Tea Ramblings

Ah, a late-night post courtesy of insomnia! I will take this time to talk about... tea! Specifically the teas I have been drinking as of late and a little rundown of why I chose them.

Rooibos Tea - Also known as red tea. I am a tea fiend, and I love this one because it's caffeine-free, thus good to drink in the evening. That's far from the whole reason I drink it though. It's got antioxidants, magnesium, and zinc loaded in there. The antioxidants make me happy as they're also kind of an anti-inflammatory, which is good news for my TOS. I've also really been battling with adult acne, and it's been suggested rooibos will help with that, especially when used topically. I haven't tried it topically, but at least my face has been clearing up since I've been drinking this daily.

Black/Jasmine Tea - I had this blend at Teavana, and have since replicated it with loose leaf teas from Whole Foods. It's a great wake-up tea if I'm groggy in the morning, and the jasmine is fantastic for antioxidants. I only wish the jasmine tea wasn't so expensive! I'd love to blend half and half, but I've got to do 1 part black tea to 1/2 part jasmine because of the cost, eep.

Peppermint - I have the weakest stomach in the world, so when a food or medicine gets me nauseated I usually go for this to settle my tummy as it's great for any digestive upset. Plus I really love it in the evening with a little agave nectar. There's just something that's soothing all around with it.

Everyday Detox - I began to with this tea when I had a recent breakout with acne, and acne can result from when your liver's stressed out. I figured that it couldn't hurt if I tried this, so I started drinking this nightly. It's got a bit of an odd taste that even agave nectar can't cover up. The licorice flavor in it really stands out. I'm not sure if it was the rooibos or this tea, or maybe a combination of both, but my acne did clear up. I'll drink to that!

Throat Coat - This was another tea I wanted to try out to see if it helped things. My medications for TOS dry out my mouth and throat a lot, so I was curious to see if this would help. It's got a sweet, cinnamon flavor that almost reminds me of Life cereal, heh. I don't think there's much out there that can help my dry throat, but at least this is another caffeine-free tea option for late night.

Going Pumpkin Crazy

Oh dear. I've been falling behind on cooking again. With this chilly weather also comes more complications from TOS, which leads to me just not cooking big things. That and I tend to get lazy when that happens as well, eep.

I'll just cut to the chase and get to the goodies that have caught my eye this month!

This is pumpkin butter on toast. Yes, pumpkin butter! I knew once I saw the recipe that I had to make a batch of my own to try.

Pumpkin Butter
- 1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree, or about 3 1/2 cups fresh puree
- 3/4 cup apple juice, fresh or pre-made
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Juice of half a lemon or lemon juice equal to the same amount

Combine the pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan or pot and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Cover with lid and stir frequently (Get some help with the constant stirring if you've got TOS, I found this a bit painful). Remove from heat. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice, and you may add more to taste. Once cool, pumpkin butter can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Makes enough to fill one large mason jar or about 3.5 cups.

This turned out sooo good. So good. I may have reduced the amount of nutmeg and/or cloves by just a little bit, but once it's on something like the bread as illustrated it just melts in your mouth. Wonderful on pancakes, too! The apple juice in there makes this remind me of a warm spiced cider. It's just the perfect food accessory to your fall holiday munchies.

And now, I would like to introduce you to garlic pumpkin mashed potatoes. I'd never thought to add pumpkin to mashed potatoes, but as I find the usual mashed potatoes awfully bland, I thought this might be right up my alley! Oh boy, was it.

Garlic Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes with Spinach
- 7 red potatoes, scrubbed & chopped (I peeled mine as well)
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used a little more since I love garlic)
- 1-1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, to taste
- Two handfuls spinach, stems removed & chopped
- 1/2 cup Almond milk
- 2 tbsp Earth Balance
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Paprika, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and boil potatoes for 18 to 22 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and place in a very large bowl. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over low heat in a skillet and sauté garlic for about 1 minute. Drain and mash potato chunks in the large bowl with a fork. Mix in pumpkin puree, spinach, almond milk, Earth Balance/butter, black pepper, and salt. Makes 5-7 servings.

This dish is best served immediately as the potatoes get a bit watery from the pumpkin when in the fridge.

I do have to say due to the mashing and stirring, this is not a TOS-friendly recipe at all. I'm actually flaring a little from all of it. Next time, I will see if I could have some help with those parts.

But was it worth the physical irritation? I would say so. Yum. Just yum. I think for the first time in my life I'm excited about potatoes this was so flavorful. This is perfect for a Thanksgiving dish. My folks still want to keep their plain mashed potatoes this year, but if I ever host for the holiday? Oh yes, this is going on the table.

