The Flu and Homemade Elderberry Syrup

The flu came to our house last week.  He was not invited, yet there he was.  I had all our Mediterranean meals prepped and ready to deal with and then the flu stomped me in the ground.  What started as a mild sore throat ended with a big ol' fever and lots of heavy hurling (I'll spare you the details).  As a result there was not much eating or meal preparing that went on here at the Smith.

All last week I used elderberry lozenges, gummies, and chewable tabs.  Elderberry helps your immune system, stunts a cold or flu, and gives overall health a boost.  I figure its worth a try.  I also take plenty of Vitamin C during the winter.  (For the record in my head I just gave that word the UK pronunciation of Vit-amin, instead of the US pronunciation of VI-tamin.).

Elderberry products are not cheap.  In fact they are quit expensive.  I did a bit of research and discovered that I can make elderberry syrup cost effectively.  With dried berries, honey, water, and ginger I can make a whole bunch of syrup.  Here is the link for the recipe I used.   And ordered my elderberries from here.

Be aware that a pound of berries equals about 5-6 cups.

What else for breakfast?

I feel like poo today.  I'm actually afraid its the flu.  I'll be going to the doctor in a bit to find out.  Terrible ear drum pressure woke me up TOOOOOOOO early this morning.  After a while I finally got up and cooked some breakfast.   I've been enjoying overnight oats for a few days now, so decided I needed to shake things up this morning... or at least whisk things up.

I chopped up a heap of veggies I had already prepped and stored in the fridge, added some chopped lean ham, and a dash of onion salt. After the fluffy eggs were done, I sprinkled a bit of cheese on top.  Boom Mediterranean breakfast done.

*A note about the prepped veggies-
Veggies are much easier to snack on and add to dishes when they are cleaned, prepped and ready to use.  Making things convenient is a gift to yourself. Yes, it takes a good while to do this, but its worth it the rest of the week.  Just do it.  Get the prep out of the way.

Now excuse me while I eat my eggs and drink my tea.

Do you have a go to breakfast?  What's something new you have tried for breakfast?

Supper with Hazel

We take supper to my mother-in-law every Wednesday and Friday, but Hazel is not on our Mediterranean diet.  So that begs the question, "How can I cook for us and for her without cooking two separate meals?"

Thankfully Hazel loves veggies and they work well within the Mediterranean diet. So I decided on cabbage and onions seasoned with prosciutto, a thinly sliced cured Italian ham.  Then I roasted purple and sweet potatoes along with zucchini and yellow squash.   I seasoned them all with garlic, red peppers, onion sea salt, and pepper.  

It all turned out wonderful, very tasty and quite filling.  Seems a veggie plate pleases Hazel and us! 

Mediterranean Diet Breakfast

My go to breakfast for a long time has either been yogurt with fruit, oatmeal, or a pop-tart. John makes fun of my pop-tart love, but its a total childhood comfort food.  95% of the time I also have hot tea.  The other 5% is coffee.  Because I don't like much sweetner or milk in my tea, I've decided to stick to only tea.  I have to doctor up my coffee, making it unhealthy.

The Mediterranean Diet is about healthy choices and moderation.

Its important to note that you can have any kind of a healthy meal as breakfast.  You can have chicken with rice and veggies, a bit of Naan bread with some hummus, or you can stick to the more traditional breakfast foods.  No joke- when I was a kid, I ate a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli for breakfast.  Grossed my mother out, but at least I had something in my stomach before heading out to school. I've decided to stick to breakfast type foods with this 2020 adventure into the Mediterranean.

Try non-fat, plain, Greek style yogurt topped with fruit and then a sprinkling of seeds and/or nuts.

Overnight Oats is a new food adventure for me. I generally eat my oats hot with some dried fruit and a bit of sugar and butter.  But with Overnight Oats, it can be eaten cold with the same toppings.  The biggest difference other than the temperature is the texture.  I like my oats to be rather thick and of a creamy texture.  With Overnight Oats, I can get a crazy good creamy texture.  My bowl from this morning is in the picture above. Oats are part of the good grains category.   And of course the Chia seeds are seeds.  Duh.

Here is the basic recipe for Overnight Oats:

Mix together 1/2 cup of rolled and/or steel cut oats with 1/4 cup of chia seeds. (I use a mix of the two kinds of oats) Add a pinch of salt and then pour enough milk into the mixture to cover it.  Stir well and add a bit more milk if needed.  Let sit in the fridge overnight. (hence the name)

It will last up to 3 days in the fridge.  The thing to remember is that the completed oat mixture is the base of the dish. It will taste very bland.  But that's where the fun comes in.  Top the oats with yummy fruits and even a wee tiny drizzle of honey or maple syrup.  I had mine this morning with a drizzle of some pomegranate syrup we bought in California and fresh raspberries.  I could have also added in some nuts and/or seeds, but I forgot.  I was too excited to get eating! With this breakfast, I'm getting a ton of fiber!

Most diets cut out food groups.  With the this diet, its about moderation.  While difficult sometimes, it works.

Trip to the Mediterranean diet

First things first.  I'm a 53 year old female and overweight. Now with that out of the way.  We can get on to other things.

We found success with the Mediterranean Diet ten or so years ago.  Then I got sick and was eventually diagnosed with Dysautonomia.  My life turned on its head and I let my diet (way of eating) go slack.  Then my best friend got cancer and passed away, Everything in my life stopped for a while.  I didn't have the mental energy to focus on anything.  In other words, I had a lot of excuses and difficult circumstances.

