The danger of randomly browsing NetFlix

I was cruising Netflix - the "Watch it Now" section to be exact - and I pulled up "Action and Adventure", then the subcategory "Superheroes and Comic Books".

This was among the offerings.

I haven't actually watched it, but here's the movie description:

"What would Jesus (Jonathan C. Green) do if he returned to Earth and discovered he was wildly out of touch with modern trends? Don a Spandex costume and fight sin on the streets of New York City, of course! But as always, he faces several obstacles: a disapproving Father (Don Creech); the Antichrist, in the guise of the New York City Parks Commissioner (Samuel Bruce Campbell); and the temptations of a beautiful seamstress (Celia A. Montgomery)."

Sounds pretty freakin' awesome, right? At the very least, this could make my favorite awful movies of all time list! You know, right up there with stuff like Water World and Godzilla v. Space Godzilla. (Both of which are truly amazing in a train wreck sort of way.)

The top rated customer review begins, "I'd basically describe this as good-natured blasphemy". My other favorite comments are (in order of appearance on NetFlix)...

• The low budget enhances rather than detracts from the hilarity.
• You know, overall this film is not bad. Cheesy? Yes. Funny? Yes. Religiously absurd? H--- yeah.
• ...if you want to see blasphemy that is in good taste (if that even makes sense), then you can safely watch this.
• I found Ultrachrist to be a laugh out loud good time. ...and it wasn’t even that blasphemous.
• If you dig Mel Brooks and Howard Stern, this film is up your alley. Funny thing though, you gotta know some religion to get the jokes.

Then I read this comment: "If you laugh at the trailer for this movie, you'll laugh at the movie." So, being the good YouTube-r that I am, I zipped over to watch the trailer.

...um. ... ... ... Yeah.

So, the Red Wings won today. 2-0. And did you SEE those weird powder blue Penguin uniforms? What was up with those?

Check out this new GF Magazine (and a recipe)

Ooo! I love cooking. Don't you?

I made Chicken and Rice last night, and was all proud of myself for finding a gf soup base so that I could make a cream of chicken soup and actually eat the same dinner as my family. (Whoo!) It was awesome.

But, as often happens, with a small victory comes a reminder of how things used to be. I used to be able to flip randomly and happily through cookbooks and magazines, and simply stop at what caught my eye. Then, I would just make it. So long as I knew what the ingredients were, I was golden.

I feel that I am taking a step back in that direction today. Today, Linda over at The Gluten-Free Homemaker posted some interesting links, one of which was about a new magazine: Delight GF Magazine. I looked at the pages they had available online, and I bought a subscription. I cannot WAIT for the first one to come, especially since one of the editors is the Celiac Princess.

I'll tell you how it is once I get a copy! For now, here's the recipe I promised you:


Chicken and Rice, traditional (NON-GF: see below for GF soup mix.)

1 stick butter
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of celery
2 cans water
1 package boneless chicken, 6-8 pieces (white or dark meat)
1 cup of rice

1. Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan, heat until bubbly.
2. Pour a little soup into a 13x9 baking pan, just enough to cover the bottom. Lay the chicken evenly in next, then sprinkle the rice evenly over top of the chicken. Finally, pour the remaining soup in, taking care to completely cover the rice. (If any rice is sticking out the top of the soup, it will dry out and become crunchy instead of absorbing the soup.)
3. Bake at 350 for about an 40 minutes - hour; bake longer if you want the soup to be more completely absorbed. The top will brown up and get bubbly.

**For my non-chicken eating friends: feel free to substitute! Use boneless pork (tenderloin or sirloin chops), and replace the cream of chicken with a second can of the cream of mushroom or the cream of celery soup.

**For my non-gluten eating friends: You only need to change out the soup. Baking time is the same. The soup recipe that I used was super simple, and comes from The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods book.
Cream soup base: (p.277)
1 cup milk powder (or milk powder substitute)
1 cup white rice flour
2 T dried minced onions
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t salt
3 T powdered soup base

To make the soup (makes 1 cup soup):
1. In a small saucepan, blend 3 T of the base with 1/4 cup cold water.
2. Add 1 cup water or chicken stock and cook over medium heat, stirring, until soup thickens.

NOTE: I could not find a powdered soup base, what I found was more of a paste, and I simply added 1 t of the base for each cup of soup that I was making. This particular base says "gluten free" on the front left of the label and does not require refrigeration. I found it near the spaghetti sauces. It took me forever to find it because I had no idea what I was looking for, so I thought I'd include a picture for you.

