A CAREGIVER’S VIGOR

MY NEXT POSTS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO GIVE HARD TO THOSE WHO NEED THEM

OUR WELL BEING DICTATES, NOT ONLY OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, BUT ALSO, THAT OF THOSE WE SERVE

Love my angel boy

SEVENTEEN YEARS ITS BEEN that I’ve been awakened by sounds emitting from Zach’s room, either a seizure, a rapid barrage of his funny words, or the click-click…click of a light switch.  I know my day will include a good measure of care giving, self discipline and selflessness as my aching feet hit the wooly floor.  Sometimes, what I’d like, is to pamper myself the way I pamper my son.  It is easier now than it used to be, but there are times that are harder than others especially when my health comes up short in one area, be it a lethargic spirit, a shadow over the soul, or an imbalance in body.

My lovely Mama and I

I HAVE QUOTED 
MY MAMA in the past, her wisdom comes to remembrance when I need it most.  Pointy hammering forefinger and all, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you may not be able to care for those you love and wouldn’t that be a shame.”  So for the most part and as much as possible, I have heeded those wise words.  I have eaten well to the best of my knowledge at any given time, I have exercised nearly every day of my adult life and tended my mind and spirit to the same standard.  At the ripe old age of fifty-five, I have learned a thing, or two, yes, just a thing, or two.


WHAT WOMAN, OR MAN who is the primary care giver to a helpless child, or adult doesn’t need, and want a goodly amount of health across their triune being; spirit, soul and body to get the job done well?


I’VE LEARNED TO TAKE IT EASY ON MYSELF, to enjoy Him and those around me, but know, wrong attitudes, thoughts and endless food input can wreck havoc in a scope otherwise meant for peace and purity.  I want to avoid havoc if at all possible.  So, I try to act quickly when I see one of my “spots” out of whack.  My spirit spot is meant for His habitation (is He noted and sought after), my soul is meant for purity, to be mastered by the spirit spot (am I listening to my new heart and moving from there rather than the mind; and in that realm, am I taking every thought captive and into His thoughts?), my body is His place of habitation (am I caring for it as though I am acutely aware He resides in me?).  This is not a legalistic, regimented lifestyle;  disciplined, yes, but my discipline, not yours, or anyone else's.  It’s not about right and wrong, winning and loosing, it’s about transformation.  Am I moving along in my journey toward Him?  Do I love myself and others likewise?  Is life sweet?  Those are questions I ask myself often.


THIS FIRST POST IS DEDICATED TO THE BODY, though I believe the spirit spot in each of us deserves the place of first course, however, it being the first of the year, pacts being made and all that.  Keeping in mind, of course, that this is my husbands journey and mine, each one reading this will hear differently what he or she must do for themselves…so here goes

We love exercise…Fresh air…

…and Sunshine

A little extra weight…but happy 
Sumer 2012

Thin (er)…(still happy) into the winter
January 2013

OPTIMUM PHYSICAL HEALTH, may look quite different on me than it does on you.  Some folks just luck out and find health to be easy, others have maladies that just don’t seem fair, but then, as mama says, life isn’t supposed to be fair.  How I deal with that right there, it can be a key fashioned to turn me toward freedom, or lock me up in a lifelong mental prison of bitterness.    
I love feeling excited about life, happy to roll out of the sack in the morning and ready to dive into what the day holds.  Mind you, I don’t always feel excited, but I’d like to.  Here lately, it is much easier as my energy level rises to meet my life dream.  
I have found that the aforementioned is not wholly dependent upon a healthy body, however good health can carry a caregiver a long long ways down that hard trodden path.   Zach’s care is intense and sometimes, I’m just plain tired, or have felt I don’t have what it takes to give what I know is needed.  He, Zach, can’t help me.  He just knows he needs help and I am his helper, sick to death, or healthy as a horse, I am his caregiver. 
A few years ago, early in 2009 I had hip replacement surgery.  I was born with hip dysplasia and at 52 years of age, it was, well, plum wore out.  I was sleeping on tennis balls to cut the nerve pain and after several years of limping around like granny with a cane, I decided (with the gentle nudging of my loving husband) that it was time to fix that birth defect ASAP.  I wish I’d done it earlier.  Pain free, able to care for Zach and working out every day.  I had to take the bull by the horns so to speak and get’er’done.   