Here comes the rain

Oh fall is upon us! The mornings are starting to bring fog, the weather is turning grey and rainy once more, and summer is definitely gone on its own vacation until next year.

Food-wise, cold weather makes me excited. All those warm comfort dishes for cold weather! But TOS-wise I'm a bit apprehensive. Cold weather has never liked the TOS because of how it makes me tense when I get chilly or shiver, and of course tensing up leads to more pain.

Another round of Botox would have been absolutely great for the winter, but unfortunately since it is so expensive ($575 a pop, not including the cost of the doctor visit) I most likely had my first and last round for a while. It's been almost three months since my last injection, and I can tell it's run its course. I had a wonderful summer with it though, and Botox plus physical therapy has improved me some. Even though it is wearing off, I don't feel quite as bad as I did before.

What will I do to combat the pain this winter? I was left with physical therapy exercises to do, plus my knitting skills may come in handy in making things to keep my neck and hands warm.

Yes, I said knitting! That is one thing I learned after my auto accident after I was not able to do the artwork I did. It still brings me pain and I can't knit for long periods of time, but I am able to finish small projects. Larger projects like long scarves are still doable, but I've got to take my time with them. Part of me wonders if I should bring knitting into this blog as well since I've got a unique spin on it knitting as someone with TOS.

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Onto food! I've fallen into a bit of a rut, eating a lot of the same old things, but there have been a couple new things I've tried that are blog-worthy.

This would be a little something I picked up from Oh She Glows. Unfortunately I can't find the exact blog entry this came from, but that's what inspired this!

Choco-Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oats
-1/3 cups oats
-1 1/4 cups Almond Milk
-1/2 cup pumpkin
-1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
-1 pinch pumpkin pie spice
-1/2 serving Chocolate Amazing Meal Power (or a couple tsp cocoa powder)

Toppings:
- Dried cranberries
- Granola
- Shredded coconut
- Maple syrup

I changed this slightly, using more oats as I like my oats thick. I didn't have pumpkin pie spices, but using cinnamon, ginger, and cloves did the trick for me. I used minimal cocoa powder this time, but I can always add more later. I've also tried this with hot oats and ooooh it's yummy. It's like having pumpkin pie for breakfast.

The next recipe came from a request from the beau. I was asking him what foods he really loves that I could try to find a non-dairy replacement to, and broccoli and cheddar soup was the biggest request! I really wanted to find a recipe that worked, because I remember how good this was. Fortunately the internet came to my rescue. I wish I could find the site that I got this from though!

Vegan Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

-1 large potato, peeled and diced
-1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
-1 large onion, coarsely chopped
-1 cup vegetable broth (or water, or beer)
-12 oz firm silken tofu
-1 cup unsweetened plain nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
-1/2 to 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes (I used 3/4 cup)
-2 Tbs lemon juice
-2 Tbs nonhydrogenated vegan margarine such as Earth Balance (optional)
-1 1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp onion powder
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-2 cups steamed chopped broccoli

Combine potato, onion, carrot, and vegetable broth (or water or beer) in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring once or twice, until vegetables are tender.

Combine remaining ingredients except milk in a large bowl. Mix well and stir into cooked vegetables. Puree in batches in a blender. Process until completely smooth. Pour blended mixture into a clean large bowl or soup pot and add each blended batch until it is finished. Add broccoli and warm over low heat until hot. If too thick, add additional milk or water. Serve hot.

Now I thought the only thing this needed tweaking with was the onion. I would almost just skip the onion powder all together. This was delicious, but I could definitely tell there was a lot of onion flavor here! This definitely passed my taste test, so now I'll get to see if the boyfriend will like this as well.

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And lastly, thoughts on nutrition. A recent doctor checkup revealed that I had a huge vitamin D deficiency, along with cholesterol issues. Now I'm a tiny 25-year-old with a healthy diet, and yet my HDL was too low while my triglycerides were high. My LDL was in the norm thankfully.

There's conflicting opinions on foods that raise HDL, but I will be trying them out anyway along with trying to get myself to walk more. Unfortunately I can't do much if anything about the high triglycerides since that part's genetic, but I'll hope that walking will help that as well.

As for vitamin D? That's a little more tricky with foods that don't involve meat, eggs, or dairy. White mushrooms seem to be the only food that'll help. I think my only course of action will be getting outside more which I'll be doing with walking along with taking my huge prescription doses of the stuff!

One of these days I will definitely have to post up a chart containing my anti-inflammitory foods and foods for HDL to help lay out what all is good for me and what to avoid.

Finally blogging once more

It's good to be back again! My poor desktop where I do my photo work caught a nasty virus which prevented Google and all its partner sites like this one to be blocked or non-functional, eep. But finally I was able to get to the bottom of it!


