Frustration

I called the insurance coordinator for the bariatric group today to see what the status was.  He said he had received my letter for the psychiatrist and the insurance letter would go out today.  When I asked how long it would take to get a decision, he very nonchalantly said "It can take up to 90 days to hear from the insurance company".  I do not understand why you would make someone spend six months jumping through hoops, losing weight, having all their medical tests update, having a psychological evaluation, only to tell them, oh, by the way, you may have to wait another 3 months before the insurance company makes up their mind.  Then you have wait 2 weeks for the surgery so you can go on a special diet to shrink your liver (morbidly obese patients have uncharacteristically large livers) and then, maybe, you can actually have the surgery.  Imagine if I were actually really sick!

I am frustrated on so many levels right now.  First, the wait is interminable.  Second, I have basically put my life on hold preparing for this surgery and not knowing when they are going to suddenly say "You are having surgery on such and such a date" makes it very difficult to plan my work.  If I were doing acute experiments like the rest of the lab, there would be potential to get several mouse experiments done.  But I don't and it takes 60-90 days to plan and carry out one of my experiments.  And I have to be actively involved from day 30-the end.  I cannot expect someone else to treat my mice for 2 weeks while I am recovering from surgery.  If, in fact it was going to take them 90 days, I could get an experiment completed.  However, he then told me it could take from 11-20 days normally.  Finally, my husband needs to take time off for the surgery.  Of course, he would rather that I accomodate him and have the surgery in time for his spring break, but since that is the week of February 18th, I now think that is totally unlikely. 

I just want to get on with my life and not lose the momentum that I have started.  Without accountability, I know I can slip.  But I really cannot afford to pay for a program (like WW).  So, now I have to decide what to do to keep this moving.  I am angry that they are wasting my time.  I did what they asked, now let me get on with life!!!

St. Baldrick's

So, it's that time of year again.  Time for us to start raising money for childhood cancer research and prepare ourselves to have our heads shaved on St. Patrick's Day!  The organization is St. Baldrick's and it is second only to the government in funding childhood cancer research.  This is my third year of participation and, quite frankly, I didn't think that I would do it this year.  Since I am going to be having bariatric surgery shortly, I had thought that I wouldn't do it because it is hard to regulate your body temperature after that surgery since you are losing weight so quickly.  But then I to to thinking about it and really felt ashamed of myself for even thinking that.

These kids do not get to choose when they develop cancer.  And yet, if you have ever met a child who is dealing with cancer, they tend to accept what is happening and are actually better adjusted than "normal" kids.  Why should I selfishly think of myself during this time?  I can always make more hats and bundle up more.  These kids are fighting for their lives.  So, I am doing it again!  On March 11, I will be joining others at the Cleveland Heights Community Center and having my head shaved again!

If you are interested in helping out, my fundraising goal is once again $500.  Last year, I almost made it.  I managed to raise $450.  I am starting to ask for donations earlier this year since I know I will be out of commission for at least a couple days after the surgery.  You can visit my participation page at http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/506310/2012 and click on the "Make a donation" button.  Then just follow the instructions.  And why my goal is $500, I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if I manage to raise even more than that. 

Here are pictures of my beautiful bald head from 2010 and 2011:

 This is my husband and I in 2010.  Right after the event!

And this is Team Rainbow right after we were all shaved in 2011.

Quick Bread

I miss having a bread maker. There is just something wonderful about dumping ingredients into a machine, walking away and a couple hours later opening the machine to a freshly baked loaf of bread. Alas, mine broke several years ago and I haven't really made bread since. Of course, that makes all of this wonderful whole wheat and spelt flour from the shares taunt me. Looking on Pintrest, I found a recipe for Honey Beer Quick Bread. Wouldn't you know; I have a couple bottles of local honey from the shares as well. So, here you go:

Whole Wheat Honey Beer Bread
Adapted from: http://gimmesomeoven.com/honey-beer-bread/

• 3 cups organic whole wheat flour*
• 2 Tbsp. natural sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp.  local honey*
• 1 bottle (12 ounces) beer (I used Bell's Best Brown ale)
• 4 Tbsp. (half stick) butter*, melted

 Method:
(Makes 1 loaf)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. 

Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter.  (Use a pastry brush to spread it around if you’d like.)

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.

*CSA ingredients

Ribs!

This week we got 2 racks of Berkshire ribs in our shares. I would love to be able to say that I have the dream kitchen, complete with everything, including a smoker. Since I can't say that, I turned to all my foodie friends (and family) on Facebook for the best way to cook them. I was reminded that "low and slow" is best for cuts like ribs. I had originally thought I would do them in the Crockpot. But several of my friends talked me into the oven. I would like to shout out to: Mark Dutcher for the dry rub idea, Steve Pierce, Rebecca Story, Susan Botnick Brill for oven baking instructions, and everyone else for their feedback on using the Crockpot. Here is what I did:

Over Barbequed Berkshire Ribs

 Dry Rub

• 1 part fresh pepper
• 1 part onion powder
• 1 part garlic powder
• 1 part chili powder
• 2 parts kosher salt
• 4 parts white sugar
• 4 parts brown sugar
• 1 to 2 parts smoked paprika

Mix all together in a small bowl.

