Celiac Sprue Is Poo & Drinking Barium

Yesterday I rode my bike for a visit to the GI Doctor to check in on my Celiac Sprue, and since I never recovered properly on the Gluten Free diet they are now wanting to probe for the possibility of something called "Refractory Sprue". Bleh. Which meant a whole bunch of tests to be run - I gave blood and then was then given a huge BIO HAZARD bag with a milk jug sized container to collect poop in - WTF? Immediately I was like "Hey I don't have to fill this do I?" and the nurse was like "No , just everytime you use the bathroom you put the 'nun hat' on the toilet seat (she held up a plastic contraption) and you go in the 'cool whip bowl'." Uh, nuns and cool whip and poo all together made me queasy to think of.

But not as queasy as....... the appointment they made for me at the hospital for a Barium MRI. I was like "Isn't barium a metal?" and the nurse tells me "no", so I say "I am allergic to alot of meds I don't think this sounds good for me, is there an alternative?" and she says "we don't think you'll have a reaction". So I came home and used the trusty rusty internet to tell me what I already knew- they want me to ride my bike 3 miles to the hospital after fasting, then on an empty stomach drink a metallic milkshake that will dye my insides so they can take snazzy med pics and tell me something I may or may not want to hear. I am also the perfect candidate to have a bad reaction, reactions that can include going unconscious, migraines and vomiting.

So here's my list of ...

Terrible things I rather do then drink Barium! :::

1. poo on a Nun's hat (pun intended)
2. poo on a real nun (or be the recipient of nun poo)
3. slash a nice person's tires
4. kiss a clown (and/or be spanked by a clown) ....gawd I hate clowns!!!!!
5. rob an old man on crutches of $20
6. stick my hand in the piranha tank at the New Orleans aquarium for over 10 seconds
7. give my cat a cold bath
8. give Dr. Phil a hug and let him tell me what he thinks is wrong with me
9. have 20 roaches crawl on my naked body (or alternately be naked in a room full of mosquitoes)
10. have someone's vomit splash on my fav wool sweater
11. spray myself in the eyes with pepper spray
12. go on a blind date at night to a remote unlit area with no phone
13. put a slug in the sun to bake
14. watch Fox News 3 nights in a row
15. have sex with Morgus the Magnificent (with Chopsley watching).


Would you drink Barium?

Recipe: Gluten Free, Macrobiotic & Organic Wraps

Being diagnosed with Celiac Sprue (and various food allergies) was a pretty huge blow to my cooking skills- which were heavily cajun and super de duper delicious. To say I went into a food funk for the last 7 years is an understatement... and I seek outside inspiration, but rarely click with most recipes. My dream is to have a personal chef who comes up with cool new ways for me to work with a limited diet, keeping me out of the food allergy duldrums. Then along came my friend Evan, the master of food manipulation! With a list of the foods I could actually eat he tinkered away to come up with 3 solid recipes and totally succeeded- I feel like I've lost my food allergy virginity now because this first recipe I am sharing with ya'll is soooo yum yum I could have died. Thank gawd for Evan being a sauce genuis, here's the recipe in his words (in bold print)!
Basics : vinegar > salt > rice syrup > olive oil > pot of boiling water
Ingredients : whole lettuce or steamed/cooled cabbage leaves > radish (daikon if possible) > carrot > scallion > red onion > parsley > bean sprouts > rice noodles > protein (fish/tofu/tempeh) > whole lemon or lime ...

1.Pick whole leaves from lettuce or cabbage and wash. If cabbage, lightly steam to soften and then cool.
2.Shred to finger length pieces and place in ice water bath for 2 minutes. Then keep cold till using.
Carrot > Red Onion > Radish
Any crunchy veg can be used for this part.
Salad
Puree ¼ whole red onion + small handful of parsley + 1 radish + teaspoon vinegar + juice from ½ lemon or lime + pinch of salt + pinch of rice syrup
Dress shredded veg + bean sprouts and marinate for 5-15 minutes before serving (leave at room temp)
Protein
Fish

i. The end result is finger sized pieces of fish. You can do any variety of cooking like broiling/pan cooking/frying
ii. If you have a large piece of fish, steam and then cut into fingers.
Tofu
i. Cut into 1” wide and 2” long pieces.
ii. Cook by frying/pan cooking/baking/broiling
Tempeh
i. However you like it, so long as it’s in large enough pieces.
Noodles
Cook rice noodles according to package and immediately immerse in ice water for 5-10 seconds to stop cooking.
Remove from ice water and lay on a damp paper towel.

As you can see there are alot of variations, which is great when catering to food allergies - Evan gives choices of proteins and veggies and doesn't put exact measurements because it is something each person will have to make to taste.

These goodies in the pic above are the ingredients for the marinating sauce which was so yummy, that when I first smelled it in the blender my nose tingled and I felt like I couldn't stop grinning. Mmmmmm.

Assembly:
1. Lay out lettuce/cabbage leaf and place ingredients in lower 1/3, just below the halfway point.
2.Wrap bottom over filling and roll halfway up.
3.Fold in sides, tuck and wrap to the top
4.EAT
When I got to the end, I couldn't figure out whether I was supposed to put the wraps on top the noodles or put noodles in the wraps... I ended up with them on top (maybe cause I got lazy though!) Plus, I think I don't actually know the official way to wrap- I was tucking corners into an abyss of cabbage...then they'd slowly poke back out. Could this be related to the same affliction my mom told me I had with folding clothes? :)

How rockin' does this organic dish look though!?! Thanks Evan (of the Nerditry blog) for coming up with something so awesome, and where DO the noodles go?

