WARNING!! MANGO = SUMAC!!!!

I am allergic to Mangoes! It's awful! I love them but they do not love me! I think someone out there may have made a Mango Mary Voodoo doll and pricked it to pieces with a very sharp fork! Just look at my face!! That's what even touching a Mango can do to me. This has been a tricky discovery to make. I had broken out a few times (on my lips only) after eating fresh Mango. My lips would just swell up and I would look like Angelina Jolie for a couple of days and that was it. It was hard to figure out that it was the Mango because the swelling wouldn't start until about 2 days later!!!!! Also, sometimes I would drink Mango juice and nothing would happen at all.
Then.... at the end of this past December I turned into a monster for a week! One afternoon I started itching and my eyes started swelling and feeling heavy. I took a Benadryl and when I woke up the next morning I was covered in a horrible itchy rash on my face, neck, and arms. I couldn't even open my eyes! I thought that I must have gotten poison sumac from sleeping with the dogs a couple of nights before! They must have ran through a patch at the river! I had to go to the doctor. He gave me 3 prescriptions. I told him I thought it must be Poison Sumac. He said it looked like it was. I also told him I'd had a few sips of a Mango Smoothie 2 days before this all happened. He said he didn't think it was that. I didn't either.
Flash forward! Four days ago I made a fresh Mango salad. Two days ago I woke up looking like a hideous monster again with the same exact rash!!!

I went back to the doctor. He sent me away with the same three prescriptions and a referral to an allergist that I'm going to see in a few weeks.

I went home and jumped on line! I was shocked by what I read:
Mangoes are in the Sumac family!!!!!

The oil in mango sap can cause an itchy skin condition called allergic contact dermatitis.

File these under things that may give you a severe rash:

Poison ivy, poison oak and ... hold up ... mango?

Blame it on a chemical called urushiol, which is found in the oil of mango sap.

"That chemical is also found in poison oak and poison ivy, so people who have a history of reaction to poison oak and poison ivy would also react to this," said Dr. James Sweet of the Asthma, Allergy and Sinus Center of Hawaii. "They should be cautious about handling mango."

SO......... If you are allergic to poison ivy, oak, or sumac PLEASE be careful with Mangoes!! They are dangerous!!!! Get someone else to peel them for you and only eat what you know has not touched the skin at all!!!!

I'M NOT ON A DIET........

.......I'M JUST ON A HEALTHY EATING LIFE CHANGE PLAN.........

Over the last 4 years I have steadily gained 2 1/2 a year. I went up one pants size and just recently I had to go up another!!!! Not a good feeling! I haven't seen my butt a lot over the last 10 months because I haven't had much access to a full length mirror, but I saw it trying on jeans a few weeks ago and I was upset by what I saw! I decided I was going to take action! I would start walking more, and stop drinking cokes, and stop eating desert.
Well, a few days later I had 4 slices of pizza!!! 4!!!! And a coke, of course, and then split an ice cream Sunday for desert!!! I'm glad I did it though! I made me so miserable that it's what finally put me over the edge. The very next day I threw away all the crap in my frig and cupboards; I'm talking a half gallon of ice cream, a coconut cake, good crusty bread, chips, cookies! I Scattered some out for the birds and then smashed to rest of it into the trash! It felt really good.
I went to the store and bought tons of almonds, soy nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried fruits, fresh fruits out the wazoo, fresh veggies, flourless sprout bread, plain soy yogurt, and some rice. I'm restraining myself from pasta and bread (except for the sprout bread) for a while. I'm not drinking the cokes! Well, I wasn't; I finally broke last night and drank almost half a can for my desert. Cokes are my weakness! But other than that coke I have been successful in staying on the plan of eating only whole foods. When I get a sweet tooth I have been eating little pieces of super dark organic chocolate (75% Cacao)! Also, I made a mock ice cream that satisfies very well. I'll add the complete recipe later, but pretty much, it's just frozen banana, skim milk, and coconut shreds mixed with a little yogurt and dark chocolate flakes. It's amazing!
I've been making some really great tasting, nutritious soups, salads, and fish. I feel like I am going to be able to stick to this for a really long time! I'll be posting as often as possible. I am working a lot now so it might be in chunks but I really want to share these ideas so I'll do my best. Thanks!

It's been only 10 days and I have lost 4 pounds! I haven't gone hungry at all. I can eat whatever and whenever I want as long as the only foods I have around me are mostly fruits, veggies, and nuts! I need to go outside an blast those 3 cans of Coke I have left in the trunk of my car with a bazooka!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Dinner in an Airstream!

I currently live in a 200 square foot Airstream travel trailer. It's nice; flat screen tube, surround sound, wireless Internet,so don't let the small size deter anyone from minimizing and going this route, at least temporarily. I don't plan on living in this pod forever, but while I do, I'm living large! I was not about to skip having a Christmas tree this year, and I didn't skip out on a big 'ol Thanksgiving dinner either. I even went against my own tastes and made an organic free range turkey for the meat eaters. It was a nasty job, but I managed my way through cleaning the carcase... ewwwwww, the neck bone, I totally gagged. I'm glad I'll probably only have to do that about once a year.
My counter space is about 1 foot wide. There are 3 burners on the stove, and the oven is a baby. Somehow it was still fun, and not too hard to pull off making a turkey, sweet potato casserole, homemade stuffing, rolls, and an apple salad. I won't bore you with the recipes, I know everyone has their own special family dishes, I just wanted to include some pics. :>

Cilantro Tortilla Soup with White Beans

This soup takes less than 7 minutes to make. It's has lots of texture and is very flavorful with it's tangy twist! It's good for you too.

