To Your Health!

Join us on a journey..... a journey of food and health. You control the pepper, you control the garlic.

Okay, hokey, but you get the idea. Life right now is tied up in food. Due to the RAI coming up in a couple of weeks, we are now officially on a low iodine diet (LID). Theory, starve any thyroid cells remaining in the body of iodine and make them crave it by not taking thyroid supplements. Take RAI, and the cells 'drink the koolaid'. Conclusion, irradication of all remaining thyroid cells in the body, thereby taking the cancer with them. Yippeeee!

Not as easy as it sounds. No-no's include iodized salt (read preprocessed foods), egg yolks, all dairy and dairy derived products, soy and soy derived products, seaweed and seaweed derived products, potatoe peels, certain beans, molasses. You get the idea. Grocery shopping sucks, meals must be planned, no fast food, no eating out, no quick lunches. Much whining has ensued, Bear has held up well. He's even joined the trip. We're learning about health, simplicity, and diet. We may keep this up after LID is over. It's actually been a nice change.

What do we eat? Humus, black beans, garbanzo beans, brown rice, and lots of veggies. I spend one day a week cooking to have the basics on hand for meals. Black beans and garbanzo beans are cooked, vacuum sealed and in the freezer, ready to use. Frozen corn and peas, fresh potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and onions on hand. Pasta on hand. Canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes in the pantry, all no salt. With these we can make curry, pasta dish, humus, vegtable soup, vegetable stew, and black bean salsa. Not too bad, huh? BTW, Frito-Lays says that their snack chips are made with non-iodized salt. Score!!

Thought I'd share my 30-minute curry recipe with you. It makes enough for 2 for 2 meals (YMMV).

30-minute Curry

ingredients:
rice
4 large red potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 package green peas, frozen
1 can no salt diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
4 cloves garlic
1 small red or yellow onion
1/2 package baby carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable stock in a jar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon plain salt
pepper to taste

Start rice in rice maker. In a wok, coat the bottom with olive oil, and over a medium heat sweat the garlic and onion until translucent. Add the vegetable stock and curry powder. Cook for a minute. Add the potatoes, and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes, juice and all. Add in the other ingredients. Add one can of water. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a fast simmer and let cook until the rice is done. It should thicken on it's own. If it does not, add one teaspoon of arrow root to 1/4 water and add to simmering mixture, stirring constantly until it is the thickness you want. Tweak the flavors as you see fit.

We cook our own garbanzos, to avoid the iodized salt, but you can use canned, just drain and rinse before adding to pot.


Humus

ingredients:
3 cups garbanzo beans
4 cloves garlic
lemon juice
1Tablespoon vegetable stock in a jar
pepper to taste
1Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon plain salt

In a food processor, combine the garbanzos, oil, spices, salt, stock and lemon juice. Begin to pulverize. It may stick to the sides, begin adding water a little bit at a time until the consistency you like is acheived. Takes a few minutes, but it is well worth the trouble. Again, canned beans may be used in place of fresh cooked.


Knitting is in progress, but it is mostly gift knitting right now, so I can't show you. Soon, soon.



Enjoy!!!

It's Here!!!!!

Now I just need tea, and a clean house, then I can open the box. Anyone else buying this line?

Now that the shock has worn off...

we can resume something approximating our previous lives.

I do, in fact, have cancer. It is thyroid cancer. Good news: curable. Bad news: mets to the lymph nodes. Surgery is over. The thyroid is gone. Cytomel is not so bad. Calcium levels have stabilized, meaning that the parathyroids are kicking back in. Incision looks good and is healing well. Now we are getting ready for RAI (radioactive iodine) therapy. This will involve a few days of isolation, hopefully at the hospital. Strict isolation. In the mean time, I have started the low iodine diet: no iodized salt, no dairy (equipment is cleaned with iodine), no egg yolks, no seafood or seafood products. I am cooking beans in advance, so I can freeze them and have the ready to eat. I have made instant vegetable broth. This is fabulous stuff. It's even pretty. The recipe made over 6 pints. Used 1 tablespoon at a time, this could last for a while. It took about 45 minutes of actual work, and overnight to salf ferment. Basically with this diet, I cannot eat preprocessed foods, as I cannot positively identify whether the salt has iodine in it.

Why low iodine? Well, thyroid cells need iodine to do their job. So the theory is, go off you thyroid meds and restrict iodine as much as possible. The cells will be starving for iodine. Take the radioactive stuff, and whammo, the leftover thyroid cells drink the koolaid. With any luck, this will eliminate the chances of further tumors. From there on out, it will be managing thyroid meds and occaisional scans to ensure no recurrence. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If you want a real challenge, join me on the journey of this insane diet. It should be interesting. At the very least, read the labels of everything you buy at the store. Think about what is in your food. Mentally try to eliminate salt, dairy, eggs, and seafood ingredients. It's not easy, let me tell you.

On to brighter things:
We have a seen a video of grandchild #3 (sex as of yet undetermined). Baby looks great and is moving a lot. Long legs. Big ears (don't know where they came from ;) Knitting for this baby is waiting for identification.

We have pictures of grandchild #2 (due in Feb). Her name is Madelynn, although her parents aren't spelling it the same way yet. I'm sure they'll figure it out. Knitting for this baby has started. Baby surprise jacket needs buttons. Blanket done. Hat in the wings. Will post pictures soon.

I've had startitis lately. I spun the yarn for my first hanspun pair of socks. It came out a beautiful dusty rose. The fiber is merino from Sunset fibers. It was a dream to spin. Knitting up well. Also begun are the Butterfly Wings shawl from Goddess Knits, in Malabrigo Sock Abril and the Knitting Bag from Knitpicks. I also resurected a pair of socks in a Sivia Harding pattern. One done, one to go. Maybe that's tonight's project, while I cook. Although, I really should work on the shawl, as the temperature has dropped 30 degrees in a month and it is now cold when I come home from work in the mornings.

Speaking of work, I'm a charge nurse now. Translate: ringmaster of a 2-3 ring circus. We have another term for it at work. It's not bad. Not what I wanted to do, but in nursing, things don't always go our way. I am riding my bike, though. it gets me home so much faster than taking the bus.

Talk to you soon

BTW, if you order beneficial nematodes to help with the organic gardening, they are not the larvae that you think they will be. You will recieve a box of ladybugs, live frickin' lady bugs. Just sayin'.