There's no time like Gnocchi time!

You like the title??  Haha...I thought it was pretty good.  Normally I can't think of cute puns, but last night I dreamed that I got a gig as a stand-up comedian at a Christian bar....yeah I don't know if there is such a thing, but all I know is that I was funny.  Not just oh she's pretty good, no I was AMAZING in my dream.  I was cracking myself up all night long.  It was refreshing to have a good dream and not my regular someone is hunting me down/chasing me/yelling at me/trying to kill me dream. 

Anyway, it's been quite the week.  Something every night, but it was all good stuff.  The week flew by and I am so glad it's Saturday.  I passed up countless temptations this week...cake, cookies, dips, cupcakes, beer bread, wine, chex mixes, chips, mac n cheese, strawberry limeade (my fav) so I am going on 63 days of no sugar.  Wow I can't believe it's been that long.  It is getting easier, but it's not easy.  Someone told me yesterday to just have a tiny bite and that it wouldn't hurt.  I told her that yeah I could have a tiny bite, but then the next time I would have just a small piece and in no time I'd be eating a whole carton of ice cream.  It's best for me to just stay away all together.  I made my favorite kind of cupcakes to take to work for my co-workers b-day.  That was stupid.  I wanted to lick the icing off of the knife SO BAD!  Then I got a little on my fingers putting them in the cupcake carrier.  Did I lick???   NO!  Immedietely I washed my hands.  It's tough, but definitely worth it.  Here's the stats:

Migraines in January: 4
Migraines in February : 4
Migraines in March: 2 (yeah it stinks especially because we are only on day 3 of the month)
Pounds lost: 14.5
Inches lost: 15.5

I'm really pleased with the results of this whole anti-inflammatory food eating.  (Did you notice how I tend not to use the word "diet"??  That word doesn't make sense to me because if you are eating then you aren't on a "diet" in my book.  If you want to continue on the path you have begun then it's not a "diet".  It's simply what food you are eating.  Diets are temporary.  I don't plan for this to be temporary.  This is life.  That's my rant.  Now I'm done.

Anyway, normally I would have had at least 20 migraines by now and only having 10 is AWESOME!  I'm still wanting to decrease them more though.  So this morning Tom and I went to this pharmacy nearby.  I'd been told by at least 4-5 people that I "HAVE TO GO THERE!" So after the fifth person told me, I finally went.  It's a place where you just go in and talk to the pharmacist, no charge.  They are focused on natural wellness and supplements.  The pharmacist was really knowledgeable and nice.  She seemed confident that if I take this magnesium compound that it will decrease my migraines even more.  It's different from the magnesium supplement found in stores.  So I got the compound and I am supposed to take 3 pills nightly before bed.  I am excited to see how it works, but only time will tell.  Also, it's safe to use during pregnancy, which will be great for when that time comes. If this doesn't work after a couple of months I can take a saliva test, which will test my cortisol and hormone levels.  That might be the next step in trying to combat these migraines.

So onto the gnocchi.  At Aldi, they had some prepackaged gnocchi (pronounced no-key) which is a potato pasta in a solid oval shape.  So I boiled it up, added some spaghetti sauce, spices and voila!  Gnocchi!  High-class baby.  High class for only $2.59 to serve 4.

There's no real recipe for this.  Boil, warm sauce, add whatever spice you want. 

Top with cheesy goodness. 

Combine.  Eat.  Love.

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies (for Tom's bday treat)

It's been a leftovers kind of week.  On Sunday Tom and I opened the fridge and it was jam packed with rubbermaid containers toppling over one another...hmmm not exactly a bad problem to have :) 

Our list of leftovers: pancakes, tilapia taco filling, spicy chicken taco filling, pulled pork, chili, pizza (free from a meeting at work...let's just say tom was a little excited), spaghetti aglio, broccoli, whole wheat biscuits, and banana bread. 

It was great to have that much extra food though because this week has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off kind of crazy busy.

However, I did squeeze in some cookie baking last night with my mom between meetings.  Tom's birthday is coming up and he requested some Pinterest cookies he saw looking over my shoulder the other week.  They looked and smelled amazing.  I can't vouch for the taste, though I really wanted to try. 

Still sugar free!  53 days and counting!  Woot woot!  Oh and good news on the migraine front.  I've been doing more research on anti-inflammatory methods and they suggest taking a fish oil supplement.  Tom already takes one every day so I might as well too.  Also, the research suggests extra weight can contribute to inflammation in the body.  Well that works out for me because cutting out sugar is cutting pounds too.  I'm down twelve and a half pounds since January 1.  YES!!!  Sweet bonus.  That definitely helps when I am squelching the urge to dig into the rolo cookies.

