Super Bowl Menu

Today’s menu started with some grass fed beef in order to make a family recipe we call, “Grandma’s Sloppy Joe’s”. What’s great about this recipe is that there aren’t any seasoning mixes in there, just a few simple ingredients. One thing that is really important to me is knowing what’s in my food. I tend to make most of my food and rarely purchase any processed food. This takes more time but it definitely worthwhile. Not only do I avoid the chemicals in the food, but I avoid the excess packaging and I get better tasting food.

One of the first things I do on a day when I am eating things out of the ordinary, or heavier foods like sloppy joe’s and onion rings, is to start my day with a green spinach smoothie. The smoothie helps me get in six servings of fruits and vegetables for the day. My green smoothies include four cups of organic spinach, one organic banana and one half cup of organic strawberries or some kind of organic berries.
The first part was making homemade poppy seeds buns. I use a recipe from a bread making book for the hamburger buns then mix the dough using the dough setting on my Zojirushi bread machine. After nearly two hours, the dough is done. Once that has completed, I remove the dough, punch it down and let it rise again. Once that happens, I’ll cut the dough with a dough cutter, then mold it into buns. Next, it will rise for another hour. After that, I’ll mix up an egg white wash, made with my favorite organic eggs from Vital Farms. Vital Farms eggs are pasture raised eggs and humanely raise their chickens. In addition to that, they are by far the best tasting eggs I have ever had. I use that for an egg wash and then followed it up with some poppy seeds on top. Normally I like to use golden flaxseed on top but I was out so I used the poppy seeds instead. I baked them in my Breville Smart Oven which is a toaster/convection oven. What I love about this oven is it’s small size. It’s great for one or two people and more importantly, it takes up less space, uses less energy than heating up a full size oven and it’s much easier to clean. I call it my Easy Bake Oven, lol. Here they are all baked.

Once the buns were in process, I started on the recipe for Sloppy Joe’s. I started using some grass fed beef. I can’t afford to purchase all organic food but I am selective on what I do purchase. This is a family recipe which uses only a few ingredients. I love that.

Once the ground sirloin is cooked, it's added to the slow cooker with a few other ingredients and then placed on low for all of the flavors to meld together. Next are the onion rings. I choose oven baked onion rings to go with the sloppy joe’s. I like onion rings but am not too excited about frying anything. If you eat fried foods in a restaurant, they often reuse the oil, which can be toxic once it’s reheated. If you make it at home in those electric fryers, they are made from plastic which leach BPA into your food. I don’t know about you, but none of that appeals to me. I chose to bake mine. They are fairly simple to make. I started with an organic sweet onion, sliced it up, dredged it in a flour salt and pepper mixture, dipped it in an egg white wash, then dipped them in some home made bread crumbs. If you are making your own bread, it’s pretty simple to take a slice or two and chop it into bread crumbs in your food processor. It’s amazing how much more flavor you have when you make your own bread crumbs.Once those are baked, then comes the easy part. Putting it all together and enjoy it. I hope you enjoyed my Super Bowl Menu. Coming in the next few weeks will be my kitchen reveal. I ordered a few more things this weekend so I am just waiting for everything to arrive. In the meantime, you can check out other kitchen products that I like by clicking here or just clicking on the store button at the top of the blog. Once you open that link, it will list the kitchen products that I recommend with some reasons as to why I think they are superior to other products.

Blizzard 2011 Photos From My Apartment

This is the view out of the living room window at 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon.
This is the same view out of my living room window at 8 a.m. this morning after over 20 inches of snow.

Another view of the same spot.

The view out of both windows this morning. Notice the snow is up to nearly the mid-point of the window.
The view of the left window.
The view of the right window.

Looking out of the dining room this morning. Not sure why the vertical apartment blinds look purple in this photo (they are white).

Another view.

In my bedroom, my cat Wiggles tried to look out the window. He cried when he coudldn't look out, lol.

Photo of Dear Son's Dad's house.

Photo of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. (Photo Credit~Chicago Tribune)

This is Paula Deen's Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie recipe that I made last night. I downsized the recipe a bit and skipped a lot of the butter. I can't eat like this very often and make this recipe about once a year, but on days like today, it's perfect.Here's a photo of a piece; I am not a food stylist, obviously. It was good though.

In other news, my pc was out for most of the day. I called my ISP and they were only taking emergency calls. I am pretty sure if there is a blizzard out there and I am stuck indoors without internet, that it's an emergency. Don't you think? O.K. maybe I am just addicted.

