Doing My Part

I'm off to get a DQ Blizzard as all proceeds go to the Children's Miracle Network.

It is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the kids.

Hmmmm....

In light of my last post is this merely a coincidence or The Universe providing? Only time will tell.

I entered.

Craptastic

Quite the day yesterday. Here is what happened.

1. Photographed the Yoshi calendar on Tuesday. Wasn’t happy with a lot of the first shots so I stayed up all night worrying and got up uber early yesterday and re-shot the whole thing again. Yoshi was not amused but did just fine and was a little furry trooper.
2. So while busy returning the camera gear and putting together all the appropriate images for my graphic designer friend I get a phone call… My dad is in the hospital emergency room. He fell while changing a light-bulb.
3. I run to the hospital and there he is all sad on a gurney. He has broken his hip. Fuck. I hang out there for a few hours.
4. Start making all the appropriate calls. My mom is on Vancouver Island on a mini holiday helping a friend and I can’t get in touch with her. Rally my bro and sis-in-law to “Man The Bedside” while I do some business stuff for my dad and deal with his car, his cell phone and his clients. Dad is feeling ok with just a couple Tylenol 3’s under his belt. All the nurses love him already.
5. Run to my parent’s apartment to get some stuff for him, make more calls, and email another client.
6. Go through a couple hundred photos and burn a disc to take to my graphic designer friend.
7. Return to the hospital with magazines, chocolate and books and hang out to 11 pm. Totally forget to eat all day. My thighs will thank me later.

So poor dad is going to have surgery today to replace part of his hip joint. The docs say despite his age (the nurses keep on betting each other to guess his correct age without looking at the chart. Nobody can believe he is 77. Most guess in the early 60’s range.) his bones are strong and his health is great so he’ll heal up fine and be out of the hospital early next week. He is in good spirits and pissed off and bored already. My mom should be home today in the late afternoon.

So between hospital visits, running my dad’s business and doing the Yoshi calendar I’m going to be scarce around these parts. I’ll update when I can.

8 Random Things - A Meme

HAR tagged me for a meme asking that I present 8 Random Things you might not know about me. Or don't really care about. In turn I am supposed to pick another 8 bloggers to do the meme and so on and so on...

I pick YOU! If you want to do this meme then please do. And let me know so I can come by your blog and poke fun at all your idiosyncrasies (as I know I am going to be harassed for mine).

8 Random Things About Me

-I fold my underwear. Panties, bras, everything.

-I like complete sets of things. For instance if I break a glass or two I will pack up the rest for the second hand store and get a brand new set. I do not like to mix and match unless it is intentional.

-Before you start thinking I am an anal freak-show I also rarely make my bed. Only if I am having visitors.

-I almost always eat out of a pasta bowl. I don’t necessarily mix all my food together in one but often have a few pasta bowls going at a meal. I think this is because I found it was easier and less messy to eat out of a bowl on the couch in front of the TV and even though I have a dining table now the habit is hard to break. Also maybe because I eat a lot of pasta.

-I hate waiting. I hate being early but I also do not like being late. I will wait in my car in the parking lot before I’d wait in the waiting room of a doc’s office. I like to walk in about 3-5 minutes early for an appointment. This is because of my anxiety issues.

-I have not eaten in a restaurant for over 2 ½ years. This is also because of my anxiety problem. I have only eaten take-out/delivery food once in the last 7 months. This is because of a New Years resolution I made to stop wasting money on food I could make more healthily at home. The one time I slipped it was for a favourite vegetarian take-out place I used to love. They had changed the menu and it sucked. What a waste of money.

-I hate Starbucks. I think fancy coffee is overrated, too expensive and all the paper cups thrown away an insult to the environment. It has been years since I’ve had a fancy coffee type drink. I do have a couple Starbucks mugs as gifts from other people. I also used to have a Starbucks Card as it was necessary for my job (film people are addicted to Starbucks) to buy my “turn” of coffee for my co-workers. If I ever do get a coffee/tea/hot chocolate I try to go to a locally owned coffee place and bring my own cup.

