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.
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.
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.