Now I have made cake, but I have never made a breakfast cake. This is like a better version of oatmeal almost. Decided to try this one morning when I woke up a bit earlier than my boyfriend. He got to awake to a tasty breakfast - he loved this! I just wish I could remember the blog I found the original recipe from! It originally had no agave nectar or cinnamon - I just added those for a little extra sweet and flavor.

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cake
2 cups non-instant oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beat (or egg replacer for 1 egg)
1 mashed banana
1 sliced banana
1 1/2 cups milk of your choice (I used almond)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp agave nectar
Brown sugar

Optional:
1 tsbp or so ground flax seed
Cinnamon

Peheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mash 1 banana then combine with the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients in with the dry.

Coat a pie pan with vegetable shortening (your cake will stick to it otherwise!). Put 1/2 of the sliced banana on the bottom of the pan, pour in your mixture, then decorate the top with the other 1/2 of the banana.

Cook the cake for 26 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle brown sugar all over the top. Broil the cake for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar starts to bubble and brown.

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This disappears pretty fast whenever I make it now! It's a keeper recipe for sure.

Botox and progress

So it's been since June 10th since I received my botox injection to help me out with TOS. What's happened since then?

Good stuff! I'm happy to say that the injection is helping, really happy. It took until about the end of June, but that's when I started to notice my pain wasn't nearly as bad and I wasn't as prone to flare-ups like I was. In fact, I was able to try Bikram yoga without a major flare! Some discomfort, but no flare! It was amazing!

I can't credit just the injection though. I've been working with physical therapists who know TOS, and know neurogenic TOS, and they've been able to work with me to try and correct my body and how it's warped from being in chronic pain for so long. They're picking out things even I haven't noticed which is great - means I can work to correct those things I wouldn't have picked up on otherwise!

So the symptoms that are staying are the nervy/pain feeling in my hand and the tightness in my jaw, but the TMJ/jaw symptoms are reduced, and so is the pain in my hand. I'm just glad I can lift bigger pots of water for cooking again, and be able to do other light chores with just a little bit of pain instead of a huge disaster like before.

Now I'm not sure what will happen once the botox wears off, but I remain hopeful that when it does, things won't be as bad as they were before. I would like to continue to do some of these things I'm doing now. I'll just enjoy the little freedoms I have now and savor them just in case!

Tasty foods galore

Well I thought I'd be back right quick to make another post, but spent the past couple days getting rid of a sneaky virus instead. Eep! All better now though, thank goodness.

What is this? My first try at vegan overnight oats! I based this cup off of what I saw here. Chocolate strawberry banana, oh my! Here's how I made mine:

Chocolate Strawberry VOO
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 1/2-ish tsp ground flax seed
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Drizzle agave nectar (I squirted in what was left of my near-empty bottle)
- 1 diced banana
- 4 chopped strawberries

Mix dry ingredients together, then mix in wet ingredients and whisk together. Set in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or overnight.

This made 2 glasses and the second glass that was left in the fridge for 2 nights was still good! Next time I'll half the cocoa powder and maybe add more agave - this just wasn't sweet enough for my sweet tooth. But this was a great idea, especially now that things are heating up!

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Another good thing now that things are heating up? Barley tea from my local Uwajimaya. This is part of what makes summer so awesome!

Now my Japanese is so rusty that I can't even read that anymore, and it's been a whole year since I bought this, but the big ingredient in this was barley so I went for it. If it isn't the same thing I had, it sure tastes like what I had last year!

Edit: Did some digging and this bottle is Asahi brand's own Jyuroku-cha, and not mugicha (or barley tea). However, I stand by the fact that this is delicious, haha!

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I saved the best for last. I did. I made this recipe as an experiment back in April and it turned out to be the greatest experiment I ever did. Oh my goodness.

What could this pot of veggies turn into I wonder? Hmmm, how about...

Vegan Mac and Cheese
Noodles
- 4 quarts water
- 1 tbsp sea salt- 8 oz macaroni

Breadcrumbs (Optional)
- 2-4 slices of bread, torn into large pieces (Use less if you're cooking in a casserole dish with less surface area)
- 1-2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated margarine (Use half the tbsps as slices of bread)

Cheese sauce
- 2 tablespoons shallots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup red or yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and chopped- 1/3 cup onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup raw cashews- 1/3 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp paprika

In a large pot, bring water and sea salt to a boil. Add macaroni and cook for ten minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a food processor, make breadcrumbs by pulverizing the bread and margarine to a medium-fine texture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water. Bring to a boil. cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes or until veggies are very soft.

