Baby Steps

Sometimes I am in awe at how fast things change, especially when it comes to my mobility.  In the past month I have started using a cane. (It is very pretty and covered in butterflies!)  I was so apprehensive about this. I was worried what people would say, or having to repeatedly explain to people why.  Or worse, people would just assume I was using it to get attention.  Using an assistive device made a world of difference in my quality of life. Much as eye glasses help you see, a cane helps me walk.  This baby step of using the cane eases my limp, eases the strain on my hip joint, and helps with pain.  I still don't walk too far without needing to stop and rest, but it's definitely helping. 

Since my hip is basically out of its socket, the muscles surrounding it had all tightened up in an effort to keep it proper. Unfortunately. This does not help me walk, or do much of anything. I see an athletic therapist (AT) once a week.  He gives me stretches and exercises to do and does this painful deep tissue massage to help loosen the muscles. If the muscles are too tight when the hip replacement is done, I run the risk of the new hip dislocating. I. Do. Not. Want. That. To. Happen. The funny thing is, after that massage and the stretching, I feel sooooo much better, even on the days he makes me cry. 

Even though it seems like every thing is happening so fast, each step is a baby step.  A baby step to feeling better. A baby step to keep me working.  A baby step to keep me moving. My latest baby step was mailing in my application for a handicap parking pass.  Feels weird. I'm 40.  I use a cane. I will get to park a little closer for the next little while. All these baby steps will be so worth it! 

Hip Hip Hooray!

Hello everyone! I have been hiding for quite some time. A few of you have checked in on me and I truly do appreciate that. (Looking your way, Happy Whisk!). So much has been going on. Work gets busy, life gets busy, medical issues take over.... That's just how it goes these days. I don't spend as much time in the kitchen these days, at least not without help from Hubby or the Boy.  I am due for a total hip replacement surgery this October. Unfortunately, that means I have limited mobility, lots of pain, and I get pretty darn tired quickly.  

The story of my hip goes back to when I was a wee lass. Back in the day, screening for hip displaysia at birth just simply was not done. When I started walking, my parents noticed a pretty severe limp and took me to the doctor. From there we were sent to an orthopaedic surgeon who promptly jammed it 'back into place' and put me in a cast from the waist down to help it 'set'.  (Crazy!!!!). I was in that cast for 8 months!!! I managed to get around quite well, believe it or not.  I got into lots of trouble.  From finding my way to the kiddie pool and letting the water flow into my cast, causing a trip to the doctor for a new cast, to getting my head far enough over the side of my crib to cause my heavily casted legs to flip over the top... I landed quite hard on the floor but unharmed.  I even sweated through a cast, forcing my parents to install central air! (You're welcome family)!

By far the easiest way for me to get around was for my parents to literally tie me to a wheelie board and let me zoom around. 

  

I have no memory of these things, but have been told them many times over the years.  

After living a normal and active life (including a year playing provincial field hockey), I basically stopped doing things a few years ago when the pain started to show up on a regular basis. I did have pain over the years, but the past 4 have been the worst.  My entire life I have been told that by my 30s I would have severe arthritis and need a hip replacement and for years I was told I was too young, the damage wasn't bad enough..... Blah, blah, blah.  I have made it to 40 and am now using a cane to help me walk. Just before my 41 birthday, I will get a brand new ceramic hip! Hip hip hooray!  For the next little while, I plan to blog about my journey to a new hip, the trials and tribulations of pre-surgery, post-surgery, and my physical therapy leading up to this.  This is huge for me. It is a new lease on life. A whole new life filled with mobility, travel, and adventure! 

This blog is taking a new turn but  I'm sure I will get back to talking food even.  Hubby and I have been busy in the kitchen with all sorts of new things! 

Sorry I have been away, I hope you will stick around and take this journey with me.

Did you know, if you make friends with the X-ray tech, they will give you a copy of your X-rays?

How awesome is this?

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Hand Me a Pie

I love getting fresh garden treats from our CSA at Almost Urban farms. Even though I do silly things like plant my own zucchini, beans, and potatoes and at times get overwhelmed with too much of a good thing, I still love it.  Some times I feel inundated with the dark leafy greens....there I said it. I love garden fresh veggies, but get tired of kale, Swiss chard, lovage, beet greens, and even plain old lettuce.  I'm not a huge salad lover.  The Boy loves sautéed greens and creamed greens but Hubby isn't a fan of cooked greens.  I like them mixed in with salads, but I can only eat so much salad.

What is a girl to do? Well, first off, I'm always on the hunt for new ideas, second, I seem to have a back log of magazines with recipes in them....soooooo it is that I happened upon a recipe for Kale and Spinach hand pies in the January 2013 edition of Chatelaine magazine.  It is a spanokopita inspired hand pie with feta using a pastry dough instead of phyllo. Of course I didn't follow the recipe....do I ever? 

Greens and spinach hand pies 

Pastry

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 egg yolk

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cold and cubed

Break out the food processor for this one.  Give the cottage cheese and egg yolk a whir with the blade.