The Great Migraine Battle:

Laura : 46  Migraines : 7

Okay I won't make you wait any longer.  Here's the cookie recipe.  Enjoy! :)

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Yields approx. 50 cookies)

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

50 Rolos

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed or with spoon until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans.

2. Measure dough using a medium cookie scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons). Roll into a ball and then flatten in the palm of your hands.

3. Place a frozen Rolo in the centers of the flattened dough balls and form dough back into a ball around the Rolo.

4. Place Rolo stuffed dough balls into the freezer for 15-20 minutes before baking.

5. On cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, place dough balls 2 inches apart.

6. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Chicken Florentine Casserole and Spinach Artichoke Pasta

New month.  New recipes.  New commitment.

For the month of February I am continuing to stick with the anti-inflammatory diet because well...it worked.  So no-sugars or sweeteners, no preservatives, no MSG, no alcohol, very little dairy, and red meat sparingly.  Tom is eagerly awaiting my full reintroduction of red meat.  But, this month I am introducing enriched flour back into my diet. I just love those little oyster crackers and tortellini.  I love tortellini...and I have yet to find a whole wheat version.  So my experiment continues.  I will keep you up to date concerning my battle against migraines. 

Currently...for the month of February

Laura : 1  Migraines : 0

YES!

So last night my big mouth got me into commiting to yet another lifestyle change.  I was complaining to Tom that I didn't feel like exercising when I got home from work because by the time you work all day, commute home, fix dinner, do the dishes, the last thing you want to do is go sweat.  I want to lay around in my pjs and watch "How I Met Your Mother" on tv.  So he said, "Well, what if you got up with me in the mornings and exercised?  You'd have plenty of time to workout, shower, eat breakfast and get to work if you got up by 6."  Groan.  That was me groaning by the way, not him.  He knows I'm not a morning person but he knows that it's probably the best thing for me.  He's such a good husband.  So I think, okay I can do this.  Plenty of people have the energy to work out in the morning and work full time too. 

So I say okay...I'm commiting the month of February to getting up at 6 to work out before I leave for work.  I did it.  It was hard.  It felt like the longest workout of my life.  My body hates me when I get up early.  It doesn't like to stand up straight, be in any sort of light, let alone move quickly enough to actually burn any calories.  BUT, I didn't think I could go an entire month without chocolate either and I did. 

So here I am making the commitment. 

Let's look on the bright side.  Maybe there's a morning person inside of me just waiting to bust out.  Maybe I will get used to it and even....gasp....look forward to it! 

I was feeling all sorry for myself today at work and then a co-worker who teaches exercise classes was talking to me about her having to get up at 4:30AM...to teach her class.  4:30.  Okay I'm a huge wuss.  I get to sleep in an hour and a half more than she does AND I don't have to lead the exercise either.  AND I'm not a mom.  Wow.  Props to her.

Anyway, let's talk about food.  A topic I always love to think, write about, and of course taste test. 

On Monday I made Chicken Florentine Casserole.  It was pretty delicious.  I really like spiral pasta.  It's cute and it makes me happy. :)

Mmm....my photography is slowly getting better.  Photographing food is hard.  Tricky to capture the texture.  Don't worry. I'll keep making food so I can keep practicing ;)

Here's the recipe adapted from Pinterest:

Chicken Florentine Pasta

Ingredients

·         4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pre-cooked, cut into cubes

·         1 box frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed to remove excess liquid

·         2 Tbsp minced garlic

·         1 Tbsp olive oil

·         2 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour) 

·         1 Tbsp lemon juice

·         1 1/2 cups no-salt added chicken broth

·         1 tsp dried oregano

·         1/2 tsp black pepper

·         1 cup low fat cottage cheese or ricotta ( I used ricotta)

·         2/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

·         1/2 pound whole grain pasta (I used brown rice spirals)   

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mist a 9 x 11 baking dish with oil. Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add flour and whisk for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened. Add lemon juice, oregano & pepper. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and add blended cottage cheese, spinach, chicken, Parmesan cheese & pasta. Stir to combine. Place in casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden & bubbly.

This morning I forgot to thaw out meat (imagine that??  I was probably so tired from working out that my brain didn't work...just kidding)  :)

So tonight's dinner was Spinach Artichoke Pasta

I had HIGH expectations for this meal because I love, love, love spinach artichoke dip.  It was good.  It wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be, but the same thing happened to me with the movie, The Titanic.  Everybody raved about the movie, they said it was the greatest movie of all time.  They said you wouldn't even realize you were sitting there for 3 hours. 

