Cranberry Orange Sweet Potato Bake

I get tired of eggs. They're great and usually, I can eat eggs and bacon anytime, anywhere, and with enthusiasm.  As the great Ron Swanson said, "Give me all the eggs and bacon you have."

There are those occasions when I'm just egged out but I still want something hot, because it's winter and a smoothie bowl is just not going to cut it.

I also want it healthy, full of energetic ingredients, and adhering to Paleo and Whole 30 rules.

Cranberry Orange Sweet Potato Bake

Paleo  Whole30  Dairy Free  Refined Sugar-Free

Ingredients
2 C Apple Juice
1bag of Cranberries washed and bad ones removed
1t Cinnamon
1/2t Ginger
1/2t Salt
2T Ghee
1/2 c of Chopped Pecans
Zest and Juice of 1 Orange
2 Honeycrisp Apples chopped into 1/2 cubes
2 Med Sweet Potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes


Supplies
Microplane Grater
Veggie Peeler
Measuring Spoons
Cutting Board
Chef's Knife
Sauce Pot
Corningware
Large Bowl

Reserve the Zest

Get it Done
Pre-heat oven to 400°

Wash and sort the cranberries into the saucepan.  Add the 2 cups of apple juice.  Place on the stove and bring to a simmer.

Zest and juice the orange.  Separate the zest and set aside for later.  Add the orange juice to the simmering apple juice and cranberry mixture.  Bring to a boil and then reduce mixture until it forms a "jelly" approximately 10 - 15 minutes.

While the cranberry mixture is reducing wash and chop the apples into 1/2" cubes.

Check the jelly and stir.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cube them as well.

Check the jelly again, stir.

Place apples and potatoes in the large bowl along with the chopped pecans.

Melt the 2T of ghee.

Pour ghee over the apples and potatoes.  Toss with salt, cinnamon, and ginger to coat evenly.  Toss again.

Check the cranberry jelly.  If it has reduced fully add to the bowl. Stir.

Dump contents of the bowl into greased pyrex.

Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Serve topped with a sprinkle of the orange zest.

Chinese Five Spice Golden Milk

Golden Milk seems to be the new hip(ster) thing to do right now.

Well, as you saw from my post on Monday, I pretty much look for any excuse to get extra turmeric in my system.

It's an amazing painkiller and anti-inflammatory.  The best of Advil and Tylenol.

For those of you who are not in the know, Golden Milk is a hot coconut milk-based beverage that gets its beautiful color from turmeric.

It tastes like a big warm hug from your grandma on a terrible, no good, very bad day.

It does a pretty bad ass job at replacing hot chocolate for me and it has such a wealth of antioxidants.

Let's get the deets...

Chinese five-spice powder is a mixture of ground spices, usually cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechwan peppercorns.

1. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a well-known anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agent.

It has also been studied for an anti-clotting effect on blood platelets.

Cinnamon appears to slow the rate at which the stomach empties after meals, which evens out blood sugar.

2. Cloves

Cloves contain eugenol.

Eugenol has potent anti-inflammatory effects and may help lower the risk of digestive tract cancers and reduce joint inflammation.

Oil of cloves is also used for its painkiller and anti-bacterial properties. It is also believed to improve circulation and digestive disorders, even to relieve tension headaches.

3. Fennel

The health benefits of fennel come from its combination of phytonutrients including the flavonoids quercetin and rutin, both potent antioxidants, and anethole, which has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and cancer protective effects.

Fennel is a well-known remedy for gastrointestinal disorders. In fact, fennel tea is my go-to when I have a terrible stomachache.

4. Star Anise

Star anise has been used medicinally for respiratory tract disorders. It contains shikimic acid, a component of the flu treatment Tamiflu.

5. Szechwan Peppercorns

Szechwan peppercorns are not pungent like black pepper; instead, they have a lemon flavor. In some parts of Asia, people regard the spice as a remedy for digestive problems.

With all of these good benefits, lets now add Turmeric to the mix!  Talk about a powerful drink!

Chinese Five Spice Golden Milk

Paleo  Vegan  Dairy Free  Refined Sugar-Free

Ingredients

1 can (13.5oz) of unsweetened full fat coconut milk

3/4 c or 6 oz of Nutpods, plain flavor (or unsweetened, carrageenan free Almond milk)

1/2 c of water

1 T coconut oil

2 T maple syrup

1/2 t of Chinese 5 Spice

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground Ginger

1 1/2 t ground Turmeric

1/8 t black pepper
dash of sea salt

Supplies

Small Bowl

Whisk

Sm/Md Saucepan

Do it!
Wisk together all the spices in a small bowl, set aside.

Turn your stove on to medium hot, around 5-7.

