what it's really all about

I've been MIA for a while here.  The largest reason has been because I have been trying to decide what this blog is to me and what I want it to become.  The other large reason...we moved, started new jobs, did a lot of renovating, traveling, and did I say started new jobs?  The last year has been a truly great one.  I love my job and finally feel like I'm in a real groove.

Over the last year, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the blog, but no actual blogging.  Which is unfortunate, because I designed this blog to be a place where I could hold myself accountable for living a healthy lifestyle.  I have kept a large part of my journey towards health very close to my heart.  I've never talked about it on here and would go as far as to say that many of my friends and some family might not even have a clue what I've been going through.

The last few years of my life have been challenging.  I love my husband, family, friends, and of course Hazel, but unfortunately, my health has hindered my full potential for some time now.  I've told you that I'm insulin resistant, but the truth of the matter is finding out that I was insulin resistant was the end of a very long road.

In March of 2011, I was diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri.  Meaning--my brain thought I had a brain tumor.  Crazy right?  There is no real rhyme or reason for it.  I was blacking out for several seconds when I would stand up from sitting or lying down.  Many times a day, I experienced extreme headache pains that medicine was not helping.  An eye doctor made me aware of my intracranial pressure and partial vision loss.  I immediately saw a neurologist for a spinal tap.

I wish I could say that the spinal tap fixed all of my problems.  It did restore my vision.  For the next year, I was unusually tired, sleeping all of the time.  I gained weight with no real lifestyle changes.  The medication I was taking for my intracranial pressure is powerful and had nauseating side effects.  I was gaining weight, and was unable to lose it.  It was frustrating.  I tried so many different weight-loss programs and dieting plans--nothing was working.  It was disheartening and wore on me emotionally.

In January of 2012, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS.  Suddenly, all of my medical issues made sense!  Gaining weight and not being able to lose it? PCOS.  Unusual tiredness? PCOS.  Anxiety and depression? PCOS.  The answer was simple,-- medication, diet, and exercise.  Once I discovered I had PCOS, I was recommended to see an endocrinologist.  She has been absolutely wonderful.  She informed me that I was insulin resistant (pre-diabetic.)  Again, the answer was simple, -- medication, diet, and exercise.   

For so long my pseudotumor cerebri, PCOS, and insulin resistance were the cause of my unhappiness.  Even with medication, diet, and exercise, I haven't always seen results.  I have still had moments of weakness (my poor husband and parents!).  For a while I was really angry about it.  Constantly asking God, why me?  Why do I have to deal with this?  Why do I have to think about everything I do and eat all the time in relation to my health?

I finally got my answer from God.... He simply said, "You don't."  And He's right.

He's already overcome it.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you many have peace. In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I have finally come to see the purpose in it all.  Fortunately, my medical issues do not define me.  They are not who I am, and they are not who I have to be.  There has been a much bigger purpose laid on my heart, and I intend to pursue it.

Hopefully there are some people out there that can identify with all of this.  Of course I've never been alone in all of this, I have a great support system!  But I’m finally in a place where I can choose joy every single day.  I will continue to fight these difficulties, and there will still be hard times, but I’m going to be doing it from a place of joy.  I will no longer allow these struggles to rob me of my joyfulness.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

butternut squash soup

This Monday is finally coming to an end.  

We are wrapping up the evening by watching the debate, of course.

The hubs and I fell in love talking politics, so what else would we do.

But earlier tonight...

Let me just tell you... I outdid myself.

I mean I'm seriously impressed.

I made a soup.

And not just one with tons of beans, but something yummy and healthy.

Husband ate two bowls, so I know I'm not crazy, it's REALLY good!

Butternut Squash Soup.

YUM.

And it gave me an excuse to buy an immersion blender.

What goes in it?

1 large butternut squash (3-4 cups cubed)

2 carrots peeled

2 celery stalks

1 small onion

7 cups of fat free chicken broth

4 sage leaves

1/2 cup skim milk

salt and pepper

How do you put it together?

Get out a big pot and lid.

Cube your butternut squash.

Chop up your celery and onion.

Peel your carrot.

Throw it all in the pot.

Add chicken broth and sage leaves.

Boil for 10 minutes.

Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Remove sage leaves.

Puree with immersion blender (while on stove).

Add milk, salt and pepper to taste.

Puree, puree, puree.

Add some parmesan cheese to the top if you like.

Trust me, you won't regret it.

I hope you ENJOY :)

done and done

David and I are so busy during the week we hardly have time to do anything, especially cook!

While I was searching Pinterest, I started to notice how so many women make their meals once a week or once every two weeks and freeze them.  

So I picked out a couple recipes and got busy.
This literally took me less than 20 minutes to put together.

Before I talk about my recipes, I should tell you about an amazing new app I downloaded.  Not only do I have it on my iPhone, I can access it via the web anywhere.

On Google Chrome, I have a Evernote Webclipper.  So anytime I find a recipe I like, I click on my clipper and tag it in recipes.  It organizes everything for me!  I can clip any recipes and tag them to a specific notebook.

The best part, if I need to look up something from a recipe that I can't remember, I can access it EASILY while at the store!

