A Sunday Quickie

153.2 and glucose 95.  Had a great day working in the garden yesterday.  I ripped out lots of dill and spent broccoli which leaves more room for my pepper plants and red onions to grow.  Moved some cilantro to a better location.  The spaghetti squash had taken it over.  Lots of green tomatoes on.  Just waiting for them to ripen :)

No more haze!  We had a little rain last night apparently.  Unfortunately we left the motor home vent open.  Again :(  Well... I'm off heading out for a walk to enjoy the clear air before getting ready for church.  This afternoon the peas will get my full attention.  The cows are so happy I am "pruning" the garden.  They love the cabbage leaves and other things.  Ginger the big fat cow was making sure she got her "fair share" of the cabbage yesterday... which means all of it.  She butted poor Panda and knocked her into the feed trailer.  How rude!  I'll have to remember to stay out of her way!  Yikes!

Ciao!

Saturday Morning, Ahh... Life is Good!

I love watching the sun come up on a Saturday morning!  The possibilities seem endless when I have the whole weekend stretched before me.  I enjoy imagining all the things I could do... but won't since I will spend most of the weekend in my garden trying to think up stuff to do with all the produce that is ripe for the picking right now!  Terrible problem to have!  I didn't even go to the farmers market yesterday.  What would I buy?  I have more than we can possibly eat right here.

We need rain!  The air quality is so bad right now I can hardly see the mountains that surround my house.  Here... check out this very bad pic of the sun going down last night.  You can tell how much haze is in the air.  Every year it get's hazy like this.  Usually it's wild fires... but I haven't really heard them talking about fires the last few days.  I'm going to have to take some allergy medicine. :(

My eyes are burning!  I'm not sure if its the air or if I just didn't get enough sleep.  I should have stayed in bed a little longer but I do love getting up early on Saturday :)  Why waste the best part of the day?

Ok... so the daily stats are 153.7 and glucose 98.  My glucose level is quite a bit different than yesterday.  Maybe eating so late had something to do with it.  Or maybe it was the pasta :)  although I really didn't have much.  I was stewing about what to do for dinner bout the time I got off work yesterday but nothing was coming to me so I decided to just bag it... and we took our little kayaks to Waits Lake instead.  That was fun.  By the time I got back I had it figured out.  I cooked chicken breasts marinated in soy sauce and peach marmalade and made a side of zucchini ribbons with fresh peas tossed with the chipotle pepper fettuccine  I brought home from Pike Place Market last month.  I stir fried the veg and made a sauce of the soy/marmalade marinade with a little peanut butter.  It had sort of a Thai taste.  It was quite good.  I also used jalapeño peppers from my garden.  Of course the zucchini and peas came from the garden.  And the Walla Walla onion too!  Love those onions.  I was so afraid I wouldn't have any.  I had to keep replanting them in the spring because the stupid chickens kept scratching them up.  They finally "took" though and now I am enjoying them.  Anyway... here are some of the ingredients for the dish...

and here is the real deal...

Only... I forgot to put the peanuts in for the pic but I remembered them during the eating.

I also want to show you the curry chicken salad I made for lunch.  That was killer!  That's the thing about those rotisere chickens you can but at the store for $5.99 each... I can get like three meals out of one plus home made chicken stock.  It's the best deal in town.  If you buy a couple of quarts of good quality chicken stock you've just about paid for the whole price of the chicken.  Anyway... I always eat the rotisere breasts and set aside the rest of the meat for something like chicken salad.  This time I went sort of Indian with it.  I use a combination of yogurt and light sour cream to make the basic dressing and added a little curry powder and about a half teaspoon or so of garam masala.  You know... it's that spice you bought for that Indian dish you saw on the food network and only used once... yeah... get it out.  It's awesome.  It's a blend of corriander, pepper cumin, cardamom and cinamon.  You don't need much but it adds that distinctly Indian flavor.  I also added pistacois and topped with grape tomatoes and red grape halves.  Oh so good... check it out...

How's that for in your face chicken salad :)  Well, I've taken up enough of your time and mine with my silly little post so... I'm going to go fill my coffee cup up and soak in the tub while I wait for the sprinkler on the garden to shut off so I can go in with a machete :)

Ciao!

