Category Archive for ‘Health’ at eastowners

Archive for the 'Health' Category

Peanut Butter Granola

Published

dead headphonist

on December 28, 2008

in Health and Recipes

. 2 Comments

Current Mood: Mischievous emoticon Mischievous

This is the PB Granola in it's glory

I managed to get the peanut butter granola just about perfect this time. Here’s the recipe, since folks have been asking. This stuff makes your kitchen smell wonderful for several hours.

2 1/2 cups rolled oats (do not use instant. get the large flake rolled oats from the health food store)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed meal (not whole flax seed)
1/8 cup unsweetened flake coconut
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Note : spices/salt are to taste. Feel free to experiment

Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheet by covering in parchment or tin foil. Use a cookie sheet with raised edges (no “air bake”) as you need to turn the granola over while it cooks.

First, in a large pot melt together the honey, butter, and peanut butter over low heat. Mix well and add vanilla, spices, and salt. Mix well. Mix grains and coconut together lightly in a separate bowl. Add grains to the wet mixture and quickly mix well to coat.

Spread mixture evenly on a cookie sheet and press together into a solid sheet. Keep the mixture away from the edges of the pan or it will burn easily. Bake for 20 minutes, turn over and press back into a solid sheet. Bake another 20 minutes or until the oats start to slightly brown. Remove from the oven, press the sheet together again and allow to completely cool before transferring to the storage vessel of your choice.

A damned fine meal

Published

dead headphonist

on August 6, 2008

in Food, Health and Raves

. 1 Comment

I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a few days now, but keep getting side-tracked with the usual drudgery of life. This week has presented me with continued challenges at work to keep my mind intact. I’ve been kind of focused on that.

So to the important part (and why you’re here). Last Friday, we paid a visit to some close friends that live in the town about 45 minutes south of here (Kalamazoo for you locals). We took a bottle of Balistreri Cab Sav that was absolutely amazing, as all their wines are.

Our friends prepared a “mostly vegan” meal that was one of the best gastro-events of late. They started with a roasted red pepper spread and crackers. Like all the food served, this was full of flavor and better than a good majority of the spreads you find in upper-class joints… and no cheese or cream to be found in it.

Dinner was started with a field greens salad (from their yard) with , cherry tomatoes, miso-encrusted pecans and bleu cheese topped with balsamic and olive oil. This was one of the best salads I think I’ve ever had in my life.

The main dish was ratatouille, which is a dish that I have a love for. The dish usually has chopped veggies in a stew, but their variation was with thinly sliced veggies layered in a much more flavorful base than I’ve ever had. It was absolutely wonderful; actually creamy tasting, but vegan.

For dessert, they served a wonderful blueberry pie with a vegan ice cream that you would have no idea was vegan if you weren’t told. It was creamy, wonderful, and something I would definitely eat again. Clare loved it.

So why would I write something like this about a meal that is not from a restaurant, but just some local folks that we hang out it? Well… our friend has written a recipe book with recipes for these dishes and more. It has yet to be published, but when it is, expect there will be some shameless promotion here for it. The food she develops is absolutely amazing.

Rest assured… as soon as the book is available, you’ll hear about it here.

Working the Steel

Published

charmaspice

on April 14, 2008

in Food and Health

. 2 Comments

Current Mood: Jammin’

Okay, so most of you know I am a big fan of the television. I probably watch far too much of it, but that is neither here nor there. One of the shows that I enjoy watching is Oprah, and I tend to get a lot of information from her shows. I am also a big fan of Dr. Oz, and all of the information he gives us to help us be healthier people. One of the things that he and Oprah continusly talk about are steel cut oats. I’ve been unsure of trying them, as I’ve heard mixed reviews about them and the taste. Since my last dr’s appointment I had my cholesterol tested, and it wasn’t great. It was a little high, and my doctor said with a better diet and some exercise (the exercise is mostly what I’m missing) it’d probably come down. So, since these little oats are packed full of fiber and other great stuff I thought I’d give it a shot. What’s the worst thing that can happen - they suck and I don’t like them and I wasted $6. Turns out the worst thing didn’t happen. I made a half of a cup this morning for breakfast, although it does take about a half an hour to cook them (the only downfall for me) they were pretty yummy. I added a bit of honey and cinnamon to them to spice it up, and it was quite delish. I was talking to Brad and he said if I wanted to I could cook a double batch (which is what’s actually recommended on the tin) and they’ll keep in the fridge for a day, so I can just heat them up in the microwave the next day.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between Rolled Oats and Steel Cut Oats here are a couple of sites I found in my searching.

