA 95602
Toll-Free Phone: 877.666.5377
Fax: 530.268.8010
email: Dwight@sgnllc.com

I make a lot of my food from scratch, but some things are just too difficult. There is a small subset of irreplaceable products…and when they’re gone, I panic.

French Meadow Bakery’s gluten-free tortillas are in that category. I eat them about 5 days a week for lunch (as wraps/burritos). They have two: Healthy Hemp and Women’s. Both are organic, vegan, lowcarb, and high protein. And they taste good too. The Healthy Hemp are also soy-free.

Except that they had two gluten-free tortillas. They are gone.

The problem was quality. They tended to spoil quickly (they shipped them to stores frozen but most stores wouldn’t sell them frozen; they’d put them in the fridge), they stuck together, and they’d sometimes fall apart during use (microwaving worked better than toasting or heating on the stove). I didn’t have these issues (except for spoilage) with the Women’s, just with the Healthy Hemp, but French Meadow told me they got complaints about both.

I emailed them in February, and got this reply:

Subject: Re: What happened to your tortillas!!!?!?!?
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:57:00 -0500
From: Dingmann, Emily <edingmann@frenchmeadow.com>

Hello Cyndi,
Thank you very much for your feedback, it truly is something we value here at French Meadow Bakery. I am sorry that these were some of your favorite tortillas, unfortunately they were not a top-seller, there were some quality issues and we are coming out with improved tortillas.

We have discontinued the Woman’s Tortilla and Hemp Tortilla but we are currently working on new tortillas:
– Improved Gluten Free Tortilla
– Improved Hemp Tortilla (this will have gluten in it)

These should be out sometime this spring; we are aiming to have them ready at Expo, so hopefully you will have the opportunity to sample our new Gluten Free tortilla.

Please feel free to contact me with any other questions.
Thank you for Supporting French Meadow Bakery,
Emily
Emily Dingmann
Sales Coordinator, French Meadow Bakery
2604 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Phone: 612-870-4740 x 17; Fax: 612-870-0907
www.frenchmeadow.com

So I stopped by their booth the other week at Expo West and spoke to them again. The tortillas weren’t ready and there were no samples. It sounded like they hadn’t worked through the reformulations.Unfortunately, they seemed to have no commitment at all to gluten-free. One woman told me that the old tortillas stuck together so they “had to add some wheat.” In the same tone that you might tell someone you added some tapioca starch. I don’t think they realize the market they have. The gluten-free community didn’t really know about their tortillas, but the people I told thought they were great. Yes, the quality suffered and I’m glad they’re fixing it. But adding a bit of wheat means the world to someone who can’t have the slightest trace.

I explained to them that they had the only gluten-free tortilla on the market that wasn’t filled with carbs. Lowcarb tortillas exist but they use wheat gluten. Corn tortillas are easy enough to find, but not everyone can have corn and they have a lot of starch and no protein (and they’re small). There are rice tortillas but they are pure starch and taste horrible too.

I begged them to keep making gluten-free, lowcarb, vegan, organic tortillas. I also explained that, while I can eat soy, a lot of food restricted people can’t, and the Healthy Hemp tortillas were the only alternative for a lot of folks.

So what was their response? they proudly trotted out their new gluten-free products. Cookies and brownies. Oh boy. Don’t they understand that gluten-free cookies are a dime a dozen but real food is what we have trouble finding? Not that some folks won’t appreciate a new source of gluten-free treats, after all, theirs are dairy-free and soy-free too (but contain eggs and aren’t organic).

If you share my opinion of the matter, please contact French Meadow Bakery and politely ask them to reformulate their gluten-free tortillas to continue to be vegan, organic, and low in carbs (and soy-free, if that is important to you). Make sure they know there is a gluten-free customer base that loves their products and wants more.

2604 Lyndale Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
bread@frenchmeadow.com
612-870-4740 or 1-877-No-Yeast
Fax: 612-870-0907

There are basically two ways to drive between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles or San Diego: 101 or 5. I took I-5 for years, and it is the fastest route, but it goes through hours of agricultural areas and just isn’t safe for me anymore. Add in a 3 year old who doesn’t understand the concept of “we’ll stop in a couple of hours” and there is just no way.

Several years ago, I started taking 101 instead of 5 when heading to San Diego to clean out my mom’s apartment over the course of several months. If you start from the South Bay, it’s only an extra half hour or so, because it’s an extra shlep to get over to 5. From the North Bay, where I am now, it’s more like an extra hour.

Google Maps: Petaluma to Los Angeles

Via 5: 6:20, 413 miles.
Via 101: 7:42, 468 miles.
My experience, via 101: 7 hours each way, not counting stops.