At one point I even wrote a blog about our adventure in the Mediterranean way of eating.  Now that all seems a lifetime ago.  Much has changed in my life since then.  My children have grown up.  One is married.  I've written a novel and am writing my second.  My spiritual life is completely different.  We left a church that we helped build and attended for 25+ years.  I'm a part of a monastery as an oblate.  My father-in-law has passed away.  We've traveled extensively.  Due to my illness, medical specialist and new medicines are a big part of my life.  My body doesn't work the way it should.  I have an empty nest.  And these are just a few ways that my life has changed.

I'm not entirely sure that this adventure will result in weight loss for me.  I know it will for John.  Since my diagnosis my weight has been stagnant, remaining the same no matter what I eat or how much I eat.  But I know that food is fuel and the least I should do is fuel my body with good things.

The Mediterranean diet is consistently named as the best diet for overall health.  Read about that here.   In this way of eating, nothing is really off limits.  It's all about moderation, eating healthy fats and carbs, and filling your plate with beautiful, flavorful and colorful foods.

The only things that you should really eliminate are white things: white breads, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.  Stick to the versions of these things that are whole grain and much more brown.  I'm a Scottish/Irish/English girl.  I love me some starchy white foods.  It's in my DNA.  But my big rear end is also in my DNA.  Thanks a lot, ancestors.

Today I reorganized my spice cabinet by putting all the spices that are most used in this diet within easy reach.  I also threw out a lot of spices and were long past their prime. Learn more about the herbs and spices for this diet by linking here. A simple google search will result in many articles on this subject.

After the spice reorganization, I moved on to the pantry.  Out with the white and in with the brown. I added lots of beans and whole grains so that they are convenient and accessible. More info here.

John and I have been using Hello Fresh for a few weeks, mostly to help me learn about portion size.  I've cooked for growing boys for so long that cooking for just us is a challenge.  I've noticed there is a food service specifically for the Mediterranean diet and I might give that a shot.

I picked up a couple of books this week to inspire me with ideas and recipes.  (see photo above)  If you are on Instagram, I encourage you to search there for #mediterraneandiet.  TONS will come up.

I'll be posting daily about things I"m learning, dishes I've cooked, recipes I find and of course because it's me, lots of pictures.

I'm not writing this blog to say I know everything about this method of eating.  I know very little actually.  But I am willing and able to give this a try again.  If you want to learn along with me, I invite you to join in.

The blue angel story continues...

   After long time away, I hope to revive the blog again. So hear goes my first attempt at its resuscitation.  

   A year ago, our spiritual lives were turned upside down when the congregation we have attended for most of the past 26 years imploded.  I cannot go into detail about what exactly happened without talking negatively about people that I love, so we'll just skip over that part.  But as a result of said implosion, we have ended up at a new church, in a new county, with all new people, and under a new denominational flag.  When we decided for a fresh start, we apparently decided to fully embrace the "go big or go home" phrase.  Some people have accused us over leaving "the church."  Instead we left "a church" and decided to spend some time at "another church."

   Yesterday we had a picnic with our new church family.  Monte Santo park was alive with the beauties of spring- clear blue skies and cool breezes with the sunshine full of the promise of coming warmth.  While enjoying the day I talked with a gentleman who had a few questions about our travels to Western Europe and also my writing.  Since these are two of my favorite subjects, I was thrilled to talk!

   During our discussion we made our way round to how John and I ended up at St. Andrew's church. I told him about my broken heart after Angie passed away.  I explained that I was so lost and needed something, but I didn't know exactly what it was.  When John would go out of town I would venture around to visit other church families.  One Sunday I ended up at St. Andrew's.  I knew I would like the place when I saw they were named after the patron Saint of Scotland and had a Scottish flag on the sign.  When I walked inside the first thing I noticed was the large Celtic Cross at the front of the building and then a blue angel stained glass window.  If you aren't familiar with the story of my connection with the blue angel, just scroll down through my previous posts.

   As I told him about my love of the blue angel stained glass, he told me that he himself had commissioned the window in memory of his beloved wife.  As he researched an angel image to be made into a stained glass window, he found a lovely image he connected with, but the angel's dress was red.  When he went to the artist studio to pick out the colors he wanted for the piece, the artist didn't have any reds.  So he had to pick out a different color.  He chose blue.

   We both decided after our discussion that the stained glass angel was always meant to be blue. I love connections like this!

 

Airport Jesus

   I dream a lot.  Perhaps its all the medication I have to take now due to Dysautonomia, but the fact remains.  I dream a lot.  Last Thursday was quite a vivid dreaming night, producing a dream I won't soon forget.

   I was in what felt like an airport.  People were walking back and forth in front of me, as it looks while in a concourse setting.  I was trying to make my way across the flow of people, but there were so many that I just couldn't seem to break into the crowd.  I felt a man come up from behind me, grab my arm and talk to me in my right ear.  "Just follow where I lead."  I couldn't see the man speaking to me because he was behind me.  Honestly I was a wee bit creeped out.  But with him holding my arm, he guided me safely across the mass of criss-crossing people.

   On the other side of the crowd we were in one of those convenience store shops, the place to pick up a last minute newspaper and soft drink.  I found myself standing at the cash register waiting in line, but I didn't have anything in my hands to purchase.  I looked up at the person at the cash register and it was Jesus.  I don't know how to explain how I knew this, but I just did.  I was looking at Jesus.  I got so excited I started pushing through the people ahead of me, knowing "I have to get to him." I was in sheer panic mode fearing I would not be able to reach him.

   Next thing I know he was on my side of the counter and full-on, body press hugged me.  I felt him from my head to my toes.  And he was laughing a lovely, smooth as syrup, belly laugh.  He kept saying in my ear as he hugged me, "I'm here, even when you cannot see me."

   I cried telling John about the dream the next morning.  I cried telling my ladies class about it yesterday.  I'm crying as I type it out now.  I pray the feeling doesn't wear off.  I feel loved, cherished, and safe.

   God is good.  Jesus, come quickly, even if its only in my dreams.