Dear Son had some problems today. He has been having more seizures lately and had a rather long seizure this morning. In addition, he woke up with a lot of coughing today and was wheezing. I've done two nebulizer treatments today and will continue treatments tonight. I had to give him some extra seizure meds so I contacted the pediatric neurologist fellow on call to get some direction with regards to the additional seizure medication and any respiratory depression. Of course, he suggested that we come to the ER... I explained that we can't get out, lol. I told him that we'll come if the wheezing gets worse. Currently, he doesn't have a fever, his oxygen saturation is o.k. 92-94 earlier today and 95 at 4 p.m. I have the nebulizer and oxygen at home if needed for emergencies. I am fairly confident and know when I am in over my head but I did feel better getting some clarity with regards to the seizure medication and the respiratory depression. I figured it was better to call earlier in the day than to wait until we had more issues later tonight. I'll watch Dear Son closely and we'll see. Of course, I have increased the organic, virgin coconut oil to help with the cough.

Update 2/3/10: Dear Son seems better today. I gave him organic, virgin coconut oil yesterday as follows: 1 tablespoon with 6 a.m. meds, 2 tablespoons with noon meds, 1 generous tablespoon with dinner meds and 1 tablespoon at midnight, all via his gtube. (If you are using coconut oil for any type of healing, you do need to start slow. We started several months ago with only 1 tsp. per day. If you try to go to this much all at once, you will endure severe stomach upset/cramps and diarrhea. Once you are used to it, you can increase it when you start getting sick. We use 1 tsp./day when we are well.) I continued with the coconut oil today with all meds however I am only using 1 tablespoon at each meal. He slept well last night and was able to breathe fairly well through his nose all night. He did sound crackly around midnight and a few times during the night and did cough a few times this morning but overall was about 70% better than yesterday. While he was quite tired and lethargic yesterday, he also seemed like he didn't feel well and had a sad face as if he didn't feel well all day. This morning he smiled. After breakfast, I gave him another nebulizer treatment and he seemed better. He slept on and off but did wake up, spin the recliner around with his feet and seemed happy. By 1 p.m. today, he was about 85% of his total self. I can't begin to tell you how amazing it is that he could turn around from where he was at yesterday afternoon. He was wheezing very loud at that time and having a lot of seizures (sickness usually lowers his threshold). It was the same as he was any time he's had pneumonia. It's really amazing and quite powerful at the same time. Powerful in the sense that as a mother I have some options that I can do at home to help Dear Son to feel better and prevent a hospitalization. We aren't quite out of the woods yet, but I do believe that he is doing remarkably better than yesterday. This is quite an achievement for a chronically ill, severely disabled young man with a progressive neurological disease. I don't expect this organic, virgin coconut oil to be the end all for him or cure everything but rather, it's a tool that I can use to help prevent a pneumonia. I do suspect that there may and will be times when it may not work but for now, I am going to celebrate the fact that it's been six months without a hospitalization.

The Blizzard is Coming, The Blizzard is Coming...

Yes, it's true, the blizzard is heading our way. They expect the snow to start around 3 p.m. today and accumulate at the rate of 1-3 inches per hour for a total of two to three feet! I can remember the big blizzard of 1967 in Chicago. I was in the third grade and had perfect attendance that year. I kept telling my Dad that I had to go to school so that I could keep my perfect record! Of course, we had fun back then, staying out in the snow, building tunnels and forts. Oh, what fun we had!

To get ready for the blizzard, I had to make sure that we had enough supplies to last us for a few days. Our formula vendor and our diaper vendor deliver once a month and you guessed it, we are waiting on both deliveries. The formula and feeding supplies are due on Thursday and the diapers and changing supplies are scheduled today via Federal Express although I get the feeling that they may not arrive. Dear Son is on multiple medications for seizures and a few other things and some of those prescriptions were scheduled for renewal later this week. All were refilled and prescriptions are in the house. Regardless, we are ready.

Formula. Check.

Diapers. Check.

Prescription Medications for Dear Son. Check.

Laundry Soap. Check. I don't know about you, but my household stops if I can't do the wash, lol.

Comfort Food. Check.

To prepare for the week, I did my weekly grocery shopping yesterday. The parking lot was so full that I had to wait until someone left to get a spot. That's crazy! On the list this week were comfort foods. No sense sitting indoors with a blizzard outside without some good old fashioned comfort food. On the menu this week will be chicken pot pie, made with homemade mashed potatoes and some broccoli on the side. Meatloaf is on the menu as well-I have Grandma's recipe that I enhanced a bit and it's really good. I even tried to get some tomato soup but they were sold out! Did they not know a blizzard was coming! It was the only type that was sold out. I am not much of a soup person and typically make my own but I do have a thing for tomato soup on occasion. Anyway, comfort foods are in the house.