A friend of mine who also has multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) likes to drive 5 for the quickness factor, but does it at night, when they aren’t out working the fields or dropping pesticides by plane (don’t be fooled though…the crop irrigation sprinklers are on 24/7, and they put out chemicals too). This year though, even she said it was time to switch to 101. I like 101 better anyway. It’s far prettier, with gorgeous views of the ocean, and there are real places to stop, not just highway food and gas stations. Now that I’m doing my travelling with a child, I appreciate the nicer stops too.

I have four stops along the way that are kid-friendly and good for adults too. All are reasonably MCS-safe and good places to picnic, with nontoxic bathrooms. There are plenty more possible stops, but I haven’t checked them out.

MCS Notes: From just north of Salinas to a bit south of King City (around an hour’s drive), the area is solid agriculture. Big corporate (Dole, etc) farms with huge flat fields that get massive amounts of pesticides. There are some scattered farms north and south of this area as well. I manage more or less by keeping windows shut, A/C or whatever to recirculate, oxygen on via nasal canula , and no talking (breathing air through my mouth). The pesticides/herbicides are so strong they will come into the car (Miriam got fairly ill from them) but these measures will help a lot. Be sure to plan your trip very carefully so that you will not need gas or bathrooms for that hour. Before and after you can find oasis’s of clean air.

Stop #1 (A) – Toro Regional Park

Toro Park – 501 Monterey-Salinas Highway 68, Salinas, CA 93908
Hours and contact info: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/parks/toro.html

Detailed descriptions & photos: http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=CAMOTO&CU_ID=1

Photos & map: http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/parks-cnty/toro.html

From the north: Take 101 S to Salinas, then get on to 68 S towards Monterey, and go about 6 miles.

From the south: Take 101 N to Chualar River Road a few miles south of Salinas. The road will curve around to the right and become River Road. Take to highway 68 and turn left, towards Monterey. The park is less than 2 miles down.

Picnic areas, playgrounds, and bathrooms are not far from the entrance. We didn’t check out the hiking trails but the park has 4,756 acres to roam around in and 20 miles of trails. We stopped here a year ago and it was a great place for a picnic and to let Miriam play. Since it was a weekday in March, it was practically deserted.

The air quality is not perfect, as it does get some air flow from nearby agriculture. There is nothing directly there but you should keep your windows closed as you approach, especially along River Road. The bathrooms were fine and the playground nearest the entrance (pictured below), with the animals to ride on, was okay. The grass and roads also seemed okay. But some of the other playgrounds had a terrible chemical smell that I couldn’t be near. I think it was the bark.

Stop #2 (B) – Camp Roberts Rest Stop

This is actually two stops, one northbound and one southbound. They are a short distance apart and aren’t connected. The Camp Roberts area is a semi-wilderness oasis, just south of the pesticide/agriculture nastiness. A few farms are south of it, but they are spotty. So the air in Camp Roberts is pretty decent, though it is close to the freeway. I especially like this stop though because it is halfway between Petaluma and LA.

8.5 miles North of San Miguel. Monterey County. South of King City.

Both rest stops have large grassy areas with picnic tables. There is water and the bathrooms are moderately safe, with some residual cleaning chemical smell. No air fresheners. We stopped at the northbound area in March 2007, and the southbound both in 2007 and March 2008.

Northbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra32.htm

Southbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra33.htm

Stop #3 (C) – Mitchell Park, San Luis Obispo

Mitchell Park
1400 Osos St
(corner of Pismo & Santa Rosa)
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

From the north: exit 101 S at Monterey Street. Turn left at Toro Street. Turn right at Pismo Street. To continue south: head northwest on Osos Street. Turn left at Higuera Street. Turn right on Marsh Street. Take 101 S.

From the south: exit 101 S at Marsh Street (202A). Turn right at Osos Street. To continue north: head northwest on Osos Street. Take 101 N.

Looking on the map, there are tons of parks, with and without playgrounds, in SLO. Here is a great list of them, geared for parents, with photos: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/san-luis-obispo.cfm.

We drove into SLO because I heard there was a good picnic area on the main downtown street (not sure which street they meant). We didn’t find that but we stopped to ask someone to guide us to a playground and she sent us to Mitchell Park, which turned out to be perfect.

There was a nice picnic area, lots of grass to run around on, a large big-kids play structure, a smaller toddler structure, and bathrooms that had no smell of any kind. The overall air quality is pretty decent.

