Dear 16 year old me

WEGO Health Activist Writer's Challenge -- Day 10

"Dear 16-year-old-me. Write a letter to yourself at age 16. What would you tell yourself? What would you make your younger self aware of?"

Dear 16-year-old-Carrie,

It's 1994. You're a sophomore in high school. Bill Clinton is the president. Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a fellow figure skater's boyfriend (or something like that)-- and she cried a lot. OJ Simpson was arrested in the killing of his wife (and later acquitted). Kurt Cobain committed suicide.  Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his performance in Forrest Gump. Run Forrest Run!

It was definitely an interesting year. Looking back, life seemed more simple. But your feelings were so complex. John, Amy, and Angie were your best friends (and thankfully they have stuck by you all these years!) You desperately wanted a boyfriend. Your cried to your mom about not being kissed by the time you were 16. 

You loved performing with the chorus and in school plays, even though it absolutely terrified you to be on stage. You were actually pretty brave, you know that? You hated always being the fat kid. The overweight girl. Yet, I can tell you now, you were beautiful and actually you were at a very healthy weight.  Don't be so hard on yourself. 

Stop worrying so much about what you'll do in life. Life has way of working itself out in ways you will never ever expect. Start exercising now, don't wait until you're 34. You'll feel a lot better, I promise! 

You will marry an absolutely incredible man. You'll make a good choice. You will work as a team and you'll be best friends. It will be worth the wait! 

You love art, but you don't realize it. Take an art class. Buy a set of watercolors. And write. Never, ever stop writing. Write for you. Don't do it for anybody else. Never forget who you are and where you came from. 

You have the heart and spirit of a creative child. You will never stop believing in magic or loving the wonder of simple things like snow and rainbows. Value that in yourself. So many people live life without wonder, without delight, you my dear, never will! You will always be able to find joy and beauty where ever you are. That is a true gift. 

You are shy, introverted, and thoughtful. Don't be ashamed of that and don't let people walk all over you. Find people who appreciate those aspects of you and will help you to grow. 

You are more brave and strong than you think you are. Don't give up when things get hard. 

And if for some strange reason we ever get the chance to do this thing a 2nd time, wait for that first kiss. It won't be slimy like the one you remember by that guy who you never really liked in the first place. Trust me on that :-) 

And from here on out... it only gets better! Take it slow and enjoy the ride!

Your happy, loving life, 34 year old self

PS... you'll also be the author of a great food/life blog that you started because of those migraines (which you'll suffer with for a while, sorry about that), which led you to eating better foods and then you'll write a cookbook! How cool is that! 

Well, you'll think it's cool in about 20 years... since you have no idea what a blog is at the moment! 

PPS... take good care of your teeth. They need to last a while.

This Week's Menu -- Featuring "paleo pizza" and "potroast" meatloaf

We spent Easter weekend relaxing and being creative at home. I made three gluten free Easter cakes for friends and neighbors. I practiced decorating. I spent a lot of time writing. I made deviled eggs, coleslaw, and cupcakes. We spent Easter afternoon with M's family. I watched a LOT of Chopped episodes (that show is absolutely addictive!)

My goal this week? To eat all dinners at home, or at least to have food from home instead of resorting to eating out, which we do way more often than I care to admit!

This Week's Menu:

A menu for me is simply a starting point. I know I have the ingredients to make these meals, so these are the options we have for any day of the week!

• Sunday -- Easter Dinner with family: ham, potato salad, coleslaw, deviled eggs, green beans, etc... 
• Monday -- Our special Easter Meal at home: rack of lamb with steamed broccoli and baked sweet potatoes (have a feeling there will NOT be any leftover lamb!)
• Tuesday -- leftover Peruvian Chicken with red potatoes and green beans (from my slow cooker cookbook coming out this fall!) 
• Wednesday -- "Potroast" Meatloaf (I'll make this in the slow cooker) from Jamie Oliver's old "Food Revolution" cookbook with a fresh salad. 
• Thursday -- Breakfast for dinner -- scrambled eggs with pico de gallo, turkey bacon, bananas
• Friday -- Paleo "pizza" from the Well Fed Cookbook with a salad or steamed veggies.  
• Saturday -- paleo chicken nuggets and zucchini latkes from Eat Like a Dinosaur -or- Rat on a Stick from ELAD! I have the red curry paste to try that!! 