What you'll need:
1/2 a bunch of cilantro (stems included)
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable stock
1 can drained and rinsed white beans
1/2 tbl spoon brown sugar
1 lemon cut into wedges
sour cream
cayenne pepper
whole grain tortilla chips


First, throw your cilantro, tomato, brown sugar, and vegetable stock in the blender and puree. The color of this soup is a little strange but it tastes amazing so just go with it; the garnishes will dress it up.

Pour your puree into a pot and add the beans and the juice of 2 lime wedges. Bring it to a boil.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a pinch of cayenne, a twisted wedge of lemon, and a sprig of cilantro. Add some whole grain tortilla chips for a lightly salted crunch. That's it, you're done! Someone might think your having a Bloody Mary for lunch!
Delicious, healthy, and easy to make! Enjoy.
--
Mary Killmon

Good Grief Green Sauce

This sauce rocks! It's a variation on a Mexican recipe that uses avocados, but since avocados are rarely ripe these days, and they are expensive; I decided to use green peas in their place. It works well. I glop this sauce on salads, burritos, fresh veggies sticks, bread, crackers, chili, whatever; it's that good! Last week I had to make 2 batches.

Here's what you'll need

1 large, or 2 small tomatillos
1/4 cup frozen green peas
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper
1/4 bunch of cilantro (giant hand full stems and all)
1/2 cup sour cream
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Peal any of the green papery stuff off of the tomatillo and core it, then drop it in boiling water for about 7 minutes.

While the tomatillo is boiling put everything else in a blender.

When the tomatillo is done run it under cool water for a few minutes and then cut it up into chunks and throw it in the blender too.

Pulverize all ingredients into a nice green sauce.

Eat on everything!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Tomato Basil Soup

This soup is quick and easy! It's really good and so much better tasting, and better for you than anything out of a can so next time you're craving a grilled cheese with tomato soup, try this recipe! Hope you'll love it. I do. :>

1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 red pepper diced
1 tbs basil
1/4 tbs chili powder
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs spoon butter
1/2 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a pot and simmer at a medium boil for about 10 minutes.
Puree in the blender.
Garnish with sour cream and cilantro.
Serve with grilled cheese!

"Got No Pancake Mix Pancakes" or they could be called "Healthy Whole Wheat French Toast Cakes"

I really wanted pancakes for breakfast this morning but I was way too cozy, and way too  unpresentable to go out in public. Wearing my Saturday Morning Sweat Suit with my hair on top my head like pile of rejected yellow cotton candy, I decided I should probably stay in and make the pancakes myself. There was only one problem... no pancake mix! Oh, and no flour either. WOMP! Well, I did see some eggs hiding in the back of the frig and a loaf of whole wheat bread, so maybe I could make some french toast. And there was about an 8th of a bottle of syrup left from last winter (syrup is like honey right, never goes bad), so the comfort breakfast I was craving was looking possible after all. But I don't really like French Toast very much. I can usually taste the egginess on the bread. I hate eggs. I will eat them cooked in recipes but that's it. Eggs are sorta my kryptonite. My best friend Kate knows this. Once when we were way too old to be playing that blind taste test game, you know the one, someone gets to sit blind folded and wait while one of their so called good friends runs off to the kitchen (hopefully) to concoct something heinous. They bring the mystery slop back in a giant spoon and laugh their asses off while they airplane it into your mouth! Kate was nice enough to mix my least favorite food in the world, a raw egg, with dog food and then had the nerve to say "open wide"! I retched, and any tolerance I'd built up for the taste of eggs was completely lost! That's how even French Toast became too much! So, French Toast was out... what now, I want some dang pancakes!!!
Improvising, sometimes it works... sometimes it's a disaster, luckily this morning improvising was a success. I made pancakes out of the ingredients for French Toast and it worked! The eggs were disguised well within the cakes, no metallic, sulfuric, weirdness, just satisfaction!  Healthier than regular pancakes too! Hope you'll try these.

for the batter:
5 pieces of 100%  whole wheat bread (use up your end pieces) cut into cubes about 2 inch square
3 medium eggs
1/4 cup milk to start. add more slowly to the batter to get your desired pancake batter consistency
1/4 cup kefir if you have it, or buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt will work. if you don't have any of those just use less milk

for topping:
flax seeds
butter
syrup

Put all of your batter ingredients into a blender and pulverize, adding more milk if needed to get the right thickness for your batter. I like my batter to be a little bit runny but not too much, kind of like melted ice cream.

Pour out your cakes in a wide pan set to med/low heat, sprinkle on your flax seeds, and flip 'em when the middle starts to bubble up nicely

Plate them, butter them, drizzle them with syrup! Now you have pancakes, healthy pancakes, and you didn't have to run to the store for mix; or go out in public and run into someone you know looking like a walking hang-over! Hooray!

--
Mary Killmon