ONE WAY we looked into finding OUR OPTIMUM was through JUICE CLEANSING,   However, day two was straight from the abyss, but about day three we started to feel somewhat better and the weight was melting, yes, that miracle word…melting off.  Web, my husband of 32 years has been suffering from the effects of an autoimmune disorder, RA and skin rashes for the past ten years.  He has been on very expensive medication for the RA and antihistamines for his allergies every day.  He began to feel the positive results of our changed diet immediately (after day two, which, did I mention was from hell), he also wanted and needed to lose about thirty pounds.  Me, I thought I would support his decision and go along for a few days.  I like health; how hard can it be?  I am a fairly disciplined person, I workout almost daily and eat for my health….Ahem, reasonably well.  Piece-a-cake.  Right?  Right!

FOR ME, no RA, instead FEMALE AGING is in full force, hot flashes, weight gain and worst of all, the icy gray brain fog, arg, slog…slush!  Not terminal, I don’t think, but uncomfortable as heck.  I thought perhaps a cleanse would help with the symptoms of that and also some other light aches and pains that I have “grown” into.  I’ve tried every remedy known to man (except pharmaceuticals, which I deem a last resort) and had a little success; bio-identical hormones gave me about fifty percent relief with hot flashes in intensity and duration.  I found that with the weight gain, good old fashioned, eat less, move more was doing the trick (but SO hard!).  Then our insurance ran out last July, my ability to hang on to my bio-identical hormones went away.  Ahhhhh!  What to do?
The idea that Zach may not be as well tended as he could be sends me vaulting towards my personal optimum health (most days, because some days, I just feel like slogging it out and eating chocolate), like I said, in all three realms of my being, my spirit, my soul and my body.

A CLEANSE.  No body wants to hear about the dope next to them who found the latest cure for what ails them through their diet and a ridged exercise plan.  BOOOOO!  So I will try to be objective and unbiased…though it will be hard for me, so I will ask you to please bear with the gray-haired cheerleader.  We are twenty-five days in…details gone missing, let’s just say the past three weeks have been topsy-turvy, over headache hill and down energy mountain, over “what have I done?! cliff and on over to to the plateau; gee, I feel great!…(when can I have a burger?!).
I had heard that a cleanse could reset your health quickly without the side affects of pharmaceuticals.  I had also heard that it could kick autoimmune disorders in the derriere.  So here’s the skinny on that (google, Knife over Fork, The Juice Lady and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead); keep in mind we did a 16 day juice cleanse (did I mention that I won’t be doing that again any time soon…) and are only a total of twenty-five days into the whole of eating nothing but raw (I started in on chicken stock and protein about 4 days ago), but some of the rewards of all that climbing and plummeting are in…

SURPRISE NUMBER ONE, In the morning, or rather the middle of the night when I’d get up to care for Zach I’d find myself hobbling from the pain in the souls of my feet; I’d heard that it was just something old folks put up with (nerve damage, or something like that), so I did, until about day five of the cleanse when I noted that the pain had almost completely disappeared.
NUMBER TWO, we heard through a friend that a local chiropractor was treating his RA with diet and had had great success (no pharmaceuticals), this news spurred us on even further.  Web says his joint pain is nearly gone just from changing his diet and his rash has diminished.
NUMBER THREE, how does Zach feel when we are not ourselves because of pain, or poor health?  Would mom and dad’s regained verve affect Zach?  I would think, Zach being highly tuned to the spiritual world, would sense our well being with greater receptivity than we do and I know how I respond when someone with good health, glowing skin and sparkly eyes comes into my space.  I not only see it, I feel it!  We are pretty sure Zach is feeling our good health.  He is smiley and happy.
NUMBER FOUR, the energy level I began to feel around day twelve was awesome.  I felt and continue to feel like a kid!  It’s a good high.  One I’d like to stay on.  I had ups and downs till day twelve.  In fact…I was ready to bail.  So glad I stayed on the juice wagon.  Web says he can’t ever remember feeling this good.
NUMBER FIVE, seven pounds for me; twenty lbs for Web, in twenty-five days.  Not the goal of the cleanse, but hey, a nice side affect don’t ya think?
NUMBER SIX, Sloshy, slushy gray brain fog…gone!  Hot flashes, better some days and others, they are the same.  I am still holding out hope that as I continue, they will be alleviated, obliterated, blown out of my body completely.
AND STILL COUNTING…

Day one, December 28th…not well hubby

Day twenty-eight, January 25th…Amazing results!

