The "anti-diet"

Day One --

A good friend told me about this cool book she started reading and I was instantly intrigued.  The idea is that the foods we eat react with our individual body chemistry and even some of the "healthy" foods can cause inflammation -- which in turn causes all sorts of disease.  Suffering from an auto-immune disease, inflammation is second nature to me, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was so interested, I got the book on Kindle and then the next day went out and bought the actual hold in your hands copy :-)  I just can't seem to get the hang of finding what I want on the Kindle, no flipping through the pages.  Did a lot of reading, got some of the foods and yesterday actually started "the plan."  Did I say how awesome it is that Kevin agreed to do it with me!!!!

Here's the link if you're interested -- The Plan

So day one starts with weighing yourself (on a digital scale), drinking 16 oz of water and taking a liver detox supplement.  Then 45 minutes later, it's breakfast time!!  Flax granola (just flax, water, cinnamon, and vanilla) with blueberries and unsweetened coconut milk.  Lunch was pretty good - carrot ginger soup, steamed broccoli with orange oil, and mixed greens with a diced pear.  Snack -- finally something normal, just an apple.  Supper was steamed kale with a turmeric coconut sauce and shredded beet carrot salad with pumpkin seeds.

I honestly thought the beet/carrot salad was going to be the hardest thing to eat with the kale coming in a close second -- was I ever wrong.  Both were delicious!!! Breakfast was by far the hardest thing to get down.  Luckily, in a few days I can switch that up a bit.

Good news is that I didn't feel hungry, didn't have any cravings and am down 1.2 lbs. 

Chemically Dependant and Proud!!

It's been quite a while since I posted --life has been crazy crazy.  Lots of things happening on campus and in life, although none of them are worth writing about :-)

One of the major things is that I finally went to the Dr.  didn't get a lot of answers that I wanted, but still all the same I ended up with an anti-depressant.  Not the first time I've taken them.  Shortly after Hannah was born I went through major post-partum issues and they really helped.  In the 9 yrs since then I've taken them once, but only for six months or so. 

I finally decided that my kids deserved a better mom.  Not that I was a crying, despondent person, but I had absolutely reached the end of my rope.  I had no patience and was constantly on edge, so I asked my dr. for a little chemical help.  Within a week it had made a huge difference and continues to do so.  It's been about six weeks and I continue to get better and better.

And now comes the soap-box part !!  I hate that our society and I think more specifically our church frowns on such things.  If you tell someone you're depressed you get this weird response.  Some of the older generation go so far as to say that "you're relationship with God must not be all that is should be" or that "if you have enough faith in God, you wouldn't have problems."  This really really bothers me!!!  I feel that it's just as much of a chemical imbalance as someone who needs insulin or heart medication, etc....

So I'm proud to say, I'm a better person with meds and at this point will continue them for as long as needed.  My family deserves the best me I can be and I'm a valuable enough person that I should feel the best I can.

Mexican Tomato-Bean Soup

Every once in a while I get totally bored with cooking the same thing over and over again and decide to look through the multitude of cookbooks (seriously, I'm addicted to them -- have way too many and all with beautiful pictures! - that's a requirement) and find something new to fix, knowing full well that my family will revolt!!

Today was no different.  I've been extremely sick for the past two weeks and have finally started eating and so was craving something different, but yet with the healthy stuff that helps with colds and flu bugs -- you know, lots of yummy garlic and onion and not creamy milk stuff :-)

So I started looking through the cookbooks and came across this soup recipe -- amazingly enough I had EVERYTHING I needed in my kitchen, except the cheese.  Plus it looked really good and I thought the kids might like the dumplings.  It comes from  "Cooking Light - way to cook vegetarian."  I actually followed this recipe almost exactly -- trust me that's a big deal at my house!!  The only thing I changed was because I didn't have vegetable stock, I used half vegetarian chicken and half vegetarian beef seasonings to make the stock.  Other than that -- to the letter :-) Well, sort of -- I didn't exactly measure the oil, onion, or garlic -- I just chopped and dumped!

Soup -- 

2 tsps olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion ( I used a medium sized onion)
2 tsps minced garlic ( I used two cloves)
2 tsps chili powder (yes, I used the whole 2 tsps. and it wasn't extremely spicy, just a little)
2 cups vegetable broth (I used 2 c water, 1 tsp chicken seasoning, 1 tsp beef seasoning)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (15oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5oz) canned diced tomatoes, undrained

Dumplings --
1/3 cup masa harina (or cornmeal)
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp hot hot water
1 tsp olive oil

Remaining ingredients --
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 c. crumbled queso fresco

Soup -- heat olive oil in a large sized dutch oven or soup pot, add onion and saute 3 minutes or until tender.  Add chili powder and garlic, saute 30 seconds, add broth and remaining soup ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Dumplings -- combine masa harina and salt in a bowl.  Add hot water and oil, stir until a dry dough forms - you may need to add just a touch more water.  Divide dough into 24 pieces, shaping each into a ball, a little smaller than the size of a cherry. Put balls on a plate until all are formed, that way you can drop them into the simmering soup all at a time.  Cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes.  The dumplings will float when they are done.

Ladle soup into bowls (recipes says 4 one cup servings), sprinkle a little cilantro and cheese on top and then squeeze a lime wedge before serving.

215 Calories per serving

Things I would do differently -- the consistency is pretty thin  - I would take 2/3 of the tomatoes and whiz them up in the blender before adding to the soup.  I would also double the dumplings -- my pot was big enough around to cook all at once, although I only made a single batch to start and after everyone had been served, I put the soup back on the stove and added another batch of dumplings :-)  I might also cut back on the oregano just a little -- it wasn't overpowering, but it was a little strong for my liking - I'm not a big fan.

