Parsnip Pasta with Bacon, Kale and Mushrooms

It’s an interesting idea to stop using food for comfort, but I’d much rather find or create healthy food that soothes my soul. Still recovering from being sick with the flu last week and now realizing I have a cold, it’s tempting to just toss healthy habits out in favor of treating myself.

After work and a gym workout, I would have loved to get a drink and relax. Given it’s only mid-week, I’m feeling the pressure of work deadlines, and I’m physically mending, I chose to make a comforting dinner. Yay me for being boring and making good decisions! Let’s hear it for maturity!

Parsnip Pasta fit the bill. I still love my spiralizer which will make noodles out of anything. (See my post on the spiralizer here.)  Parsnips hold up well when cooked and don’t get mushy so quickly like zucchini. The recipe below makes 1-2 servings depending on how hungry you are. I’d had a big lunch, so I only ate half and saved the rest for leftovers.

I also tried serving the noodles under the rest of the pasta sauce and found the parsnips a bit starchy on their own. As shown in the last photo I tossed it all together before eating. It's not as pretty, but it tasted better!

Kale, bacon and mushrooms cut and ready to cook

Parsnip Pasta with Bacon, Kale and Mushrooms, not tossed

Parsnip Pasta with Bacon, Kale and Mushrooms, tossed

Parsnip Pasta
Ingredients:
1 medium Parsnip, noodle cut (6 oz)
¼ cup water
4 slices cooked bacon, diced (2.25 oz)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (3.5 oz)
1 cup kale, cut thin (2.5 oz)
1 Tbsp bacon fat or other fat that will withstand high heat
1 Tbsp Seasoning (mix of oregano, thyme, marjoram)
Salt to taste

Directions:
Spiralize the parsnip, put it in a microwave safe glass dish with ¼ cup water, and microwave 2 ½ minutes. Rinse, set aside, and drain any excess liquid prior to using later.

Bring a skillet, I used cast iron, to medium-high heat and add the bacon fat. Add the mushrooms, bacon and kale to the skillet. Sauté three minutes or until the kale is sufficiently wilted and cooked through. Add the seasoning mix and drained parsnip noodles to the pan. Toss and add salt to your preference. Serve and smile.

Feeding The Baked Goods Hankering And Coconut Varieties 101

Searching Pinterest for recipes using the term “AIP”, I learned “AIP” not only refers to Autoimmune Protocol but also to Aging In Place. Both are of interest to me, but I focused on AIP recipes this time. After pinning many new recipes (and spending way longer on the computer than planned) I chose a recipe by A Girl Worth Saving for Pumpkin Spice Thumbprint Cookies. The short list of ingredients consisting almost entirely of whole foods intrigued me.

The only changes I made to the recipe were to add a pinch of salt to the batter and substitute a Bosc pear for the green apple in the frosting. I’m avoiding apples, and according to Wikipedia Bosc pears are the "aristocrat of pears". Fancy!

Overall, these little nuggets are made of coconut, pumpkin, banana, pear and flavoring. They were good and definitely met my craving for baked goods. Next time I may add a little maple syrup to the batter to sweeten them a little and change the ratio of banana to pumpkin to increase the pumpkin flavor. Given the cookies are truffle sized and have the texture of frosted cupcakes, I’ll likely refer to them as truffle-sized cupcakes in the future. All in all, the recipe is a keeper!

Pumpkin Spice Thumbprint Cookies,
aka Truffle Sized Cupcakes

While going through my pantry, I realized I had quite a few versions of coconut! Coconut is handy since it’s slightly sweet and can morph to suit baking needs. It’s also paleo friendly and higher in fiber than a lot of other flours. The various terms for coconut products confused me at first when I ventured into new AIP recipes. To hopefully save others time of uncertainty or confusion, here’s my quick guide to a few coconut ingredients, aka Coconut 101:

Left Side Top To Bottom:
Coconut Manna Jar, At Room Temp, and Melted
Right Side Top to Bottom:
Coconut Oil, At Room Temp, and Melted

Coconut oil and coconut butter are very different. Given they’re expensive and baking takes a lot of time, I’d hate to see anyone confuse the two. Coconut Oil on the right side of the photo above is white at room temperature and melts to a clear liquid. Coconut butter is also called coconut manna and resembles a chalky crumble at room temperature. It reminds me of the texture of the filling in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Melted 20 seconds in a microwave, coconut butter becomes creamy and light yellow in color.

