Moving Forward

Not long after my last post, my husband lost his job. Things have been a little hectic since then, getting used to having him home, settling into a new routine, etc. One benefit, though, is dinnertime. We take turns cooking and we often are inspired to out-do one another, so for the most part, I've really been enjoying the food around here! Another interesting bit of news is I have lost 10 lbs over the past year. Now, this is not a huge weight loss by any means, but considering I have been able to get my weight to budge that much in the past three years, and the only thing different this year is that we now eat a lot less processed foods, I'm pretty darn happy! I'm not a "clean" eater yet by any means, but we do really limit the processed foods we consume and really like making things from scratch. Anyway, the weight loss as a result renews my faith that it is possible to actually lose some weight. Dax and I have also started working out semi-regularly together, and I have my hoop group I go to.

In other news, I also noticed that in my last post, I mentioned that my stomach had been bothering me. It continued longer than I was comfortable with so I finally saw a dr and then a gastroenterologist to see if I could figure out what the problem is. They started with a colonoscopy since my mother died from colon cancer. After a week of a low-residue diet, and then a day of nothing but clear liquids and a long evening of "prep", I had my first colonoscopy this morning. The prep wasn't as horrible as everyone said it would be, and the colonoscopy itself was as easy as everyone said, but the week of the low-residue diet was torture. I felt like garbage all week and had constant migraines. Normally a month supply of Imitrex (9 pills) lasts 2 months for me, but I went through this months' supply in a paltry 6 days. I don't have all the results from the colonoscopy yet, but they found 3 tiny polyps (less than 5 mm) which they're testing, but aren't worrisome (but good to get rid of!). I'll find out more about that in a couple of weeks. During that 2 weeks I'm supposed to eat dairy-free to see if I've become lactose intolerant, and then after that we may do more testing for things like gall bladder issues and gluten intolerance or Celiac. I'll just take it one step at a time though and focus on the dairy-free thing. I enjoyed a post-colonoscopy dairy-free dinner of chicken lo mein. I am also head-ache free for the longest stretch since last Thursday. I'm hoping that lasts because I don't get any more meds for 3 weeks!

Now, even though I can't have it right now, I wanted to share an incredible chicken tikka masala recipe I tried recently. It's so amazingly good (and really quite easy), I have made it twice so far. It makes a ton of leftovers too, which I love. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/chicken-tikka-masala-by-pastor-ryan/

My variances from the recipe:

*It always took at least twice as long as they suggested to broil the chicken. That was no big deal, but worried me the first time.

*I used 1 tsp. ground ginger rather than fresh (I already had the ground).

*I used crushed tomatoes instead of diced because I like a smoother sauce.

*I did not add the optional ingredients of cilantro (Dax doesn't like it) or chili peppers (I didn't want it spicy)

This meal was easily the best thing I've eaten in a long time, and I really hope I'm not lactose intolerant so I can have it again really soon!