WHOLE GRAIN BANANA MUFFINS

 I made these banana muffins a couple of weeks ago and they were a huge hit in my house and my office. This recipe can be made into muffins or bread.

TIP - Whole grain flours are not as moist as overly processed bleached white flour, so adding Greek yogurt to the mixture helps make baked goods moist and delicious. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of oil or butter which I changed to 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt.

WHOLE GRAIN BANANA MUFFINS
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
5-6 bananas, mashed
1 cup coconut sugar (or 1/2 cup Truvia or 1 cup brown sugar)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease muffin cups or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Make a well in center of flour mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).  Spoon into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.

I hope your friends and family enjoy them as much as mine did.

I saw this on Facebook the other day and loved it -
"You are what you eat, so your food should not be fast, cheap, easy and fake."
Pretty much sums it up. Remember to try to eat more of the foods that God made and less of the junk that man made. Your body will thank you for it.

Blessings to you all,
Lori

STOCKING UP HEALTHY & ON A BUDGET

With all of the natural disasters that have been happening lately, we decided that it was time to stock up and prepare in case of a disaster or emergency. Preparing for an emergency or disaster was part of our home dialysis training. Since Kevin's life literally depends on having electricity and medical supplies, we have to be prepared. About 10 years ago we had a horrible ice storm and were without electricity for 7 days. Since then I try to always have flashlights and extra batteries handy as well as candles and lighters. Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast this week and stopped New York City, New Jersey and others in its tracks. Some people may be weeks without power. Please keep all of these people and the workers in your prayers as they try to clean up and get back to normal. Trying to stock up on non perishable foods while maintaining a healthy diet can be a challenge, but I've been doing some research and want to share with you what I've come up with.

MEDICAL - In home dialysis training they gave us a red folder with a list of Kevin's prescriptions; all of his doctor's contact information; emergency contact information; letters from his doctor stating that he is on life support and needs immediate medical attention in case of disaster or emergency.  They told us to keep that folder somewhere other than our home in case we lost our home, so I keep that red folder in my office at work.

MISC SUPPLIES - Hand held can opener; utility tool; flashlights & extra batteries; wet wipes; hand sanitizer; band aids; plastic forks & spoons; lighters; alcohol pads; dust masks, etc. You get the picture.

FOODS - Canned beans (great source of complex carbs, protein & fiber)
                 Canned veggies
                 Canned soups
                 Tuna (great source of protein)
                 Salmon (great source of protein)
                 Granola bars
                 Canned nuts
                 Crackers
                 Peanut butter
                 Juice boxes
                 Bottled water
                 Cans of V8 juice
                 Ensure, Slim Fast or other protein drinks
               
My local Homeland grocer has Libbys canned vegetables on sale for $0.69 a can this week and Big Lots has Green Giant canned veggies on sale for $0.65 a can. While they are that cheap is a great time to stock up. I also found Kashi and Nature Valley granola bars at Big Lots for $2.00 a box. They are great sources of energy and don't have a lot of junk in them. Big Lots also had canned and jars of nuts on sale. Nuts are a nutritional powerhouse.

Most canned soups are loaded with HFCS, MSG, preservatives, sodium, etc. But Progresso has some without all of that and Campbells now has a new line of "Natural" soups without all the junk in them. Big Lots has the Campbells Natural Soups for $1.25 a can, plus I had a coupon for $1.00 off when you buy 3 cans.

Big Lots also had wet wipes, bottled water, flashlights and jumbo packs of batteries very cheap.

Anyone that knows me knows that I do not go to my local Walmart. Our town has the worst Walmart in the world! I don't have the time or patience to go there. You can't get in and out in under an hour and always have to stand in line to checkout for 30 minutes. The only time I have to shop is my lunch hour, right after work (but I have to be home by 6 to get Kevin hooked up to the machine), and on Saturdays or Sunday afternoons. You couldn't pay me enough money to go to our Walmart on a Saturday. I watch the sale papers, use coupons and shop at Homeland, Walgreens, Dollar General and Big Lots. I can shop in any of those stores and be in and out in 30 minutes.

Eating healthy, stocking up and being prepared for an emergency can be done on a budget. It never hurts to be prepared just in case. If you have any other tips that I left out, please share.

God bless each of you and keep you and your families safe and healthy always.

Lori

FALL CAMPING 2012

I LOVE FALL!! We go camping every Fall with our friends, The Beanes. Teri enjoys the gorgeous Fall weather as much as I do, so it works out well. We take a stack of books... now she takes her Kindle, I am still in the stone age and still take my stack of books. We relax, read, sit by the campfire & just enjoy the beauty of the season. This year, my cousin, Larissa, and her husband, Eric, borrowed his parents' RV & came with us. Larissa is related to both of us. Larissa's Mom is Teri's cousin. Larissa's Dad was my Dad's brother. The more we spend time together, the more we realize how much alike we are. I am so thankful to have her and her "Hottie" in our lives.

We had so much fun. Our wonderful hubbies cooked an awesome breakfast for us each morning.


