FOK Challenge part 6

So this week has been bit short. I didn't make as many recipes out of the Forks Over Knives cookbook as I thought I did. Oh well. I did redo a few that we particularly liked, such as the Banana Granola Parfait. Unfortunately, I used too much water when making the Banana Almond granola and it wanted to clump up too much, and then I baked it too hot for too long so it turned out very crunchy, almost hard. Not flaky enough but we soaked it good in milk and it still tasted good.

I also did my own variation on the Banana Almond Granola. I kind of combined it with the Basic Bake Granola on the page previous, page 44. I blended the dates up with the banana and added almonds to that as well. The recipe called for cinnamon and orange zest, but I didn't have any cinnamon and forgot the zest. I added nutmeg and coriander. I also added coconut to the oat mixture plus some corn meal to help it crisp up. I put it on low in the oven over night (170* for mine) and it turned out nice. I think it could have been baked a little bit longer than it was, which I think was about 10 hours. I never can tell, because my oven automatically shuts off if it is left on a long time, so  I've just assumed it shuts off about 10. Anywho! It was nice and flaky and yummy! I am going to try another variation of this next time and see how it comes out. 

Oh, yeah. We made Broccoli Rice Casserole on page 250. It was so good! But then, I am very fond of the cashew cheese sauces and gravies. Also, I love broccoli so the combo of that with rice was yummy! We were in a hurry so we didn't bake it, but I am going to definitely bake it next time to get the flavors to mix better. 

Anyway, that's all for now. Till next time, eat healthy!

Many Faces of Victor

I thought I would share some of the many faces of Victor! I just love his expressions.

 

 

 

 

 

FOOD! FOOD! Delightful wonderful food!

Today, I made homemade bread. Well, the boys did the first part and the girls and I did the rest. Its out now, and smells so good.

The last couple of months I've been having a lot of soreness in my lower back. I think it's inflammation, maybe arthritis. It hurts the worst in the morning when I'm getting up, or when I've been sitting still too long on the floor. One thing I do know, the more dairy or sugar I eat, the worse it is. So, I have in mind a return to no dairy or sugar. Anyway, my plan is for the next 2 months, I am going to leave out the sugar as far as possible, and go completely whole food plant based, no oil, no sugar. Starting tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

This way of eating is not a diet, it's a lifestyle and I've kind of fallen off the wagon, so to speak. I'm getting back on. Adding to that, I will be adding in some exercise. I already walk at least 1/2 to 1 mile almost everyday, but I want to try to do some Boot Camp in the morning when I get up before the kids wake up. So far all I have been doing is a few pushups and pull-ups when I think of it.

The last time I ate this way, I was losing weight without increasing my exercise level, so hopefully this will help lose the baby weight I've accumulated after having 7 kids. There is a good 40 lbs or more to lose.


Start date: 3/27/19
Current weight: 176

Stress and prayers answered

So, here's an update  on what's been going on over the last few months. In January, Victor came home and my mom arrived to await the birth of our new little one. I was looking forward to a nice home birth and a quiet visit with my mom. Well, 40 weeks came and went. My midwife, who likes to err on the side of caution, recommended at 41 weeks an ultrasound just to be sure everything was going well.

That visit threw everything into a bit of a stressful week long spiral. The doctor who read the ultrasound was concerned about the amount of amniotic fluid and the fact that she wasn't seeing a lot of lung movement in the baby. That coupled with a possible enlargement of one of the ventricle wall in his heart made her concerned that he might have heart problems. So, instead of a nice peaceful home birth we ended up in the local hospital that night for an induction. Well, sort of. Hang on to your seats, people, and see the hand of God work!!!

My midwife made a call to let the on call obstetrician know we were coming. However, when we got there, none of the nurses knew anything. On top of that, the OB that she had spoken to, didn't even work at that hospital. Well, the on call hospital midwife was called in and she said, "no problem, lets get you settled in and I'll take care of you." The whole experience was amazing. Such amazing nurses and doctors who made sure everything went well, and that I was able to get up when I needed to and move. Turns out my midwife had called the wrong hospital on accident (speed dial, you know) but it worked out perfectly. The hospital that night was very busy, but the nurses made sure I had a room and did what they needed to, to keep me there.