I made two dishes for this week--Basil Pesto Chicken and Chicken Parm Bake!

I write the directions on the tops, so that David can start something before I get home if he wants.

Here are my recipes!

Basil Pesto Chicken

- Chicken breasts

- Basil Pesto

- Mozzarella cheese

Cook at 375 for 25 minutes.

Pull out, cover in mozzarella cheese and continue cooking 5-7 minutes!

Enjoy!

Chicken Parm Bake

- Chicken breasts

- 1 cup Fage greek yogurt

- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

- Seasoned salt

- Pepper

- Garlic powder

- Onion powder

Preheat to 375.

Cover chicken breasts in the seasonings.

Mix greek yogurt and parm cheese together.

Cover chicken in mixture.  Cover the top of every piece so that it doesn't dry out!

Cook 45 minutes.

Top with fresh parm at the end and let melt.

ENJOY!

banana pancakes? no flour? yes ma'am.

I hope you are having a great weekend!  My Dawgs beat Tennessee and my Volleydoggs came in 3rd at their region tournament!  Hard work pays off!  Now all I feel like doing is going to bed for days!

Fall break is soon enough!

I have a new AMAZING recipe to share with you!

No Flour Banana Pancakes

Do the words pancakes and gluten free go together? Nope.  And they don't taste good either.

But you know what does taste good? Banana pancakes.

What's even better?  Flour free banana pancakes.

Take 1 banana, 1 egg, and 1 egg white. (I also added a little cinnamon!)

Blend. Not too much, but enough!

Spray your skillet.

Make pancakes!

No flour! Lots of protein and potassium!

And they taste, AMAZING!!!!!

I hope you enjoy them!

my mama is awesome :)

My mama is super awesome.  For a lot of reasons. I don't talk about her enough on my blog.

I was feeling a little homesick today after seeing my parents for just a short time yesterday.

David and I took care of Charley while they went to the UGA game.  She was so precious and sweet. It was really fun!

Today, I forgot to get cauliflower at the grocery store and I had this weird feeling I was supposed to go to Walmart to get it.  I was just walking around (with no particular plan in mind and FOUR bags of frozen cauli).  I had thought about getting a pumpkin to sit out for the fall season.  I was thinking about this pretty glass pumpkin my mama always puts out.  She keeps candy corn in it all season.

Just as I had this thought, I turned around and saw one that looked just like hers!  It was only $5, so needless-to-say it now sits on my dining room table with candy corn in it.  While I can't eat it, I know David will enjoy it.  And my homesickness has subsided, because now I have a piece of home here :)

I've been using my crockpot a lot lately.  My amazing mama suggested a recipe she found for Balsamic Chicken.  Yesterday I prepared it, and today we ate it.  AMAZING.  I'm seriously in love!

Let me tell you, my mama knows everything.

I put this yummy meal on before Church and it was ready when we got home!

Inside this pot you will find:

6 pieces of chicken breast (uncooked)

1 tsp Rosemary, Oregano, Basil

1/2 tsp Thyme

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Oil

1 can of diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)

1 onion (sliced, not diced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Only 4 hours on high!

This is what the chicken looked like plated.  We had mashed cauli and black eyed peas with it!  This recipe was super easy and so good!  We absolutely loved it.

Way to go mama!  Thank you for an amazing recommendation!

I hope you had a great weekend!

sundays

I love Sundays.

First, we are loving our Church.

www.watfbc.org

Secondly, it is always just a good day.

I go grocery shopping.

Then make a dinner that will hopefully provide enough leftovers for three nights.

But more on that in a minute... I need to brag on my amazing hubby real quick.

He surprised me with a dozen red roses on Friday!

Work has been wearing me OUT, so it was a really great surprise!

 

But back to Sunday.  Last night, I burnt FOUR fingers on a pan that I didn't know was hot.  OUCH!

 David and I have received a lot of tomatoes recently.  Which I have no qualms with, because I LOVE slicing them up, adding some mozzarella and parm, Italian seasonings, and broiling them for 3-4 minutes.  It's like summer in your mouth.

 

Last night I decided to try out a snack recipe I had seen on Pinterest.   I'm not a huge edamame fan, however when I saw crispy in front of it, I knew I had to make them.

They were everything I dream they would be.  YUMMY!

All I did was shell frozen edamame, tossed them in a little oil, lots of salt and pepper, and grated parm.  400 degrees, 15 minutes. YUMMY pieces of heaven.

 

Needless to say, we had a good Sunday.

I hope yours was too!

cauliflower pizza

I have been extremely under the weather this week.  Some bug has gotten me and apparently refuses to leave! UGH!  I've done lots of sleeping, sleeping, and sleeping.... and just trying to recover!  My volleyball girls made me this sweet Get Well card!  It definitely helped!

I have had time to get over prepared for this coming week though!  And if I haven't made it obvious, I love cauliflower!  There are SO MANY uses for it!  When I learned that you can make pizza crust our of it, well I was sold.  And I love pizza, SO MUCH!  I'm looking so forward to trying it this week!  I will let you know how mine turns out!  Look how yummy it looks!