In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Add softened veggies and the water used to cook them in to the blender, and process until perfectly smooth.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce until completely coated. Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish (or any dish that fits really), sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown.

Looking more like cheese sauce I used to know and love now!

Bam. Fresh out of the oven. I skipped the breadcrumbs this time as I didn't want to get my food processor messy that night, but it was still absolutely delicious. I would like to thank this site for providing the recipe because this is the best mac and cheese I've ever had, ever. Even my sister who is terrified of my vegan cooking devoured the leftovers lurking in the fridge.

Mac and cheese had been something I missed terribly since I developed my nasty dairy allergy, and I thought I'd never have it again! Thank goodness for the internet and creative cooks. I'm actually craving this again, ha! Even when I doubled the recipe it still got eaten up very quickly.

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Also made my zucchini garlic soup, trying out new ratios of onions and garlic this time since I played it safe last. I now know that if I increase the onion, I've got to increase the garlic by even more! This batch was tasty, but not quite as amazing as the last one. I think it lacked the garlic punch.

As a challenge to myself, I'm attempting to veganize two old summer favourites of mine: Summer squash croquettes and a cold pasta salad with fruit. The pasta salad has got pineapple, grapes, mayo, chicken, almonds... perfect combo of stuff, but of course with the challenge I'm using "vegan mayo" and something else in place of the chicken. We'll see how this turns out!

Summer is really here

I've got something cookin in the oven I can't wait to post on, but first a little a bit about the day!

So one of my two vascular surgeons suggested now that I have botox paralyzing that nasty scalene muscle in my neck, that I should get some physical therapy to help my body adjusted back to some form of normalcy.

This new physical therapist had experience with TOS which is a huge plus, and another big plus is he was real with me. No sugarcoating or anything, which is what I really appreciate. But a long story short he says he's not sure just how much I'll improve, but I can improve with some work! Definitely what I want to hear.

This new PT makes me optimistic! The good news from there, cooking awesome things, and enjoying the sunny day made today pretty wonderful. More days should be like this!

Back again

Oh dear. I have been neglecting things! I partially blame the pain I've been in, and I partially blame my laziness.


Oh waffles! I like these a lot better than plain ol waffles and syrup. They're a hands-on, no-utensil way to get a bunch of nutrition in first thing which is great if I've slept funny or am in the middle of a nasty flare. My toppings of choice have been plain soy yogurt, cinnamon, granola, and banana with either a sprinkle of coconut or pumpkin seeds. I just got strawberries today so I'll be able to mix up my breakfast fruits a bit.


What are these? Stuffed mushrooms! These are really really easy to make and are a nice way to compliment a meal or serve as an appetizer. These used to be served at a restaurant I used to work at and I did experimenting at home to see if I could get it similar to how they had it, and it worked great. Nowadays I use the Tofutti faux cheesy products, but it still works!

Easy stuffed Mushrooms
-Stuffing base (1/3 part cream cheese, 2/3 part sour cream)
-Chopped green onion to taste
-Garlic powder to taste
-Plain white mushrooms
-Veggie broth or bouillon cubes

In a small pot, bring the veggie broth to a boil. While the broth is heating up, cut out the stems of your mushrooms. In a small bowl, mix your stuffing base, green onion, and garlic powder.

Boil your "gutted" mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, then fill with your stuffing. Serve immediately and enjoy!

For my dish I used 1/3 cup cream cheese, 2/3 cup sour cream, I think 4 stalks of green onion, and a little over 1/8 tsp of garlic powder. This turned out to be too much for the amount of mushrooms I bought, but this does make a tasty and flavourful veggie dip so I've been using up the excess that way.

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I've still been drinking up my Green Monsters. I actually miss them when I'm out of spinach! Here's what my "perfected" drinks have been looking like as of late. Might as well call em Purple Monsters cause the blueberries I love turn them that color!

"Purple Monster"
1 handful spinach
1 handful frozen blueberries
2 frozen strawberries
1/2 banana
3/4 scoop protein powder
Drizzle of agave nectar
Soy milk (+ some water if the mixture is too thick)

I also recently found that our coffee grinder isn't really used to grind coffee anymore, so I've got free reign to grind up flax and hemp seeds I found in Whole Foods' bulk department. Hooray!

Simplify and improve

I couldn't wait to get breakfast in me today. It's funny because I used to not really care for it at all. I didn't hate breakfast foods, but nothing seemed appetizing, so I would just flop whatever breakfast-type food down on a plate and just grin and bear it. Not so much anymore!

Today's breakfast in a bowl is plain soy yogurt, banana, cinnamon, granola, and coconut. I'd seen a lot of coconut be used for yogurt bowls before, but was iffy on trying it out until today. I looove coconut, but wasn't sure how it would go with the rest, but was great! I love the idea of getting a little healthy fats in with the granola and coconut.