I saw it.  I did not rave about it.  I left to pee while Jack was handcuffed to the pole.  It seemed like it would never end.  I know what you are thinking....is she CRAZY?  That was an awesome movie.  You loved that movie.  It's history for heaven's sake.  I know I know.  But these are the things that happen when your expectations are set too high. 

Hence, tonight's dinner.

It is a very good dinner and I should not put you off in saying it was "good" instead of fantastic. 

You should definitely try it.  Here it is.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 Tbsp. minced garlic

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4 c. white wine or chicken broth

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. grated parmesan

1 can quartered artichoke hearts (chop finely)

1 pkg chopped spinach (thawed and drained)

1/2 Tbsp. hot sauce

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Dash salt and pepper

13.5 oz. pasta ( I used whole wheat penne)

Directions:

STEP 1: Cook pasta.

STEP 2: While you are cooking the pasta, start making the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mince the garlic and cook it in the oil until it is slightly tender (1-2 minutes).

STEP 3: Add cream cheese, sour cream and white wine. Stir until everything is evenly incorporated. Reduce the heat to medium/low.

STEP 4: Add milk and parmesan cheese. Stir it in until the parmesan has melted in and is evenly incorporated. Stir in the hot sauce and thawed/drained spinach.

STEP 5: Drain the can of artichoke hearts. Chop them and add to the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.

STEP 6: Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir to coat. Serve warm.

Homemade No-Sugar Peanut Butter Cups!

31 days of no sugar and no artificial sweeteners!  Only three migraines! 

I am SO excited and proud of myself that I made it a whole month without chocolate and my anti-inflammatory research paid off!  Three migraines instead of eight or more a month is definitely worth the sacrafices!

I'm planning to continue my  no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, so enriched flour products and red meat sparingly.  Also, I am going to replace my regular cow's milk with almond milk.  I tried it this morning with my puffed wheat cereal and it was surprisingly good!

To celebrate my success, I have been hunting down the ingredients to make homemade peanut butter cups. 

So as soon as I got home from work I started in on my special treat.

This is where I found the amazing recipe for no-sugar peanut butter cups...it's at the very bottom of her post. http://asmallsnippet.blogspot.com/2012/01/natural-eating-and-recipe.html. 

She has some great pics and here's her recipe card.



I used 12 tsp. of honey in mine.



Here's the elusive coconut oil.  I couldn't find it anywhere until I went to my local natural food store.  There it was only $10.39 a jar.  A great deal, right? Not.  But if it helps me have a sweet treat I'm okay with it.  Plus the recipe only calls for 3 tbsp of it so I'll be able to make lots of batches.

One would think coconut oil would look like oil.  However, clearly it doesn't.  It does feel VERY oily though.  It would make a great lotion.

Here's my peanut butter cups ready to rock into the freezer.  I have no mini muffin tins so I went for a flat peanut butter cup shape.  Bonus...some of them turned out looking like hearts.  Sweet:)

Here's a close up of my peanut butter heart.

Straight out of the freezer.  Delicious? 

YES!  I give it an A+. 

Definitely making these guys again!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta, Berry Banana Ice Cream & Homemade Pizza

Sundays used to be my least favorite day of the week because it meant that I had to wake up to an alarm the next day, but now they are my favorite day of the week.  It's a day I get to spend the day with my hubby going to worship at church, go grocery shopping, get some good cooking done, read the newspaper, and most importantly, put my feet up and just relax. 

Unfortunately, last night I started to feel "migrainy" and woke up with a big start to a migraine. 

I was desperate for it to not turn into a full blown migraine so I took Tylonol and busted out the ice pack.  It took me through church, but on the way home I started to feel it coming on stronger.  When I got home I took more Tylonol, but to no avail.  It was a migraine.  However, I am thankful because I was able to take my medicine and it worked within an hour. 

Three migraines is way better than ten so I'll take it!

So the Great Migraine Battle continues...

Laura : 26  Migraines : 3

I have been trying to figure out what the trigger was and I haven't had any sugar, got plenty of sleep, exercised regularly and I've narrowed it down.  I think it may have been the huge increase in dairy I have been eating the past couple of days.  The anti-inflammatory research claimed dairy was an inflammatory food, but I didn't want to believe it because I feel milk's calcium and Vitamin D benefits are so important to a healthy diet.  However, I had LOTS of sour cream and butter on my baked potato at Tom's work dinner Friday night plus my fish was swimming in butter. 