Coconut Chips are a snack food made of coconut, sugar and salt. I bought mine at Trader Joe’s, and they’re sweet and crunchy with a buttery flavor. This flaked coconut is unsweetened and cut to a larger texture than the finely shredded coconut most of us are used to using in recipes. You can also buy sweetened flaked and shredded coconut, but I prefer to regulate my sweeteners in recipes. Lastly, the photo shows coconut flour which may also be called dried-ground coconut meat or unsweetened coconut flour. I've heard a recommendation to get the darker colored coconut flour if possible because the whiter flour undergoes additional processing.

Clockwise from top left:
Coconut Chips, Flaked Coconut,
Shredded Coconut, and Coconut Flour

Coconut cream and coconut milk are also super handy ingredients for baking, smoothies and ice cream. I’ll leave them for another day.  

Happy baking and eating!

Thoughts & Tips on Cooking

Learning to cook at an early age

I owe my mom a huge debt of gratitude for teaching me to cook at a young age with a sense of adventure.  I’m comfortable cooking without a recipe and rarely have an inedible outcome – maybe twice in twenty years?  My sisters and I always helped when my mom made meals, and she was terrific at delegating age appropriate tasks to the three of us.

I have memories of making French toast at the age of seven.  It was a favorite of mine, and learning to make it allowed me to have it whenever I wanted.  My sisters and I made large breakfasts as a regular weekend morning routine at a young age.  We were curious about foods and would attempt recipes for fun.  My mom was on hand to answer questions but she didn't hover, and she allowed us a lot of autonomy in the kitchen. 

When I was ten my mom bought a fabulous International cookbook.  I think it was by Betty Crocker, and it opened a whole new world of cooking to us.  Our family cooking experience making won tons was a hit even though we tripled the batch when the amount of filling in the recipe didn't seem like enough.  We had won tons out our ears!  From that book we made so many dishes that were exotic and new to us.  Foods that are commonplace and available in most towns now, we had never experienced.  We trusted the photos, followed the recipes, and traveled the globe with our taste buds.

Cooking is a creative and artistic endeavor for me.  In my adult life I've gone through phases of experimenting and mastering (at a nonprofessional level) making chocolate truffles, specialty cakes, pies, soups, and breads. I love purchasing what looks fresh and delicious at a market and then deciding what to do with it when I get home. 

This background has developed my skills and confidence in creating meal options with a limited diet.  I see many online posts by people that are fearful they won’t know what to eat if they have food limitations. Knowing how to cook, use kitchen tools and experiment with food makes limitations an adventure I can embrace, not fear.   Thanks, Mom!

In support of multitasking

Doing more than one thing at a time is usually very inefficient, but for me cooking is the exception to the rule.  Tonight I made my dinner and all of tomorrow’s meals in 30 minutes.  With fresh ingredients, baked sweet potato, and ground turkey with onion and garlic leftover from batch cooking a couple days ago, I made food that I like, is healthy for me and can be eaten immediately or within minutes tomorrow.  The meals are:

Dinner tonight: Seasoned halibut with sautéed zucchini and sweet potato

Breakfast: Salmon and a green smoothie

Lunch: Halibut and a green smoothie

Dinner: Ground turkey, zucchini and sweet potato

Snacks (not pictured): Carrot sticks, fresh fruit and water

It saves a huge amount of time in the morning when I’m having trouble getting going to be able to avoid deciding what to eat, making it and cleaning the kitchen.  It also front loads tasks that I want to do but may not have the energy for later.  Certainly putting less effort in and getting more out conserves my energy for other fun tasks.

The details:  I put the salmon and halibut in the same pan to cook while I washed and cut up the zucchini and smoothie fruits and vegetables.  Once the fish was done, I removed it and added the zucchini to the same pan.  While the veggies cooked I assembled the turkey and sweet potato meal.  I blended the green smoothies and poured them into glasses.  By then the zucchini was half done and ready to add some to the turkey dish for reheating tomorrow.  I added the cooked sweet potato to remaining half of the zucchini in the pan to heat up.  A couple minutes later all was done and ready to serve.  Total time from start to finish was 28 minutes!

