Since last we spoke the Summer Solstice came and went, not only without my making any mention of it here on Blade & Cauldron, but, without my making any observance of it here at home.  My depression levels are higher than they have been in quite some time.  I could run down a list of reasons why, some physical, some situational, but it doesn’t really matter.

I’ve battled depression and anxiety as far back as grade school.  Again I could run down a list of reasons why, but it doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is that I finally accepted the fact that it has become time to go on medication again.  What matters is that after the past few years of putting my own physical health on the back burner due to issues that the rest of the family has had to deal with, that I am catching up on all the Doctor visits that I have been putting off.

This week found me at the gynecologist.  It was an unsatisfying visit in that he offered me little in the way of advice (and less in the way of sympathy) in terms of my increasing bowel issues and adhesional pain.  He is simply passing the buck and sending me off to a General Surgeon – even though surgery isn’t really a viable option for me – because he is out of his depth in dealing with the level of anatomical distortion and the possibility (likelihood?) of my having continued endometriosis in spite of the hysterectomy. On the bright side, it is possible that seeing a surgeon might help me find my way to some kind of pain management in the long run.

This week found me at my primary doctor as well.  It was an unsatisfying visit in that he also wants to pass the buck and send me off to other specialists to deal with the symptomology I’ve been coping with for … well, frankly, years now.  He wants me to see a rheumatologist to deal with the joint pain and to go to the neurofibromatosis clinic in my state to address the bulk of my other pain issues.  On the bright side, while he is unwilling to discuss my fatigue issues or sleep problems, he is willing to write the scripts to help me start to deal with the depression and anxiety, and maybe one will help the other.

It’s not as much progress as I would’ve liked to have been able to report.  I am hoping that once the meds kick in I won’t feel so paralyzed by my emotions, by the situational stresses, and find my way back into blogging and, even more importantly, trying toget the business end of Blade & Cauldron off the ground.

Blessings

Jia

PS  a belated wish for a blessed and joyous Summer Solstice (Litha) to my readers and friends in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter Solstice to my friends and readers in the Southern Hemisphere

image thanks to jodishep

Few drinks say Summertime like lemonade. For most of us, drinking it means mixing a chemical laden powder with some tap-water and calling it good. The next time your family is clamoring for this summery drink, try making it the old-fashioned way and see if it isn’t the best lemonade you’ve ever tasted.

Besides being a more natural choice for quenching the thirst of a hot summer day, this looks so pretty in a clear pitcher that you might find yourself wanting to serve it when company calls just to impress them.

Ingredients:

6 large lemons

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups water (brought to boiling)

2 quarts cold water

Directions:

First things first. Wash your lemons in warm soapy water to rid them of nasty pesticide residue.

Then, place the lemons in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Afterwards, remove the lemons (with tongs please, or a large slotted spoon) and place on a clean dishtowel until cool enough to handle.

Roll each lemon under your hand to free up juice and then slice into rounds as thin as possible on a plate, reserving all juice. Discard the ends.

Place the lemon slices (and all of the juice) in a bowl a little at a time. Adding sugar as you go, using all of it (think layers of lemon-sugar-lemon-sugar) and let stand for 30 minutes.

Use a potato masher to firmly press (not smash) lemon slices extracting juice, while preserving the pulp.

Once you have extracted as much juice as possible, move contents of bowl to a large pitcher and fill with 2 quarts of water.

Stir to mix well and refrigerate until very cold.

Adjusting to your own preferance:

too sweet – using a hand juicer squeeze the juice out of 1 more fruit at a time and mix it into your lemonade until you’re happy with the taste

too sour – add more sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until you’re satisfied

too strong – add more water, up to an additional quart, 1 cup at a time

Variations:

Replace some or all of the lemons with limes or oranges.

Replace some or all of the sugar with Splenda, or your favorite artifical sweetener.

Adapted from:

You might also like:

The Williamsburg Cookbook: Traditional and Contemporary Recipes

The Cook’s Country Cookbook: Regional and Heirloom Favorites Tested and Reimagined for Today’s Home Cooks

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is a typical Friday in many ways … food shopping to do, food prep to do as well to keep us fed and happy in the week ahead.