In a small-medium saucepot dump all wet ingredients and including the tablespoon of coconut oil.

Wait for the oil to melt and whisk wet ingredients vigorously. Add the spices while whisking.

Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes.  The longer it simmers the more depth of flavor you achieve.

Pour into 2 mugs, add a dash of sea salt, and garnish with a cinnamon stick!



#leohusband and I find this rather rich and usually we have leftovers.

I just pour whatever is left into a Tupperware to reheat later in the week when I need a Treat Yo Self moment.

Enjoy!

5 Reasons Dogward Dog is the Ultimate Prone Pose

Adho Mukha Svanasana: Adho - Downward, Mukha - Face, Svana - Dog
(AH-doh MOO-kah shvah-NAHS-anna)

This pose is great for several reasons but lets break down what actually happens in your body when you are doing downward dog.

1. Stretching the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, and hands

2. Increase the mobility of the spine by tractioning the back

3. Opens the groin and helps relieve the symptoms of menopause and relieves menstrual discomfort

4. Strengthens the arms and legs

5. It is restorative and energizing. Downward Dog places the body in an inverted position.  Inversions help the brain relax. It also relaxes the heart because the chest opens. Since the whole body is working it is an invegerating pose.

Do not do prone poses after abdominal operations.

1. Lie face down on the floor.

Take the feet 1 foot apart if you do not suffer from chronic pain.

If you do suffer from chronic pain take your feet wider.

Bend the elbows and place the hands beside the rib cage. Open the palms and spread the fingers with the middle fingers pointing forward.  If you can't get the middle fingers pointing upward start with the index fingers and work up to getting the middle finger pointing up.

2. Tuck the toes under. If you suffer specifically with sciatic, piriformis, or SI joint pain, turn your toes in and your heels out. Raise the head and trunk; bend the legs to raise the hips. Straighten the arms.

3. Raise your hips into the air and press back with your hands, keeping your knees bent. After you get your arms extending fully, straighten your legs and start dropping your heels.

4. Pull in your abdominals, press your heels as close to the floor as you are able, pull up on your knee caps to keep your quads engaged, press through your index finger joint.

Chronic Pain Warrior Advice:

Just starting out, get into the pose and hold for 10 seconds only. Work up to 1 - 3 minutes.  I'm at a minute and it has taken me a year of work, to get to a minute.

Go slow and you can use props. Also, you should be 'warmed up' before going into this pose.

We will talk about a good chronic pain warrior flow later.

If you have difficulty releasing and opening your shoulders in this pose, raise your hands off the floor on a pair of blocks (if you don't have blocks) or the seat of a metal folding chair.

You can also modify the pose by resting your head on a block or bolster (if you don't have a bolster) .

This is the one pose my yoga master wants me to do everyday.  That says something when there is a world of poses out there.

Take it slow chronic pain warriors and soon you will see benefits - consistency not intensity.

Side note.  I'm wearing my IFC/TENS unit because I have been in pain the last 3 days.  Doing this pose didn't increase my pain, if anything it helped it settle down a little.

5 Ways to Bullet Journal on a Budget

I always loved back to school supplies. Something about the smell of fresh crayons. When I became an art teacher, art supplies held the same wonder and joy for me.

When starting a bullet journal, one of the best things for me was the chance to break out all of my old teaching supplies! However, I quickly found that my beloved Prismacolor Markers bled right through my freshly bought Leuchttrum 1917 bujo. Sad faces!

I quickly realized that I would need to get new supplies to work in my journal. However, most of our income goes to our medical expenses, so I needed to be frugal.  Financial organization holds vast importance in our house.

Well after some research, I came up with 5 Ways to Bullet Journal on a Budget.

Bullet journal supplies can be daunting simply by the sheer number of things you can by. Let’s keep it simple though, especially if this is new to you, see if you like it before you invest your money.  This is assuming you’ve already decided to invest your time.

1. Get a grid or dot grid journal.

I started with a lined journal that my mother in law gave me for Christmas. I persevered Jan - May creating my own gridded lines. It took forever to set up a monthly spread.

I’m actually surprised I didn’t quit but I was desperate to try to find some correlation between what I was doing, eating, sleeping, and my pain levels. I needed real data to take to a doctor.

These are some cheaper alternatives to a Leuchttrum 1917 if you want to dip your toes in just to see if you like it before you invest. I found this one on Amazon and it is half the cost but with the same amount of colors and several pages.


2. You don’t need micron pens.

Sharpie pens work just fine and have a good point. There is no need to invest in super expensive artist pens unless you want to down the line for archival purposes.