Add the flour, salt, and butter.

Pulse until a ball forms.

Divide into 2 even portions, roll into rectangles, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 1 1/2 hours.  This is a soft and squishy type of dough. You should still see tasty bits of butter through out it.

While the dough is getting its chill on, heat up a large skillet and wash up some dark leafy greens and get your ingredients ready. This time I used:

A handful of kale

A bunch of Swiss chard

Beet greens from 5 or 6 medium sized beets

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

A healthy grating of nutmeg

2 tsp chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup feta, crumbled

Wash your greens how ever you normally wash your greens, remove any large and tough ribs from the greens. Chop them all up into bite size pieces. (I hate biting into something and having a long string of greens pull the rest of the filling out.)

Sauté the onion until soft (some garlic would be a great idea here too!)

Add in the hot pepper flakes, greens, and grate in the nutmeg.

Continue to sauté until the green are wilted.  Set aside to cool.

Once cool, drain any excess liquid and stir in the feta.

Now you are ready to rock n roll and assemble.

Pre heat the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

The amount of dough should get you 10 rectangles approximately 6" x 5", give or take.  Mine never turn out the same size.

Lightly flour the counter and roll out the dough and cut into 10 somewhat even rectangles.

Divide your greens into 10 somewhat even portions.

Scoop 1 portion of greens onto the middle of each rectangle and fold the pastry in half (short end to short end) to enclose the deliciousness inside pressing to seal the edges. Crimping with a fork makes a nice pretty edge....

Brush the tops with an egg wash and use just the tip of a sharp knife to puncture the tops of the pies to vent the steam.

Pop into the oven and bake. For about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

These were wonderful!  The pastry was flakey and easy to work with.  The Boy enjoyed leftovers direct from the fridge when he came home from work, or before work, or before bedtime....

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Bacon and Beans

Garden season is in full swing. Not only are we getting fantastic veggies from our CSA, I harvested my first ripe tomato from my own garden today and everyday brings in more handfuls of beans.  Today it was the purple pole beans.  They are gorgeous!  Now beans are great for munching on straight from the garden, in fact I watched my friend's 5 year old daughter pack away a bunch of the beans I brought over the other day.  That's how you know they are tasty! There are many ways to prepare fresh beans, that s if they make it in from the garden....

A while back I tried a side dish at a restaurant that was called 'firecracker beans'.  It was basically over cooked beans with limp bacon and no spice....not too appealing.

  

Tonight I decided to make my own firecracker beans and boy oh boy were they tasty. There really wasn't too much to it.  My bacon was in the freezer and since I've been doing quite a bit of cooking with it, I unwrapped it and hacked of the end, sliced it up and tossed it in the pan. 

2 slices bacon, sliced

1 big handful of beans

1/2 to 1 tsp hot pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

A large fry pan

 Once the bacon is close to crisp, pop in a good pinch of hot pepper flakes. (If your bacon has left lots of grease, drain enough grease to leave about a tablespoon) Use up to a teaspoon, depending on how spicy you like it.

  Let the flakes heat up a little and add the beans. Sauté the beans for no more than 3 minutes.  You want the beans to still have some snap and not get soggy.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Eat the beans.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Quinoa Salad is Berry-licious!

                                                                                 

I really have no excuse for not posting too regularly except for the fact that I have been enjoying some much needed alone time.  How is this you ask? For one, I am on holidays from work until September.  Two, Hubby has been working during the day, as per usual. Three, the Boy is on a fantastic Me to We adventure in Ecuador building a school, playing games with kids, and having a blast. (He's a keeper!)

Not to brag too much, but I have been sleeping in, watching Netflix, and hanging out in the garden.  Nothing too exciting but seems to be just what I needed.  That being said, many apologies if I haven't kept in touch. I must also admit to spending a good amount of time browsing Pinterest.  I love seeing the ideas and thing people come up with and sometimes it inspires my own thought processes.

I found some salads featuring quinoa and berries.  The dressings didn't seem to appeal to me so I figured honey and lime always go well with berries and boom....there you have it. 

Berry Quinoa Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

4 cups mixed berries 

    - I used a mixture of blueberries, cherries, raspberries, and strawberries

1/2 cup un cooked quinoa

1 cup water

Slivered almonds, toast almonds in a dry pan until slightly golden and allow to cool.

Honey lime dressing

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp oil (use a neutral tasting oil such as canola)

Pinch of salt

Combine the quinoa and water in a pot.  Bring to a boil, slap a lid on it, reduce the temperature to low and set the timer for 15 minutes.  When the timer dings, take it off the heat, fluff it with a fork and set it aside to cool.

Wash and dry the berries, cut up the strawberries, pit and halve the cherries, and put it all to the side.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake it until everything is combined. Give the dressing a taste to see if it needs more honey, or lime, or salt.

Once the quinoa is cooled, combine it with the berries, almonds, and the dressing. Chill until serving time.

This salad was divine....Hubby gave it rave reviews!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.