jessiev's blog

I'd like to share our family's favorite August recipe with you - we call it "Essence of Summer Salad" and it is chock-full of delicious, farm fresh ingredients.

If you can, please try to get organic produce - it makes a difference!

Essence of Summer Salad

corn on the cob

tomatoes

sweet onion

colored peppers

black beans (canned is easiest)

lime juice

olive oil

sea salt

Oh, this is our very favorite new breakfast food. I've adapted it from the Jan/Feb 09 issue of Today's Diet and Nutrition, a health/nutrition/fitness/cuisine magazine.

First, toast 3/4 c chopped walnuts in a dry skillet atop the stove, for abt 5 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, combine:

2 cups of water

1 cup quick-cooking bulgur (i thought all bulgur was quick cooking, but in case it isn't, here's the words quick-cooking)

This is one of our very favorite recipes - it makes the house smell so good, and it tastes divine. Don't worry about the 40 cloves of garlic - they mellow out! This recipe is adapted from the Eating Well Cookbook.

40 Garlic Chicken

1 T olive oil

4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces

4 sprigs thyme, or 1/3 t dried thyme

1 large sprig rosemary, or 1/3 t dried rosemary (or more, to taste)

40 cloves of garlic, unpeeled (about 4 heads)

1 3/4 c white wine

I don't usually like pork chops, but this healthy recipe tastes so delicious that I make it often!

Apple Pork Chops

Adapted from the Farm House Cookbook

6 pork chops

salt and pepper

1/3 t ground mace

2 T grated orange zest

1 T butter

1 T mild oil

4 large tart baking apples, peeled and sliced

1/3 c dry white wine

preheat oven to 350, butter a baking dish in which all the ingredients will fit (a 9x13 pan works well).

It is all in the news, but it is also just plain common sense - to eat right, you need to get back to the basics. When we're in the grocery store, I just cringe at all the processed foods in people's carts. Our family tries very hard to eat well - including grass-fed meat, organic fruits and veggies, and the least amount of processed food possible. Especially in this time of the peanut-butter recalls, it is even more important to watch what you eat.

One of the most natural and ancient ways to reduce pain in childbirth is through acupuncture. For those mothers not wanting to take pain medications, or to reduce their use of pain medications, there is another option.

We all are overloaded with things to do every day - creating meals to feed our families, making sure everyone has clean clothes, arranging sports, play dates, music lessons...the list goes on and on.

One way to take advantage of these daily chores is to view them a bit differently. I used to loathe doing the dishes. At times, I'd even be frustrated by the constant cooking of meals, even though I love cooking.

Newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia?  Don't worry - here are some great resources for you to learn more about living with it.

Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), or ME (Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis) is a terribly debilitating disease that has affected the lives of millions of people.

Characterized by utter fatigue, neurological symptoms (memory problems, concentration problems, etc.), non-refreshing sleep (including the ability to fall asleep), pain, headaches, and the ever-present post-exertional malaise, CFIDS is truly a hodge-podge of multiple symptoms. Diagnosis is often made by ruling out everything else!

It is always important to exercise to maintain a healthy body - and even more so when you're disabled. However, your specific disabilities may preclude exercise as you have traditionally thought of it. Still, each little bit counts - here are 5 ways to exercise with disabilities. Please keep in mind that your particular disability may not work with some of these exercises, and that you should always consult your doctor before starting an exercise program. Please, start slowly!