   

28 days in….I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED on our successes and perhaps failures.  We are, after all, human, but I am a believer!  Yesterday we had an exciting addition of a little smoked salmon sprinkled on our raw salad.  We nearly cried it tasted so good!  Protein is underrated.  We are in this for the long haul; slowly adding goodness to our food regime and routing out those things that cause a bad reaction.  It’s a food adventure!  
Organic raw food, fresh air and exercise to heal, or pharmaceuticals?  I don’t know about you, but we choose the former.

Fun Raw Recipe:

Rich and Creamy Mock Pate

Ingredients:

2 stalks celery (finely diced)

2 cups raw walnut pieces

1 large red bell pepper (cut into fine diced-sized pieces)

1 large scallion or 1/2 a leek (finely diced)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt

My addition 1/8 tsp liquid smoke.  And I don't finely dice my veggies, just slice them up so they fit into the VitaMix.  The VM does all the work for ya.

Put all ingredients into a blender, and puree until mixture is creamy smooth in texture.

Scoop onto cucumber slices, carrot discs, or an array of fresh sliced veggies of your choice.  

Eat Your Oatmeal!...With Your Fingers

Oatmeal.  The word is warm, it steams, it gurgles on the stovetop and the aroma congers up the image of a cool fall morning when woodsmoke hangs in the air and geese honk overhead.  


There, on the ranch cook stove in mama’s oversized pot we’d lift the lid with a clang and view the bubbling slime ("looks like buggers,” one of the six said); our breakfast.  Since then I have come to enjoy oatmeal and its many benefits.  I’ve fed it to my growing children with their health in mind, save one, Zach.

Zach does not eat with utensils, a small obstacle, therefore, porrage’y type foods are out for him, which proves a slight health conscious dilemma for his caregiver, me.  I once heard a friend say that she cooked her irish oatmeal in the crockpot all night long.  I cocked my head to the side and took note, I’d never heard of that method for cooking oats before.  I didn’t give it much thought till I saw some recipes for the same posted on the newly put forth social media craze, Pintrest.  I gave the pottage a whirl this winter while we had our grown children and grand babies visiting (I forgot to spray oil into the crockpot first though.  A mild expletive inducing mistake).  The recipe was, to me, surprisingly delicious, in spite of the heavy brown crust lining the inside of my shiny crockpot insert.

It got me thinking.  How can I get Zach to eat this?  I made up a cookie recipe similar to the oats (a good second), I tried the spoon to the lips routine, which caused my twenty-year-old to turn his head in displeasure.  Ha-rumph-a-rooie!  Well, you know what they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way, by gum (thanks, Grandpa Culp for the, “By gum” part)!

Shortly thereafter I had an epiphany during one of my unnerving “middle of the night hot-flashes”; they can be useful occasionally.  I was excited to give it a try.  The next evening I mixed all of the ingredients into my ancient, never say die slow cooker (I forgot to spray the oil in first...again!).  I set the dial to low and smiled, as I meandered up the stairs with a book under my arm, tea in hand; a healthy breakfast would be ready to serve as soon as feet hit the floor. These small seemingly silly things give this homemaker/caregiver a great since of accomplishment.

This loosey-goosey easy recipe can fire up the culinary artist in almost anyone because, really, you can add any number of ingredients to the base of oats, all sorts of healthy things like flax, coconut, nuts, raisins, peanut butter, crisp bacon (organic, pasture raised of course, for savory lovers), chia seeds, hemp seeds, et cetera.  The next morning, if you like oats, you’ll find breakfast warm, satiating and yum.  

After Web (Zach’s dad) an I had our, utensil eaten oats that swam happily in melted butter and brown sugar, I plunked the heavy cinnamon smelling ingredients into a greased bread pan, pressed them as though I were making a mold and baked the “loaf” for an hour at 350 degrees (you may refrigerate the leftover oats and bake the loaf in a day, or two.  The refrigeration makes the concoction firmer and easier to work with; just press the cooked refrigerated oats into the greased loaf pan as directed above and bake).  Once cooled, this amazingly healthy loaf cereal may be cut into moist finger sized slices for dipping in melted butter and maple syrup, or for the utensil’less eater, bite sized squares.

As Zach’s health and fitness guru, I’m very happy to have come up with a way for him to eat oatmeal...with his fingers no less and me, I’ve given it a shot, you bet!  It works for we busy utensil users who want the experience of eating oatmeal with our fingers occasionally; quite satisfying actually.  Spread on a pat of softened pasture butter, drizzle a little warm honey over the top and eat on the go-go-go.

This experiment, gone good, has added a much needed change-up in Zach’s deeply rutted breakfast routine.  I hope it also helps you kick one little finger-food-eating breakfast dilemma in the buttski!