Inspired by Joy

Image Source

WEGO Health Activist's Writing Challenge 
Day 5 -- "Write a post inspired by an image, also called Ekphrasis"

While I don't really consider myself an artist, I am passionate about art. I love it. I love all forms of art. I love the expression of art. I love the hidden depths of art. I love the simplicity of art. I feel like writing is an art -- so in that way I guess I am an artist.

I discovered this series of photographs on flickr when they were reported on by NPR a few months ago. A father in Japan has filmed his daughter on a regular basis on this "magical" street close to their home since she was a baby. Some of the photographs are simple things like washing dishes, getting dressed, being comforted after a bad dream. But the photographs I love best are the ones of Kenna (the daughter) making crazy expressions with fun props on this beautiful road. You can tell she loves doing this. She is a star to her dad (and to much of the flickr world) and I love seeing her laugh. I love how expressive her eyes and mouth are.

Laughter is healing. Smiling is healing. It's a joyful experience to watch other people in moments of happiness. I just LOVE Kanna in the picture below as she's spread over the grass in those beautiful stars full of bright colors.

Image Souce

What I draw from these beautiful photographs is to feel the joy of small moments. Capture the delight of everyday. Of star sunglasses, bright colors, and small hands. Of the hundreds of shades of green in the trees and grass as I drive home right now. Beauty is everywhere, we just have to look for it.

Lately I've found joy little things like dangly earrings. I just bought these from etsy. In the past few months I've wanted life to be more colorful. I'm reaching for bright pinks and greens. I want a pair of bright red leather boots. I think because I'm finally more comfortable with who I am, I'm not afraid to express this color-filled part of me. How do you express yourself?

Why I write about my health...

Day 4: I write about my health because...

I am actually excited about today's prompt. Why do I write about my health? 

When I started writing this blog it was mainly a food blog. And honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't feel comfortable writing about my faith, about my life in general, or about my cats (I really didn't want to be the cat lady blogger)... but I felt like everyone could relate to food. And honestly, I knew I truly enjoyed writing. That's really what I wanted to practice: the art of writing. 

Several years into blogging I finally found (what I consider) my writing style. I started out rather silly and I remember getting comments from other bloggers who thought I was a teenager. (Maybe a compliment? lol I was giggly!) But eventually I learned how to be more real. More honest, share my depth, be more authentically "me." 

Over the past few years my writing has morphed into a blog that is centered on becoming healthy and what that means to me. In the beginning it was more about pleasing the reader. I wanted friends. I wanted to somehow be 'popular' in the world of blogging (whatever that meant!)... and now... it's just about sharing. About being real. About hopefully reaching other people who share similar struggles with their health and food journey. 

We all have different journeys when it comes to our health. For me, realizing gluten so adversely affected my body was the big start into becoming well. 

I immediately jumped into gluten free baking. I created cookies, cakes, breads, a homemade gluten free "bisquick" mix, along with lots of muffins -- and ALL those "gluten-free-flour-filled" Saturday mornings were incredibly therapeutic. I loved learning the craft of gluten free baking. It felt like I really accomplished something. I was good at something I could share with others. Sadly though, my health suffered. Continuing to eat baked goods with lots of sugar and refined flours was seriously expanding my waist line and upping my blood pressure. 