I also ate 1/3 of a block of cheese these last couple of days as my snacks.  Then yesterday I made a new recipe...Creamy Mushroom and Shrimp Pasta which has 10 tbsp of butter and 3 oz of cream cheese and washed it down with a nice big glass of milk.  Yeah.  I think the dairy did me in.  So when Tom and I went grocery shopping I got some almond milk to try.  I've heard good things about it so we will see.  It has calcium and lots of vitamins in it and I will continue to eat cheese but will be eating it sparingly.  I will continue to try to figure out these triggers.

Here's my creamy shrimp and mushroom pasta from last night.  Had the leftovers for lunch after church today it was even better the second time around.  I don't even have to convince you to try this because the picture says everything. :)

Here's my afternoon snack...blueberry banana ice cream.  Frozen banana + frozen blueberries + milk + Magic Bullet = yumtasticness (no that's not a word, but it totally describes this concoction)

So I've been telling you all about Tom's famous Sunday night homemade pizzas and I kept forgetting to take a picture before we cut into it and started eating because it's so darn good!  Tonight Tom reminded me to take a picture as soon as it came out of the oven.  His side has pepperoni and Italian sausage.  My side has fresh pineapple.  The crust is Jiffy Pizza Crust and has no sugar :)

We found some great snacks on our grocery shopping adventure this afternoon. 

These are delish and sugar-free!

I got to eat cookies for dessert tonight!!!

On another note, I am wanting to do something different with my hair.  I'm thinking about getting a body wave.  I'm trying to grow it out and the last time I got my hair cut, my hair dresser cut REALLY short layers and I want to do something simple and easy with my hair while it grows out.  A body wave might just do the trick.  Wash, gel, scrunch, go!  Any other suggestions??

Dizzy Nights and Vegetable Soup

So you know how I mentioned the other day that I wasn't feeling too good?  Well it got worse and then a little more worse and last night hit an all time high.  Dizzy. Nauseous. Light-headed.  Headache.  Chest pains.  What the heck is going on??  I couldn't even lay down or move my head without the room spinning out of control.  Tom wanted to take me to the E.R. but I had already made an appointment with my doctor for this afternoon so I decided I would try to stick it out.  Throughout my restless night I kept wondering, what if it's my anti-inflammatory diet that's throwing my body out of whack?  It doesn't really make sense though because this whole month I've been eating extremely well, taking a prenatal vitamin with TONS of great things for me, getting regular sleep and exercising on a consistent but not too strenuous basis.  I prayed and prayed every time I woke up that God would calm me and give me wisdom to know whether or not I should let Tom take me to the E.R.  God is so good, you know that?  He did...as if I needed to doubt.  I don't know why I ever doubt Him because He is forever faithful. 

I made it through the night and most of the day until it was time to go to my appointment.  Tom was even able to take off work early to take me to the doctor.  The nurses and doctor took very good care of me and I was diagnosed with Benign Positional Vertigo.  My doctor explained it like this...my inner ear has a crystal of calcium that has been dislodged from its rightful place and every time I move, the crystal is moving too and messing up my inner ear.  She prescribed me some medicine to stave off the dizziness. 

They took my blood and I warned them I was a "passer outer" but did they take me seriously?  Not really.  But by the time they had to bust out the smelling salts, call for more nurses, towel me down and give me fluids they understood that yes indeed I was a "passer outer".  Turns out though that my blood work came back normal so yay for anti-inflammatory foods!  No issues with the diet.  I've taken my first dose of the prescription and I am eagerly awaiting my second tonight before bed.  I am so thankful that my condition is easily treated and that my blood work came back normal.  God is so good. 

So after the whole fiasco I really I mean REALLY wanted some comfort food.  McDonald's was just down the street, but instead I defrosted my mom's homemade vegetable soup and it was AMAZING.  Nobody can make vegetable soup like she can....she must add an extra dose of love or something :)  Anyway, I got my comfort food without caving and guess what??  Laura : 22  Migraines still: 2!!  It is working!  By the way, my doctor was really surprised and impressed that I had done so much research and that this diet is actually keeping my migraines at bay. 

Here's my mom's vegetable soup recipe.  I promise you it won't taste as good as hers, but it will still be fantastic! 

Mom's Vegetable Soup

Chuck Roast (3 lbs.)
1 large can tomato juice
chopped onion
1 c. diced celery
1 c. sliced carrots
1 c. sliced potatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn (check the label for no sugar)
1 can green beans
small cabbage (chopped into pieces)
6 c. water
Touch of love <3

**Usually she adds 2 tsp. Worchestershire Sauce and 4 beef boullion cubes but since they have sugar in them she didn't put them in.  Tasted just as good...maybe better :)

Simmer meat, juice and water for 2 hours. 
Add veggies and simmer for 1 more hour.