Enjoy your chicken and rice!

Shameless Self-Centered Moment!

My Uno Chicago Grill review is up now on Gluten Free in Baltimore, in case you were waiting for it....... (like me!)

Hi, John!

Time for installment 2 of this irregularly serial series! Time to meet another influential person from my life. Today's person: John.


John was my first love. (The first that I remember, anyway.)

I don't know his last name, but we went to church together at the Bible Baptist Church in Leslie. Here it is:

There are two things that I remember about John. One is that we went to church together. The other is that he liked spinach. (Who wouldn't love him, right?)

I don't know why I liked John. I don't know if he was nice, cute, polite, or any combination thereof. I just know we were in Sunday School together and he liked spinach. I know this because our Sunday School class had a party, and I took a can of spinach FOR THE PARTY because it was John's favorite.

That's dedication right there, people. Dedication. Devotion. Obsession, perhaps.

Well, that's my entire memory of John. So why does he make the list? Because that memory tells me something about myself. I was willing to do something for someone I -ahem- "loved" even though it almost surely meant that I would be ridiculed. Why? Because others' happiness is important! And if I can make someone else happy, I sure am going to try to do it.

So thanks, John. Thanks for waking that up in me. I owe you one.

My Celiac Journey -- Part III -- It was Thursday

Just beginning the series? Here’s what you’ve missed.

Part I -- The Diet Contest

Part II -- “You look allergic.”

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Thanks for the comments last week. I hope you’re enjoying my story. This episode picks up where Part II left off: Tests and more tests. What was wrong with me, anyway?

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How is it possible for life to move too fast and too slow all at the same time? It was about a month from that first Thursday visit when I met Dr. Schultz before I knew for sure what was going on with my body. The time dragged endlessly before me, but now, remembering, I can’t recall having had the time to do a thing. Where did the time go?

I had returned for my follow-up appointment. The tests had come back negative, just like they always had. Dr. Schultz was sure I that I was experiencing problems from something in my diet, and based on our conversations he decided that it was wheat that was bothering me. However, he was not sure that the wheat problem was actually an allergy.

He decided to let me try eating wheat, to judge my reaction to it. It was quite awful - all the ickiness I had been experiencing returned after just a day and a half of eating wheat. So Dr. Schultz tested me for Celiac Disease: a simple blood test would check for the two antibodies produced by those with celiac disease. It would just take a little while to run the tests. I went to the lab. The technician drew more vials of blood. It was a Thursday.

One week later, I was standing near the phone, talking with my husband, debating how long it would be before the test results came back. I had spent the week researching Celiac Disease and its effects, and I was stressed. I didn’t WANT to have an incurable auto-immune disease. (Who does, right?) At the same time, I couldn’t deny that I had many of the symptoms.

I think I was hoping for a simple allergy. We have some weird dietary allergies in my family - what was one more? I could picture us all, sitting around the table, trying to one-up each other’s allergies. Yeah.

The phone rang.

We tensed.

It was the doctor. The tests for both antibodies were positive. VERY positive. I hadn’t eaten wheat for weeks, except for two days when I added it back it to see if it would affect how I felt. Two days, and the results were super high.

I don’t know what I said on the phone. I remember the sunshine in the windows. I remember the look on Jim’s face. I remember hanging up the phone and saying, “Well! … I guess … Aw, crap.” And then I cried. I don’t remember him moving, but suddenly Jim was there and hugging me. It was going to be Ok. It was. We could do it. We could do it together. We could.

There are very few moments that are frozen in my memory. This added one more to my list.

It was Thursday.

Jealous

Oh, yes. Yes, we do. We have a two hour school delay for this:

Lookee here, all you critics! I don't care if you DO have the backing of the President! That white stuff is dangerous! It just falls from the sky and sticks to things! What if it's diseased? What if it's radioactive? What if it's something toxic that fell out of an airplane?

We. Could. All. Die.

I mean it! REALLY!! Just LOOK at the road in front of my house! It's trouble waiting to happen. It is.


You're just mad 'cause you're jealous.

I still remember how I had to walk to school in two feet of snow. And it really WAS uphill both ways. Ask anybody from Leslie. They know.

Obligations

This week, I am astounded to report a loss. After a week of being off schedule ENTIRELY, coupled with chili feasting and a pan of brownies, I actually did not gain.

Current: 175.4#
Down: .2#

PS Yes, I actually DO have to eat the whole pan. (They're gluten-free and the mix costs $6.50!)