Goals for This Week (July 29)

This week just flew by!  Here were my goals for last week:

Spiritual

1)  Have a daily quiet time, even if it's only 10-15 minutes.  (Didn't make it, need a plan to make it!)

Relational

2)  Begin re-reading Love & Respect.
3)  Call a friend.
4)  Set up a play date.

Health

5)  Follow the Paleo diet.
6)  Exercise 3 times.  (Got plenty with the kids, but nothing formal)


I can definitely see where I need to focus my energies!  Let's try again for next week!


Spiritual

1)  Have a daily quiet time, even if it's only 10-15 minutes.

Relational

2)  Continue reading Love & Respect.
3)  Limit computer time.
4)  Meet a new potential friend.

Health

5)  Follow the Paleo diet.
6)  Exercise 3 times.

5 Minute Paleo Pancakes

One hard part of the Paleo diet for me has been giving up breakfast cereal.  I've been eating it for breakfast every day my whole life!  I've had to start experimenting with finding a new, quick, easy recipe for breakfast (besides scrambled eggs) that leaves me satisfied and gives me fuel for the day.  I've found several delicious recipes involving almond flour and have been baking breakfast muffins, but some days I'm just not that prepared.  What do I always have on hand?  Eggs, bananas, and almond butter!  I saw this recipe mentioned in the comments section of a blog I was reading and decided to give it a try:

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 ripe banana

1 egg

1 tablespoon almond butter

grass fed butter or coconut oil for pan

Directions

1)  Melt butter or oil in a pan over medium heat.

2)  While butter is melting, mash and mix together other ingredients

3)  Poor half of batter into pan, flip pancake when tiny bubbles appear on top (just like any other pancake).  I found it easiest to make two pancakes, because one big pancake is too hard to flip and because I'm too lazy to wait for three pancakes to cook.  To each their own!  These cook pretty fast so keep your eye on them.

4)  Eat and share with your toddler if he says please.  :)

Don't forget the melted butter or maple syrup on top!  A little cinnamon would be tasty too.

Goals for This Week

I've been inspired my one of my favorite blogs, Money Saving Mom, to create a list of goals for each week and blog about them.  This will hopefully increase my productivity by providing a little motivation and accountability.  So for this week these are my goals:

Spiritual

1)  Have a daily quiet time, even if it's only 10-15 minutes.

Relational

2)  Begin re-reading Love & Respect.
3)  Call a friend.
4)  Set up a play date.

Health

5)  Follow the Paleo diet.
6)  Exercise 3 times.

I can think of a million other things to add on here, but I think I'll start with these and see how I do!

Lydia's Favorites: Zucchini Frittata

Our family has been enjoying a weekly trip to the farmer's market every Saturday to pick up our CSA share from Second Nature Farm.  We LOVE all the fresh delicious veggies we get each week and I particularly look forward to choosing recipes and creating a meal plan that will make sure we don't waste a single mouthful.  One veggie that we've been getting each week is zucchini, and our little Lydia especially loves it cooked up in a zucchini frittata.  Every time I make it I vary it a little depending on what we have on hand, but I thought I'd share with you what has become a Lee Family favorite.

This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's book Local Flavors which I HIGHLY recommend if you are a farmer's market regular like us!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs zucchini (about 3 small)

1 small carrot, grated (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

olive oil or equivalent

6 large eggs (from the market, of course!)

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or basil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup ricotta (drain if very wet)

1)  Coarsely grate the zucchini, toss with 1 teaspoon salt, and set in colander for 30 minutes.  Rinse briefly then squeeze dry.

2) Warm 1 tablespoon oil in a wide skillet over med-high heat.  Add zucchini and grated carrot and cook, stirring frequently, until it's mostly dry.  Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the pan.  You can skip this step if you are in a hurry (or if you are lazy, like me) but your frittata will be quite wet.  Definitely do it if you use carrot though as it steams and softens it.  We are using heirloom carrots in the photo below which is why you see purple.  

3) Preheat the broiler.  Beat the eggs with a few pinches of salt and some pepper, then stir in the zucchini/carrot, garlic, basil, and cheeses.  Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan and when it's hot add the egg mixture.  Lower the heat, wait a minute, and then shuffle the pan a few times to make sure the eggs are loose on the bottom.

4)  Cook over low to medium heat until the eggs are set and the top is nearly dry, about 10 minutes, and then slide the frittata under the broiler to finish cooking the top (about 5 minutes).  Invert the finished dish onto a serving plate.

We especially love this served with thick and chunky salsa.  Enjoy!

Going Cavegirl

I've been neglecting blogging lately largely because I've been having major computer issues.  I discovered my old computer (purchased late 2009) actually has a poor design that doesn't allow proper air flow/cooling.  So it's been slowly baking to death.  It overheats and shuts down frequently and I know it's days are numbered.  Chris and I discussed it and decided to purchase a new Windows 8 touchscreen laptop.  Unfortunately, I only had it a few weeks before Noah spilled a huge cup of coffee on the keyboard!  Thank goodness for accidental damage plans!

My recovery from surgery went painfully slow.  It was a full 12 weeks before I wasn't constantly in pain.  Since then I've had many good days and rarely have to take pain medication.  In this way I feel that the surgery was a success, although I have significant loss of function in the joint.  I can't reach my left foot easily so simple things like applying lotion and cutting my toenails are very difficult.  I can, however, dress myself easily (except for socks) so that's an improvement!  A few weeks after my surgery I did experience severe joint pain and swelling all over my body.  I was barely able to move.  I went back and forth to the doctor's office several times and had a battery of blood work done.  My tests showed inflammation (not surprising) but did not show positively any auto-immune disease.  Obviously something triggered a huge immune response, however.  It may have been the flu that I had just prior, or it may have been somehow related to my stem cell transfer.  Either way, the only treatment was taking anti-inflammatory medication twice daily.  I began researching non-pharmacological ways to reduce inflammation (sounds funny coming from a Pharmacist, I know) and stumbled across a lifestyle called Paleo.

The Paleo diet is a grain-free, gluten-free, whole food diet.  It's full of healthy fats and protein and low in carbs.  It's designed to heal the gut and promote a healthy immune system.  I decided it would be worth a try for 30 days to see if I feel better!  I'm going to be following one of the more relaxed protocols that allows for dairy.  Yesterday was day 1, and my meals were zucchini frittata, a large salad with mozzarella and lots of veggies, and flank steak with sauteed peppers and roasted carrots and parsnips.  Snacks were kale chips, a banana, and some cheese.  Yum!  Up for today:  leftover frittata, roasted honey mustard chicken and broccolini, and leftover steak for dinner.  Even if it does nothing for my immune health, this diet will be a great detox off of sugar and processed foods.  Wish me luck!