Month: January 2018

  • Health

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    If you follow along on my Instagram account, you will see food posts and more often then not they contain Spinach Balls.  So this post is about them and how you can Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach.

    Now, let me start at the beginning. We are gluten free, dietary issues with my husband so we are always on the look out for gluten free taco like shells, wraps that we can eat. So when I went Keto, this hunt was even harder..thankful Pinterest was my rescue. Now the recipe I found is not the one I use, well i don’t actually use a recipe but i will share that with you in a bit & trust me you will want to keep reading – 20 minute ready delicious balls of spinach. TRUST ME!  We started by making these spinach balls more as a wrap for taco night & thus turned them into balls for easier eating enjoyment.

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    Let’s first talk spinach.

    Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium and vitamin C. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein and choline. ( See this website for more info )

    Now I remember as a kid, I HATED the stuff, yuk – put it right up there with liver & onions. But since going Keto I have eaten more spinach by choice then I have all my life. And a little secret, my kids LOVE it too!! So much so that rarely do we have left overs. I know right?!  I guess cooking it right means it is actually tasty & is now a staple in our Keto way of eating.

    One of our ways to eat it is fresh, I buy baby spinach leaves in a bag from Costco and just chop it up finely and sprinkle on pizza, soup, or over mashed cauliflower ( potatoes).  But when I have 20 minutes I make spinach balls. We usually eat these 1-2 times a week, that is how yummy they are. Here we go!

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    In an 8 cup glass measuring cup ( something that can handle HOT water) I pile the spinach in, wash it first but then just dump it into the cup. I push it down but not packing it in, then fill that measuring cup with boiling water and put a lid on it for 2-3 minutes. The longer the water the softer the spinach so go off your taste.  Now rinse out that spinach in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.  Ring it out, yes the spinach. Over the sink I squeeze it, and then squeeze some more, even use paper towel if you need. But get that water out of it or you will have mush balls.

    And your rung out spinach needs to go onto a cutting board now and ready for chopping.

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    And chop away, small little pieces, the smaller the pieces the more the kids will eat it. And once it’s chopped into fine pieces, put it back into that measuring bowl.   Add 3-4 eggs, if you got out all the water from the spinach then 3 should be fine, but if not go with 4. I like to add a teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt and a spoonful of hemp heart seeds.  I use up to 1/2 a cup of mozzarella cheese, the more cheese the runner the balls will be, and up to 1/4 cup of almond flour. Again if you drained the water really well you might not need the full amount of almond flour but if it’s still wet, then add a bit more flour. Mix it all together, really well. If you like flavor sometimes I add chunks of orange sharp cheese to the mix as well. Right now it does not look nice at all, its a mushy ball of ingredients.

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    Hopefuly your oven is preheated to 400 degrees, and use a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Wash your hands, it’s about to get messy.  I scoop up a small handful,squeeze it into a ball and place it on the cookie sheet, leave a bit of space between each ball as they will flatten out slightly and spread out too.

    Keep Calm & Eat Your Spinach

    15 minutes in the oven is all they need, the bottoms will brown a bit, if you want a crunchier ball then leave in 3-5 minutes longer. But either way, they are delicous, and great the next day cold if you they last that long. I hope you enjoy these as much as my family, and if you don’t that just means more spinach for us to eat & enjoy.

  • Personal

    The Story of my Knee

    This post will be updated as I receive updates from medical professionals.

    The Story of my Knee

    I am an active person, with no athletic injuries, well not really – I broke my right saddle joint in my thumb when I was 17 playing floor hockey and numerous toes over the years but that is it.  So on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 when my left knee swelled to the size of a water melon within 2 hours, I was alarmed.  So this post is the story of my knee.

    The Story of my Knee

    After 2 hours of excruciating pain, and not able to bend my leg I went to the ER. 6 hours later that included an x-ray & blood work, I was sent home on crutches with the diagnose of arthritis. Yeah I didn’t like that so I went to see my family doctor. Arthritis does not just set in 2 hours and cause that kind of swelling. My family doctor says the cartilage band is thick, which is good, so she is leaning towards auto immune. So off for more blood work I go. Every thing comes back clean. Boo.  The downside is the swelling remains, pain is constant without the ability to kneel, squat or bend deeply. Standing for long periods of time ( an hour or longer ) hurts, so does sitting. Ice doesn’t reduce anything nor does heat.

    The Story of my Knee

    So now, my family doctor arranges a referral to an Ortho Triage & Treatment Specialist, and ordered up an ultra sound and an MRI. In the meantime I am allowed to continue on my exercise  regime as long as there is no impact. ( no running ).

    The ultra sound takes place on November 24, 2017. The ultra sound results come back:

    • small leftknee joint effusion with small baker’s cyst
    • extrusion of the body of the medial meniscus. the findings suggest underlying meniscal pathology and further evaluation with MRI is recommended.

    Off to the doctors for the results, it suggests big ass tear in my meniscus, which is the cushion between the Femur & Fibula/Tibia that allows movement and shock absorption of the knee. I am now off for twice a week physical therapy for a month ( December, 2017)  as a preemptive strike. Apparently the cartilage of the meniscus can repair itself and there are 4 degrees of tears, mine appears to be in the 4th and worst category. But if the ultra sound was wrong and my tear is an easy repair, physical therapy can help.  So off I go for the month of December, twice a week, the verdict is nope this is not working & the therapist’s recommendation is surgery.  Under my doctor’s orders & approved by therapy I am to continue on a strong leg exercise regime through out this whole process, just no impact. So no running, jumping or bouncing, but karate, spinning, walking & squats are good.

    The Story of my Knee

    January 9, 2018 I finally get to see the Ortho Triage & Treatment Specialist. He sends me off for more xrays, very specific xrays of both my knees. He says the ultra sound is useless as it does not show a tear just that something is wrong.  The xrays come back clean, meaning no arthritis. But what it does show is that the patella ( the knee cap ) along with the meniscus and tibia ( larger lower leg bone ) are not where they should be, something is moving them, which is causing the swelling & pain. So the MRI is still scheduled to find out what the foreign substance is that is moving stuff it shouldn’t be.  The concern is with the meniscus moving forward into the patella, this could cause a tear which is more problems I don’t need, surgery could be a possibility if this occurs.

    So while I wait for the MRI ( February 21, 2018)  I am to cycle for 20 minutes day, every day.  I have a list of heavy leg workouts I am to do daily & I need to ice my knee twice a day every day all while wearing a compression sleeve. I am allowed to resume normal activities, that includes running ( YAY!). If something hurts or my knee swells, I must stop & rest. I need to develop awesome leg muscles which lifts the bones off the meniscus and allows proper movement of everything in that area.

    MRI results:

    • Large horizontal tear and minor free margin radial tearing of the medial meniscus with meniscal extrustion
    • complex tearing of the anterior horn of the medial meniscus with a parameniscal cyst
    • moderate patellofemoral and mild medial and lateral compartment osteoarthiritis, with a small joint effusion and bakers cyst.
    • Trochlear dysplasia and lateral patellar subluxation.

    According to my family doctor the only remedy is a new knee. I met with the specialist and the path I am on is:

    1. cortisone shots to bring down the inflammation
    2. if that fails, then it is scope surgery
    3. If that doesn’t work – then new knee

    So that is where I am now, on a bike spinning away.

    Thanks for reading!