Spaghetti Salad With Garden Fresh Produce

This morning was such a beautiful September morning.  Since I know the cold weather is not too far away I stayed outside enjoying the sun to the fullest.  I took a short bike ride first.  Then, of course, this time of year there is always a good amount of work to do in the gardens and the flowerbeds so I got busy pulling weeds.  My rewards for the effort I put into the garden this morning were tomatoes, cucumbers, and a sweet red pepper. 

I decided to use my freshly picked produce and last nights left over spaghetti noodles to make a cold spaghetti salad.  I Googled some recipes on line and got a few ideas.  The recipes I found all called for bottled Italian dressing and I never have that on hand since I make most things from scratch.  I prefer to make things homemade because then I can choose which oils and other ingredients go into the recipe.  Healing with nutrition is important to me, so cooking the food myself is always the best plan.

I used olive oil for its amazing health benefits along with red wine vinegar for the dressing.  The fresh veggies are just picked and full of vitamins and flavor.  The garlic and paprika are known for calming inflammation in the body. So this salad is a winner for staying healthy.   What I came up with is absolutely delicious and I hope you give it a try. 

Cold Spaghetti Salad

12 oz cooked whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1 sweet bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)

To make the dressing, mix the oil, vinegar, paprika, garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and nectar.  Whisk the together well.  Pour the dressing over the cooked spaghetti noodles. 

Cut up the tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper into small pieces.  Add them, along with the Parmesan into the spaghetti and mix well.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. 

Sunshine, Tomatoes, and Salsa

After a couple of cloudy and rainy days, the sun made an appearance again.  It was refreshing to have a bit of a cool down and some needed moisture, but I am always happy to see the sun again. 

I have been in a surgical boot for about 3 1/2 weeks trying to allow my foot time to heal.  But this morning I put on my tennis shoes......
                                                          donned my new helmet.......

                        .....hopped on my bike and rode like the wind in the beautiful sunshine.

It was such a wonderful and freeing feeling.  I didn't put any weight on my foot and, taking extra precaution, used my heel to pedal.  I wonder if I could have been doing that all along.  Hmmmm......

When I returned home, I wandered out to my garden and found beautiful, lush, ripe red tomatoes tucked into the green leaves of the tomato plant.  I picked them with such excitement that had there been a witness they would have laughed at my enthusiasm.  Nothing beats the incredible scent of fresh picked tomatoes from the vine. 

 

 

By the looks of things I will be getting quite a few tomatoes this year.  I enjoy canning tomatoes for use in soups, stews, etc. in the winter.  One thing I haven't done in many years though, is make salsa.  When the kids were little my friends and I would get together during tomato harvest and make huge batches of salsa to can.  The first year we did this ended up with a trip to the emergency room for my friend, Gloria.  She had been scraping the seeds out of the jalapenos by hand without realizing the burning effect that would come to her skin later.  So, use caution or better yet use gloves, when prepping the jalapenos. 

 

Unfortunately, I don't have that recipe anymore, but, you can find some great salsa recipes on the Internet. Let me know if you have one to share :) The peppers, onions, and cilantro that go into salsa are nice and calming for inflammation.  As long as you do not get a reaction to nightshade veggies, then eat up and enjoy :)

Bittersweet progress and Curried Cranberry Chicken Subs!

I have been waiting to write a follow up blog post from The Biggest Challenge Yet  for the day I had great news to report.  Great news to me was reporting that my foot had healed because of cleaning up my diet again. However, my foot has not healed yet.  I have come to realize though, that I do have great news to share. 

Since I have cleaned up my diet again, the inflammation has decreased greatly in my body so that except for my foot, I am pain free.  Even though I may end up having surgery on my foot, I cannot negate the fact that an anti-inflammatory diet works for me.  I am thankful that this healthy alternative to medication helps me.  This is great news!