Cooking instructions

•  2 lbs Berkshire ribs*
•  Dry rub (see above)
•  BBQ sauce (I used Clark Pope's BBQ Sauce*) 

Preheat oven to 300°F. Cover large cookie sheet with foil. Rub ribs with dry rub on both sides until well-coated Place ribs, meaty side down, on cookie sheet. Cover with foil and bake about 2 hours. Pour off fat. Brush ribs with BBQ sauce. Return to oven and bake, basting with sauce every 10 minutes, for another 30-40 minutes, or until meat begins pulling away from the bones.

Note: cooking times will vary based on thickness of ribs.

*CSA ingredients

Brunch

Today is another cooking day. I woke late this morning, a blessing as I have been sick for a couple days. I feel much better today! I decided to go with brunch this morning, making a recipe I found on a Paleo blog pinned on Pintrest.com. I did not follow the recipe directly, but it turned out quite tasty.

 Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Adapted from: http://www.paleoeffect.com/recipes/paleo-breakfast-casserole-paleo-effect/

• 1 med Sweet Potatoes*
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 local hot Italian Sausage*
• ½ red Onion*
• 4 Eggs*
• ½ c skim milk
• ¼ tsp Sage
• Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Grease a glass pie plate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grate the sweet potatoes (making hash browns) and then place them in the bottom of the greased dish.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Chop the onion and sausage and add to the oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until sausage is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Layer the sausage and onion on top of the sweet potatoes.

Put the eggs, sage, milk, ½ tsp of sea salt and ½ tsp of pepper into a blender (or Bullet!) and mix thoroughly. Pour this egg mixture on top of the sausage and onions.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 *CSA ingredients

Blintzes

For dessert, I made a very quick and easy "blintz".

 Easy Cherry Cheese "Blintz"

•  1 homemade flour tortilla
•  1/3 cup part-skim ricotta
•  2 Tbsp Cherry preserves (I used Humble Pie Brandied Cherries*)

 Spread ricotta on tortilla. Spoon cherries over chesses. Wrap blintz style. Heat 30 seconds on HIGH in the microwave.

 
* CSA ingredients

Chicken Chili

Today seems to be a day of getting ideas from Pintrest. I just started a Crockpot of chicken chili. The idea came from a Pin of this blog: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts.html. I had a little more cooked chicken to use up and this seemed a good way to use it.

 Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili

•  1 can black beans (or 2 cups cooked dried black beans*)
•  1 can pinto beans
•  2 cups fresh or frozen corn*
• 1 (8oz) pkg Frontera Texas Taco Sauce
•  2 (14-1/2 oz) cans Rotel tomatoes w/Chiles
•  2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast*
•  2 cups low-sodium V8
•  1 tsp ground cumin
•  1 tsp dried oregano

 Drain and rinse beans. Put all ingredients into crock. Cover and cook 4-5 hours on HIGH or 6-8 hours on LOW. Makes about 6 servings.

 Note: if you prefer, you may substitute 1 (8oz) can tomato sauce plus a packet of taco seasoning (dry) for the Frontera taco seasoning. It's been in my pantry for a while and I needed to use it.
  

*CSA ingredients

Roasted Beets

Today I am cooking beets. As I was perusing Pintrest, I saw some beautiful roasted beets. I clicked on it and the website reminded me that wrapping the beets in foil and roasting really only steams the beets. I really like the flavor of roasted beets, so I washed, peeled and wedged them and then roasted as follows:

 Roasted Beets

• 1 1/2 lbs beets* (any color will do)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar 
• salt and pepper, to taste

 Preheat oven to 400°F.   Wash beets, then peel and cut into 1" wedges. Place beets in a large Ziploc bag. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Seal Gag and shake until beets are coated evenly. Spread in single layer on cookie sheet covered with foil. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until beets are cooked (easily pierced with fork). Cool and serve on a mixed green salad. Or, in my case, put in a blender and puree for blended food phase following surgery.

*CSA ingredients

Brussels Sprouts

 The next soup I'm making is an experiment. I am making a curried soup with yellow split peas and Brussels sprouts. The split peas will provide the protein in this soup.

 Curried Brussels Sprouts w/ Yellow Split Peas

•  2 lbs Brussels sprouts*
• 1 large onion *, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
•  4 cups water
•  1 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
•  2 cups yellow split peas
•  salt and pepper 

Heat oil in a medium skillet over med-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent. Transfer to Crockpot; add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until split peas, and sprouts are cooked. Cool slightly; Blend in batches until smooth.

* CSA ingredients

Smoothies

Another way I will be allowed to get protein during the blended phase is with smoothies. As I develop them, I will post them here.

 Cheesecake Smoothie

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana, frozen
•  1 scoop vanilla flavored whey isolate protein powder

 Place all ingredients in mug for Bullet Blender. Screw on cross blade. Blend until smooth; enjoy.

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

• 1 cup skim milk
•  1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
•  1 cup frozen strawberries
•  1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup water

  Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth.

 

Carrots

Today's first recipe is a carrot soup. To make it higher in protein (for after surgery), I added protein powder when I blended.