Wolf Spider and Some Other Beast

It's too bad the size of these bad boys gets lost in the scaling of a photograph, because they are too big 2 be true!! This must be gigantic spider season here in Western North Carolina... so enjoy the influx of creepy beautiful pictures of them. This looks like a wolf spider up top, but the bottom pic, well he's just a ferocious BEAST!

Munch Munch! xoxo

Sewing With Local Organic Cotton Part 5

Here is my latest design in local organic cotton, although it is somewhat of a copy cat from another eco designer dress that was mistakenly sent to me by a customer. I really loved the loose fabric neckline and checked out how it was made to copy the pattern, but I added sleeves, elbow patches, and made the dress very tight (for showing off curves!) I used a stretchy organic jersey cotton for this which cost $17 for two yards, but I only used approximately $10 worth for this dress. A $10 locally woven organic cotton dress is a STEAL!!!

This is the first time I have sewn sleeves, and they made me so nervous I actually had sewn one of them inside out at first and had to rip it back off and re-sew it on again. Never-the-less sleeves are not as hard as I had imagined - I just made the dress sleeveless then made two tubes which I added in after the body was finished.

To make the body of the dress, simply take your exact measurements and make a tube going up and then form a tank top sleeve line. Continue the neckline upward by keeping the fabric very wide and long, like a giant cylinder that comes almost to the end of your shoulder.
The elbow patches were something given to me by a creative friend, who had a big collection of appliques she'd collected & made. These are handmade drawings of stripper playing cards printed on fabric, and I hand sewed them on, very tightly.

Yay for local & organic!!!

Chemical Sensitivities And Giggles

If you are one of the many people who have Mutple Chemical Sensitivities you may not find it a laughing matter. You may be downright depressed and isolated... but if you are reading this you are also one of the lucky ones strong enough to tolerate being on a computer! That means you can have support, giggles, and good information at your finger tips - and that will improve the feeling of 'being crazy' that much more. That's why I love the new blog "Living With Chemical Sensitivities" by Lou Cheese. Lou's story brings uncensored humor & graphic accounts of his experience of going from a hard body weight lifter, to suddenly crashing out with MCS.

"I was diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (also called Environmental Illness and Chemical Injury) in December of 2007. Basically, my health is fine as long as I don't breathe, eat, or touch anything inorganic. My respiratory system is by far the most sensitive to pollutants, and I generally cannot leave the apartment without a respirator. I have created several coping strategies allowing me to continue with work and occasionally venture out into the realm of the sprayers (people who wear perfume or cologne), although prolonged exposure to and any type of physical contact with sprayers is extremely limited."

Many customers of The Oko Box have issues with chemicals and I am happy to provide them with eco clothing that is more easily tolerated and is stored in a chemical free environment. I do this because I am one of many people who have become the canary in the mine, for the pollution we are causing on earth. Now go check out Lou's hysterical and off the hook blog about his life with MCS !!!

Holiday Shopping = Buy Organic

You've got parties to go to, gifts to give, people to impress ... or just like to dance around your fireplace in your organic undies. The holidays are already coming and this year it is not only hip to give green but it is also part of a greater shift to change the way we treat the planet we live on. When you shop for earth friendly products you are helping the lives of fairly paid workers, the health of farmers, the well being of your family and each little creature that breathes. That is some bad ass gift giving that goes full circle, so here at The Oko Box I am offering a FREE SHIPPING coupon for the whole holiday season, just type in "okobreeze" in the coupon box at checkout!


There are fantastic holiday gifts such as the Hemp Slippers pictured here (they smell so yummy), the Hemp Shopping Bag
Alpaca Arm Warmers, Clare Bare Eco Lingerie, and adorable winter hats! Don't forget the cool Autonomie Project Sneakers in organic canvas with natural rubber soles and FSC certification... & did I mention they are vegan too!
Ladies can show your eco attitude by dressing up in swank & sexy duds like the Meadow Green Tea Dress, GDG Party Glass Dress pictured here, or Gaia Conception's Kiss Me Dress. Men, you can show your stuff in the way too sexy Organic Martingala Jean and Bello Uomo button down shirt.
Happy Shopping!

Banana Spiders Are Huge!

This is Mr. Big, not to be confused with the band... Mr. Big is a "Banana Spider" who spun a giant web in front my house making a grand display of his hugeness. If you are uneasy around spiders you will require medical attention upon sight of his web since he's the size of arachnophobic nightmares. Luckily I heart Mr. Big and he tolerated my obsessive staring.
Mr. Big is so awesome, I think I will dedicate Be With You to him ;)

Graph Jam: Abstinence Only Sex Ed

Ya'll know how I'm not into over populating the earth... this graph made me giggle :). Check out more graph humor over at Graph Jam!

Spider Eating Fly

This spider don't need no web, he just catches the fly straight up!

Grow A Fruit or Nut Tree

I confess that I have a bit of a seed saving obsession. Everytime I find seeds inside my organic fruits and veggies I feel like I struck gold...possibly this is some deep biological farmer instinct, maybe it's in my DNA, or most likely it's from reading lots of self sustained farming books. I love growing trees from seeds I save from my fruit and nuts- this little proud guy pictured here is a apple tree! I have planted bunches of trees everywhere I lived, cherries, pecans, peaches and a variety of apples. It's totally organic & easy to do: When you eat an apple, just pop out the seed and stick it in some dirt, keep the dirt moist & thinly mulched...and wait for the joy of your tree seedling to pop out! If you want to try a peach seed, then soak the hard hull in some water for a day then crack open with a nutcracker and plant the almond shaped seed loosely under the dirt. For nut trees, just stick some nuts in their shell down in the dirt (pine nuts and pecans grow really easily).
These are my favorite to plant because I know they will be giving back and feeding people later on. :)