Exhibition Game #1

Yesterday was the teams first exhibition game and the first time to really play together. As Levi mentioned, they had only had a few days of basketball practice as a team before this game. They played a second division team so the competition wasn't particularly strong. Still they played really well and won 70-50. Levi had an awesome game! He started and played most of the game. He is really the main shooting guard with not a very clear backup so it seems as though he will play a lot this year :)

Since nearly everyone on the team is married or has a girlfriend, I had lots of people to sit with which was a nice change from last year! Some of them have kids too so there was lots of activity :) The stadium is pretty small, maybe 2,500 seats, and old. We've heard the fans are really loud and that's totally understandable because the seats are really close to the court and go up at a pretty steep angle so everyone is really packed in there. This game was closed to the public so it was pretty quiet. It was also closed to the media so you all get an exclusive look at the game ;)

I took a short video and just happen to record a possession where Levi scored. I'm not very good at knowing Levi's stats and he doesn't remember exact numbers but he scored somewhere around16-20 pts. He had a couple jump shots, a layup, and maybe 4 threes. He had a really good time and has really enjoyed playing with the other American point guard, Todd Abernethy. They are also Christians so we really like to spend time with them outside of basketball as well. So overall the game was successful and I brought some treats for everyone (plum crumble bars).

Ok, sorry. I was pretty proud of my bars. I'll post about them later. Here's the video.

It seems like the team plays pretty well together and all get along on and off the court. After the game, a bunch of the players & families went out to get pizza (no, they don't have GF pizza but I brought a granola bar). It was really fun to hang out with all of them. 1 Israeli player, 2 Polish players, and 3 Americans. All of them speak English so it's been fun to have more of a community this year.

So the game was fun and hopefully we'll be a winning team this year! The next exhibition game is Sunday so we'll have some more pics/videos soon.  Scratch that, the game is 2 hours away and we don't have a car yet so you'll have to check the team website for photos if they take any.

Maura

Time to talk hoops!

Hi everybody! It's Levi posting this time as I have been informed that it's my turn to write a blog post after several from Maura :) So for any of you who want to hear a little more about the basketball side of things this one's for you! So after we arrived in Slupsk on Sunday evening (Aug 12th), we didn't have much time to get used to the time change or get over the jet lag, as the team had to get up at 6:30am Monday morning for bloodwork and physicals. This was followed by evening training at "the stadium" as we call it here, which is not the stadium where we will play games, but a track and field training facility with indoor running lanes, weight room, and an outdoor track. It's tucked back in the woods in the outskirts of Slupsk and is actually a really nice facility where some Polish track and field athletes train for national competitions and the Olympics.

So for the following week we didn't do any practicing on the court, it was all running, lifting, agility drills, plyometrics, etc to get everyone in good enough shape to practice and develop a good strength and conditioning base for the year. I was pleased with the quality of the training and our strength coach does a good job. I would love to have at least been in the gym a couple times to shoot and dribble a little bit during this time, but its a long season so we have plenty of time to get our shots on target for our first regular season game on September 29th. After this week of training, we finally started to practice in the gym and I got to see how our team looked on the court for the first time. So far I am pleased to see that the work ethic and attitude of all of our guys is really good and we have no bad attitude players or selfish guys. We have a lot of guys who have played professionally for a while and I think we will understand what it takes to win and become a good team. Most of the guys on the team have a girlfriend, fiance, or wife so this will really help to have some friends for Maura to hang out with while we go on some long bus rides to away games across Poland. The practices themselves have been productive; putting in offenses and some set plays has been the focus so far because we play our first exhibition game tomorrow (Aug 30th) here in Slupsk! I'm anxious to see how we do, but I can imagine the first exhibition game could get a little sloppy because everyone's nerves will be high. But, the game is closed to the public so it shouldn't get too crazy (I've heard the fans here are some of the best in Poland and the gym gets LOUD). The gym is pretty small and seats just a couple thousand people, but the seats go straight up and surround the floor so I can imagine with the place packed it will feel like the fans are right on the court! Our team seems to be put together nicely with a couple solid guys at each position, so I think we will have a deep rotation and get good use out of the bench. Everyone's roles have yet to be set in stone after just a week of practice, but we have several guys who can shoot the ball and point guards who can push the ball quickly in transition, so expect an exciting style of play!

Our preseason schedule will make the next month of preparation go by fast with games on Aug 30th, Sept 2nd, Sept 6th, Sept 9th, and two different two game tournaments the weekends of Sept 15-16th and Sept 22-23rd. None of these games count toward the regular season record but I think this many games will get us right where we need to be to start the season off strong.

Our regular season schedule is posted below so take a look! Only the first 22 games are scheduled right now...there are 12 teams in the league and we play everyone twice (home and away) in the first round of the league. After this, the teams are ranked 1st through 12th. The top 6 teams will play each other twice more, home and away. The bottom 6 teams will also play each other twice more. After these 10 games which take place in March and April, the initial top 6 teams from round 1 will automatically make the playoffs, and the top two finishers from the bottom half of the league will be added to the mix for an 8 team traditional playoff. The playoffs consist of best of 5 series and start in May and end in mid June if we are to make the finals.