3. There are cheaper alternatives to Tombow Dual Brush Pens.

Yes, Tombow’s are fantastic and they don’t bleed through but again they’re expensive for the amount you get per marker.


If you want a good way to fill in boxes classic Highlighters work great and there is minimal bleeding or ghosting as the cool kids are calling it these days.

Old school Crayola markers work great too. I'm currently using Staedliner Thin Line markers because they are doing double duty with my Inspirations Coloring Book.


4. Get Stencils not Stamps

I invested heavily in stamps and inks and wish I hadn't.  It's a hassle to bust out the stamps and inks during set up and forget about using them daily.  You won't sustain keeping up with the basic requirements of the journal.

Not to mention that you have to buy the stamps, blocks, and inks...that gets expensive.

However, you want your bullet journal to look nice, so these are what I'm currently using.  They're lightweight and take up minimal room in my bujo supply box.  I can even slip one into the pages of my bujo to transport if I'm working on a spread.

They also double as straight edge rulers...you can't beat a multitasker!


5. Get white out before investing in Washi Tape


This 10 pack of white-out tape will last years. That's the kind of value I'm after with my buys. You will mess up and if you have even a tiny streak of OCD perfectionism in you, it will drive you nuts.  Die-hard bujo specialists use gorgeous washi tape to cover booboos.  I, however, love my white out.  Just start fresh.

That said, washi tape is still gorgeous and I don't blame you if you want to treat yo self. I mean just look at these colors and styles!

So get your supplies ready and go ahead and get ready for March! February is a short month. March will be here before we know it and why not get ready to be organized. More next Tuesday on setting up your current month for success.

3 Essential Benefits of Turmeric

The first alternative 'medicine' I added when I started my pain rehabilitation journey was Turmeric, or Curcumin.

Turmeric comes from Curcuma Longa plant. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia and India. The root of the plant is harvested, dried, and then ground into Turmeric.  It is a very distinctive herb that is used predominantly in curry's and has a beautiful golden yellow color.

3 essential benefits of Turmeric are

1. Turmeric is a natural pain killer.

It was suggested by my neurologist at first to deal with pain.  It is used in wide circles as a pain killer for arthritis.

NSAIDs tear up my stomach and can lead to leaky gut...if you aren't already there like me.

When curcumin was suggested my neurologist said to make sure it was the curcuminoids formulation.  It absorbs into the tissues easier than other formulations.

I tried several versions.

The liquid form killed my stomach, one had additives that gave me the worst heartburn, one didn't make me sick but then I realized it wasn't the curcuminoids version so I had to take twice as much.  On that note, you need to make sure that it is blended with black pepper, otherwise your body will not absorb it.

2. Turmeric is known for keeping tumor growth down.

Who doesn’t need a little help fighting cancerous growth these days?

Cancer runs predominately on the paternal side of my family. I feel personally that eating healthy and taking supplements will hopefully keep me from going down the path that so many members of my family have experienced.

3. Turmeric can help with inflammation.  

My nerve pain?  My nerve pain is caused by neuroinflammation inside the spinal cord. There is no medicine on earth that can target neuroinflammation unless you want to take steroids 24/7/365, and even that can't really target inside the spinal cord.

Well, I take curcumin it 3 times a day at 1000 mg each, which is my maintenance dose, but I was taking 6,000 mg previously.

I started at one a day for a month then increased by 1 pill per month until I was taking 2, 1000 mg pills at every meal. I did this for several months because unlike medicine, supplements take a long time to work.

I have had a lot of success with it...or at least I can tell a difference when I don't take it, so in the world of untreatable nerve pain that’s something.

Also, it has antioxidants which are so much better for you than taking a constant stream of steriods for your medical conditions.  Antioxidants boost your immune system while steroids tear it down.

If you are thinking of taking curcumin talk to your healthcare provider about what is a good amount for you.

Look for a delicious Golden Milk recipe coming up on Treat Yo Self Thursday if you want to try curcumin before buying a whole bottle. 

Cilantro Chicken Soup

This is a delicious recipe that you want to do on a low pain day, or day that you have lots of time. It makes a lot of soup though, so you can have some that will last you all week. You can also freeze some for a later date.

Cilantro Chicken Soup
Paleo, Whole30, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Instant Pot

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1T garlic
1 yellow onion
1 can of green chilies
1 bunch of cilantro leaves
2T grated ginger seperated
1t peppercorns
1t salt + more to taste
2c chicken broth or bone broth
2c of water
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
1c of shredded cabbage
1c of shredded carrots
3T arrowroot powder mixed into 1 c of water
2T lime juice
Sambal Oelek

Supplies:
Knife
Cutting board
Microplane grater
Peeler
2 Bowls
2 Forks for Shredding
Instant Pot

Ready set go!