Stop #4 (D) – Shell Beach, Pismo Beach

This is very close to San Luis Obispo, so use one for northbound and the other for southbound. It’s fairly easy to find going south, as you pass it and then can take the next exit and double back. But we missed it on the way north. By the time we saw the beach, the exit was right there and the next one was many miles up.

Dinosaur Caves Park
Shell Beach Rd at Cliff Ave
Pismo Beach, CA

From the north: 101 S to Shell Beach Road exit on north end of Pismo Beach. Go about 1.5 miles until you see a playground on a cliff to your right. To continue south: take the on ramp to 101 S that is right at the park (on Price Street).

From the south: 101 N to Shell Beach Road exit. Turn left on CA-1/Mattie Road. Turn right at Price Street.

There are many beaches and parks in Pismo Beach but Shell Beach is right off the freeway and completely gorgeous. Here is a list of parks: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/pismo-beach.cfm

Air quality in this town is stellar. There is nothing bad directly around it and you get clean ocean breezes. The bathrooms at the park were fine, with a slight cleaning product smell, but I didn’t need my mask.

Other resources:

Central Coast Kids has lists of parks and beaches by city, with pictures and descriptions.

Another fabulous recipe by Monica of Foodlab, served at our recent Los Angeles Foodlab potluck.

She writes: “The olive bread is just Pamela’s Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix, using the egg-free instructions, with the flax meal egg sub, and adding about 1/2 cup of oil-cured olives, very coarsely chopped. I used the bread maker instead of the stand mixer, but just had it ‘knead’ for 10 minutes (instead of mixing for 2 minutes in a stand mixer) then rest for an hour and bake for 60 minutes. I used olive oil for the vegetable oil called for on the package.”

Pamela’s Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix
INGREDIENTS: Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar, Chicory Root, White Rice Flour, Millet Flour, Honey and Molasses; Rice Bran, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum, Yeast Packet.
1 slice of bread (1/16th of loaf) has 25 usable grams of carbs (29 total minus 4 fiber).

I didn’t get to see the bread made, but I pulled it out of the bread maker. Never having seen it before, I thought it was worth a picture. Here’s the bottom:

And here’s the same bread from the top:

This stuff was amazing. I swear, I still have fantasies about it. If it weren’t so carby, I’d run out and buy a bread maker and a case of mix. It was a very moist and soft bread. I’m not sure how it would hold up in a sandwich, though part of that may be that we ate it while it was still warm. It went very well with Jessica’s curry.

This recipe comes from Foodlab listmom Monica, who has graciously allowed me to post it here. She made them for our recent Los Angeles Foodlab potluck and I took some pictures.

Not only are these cakes delicious, but they’re free of eggs, dairy, gluten, soy, corn, and even low in carbs. Alas, they are not kosher (we keep our home kosher but eat shellfish when out), but Monica assures me that salmon or another fish would work well too. I recommend using undercooked fish if possible, so they’ll cook up perfectly when fried. Canned or leftover fish should work too.

All the explanations below are Monica’s.

Ingredients:

1 lb. crab meat
1 c. almond meal (subbed for bread crumbs)
1 Tbsp. flax meal in 3 Tbsp. hot water (subbed for 1 egg)
Hot sauce (to taste)
3 Tbsp. vegenaise (subbed for mayo)
1 Tbsp. seafood seasoning
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. prepared mustard
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Notes:

– I got the crab meat from Trader Joe’s, canned in the refrigerated section. Brand name is Byrd. The recipe is on the back, but I made a couple of substitutions, so I’ll recite what I did.

– Subbed out Worcestershire sauce with equivalent amount of a mix of everything I could get of the ingredients of Worcestershire sauce: namely, Thai Fish Sauce, molasses, balsamic vinegar, ground cloves, powdered onion and garlic. (Commercial Worcestershire sauce appears to always have soy in it. When I get ahold of some tamarind extract, I’m going to make a larger batch of my own home brew I think.)

– Vegenaise has soy in it so used the avocado vegenaise recipe posted by Andrew on Foodlab.

Instructions:

Soak the flax meal in the hot water for several minutes. (I dumped the flax meal into one of my Oxo 4-tablespoon angled measures… they’re wonderful little doohickeys if you need to hint about stocking stuffers.)

Blend everything but the crab meat and almond meal in a largish mixing bowl.

After it’s all mixed up, add the crab meat and mix it together gently (well, I wasn’t that gentle, but I like my crab cakes more mixed and less lumpy).

When the crab is mixed into the sauce, add the almond meal and mix until blended.

Form into patties. Chill the patties for a couple of hours for easier handling.

Saute in olive oil, about 5-8 minutes a side should do it (but depends on how crispy you like them).