Until then, I needed to make my green smoothies. Green smoothies are wonderful. Not only are they a great way to pack in a maximum amount of nutrition but they have been wonderful for me in relieving arthritis pain. Typically, prior to rain or snow, I would be in a pretty fair amount of pain. While I did eat foods high in omega-3s, they didn't seem to help avoid this pain. Green smoothies are the first food that took away all of my pain. This was the first time that I really experienced how food can relieve pain. As a result of drinking these green smoothies, several things happened: the arthritis in my knee went away and I no longer woke up with dry eyes. In addition, I had severe arthritis in my feet ever since I was a teenager. It always felt like my feet were broken overnight and I could hardly stand on them when I woke up in the morning. This has been like that since I was a little girl. I should also mention that I was extremely fit up until giving birth to Dear Son so it wasn't due to being overweight or anything. Since drinking green smoothies, I don't have arthritis pain and now I don't know when it's going to rain or snow unless I watch the weather. I still have to eat fairly well and eat omega 3s which are anti-inflammatory. You can read more about green smoothies on Victoria Boutenko's Green Smoothie Revolution Blog. Now I am not suggesting it will cure any of your ailments, I am just sharing what it's done for me. I always think it's better when you can eat foods to cure your ailments/pain rather than taking any medications. I don't take medications of any kind. Off soapbox now.

Anyway, I started drinking green smoothies last June and have one every other morning for breakfast. Here's how to make it:

-1 1/2-2 cups of water

-1 frozen organic banana (I like Dole organic bananas at Whole Foods. They have great flavor.)

-1/2 cup frozen organic berries (I alternate between organic raspberries and organic strawberries. I do like blueberries but not in my smoothies because they turn the smoothie a brownish color and it looks like, well, you know.)

-3 giant handfuls of organic spinach or other organic greens. This is how much I put in my smoothie.

Put water and frozen banana in blender on "chop". Once it's chopped, add the strawberries and chop again. Once that's done, add the spinach and chop some more. Once chopped, switch it to the "puree" function and puree about 45 seconds or more. Of course if you have a Blendtec mixer, you can just put all of the ingredients in the blender at once but for my little Cuisinart, you have to do the steps separately so the blender blades don't break. I also like using organic ingredients to boost the nutritional value. There are some studies that suggest that there are possibly more nutrients in organic fruits and vegetables and while there is not a concensus, I genuinely believe that since many of the organic fruits and vegetables taste better, that they have to be better for you. Even if the nutritional value were similar, you can reduce the toxins by choosing organic and you are guaranteed that the food is not genetically modified.

So our focus for the next few days will be keeping warm and watching the snow fall. In addition to the snow, they expect winds of 50 mph tomorrow. Dear Son will be keeping warm in his NFL Bears Snuggie that I got him for Christmas. Dad likes it so much, he told me to pack it in Dear Son's suitcase over the weekend and told me it might not be coming back, lol.

Office Visit Update!

My apologies for the long delay between postings! Dear Son has been doing amazingly well over these past few weeks. As I mentioned previously, I started Dear Son on Now Foods Organic, Virgin Coconut Oil in mid/late October to help prevent colds/flu/pneumonia and also to give him energy. Within four weeks of starting the coconut oil (1 tsp/day), Dear Son was no longer sleeping when he was at school. As you may recall, he was only able to attend school two mornings a week since his severe illness in 2009. He had been sleeping and needed to rest at school. Now, he his happy and fully engaged at school. When he arrives at school, everyone asks if he's in the building and if he's there, lol. Of course, he loves the hoopla surrounding his arrival. He especially likes it when they cook at school, even though he can't eat.

Essentially, what they do is they select a recipe, gather all of the kids around the table and then go through the ingredient list, add the ingredients, letting the students help as they go. Dear Son likes it when they make anything with flour in it, since he loves it when they toss it a bit and things get a little messy.

With eight weeks of starting the organic, virgin coconut oil, Dear Son began to move his legs and feet. He started trying to kick the Christmas tree a little bit before Christmas. After his hospitalization and being on the ventilator with the H1N1 in 2009, he was not able to move his legs, his feet or even a toe. It was as if he was paralyzed since there wasn't any movement at all. Now he can use both feet. He can use his feet to turn the recliner around, he can lift his feet off the floor as in trying to kick something and he can use his feet to rock himself in the recliner.

Within 12 weeks of starting the organic, virgin coconut oil, he was back to his old self. He could hold his head up again. If you remember, in nearly every picture from his Make a Wish trip and even thereafter, his head was always hanging down. He wasn't able to hold it up. Now he can sit up straight in his wheelchair and hold his head up. He laughs a lot more and likes to play again. He vocalizes more and is more affectionate. He is able to move his arm better so I can wrap it around my neck and he can give me a hug. He can squeeze his arm enough for a hug. The best part is that he is able to enjoy life again. I came into his room the other day to get him up. He had been sleeping a while and when he heard me, he had this huge smile on his face with his eyes still closed. I came up to him and started rubbing his arm and back asking him if he was ready to get up and he opened his eyes and was smiling.