Enjoy!  Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement.

Lemon Pepper Salmon & Stuffed Peppers

Tonight I made two anti-inflammatory meals in tandem!  Was a little stressful, but glad I did it.  I was really craving some sugar during the few minutes of stress, but thanks to my amazing enourager of a husband it was all good. 

So here's what went down in my kitchen tonight...I made salmon for dinner with Tom's parents and now we have 3 lunches for the rest of this week.  Sweet!

Recipe #1 Dinner: Lemon Pepper Salmon

Season 2 salmon filets with lemon pepper and olive oil.  Bake at 425 for 14 minutes.
Cook 1 c. brown rice while salmon is baking.

Drizzle baked fish and rice with squeeze of lemon.
Serve with veggie of your choice...I like asparagus or a spinach salad.


Yumm!!

Recipe #2-Lunch for tomorrow: Stuffed Turkey Peppers
(This is a variation of my mom's stuffed peppers-she makes them perfectly!)

3 green or red peppers
3/4 lb. ground turkey
1 c. brown rice
2 tsp. Worchesershire Sauce
1 can low sodium tomato soup
dash of pepper
dash of salt

De-stem peppers and take out seeds.
Boil peppers in salt water for 5 minutes.
Cook brown rice while peppers are boiling.
Brown turkey and strain fat.
Place peppers in greased 8x8 pan.

Mix browned turkey, cooked rice, tomato soup, Worchestershire, pepper, salt together and stuff into peppers.

Bake for 25 min. at 350.

Top with your favorite cheese and enjoy!



Delish!

Migraines

So I've been doing a lot of research lately about how to prevent migraines.  I've had them for as long as I can remember and have had scans, sleep studies and been on too many meds to even count.  Still, I'm getting about 8-10 a month.  My most recent neurologist said, "Well there's not much else we can do for you except take Tylonol when you feel them coming on."  Tylonol??? Really?  I definitely did not believe him for a second that any over the counter would touch these suckers.  But I was a good little patient and I have been  taking two when I feel one coming on and about 30% of the time it works!  Ok now we are getting places.  So I thought, okay if an anti-inflamamtory pill works, then why not eat food that is anti-inflammatory and get the benefit from the inside out instead of having to pop pills all the time? Well, after much research, I have compiled a list of anti-inflammatory foods and meals.  Tom said he would try it with me so we are going anti-inflammatory for one month as an experiment.  That means avoiding sugars, high processed foods, red meat, white flour, just to name a few.  I was overwhelmed at first, but I just altered some of my favorite recipes and looked up some more online and now have a meal plan for the entire month of January!  So it's worth a try...even if these meals don't help my migraines, my body will be healthier and happier for it.  Below is the spreadsheet I made for anti-inflammatory foods.

Breakfast	Meals	Food Add-Ins	Snacks	Sides	Avoid
Oatmeal	Tilapia with rice	Olive Oil	Green Tea	Edamame	Refined Grains
Un-sugared cereal	Turkey Chili	Herbs	Smoothie	Green Beans	Sugar
Smoothie	Turkey Stuffed Peppers	Garlic	Banana	Corn	Candy
Whole Grain Bread	Shrimp with rice	Honey	Pineapple	Asparagus	Baked Goods
	Italian Beef (once a month)		Berries	Broccoli	Enriched noodles
	Italian Crock Pot Chicken		Orange	Salad	Cooking Oils
	Pork Roast (once a month)		Apple	Spinach	Trans Fat
	Chicken Enchilada Casserole		Celery	Peas	Artificial Food Additives
	Tuna		Carrots	Brown Rice	High Fructose Corn Syrup
	Chicken Fajitas		Popcorn	Sugar Snap Peas	Monosodium Glutamate
	Black Bean Tostadas		Hummus	Quinoa	Artificial Sweeteners
	Buffalo Chicken Ranch Crock Pot		Edamame		Red Meat
	Chicken Tortilla Soup		Almonds		Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
	Chicken with Wild Rice		Walnuts		Butter
	Chicken Parmesan Rolls		Dark Chocolate		Whole Milk
	Salmon				High Fat Cheeses
	Turkey Meatballs				Processed Foods
	Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Shrimp				Soda
	Shish-ca-Bobs				Alcohol
	BBQ Coleslaw Chicken
	Ham (once a month)
	Curried Rice Bowl
	Turkey Meatloaf
	Omlette
	Vegetable Soup
	Crispy Parmesan Turkey
	Spaghetti Squash
	Risotto Cakes with Tomato Salad
	Salsa Chicken
	Orange Curry Shrimp