Weekend Warrior - Not so Much

Published

charmaspice

on March 24, 2008

in Health and Updates

. 2 Comments

Current Mood: Sickly emoticon Sickly

We had big plans this weekend. We decided due to the cost of gas money (as it now costs me $65 - $70 to fill my car), and with the house projects we’ve begun that we’d stay home. We are not big celebrators of Easter, some how though for the past few years we’ve ended up at one parents or the other, but this year we decided it was best just to stay home. It’s a good thing we opted to stay home too, Friday all day and evening we were pelted with about 4-5 inches of snow (making driving conditions less than appealing Saturday morning). Friday night Brad came home coughing and hacking, and just not sounding good. I should have known - that morning he kissed me on the cheek, as I have a thing about not getting what he has if I can help it.

On Saturday we were going to get up, get some breakfast out, and hit our errands with gusto. We made it to breakfast with success, although the roads were essentially a sheet of ice at 11am! Then it was on to Lowes to pick out paint for my office. I tried looking at colors online, but let me tell you - go in person, they are WAY off in their hues of color. Brad found exactly what I wanted. It’s a new texture for us as it’s a Suede (rather than a satin, matte, or other finish), so we’ll see how it goes. By the time we were done in there I didn’t know if Brad was going to make it home, he was pastey as all get out. I was starting to feel achey too, and I had things to do - laundry, paint my office, clean, you know the usual. After Lowe’s Brad wanted to stop in at Fire House Music to see if they had a Bass that was to his likings. He already has a Bass, but it’s fretless, and it’s not get for a beginner. He found one under $200, so we called it good and headed for home. We got home, and we parked ourselves on the couch. I have never felt so achey - or maybe I did during Labor I’m just blocking it out. I felt as though I had been hit from all directions by a Mac truck. That and I just couldn’t get warm, I had 3 blankets on me and I was still cold. Since I was the one that was slightly less ill I ran up to the CVS for some meds, some soup, and cough drops. Whatever we had was a wierd one. We both felt incredibly achey, and the other other thing we had was a barking cough. It’s a strange virus whatever it is. It was a good thing I went to the store too, because I came home and I suddenly felt hot. I checked my temp and it was 101.5 degrees Farenheit. Within about 10 minutes of taking a multi-symptom Tylenol it began to drop. We huddled on the couch watching cruddy TV, and were in bed by 10pm.

One minute I was sweating so much the sheats were wet, the next I was freezing so much I had goose bumps. I even got up to put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt to help warm me up, and nothing could warm me up - and we sleep with a down comforter. Yesterday was much the same, sleeping on the couch, getting Clare the meals she needed, and more sleep. We did make it out to a fine Easter meal at Q doba, it was all the energy I had to get there and home. So, alas, no painting for us this weekend.

Today I forsee much of the same except that I need to get Clare to school. I did however find an old inhaler to help ease the cough, unfortunately though because it’s old, and not full, I forsee a visit to the doctors for me in the near future. Apparently last summer I found out that I have bronchial asthma when I’m sick, and that’s the reason my coughs linger. I used to just deal with it, not any more. Here’s to hoping we’re better by mid-week so I can start painting, and get my house clean!

Help from the Bloggy World

Published

charmaspice

on February 6, 2008

in Health

. 3 Comments

Current Mood: Sad emoticon Sad

So, yesterday I had my yearly check up with my OB/GYN. Not the greatest of blogging conversations I know…but I must push past my own embarassment and put it out there. I think if I put it out there I may not feel so alone, and some of you may have some great advice for me to help me get out of my downward spiral - or at least I hope you have some good advice.

You know how every time you go to the doctor they weigh you? Well, apparently I gained 16 pounds over the past year. It’s not something I’m proud of, and I knew I had gained a few pounds in recent months, but my doctor has made it clear to me that this is now a health issue for me and I need to do something. The thing that makes me frustrated is that about 3 years ago I was within 5 punds of getting rid of the baby weight I gained with my now almost 5 and a half year old. Family things began to dominate our lives, I lost sight of my goal, gained the weight back, and I just haven’t been able to get back there since. Of course then I was able to get to the gym 3-4 days a week with nothing else busying up my schedule, and I had time to work out without having to be on a total time schedule. Now a days I am on a time schedule around Clare’s school schedule, as well as other things that we do, and it’s just not working out. I know we all have our excuses…but now is the time for me to take care of this before it ends up becoming more than I can handle.