The Results Are In!

First the daily stats:  153.1 and glucose 83.  A new low :)  Yesterday at the doc we looked at the results of my repeat blood work compared to the tests from April and found that my A1C had gone from 6.7 which indicates diabetes down to 5.8 which is at the very lowest range for "risk" for diabetes.  So that is a significant drop.  My total cholesterol dropped from 247 down to 177.  How's that?  :)  The HDL went from 166 down to 108.  That is still slightly elevated.  The low normal range is under 100.  and my weight went from 170 to 153.1.  Dr. Zugec checked carefully to make sure she had my test results.  She was impressed and asked me who was supporting me in this effort.  I told her that I did all the cooking which made it easier.  I am fortunate that Dave will and does like and eat everything I make and is happy to be along for the ride :)   I also told her about my little blog which helps keep me honest since I don't like to have to report naughty behavior.  Even if it is only to like... three people :)  Anyway... yay!  It was a fabulous end to "phase one".  So that means I get to not take medication for diabetes and I get to come back in three month for a retest to make sure I maintain these results.  Now the challenge begins!  I knew I could control my blood sugar with diet only... I had the same results about 18 months ago but then I went right back to my old tricks and ended up puffy, fat with toxic blood chemistry.  Right now I feel like I'm on a roll!  I've worked too hard and hidden away all my fat jeans to stop now.  About a month ago I bought a couple pair of shorts since I had shrunken out of my last years shorts.  One was a size 8 (last year I wore a size 12) and the other was a size 6.  I was being optimistic  :)  Well now I can pull the size 8 down without unbuttoning them and the size 6 fits just about right.  Yippy!  Of course my rear end never was my problem area  but my waist line is shrinking too.  Also I can now just detect a collar bone :)  So... who'se with me?  If I can do it anyone can!  Really!  Now on to phase two... where I will hopefully reach my goal weight of 140 by Nov... let's call it 10th.  That's just about three months from now when I have to retest.  I don't know if that is realistic.  That's uncharted waters - but I'm going to give it a shot!  We are planning a tropical vacation to celebrate my sister in law Lorie's 50th birthday this coming January.  A new swim suit is in my future!

Speaking of eating like someone who is getting ready to buy a new swim suit...here's a question... What do you do when there is just too much cauliflower in the garden?  Eat it of course.  Last night I made more cauliflower soup and I really didn't like the way it turned out... but Tank and Lucy did :)  One of my favorite ways to eat a bunch of cauliflower or broccoli is like this:

Steamed with sundried tomatoes and then sprinkled with goat cheese and pine nuts.  No butter needed.  Why add extra calories?  The trick I found though is to have a little snack later because there really is not a lot of calories in that bowl... as near as I can figure it's a lunch of... 202 calories.  That's a lot for a bowl of cauliflower but not a lot for lunch.  That's for about three cups of cauliflower.  Bet you never thought you'd eat 3 cups of cauliflower at a sitting.  Me either... but what else am I supposed to do with it.  Last year I froze some but I really didn't like the way it turned out so this year it's either eat it or feed it to the cows  :)

I am thinking more about exercising too.  Of course I still do my walking.  I have two labs to wear out.  But I am just starting to run for small bits of the way.  I HATE running so I'm not pushing myself very hard but I have found over the last week that I can run for a little longer each time.  Who knows... perhaps by the end of summer I can run all the way down to the mailbox and back.  Any of you who do run would laugh your tails off at that since it is nothing but would be a nice little accomplishment for me.  I am babying my knees a little though.  When I was weighing in at 170 they were starting to bother me.  They are breathing a little easier now but I don't want to blow them out.  Also you will be happy to know that I did replace the batteries in my Wii controllers and balance board and used it again last night... and again... no snacking.  What a concept!

Ok... time for my walk before work.   And... it's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!  Just saying Friday puts a smile on my face. Have a great weekend everyone!

Ciao!

Today is the Day for Blood Test Results!