For the past few years instead of using those original gluten free flours, I've been experimenting with "alternative" gluten free flours, mainly almond flour and coconut flour. I'm still learning. I don't feel like I've mastered those flours yet and I'm okay with that. I actually love being in the stage of just exploring, instead of mastering. I've started to find more joy in simple cooking. Slow-cooking gluten free meals. Making easy meals with a small list of ingredients. Using more whole foods. Enjoying foods that truly feed me well, instead of just giving me instant pleasure. Eventually I realized that most carbohydrates don't work well with my body. I still struggle with eating them and finding the "right" foods for my body, but I know I'm on the right track. 

In the last two years I've finally felt more comfortable sharing about my personal struggles. How hard it was for me to give up gluten, struggles with family addiction, my personal challenges with depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, learning to appreciate and accept the blessings in my life and accept myself exactly where I am. 

I think sharing these emotional and physical struggles, has helped strengthen my self-image and feelings of self-worth. I hope that it has helped other people realize they are not alone. And that's why I write about my health. It's healing for me, but I hope it's healing for others too. When we can relate to other people, when we know we're not in this alone...  that's when we start a journey to better well-being, and to eventually accepting and loving ourselves for who we really are. 

Gluten Free Mini-Omelettes Recipe

Egg Cupcakes, low-carb muffins, mini-omelettes, egg pizzas... whatever you want to call them they are super protein packed little breakfasts on the go! The past three weeks Michael and I have been taking them to work for breakfast. Michael even had them last night for dinner because I wasn't in the mood to cook. They are super easy to make on Sunday nights and are great for grab & go meals throughout the week. Having meals prepared ahead of time has been one of the best keys to healthy eating in our home.

I try to switch up the fillings every week so they won't become boring. My favorite filling so far is chopped sundried tomatoes, sausage, and spinach. Michael's favorite (and what you see above) are chopped green peppers, spinach, and sausage. (We kind of have a thing for baby spinach and sausage! lol Two items we eat every week!) I think next week I might try using ground hamburger, diced tomatoes, and cumin for a "taco" type mini-omelette.

You could really get creative with the fillings. These mini-omelettes would be a perfect vehicle for leftover stir fries, leftover cooked chicken (chicken with chicken? lol), or just fill them with fresh chopped and steamed veggies like carrots, celery, peppers, mushrooms, etc...

Gluten Free, Paleo Mini-Omelettes 
free of gluten, dairy/casein, grains, and soy
adapted from a million other similar recipes
printer-friendly version

Basic Filling Ingredients:
1 lb. protein such as ground beef, ground sausage, bacon, etc..., cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups chopped greens such as kale, BABY spinach, cabbage, etc..
1 cup chopped additional add in's such as sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, green olives, leftover veggies, etc...

Egg Ingredients:
10-12 eggs, whisked well
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon SPIKE salt-free seasoning (optional -- I love this stuff!)
OR
1/2 teaspoon Herbs de Provence or Greek Seasoning

Directions:
This recipe makes about 18 "mini-omelettes." That's enough for my husband and I to have 2 each for breakfast for 4 days + 1 extra meal. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heavily grease enough cupcake/muffin pans to make 18 mini-omelettes. The baked eggs WILL stick to the pans if they aren't greased well enough. Prepare all of the basic filling ingredients and evenly divide them between all the cupcake/muffin pans. In a large bowl whisk together all egg ingredients. Gently pour egg filling directly into each cupcake pan until it's anywhere from 1/2 - 3/4 full. Don't worry about perfection, they won't all be exactly the same. Try not to over-fill them. If you used ingredients that are particularly greasy such as un-drained browned sausage, you may want to place the filled cupcake pans on baking sheets, so while baking they won't spill over into your oven (believe me... it's a pain to clean a greasy oven!).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-25 minutes until eggs are puffy and done. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. Allow mini-omelettes to cool. The eggs will deflate some while cooling, don't get sad, that's perfectly normal. :-) Enjoy! Let your kids help. Let hubs pick out the filling ingredients... most importantly have fun!