I have chicken thighs (purchased at 99 cents a pound and then trimmed of skin and excess fat) up par-boiling and plans for 3 different marinades to keep our taste buds from getting too bored.  Some will be in a buffalo wing sauce we purchased in New Hope at our anniversary, some will be in a red curry sauce, but the bulk of it will be in a garlic-lime-cilantro marinade I whipped up on a whim.  I already have some steak (on sale as well) sitting in an asian marinade – a mix of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, fresh ginger & garlic, and a touch of chili paste.

I have fruit to process and freeze – 4 lbs of strawberries, peaches, and a couple of mangoes -  veggies to roast (brussel sprouts and cauliflower) and grill (eggplant and sweet potatoes).  I also want to microwave a bunch of red skin potatoes and make a batch of jasmine rice to help make plates of vegetables for dinner a bit more satisfying and make batches of both baked beans and tomato salad for the nights we do grill.

I am, as of today back on my smoothie regimen.  But, after a week of pain and other problems I am trying to be a lot smarter about it.

• I will be adding fiber more gradually
• I picked up some acidophilus capsules
• I am adding flax oil and coconut oil to my diet
• I still have to pick up aloe vera juice

Insofar as birthday celebration the plan is to hit the outlet stores and browse some discounted books and cooking tools and then pick up a couple of pizzas for dinner.  Followed by a relaxing evening on the couch.  Not a bad way to turn 42 at all.

Blessings

Jia

I spent the bulk of this week curled up on the couch with a heating pad.  I am starting to feel better finally but am postponing celebrating my birthday (which is tomorrow) until next weekend.  We tend to celebrate birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. by going out to eat and I am still not up to a restaurant meal.  Heck, I’ve spent the bulk of the week eating mostly toast so even sitting down to some roasted veggies later will be a treat.

I did come to realize that the problem was mainly due to the sudden (and drastic) increase in my fiber intake.  I had hoped that the fact that the fruit and vegetables were liquified would mean that my system would handle it without incident.  That was (in the language of my children) an epic fail and so going forward I am going to have to be a lot more careful about things like fluid intake and gradually increasing my fiber intake.

In other news, the school year is winding down and June has been full of dances, choir concerts, pool parties, first driving lessons, and more.  Still to come is Sephoni’s 5th grade graduation and another level of Taekwondo belt testing.

Hope you are all well

Blessings

Jia

I went food shopping with Accolan yesterday.  Since I’ve been feeling so poorly he was sweet enough to come out with me.  It is always less of chore with someone to keep me company (and an extra set of hands never hurts).

We came home with pounds and pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables and only about 5 lbs of chicken to see us through the week.

Lately I’ve been trying to process and freeze all of the fruit we use for our daily smoothies rather than spend the highly inflated prices for little baggies at the store.  It saves us a little money, allows us to control the quality of what we’re eating, and even reduces plastic waste.  I reuse the same piece of parchment paper to line my cookie sheet when freezing the fruit and each fruit has its own Ziploc bag that I simply keep refilling over and over again.

Our freezer has bags of cherries (though I will admit that buying a cherry pitter was a necessity), strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, peaches, apricots, blueberries, raspberries, mangoes, and papaya which allows us to make a wide range of smoothies (or sorbets or ice creams) and variety both keeps out palates happy and adds a wide range of phytonutrients to our lives that weren’t there before.

I also roasted 4 different vegetables – cauliflower, zucchini, brussel sprouts, and asparagus which allows us to have the bulk of our meals be plant based and, again, allows a nice bit of variety to our diets.  Yet to do is to grill a couple of eggplants and to see if grilled sweet potatoes is as delicious as we think it will be.

Slowly but surely we are transitioning to a lifestyle that is mostly vegetarian.  In fact, I have to cut this post short so that I can whip up a batch of vegetarian taco filling as Sephoni has been pleading for a deconstructed taco night and how can I say no.

Blessings

Jia