In Memory of Don Torrance

I can't remember the last time I went over 2 weeks without updating my blog and I apologize for the lack of content. However, the past few weeks have been very tough. On Sunday, October 21st, one of the kindest, fun, caring and loving people I know was killed on his motorcycle. Don was the father of Tom and Tony Torrance and wife of the infamous Rose Torrance. This unexpected tragedy left every person that knew Don speechless. No words can describe how terrible and unfortunate this situation is. After taking the boys to the airport on Sunday afternoon, I immediately got a flight back to Michigan so I could be there for them and Rose during this hard time. Throughout the seven days I was there, we had lots of ups and downs. Don's service was extremely sad but beautifully orchestrated at the same time. Between the hundreds of hugs and silent moments, we did participate in some fun and interesting activities.

One of the first things we did was ride around in Uncle Bud's sweet 1969 Chevy Camero. Although Melanie and I were holding on for dear life, Tony reassured us that everything would be fine! The next day we ventured to the 'Poto' trail for a little mountain biking. I haven't been on a bike outside since July and wasn't exactly sure what I was in for. I knew we were in Michigan so it couldn't be THAT hard. The combination of using my mother's bike/helmet and being extremely out of shape and slow didn't make for the best of times, but I absolutely loved the trail. We are planning a spring trip back so we can all rip it up and have a big bonfire in Rose's backyard :)

 

''Registered Democrats, with guns" - Judy Freeman

The next activity we participated in was shooting guns at a gun range. Believe it or not, I've never shot any sort of gun (other than a BB gun) so I was pretty excited. Uncle Bud and Cousin Chris are very into shooting and competing so they had a whole lineup for us to play with.

We shot everything from assault rifles to hand guns to pistols to you name it. I did manage to knock down all the targets but it wasn't easy!

I had to post this photo because it's just plain funny and reminds me of Charlie's Angels. Leaving the boys and Rose on Monday afternoon was not easy but I know they are all strong individuals and will be able to get through this hard time. My thoughts and prayers go out to each of them along with all of their amazing family who welcomed us Coloradans with open arms. We couldn't have felt more at home.

Things that make me smile!

 

The past several months have been very difficult in terms of finding things that get me really excited. Work is great and I couldn't be more thankful for the amazing friends and family I have, but it's been a while since I've been happy-go-lucky about something. This past weekend was the first time I was able to get out on my dirt bike for a little bit and even catch a little air. Even though I probably rode a total of 45min with lots of breaks in between, it felt so good to finally be doing something I truly enjoy!

The next day, I walked into one of my clients' and tickets to the Nuggets/Pistons game were left on my desk. That instantly put a smile on my face :)

 The following day, there was a package from Timex at my door when I came home. It  had the purple, blue and checkered Timex 80 watches in it! I am slightly obsessed with these watches and wear them all the time so adding a few more colors to the collection was the perfect way to spark some excitement! Thanks again to everyone who has been by my side throughout this whole debacle, it means the world to me. I have been making huge progress lately so hopefully a less restricted diet and more exercise will be in my near future!!!

I'm becoming domesticated!

My attempts at gluten/dairy/yeast free cooking have been quite the scene lately! I am seriously one of the worst cooks known to mankind so trying to prepare multiple meals a day has been a huge challenge. Although I'm still not able to eat any form of sugar/honey/fruit/etc, I've been making breakfast muffins for Bryce to take to work each morning. Apparently these GF Chocolate Chip Muffins turned out okay! I'm posting a link to each of the recipes I've made in case you're motivated to try them as well :) Remember to substitute coconut milk, vegan butter and dairy free chocolate chips for the real stuff!

Not only is it extremely difficult to get through the day without having anything sweet (I'm going on 7 weeks now), it doesn't make it any easier baking treats every couple of days for my hunny. However, I did find some good dinner recipes that I was also able to enjoy - Shepherd's Pie (made with sweet potatoes) and Chicken Pot Pie (was okay but needed some coconut milk in the filling). For whatever reason, I've been craving scones more than anything the last few days so I went to town searching for a savory recipe that doesn't use any sweeteners. I came across this amazing Olive Oil and Rosemany Scone recipe (pictured above) that 97.6% satisfied my craving! Bryce loved them too which is always a plus.

And since fall is officially here, why not start the day off with some GF Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Muffins?!? They literally just came out of the oven so Bryce hasn't had a chance to give them a whirl. However, with the way the house smells right now, I'm certain they can't be too bad :) Sorry I'm doing a 180 on the everyday bike racing blogging but this is all I've got at the moment. My health is continuing to improve slowly but not quite to the point where I feel great. The short bike rides have helped stimulate some blood movement and a better mental state but 30min is still a struggle. Hopefully each week will continue on this upswing and eventually I'll be telling you how my muffins taste and then I'll stop blogging about food because I'm too busy riding! That's the goal :)

Hello Bicycle!