Stay tune to our blog and Maura's facebook page for more pictures of Slupsk, our apartment, the stadium where will we will play called "Gryfia", and there's sure to be lots of game pictures once we start up the season. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free to comment and ask any questions about things I forgot to mention. God bless!

-Levi



 

Dairy-Free Basil Pesto

Hi everyone!

Cooking is in full swing these days. I've already given the team their first batch of cookies, made 3 loaves of zucchini bread, homemade granola as well as some yummy dinners. I'll be posting some baking recipes soon too but for now another dinner.

Since everything here is about 50% cheaper than the US, it helps me not feel guilty when I buy lots of ingredients that sometimes can be expensive. Thus I decided to buy some fresh herb plants. Basil, thyme, and rosemary. Honestly they are the less expensive way to buy fresh herbs so I think everybody should have a fresh herb garden. Mine have been doing really well, particularly the basil. Making pesto was really the only way to remedy this problem. And I love pesto. But the problem with typical pesto was the parmesean. So I did some internet searching and found a dairy free pesto recipe. I found a great recipe but was equally excited about the website it was on: www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com. This mom cooks all kinds of things without common allergens. Her son is gluten and dairy free so that's pretty helpful for me :) I'm trying the dairy free ranch dressing today! Anyway, here is the pesto recipe. I tweeked it just a bit based on what I have...

Dairy-Free Basil Pesto

2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves, packed

1/3 cup Walnuts

3 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-1/2 tsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice

3/4 tsp Sea Salt

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the basil leaves with the walnuts, lemon juice and sea salt. Pulse a few times until mixture is reduced in volume and the mixture is well incorporated.
2. Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.
3. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the blender or food processor is running, stop to scrap down the sides with a spatula.
4. Taste.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed. Mine needed more salt.
5. Add to any style of Gluten Free pasta (here I found the Sam Mills brand), toss, and top with chicken!

Because cheese might be my favorite food, I added some parmesean to mine :) This was delicious so go buy a basil plant, haha.

Maura

All you basketball fans, don't worry we'll have lots of things to post about that when the season starts. Only 2 days till the first exhibition game! We have the schedule finally so I'll post that too.

Kielbasa Casserole!

The first thing you'll notice about Polish grocery stores is all the sausage! Kielbasa (polish sausage) is EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately most brands are not gluten free. However, after reading just about every sausage label in the store, we discovered one! It doesn't specifically say it is gluten free but it did list the allergens and gluten was not one of them. So we sort of gambled with this one but I ate this casserole 3 different times (dinner and two leftover lunches) and never felt a thing. Like I mentioned before the brand is Nowak and we found it in Slupsk at E.Leclerc.

I found this recipe online on the Taste of Home website after Levi mentioned we should make more casseroles. It is officially termed Three-Cheese Kielbasa Bake. Obviously this is not a dairy free recipe but Levi was ok taking a few lactase pills :) 

Here's how delicious it looked...

Sometimes I make something and I'm entirely unsure if it will be good or not. Not this time. I knew right when I put it in the oven it was gonna be so good. We had one of Levi's teammates over (a 6'-10" basketball center) and there were plenty of leftovers so this is a great meal to have with company. I'm sure kids would love this too!

Ok, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

12 z uncooked fusilli2 pounds kielbasa, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced
2 medium carrots, grated
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce - I use homemade which is about 3 1/4 cups
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 carton (15 oz) ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups (8 oz) part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Cook fusilli according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage in oil over medium heat; drain. Add the onions, zucchini, carrots and garlic; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Drain pasta.
3. In each of two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes, layer half of the pasta and meat sauce. Combine egg and ricotta cheese; spoon half over sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheddar and mozzarella. Repeat. Top with green onions.
4. Cool one casserole; cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
5. To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

I made just 1 casserole so I split all these quantities in half. That was enough to feed 6-8 hungry people. I will say this recipe is fairly labor intensive. Not hard, just a lot of prep-work. Make sure to have all your ingredients cut, shredded, chopped, beaten, etc. ahead of time and it will be a lot easier. It also originally said to layer everything 4 times! I felt like this was a little overkill and two was enough to distribute all the ingredients well.

I don't think people in Poland really eat this but it was a good way for us to ease into Polish food :) I hope you like it!

Maura

Ustka - trip to the Baltic Sea

Levi had the morning off from practice, and since the hot days of summer in Poland are few and far between,  we decided to see what a Polish beach was like.  A 20 minute train ride from Slupsk is Ustka. It's a cute little coastal town that's pretty touristy in summer. The beach is soft, white sand and absolutely PACKED with people! We experienced this same thing in Mallorca in August as this is the month many Europeans are on vacation.

