It's a Miracle

I have been plagued with a bad back since the age of 10, when I broke a vertebrae in my back that healed improperly. As I get older (and older and older), my back has gotten worse (and worse and worse), to the point where I had to give up my beloved job at the public library and, for the past year or so, where a good day of housework would be followed by two or three days of pain. I've been to physicians and chiropractors and massage specialists and more, and these visits have 100% of the time ended up with me in more pain than before the visits. Six months or so ago I decided I'd had enough and I would just learn to live with the pain. Two months ago I started having problems with my upper arm. (Keep reading - honest - this isn't a whining session). I went to my physican who sent me on to an orthopedic doctor. He diagnosed some inflammation of the tendons in and around my shoulder, gave me a cortisone shot, and put me on high-test anti-inflammatory medication. The result? MY BACK IS BETTER!!!!!!!!!! My back is 100% better! My back doesn't hurt! At all! AT ALL! No aches, no pain, no weak feeling - nothing! My back has not felt this good in 20 years. All this time, I was an anti-inflammatory pill away from having no back pain. It didn't take surgery, it didn't take deep tissue massage or acupuncture or any of the other stuff I've been through or feared. It makes sense, because a chiropractor told me that the broken vertebrae had been pushed forward and was rubbing against the nerves in my back and sometimes causing inflammation of the nerves to my hips. But she didn't catch that it was also causing inflammation of the nerves in my back. I don't care who did and didn't catch what - I just know that I had no idea how MUCH my back hurt until I felt what NO pain felt like - and understood the difference. For the past couple of days, ever since it dawned on me that my back didn't hurt (my back doesn't hurt!!!!), I've been cleaning house like crazy. For the past few years, I haven't been able to vaccuum and wash a floor on the same day. I could only clean any one bathroom in one day. Not now!!! Wooo Hoooo! I'm a cleaning dervish! The other great thing? Mr. B. noticed. Normally, when we go outside for him to ride his bike or just play, after 10 or 15 minutes, I have to sit down because my back would start to hurt. A few days ago, he asked me if I needed to get my chair, and I said no. He looked confused, and said, "Umma, doesn't your back hurt?" and I said, "No, I think my back is all better!". His response? "Umma, what will you do with all your Motrin now?" LOL Bless his heart.

Finding the strength

An important lesson I try to teach Mr. B is to "try, try again". This video is the manifestation of that phrase.

Dash Diet Dessert - Itty Bitty Cherry Bites

Diet or no diet, Jeff and I like a little something sweet now and then. I have found WonTon Wrappers one of the most versatile new additions to our pantry, so tonight I came up with a little dessert using wonton wrappers. They're small, but they have a lot of flavor! ITTY BITTY CHERRY BITES 1 dozen wonton wrappers 1 can Cherry Sugar Free Pie Filling 2 tbsp fat free Cream Cheese Oatmeal to sprinkle on top Spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray, in the cups and on the top. Carefully place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup, pressing down gently to mold the wrapper to the shape of the cup. (If a wrapper tears, dampen your finger with water and press it back together.) Place 1/2 teaspoon of fat free cream cheese at the bottom of each cup. Spoon three cherries and juice into each cup. Top each with a sprinkling of oatmeal. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes or until wontons are nicely browned. Remove from oven, but leave the dessert in the muffin tins to cool, so they retain their shape. Sodium count per dessert is 81 mg.

It's a Clorox Wipes kinda day!

Once again, I was called into Grandmother Service this week, and had a sick Mr. B here with me. I knew last Friday when I did my normal babysitting stint that he was probably getting sick - you can just tell when a little one isn't acting like him/herself for no apparent reason that they probably just don't feel well and doesn't yet know it. Sure enough, he got sick Sunday evening, and I got the call early Monday morning. Took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday and got him on antibiotics for his normal respiratory infection and bad cough. By yesterday afternoon he was feeling much better (and had 3 days of energy that hadn't been expended). Today, hopefully, he's back to his regular babysitter. Meanwhile, my house looks like World War III in Toyland, I can practically feel the germs oozing around the remote control and refrigerator door, laundry has stacked up, and I need to go grocery shopping or my husband will be taking a can opener and can of cat food to work tomorrow. Translation: I have a busy day today. Who invented Clorox Wipes? I'm betting it was a Mom or Grandma to a sick child! Why haven't THEY won a major award?! I've been using Clorox Wipes for the past three days, and will do one more round of Germ Extermination today. Every light switch, every door knob, telephones, remote controls, faucet handles, toilet handles, and toys that he played with - everything will get a swish with the ol' Clorox Wipes. I'll also have to vac today - cracker crumbs, curly macaroni and general 3 yr old flotsum (we had "scissor practice" and did crafts several times). I also need to change sheets, replace hand towels, and pick assorted dried food things off the kitchen table. I need to wash placemats, put toys away, and empty kleenex-filled trash baskets (and those are just the unused Kleenex I kept handing him - I don't think he actually USED any.) There's sneeze residue on my computer, the coffee table, and probably the arms of all chairs in the family room. There's fingerprints on windows and doors (from standing and looking out, wishing he could go outside to play), the TV screen and the DVD player that need to be Windex'ed. Blankets that need to be washed and pillows that need to be aired out from nap time. Booster seat and chair backs that need to have paint, pudding, and spaghetti sauce removed. And the list goes on... And what do I actually FEEL like doing? Staying in my bathrobe, making a pot of coffee and watching TV for awhile, then maybe take a nap for an hour or two, and then trying to finish up Mr. B's quilt! I am energy-short and relaxation-deprived and I really don't feel like doing anything! The Angel and the Devil on my shoulders - who will win? Let me just grab this container of Clorox Wipes sitting next to my computer and I'll come back and tell you later.