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  If you remember only one thing from this blog, I bet it’s this.  Simon and Garfunkle taught me how to remember seasoning poultry with their song, “Scarborough Fair / Canticle.” Sing along with me:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair:
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine…

Every time I season poultry, I mentally sing the chorus to this song.  It’s relaxing and a bit meditative.  And this mix is delicious on any savory dish, not just poultry.

Always make extra:

Leftovers are king.  And a lot of meals taste better the next day, cold or hot.

Cutting up vegetables and putting half in a saute pan for dinner and the other half in a lidded dish for tomorrow’s salad takes half the time of making each meal separately.  And you only have to clean dishes once!

Knife skills

Taking a knife skills class was one of the best experiences I've undertaken to improve my cooking skills.  I took the class with a friend a few years ago at a cooking store at University Village in Seattle.  The instructor taught us all about quality knives, what type of knife to use for cutting different foods, cutting boards, how to properly use a knife and push food to the cutting knife, and different cutting methods for all types of vegetables.  If I haven’t lost you or bored you yet, great! 

Here’s the sales pitch:  Food tastes and looks better or worse depending on how you cut it.  A stew with huge hunks of vegetables and meat doesn't taste as good to me as one with smaller vegetables and meat that allow more than one item in a soup on your spoon.  A chiffonade of lettuce tastes better on a taco.  Vegetables with differing textures and sizes can cook in the same pan and finish at the same time, saving pans and cleaning time. And learning to use a knife well saves money on specialty kitchen gadgets, NOT that I’m opposed to kitchen gadgets.  See my post on My Latest Kitchen Love…

Learning To Pause Helps Me Cope With MS Symptoms

In an effort to live a full, productive and enjoyable life, I’m finding that I need to learn to read my body’s signals and rest.  Resting is an activity I’m learning.  You’d think it would be easy.  Just stop what you’re doing and watch TV, sleep or whatever.  If only it were that simple.

I was moving slow this week with low, low energy.  For the past few days everything has been taking an inordinate amount of effort.  Just showering, grooming, dressing and eating breakfast today were cause to lie down for an hour to recharge.   I thought I would go to work a couple hours later than usual in order to budget my energy.  I took a short walk – just two blocks! – to get a latte, and while waiting I realized my body was tingly numb from the waist down.  Okay, I get the message.  I need more than a couple hours extra rest this time. 

I called my boss, told him I’d be taking the day off and explained my Pause Approach.  My intent is to take breaks in my schedule intermittently with the hope that I won’t reach a point of having a full exacerbation leading to a week or more off from work.  Oh, and possibly temporary or permanent damage to my health and mobility.  Funny how my focus is on work first!  Perhaps that’s why I struggle with learning to pause…

I’m learning the importance of sharing my experience with people that care about me or rely on me.  I know sharing a health diagnosis with employers isn’t always the right path for everyone.  For me though, it’s been an opportunity for support.  My coworkers and bosses have been highly supportive of my efforts to attend to my health.  Whether it’s because they care about me or just want me back at work at 100% quickly really doesn’t matter to me.  I do suspect it’s the former though.

My friends and work colleagues express worry when I don’t go to work.  They’ve said they know I must not be doing well if I miss work.  I’ve found their worry adds a layer of stress for me.  I feel pressure to assure them I’m okay and to get better soon so they’ll stop worrying about me.  So I’m proposing to them that I will proactively let them know whether I’m just doing what’s best for my health as normal maintenance or whether I’m experiencing something new and noteworthy.

Today’s efforts to practice and maximize Pause Approach effectiveness led me to create the following guidelines for myself:

1. Look into yourself.  What do you need most right now?  The answer will be different from moment to moment.  Check in frequently.
2. Rally the troops on standby.  Let people know who care that you’re managing your health and this is a normal part of your life.  Promise to let them know if there becomes cause for worry or a need for assistance.
3. Reduce input.  Focus on one thing at a time.  Limit technology as it can make your eyes tired and tax your brain. 
4. Wear comfortable clothes, but still get dressed and groomed if possible.  You’re not sick; you’re maintaining your health!
5. Move your body.  Stretch, do a single yoga sun salutation if possible.  A slow sun salutation can stretch most muscles in the body, raise your heart rate and lift your spirit.  It takes energy, but the physical and emotional reward is tremendous.  If you don’t feel up to much movement, just move from the bed to the sofa or a chair.  Any movement helps!
6. Don’t move your body.  Lay down.  Close your eyes.  Meditate.  Make yourself so comfortable that there is nothing else you’d rather be doing in this moment.
7. Nap only if necessary.  Maintaining a regular sleep cycle is important, and napping can disrupt nighttime sleep for days to come. 
8. Open the drapes or blinds.  Let in the daylight.  Rest somewhere other than bed if possible.
9. Stick to regular routines for meals and snacking if possible. 
10. Do something productive.  Journal, learn something new, research a topic, declutter, organize, write a thank you note, or make a healthy dish.  Limit it to the level of your energy, and don’t push too hard.  Intersperse these activities with doing absolutely nothing.
11. Be responsible and responsive.  Know your work and social commitments so you may cancel or postpone them proactively.  Or go in to work for an hour or so and do the absolute minimum that can’t be postponed or canceled.  Leaving colleagues and friends scrambling to cover for your commitments will understandably cause frustration and resentment on their part, guilt on yours, and more tension in your life.
12. Seize opportunities to pause.  An unscheduled hour or two during your work day may be ideal for taking some personal time off from work.  This may help reduce the instances of needing to take a full day off from work and the impact to your colleagues.
13. Congratulate yourself for having the strength and good sense to listen to your body’s signals and adapt your schedule to accommodate them!

My Body Buddy: Rethinking The Feeling My Body Betrayed Me With MS

I’m doing the best I can.  I may not be doing EVERYTHING I can, but it’s still enough. 

I’ve been experiencing some additional MS symptoms lately.  It’s completely understandable given I’m experiencing more stress than usual.  Still, when healthy habits lead to feeling better it’s easy to blame myself for not living a perfect, healthy life when symptoms emerge. 

When I was diagnosed with MS, I felt like my body had betrayed me and I could no longer trust it.  I thought I was super healthy, and suddenly my body went numb.  Doctors told me I had an incurable disease that I’d had for years. 

In my research of how others coped with MS, I often heard people approach it as warriors fighting a daily battle against their disease. I can appreciate the analogy and it makes sense, but it never resonated with me.  Fighting myself feels exhausting. And what am I fighting?  I have a super active immune system that thinks the insulation on my nerves (myelin) is an invader and needs to be destroyed.  My immune system is fantastic at destroying other invaders.  It’s just confused with myelin some of the time.  Bummer.

It occurred to me to think of my body as my buddy who is great at some things and sucks at others but I love her just the same.  My body didn’t betray me.  She is doing the best she can.  She held up magnificently for a long time, and she continues to do amazing things.  My neurologist says with my MRI scans he would expect me to have some disability.  At this point I have symptoms I notice but no one else does. I think it’s awesome that my body has compensated to get the nerve messages to parts of my body blocked by lesions.

It’s taken me time to shift my thinking from feeling betrayed to trusting myself again.  Now I think being healthy and having an incurable disease are not completely opposite ends of the spectrum.  They can both be true in one body. 

My body has been doing the best it can all my life.  Some of my habits help it, and some challenge it. Some activities and foods don’t support optimal physical health, but they nurture my mental health and feed my soul.  Sometimes I’m coping and sometimes I’m nurturing.  I think stressing out about not doing more can be more harmful to my health than the occasional indulgence.

So I may not be doing everything I can, but I’m balancing all aspects of my health in order to lead a fulfilling, active and hopefully long life!

Transitioning From Vulnerability To Strength

It’s been a long, long week.  By Friday evening, I was physically and mentally drained beyond the point of being suitable for public interaction. Saturday morning I was in a funk. Feeling tired, beat up and vulnerable, I aimed to take care of myself. 

I started with my stomach by batch cooking meat pucks for the upcoming week while listening to music and running loads of laundry.  My stomach was sated, an obligation was completed, and I had more energy.  Still my head wasn’t satisfied.  I took our recyclables to the transfer station and stopped for a latte.  At home I cleaned the bins and basked in the sun for 20 minutes.  I would have thought it would make me feel better, but I was getting more agitated and needed an attitude adjustment.  I gathered my gear and went for a hike. 

