Scallop and Broccolini Risotto

Sometimes...I impress myself.

Like, take last Wednesday night for example.  First of all, it's a Wednesday night, so there's that.  Second of all, I'm like tired after work on Wednesdays, guys!

But, let me back up a little bit, because before Wednesday night there was Monday night, which as we all know is way worse than Wednesday night (because at least Wednesday night is Hump Day and also there's Big Brother).  On Monday night I thawed a frozen package of scallops from Costco in the refrigerator.  This is usually pretty much how I guarantee to myself that I will not be lazy at some point later in the week, because the guilt of having something thawing in my fridge sits in my mind all day long.

Pesto Edamame Salad

It's officially Day 20 of being gluten-free, and I am even starting to annoy myself with how many times per day I say the words, 'gluten-free.'  Sometimes, in an effort to be less annoying, I shorten it to just 'GF,' but I think it's had a reverse effect.  But on here, my food blog, I am uninhibited, unencumbered, and I can say the words again and again!!!  Gluten-free, gluten-free, GF!!!

So far, so good with the diet.  There are so many great GF products out there these days, that I'm really not finding it so hard to cut it out.  

In case you are wondering, the migraines went like this over the past 19 days:  

The 1-2-3-4-5 Caesar

The 1-2-3-4-5 Caesar!

What more could a good Canadian kid (over the age of 19) want on a hot long weekend summer day?

For those non-Canucks who may not be as familiar with this cocktail, I will let you into the club.  A Caesar is a tasty mixture of Mott's Clamato juice (tomato juice mixed with clam nectar and seasonings), vodka, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and spices, garnished with a spicy bean, celery-salted rim, and a lime.  No, no no no, it is nothing like the Bloody Mary.  A Bloody Mary is thick and tomato-soup like, and a Caesar is like a fairy princess magical unicorn ride.

This drink happily sits on the cocktail menu of every restaurant and bar in Canada, and I have noticed lately that this little Canadian gem may be working its way into the hearts of Americans. While you could never ever find Clamato juice in the USA a couple of years ago, now they even sell it by the warehouse pack at the Costcos across the border.   I also was able to enjoy a couple of Caesars on our Mediterranean cruise, which made me very, very happy.  Back in Canada, I saw a 'Caesar Starter Kit' at the grocery store the other day...awesome!!  At the liquor store last night I noticed that there are now four brands of pre-made Caesar coolers on the market, and picked up the Franks Red Hot Sauce version for a camping trip this weekend.

While the Caesar is Canada's cocktail, even a proud Canuck might be wondering what exactly the 1-2-3-4-5 Caesar is.  Well, I'm glad you asked!

Quinoa (Mac) 'n Cheese

I haven't mentioned this before, but I suffer from really chronic migraine headaches.  The people who know me well are thinking to themselves right now, "actually yeah, you've mentioned that like, I dunno, a trillion times," but what I meant was that I've never mentioned it on here.  

These migraine headaches have been going on since I was in my late teens or early 20's.  It sucks.  And I have tried everything, and I mean everything, to try to find a cure for these things.  Here is the list of everything that I have experimented with:

*Various medications
*Acupuncture
*Physiotherapy
*Chiropractic treatment
*Massage therapy
*Craniosacral therapy (weeeeeird)
*Sessions with at least two or three different naturopathic doctors
*Supplements
*Aromatherapy
*All sorts of tests on my head to make sure I'm ok
*Using a netty pot.  Yep.
*Food sensitivity testing
*Blood tests
*Food eliminations, including cutting out dairy, sugar, garlic, wine, etc.
*Botox injections into forehead (for real)
*Best Doctors service
*Ophthalmologist visits
*Laser eye surgery
*Regular exercise (for a short period of time in my life anyway)
*Bikram yoga
*Neurologist visits
*Headache Specialist visits
*Hours of research
*And, I'm sure, there's stuff that I'm forgetting too.

It's been an interesting and frustrating experience, and I unfortunately haven't had success with any of these treatments.  Sigh.  Craniosacral therapy, by the way, is a total crock (in my opinion).  Also, did you know that there are migraine drugs on the market that cause rapid (as in I dropped 20 pounds in a little over a month) weight loss, but the second side effect is that they also make you really, really, really dumb while you are taking them.  So stupid that you can't even formulate sentences properly, but don't even notice (is it ironic that this sentence here is technically poorly constructed?).  We called that time in my life my 'supermodel' period because I was also trying out the Botox injections to see if those would help, so I was skinny, without forehead wrinkles, and dumb.  It was kind of fun.