Did I mention I love fresh food. Last night we tried a new but simple recipe and it was fantastic. I'm not a big fish eater, but as part of my new diet I need to eat more fish and this recipe was so simple, even Shanna could do it. (Just kidding my sweet cousin!) I thought I would share and also I wanted to have it written down somewhere so I can refer back to it because we decided it was a keeper.
Lemon Butter Tilapia
4 Fresh Tilapia fillets
Salt and Pepper
1 Lemon (Buy organic if you can since you will be using the zest of the lemon)
2 Tablespoon butter
Lay the tipapia on a piece of aluminum foil. Salt and pepper both sides. Zest a lemon (if you have a zester like mine you might need to chop it some to make it a fine zest) and split among each piece. Cut the lemon and squeeze the juice of the lemon over fish. Add half a tablespoon of butter to the top of each piece and roll the foil into a packet. Place the packets on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 18-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
Clark made some brown rice that he added a little salt and butter to and I served the fish over the rice. We added a side salad with homemade ranch dressing (my new alternative book says to lay off store bought salad dressing). It was a wonderful meal.
Tonight we will be having veggie patch pizza with zucchini and onion from the market and fresh spinich and mushrooms from the store. I can't wait.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Farmers Market
I finally made it to the farmer's market for the first time this season and I couldn't be happier. The selection is already building up as local farmer's have some wonderful things coming in. Today I managed to find some fresh greenleaf lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, peaches, and farm fresh local eggs. It's so exciting to work on a menu for the week with these wonderful finds. Tonight, I already had chicken tenders thawed in the frig. so what better than a blackened chicken salad. Clark had made a request for some sweet potato fried so I just added those as a side dish for the salad. We ate our fill and had a little left over to pick at for lunch tomorrow. The salad was incredible. There is so much more flavor in fresh local food. You could actually get a little sweet and a little bitter from the lettuce and we sat and picked the cucumber slices out when we were done with dinner until we almost made ourselves sick. It just doesn't have the bland watered down taste that supermarket cucumbers have. Anyway, I just had to share my joy for the season and let you know that we are officially "Eating healthy, eating local" once again!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Preventative and Alternative Medicine
I really believe that there is something to preventative medicine. If you will take the time to be proactive to keep from getting sick then the less you have to deal with doctors and so on. Even with Abbey, I have tried to do what I can to prevent her from getting colds, ear infections, etc. instead of just letting her catch things then going and getting medicine all the time. I do also believe that drugs can help people, so I'm not against them. The thought, though, is that if you take a preventative approach then the less chemical drugs you may require later in life. I also believe that a healthy diet and the right vitamins can improve your basic way of life when modern medicine can't prescribe anything for it. Now, this might seem like a little rant that I'm on, but hear me out and you can decide if I've lost my mind.
I suffer from severe endometriosis. My doctor, who is the head of OB/GYN at a large city hospital said it was one of the top three worst cases he had ever seen. After three surgeries and with a lot of fertility treatment, we were able to have our sweet little Abbey. During and for about two years after her birth, I didn't have any problems with the pain of the endometriosis, but the past few months and it has come back. I have found myself living in pain, carrying a bottle of ibuprophen everywhere I go. My doctor says that he will not do another surgery for it because it is just too bad. My next surgery will end my childbearing life and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. So that is what I have to suffer with.
Clark, being diabetic and mildly narcoleptic, is always looking for ways to improve his way of life. Recently, he has really been struggling with getting up on time in the morning and feeling rested. The boss man is tearing into him about being late and it really isn't his fault, but something has to be changed. With much internet research about his narcolepsy he has realized the difference between the way he sleeps and the way a normal person sleeps. The only medical remedy for this is with strong drugs that he is not willing to try, so he found a book this weekend called "Alternative Cures" that gives a lot of information about using diet, vitamins and minerals to help medical conditions. I'm not saying that it can cure them, it may not even help very much, but it is natural and worth giving it a try.