 

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal, With Options

Make sure to use steel cut oats in this delicious crockpot breakfast recipe.  I use Bob’s Red Mill organic steel cut oats (look for gluten free).  Costco now sells steel cut oats in 4 LB 8 OZ bags.  Yay Costco!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 8 hours Total Time: 8 hours, 15 minutes
Organic Ingredients: (you may make up your own, by using the 1 cup oats and 4 cups water, just add a total of 2 cups of anything, coconut, raisins, flax, chia seeds…mix it up oh creative one :))

• 1 cup steel cut oats

• 1/2 cup of cold milled flaxseed, or chia seeds




• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 1 cup dates, chopped

• 4 cups water, with a 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of cinnamon and mace added

• 1/2 cup half and half

• 2 tablespoons honey, or maple syrup

Preparation:
Spray inside of slow cooker with organic nonstick cooking spray…please. Combine all ingredients except half and half and honey in the slow cooker, cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in half and half and honey, and serve with butter and sweetener (coconut palm sugar is a winner).  With leftovers (if there are any) grease a loaf pan with coconut oil, or nonstick spray and pour oatmeal to within 1/2 inch of the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for up to one hour, or until set.  The loaf will set further when it is cooled and placed into the refrigerator.  Loaf may be sliced and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.  You may warm it slightly in a buttered frying pan, or microwave. Drizzle with a mixture of melted butter and warmed honey, mmmm.  Messy, a little yes, but so delicious!  Zach eats it right out of the fridge.

OATMEAL COOKIES 3-6-9 OMEGA-FIBER SLAM!

THE BALANCING act of clean healthy food, supplements and patience is tough to feng shui.  As I mentioned in my last post, rigidity can throw a bucket of cold water on the need to create.

ABOUT THE TIME I am ready to pull my hair out from the simple human need to veer off the beaten path and begin to wish, cross fingers-legs-toes, pray and hope for any glimpse of new, it happens.  Mind you, it might not seem like much to the naked normal eye, but to the bulging eye of the primary care giver, any small movement outside of the worn through; it’s really quite significant.

THREE MONTHS AGO Zach stopped taking his walks down his Love Trail (we’re not very happy about this detour).  At first I thought maybe it was just a one week modification to his deep rut brought on by, perhaps, the fact that he didn’t feel well.  Three months down this different road, I’m beginning to wonder.  No amount of coaxing can get him to run that trail daily!  But hey, he’s made a choice on his own and is sticking to it.  That’s sorta cool, sort of grown up of him don’t you think?

OTHER CHANGES, a month, or so ago now he put himself on a fast for three days, no water, no food.  No fever, no tooth issues (as best we can tell), or mouth sores.  We’re still stumped by that fast, but luckily, he is back on track with eating and drinking (though from different cups; they are glass, easy to wash and he gets more water.  This is good).  Since the time change, he has not “forwarded” his sleeping as we’d hoped and prayed, begged and pleaded, instead, he has back-warded it; rather than sliding into the new time and rising at 4:00 a.m. from his old 3:00 a.m. roust, he is chirping at 1:30.  Seriously?  And, is he a VEGAN?  His love of meat on his plate his waning.  What’s that about?  He’s been leaving the meat.  He rarely leaves a crumb.  There are digestive issues that no amount of pre, or probiotics, enzymes, etc seem to help with, so perhaps that might be the culprit.  Still, what do I do…?

FOR STARTERS-A CONCOCTION, A REVISION…3-6-9, it’s a cookie, but not just any cookie.  It’s easy to make, but this cookie; it just might change your life.  We’re a few weeks into this…stay tuned for more.

IF YOU FIND IT DIFFICULT to get your child to take their supplements and eat enough to get their much needed fiber and omegas, here’s a sneaky twist.  I’ve posted an oatmeal cookie recipe in earlier blogs and though it is a healthy treat (for the most part, minus the sweetener) this is a modification to that adored old friend, The Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie.

I CALL IT Oatmeal Cookie 3-6-9:  Chai seeds, flax meal, hemp seeds, coconut and pasture butter combined with a healthy array of gluten free, egg free and peanut free ingredients give us our omegas, fiber and other benefits in a delicious cookie.  He loves them!  So do I.