Went out to a doctor appointment, and unfortunately driving kicked my butt (Singing along to songs may or may not have contributed too, hehe) and I was in a lot of pain. But so hungry! Time for me to plop some store-bought butternut squash soup in a cup and make an easy sandwich. This sandwich actually is great as a late-night snack for me - it's cilantro and jalapeno hummus and lettuce on wheat bread. It's not a full meal by itself but it fills me up with the soup. I'd stay full for a while if I were able to cut up some apples, but with this pain now I'd better not. Times like this I wonder if something like an apple divider would be a good thing to have... hmm!

Speaking of kitchen tools, I have been looking around for gadgets to have that would make cooking with TOS more easy. So far the only solid ideas are electric pepper and salt grinders, and a water heater for my teas to skip using the kettle. A lot of devices out there I'm finding though cut prep time down, but are a pain to clean which is not good! Hard to clean equals an automatic "not worth buying" from me even though I'm usually not the one to do dishes in the house. I shall keep my eyes open for more products!

Botox and beans

But not together at once, thankfully!

Today is the start of a three-month treatment "experiment" of sorts. I just had a shot of botox injected into my scalenes on my affected side. If all goes well, this will begin to relax this muscle in one to two weeks and will last about three months. Kind of interesting, the thought of giving a specific muscle a kind of botulism for a few months, heheh.

I am hoping to look for additional treatment while the botox settles in so hopefully when it wears out, the rest of my body will be closer to where it was before I had chronic pain, which also hopefully means less pain! First thing's first though - I've got to see if the botox will work for me.

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I took the evening to ponder what tasty, cheap, and easy dish I could make. Rice and beans seemed like the perfect answer! Tonight's experiment involved black beans, garlic, onion, and a pinch of ginger made into a paste on top of brown rice.

The result? Not bad, but nowhere near perfect. The bean mixture seemed to lack enough flavor punch not to be drowned out by the mellow flavor of the rice. So back to the drawing board while I think of what different portions of ingredients I can play with next time to give it that perfect punch!

Stocked up my "food staples" today at Whole Foods and I'm good to go. I'm already excited for breakfasts this week!

Triumphant return

I return from a five-day trip to Richmond, BC with lots to tell. A shame the hotel didn't have internet there so I could have blogged on the go.

First thing's first before I dive into my adventures in food: Traveling with TOS. It's not easy in the least bit. With me I had a rolling backpack and a very small rolling suitcase, but that was more than enough for me. I cannot use a traditional backpack or anything heavier than a purse on my good shoulder, so instead of carrying that backpack and dragging the suitcase I was dragging both going through customs on the US/Canada border. Fortunately I had help at the beginning and end of the bus ride from family or my boyfriend, but next time I might try the train since customs is at the train stations instead of at the border, so no stops in the middle to drag heavy bags around.

Walking once there was no problem at all actually. I found that aside from being out of shape, I could walk for as long as needed without trouble. I'm glad that the old cross-country runner endurance is still in me. Now footwear may have been a slight concern, but that's another story!

So in short for next time for my physical health: Take the train and make an effort to walk more in the meantime!

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And now onto the best part: food! I'm always a bit nervous dining out since a lot of places use milk products liberally in their dishes. However I was very happy to find that there was an abundance of places in Richmond that were focused on Asian cuisine, which not only is my favourite kind of food, but hardly uses any milk products!

Now I am neither strict vegetarian nor vegan, so while these places don't have milk in their dishes, they do serve meat. All of the vegetarian/vegan places I Googled were quite a ways out from where I was staying and I didn't get a chance to dine there this trip, but next time I am definitely paying a visit to them. I want to dine out healthy, too!

First night my beau and I stopped by a place called Shanghai River. I'd heard rumors that the Chinese restaurants had to be very good to stay in business, and I'm happy to report the rumor is true! We ordered crispy rice with shrimp, a nutty kind of sweet shrimp (if only I can remember the name!), and a "crab ball" kind of an appetizer. That appetizer was iffy, but I think I just wasn't used to the taste or texture. The two other dishes were amazing, especially that shrimp dish! There are mixed reviews out there of this place, but I'd say definitely give this place a try if it's not a busy night.

Second place to note was Ninkazu, which was an all-you-can-eat type of Japanese restaurant. I've gone to a lot of sushi places here around Seattle, and this place definitely compares nicely with those! Now I wasn't blown off my feet but this was still quite good, and I'd go again if I was in the area and craving sushi. We went there at an incredibly busy time with a group of 8 folks, and we still had decent service especially considering how packed it was.