With summer here and in full swing (also great news) I am also thankful to be out enjoying the beautiful days.  I make sure that no matter what I do, I take my food with me.  When we go kayaking I pack a cooler full of delicious food that calms inflammation.  Some great inflammation fighting snacks to munch on are:

Kalamata and Green Olives

Fresh cherries

Hummus with cut up veggies for dipping such as celery, carrots, sweet peppers

Salsa and healthy chips such as Food Should Taste Good Tortilla Chips

Almonds and dried cranberries mixed together

 

 

For a delicious main course that is easy to pack in a cooler and convenient to eat while on an outing, try these Curried Cranberry Chicken Subs.  They are a favorite of ours :)

 

Curried Cranberry Chicken Subs



2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

olive oil

1/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon curry powder

4 hoagie rolls

Leaf lettuce

Mix together the chicken, red onion, mayonnaise, and  curry powder.  Add just enough olive oil to get a moist consistency.  Add in dried cranberries.

Spray the inside of the hoagie rolls with olive oil spray and place face down on the grill.  Lightly brown the rolls.  Watch closely to avoid burning.

Spoon 1/4 of the mixture on each hoagie roll and top with lettuce.  Serve and enjoy!

*You can also serve on a bed of lettuce as a salad instead of using the hoagie rolls.

The Biggest Challenge Yet!

Summer is beginning with some great changes.  I accepted a part time position last July and it truly affected every area of my life.  I did love the job, but it did not fit into the lifestyle that we were wanting at this stage of life.  After much prayer and discussion with my husband, last week was the end of my short career.

A great deciding factor to quit the job was the fact that I need to have foot surgery and the company I worked for was not able to grant me the time off when it was needed. Everyday I worked, the pain increased.  RA was attacking my body with quite a bit of inflammation and it did this to my foot.

As the inflammation caused the toes to spread apart the capillaries and cartilage tore causing my toe joint to pop out.  If you are thinking "ouch," you are almost correct.  It is actually more like "OUCH!!!" The surgery to correct this problem is quite painful with bone cutting and pin placement involved.  ICK!

My Rheumatologist, who is always trying to get me to add another DMARD (Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drug,  feels that the answer to the inflammation problem is for me to begin taking Arava.  The way the drug works is that it blocks the formation of DNA, preventing cells from developing, especially in the immune system. Not good! I want my DNA to keep forming DNA.

Once again, after much prayer, and talking with my husband, friends, and family, I have decided against the drug.  My personal challenge is to attack this inflammation the only way I am comfortable with, through nutrition.  My hope and prayer is that when the inflammation calms down, my foot will heal without the need for surgery.  It is a big reach, but I am pretty determined.

Now that I am back to my homemaker roots, I have the time to take better care of myself and my disease.  I have time once again to be a better friend, mom, and wife.  I am so thankful and feel extremely blessed that we are at a place in life that allowed me the freedom to stay home. 

I am beginning with the basics in anti-inflammatory eating starting right here.  This is my biggest challenge yet, trying to avoid surgery by turning to nutrition rather than medications.  I have seen miraculous changes over the years in my healing through nutrition and I cannot imagine that it would fail me now. Only time will tell :)

Lack of creativity in the kitchen.....cured!

As much as I love to create and cook in the kitchen, occasionally I get in a funk.  The past couple of weeks it has seemed much easier to go out to eat rather than stay home and cook.  There are a couple of downsides to eating out.  Besides being financially irresponsible, it is almost impossible for me to eat right in a restaurant.  My discipline is not so great and the temptation wins out every single time.  Of course, by later on that same night, I regret the food choices that I made. 

Yesterday I went shopping and out to lunch with a friend.  I am now totally inspired to cook and create once again.  All she did was tell me how she made tacos with quinoa instead of meat and....bam....I was completely cured of my funk :)  Thank you Rachel!

Tonight I went after it and really enjoyed the results.  Here is how I made my quinoa tacos!

Quinoa Tacos

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 can black beans
1/2 can fire roasted green chilies
1/4 cup organic salsa
Parmesan cheese or shredded cheese of choice

Rinse quinoa and pour into a pot with water and spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Take off of the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.  Fluff the quinoa with a fork and then stir in the salsa, chilies and beans.  Scoop the quinoa mixture onto a tortilla, with lettuce and shredded cheese of choice.  Roll up like a soft taco and enjoy.