First, 153.8 and glucose 95.  This afternoon I have an apt to meet with the doc and see if my blood chemistry is good enough to avoid the diabetes meds.  I think so... I'm almost always in the normal range :)  I knew I could get it there with a little self discipline.  Now comes the tricky part... making the changes permanent so that I don't slide backwards like I did before!  I sure would like to loose another 14 lbs!  I'm afraid I'll have to give up my evening snacking though.  :(  I did pretty good yesterday until evening.  It's always evening that kicks my butt.  When we finally came inside for the night I sat down and ate two bowls of peanuts.  The kind in the shell, then a granola bar.  It was Kashi so the best kind out there... still... and a sugar free mint patty.  You would think those are supposed to be diet but each little piece is 60 calories!  I was going to go downstairs and do Wii Fit but the controllers batteries have died and we have no replacements.  The night before I borrowed the batteries out of my wireless mouse but I got lazy and didn't want to go get them again.  How lame!  :)  Well... today after my appointment at the docs I will go get some new batteries at the store.  And probably more pistachios too :)

Gotta roll... lots to do, animals to feed, plants to water before work.  My cows are screaming at me to come feed them.  :)  What a bunch of pigs!  Ciao!

Happy Humpday!

153.6 and glucose 96.  Not bad!  Yesterday I harvested two heads of cauliflower (and turned them into soup), some broccoli, trimmed the out of control spaghetti squash and zucchini leaves and found one small English cuke.  I thought we might get some rain.  Maybe it was just wishful thinking.  It's so hazy the last few days I can barely see the mountains.  The forecast today is 50% chance of thunder storms and a high of 90.  So far there is not a cloud in sight.  Just lots of haze.  Yesterday I got pretty stuffed up from the air.  :(  Must be fires somewhere!

I did my Wii Fit game last night.  It was fun.  It's been awhile.  I had lost 12 lbs since last time I got on so my Wii character shrunk.  Nice!  It told me that my BMI was now in the normal range.  The upper end of normal but still... progress!  The best thing about doing Wii Fit was going downstairs into the cool basement AND when I got done it was time for bed... NO SNACKING!  Sweet!  I'm going to trade off between Wii Fit and Zumba.  Both were expensive toys so I really need to make use of them.  Not to mention the exercise benefit :)

Last night for dinner I made a meatloaf again for Dave.  Apparently it was pretty good.  The funny thing about it was that as it was coming out of the oven Dave wanted to know if I was going to take a picture of it :)   Obviously he likes meatloaf.  But no... no meatloaf pics.  I served a nice little salad with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil.

The best news of all is that today (or maybe in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow) my dear KT Bug arrives back in the good ole USA.  She's been stationed in England for two years and she will now be home with baby Charlotte and joining her husband who has very recently returned from Korea.  I'm very excited to have them back and together.  Yay!  God bless our military families!

Ciao!

Blood Draw Day

153.4 and glucose 99.  It's a good day!  Went and had my blood drawn for tests and I go back again on Thursday for the results.  Other than that I got a big fat nothin to report so... I'm out!

Ciao!

Love that Carbonated Water!

Well... it's been fun having the folks here.  My diet has been just a hair off but not too bad.  They are headed toward Seattle this morning.  Last night for dinner I grilled a big piece of halibut and a couple of ahi tuna steaks along with some cabbage (thanks Carol) drizzled in olive oil and soy sauce.  It was pretty tasty.  I made a zucchini lasagna a couple of days before and we had some left over so I heated that up too.  That was over kill :)    I didn't take a pic of the fish and I guess I should have.  I did take a pic of the big pan of lasagna and here it is.

for the lasagna - because this turned out really good... I layered all the usual suspects but used sliced (lengthwise) zucchini that I cooked just a bit in a grill pan rather than lasagna noodles.  Last time I made lasagna I sliced (lengthwise) some left over noodles into ribbons about a half an inch wide and wound them up into sort of birds nests - about two noodles at a time and put them in a plastic bag in the freezer.  I took a package out and on top of the zucchini layers I made a large lattice design with the noodle ribbons.  I used two noodles in the entire 9 X 13 pan and it was just enough to give it the noodle flavor and texture but saved a heck of a lot of carbs!  It also helps to make sure the top of the lasagna gets really crisp and chewy.  I think that's the part everyone loves most.  I did eat both kinds of fish and some cabbage.  The cabbage was crisp tender and I made up a quick wasabi sauce with the prepared wasabi paste and soy sauce and dipped the cabbage in it.  I also had a small piece of lasagna.  My blood sugar was 101 this morning and 154.3 for the gross tonnage measurement.  Not really going down much last week or so but I'm ok with that right now.  I am happy to have stayed in the range considering all the cashews I have eaten lately.  Those things are as addictive as any drug out there!

