I Feel Like A Rock Star!

“You’re stable and in remission.” Seriously? A huge grin spread across my face when my doctor read the technician’s report and reviewed the new full set of MRI scans with me. This good news made me absolutely giddy! My neurologist’s assessment exceeded even the most optimistic of my expectations going in to my appointment! I anticipated the scans might reveal a few new small lesions and possibly an active lesion now that might be the cause of my ongoing and currently increased fatigue. At no time did I anticipate that all of the lesions showing on my new set of MRIs would be accounted for in scans done two or more years ago.

It’s been a few days, and I’m still giddy. MRI scans give me much needed feedback that over the last six years has helped me learn to discern whether a new symptom is just old damage flaring up or a new relapse.  I hadn't thought I was having a relapse, but I think I was too nervous to even hope for the news I received. Absolutely NO new lesions in the last two years?  My neurologist told me that with the disease modifying drugs he counts them as successful if relapses occur once per year.  Six years ago, I was experiencing three relapses per year.  Now I feel like a rock star!

The results of my scans validated my dedication to improving and maintaining my health given old lesions cause me difficulty. Mostly I experience fatigue that makes working full time and living a normal life tough.  Numbness, pain and intermittent loss of function are normal yet fortunately still invisible to others.  Please don’t take this as complaining.  I know I have it a LOT easier than many of my friends with MS.  And easier than a lot of people without MS for that matter! I’m fortunate that in spite of lesions in my spinal cord that my neurologist would expect to cause much greater loss of function and symptoms, I can still be active and experience a pretty athletic lifestyle.

I credit a lot of this to learning to listen to and adapt for what my body needs. Unfortunately I have not found a short cut for this.  It just takes time, patience, research and dedication.The short list of practical living tips (in no particular order) I consistently follow are:

1. Eat healthy foods my body appreciates. It’s going to be different for each person, but currently I eat a blender full of fruits and vegetables spread out over each day to boost my nutrient intake and smooth my digestion outtake. Sticking to protein, fruits and vegetables and avoiding grains 90% of the time is working for me.
2. Exercise moderately a minimum of three times per week. More if I have the energy.  Mix it up given the time of year and weather conditions. Do yoga at least once a week.
3. Rest as needed. Prioritize activities and only do the top of the list based on mandatory items and those that will support me the most. See my Learning to Pause post.
4. Take supplements to help with my individual symptoms and for general health.
5. Consistently take my disease modifying drug.
6. Lean on my friends and family. These relationships aren't one-sided, but they mean everything to me. These people help cheer me up, give me reality checks and are supportive of me no matter what.  I’m lucky to have them.
7. Contribute to society each day. It can be through work, volunteering or just brightening someone's day.

The best part of my recent “stable and in remission” diagnosis is feeling that I don’t have to be perfect to have good health. My fear of experiencing disease progression and some day feeling I hadn't done enough to prevent it has subsided for now. What I’m doing is enough to not trigger my disease.  What a relief!

Convenience Food: Kalamata Olive and Turkey Meat Pucks

Eating food that hasn't been pre-made or packaged requires a lot more time in the kitchen.  When you need to eliminate certain foods from your diet, it’s a must to make your own from scratch.  I've eaten foods where the ingredient list should result in a food safe for me to eat.  I’m not sure if it’s the processing or trace amounts of something not included on the wrapper, but I know something is off when my throat gets sore or my head gets congested. Regardless, the only way to be sure what’s in your food is to make it yourself from fresh ingredients.

These meat pucks are terrific for cutting up and adding to salads or whole as grab and go meals.  I’ll eat them for breakfast with a green smoothie or as a snack with some cut up raw vegetables.  They’re great convenience food for traveling.  I can freeze them and put them in a cooler for overnight trips.  It’s nice to not have to completely rely on restaurants or grocery stores to get my basic food needs met.  At approximately 2 ounces each, they provide half the protein I like to eat in a meal. They help me maintain my self-control with food choices and avoid emergency occurrences where I’ll eat anything I can find!

You may modify the meat mixture to your heart’s content. Making and freezing a couple variations of these meat pucks allows you to vary your meals throughout the week without extensive cooking time. Substitute other ground meats for the turkey with beef, pork, lamb, or chicken. This is also a good recipe for including organ meats if you’re trying to up your intake of offal. I've also added shredded carrot, sweet potato, kale, and spinach to the meat mixture prior to baking with great results. Just make sure the vegetables are cut small enough to cook completely  with the pucks. Adjust the seasonings depending on what you prefer and have on hand.  If you omit the olives, make sure to add a teaspoon of salt to the mixture before baking. Be creative!

If there are two or more people in your household, make sure to make a lot of meat pucks.  These disappear quickly!