Last but very certainly not least was the Steveston Seafood House, as my silly cell phone photo is trying to illustrate. My dearest wanted to take me to a nice place on my last night there, and he chose well! I don't normally eat seafood but this place was absolutely wonderful. It's a cute little cozy place, great service, and most of all... amazing food! The waiter there (who actually turned out to be the owner of the place) was very accommodating to my dairy allergy, and the main salmon dish I ordered that was tweaked a bit for me tasted as though it was meant to be that way. Didn't taste like anything was missing! This is definitely a "special date" kind of restaurant price-wise, but it's definitely worth trying out. Heck I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Yum!

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I'm still winding back down here from the excitement of the whole trip, but already I'm plotting more new dishes for the week here. Yum!

Amazing green

From missing a few days of posting I have a recipe of massive success to bring! Just made this last night and actually had the chance to eat this today. It's an absolutely amazing zucchini garlic soup that I will definitely make again.


It's a completely vegan zucchini garlic soup! I had to try my own version after reading about it here. I'd worried that although I was getting my fill of fruit I was falling behind on my veggies. This along with my green smoothies will definitely put me on the right track. It's pureed as well, which makes it easy for me to put in a cup and drink if I'm having a bad TOS flare and don't want to use utensils.


Zucchini Garlic Soup
Makes approximately 1 1/2 quarts

1/4 cup margarine or olive oil
1/2 white onion, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
3 medium zucchini, sliced
1 cup shelled edamame
4 cups veggie broth
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Salt and pepper

Put olive oil in a heavy 4-quart pot over medium heat. Add sliced garlic and onion, and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. Keep the heat low enough so the garlic doesn't brown.

When the onions are soft, add the zucchini and edamame, and cook until soft. Add the veggie broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer at low heat for about 45 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender or transfer to a standing blender. Blend until creamy. If using a standing blender, only fill it half full with each batch, and hold the lid down tightly.

Season with ginger, salt, and pepper to taste. Like most soups, this is significantly better after a night in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld.

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I can't get over how good this is! I didn't use nearly as much garlic as the recipe called for as the last time I made a dish with garlic it had much too much of it... and I love garlic, too! Next time I'll try maybe an extra clove or two, but it still doesn't need as much since the ginger and pepper give it such a nice kick to it. Might try it with extra broth next time since it was a little thick in the cup, but if you're using a spoon it's not a problem at all! Huge bonus points because of how healthy this soup is, too!

I will definitely make a huge batch next time I make this so I have plenty of leftovers. If it freezes well that'd be great! Enormous soup batch while I have a good pain day, then I have frozen goodies to just thaw out when I'm not feeling so hot.

I'll be going to Canada for a long weekend starting Thursday! I'll definitely be on the lookout not only for good food but for good ways for me to travel relatively pain-free.

Better late than...

Oh boy. Late start to the day today. The unfortunate happening of taking muscle relaxants too late at night made it extremely difficult to get out of bed this morning. Lesson learned on that one! Even though my first chance to eat wasn't until after noon, breakfast still sounded good to me.

Enter waffles! I'm out of yogurt, so today's waffle toppings are applesauce, granola, and 1/2 banana. Cinnamon would have been delicious on these too, but I didn't think to add it until about... now. Oops! Add this with my OJ with a touch of protein powder and my morning tea and good to go now.


So this is yesterday's little green-but-not-green smoothie! I think I've about nailed down what I like best here. So here goes!

Green-but-not-green delight
1 handful spinach
3 big frozen strawberries
1 handful frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1/3-ish cup of silken tofu (or plain yogurt)
3/4 scoop protein powder
Big drizzle of agave nectar
Little bit of water

I could easily sub out the mango for an extra strawberry and be fine. This was great! No OJ this time, but I found it's not needed if I just get enough water in there so my blender is happy. I'm pretty sure that even without the tofu or yogurt this'd be good too - I'd just have to make sure that I'm balancing the texture right with other ingredients.

Had some recipe failure last night so nothing else new foodwise until I can get back into the kitchen for more experiments. Trying new things isn't always perfect the first time!

Another day, another chance for experiments

Late night tonight! I get those a lot with TOS, particularly if my medicines aren't kicking in when they should. It's interesting to find even if I'm just mildly uncomfortable, I just have such a hard time falling asleep. Of course drinking tea too late in the day will do that to you too, and I think tonight's culprit is a little of column A, and a little of column B.

I did wake with an unusual ease this morning however, especially because my nightly muscle relaxant makes it very hard to get out of bed. I can't help but wonder if shifting my diet is helping, if at least a little bit. It may not take away the pain but at least it's helping the rest of me feel better.