Now for the carbonated water part... I love to make drinks using carbonated water.  Usually something easy like maybe a couple of sliced strawberries and a lime wedge, a little splenda.  Just makes it more fun to drink a lot of water - which helps me not feel as hungry.   I buy lots of it every week at the store.  Last week I got an email from Williams Sonoma - one of my favorite stores and they were advertising water carbonators.  I've been thinking about buying one - it seems like I'm always out of seltzer water so when I saw that I got really interested and checked it out.  I noticed the brand "SodaStream" and wondered if they had a website - if maybe I get one cheaper through the manufacturer and sure enough they sold them online directly as well as in cooking stores like William Sonoma.  It was a bit less expensive too so I had to have one and ordered it.  It arrived on Friday afternoon.  I left it in the box that night as we had a lot going on with the folks and Daniel and Aubrey here visiting.  By Saturday I just couldn't stand it any more... even though I had two bottles of seltzer water in the pantry... and still do.  I opened it up and was excited to see the fun little syrup samples they included to make your own soda if you are into that.  I scanned the instructions and it seemed pretty simple... fill the bottle with tap water.  We have the chilled water in the fridge door so I was excited for instant seltzer water... screw it onto the machine - which was red :)  like many of my other small appliances and press the button about three times rapidly - until you hear a "buzz" three times then you are done.  So I did all that and I could tell it was all sparkly in the bottle so with great anticipation and joy I unscrewed the bottle and the entire contents of the bottle fizzed out - more like exploded all over me and the kitchen.  It was a hot day and after I recovered from the shock I decided I had just purchased a wonderful cooling gadget.  Very refreshing!  Just imaging...chilled sparkling water all over my body!  I decided I better clean it up and pretty darn quick before Dave came in and gave me the smirk which would so clearly say... I told you so.  That was a stupid idea... I'm going to have to kill you now. Alright... that would actually have been my reaction to something stupid he did but all he needs to do is "the smirk".  That says it all!  The only audience I had was Daniel so I figured I was safe... except that just at that moment Carol drove up to bring me cabbage plants and a beautiful head of green cabbage and wanted to know why there was water and towels all over the floor.  I'm glad I could provide so much enjoyment for her!  I thought she was going to pass out from laughing.  Eventually I figured out that where I went wrong was way back at the beginning when I "scanned" the directions.  See... there's a little built in pressure release function that I somehow missed...  Oh brother!  I have since figured it out though and now I'm doing all sorts of experimenting.  I discovered just this morning if you add sugar free French vanilla syrup (like the stuff they use at coffee stands) to the seltzer water it tastes very much like cream soda.  To quote the Barefoot Contessa... "how bad could that be?"  Right now I have a 16 oz sippy bottle full of ice, seltzer water with blueberries and satsuma orange sections chilling on my desk.  I have drank substantially more water since Saturday and will slow down only when the co2 cartridge needs to be replaced (or when I get tired of peeing every 10 minutes).  I'll have to order more co2 but one canister will carbonate 60 liters of water so I'm good for just a while.

Tomorrow I have an appointment for blood work to see how successful this little diet experiment has been and how improved my average blood sugar and cholesterol levels (and other things) are.  The review apt is Thursday.  Wish me luck.  I really don't want to have to take the meds for diabetes if I don't have to or until it's no longer able to be controlled by diet.  This morning I was discussing that with my mom and she said, "well you're doing so well with your diet that you probably won't have to worry about that until you are in your 50's."  !!!  Come on Mama I think I'm there now!  :)  

Enjoy your Monday... even if it's Monday that's better than... being in the box!  Ciao!