The birth was a bit more painful than the last 2 babies because I didn't use the water tub, but the biggest worry was that his heart rate kept dipping when I would contract due to him sitting on his cord in the very little bit of fluid he had left to swim around in. He was wading instead of swimming. Anyway, another answered prayer was that the induction was not much at all. They put in a drug to soften my cervix and did a quick membrane sweep, but that was it. NO pitocin needed, or any other drugs. And they only left the cervix softening drug in for a few hours since my contractions started up right away.

When i started to push, none of the nurses thought I was pushing because I went from a 4 to a 5 to a 10 in 5 minutes. My mom and my midwife both knew right when I started pushing though. And he was born only a few minutes later.
He was perfect! They were concerned about his breathing but he settled down in a couple of hours. Later that day, they did a cardiogram and a chest X-ray and suggested followups with both because they suspected air around his heart. They also kept us an extra 24 hours beyond the initial 24 because he was jaundiced. He spent part of Thursday in a bilirubin light blanket to bring that down.

The followup X-ray on Friday before we left the hospital showed clear lungs and very little air around the heart, and the bili levels were much better so we scheduled a pediatrician visit for the next week and a followup with the cardiologist.

Long story short, after lots of prayer and worry on my part, bili levels were where they should be, X-ray was clear again and the cardiologist cheerfully said, 'I am happy to tell you,  I never want to see little Victor here in this office again!"


Besides a dead battery in the car and the running around we had to do for all the followups, all my worry was for naught. I'm sure the angels and God were both shaking their heads, saying, "Hey, You know I got this, right? Come on! Let me worry about it."

Anyway, I'm glad that's over. More thought on other things later!  Here are some cute pictures for your viewing pleasure! I'm going to do a post for just the many faces of Victor!

Forks Over Knives Challenge part 5

Well, hello people! We've been very busy over the last 3 months. I know we must have made a few recipes from the Forks Over Knives cookbook, but I'm sure I can't remember all of the ones we did. So, I will just look through the book now and see if I can remember some of them.

Josh made the Strawberry Shortcake recipe on page 301 and it turned out really good. I loved it!

For Christmas week, I made a recipe called Oatmeal Raisin cookies from page 272.  I also made Lentil Chili (page 128) in the crockpot and took it to potluck. It was pretty good. I think I will try it in the InstaPot, now that I'm thinking about it, since I've made a couple different bean soup recipes in it, from other sources that turned out good.

Since then, we have tried a few other recipes.  "Cheesy" Broccoli Baked Potatoes on page 191 is a basic recipe that I've done many variations of anyway, and is always a hit, potatoes being one of our staples. It incorporates the No-cheese sauce from page 29. I often leave out the tahini because the boys like it better without and I don't always have tahini on hand, though I need to remember I do have a bag of sesame seeds and could just add some of those to the blender.

At some point in the last few months, I know I made "Ratatouille" page 176, because we all love eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. This recipe uses basil and red onion which I love, so I added extra of both, which turned out okay. A little heavy on the basil, but it was still good!

The last recipe I think, was the grilled Portobello Mushrooms. I've done this recipe before, but had to have it again, because mushrooms are AWESOME! Sorry, Dad. ;)  All my kids love mushrooms, although the girls prefer regular over portobellos and Christina sometimes picks hers out because she doesn't always like the texture when cooked, but she will eat them raw while I'm chopping!

Anyway, one thing I have been discovering, that I'm not liking, is some of the ingredients used in the cookbook, I have to buy at the Asian store, or I don't even know where to find. Also, some of the recipes are more complex than I like. I like simple recipes and simple ingredients, I guess. My kids don't always like the recipes either, because they are more, shall I say, 'gourmet' or something. I do tend to alter them for that reason some, but the nice thing is when I make the recipes to try them they usually only make 1 serving each for our large family so that makes it easier not to have leftovers no one will eat if they end up not liking it. If we do like it, I know I will have to double or sometimes triple the recipe, since we usually don't do lots of different dishes at each meal, though I should sometimes. As convenient as 1 dish meals are, a little variety at the table is nice.

Well, I will post some more things tomorrow if I have time. Bye for now.