I chose a difficult hike in an effort to push myself physically.  I was cautious to take frequent breaks and not go too fast.  Still, five minutes into the hike I was breathing hard and mentally pitying myself.  A friend of mine has said the limit on self pity is five or ten minutes a day.  Then let it go and get on with it.   Unfortunately I wasn’t letting it go.  I kept climbing the mountain.  Hike eight minutes, rest two minutes.  Repeat.  20 Minutes in I started feeling a bit better. I alternated nine minutes hiking and one minute resting for the duration of the ascent.  Reaching the top at 59 minutes I was slower than my best time but not even close to my worst time.   My body felt a huge sense of accomplishment but my head hadn’t caught up. 

I thought back to a Ted Talk I watched this summer.  In “Your body language shapes who you are,” Amy Cuddy teaches us that changing our posture for two minutes can change how we see ourselves.  It’s a powerful presentation, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to feel more confident.  Watch her talk to understand why it works, but I’ll give the spoiler alert here.  Just standing in a Wonder Woman stance with hands on hips for two minutes in private can change our body chemistry and lead to others perceiving us as more powerful. 

A discussion with girlfriends who have also seen the talk revealed that we feel stronger when we do warrior yoga poses. Alone at the summit, I took to doing some yoga poses.  For me, Dancer pose combines strength, balance and beauty. 

Dancer pose was the final step I needed!  I descended the mountain in a fabulous mood, feeling stronger and emotionally balanced.   I’m ready for the world again!

My Latest Kitchen Love

The box seems to promise loads of fun!

I've fallen in love with my latest kitchen gadget purchase - the Japanese Turning Slicer!

I hoped making zucchini noodles would satisfy my hankering for pasta while staying true to the Autoimmune Protocol. Cutting out so many foods can make it difficult to not feel like I'm depriving myself.  It helps to consider the texture, flavor and beauty of a meal so that I'm not tempted to eat foods that negatively affect my health. This week it was fun being creative in the kitchen and thoroughly enjoying the decadent and satisfying results!

The Turning Slicer looks
strong and happy!

I bought the slicer through Amazon and anxiously awaited delivery.  The Turning Slicer came in a whimsical Japanese box with illustrated instructions that crack me up whenever I see them.

My first try involved making zucchini and carrot noodles, with the carrot sliced smaller than the zucchini. Using the slicer was super easy once I understood how to position the blade correctly. I cooked the noodles in the wok stir fry style with ground turkey.  It tasted good and satisfied my pasta fix, but the zucchini noodles started to break down against the heartiness of the more sturdy carrot and turkey.  Next time I try zucchini noodles I think I'll stick to making it like pasta in a flavored water separately from the rest of the dish.

Ground Turkey, Zucchini & Carrot Noodle Pasta 
seasoned with Fresh Garlic, Rosemary, Sage, 
Thyme, Salt & Coconut Oil.

Ground Turkey, Asparagus, Parsnip & Carrot Noodles
with Fresh Garlic, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Salt & Coconut Oil

My carbon steel wok is huge and
another favorite in my kitchen. 

The next night I tried parsnip and carrot noodles instead.  Cooked in the wok the texture was a perfect al dente.  It's exactly what I was seeking, and I'll make it again.

Beet & Kale Salad with Green Onion and a  Dressing of 
Coconut Aminos, Coconut Vinegar, Maple Syrup, Olive Oil and Salt
Served with a Turkey, Pork & Kalamata Olive Patty and Avocado

Next I tried a cold beet salad and called it a success when both my non-beet loving family and I judged it delicious!

Sunday breakfast was a great time to try sweet potato hash browns, and I was happy with the results.

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Sauteed in Coconut Oil and Seasoned with Salt

Served with a Turkey, Pork & Kalamata Olive Patty and Pear

According to the instruction booklet, there are Five Merits of the TURNING SLICER

1. Fifty servings in five minutes
2. Improves luster and taste 
3. Five horse radishes can be served as six 
4. Excellent durability
5. Easy to use

I agree it cut veggies in record time, made the texture of the vegetables complement the meal, and was easy to use and clean. I can see how it would stretch vegetables to serve more people, but I'll take their word on needing five horse radishes stretched.  The Japanese Turning Slicer has earned a visible, easily accessible spot in my kitchen.  Two thumbs up!