When we took him for labs last week at Big Academic Medical Center, he was able to sit up straight in his wheelchair, hold his head up tall, look around and even made eye contact and smiled at me from about 30 feet away! It was wonderful to see! He's been growing too. I think he grew another inch or so in the past month. His torso no longer fits on the length of the bed pads so I am guessing Dear Son is really getting up there now. I am estimating he may be around 6'2" or even 6'3" tall. His teacher thinks that is a pretty good estimate as well.

Recently, I read an article which may explain in part why the organic, virgin coconut oil is working so well. I am not implying that it has cured Dear Son of his progressive disease in any way, but rather, it is an excellent tool in keeping Dear Son healthy and keeping respiratory illnesses away. Dear Son can't cough or clear his airways so respiratory diseases for him are life threatening . They have told me he will die of pneumonia. By using the coconut oil, along with using his nebulizer once a day and general good care, he is staying well. He has not had one cold, one infection of any kind. Any time he sneezes or sounds like he is wheezing, I give him a tablespoon of coconut oil. I mentioned previously how I used it for him when I talked about how we were staying well this winter with one of those items being the organic, virgin coconut oil.

In this article, a physician, Dr. Mary Newport, Medical Director of the Neonatal ICU in Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Florida, had a husband suffering from Alzheimer's disease. When the traditional Alzheimer's medicines failed to help him, she began to research the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's. Essentially what she learned was that with Alzheimer's disease, the brain's principal source of energy is impaired (brain cells utilize glucose made from the carbs we eat) and without fuel, these begin to die. The alternative energy source, or ketones, can be produced by the body naturally, when it's deprived of carbs. She discovered that the alternative way to produce ketones is by consuming oils that have medium chain triglycerides (MCT). Coconut oil has MCT and when the oil is digested, it's converted into ketones via the liver. She then went on and learned the following:

"that the ingredient in the drug trial which was showing so much promise was simply MCT oil derived from coconut oil or palm kernel oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to produce these results. When MCT oil is metabolized, the ketones which the body creates may, according to the latest research, not only protect against the incidence of Alzheimer’s, but may actually reverse it. Moreover, this is also a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), drug-resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and type II (insulin-resistant) diabetes."

This may explain why coconut oil is helping Dear Son. Now I am using a very small dose with him, only 1 tsp. per day plus extra when he symptomatic.

Aside from Dear Son feeling and looking better, I should mention that he still struggles with seizures (I am not implying in any way that I used coconut oil for seizures, just to be clear.) I talked to neurologist about this today however the labs looked good so we will keep his meds at the same level and continue to use his vagus nerve stimulator as needed.

But the best news of the day was that the doctor is allowing Dear Son to attend school three mornings a week! I contacted Dear Son's teacher prior to our office visit to see how he was handling school and to get her opinion on whether or not she thought Dear Son could manage another morning at school or to see if she thought he should go longer on the days he went to school (meaning a full day). She thought another morning would work better for him.

In other news, I'll try to post a bit more frequently. I have been a bit torn over the blog lately. Essentially, I've been wanting to write about a few different things, organizing, cooking, homemaking, etc. versus blogging mostly about Dear Son. I've struggled changing topics a bit and with regards to organizing; I've been reluctant to write about that since that is my business and essentially my organizing tips are really my intellectual property so to share all of my organizing doesn't make sense from a business perspective. Regarding Dear Son, I've done some more writing and am thinking about seriously putting together a book. Some of the topics I am writing about fill up more than a post or two and would be more appropriate in a book. I am thinking instead about some e-books for topics related to organizing and organizing for special needs.

I have also been adding quite a few items to my Amazon store that is located here. Essentially, I've added a lot of gifts for special needs children as well as kitchen items and green cleaning items. It's still a work in progress and I'll be talking more about it as the weeks go on.

Coming soon though, will be my kitchen reveal. I've made some cosmetic changes to my kitchen and will be posting those in two to three weeks or so as well as talking about my philosophy about decorating and how what we eat and how we cook impact our health and are equally important when decorating and homemaking in general.

In the meantime, I'll probably try a few different post topics over these next few weeks. My biggest struggle is time since I only have two mornings a week to myself when he is at school and most of the time I am running errands. This past year has been the hardest for me, not only from the lack of sleep but from performing 24 hour a day care without much of a break. Thank you for being so patient and continuing to check in.