As I mentioned over at my other blog, 2 Witches, I am really behind on my proverbial to-do list. I haven’t gotten back into the swing for my once a week cooking. Determined to start trying to get myself on track I looked for a recipe yesterday that I could toss in the crockpot as we headed out to our weekly family session at Reya’s outpatient program so it it would cook as I ran some additonal errands (a failed trip to a local farm … some food shopping … back to school shoe shopping (6 pairs of sneakers for under $40, I rock!)).

I came across this recipe, luckily had all the ingredients it required, tweaked it a bit, and tossed it together in a flash. Both Reya and Sephoni did a taste test and pronounced it yummy. I am looking forward to eating it a little later this week.

2 cups rice
1 cup lentils
2 cups diced carrots
2 onions, diced
1 tsp cilantro
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp curry powder

7 cups water

Mix it all together. Put your crockpot on low. Allow it to cook for about 4-6 hours, or until all the water is absorbed and both the rice and lentils are tender. really! That’s all there is to it.

This is a great recipe as its truly frugal and is easy to customize to your families own tastes. Add some drained and rinsed canned beans. Not a vegetarian? Add a pound of cooked ground beef (or chicken or pork). Add more vegetables … diced potatoes, frozen peas, cauliflower, etc. Feel free to replace the Indian seasonings with those that you prefer – draw inspiration from Italian or Mexican dishes.

One of the advantages of having a well stocked pantry is being able to toss together meals that are cheap, easy, filling, and nutritious. And with a little creativity you can take one recipe and make it a few different ways.

Blessings

Jia

Shared at Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist,

Image: vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m in a place right now where I truly do not know what to feel. Or, perhaps, more accurately, I’m feeling too many things at once to truly make sense of any of it.

Yesterday marked Reya’s return to the outpatient program she began immediately following her discharge from CHOP.

She attends a full day program, and will until they deem otherwise.  Luckily, this program includes a school component as with school resuming in just about 2 weeks the odds of her being able to attend are, quite frankly, slim to none.

We have had her in treatment for over 3 years for depression and mood disorder.  As time has gone by, though, things have gotten progressively worse as opposed to better and so its time to really get serious about helping her get well … or to at least get a handle on what may wind up being something she won’t be growing out of.

And so, I am back to my usual obsessive level of internet investigation. This time instead of researching obscure ailments, I am researching my daughter’s recent changes to her mental health diagnosis.  I am reading up on symptomology, various therapy types and self-help techniques.  I am (thanks to an old friend) networking with another mother who has dealt with similar issues with her own daughter.  I am trying to get my thoughts and facts in order to make a new appeal to our Superintendent of Schools for out of district placement.

I am living one day at a time.  Sometimes, one hour at a time.  But, I am hoping that things will get easier soon.

I have rearranged some things at work so that I will (once again) be working Sunday through Thursday.  The main advantages of this are that I can sleep “late” 3 days a week instead of only 2 & that I will be doing less “cold-calling” at work.  This alone should help my stress levels.

I hope this finds each of you well and happy.

Blessings

Jia

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Summer deepens and the air grows thick
hazy visions shuffle in the distance, deceiving.
Will and desire seep away from the soul
like shadows fleeing from the rising sun.

But the nighttime murmurs the promise of Fall
the cleansing breeze teases through my very being.
Hinting of pleasure and serenity to come
like a lovers soft kiss and longing glance.

The days march ever onward in their steady march
the turning of the wheel and the changing of the season.
Coming soon is Winters chilling cold embrace
when fields grow fallow and the earth sleeps deep.

The death of the year ushers in the beginning
for Spring beckons all from slumber with its fertile song.
New life awakens in the dew covered morning
singing with abandon to the glory of all creation.

Copyright: Accolan, Blade & Cauldron 2010

image by grosberg

Fixing baked beans from scratch in your crock-pot is at once cheap and easy.  But, not everyone can tolerate tomato products.

Tomatoes can aggravate my daughter’s GERD, some people believe that eating them can trigger an arthritis flare, and others are simply allergic to them.

So, I came up with a tomato-free version of our baked bean recipe that is just as simple to prepare and just as tasty.

Ingredients:

4 cups dried beans – navy, pinto, or great northern
1.5 cup brown sugar
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP onion powder
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt *

10 cups water

Directions:

Sort beans to remove any stones, and rinse well.

In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients, and mix well to incorporate.

Pour bean mixture into a 6 qt. crock-pot.  Add water making sure to cover bean mixture.

Cook on high setting for 2 hours, then reduce heat to low and cook for at least 12 hours, or until tender.

The beans will seem much too thin when they are first done cooking.  They will thicken as they sit and cool.

Serving:

We love baked beans in the summer. As a side dish, they seem to go with everything from burgers & hot dogs to grilled chicken or even ribs.  They are especially delicious drizzled hot on top of a scoop of cold potato salad (trust us on this one).

But, baked beans with a side of cornbread and a tossed salad is also a perfectly acceptable dinner.

If serving this at a bar-b-que, consider also making some tomato salad and chickpea salad (and maybe even making your own BBQ sauce if you really want to impress your guests).

Variations:

• For health and budget reasons we tend to stick to vegetarian baked beans.  If you prefer to season yours with meat you may add 1 lb of chopped bacon (or 1 lb of browned ground beef) to the bottom of the crock-pot before adding the bean mixture.

Adapted from:

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker

You might also enjoy:

400 Barbecues: Sizzling summer recipes for barbecues, grills, griddles, marinades, rubs, sauces and side dishes, with more than 1500 step-by-step stunning photographs

America’s Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America’s Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve been quiet in part to still being sad and tired. But, mainly due to Reya’s mood disorder & depression issues which have shifted from a spike to a full blown down-spiral.

She is undergoing a thorough re-assessment of her mental status. She is having her medication adjusted.

I have been doing a lot of online research (as anyone who knows me IRL probably already guessed) so that I can be an informed participant when we have our sit-down with her psychiatrist sometime next week. I sincerely doubt, though, that she will be able to start school in a few weeks with her peers.

My feeling is that she will instead return to an outpatient mental health program that we started her in upon her discharge from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. While I am grateful that it includes a school component and also has a step-down level that will eventually allow her to return to school I am terrified in terms of the financial aspect of all of this.

Our health insurance is less than stellar. I am grateful to have it. But, that being said this is really starting to add up.

• 3 hospital admissions – $500 each
• outpatient mental health program – $50 a day .. 5 days a week … no CAP and no end in sight
• and that’s just the highlights

Thanks to the generosity of friends the monetary blow from this latest crisis has been cushioned a bit. Thanks to Lady Rose (my blogging partner over at 2 Witches and soul-sister) Sephoni gets to be out enjoying the gorgeous weather instead of having to deal with any drama.

It is truly a blessing to have so many people in my life who care.

I will be blogging when I can … I will keep you posted.

Blessings

Jia

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net