Most of my problem is that living in MI I only get about 6 - 7 months of sunshine by the time you add in all the grey cloudy days of Spring, Winter, Fall, and sometimes even Summer. The lack of sunshine really gets to me, then I become depressed, and then I over eat. I also have a tendancy to over eat when I am stressed, and right now with our fabulous snowy weather I stress about driving to and from Clare’s school, as well as some other things. Life in general also kinda has me down, which doesn’t really want to motivate me to get to the gym around my schedule. I know I need to just deal with it; it’s where I live, and if my depression continues to get worse I plan on seeing my doctor. Anyway, onto the help that I’m in need of.

Here’s where you come in - Bloggy World - I am in the market for some good exercise DVD’s, but have no clue where to begin when I look at them. I want something that doesn’t have 3 perky blonde (or any other colored hair) women in it “cheerleading” me on during their insane workout. I dispise Denise Austin’s videos….”Come on, Beautiful, Looking Good, 2 More, Come on, lift if higher” - UGH it makes me want to throw-up or throw things at the television! What I’m looking for is a straight forward exercise routine that I can do without feeling like a complete idiot in my own living room. I have Netflix, so I can easily get things from there - I just don’t know who to look at or where to start.

We are unfortunately canceling my gym membership - it’s just a waste of money, and we never seem to make it there no matter how much we say we’re going to do it. We’ve said probably for the past year or less that we’re going to get back to going steadily, but it just never happens. Instead with that money we want to purchase something that we can use at home. If it’s convienent, I’m certain I’d use it; especially if it were by a TV that I can either watch my DVRed television, or watch a movie on without commercials or interruption. Until we get our exercise equipment though I’d like to start with a video or two I can do in the evening after Clare’s in bed. If anyone also has any good advice on a cheapesk (with a high weight limit of over 300lbs) eliptical machine - I’d appreciate it. Brad has been doing some research, but if anyone has anything we minght not have thought about we’d love to hear your comments.

sick.

Published

dead headphonist

on October 3, 2007

in Health and Housework

. 0 Comments

Current Mood: Ill

I detest being forced into admitting that, like most of the humans, I too am completely flattened by a simple little rhinovirus. Yes, ladies and gents, the common cold has struck the eastowners adobe with a vengeance.

So, there hasn’t much in the way of blogging around here, mostly because of the lowered immune systems.

For those of you who may be paying attention to our little Ol Domicile Saga, we still don’t have anything new. The contractor hasn’t shown yet. I left a message with them this afternoon. Hopefully I hear back.

Look for Adventures in DVR tomorrow.

Orange Juice and Blood Pressure

Published

dead headphonist

on August 27, 2007

in Health

. 0 Comments

So I found something kind of interesting about orange juice. Up until pretty recently (in the past 5-6 years in fact), I was a huge consumer of orange juice, consuming somewhere in the neighborhood of two gallons a week. While all that sugar certainly isn’t good for you, it seems even a couple of glasses of the tropical stuff is enough to lower blood pressure in some people.

It’s made me wonder if my previously low blood pressure might be due in part to this. I have, over the years and out of concern for my blood sugar, drastically reduced the amount of juices I drink. I’m going on an experimental diet just to see… the only change I’m going to make is that I will drink, minimum 2 8oz glasses of OJ a day. After a week, I want to see if my BP is any lower or not.

Should be interesting… now to see if watermelon vodka mixes with OJ…

Borrowing a Post….with permission of course

Published

charmaspice

on July 30, 2007

in Health

. 1 Comment

Current Mood: Alarmed emoticon Alarmed

I’ve recently entered into the world of reading other womens blogs. It all started with a few of my MOMS Club friends, and now I read about women/moms from all over. It helps bring a little more sanity into my life realizing that I’m not the only one out there going through some of the things that occur in our household. Recently I read a post about a mom diagnosed with breast cancer, and it struch me to the core especially since my Aunt was recently diagnosed with it as well….however this was different, this women didn’t have a lump. Her breast had changed and she found out through several different tests that she had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. It is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

Feel free to read Toddler Planet’s blog to learn more. It’s made me think to not take things for granted about my health. So many times I push things aside because I think they are stress related……and I can fix them by not being so stressed. It’s however easier said than done. All of you women out there please repost Toddler Planet’s blog, as the more women we inform the better!