We have always taken our dachshund, Slick, camping with us. She is almost 20 years old & not getting around very good, so she stayed home with Grant. As we were loading the RV to get ready to go, she sat at the bottom of the steps & cried. It was so sad.  I think it really hurt her feelings when we took Hank & Lucy instead. Hank & Lucy had a great time. They were very well behaved especially considering they are only 9 months old. They didn't stay the whole time. We were concerned about having them in the RV while doing dialysis, so I took them back home.

We take the dialysis machine & equipment with us & do it in the RV. We were getting ready to hook him up and realized that we forgot to bring needles. My son and his wife had come down to visit since we were so close to Durant and Tiffany remembered that she had seen a dialysis clinic in Durant. She quickly found the phone number and after calling Kevin's dialysis nurse, Tiff & I made a trip into Durant and "borrowed" needles from the Durant Dialysis Clinic. We are so thankful that we have an RV and that we can take the equipment with us, but we are sure hoping that this is the last time we have to do that. Hopefully he will have a new kidney and feeling great the next time we go camping.

One of the easiest meals to make while camping or anytime, is a "boil".  Everyone calls it something different. Some call it Frogmore Stew, others Shrimp Boil, Crawfish Boil, etc. We use a turkey fryer. Fill the pot with water (I think it would taste even better if you used chicken broth), add 2 packages of Old Bay or Zatarains seasoning. When the water starts to boil add an onion (cut into chunks), small potatoes or chunks of potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, probably 10-15 minutes. Then add frozen small corn of the cob. Cook another 5-8 minutes. Then add smoked sausage and/or brats. Cook another 5 minutes. Add fresh or frozen shrimp and cook another 5 minutes. Serve on newspapers, platters or large bowls. You can add as much or little of each of these items as you want or need, depending on how many are eating and what your favorites are. You can use crawfish or frog legs or crab legs, etc. There's really no set way to do it. Just throw in whatever you like. Just remember to put the item that has to cook the longest in first, then the rest according to how much cooking time they require. Shrimp only requires a few minutes of cooking time. If cooked too long, it gets tough & rubbery. Easy one pot meal and very little mess.

Happy Fall!

Blessings to you all,
Lori

Changes Part 2 - Dialysis

My husband has always been the picture of health. Thin, lots of energy, hadn't had a sick day from work in over 20 years until 2008. He had begun having trouble swallowing & everything he did manage to eat, gave him indigestion. We found out he had a hiatal hernia & esophagial reflux. They went in & stretched his throat on 2 separate occasions & he was able to eat normally again. However, after doing his labwork for the procedure, the Dr calls & says his kidneys were failing. WHAT??? That's when we learned about Nephrology & began meeting more medical personnel than we ever wanted to know. He still felt fine. No physical symptoms at all, but every time they did bloodwork, his creatinine & potassium were high. Then on February 24, 2010, he was too weak to get out of bed & go to work. I had a feeling that this was it. Labwork showed his potassium levels were 9.5. He was admitted to hospital & began emergency dialysis. He bounced back quickly. The doctors & nurses keep saying that he is the healthiest dialysis patient they have ever seen. When you go on dialysis you can draw disability immediately. Kevin would go crazy if he didn't work. He is an electrician. So he decided to continue working full time (his employer has been very gracious with Dr appts, dialysis, etc.). I also work full time & my employer is not as gracious. I have a very very stressful job & my boss does not think that anyone should ever be gone from work for any reason at all unless an ambulance comes to carry you away... and even then he would probably follow you to the hospital with an armful of work.

Kevin went to the dialysis clinic 3 days a week, but they are only open from 7 am to 5 pm, so he was missing too much work. In July we began home dialysis training. Since I was to be his caretaker, I had to learn as much as I could about dialysis in as short a time as possible. Again, I can NOT miss work, so I would go to work between 6:30-7:00 Mon-Fri & leave about 12:50, go straight to clinic for training & finish up there around 6 pm Mon-Fri. I worked a few hours on Saturdays & Sundays to make sure that I got my 40 hours in. I was beyond exhausted, but did not have a choice. After 3 1/2 weeks of training, the Dr sent us home with all the medical equipment. Our oldest son is in college, so we turned his bedroom into a medical equipment room. Our house is only 1300 square feet. The equipment & supplies takes up almost the entire bedroom.

Since August 13, 2010 we do hemo dialysis at home 6 days a week. We both get off work at 5:00, rush home & try to have him hooked up by 6:30. The whole process takes 3 1/2 to 4 hours, if you don't have any trouble. This has been the greatest trial we have ever had to face, but God has carried us through. Our church family has been absolutely amazing. Our church ladies brought dinner to us 3 days a week for several months. Also, my husband's best friend stepped up in a huge way. I trained him how to be the caretaker, so most weeks he comes 2 or 3 days so that I can get things done around the house, chaffeur our 15 yr old & friends around, grocery shop, etc.

We are blessed with wonderful friends that we enjoy going to dinner with or playing cards, etc. Now we only have time for a quick dinner before or after dialysis. The luxury of taking our time or going out of town for the weekend is no more. Kevin was recently approved for the transplant list. We are believing for a miracle and that a transplant is not necessary and that we can get rid of that mechanical kidney. God has been faithful and we know that He will continue to carry us through. We are excited to see the great blessings that are in store for us when this is over.