It was about 82 degrees outside but the water was about 55 degrees. We jumped in but it felt more like the type of water Levi uses to ice his legs after practice. We walked around a little and glanced at all the souvenirs people were selling.  Levi found a delicious lunch of kielbasa and potatoes.  I brought a sandwich since hoping a little town like this will have food for me is a bad idea. Most kielbasa (typical Polish sausage) has gluten in it (or traces of it). However, we did successfully find some gluten free kielbasa! The brand is Nowak and we found it at a store called E.Leclerc. I'll be posting a recipe soon that I made with it :)

 

The town is cute but there's really not much to do unless you wanna lay on the beach or go shopping. So we stayed a few hours and headed home. A small but fun adventure :)

Maura & Levi

Thai Coconut Cilantro Chicken

Hi! Now that we've been able to explore a little and had time to collect some ingredients, I've been able to make some new recipes! Since Levi has recently discovered he is lactose intolerant (just a couple more ingredients I can't use...) I've been excited to learn about coconut milk. A pleasant surprise has been that they have some in nearly every grocery store here. They must like Asian food because I have already discovered gluten free soy sauce which I was a little worried about.

I have had this chicken recipe in one of my trusty GF cookbooks - Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking by Kelli & Peter Bronski. I'll have much more to say about this book in later posts but for now we'll stick to the chicken.

I'll admit this picture isn't very exciting. But the sauce was delicious! For any you who are dairy free, this is a great one to try. Here is the recipe:

Thai Coconut-Cilantro Chicken
14 oz. can of coconut milk
1/4 cup tamari wheat-free soy sauce (I have only found the Kikoman brand overseas)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
4 garlic cloves
2 jalapeno chile peppers, seeded (unfortunately I had to use jarred because I couldn't find fresh ones)
2 tbsps chopped fresh ginger (I used powdered at the time, 1/4 tsp, but have since discovered fresh)
Grated zest and juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp brown sugar (European kinds are very granulated and don't pack at all but the results are similar)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1. Combine coconut milk, soy sauce, cilantro, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, lime zest and juice, and brown sugar in a food processor and blend until smooth. I have an immersion blender so I just put it all in a big bowl and blended it up.

2. Transfer the sauce to a shallow dish, add the chicken, and turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

3. Here the recipe calls to grill the chicken, which would be delicious I'm sure. Of course we don't have a grill so I boiled the chicken  for about 15-20 minutes or until the inside is no longer pink. If you do have a grill, heat it to medium-high and cook for about 8-10 minutes on each side. Baste the chicken with the sauce as it cooks.

4. If grilling, take the remaining sauce and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cook for 4 minutes. If you do what I did, you end up boiling the sauce with the chicken so it's already good to go. Serve the sauce with the chicken.

This was great served over brown rice and adding a few sauteed peppers and onions would be really good. Hope you like it!

~Maura


*As an aside, I'm going to try to post what ingredients I find and where I find them so if anyone else with Celiacs finds themselves in Slupsk, Poland they'll have some guidelines. This will only be for specifically gluten free items.*

Arriving in Polska!

Dzien Dobry!

We arrived in Poland on the 12th and despite being a long trip it was exponentially less stressful than last time. The first time is definitely the hardest. There are so many initial expectations that are broken and a steep learning curve. Time two has been much less of a shock and much more of an adventure. We arrived mid-afternoon on Sunday and, after successfully getting all our bags, took a two hour bus ride from Gdansk to Slupsk (pronounced sw-oop-sk). We had the chance to meet on of Levi's teammate and his wife and kids on the way over as they were on the same flight. It will be a huge blessing to have them around, particularly when the team travels. Our apartment is small but very modern and nice. The area around us is residential and very safe. A huge plus, for me especially, is there are grocery stores within 100 yards of our apartment! Slupsk is a much bigger town than what we're used to (100,000 people vs. 50,000 in Huesca). There is a mall, a movie theater with American movies in English, and tons of other stores and restaurants.

Since we arrived, Levi has had several physicals/medical tests as well as starting training with the team. He will have several exhibition games throughout August and September including some tournaments. They are still unsure of what the schedule will be for this season as a few teams are trying to scrape up enough money to be in the league. As soon as the schedule is posted we will let you all know so you can start planning your trips to come visit ;) You can always check the team website for any information also. Just click the team icon below. They have already uploaded some pictures of their conditioning so it's worth a look.

As with any of our moving processes, our first order of business is to clean. The typical apartment they give players is the same from year to year and incidentally no one is as clean as Levi and I. So before we unpack we have a whole house deep clean. We are also in the process of rearranging the furniture (to optimize our space and make it look better) so our bags have yet to fully be unpacked. Today is a holiday (feast day of the assumption of Mary - Polish people are very catholic) so Levi has the morning off and we will be able to finish setting up.

So far the food situation is going ok. It's definitely not as easy to read labels and thus a lot of things we buy and translate later. We are really missing our Spanish grocery store that clearly labeled things "sin gluten". We have found a few things that I was relieved to discover including gluten free soy sauce, oatmeal, and pasta. I have found an address for a specialty store online so we will be going there as soon as stores open back up tomorrow. Luckily I brought some of my own flour to hold us over, but that will be the most important thing to find. We are also still collecting all the staple ingredients so meals won't be too exciting the next couple days. I'm hoping to post a lot more about my recipes this year so stay tuned if you're interested.

We hope all is well at home! We have internet here so we will be on Facebook and Skype. We have not gotten phone service yet, but as soon as we do we'll have Skype on 24/7. Talk to you all soon!

Maura & Levi