Kalamata Olive & Turkey Meat Pucks

Kalamata Olive and Turkey Meat Pucks
Equipment:
Chef’s knife, cutting board
2 Muffin tins to make 24 pucks
KitchenAid Stand Mixer with paddle attachments, or a large bowl and your hands
Standard ice cream scoop with a spring to release the food
Cooling racks preferred but not necessary

Ingredients:
3.25 lbs Ground Turkey
3 Tbsp Solid Cooking Oil (lard, coconut oil or palm oil is preferred for high heat)
1/2 Onion, (5 oz) diced
30 Kalamata or Green Olives, pitted and chopped small.  Check the ingredient list on olives.  You want to make sure there isn’t something in them that you don’t want to eat.  The kalamata olives I found have red wine vinegar in them.  I did find some green olives with only olives, water, salt and lactic acid.
6 Cloves Garlic, minced (approx 2 Tbsp)
12 stalks Thyme, ¼ oz fresh stripped off stalks and minced, or 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
6 stalks Fresh Sage, 1/3 oz, leaves stripped from stalk and minced, or one teaspoon dried ground sage

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Prepare all the ingredients by cleaning and chopping them.  Place everything into the stand mixer and mix for 30 seconds to a minute until blended through.  Alternately you may just mix it all with your hands in a large bowl.  It’ll be cold and will take longer, so I prefer to use a mixer.
2. Grease the muffin tins with coconut oil or palm oil.  Turkey is low in fat, and you don’t want the pucks to stick to the pans.
3. Using the ice cream scoop, scoop the turkey mixture and press it against the bowl to fill the scoop. Release one scoop of meat into each muffin tin.  Once all 24 are filled, you may have a little extra meat mixture. Either evening add a little mixture to each muffin tin or refrigerate the remains for use in another meal.  I had 3.5 oz left over and refrigerated it to scramble with veggies tomorrow.
4. Flatten the top in each muffin tin to make each puck.
5. Place both muffin tins into the oven, close door and cook for 30 minutes.  Make sure to set the timer so you can track how long they've been cooking. (This note is for me since I could easily forget I have something baking or what time I put it in…)
6. After 30 minutes pull the muffin tins from the oven and turn off the oven.  Remove the meat pucks from the pans and place them on a cooling rack.  Eat them or once cooled put them in a lidded glass container for storing in the refrigerator.  You may also freeze them for future eating.  Enjoy!

Fresh, fresh, fresh!

Only a chef's knife and cutting board are needed for prepping all the ingredients, but you may use dried herbs and a garlic press if you prefer less preparation time.

Done and ready for eating, refrigerating or freezing

Pork Chop & Sweet Potato Stew

Pork Chop & Sweet Potato Stew

Soup on a cold winter day fills my belly and soothes my soul.  And in the case of soup, more is always better.  Leftovers are the best. With a long cooking time and each reheating, the soup flavors continue to meld and become even more delicious.  Made in a crock pot, this soup greets me at the end of a work day with comfort and a clean kitchen. If you’re short on time in the morning, you can do as I did by preparing it in the evening and letting it cook overnight.  I then left the crock pot on “warm” throughout the day to let it stew even further.

For years I relied on pre-made bullion to flavor my soups.  They were delicious, but often mystery ingredients can sneak in unbeknownst to us.  Specifically, yeast is in a lot of store-bought bullion among other food items.  It might be a contributor to additives named natural flavoring, caramel color, or citric acid.  I've found that cooking meats on the stove, making sure to include any pan drippings in the soup, and a long slow cooking time in the crock pot leads to a flavorful meal without using pre-made bullion.

This Pork Chop & Sweet Potato Stew is hearty and flavorful.  A garnish of fresh green onion and avocado slices adds a nice texture and contrast to this substantial dish.  You could also substitute beef or chicken for the pork. I like eating broccoli florets as a side dish and using the stems in soups and smoothies.  You may also substitute celery for the broccoli stems.

Broccoli stems are terrific for adding extra nutrition and fiber
to a soup without adding an overpowering flavor.

Pork Chop & Sweet Potato Stew
Equipment:
Large Skillet, I prefer cast iron
Large Crock Pot – if yours isn’t extra large, I suggest halving the recipe.
Cutting board, knife, spatula, tongs and soup ladle

Ingredients:
2 lbs Pork loin sirloin chops, boneless, (4 thick cut chops)
3 Tbsp cooking oil (lard, coconut oil or palm oil is preferred for high heat)
1 large Onion, (15 oz) diced
2 lbs Sweet Potato, (3 medium) diced to ¼” cubes
Broccoli stems from one large head of broccoli, minus the florets, diced to 1/8” cubes (approx 8 oz)
6 Cloves Garlic, minced (approx 2 Tbsp)
8 cups Water
1 tsp Salt
12 stalks Thyme, ¼ oz fresh stripped off stalks, minced
6 stalks Fresh Sage, 1/3 oz, leaves stripped from stalk and minced

Fresh sage and thyme complement
pork and sweet potatoes nicely.

Garnish:
Avocado, sliced
Green onion, chopped

Directions:
Heat a skillet (I prefer cast iron) over medium high heat.  Add oil and coat the pan.  Cook the pork chops at medium high heat for three minutes each side or until browned.  Add to crock pot with the uncooked diced broccoli stems.  Turn on crock pot to high.

Break apart the meat into small pieces
by squeezing it on edge with tongs.

While the pork chops cook, cut up the vegetables.  Once the pork chops are done and removed from the pan, add the onion and cook until translucent.  Add the minced garlic to the onions.  Cook until onions are lightly brown. Add mixture to crock pot.  The onion mixture will deglaze most of the brown bits from the pork chops.  Add a cup of water to the skillet to deglaze any remaining bits.  Add to the crock pot with the rest of the 8 cups water.  Remove pan from heat and turn off the stove burner.

Add salt, thyme and sage to the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.  Alternatively you could cook it at high for 6 hours and it would still be great.

Go to work or take off for the day.  Come home to the wonderful smell of dinner ready. Or make this in the evening, let it cook overnight and wake up to a finished stew.  You can put it in the fridge or leave it to cook on low during the day.

Break apart the pork chops into smaller pieces approximately 1" in size with tongs and a fork.  Slice the avocado and chop green onion, serve on top of the stew. Enjoy!

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!