A Whole New Challenge…

Something fairly big happened in our lives this past week.. or rather, something of a slightly larger than usual (I’m guessing) size left. On Friday morning T had his gallbladder removed. He is sleeping peacefully at the moment, or I’m sure he wouldn’t want me posting this, but hey, sometimes it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission right?

The whole event was a bit of a whirlwind, starting with the surgery being scheduled earlier in the day than we thought (crushing our plans to take the train into “the city”, thankfully a friend pulled through and gave us a ride to T’s parents where we spent the night), then the surgery being later than we thought (starting at 9, not 7), a dead car battery, a reaction to one of the anesthetics, an excruciatingly long wait in recovery, some nasty car sickness (though gold star for T for not puking!). Luckily the one thing that didn’t go wrong was the surgery itself. T was released about 4 hours after his surgery ended and we were back at home the same night.

Recovery was going pretty well until late last night when T woke up with a lot of pressure under his ribs, feeling like he was full of liquid. We called the Nurse’s hotline (if you have not heard of this please look it up: they are FANTASTIC help, and will tell you what your next step is. Whenever I have used them they have been calm, friendly and helpful and last night was no exception). In this case, they suggested we head to the ER, so after a flurry of activity and a ride in an ambulance (thanks to a snow storm, lack of license and panic) we went to the hospital. Blood tests were done and thankfully there is no infection or anything, just some high liver number stuff, but that’s normal after a gallbladder surgery apparently.  T was given some stuff for acid reflux and it seemed to help a lot, but we still aren’t too sure about the pressure and everything. We did some research at home this morning, and it sounds like bloating and indigestion are a common thing for people who have had this surgery. The people who have dealt with and experienced this suggested some digestive enzymes, but more importantly a very low fat diet.

From what I gather the gallbladder stores bile, and releases it when it senses that you have eaten something fatty. With out the organ, your body just kind of oozes bile (appetizing eh?) into the digestive tract, often causing acid reflux. In addition, because the gall bladder isn’t there to help release the bile, which breaks down fatty foods, it is harder for your body to break down the fatty foods, causing a lot of bloating and such.

So, to the point…

The challenge is now to learn how to cook without all of the butter (and those who know me know how much I love to cook with butter.. currently we go through about a pound per week), oil and fat. Of course, this is on top of the organic thing (which is probably a blessing in disguise: organic butter runs us about 9$ a pound), and also trying to eat vegetarian or vegan 3 or 4 times a week (again, a blessing in disguise as the fats people tend to have the most problems with are animal fats).

I can cook from scratch.. just about anything. No problem. I can cater to Vegans, Vegetarians, Gluten Free-ers. I have cooked without sugars, salt or grainy carbs. Fat free though is something new to me. Please don’t get the wrong idea.. we aren’t deep frying maniacs eating breaded sticks of butter for dinner or anything.. but we do enjoy cream based soups, butter chicken, some grilled cheese or quesidillas or veggie drenched nachos (I’m drooling a little bit thinking of it). Breakfast is usually home made scones, or waffles, drenched in butter with a side of fruit. We can eat avocados once or twice a day without blinking, and I personally will admit to a baked goods and chips addiction.

This is gonna be a bit of a challenge. And, to the best of my ability, I will keep you updated, and hopefully inspired.

If anyone out there has suggestions.. please let me know! Now, bring on the salads…

Hello Again!

Wow! A huge thanks to everyone for continuing to peek at the blog, even when I haven’t been keeping it up properly!

First off, let me explain what happened:

It started when I began giving myself a cheat day, which I am not too ashamed to admit turned into a cheat month (or two or six). It started at a food fair, with ice cream, and chocolate, and free samples.. those things get me every time!!

Things got a little out of hand for awhile.. dinners consisting of bags of chips, no dinners at all, or (shhh don’t tell anyone) the golden arches… that kind of thing, and I felt guilty about writing a healthy food blog whilst gorging on Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.. so, I simply didn’t write. It was a little bit of a load off, but I did miss it. Then things went too long, and like a friend that you haven’t spoken to in awhile, it got too awkward to write. What would I say to you, Blog? How would I regain connection? What would you think of the things I had done? Soo.. I left it. I let it creep farther and farther from the front of my brain until I would only remember about you when I had gotten a new comment on an old post.. I’m sorry. Please think of this as that hanging my head in shame awkward phone call, hoping to jump-start and old friendship

While I was MIA I eventually got back on the food wagon (no, not the yummy ones parked on the side of the road near the Vancouver Art Gallery.. though there were a few of those too). I have moved out to Mission BC and in with my man T, started working in a great little soup and sandwich kind of place called The Sweet Spot Cafe (please, if you are coming through check it out.. good healthy food made as much from scratch as we can do, and a gorgeous little back garden to boot), and gotten my butt back on track, with some help from T.

While we were already eating almost everything from scratch, we have started 2014 with trying to do most of it organically as well.. this has been a little tougher. Because it is all from scratch, our grocery bills usually aren’t too astronomical, but I have definitely noticed the bump up in prices. Even tougher than that though is the options. Here in Mission we don’t exactly have a Whole Foods or a more organically inclined grocery option. We have a produce market (with almost no organic, at least in the winter months), a Safeway (please insert wild laughter here if you have tried shopping organic produce at the Mission Safeway..) a Superstore, a Walmart (even more laughter) and a Save On Foods. While Save On is pretty much our standard, you wont find more than a tiny little isle, a few baskets and some salad mixes for produce. They also seem to have more options for healthy and organic treats, beans, tomatoes etc, but again, you’re looking at about 4 isles.  There is also a great little health food place on 1st Ave called The Pantry (conveniently located right next to The Sweet Spot), but I can only afford to walk in there once in a blue moon. We discovered Thrifty’s a few weeks ago, but it is about a 20 minute drive away, and not a lot cheaper, though does seem to have more options for fruit and veg..  Oy! any Organic shoppers out there, please help! Or sympathize..

We do luckily have garden space at home. Last summer we unsuccessfully attempted peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, blueberries, broccoli, tomatoes and peas last year, and had better luck with carrots, zucchini, lettuce and herbs. This year I am hoping for some more luck.. I never really have had a green thumb, but will try none the less! I will keep you updated!

Other exciting events in our life include:

The adoption of a cat named Dood (who, yes, eats very well and mostly only “good ingredient” food – sometimes he gets tempted by a Temptation). He’s 6, he won’t eat any people food except (organic, stove-top popped) popcorn, he’s HUGE in a healthy way, and he looks like a lion.

I have a nephew! This has nothing to do with food, though I guess that cat doesn’t either, but I am very excited about it. He will be one year old in March, and is about the cutest hipster baby ever.

I stopped eating shellfish.. actually, I watched this documentary by Walter Veith. Whether you believe in the Bible or not, the science behind it is pretty sound.. and I’m sorry if watching it ruins your appetite for a few different meats.. but really, who wants to eat poop bacteria? Ughhh..

Again,  I will try and be on here more often.. and huge thank you to all of those who have continued to check in, or have just wandered by for a peek. I have to say I was blown away by the number of people passing by! If you have any ideas, suggestions, anything you would like me to look into please leave a comment. I’ve got to admit I’m a little lost on what to write about at the moment, so all ideas are welcome!

Thanks again!!