Gracie is a Copy Cat

I know the furkids hear us talking about our new way of clean eating and losing weight and apparently Gracie is wanting to join us on our quest.

I spotted her trying to absorb the knowledge of "Eat Fat Get Thin" by using osmosis during her nap.

If this works for her I'm going to be angry I had to read the whole thing.

Long Live the Queen

Physical Therapy is going well

I am seeing the physical therapist three more times this week, culminating with a massage prior to my last session on Friday.

This is the sign that was posted next to my area when I was in on Wednesday.  It was just so cute I had to share it.

1. Never say “I can’t” because you’ll do it anyway.

2. Never say, “it’s easy” because we’ll just make it harder

3. Never say, “I want to go home” because you’ll stay longer

4. Never lose count because you’ll start at one again

5. Never complain because we never listen.

6. Never argue because you’ll never win.

7. Never scream or cry because it only encourages us.

8. Never look like you’re enjoying it because we’ll put a stop to it

.

9. Never hold your breath because if you pass out and die, we have to fill out the paperwork.

10 Never lie or cheat because we know the truth and you will live to regret it.

Now you can see what I'm up against!  The pain has greatly diminished, with only some numbness and tingling in my right hand.

So, my plan is to visit the pickleball courts again on Saturday morning and see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

Long Live the Queen 

The Queen has an Owie

It had been coming on for a week or so now, the tingling and numbness in my fingers, the ache in my back.

I was trying to tough it out by icing my sore muscles and popping Aleve, but my last trip to the pickleball courts found me not performing well at all.  It's hard to hit the ball with any conviction when you're bracing yourself for the pain that goes with it.

Finally I gave up and called Left Brain to come and get me, it was just too much.  I guess the fact that I've not been sleeping well for several nights now because my entire arm was tingling and throbbing and the right should blade screamed any time I tried to turn over to find a good position.  There were no more good positions left.

As I sat on the bench waiting for him to come I noticed a banner for the Andover Physical Therapy.  Hmmm...was this a sign.  Well, yes, I mean..it was a sign...literally.

When I got home I ate some lunch and went to lay down as I was too exhausted to make the call.  This turned out to be a good thing because when I called to make an appointment, she had just hung up from a person who cancelled.

I was able to get in that afternoon and had my assessment done and set up three more appointments for the following week, plus a massage on Friday.

Now I have my stretching exercises to do and instructions to apply heat.  But after some of her soft tissue work I could feel the throbbing leaving the hands a bit.  I don't think this will be a long time off from playing, but for now I need to be a good girl and take care of this achy body.

Long Live the Queen

Good Times with Old Friends

When you live on the road you meet a lot of new and interesting people, but there's no comparison to the joy in seeing an old friend.

When you've known someone over forty years you can converse in a sort of verbal shorthand, even if you haven't seen each other for a year.  It's so comforting.



We started our day with peach and blueberry power smoothies at Panera and then moved on to lunch at Big Bowl.  Coming to visit her exposed me to another whole area of the Twin Cities I was not familiar with.  But it was hard to believe there was no Barnes & Noble in this huge mall.

We've generally centered our June outings with plant shopping, something neither of us need to do any more since they live on the road as well.  But there were often forays into book stores in the past and wanting to keep the tradition alive, we went to find a Barnes & Noble.

She immediately stopped at the magazine counter, a major weakness of hers and I went off to pursue the book I had my mind on.  After checking with the customer service I found they didn't carry it, so knowing she'd be a while, I wandered off to the cookbook section to find some sort of miracle for my Paleo bread failures.

Pretty soon there she was, with magazines in hand and shaking her head.  She still has a hard time believing that there would come a day that I'd be enamored of cooking.  She's always been my emergency source of information such as calls asking where to find eggplant in the store and my having to listen to her roar with laughter when I admitted I had been looking in the milk and egg section.  She's taught me so much since then.

Now that I'm starting to use fresh herbs she's still my go to for questions as to what to do with this hunk of weed I just paid a fortune for.  Do I strip the leaves off the basil or chop it up, those stems are awfully tough.  Answer was to strip the leaves.

It was her that spotted the perfect book for my baking needs and as I hugged it to my chest I knew that it would always hold the memory of being together every time I used it.  That and if the recipes really stunk I could blame her for finding it.  Yeah, our friendship is like that.

Another part of our connecting usually involved a stop for some sort of decadent ice cream treat.  But I was going to be a good girl and no Coldstone for this Paleo no sireee.  I did real good until I was just about to turn into the motel where they were spending the night when the car suddenly swerved over and we found ourselves in front of a frozen yogurt place.  And it was gluten and fat free yogurt to boot!  Oh happy days.  Now our trip was a complete success.

So once again we hugged each other goodbye, not knowing when we might see each other again, but knowing that time and distance cannot break our bond.

I was getting all nostalgic when she reminded me I was coming back to La Crosse in late July for a doctors visit and we had already arranged to have lunch.  So it won't be such a long time before our next visit...and that's a really good thing.

Long Live the Queen

Paleo Cooking

This new way of eating has brought many changes to our lives, and I have discovered food and products I never knew existed.

One of the recipes I used recently involved using celery root as a substitute for potatoes.  It was a challenge finding this weird product, but I finally found it at Festival Foods in Anoka.  It was used in a beef stew with lots of mushrooms that turned out very well, except for the hunks of celery root.  Well, that completes that little experiment and it won't darken my countertop again.
  

I'm still not satisfied with how the breads are turning out.  They are never very high and I'm having trouble adjusting to the dense texture.

The muffins always look okay, but are either overly moist (I threw that word in just for Stephanie) or they crumble at the slightest touch.  I don't know if this is the way of Paleo baking or if I'm doing something wrong.

I have to say that it's easier to give up on the breads and muffins when they are inedible.  Perhaps that's the real secret to our weight loss with this diet.


I even mixed up a batch of paleo catsup for our burgers. 

They were served on my handmade paleo wraps, which at first seemed okay but then felt spongy and soggy.

Ingrid from Dally in the Galley has been helpful sharing her baking skills and I've learned a lot.  

One of my favorite bloggers is now Paleo Newbie, her recipes are simple and so far seem to be the best. She's obviously no longer a newbie!

Long Live the Queen of the Paleo Kitchen