Turn the instant pot on to sauté mode. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot. While it is heating up take the ginger, peel and grate it. Separate the grated piles into two equal piles, approx 1 T each. Next, chop the onion into diced pieces.

If you suffer from chronic pain, and it's a high pain day/week, go ahead and get the pre-diced onion from the grocery store. This will make the recipe that much easier.

I also recommend getting the pre-minced garlic in the jar to save time as well. If you’re not a chronic pain warrior, or are on a strict budget, feel free to chop and mince away.

Place the onion, 1T ginger, green chilies, and garlic, into the instant pot to sauté when it reaches hot.

While the vegetables are sautéing, wash the cilantro bunch in a lettuce spinner and spin dry.

Now you are going to separate the cilantro leaves from the stems. Get 2 bowls: in one bowl you’re going to put the leaves, in the second bowl you’re going to put the stems.

If you have a kitchen helper have them do this while you’re prepping the other ingredients. If you don’t have a kitchen helper I like to sit down on the couch and watch TV show while I separate the leaves and stems.

Every once in a while I get up to stir the vegetables sautéing in the pot. Once I have the leaves in the stem separated you’re going to make a bouquet garni of the cilantro stems and peppercorns with a square of cheesecloth and kitchen twine. This makes it easier to remove the cilantro stems after the first cooking face.

Wet the cheesecloth and wring it out. Place the stems in the center along with the peppercorns.  Gather all the corners and edges into one hand, wrap the kitchen twine around securing all of the corners and edges.  Tightly tie off.

Once the vegetables have softened and the onion has turn translucent you were going to add the chicken broth, water, the bouquet garni, chicken breasts, and a teaspoon of salt to the instant pot. Close the lid and pressure cook for 20 minutes with a 10 minute natural release.

Once the instant pot is done, remove the bouquet garni from the pan and toss. Pour the instant pot 'broth' mixture into a bowl, I used the bowl the cilantro stems were originally placed in. Remove the chicken breasts and place on a cutting board.

Quickly rinse out the instant pot, add in another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and put on sauté. Add your
carrots, cabbage, and the rest of the ginger. I also save time, energy, and pain by purchasing pre-shredded carrots and cabbage.

Season vegetables with salt and pepper to taste.

When the vegetables are soft, add back in the 'broth' mixture, the shredded chicken, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Bring to a boil. When it reaches boiling, add in the water arrowroot mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Remove and serve in bowls. Sprinkle heavily with the cilantro leaves and top them with Sambal Oelek, if you want an extra kick.

February 2018 Bullet Journal Layout

February 2018 Bullet Journal Layout is finally completed.  

Here it is! This month I didn’t really want to use a red, pink or violet for February. I wanted to be a little bit different, so I chose turquoise for the monthly color.  Last year, I was using several colors from my Tombow brush pen collection, per month and this time I just needed to make it easier to keep up with so I'm doing one color + black.

I'm sticking with the idea of "Simplicity" in 2018 so my trackers are still in a grid format.  I may go back to a round mandala if I can figure out a way to make it minimalist and visually engaging using just one color and 1 - 2 neutrals.

In my bullet journal weekly spread, I did switch up some of the layouts mainly because I totally messed up the first page.  It was a genius mess up though, because I loved it and copied it on the rest of the bujo weekly spreads.  I can't believe I haven't been doing it this way all the time!!

So in my mess up I accidentally made 8 daily boxes leaving no room for my large square 'notes' box. I had to make a full column for notes and used that 8th box for next week.  Which is great for me because it seems I need help looking forward to future tasks. Who doesn't right?

My self care list is short this month as I have lots of opportunities to hang out with friends, and it's Valentines.

This is the year my husband gets to plan our adventure.  We switch off every year.  I feel I'm going to get lots of fun and pampering in February.

For my personal care tracker, I did a terrible job with my PM routine and face care in January, so I'm hoping to do better in February.

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I did some doodling and shading this month on my main bullet journal tracker spread.  I guess I was channeling my inner art teacher while watching TV. Look at that stippling!

Below is my end of January: Sleep, Pain, and Activity Tracker so you can get a feel for how it looks before and after I complete it at the end of the month.

I did an awesome job keeping up with my meditation and yoga once I started The Miracle Morning. I even whited out a tracker (I can't even remember what it was now...therefore it was not important) and put in a Miracle Morning Tracker.

Lastly, I wanted to keep my Miracle Morning Affirmations in my bujo.

This is to keep my morning and evening streamlined.  I only have to grab my book and my journal and I'm ready to go. Again, trying to adhere to my Simplicity mindset. I wrote them down at the end of the month, before the monthly wrap up page.