Here is where the two stories colide. The book was just laying on the couch Saturday night after the baby was in bed and while Clark was on the computer, so I thought I would pick it up and glance through it. I looked up endometriosis, not really expecting to find much, but there it was in black and white, an explanation of my symptoms and a solution to help with the symptoms. It wasn't a cure because the only cure I think there could possibly be is to physically remove the disease, but there was a plan that made sense. Eating a healthy diet that does not contain processed foods and limits your intake of sugar, caffiene, white flour, red meat, and dairy, all things that are believed to break down your natural immune system. Also it suggested taking a multi vitamin as the base and add Vitamins C,E, and B complex for immunity building and Flaxseed oil for the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids that are a natural way to fight the pain. Endometriosis is the type of disease where basically the cells are fighting against themselves. This information was in the book and the explanation given to me by my doctor, so in building up your natural immune system you help the good healthy cells fight back harder. It made sense.
So, that is my new approach to becoming healthy. The diet is really something we should have been doing anyway (more strictly than we have been). It is very similar to the diet Clark should be on for his diabetes, but in addition, I am taking an array of vitamins and minerals to help build what is naturally in my body. Although I already suffer with this particular disease, and Clark with his, I believe that this healthy approach will help our current situation and prevent future issues from arising. Also, we hope that this lifestyle change can help with our weight problems and energy levels. I'm really looking forward to giving this a try. If you have any experience with alternative or preventative medicine, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear your stories. Also, if you have any recipes that you love that fits into my criteria for the new diet, please leave those as well. I have some low carb, diabetic and healthy eating cookbooks, but I love to hear your favorite tried-and-true recipes that are perfect for a healthy lifestyle.
I'm sorry this has been a long post, but hopefully it will be something to keep you updated on in the future.
I suffer from severe endometriosis. My doctor, who is the head of OB/GYN at a large city hospital said it was one of the top three worst cases he had ever seen. After three surgeries and with a lot of fertility treatment, we were able to have our sweet little Abbey. During and for about two years after her birth, I didn't have any problems with the pain of the endometriosis, but the past few months and it has come back. I have found myself living in pain, carrying a bottle of ibuprophen everywhere I go. My doctor says that he will not do another surgery for it because it is just too bad. My next surgery will end my childbearing life and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. So that is what I have to suffer with.
Clark, being diabetic and mildly narcoleptic, is always looking for ways to improve his way of life. Recently, he has really been struggling with getting up on time in the morning and feeling rested. The boss man is tearing into him about being late and it really isn't his fault, but something has to be changed. With much internet research about his narcolepsy he has realized the difference between the way he sleeps and the way a normal person sleeps. The only medical remedy for this is with strong drugs that he is not willing to try, so he found a book this weekend called "Alternative Cures" that gives a lot of information about using diet, vitamins and minerals to help medical conditions. I'm not saying that it can cure them, it may not even help very much, but it is natural and worth giving it a try.
Here is where the two stories colide. The book was just laying on the couch Saturday night after the baby was in bed and while Clark was on the computer, so I thought I would pick it up and glance through it. I looked up endometriosis, not really expecting to find much, but there it was in black and white, an explanation of my symptoms and a solution to help with the symptoms. It wasn't a cure because the only cure I think there could possibly be is to physically remove the disease, but there was a plan that made sense. Eating a healthy diet that does not contain processed foods and limits your intake of sugar, caffiene, white flour, red meat, and dairy, all things that are believed to break down your natural immune system. Also it suggested taking a multi vitamin as the base and add Vitamins C,E, and B complex for immunity building and Flaxseed oil for the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids that are a natural way to fight the pain. Endometriosis is the type of disease where basically the cells are fighting against themselves. This information was in the book and the explanation given to me by my doctor, so in building up your natural immune system you help the good healthy cells fight back harder. It made sense.
So, that is my new approach to becoming healthy. The diet is really something we should have been doing anyway (more strictly than we have been). It is very similar to the diet Clark should be on for his diabetes, but in addition, I am taking an array of vitamins and minerals to help build what is naturally in my body. Although I already suffer with this particular disease, and Clark with his, I believe that this healthy approach will help our current situation and prevent future issues from arising. Also, we hope that this lifestyle change can help with our weight problems and energy levels. I'm really looking forward to giving this a try. If you have any experience with alternative or preventative medicine, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear your stories. Also, if you have any recipes that you love that fits into my criteria for the new diet, please leave those as well. I have some low carb, diabetic and healthy eating cookbooks, but I love to hear your favorite tried-and-true recipes that are perfect for a healthy lifestyle.
I'm sorry this has been a long post, but hopefully it will be something to keep you updated on in the future.
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