Here's what's made up my breakfast these past couple mornings: Strawberry yogurt bowls! So here's plain soy yogurt, strawberries, Cheerios, granola, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I'm a bit sad we're out of non-frozen strawberries now because I loved this even more than with bananas. Oh yeah, I'm hooked on these. Easy to make and they're delicious!

I'm still experimenting with my Green Monsters. I thought today's mix tasted odd because I didn't put orange juice in it, but then I realized I'd forgotten to add my usual banana to it! I'll just try again tomorrow, hopefully with a successful "recipe" variation to post as well.

Soups are on the agenda this week! I'm hoping I'll need a little less assistance than with my pasta, but if need help then I need help. My theory is that if I make a big batch of soup and freeze what I don't eat small ziploc baggies, then I'm free to just heat and serve at will, making food prep all the more easier on me later. We shall see how my theory pans out.

Sunny, happy day

I woke up feeling much better than I did last night, and got some great news along with a big dose of sunshine. But first... breakfast!

Decided to try something different, so with my waffles I've got plain soy yogurt, bananas, broken up walnuts, and heaps of cinnamon. I only wanted a sprinkle but my container decided I should have more. Fine by me!

So after that came a discussion followed by news. I was sure that I'd be talking with the surgery scheduler today plotting out my exact date that I'd have it in a couple weeks. However, I was very very nervous about having the surgery in general. Who wouldn't be? My mother knows I'm having it as an absolute last resort, so after discussion she's letting me try a Botox injection first instead of going straight into the surgery.

I'm hearing people say "Why Botox?" already. Botox will be injected into my affected scalene muscle in my neck to relax it and stop my pain in the same fashion that wrinkles are "relaxed" away in the face for cosmetic purposes. Hopefully this will stop pinching off my nerve and let me feel normal for a few months. Yes, unfortunately it's temporary just like it is for facial treatments.

Another downside along with Botox being temporary is that it's expensive. $575 every three months expensive. It's considered an "off-label" use of the drug, so insurance will not cover it even though it's for a medical reason. This may be the first and last time I get this because of the cost. Can I win the lottery, please?

Well. After that bit of news I perked up a bit and joined my mum for some grocery shopping. Awesome day to do it because of how sunny it is today! When we came back, I found something in the mail I'd been waiting for...

Behold my blotchy, TOS-affected left hand. And my new bracelet. Woo hoo! These are just like the ones you see for breast cancer and the like, mine's just different colors. I got it from this little store here. I really think it's great to have a little way of spreading the word on TOS since it can happen to anyone at any age at any time, and it's sadly not very well known at all. Figure if I can at least tell a couple people here and there, especially if they ask about my little bracelet, it's a help to get the word out on this awful condition.

And so wrap this all up, I will end with my first Green Monster! No picture since it looks like my purple delight from yesterday thanks to the blueberries, but here's roughly what I put in mine today.

2 handfuls spinach
1/2 cup or so of silken tofu
1/3 cup or so of mango
1 handful frozen blueberries
2 frozen strawberries
1/2 banana
3/4 scoop soy protein powder
Big splash of orange juice
A drizzling of agave nectar

Conclusion? It was delicious! I couldn't even tell that there was spinach in this at all. I just tasted the fruit! I'll definitely be making this often. I'm still sneaking in that protein even though I'm not having surgery right away after all. It just good for me!

Until next time!

Dinner experimentation is served

I've been delving into new worlds eating dairy-free. I've been doing moreso since receiving La Dolce Vegan! as a birthday gift last month. Richard if you're reading this, you are more awesome than you know for getting me this book, my goodness.

First up comes the "Creamy Basil & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta" recipe I decided to pick out. Pasta is always great in my book.

I wish I could make this look as delicious as it tasted. My home is full of not-so-photo-friendly lighting unfortunately. But anyway! Here's the version of this dish my mother and I came up with:

Ingredients for 4 people
12 oz dry pasta
1 small (8 oz?) jar sun-dried tomatoes (original recipe called for 7-8 sun-dried tomatoes for 2 people. I guesstimated with what I had on hand)
20 oz silken tofu (can use firm or soft as well)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 tsp salt
4 cups broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces

Boil the noodles of your choice in a large pot. In a food processor combine tofu, tomatoes, garlic, salt, and basil until smooth and set aside. When pasta is almost done, add broccoli to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain the pasta and broccoli. In a large bowl (or the cooking pot) combine the tomato sauce and pasta. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

My thoughts on this next time I make it is use a little less garlic, maybe 2-3 cloves, and maybe 1/3 cup basil instead. Those seemed to be overpowering, especially the garlic, whew! Other than that this was good! Not head-over-heels about it, but I'd make it again with the changes noted and see if I didn't like that more.