-I have a serious sweet tooth. Even though I eat very healthily I am a bit overweight as I must have something chocolaty everyday. I try and try to find a way to make my chocolate fix healthy but I still feel guilty about it and like a slave to my addiction. Saying that, I guess as habits go it isn’t too terrible. I don’t drink alcohol, do drugs or smoke. I don’t like fast cars, fast men OR fast women. I don’t own a thousand pairs of shoes or have a diamond ankle bracelet collection. But still…I wish I could get over the chocolate.

Getting All Betty Crocker On Your Ass

Over the last few years I seem to be in constant conflict with the food I eat. I have a lot going against me as I am a picky eater, a vegetarian and a disinterested cook. The good news is that while fussy I still like lots of fairly adventurous flavours and I no longer get one of those looks saying, “You goddammed freakin’ hippy-dippy moron.” when I tell people I don’t eat meat. I am still usually the only vegetarian in the bunch but not quite the pariah I was 15 years ago at dinner parties.

Of course recently a whole new wrench has been thrown in the works with my cancer diagnosis. There is a lot of data out there that suggests that diet plays a huge part in disease and eating well is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Now being a veghead I’ve never eaten a lot of fast food but I have to admit I don’t have the best diet. It is fairly monotonous and pasta based. There is also a lot of cheese.

I like to take a moderate view and probably will never become vegan, dairy free, sugar free (probably a physical impossibility for me) and be able to consistently incorporate the bitchmillion amino acids, vitamins, minerals and voodoo required to be the perfect little eater. Yet I have become more conscious of the type of food I eat and how much overt crap passes my lips. For instance I have pretty much eliminated any kind of pop, diet or full sugar, from my diet. I love me a Barq’s root beer now and then but I don’t buy it regularly any more. Fake sugar scares me a little so I avoid that as well.

My other big weakness is chocolate. I’ve tried to cut that out but, frankly, along with caffeine, chocolate makes me a better person. I’ve managed to cut down a lot but it still remains a major part of my personal joy program. So you can imagine my little ears wiggled with interest when I heard about a recipe for chocolate muffins that were actually considered somewhat healthy.

I made up a batch and I’ve decided to share the recipe with you all who may be in the same predicament as me; juvenile palate, aversion to strange ingredients, and a desire to cut some of the muck from your plate while still maintaining a little culinary happiness.

I bring you…

Double Chocolate Muffins - By Mairlyn Smith and Liz Pearson – Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients-

1 cup pumpkin puree (This means pure pumpkin puree and not pie filling. It should be sugar free and contain only pumpkin.)
½ cup oat bran
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg (an omega 3 egg is best but not necessary)
1 cup dark brown sugar

Dry Ingredients-

1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup ground flaxseed (it takes a while to grind whole flax seed up in a food processor but it can be done)
½ natural cocoa powder (or reg is ok too)
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ cup chopped dark chocolate or mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line muffin pan with paper cup liners.
-In a medium bowl, beat together all the wet ingredients. Set aside.
-In a large bowl, use a fork or whisk, mix together all the dry ingredients.
-Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
-Scoop into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Makes 12

One Muffin:
200 calories
5g total fat
1g saturated fat
0g trans fat
180mg sodium
38g CHO (whatever that is)
5g fibre
6g protein

Now as a fussy eater I can absolutely guarantee that you CANNOT taste the pumpkin in this. At all. The next time I make these I will adjust the recipe a little bit as I think that is too much cinnamon to my taste and I REALLY like cinnamon. Supposedly cinnamon has some sort of special powers so that is why there is so much in this recipe. Next time I think I’ll try about a teaspoon and see what that is like. I like these muffins as they are chocolaty enough that I get my fix but they contain such things as flax seed so I feel rather virtuous too.

Do you have a healthy recipe for a normally dirty little food vice?