This Week's Menu -- Featuring super quick & easy recipes

Over the past year I've learned that generally I function better with a schedule. A nightly routine, a morning routine, a work routine, an exercise routine, etc... SO when it comes to meals... I feel a lot more prepared and healthy when I have a menu plan. It's a great tool to stay organized with your meals. When I plan a menu, I plan a very flexible menu. Even with a schedule, being flexible is key to making it work. So if I don't get around to hamburgers on Sunday night, I'll know we have the ingredients to make them on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I try to make at least two meals ahead of time for really busy nights, or even to take as lunches if we don't get around to eating them for dinner. The past three weeks we've been really successful at having breakfasts made to take to work with us. My husband and I both seem to have more energy and function better when we start the day off with a healthy amount of protein! I'll post my recipe for our favorite mini-omelettes later this week to show you how easy it is to make quick breakfasts ahead of time!

This Week's Menu

Saturday -- Quick Chicken Stirfry with snowpeas & mushrooms. Simply brown bite-sized pieces of chicken in a large pan in a little bit of olive oil. Add frozen stir-fry vegetables (or fresh veggies -- whatever you want!) Add coconut aminos or soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, sesame seeds, and a little s & p. We serve over spinach. (We eat everything over spinach! lol The spinach will slighly wilt, and there's no need to cook it! Instant veggie pasta!)

Sunday -- 50/50 burgers (From Eat Like a Dinosaur by Paleo Parents) served over spinach with a slice of tomato, and lots of avocado slices, baked french fries

Monday -- Simple tuna salad (1-2 cans of tuna mixed with 2-3 diced boiled eggs, a little mayo, a little relish, about a tablespoon of dijon mustard, s & p) served on raw zucchini "crackers" (sliced zucchini), will probably eat with some homemade applesauce if I have time to make it.

Tuesday -- Baked chicken breasts (seasoned with garlic powder, s & p, and olive oil), served with steamed broccoli, and baked acorn squash with butter and cinnamon

Wednesday -- "Rat on a Stick" (From Eat Like a Dinosaur by Paleo Parents) with apple bacon coleslaw, made with red cabbage

Thursday (Maundy Thursday) -- Breakfast for dinner -- scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, sliced avocado, bananas or apples

Friday (Good Friday) -- Our traditional Good Friday meal of homemade chicken soup in the slow cooker (homemade chicken stock/broth + carrots, peas, onions, celery, garlic, s & p -- this can simmer all day -- about 2 hours before serving add 2 cut up chicken breasts and add them in.. you don't want them to overcook all day)

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WEGO HEALTH WRITER'S CHALLENGE -- Day 2
Quotation Inspiration -- Find a quote that inspires you and share your thoughts.

I love this today's prompt! I have several books of quotes, thoughts, and scriptures that I keep around my house. Lately I've been reading through Patches of Godlight -- Father Tim's Favorite Quotes. The quote that I keep turning back too has been this one from C.S. Lewis:

As Christians we can't love the whole world. But we should remember that God has placed us in a specific community at a particular time. We're called to love those around us. Loving them means serving them and in doing so we become the best of citizens. -- C.S. Lewis

I love that this quote (and while geared towards Christians) it can really speak to those of any religion or belief.

I asked my husband what this quote said to him. He said he felt it called people to lead and minister by example and not necessarily by words. That actions speak louder than words.

The quote makes me think of a well known phrase, "bloom where you are planted" -- which can be so hard for us to do. It's often much easier to see the grass as greener on the other side. To wish for the time when we're the perfect weight or when life will be better under the perfect circumstances. There's a purpose to where you are right now and it's a good reminder to take advantage of what you have and the people around you. It's a good reminder to live well, even if your circumstances aren't what you would like them to be.

Love your neighbors. By sharing your gifts, talents, time, and even sometimes your money, you're loving the people around you. And that's what genuine community is all about. Sometimes when you're in the midst of something hard, by giving something, by sharing a talent, by volunteering -- it not only shows other people you care about them (and we all need to know someone cares), it will help you feel better about yourself.

Share a quote that's been meaningful to you lately!