My newest creation - DASH Chicken Stew with CousCous

Slowly but surely I'm getting better at making my low-sodium, low cholesterol meals. Here's a crockpot meal I came up with tonight, and we both loved it. Jeff eats an entire 6 oz chicken breast, but I stick to my 3 ounces, so this will be at least 3 good meals for us. CHICKEN STEW WITH COUSCOUS 1 large onion, roughly chopped 12-15 baby carrots (pre-packaged) 1 10oz. package frozen spinach 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 3 tsp diced garlic or 3 cloves of garlic, diced 1 tbsp dried Rosemary 1 tsp Black Pepper (more if you love black pepper like I do) 1 tsp parsley flakes or fresh parsley 1 tbs Mrs. Dash 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 15oz. can low sodium diced tomatoes 2 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 cup couscous 1 cup boiling water 2 tbsp fat free cheddar cheese 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp parsley flakes Layer onions, carrots, black beans, frozen spinach on bottom of crockpot. Pour chicken broth over the layers. Place chicken breasts on top of vegetables and beans, sprinkle with spices and herbs. Pour canned tomatoes over all. Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours. When chicken is cooked through, turn crockpot off. Place couscous in large heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over, add garlic powder, cheese and parsley flakes, stir gently, and place lid (or dinner plate) on top. After 5 minutes, fluff gently with fork. To serve, place one large spoonful of couscous on plate, place chicken and veggies on top, and ladle a small amount of broth over all. NOTE: I had a small amount of fresh brocolli and fresh zucchini in the fridge, so I broke the brocolli into florettes and rough chopped the zucchini and added both to the initial vegetable layers. I think fresh corn would also be a good addition.

More catching up

I love weekends. Isn't that strange, since I don't work (outside the home) and, with the exception of my two babysitting days, I'm pretty free to do whatever I please during the week. But still - there's just something about weekends... I'm sitting here at my desk with the TV a few feet in front of me, the DVR playing Friday night's DOC MARTIN. Anyone else watch this PBS show? It's my new favorite English (BBC) comedy/drama. Martin Clune is the main character, Doc Martin - a highly-rated surgeon who suddenly had panic attacks at the sight of blood. He moves to a tiny English town to become the town doctor. The man is as cut-and-dried, unemotional as they come, and "bed side manner" is not in his vocabulary. Very subtle English humor that I love so well. I've been baking bread like crazy these days -- my continued low/no sodium low/no cholesterol diet. Lots of wheat breads with added flax seed and unprocessed bran, flavored with fruit juices and spices, which makes bizarrely wonderful toast. My bread machine rarely leaves the kitchen counter these days. Homemade bread has so many things going for it, not the least is the aroma in the house. But the one thing which can be troublesome with homemade bread is cutting it. So, in case there are other homemade bread makers reading this, I have a helpful hint for you! Use your trusty electric knife to cut your bread. Let the knife do the work -- don't put put pressure on it as you slice - and you'll come out with beautifully cut, even slices of bread. MMMMMmmmm - doesn't this look good? See how even the slices are?

Mr. B and I had a very extravagant day on Friday. First, I took him to the local Yankee Candle store. Mr. B is a big fan of candles, but even more so, he is a big fan of the Yankee Candle catalog that comes in the mail with it's "scratch n' sniff" candle scents. That boy loves that catalog. So I thought taking him to the store might be fun -- just let him and his little cute nose have at it. I'd forgotten how easy it is to drop a load of money at the Yankee Candle store. Mr. B had to pick out a candle for his Mom (a "fancy" one in a jar) and two candles for his Umpa (yes, Umpa loves candles too), and one candle for his other babysitter, Kelly, and two candles for himself. Give the child a plastic bag and he's going to fill it up. I bought myself three candles (besides the one "fancy" jar candles the rest were all votives), and a pack of 3 car fresheners. Forty-one dollars and 45 minutes later, we were out the door.

Next we stopped at a toy store in the same mall. Mr. B became quite enamored with a stuffed kitty he saw when we first walked in the door. The cat was curled up as if it were sleeping. "Umma! Is that kitty REAL?" At first I didn't understand why he was asking... but then I saw... the cat's belly was very slightly pumping up and down as if it were breathing! Mr. B's little eyes were like saucers and all he wanted to do was stand and stare at this stuffed cat. He said, "Umma - how many dollars does this cost?" (as in Umma, will you buy this for me?). I mean, he REALLY wanted this cat. I picked up the cat and showed it to him -- it wasn't soft or flexible but, quite honestly, felt like a cat that had gotten run over the day before and rigor mortis had set in -- but he didn't care. He was totally in love with this cat! I said, "B, what you DO with a cat like this?" and he said, "Oh, Umma - I would just put it on my bed and pet it." Mr. B loves cats and Joey the Killer Cat hates anything to do with petting or cuddling or generally being loved up on by a 3 year old. So this little stuffed kitty was apparently the answer to Mr. B's prayers -- it layed still and it didn't bite or scratch! No, I didn't buy it for him. But who knows - Christmas is coming.