Carrot Soup w/ Miso and Ginger 

• 4 cups carrots*, thinly sliced
•  1 large onion *, diced 
• 4 cloves garlic *, minced 
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger 
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock* 
• 2 cups water 
• 2 scoops whey isolate protein powder 
• 1/4 cup white miso paste 
• sesame oil (optional)

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-highest. Add onions, garlic, carrots and ginger Cook until onions are translucent; about 10 minutes. Add stock and water, cover, and cook until carrots are soft; about 30 minutes. Turnoff heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend in batches, adding protein powder, until completely smooth. Whisk miso with 1/2 cup warm soup; then add back to rest of songs and mix well. When serving, if desired, drizzle with sesame oil.

Prepping for Surgery

I haven't announced it here yet, but I am prepping to have bariatric surgery. At this current time, I am just waiting for a surgery date. When you make the decision to have this type of surgery, there are a number of hoops you must go through. First, you must be at a certain BMI. I will not tell you mine, but suffice it to say, it's high enough. From there, you must get current test results for any co-morbidities. In my case, I have 3; sleep apnea, mobility issues and now, high blood pressure. Thankfully, I do not have diabetes or heart issues.

 To prepare you, most insurance companies require a history of weight loss efforts as well as participation in a physician-monitored weight-loss program. In my case, I had to go for 6 consecutive months. And finally, you must have a psychiatric evaluation. I have finally completed all of these things. Now, I'm just waiting for the final report to be received by the bariatric group and the date set.

Before you can have the surgery, you go on a modified liquid diet. If I had to compare it to anything it would be the Slim -Fast diet. Except no sugar and high protein. 3 shakes a day with a balanced 500 calorie balanced meal. This is to help shrink your liver so the laparoscopic surgery goes safer and smoother. Following the surgery, you have to reteach your stomach to handle food. You start with a full liquid diet Then you graduate to liquids plus blended foods (smoothies, smooth soups, etc). From there you add soft foods and then finally transition to normal foods.The focus through all of this is protein.

The stage that concerns me most is the blended food stage.  My mind couldn't wrap around how to make high protein blended foods.Since I need to cook carrots, Brussels sprouts and beets this weekend, I would make a series of blended vegetable soups adding protein powder to add protein. Then I will freeze them so all I have to do is thaw and eat when that stage comes. Today's recipes will be these soups and some higher protein smoothies that will come in handy then too.

I will have to suspend my CSA during these stages, but will return to the CSA next summer. In the meantime, I have been asked to blog about my experiences because it might help others in my situation decide if this is an option for them. In my case, my knees made the decision for me. I need to get the weight off to prevent needing an early knee replacement.Stay tuned for my recipes and experiences!

Brussels Sprouts

As I was pinning my blog recipes onto Pintrest, I ran across a recipe for carbonara and thought, "hmm, its been awhile since I've had carbonara." This week, we also got fresh squash and black pepper linguine from Ohio City Pasta. I also hadn't completely decided what to do with the Brussels Sprouts. Plus I cooked the chicken we received in this week's share yesterday in my Crockpot. I decided to throw it all together.

 Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Carbonara

• 1 cup Brussels sprouts*
• 1 cup shredded chicken breast*  
• 4 oz fresh linguine*
• 2 large eggs*
• 1/4 cup romano cheese 
• 2 Tbsp butter* 

 Cut ends off ends of Brussels sprouts and remove outer browned leaves. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add Brussels Sprouts and boil for 5 minutes. Add linguine; cook about 2 minutes. Save 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain pasta & sprouts; set aside. In saucepan, melt butter and add chicken. Saute 1 minute. Add pasta and sprouts; mix well. Beat eggs, add romano cheese and mix well. Add 2 tbsp pasta water to eggs and stir quickly. Add egg mixture to pasta and toss over low heat until heated through.

*CSA ingredients

A Different Onion Soup

We received onions in 2 of the last 3 shares and while I like French onion soup, I wasn't really in the mood. So, I went searching for something different . Here's what I found.

 Onion and Mushroom Soup
Adapted from: http://www.recipe.com/onion-and-mushroom-soup/ 

• 1 tablespoon  olive oil
• 4 large  onions*, cut in half & then sliced (about 4 cups)
• 1 large red onion*, cut in half & sliced (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons  brown sugar
• 3 cups  sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup  finely chopped carrots* (2 medium)
• 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock*
• 1-3/4 cups  water
• 1-1/2 cups  cooked wild rice or brown rice
• 2 tablespoons white wine (I used vognier)
• 1/8 teaspoon  pepper
• 1/2 cup  cold water
• 2 tablespoons spelt flour*

   

  1. In a large saucepan heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Cook onions in hot oil, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover; stir in brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes more or until onions and leeks are golden brown.

   

  2. Stir mushrooms and carrots into onion mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat about 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in chicken stock, the 1-3/4 cups water, cooked rice, wine, and pepper.

   

  3. In a screw-top jar combine the 1/2 cup cold water and flour. Cover and shake until smooth; stir into the rice mixture. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Makes four 1-3/4-cup servings.

   

  

  *CSA ingredients