THE FOOD ISSUE, WELL, THAT seems solved.  Now if I could just come up with a sleep inducing cookie and instant exercise powder we’d have this caregiver thing wrapped and could market it in cellophane baggie.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a glass measuring cup add
9 tbls spoons warm water
3 tbls chia seeds
1 tsp organic vanilla
1 cup raisins
soak all for 1 hour

In the mixing bowl combine (I use a KitchenAid Pro 6)
1 cup softened pasture butter (even if your child is dairy free, pasture butter should not bother them)
1 cup coconut palm sugar and either
1 cup brown sugar, or 3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup flax meal
1/3 cup hulled hemp seeds
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I like Namaste Perfect Blend)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup dried cranberries, or raisins (optional)
3/4 cups chopped pecans, or walnuts (optional)
*may add more water, teaspoon by teaspoon till the dough is playable and feels somewhat sticky.

Drop heaping tablespoon of dough onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from cookie sheet after they have cooled for 5 minutes.  They may be frozen, or refrigerated (if there are any left at the end of the day).  Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Friday Night Pizza for all we Feng Shui'ers

Mamas, sisters and daughters are huge in my world.

Mama and I

Yesterday I was setting in my office, Zach had respite care (sigh), my beautiful blond Rachel sat cross legged on the tile floor stamping T’s and R’s onto her, now finished, recycled paper wedding invitations (very cool).  We are preparing for a beautiful high mountain wedding in August.  It is going to be amazingly beautiful!  Hannah, my eldest daughter, lives in Virginia (with my four grand babies I might add); she was in attendance as she and I dialogued on the voice memo app, Heytell.  Our conversation beeped in and out; familiar subjects that bring up my own warm "mama memories".  Mama and I wiled away many an hour on the end of a wall-mounted phone discussing recipes, gardening, family and engaged ourselves in long deep philosophical/religious discussions.

My daughters and I, blissful hours conversing about recipes, family, faith and what the princess fairies and little prince are doing, “What are you having for dinner?” (which spurred the birth of this post), the wedding (we’re all over this wedding) and “send me a link to your dress-and what do your shoes look like?  I found this great lipstick at Sephora.”

I love love love these current years with my daughters; marriage and weddings, mothering, food (my favorite) and all things feminine that bond woman to woman; they have been a dynamic support and an amazing help to me these past seventeen years of caring for Zach.

I hope you and yours benefit from the fruit of our family, from our support, love and enjoyment of each other and our endeavor to employ the simple supper (what my daddy calls the evening meal) like we used to do “in the old days” the family sup, where you sit, engage in conversation and grow relationship.

FRIDAY NIGHT PIZZA
You may buy gluten free pizza crusts in your health food section, they are delicious and time is of the essence in our world.  I need to try some different recipes for making my own.  I am not impressed with the recipes for gluten free pizza crusts I have found on-line.  You may also buy Namaste Pizza crust mix (I only recommend this because all other Namaste products have been superior to others I've tried), OR make it from scratch using Namaste's Perfect Blend flour (the best gf flour for flavor and texture I have found).  I used pre made, Vicolo, spelt cornmeal pizza crusts; organic and non-gmo, but not gluten free, awfully yummy though!
 
Cook bacon till crisp and crumble into pieces (I cooked mine in the microwave :-/, big no-no if you are a health food nut, and though I am [mostly], I really dislike standing over a red-hot frying pan, as the bubbling contents splatter me in the face).  Enter microwave, a 9x13 glass baking dish lined with a pad of two, or three folded paper towels (recycled of course), slap down the bacon, then cover with more paper towels.  Electrify till your crispness is content.

Sauce,
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I prefer soy free Veganaise)
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard, mix together and spread onto pizza crust
sprinkle a generous layer of bacon over sauce.
Cover in *daiya (dairy free cheese; the best dairy free I have found.  It melts and tastes great, good for mac-n-cheese too!) mozzarella, or cheddar-jack blend.  You can find it in your health food store, or ask your local grocer to carry it for you.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden and crisp.

While pizza is cooking, set a simple table, wild flowers in a mason jar, a real wax candle; paper plates work on Friday night right?  Dice garden fresh organic tomatoes and lettuce, pile onto cooked pizza slide it onto that table and wrap your lips around it immediately…OH yum-yum!  Tastes just like a BLT with cheese!

Simple refreshing drink-fill a pitcher with ice cubes
Brew 4 bags of black tea (pg tips is wonderful) in 2 cups of water just off the boil in a glass measuring cup for 4 minutes.
Pull bags and add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of organic maple syrup stir well.
Pour 32 oz of R.W. Knudsen's boysenberry juice (no sugar added) into pitcher, add tea and stir well.  This is my favorite summer drink!