And the last tidbit of the day ends with smoothie experimentations! I love smoothies. They're fantastic because you can play with ingredients freely and see what makes the best combination of fruits, veggies, whatever you please.

This is my latest fantastically purple concoction. The past few days I've been using 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt, 1 banana, 2 large handfuls of blueberries, 1 small handful of raspberries, a little bit of orange juice, and 3/4 scoop of soy protein powder. It's a great mid-afternoon pick-me-up and another good way for me to sneak my protein in.

Tonight I tried using almond milk in place of the yogurt, and it wasn't too bad, but definitely not as creamy as with yogurt. I just don't want to use up all the yogurt I have so quickly! I have leftover silken tofu from my noodle dish, so I'll give that a go tomorrow and see how it is then. Next grocery trip will involve picking up spinach to make "green smoothies" as well. I bet these will be awesome for when I'm feeling crummy after surgery and don't want to eat much since they're so nutrient-packed.

I do end the day hurting quite a bit after cooking dinner. Even with help, doing things with my arm throughout the day lands me in a lot of pain. I think what really did me in tonight was holding up the plastic food processor bit with one hand while I scooped out the tomato sauce with the other. Seems like such a simple task doesn't it?

It does feel defeating since I wanted to cook dinner with my mom's help, but it might end up my mom cooking dinner with my help next time. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome leaves one quite dependent on those around you, believe you me. You want to be more active and not just a lump in the house, but your body only lets you do so much.

The rest of the night will definitely be spent resting. Tomorrow it's time for shopping for button-up shirts for post-surgery dressing as well as grocery shopping time!

Start to a new day

I thought that I would get right to posting! And what better way to start than with the first meal of the day?

I'd been intrigued with these really easy yogurt bowls that I decided to try one myself today. In this experiment, I have plain soy yogurt, 1/2 banana, and some plain Cheerios. After this picture was taken I found my cinnamon which made for a nice little flavor addition. I snuck some soy protein powder into my orange juice since with surgery upcoming, I need all the protein I can get so my body can easily heal.

The only problem was this experiment wasn't very filling! I could easily fix that by using granola and perhaps some walnuts instead of plain Cheerios. Granola is going on my grocery list now.

I thought I'd also share what has to be one of my favourite teas I've ever had: Black Lychee. It came from a store near Pike Place Market in Seattle called Vital Tea Leaf. My dearest and I stumbled upon it while out for my birthday, and being the big tea fan that I am we had to take a peek! It was an amazing little store. They have free tea samplings, and believe you me we sampled quite a bit that day. This ended up being the winner by far. It's got the black tea flavor you'll know and love, but also just a hint of natural fruity sweetness from the lychee.

I do love my teas with milk, and have been experimenting with different milks to put in my teas since I'm allergic to dairy milk proteins. So far I have tried plain soy milk, plain rice milk, and am trying out unsweetened almond milk. Soy tasted great, but I am trying to cut down on soy where I can so in comes rice milk. That was much too watery and I didn't care for the taste, so I switched to almond. Ding! We have a winner! I bought one plain and one vanilla carton of almond, so I'll see which I like best in the end.

Have some goodies planned for tonight with the help of my folks. Major cooking operations do require a helping hand or two because of my TOS pain unfortunately, but hopefully I will have culinary success to report on later!

Introductions

This blog is still fresh from the farm and a little rough around the edges, but I wanted to make some little introduction before I got started.

My name is Jenn, and this is my blog spot on the 'net "Orange Lemonade". Quirky name, but it's dear to me. I had thought about creating a blog for forever, but finally decided to go for it after finally nailing what I wanted to share with the world!

I have been suffering from Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome for 2 1/2 years now. Just a few days ago, I had been told that after battling it with so many alternative treatments, my only option now is a scalenectomy. I am doing one last treatment, a Botox injection to my affected scalenes, before I go though with it. My only hope now is that I can find some alternative I have not looked into by the time the injection has worn out, which is roughly three months.

I am also doing my best to change my diet and lifestyle since developing a dairy allergy a couple years ago. I felt completely stuck because all the foods that I loved and were familiar to me were now completely off-limits to me. This year has been a kickstart to better eating after my new year's resolution to buy only cruelty-free products, or products made by companies that do not test on animals. This has also led me to try and eat more "cruelty-free" as well, but more for the health benefits than anything else. While I do not consider myself to be vegan or vegetarian, I do tend to eat that way, and would like to try and not just have tendencies in the long run!

So I hope to bring light to TOS as someone who struggles with it, and I also hope to share my adventures with food along the way!