Other than that -- this was a keeper.   I really like the chickpeas in it - something a little different than black beans or pintos that are more traditionally mexican.

It really doesn't need bread or crackers because of the dumplings, or chips and salsa because that's kind of what the soup is with the tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  I would think a nice green salad would go nicely, or even a pineapple/carrot/orange or a citrus style salad would be nice.

 

PS -- the cilantro and lime really make this awesome - the cheese too, but I could do without it. Definitely don't skip the lime or cilantro!  Even if it's just a little bit.

Thought Processing

I have had, like most people, an extremely busy last few days, but in the midst of it, I have had a lot to process.  Nothing major or even affecting our family, but some issues that I have been involved in and needed to help with the resolution process.  Just got my brain working.  This has been keeping me up at night and driving me crazy :-)  So, I decided to do something worthwhile during the whole processing time -- and sure enough - it worked.  Here are the results of my processing!!

I was asked to make an angel watch and once it was done, I went ahead and made these angel earrings -- don't know why I like making earrings so much, I don't even have my ears pierced :-)

 

 



 

I love cloisonne beads and these butterflies are so bright -- I just love how the combination of the peachy tan, green and blue beads work together with just a pop of red.

 

 

Lately, I've noticed that I don't have a neutral watch, so decided to put together this black and white one - plus I was finally able to find the white shell beads.  I just love how the black streaks through them.

 



I love snow!!  We have had nothing but clear weather -- when it's cold, it's not wet, when it's wet, it's not cold.  I made this watch while seeing the rain come down, wishing it were snow.

 



 This Christmas lights watch is totally different and I'm not sure I like it.  The watch band is clear and green and the lights hang off, sort of like a charm bracelet.

 

 I have had these pink and black foil beads for a while and finally took the chance to put them together - I love the black face with them.  A little chunkier than what I normally make, but cool all the same.  I'm also thrilled with the little round black metal beads -- they almost look like they have rhinestones on them.

 

 

 I love the color combo of this watch and almost wish it wasn't on a Santa face, although that's what makes the present charms work.  It's fun and quirky - I call it "Naughty or Nice?"

 

 

 Pastel Angels is a custom order -- if you look closely you can see the angel on either side of the face, starting with a blue swarovski crystal head and ending with a blue foil bead.  There's also a delicate angel charm on the side.

 

 

I picked up two of these pink and purple beads and thought the silver tulip beads were perfect with them. 

New Things I Love

I don't normally endorse products -- there are lots of different ones out there and I feel it's totally a matter of taste -- but this time there are three things that I have discovered this holiday season that I absolutely LOVE!!

The first one I discovered at my mom's over Thanksgiving and hunted high and low for it when I came home, with NO LUCK!!  So, I called her and asked if she would bring me a couple of packages (which I managed to make last from Thanksgiving day until today)  Now, I'm sad because they are all gone and I can't find them in any local grocery store!!

Luckily there is still some of this left in the freezer and I did find it local.

And finally the one treat I indulge in when I just need a little something -- these are so rich and decadent -- Oh, I'm totally in love with this sweet treat.

These are so AWESOME!!!  I hope I can find them year round :-)

More Creations

It's been crazy busy around here -- all sorts of Christmas prep going on, but I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I've been doing.

A friend saw these on pinterest and fell in love -- I offered to make them for her and subsequently have ended up making 4 more pair :-)

My mom was making these over Thanksgiving and I thought I'd give them a try -- a fun sassy scarf!

And last, but certainly not least -- I was asked to make a butterfly watch and put together these two for the customer to choose from.  Amazing how the same theme can end up with two totally different looks.

That's all folks -- enjoy your day!!

Not for the Picky Eater

I don't know about you, but I get so tired of catering to the picky eaters in my house.  They won't eat this and they won't eat that, and for sure if you mix these two together, absolutely not.  It's too cheesy, it's too spicy, it's too whatever..... the list goes on and on.

So tonight, I decided to do something different.  I found a copy-cat recipe for Olive Garden's chicken and gnocchi soup and decided to try it.  Looked at the recipe and then went out on my own - what else is new??

Here's an approximation of what I used

glop of oil
2 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp flour

1 can evaporated milk
1 c water

1 c shredded carrots
1 package of gnocchi
3 pieces of fri-chik

sprinkle of thyme, nutmeg and cayenne

1 tsp. powdered chicken seasoning

Couple handfuls of baby spinach

I put the onions, celery, and garlic in a pan to saute and soften -- while they were cooking I put on a pot of water for the gnocchi.

Once the veggies were soft, I added the flour and cooked it out for a couple of minutes, added the milk and water and whisked until smooth.

Meanwhile the gnocchi is cooking away -- when it was done I roughly drained it and added it along with the carrot and the fri-chik to the pot. 

Tasted and add the seasonings -- tasted again and added the chicken seasoning.  The gnocchi thickened it up nicely, so I added a bit of water and turned up so it was almost boiling -- not quite, didn't want to curdle the milk :-)  While it was getting warm, I roughly chopped the spinach and added it to the pot, left it in just enough to wilt it -- it was still a pretty green color and not stringy and nasty!!  (Before I added the spinach I took some out for the girls)

 (not my picture, but there wasn't any left and I forgot to take picture before it was gone)

 

 

It turned out pretty good -- next time I won't add the chicken and would probably not finely shred the carrots -- they turned the soup into "cream of carrot" which wasn't bad, just turned it a little orange.  Anyway, next time, I would largely shred them and put them in just before I put in the flour, just enough to soften them, but leave whole strips.

 

All in all -- for a throw together, it turned out pretty good!!  The girls tasted it -- Hannah liked it, especially the gnocchi -- Rachel ate it.