Guess who gets to spin her legs round and round and round?!?!? That's right, my doc has given me permission to get on my bike for 30min a day on the trainer at a very controlled pace. Since it's fall and I should be racing CX, I threw my PT road wheel on the back just so I could ride my shiny new Litespeed cyclocross rig. I can't say that the rides have been great thus far but seeing that I haven't done a lick of exercise since July, I'm excited to be simply upright and using my muscles! Hopefully this is the start of something really great :)

This week's food challenge!

So what do you eat when you can't have any of the good stuff!?!? To Bryce and I, good stuff is pizza, ice cream, muffins, savory sandwiches with cheese, nachos, cookies, cakes, etc. Unfortunately, those words/items are no longer allowed to be spoken about in our house for a while. At least until we are no longer craving them :) Since I'm still on a stricter diet than Bryce which includes zero processed foods and absolutely no sugar/fruit, I'm more of a challenge. On the other hand, we discovered some really great things that kept Bryce pretty content! Below was our first attempt to keep B free of all dairy, gluten, white potatoes, yeast and red beans:

Mon Breakfast - coconut milk chai latte, rolled oats with maple syrup and walnuts
Mon Snack - homemade GF banana bread (recipe here)
Mon Lunch - chicken stirfry with white rice and gluten free teryaki sauce
Mon Snack - carrots with homemade humms, apple
Mon Dinner - Beef shishkabobs marinated in olive oil, balsamic and random spices for the day then cooked on the grill, sweet potatoes baked and broiled to perfection in the oven

Tues Breakfast - almond milk chai latte, 2 pieces GF/Yeast Free bread with peanut butter & 1/2 banana
Tues Lunch - leftover shishkabobs and sweet potatoes
Tues Snack - Tortilla chips and salsa
Tues Dinner - Quinoa with sauteed garlic/onion and black beans/corn mixed in, plus a side of steamed broccoli with Earth Balance dairy free butter
Tues Dessert - Gluten/Dairy Free chocolate cake by Kim and Jakes (www.kimandjakescakes.com) and So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream

Wed Breakfast - almond milk chai latte, piece of GF banana bread
Wed Snack - rolled oats with maple syrup and walnuts
Wed Lunch - leftover quinoa/beans/corn/broccoli
Wed Snack - cinnamon and sugar rice cakes
Wed Dinner - Quinoa with scrambled eggs, sauteed sweet potatoes and avocado
Wed Dessert - leftover cake and ice cream

Thurs Breakfast - almond milk chai latte, rolled oats with maple syrup and half banana
Thurs Snack - piece of GF banana bread
Thurs Lunch - 2 pieces GF/Yeast free bread with turkey, homemade hummus, avocado, mustard, mayo, side of tortilla chips
Thurs Snack - apple
Thurs Dinner - Gluten free pasta with red sauce
Thurs Dessert - leftover cake and ice cream

Fri Breakfast - almond milk chai latte,  GF banana bread
Fri Snack - So Delicious Coconut vanilla yogurt with Udi's GF natual granola
Fri Lunch - leftover GF pasta and red sauce, sweet potato chips
Fri Snack - carrots and hummus
Fri Dinner - Whole foods buffet - Indian food with white rice (all gluten/dairy free)

I'm no longer the Cougar!

That's right...Bryce joined the old man's club by turning 28 yesterday! Although both of us were super busy and didn't have much time to do something really fun, he still got some cool gifts! My mom bought him a new blender (she got me a knife set for my bday), his parents gave him a hilarious card with some money and I got him a warm, puffy, lightweight Volcom jacket that he's been wanting for a while now. Since the discovery of our crazy food intolerances, he wasn't able to dig into the usual Momma Bingham cake this time around. However, his brother brought him a gluten/dairy/yeast free cake from our local cake maker with vanilla coconut ice cream! I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much better than that!

We're in for a BIG lifestyle change!

Starting out on a more positive note - Bryce got his new KTM 250 SXF this past week and took it out to the track on both Saturday and Sunday. He's absolutely in love and cannot wait to race it next weekend in Trinidad!

 

On the less positive side, Bryce discovered some significant food intolerances after taking the same food sensitivity test I did. Although I've already wrapped my head around a dairy/gluten free diet, I'm not so sure Bryce was prepared to find out all the items that ranked pretty high on his test. Let me start off with saying that Bryce lives off bread and cheese...and I'm not exaggerating one bit. His test came back with 3 out of 3 stars on the following foods: Dairy (all forms), Wheat, Gluten, Brown Rice, Yeast and White Potatoes. He's obviously not in any real danger eating these foods (as he's been eating them his whole life), however, it will be very interesting to see if his constant congestion and overall energy increases by eliminating and/or limiting most of the above items. Dairy and gluten will be easy since I have to nix them as well, but almost every breadlike alternative uses yeast/potato flour and brown rice flour! We've found one company that makes a white rice bread that is gluten and yeast free so stay tuned to see if it's at all palatable. Otherwise, prepare to be seeing a lot of new recipes showing up on my blog as learning how to eat without staple ingredients is going to be quite an adventure for the both of us :)