Chef Courtney

Just before my wedding, I wrote about my cooking first meal as a wife. Well, it has taken some time, lots of moving and lots of traveling has prevented it from occurring before this week.

However! I have exciting news! I did t! And it was SO YUMMY!!!! First of all, my goal was to create a meal that I could enjoy without thinking about carbs and sugar. Check. Defeating insulin resistance one day at a time!

We had artichoke and parm stuffed chicken, zucchini parm, and mashed cauliflower. It was so good! David said the mashed cauliflower was better than mashed potatoes! I threw some cheese in them and they were unbelievable! And let me just go ahead and put this out there.... I'M A REALY GOOD COOK!!! I'm trying not to let my head get too big, but I have been really successful this week! I even perfected a guacamole (my new love) recipe!

I'm always looking for alternative foods and recipes to replace carbs. Do you know of any I can try?

what to cook?

The official countdown to my wedding is now 4 DAYS!!!!! I'm over the top excited :) :)

However, this blog is going to be about after the wedding. And after the honeymoon.

It's about food.

I feel as if the first meal I cook as a married woman is an important one.  So I have very carefully selected several dishes -all Pinterest and blog inspired- to choose from.  AND I would MUCH appreciate having your opinion on the matter!  So let me know what you think would be the most memorable first meal for my new hubby in my comments!

Oh and did I mention this is a 3 course meal?  Well, it is.  And carb-free/low-carb, sugar free?  Well, it is.  Setting my goals high people.

Possible Appetizers

Cauliflower Pizza

Skinny Spinach Dip

Hot Chorizo and Cheese Dip

Possible Dishes

White Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Picatta

Possible Sides to a Chicken Dish

Zucchini Cakes (No Flour Added!)

Fake Mashed Potatoes! (I've been dying to try these!)

Possible Dessert

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie 

 

Okay, I know the Peanut Butter Pie doesn't look sugar free, but it is flour free and I can do a lot with the ingredients to get the sugar out!  But again, let me know if you have any suggestions?  What are your favorite main dishes, etc.?

Getting excited!

Love,

wedding wedding wedding

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted!  I have seriously been "going doing making" for the wedding nonstop these days!  We only have 10 days until the BIG day!!!! And we couldn't be happier!  I've been up to a lot these days.  And some of it I need to wait and show you after the wedding!  Don't want to spoil the big day for anyone!  Today, my mama and I left for Athens in the morning and spent a long day running errands and meeting with people!  I also had my make-up trial run today :)

Eating at Marti's at Midday is a HUGE treat for me!  Since I'm usually on a 21 minute lunch break... haha.  And it never fails to be amazing!  I had the curry chicken salad... YUM!  Now usually this comes with tons of yummy pita chips to eat your chicken salad with, but for the insulin resistant-I just go without!

Not to make it seem like all we did was eat today, but we tried out a new restaurant in Athens!  For those of you who are familiar with the city, it's next to Brumby on Baxter, where Jimmy John's used to be!  It's called Skogies and it was awesome!  You pick a protein (grilled or fried) and a side.  My mama and I both had grilled shrimp with broccoli salad!

Lately, I've been trying out some new hair products and I have TWO absolute favorites!!  The first is Psssst! Dry Shampoo, which I have talked about on here before.  I spray it on my clean hair and it keeps it fresher longer!

The second product that I'm LOVING is Organix Moroccan Argan Oil.  It is wonderful!  This shampoo and conditioner makes my hair feel clean, soft, and shiny.   I am in L.O.V.E! Are there any hair products you are loving? Let me know, I love trying new things!

I hope you are having a great week!  I promise to update more as the wedding gets closer!!!!!

the quiche has risen

My new diet has tested me to try new things! I have a list of recipes I'm itching to try. However, I need a food processor for most of them. Maybe soon?! But tonight, I'm baking a crustless quiche for me and my man. He's super pumped because it's all protein, and I'm excited because it has less than 2 carbs, no sugar, and almost no fat! Way to go me! I even took a picture of my excitement!!

David seriously had to talk me into waiting on the quiche to finish. I wanted to check it every five minutes. What I haven't told you yet is that my man, he can cook! Now, he hasn't been able to cook as often as he wants since he's been in law school. But he definitely enjoys helping me in the kitchen.

And waaaalaaaaa, the final product!


It was so yummy!! Since it was crustless, I took the advice of my friend Sarah and used turkey bacon around the edges to give it that crunchy crusty feeling. THANK YOU SARAH! It was amazing!

Hope you had a great week and are having a wonderful Sunday!

insulin resistance

Today was so fun at school! We are studying the Age of Discovery and did a few activities. I blogged about this more on my Teaching page! But here is a snap shot of our fun!

But, on a more serious note...

While I was off enjoying my long weekend a few days ago, I learned some news that will forever change my life. On Friday morning, I found out I have insulin resistance.

WebMD does a great job of explaining what insulin resistance is, so I'll let the "experts":

"Normally, food is absorbed into the bloodstream in the form of sugars such as glucose and other basic substances. The increase in sugar in the bloodstream signals the pancreas (an organ located behind the stomach) to increase the secretion of a hormone called insulin. This hormone attaches to cells, removing sugar from the bloodstream so that it can be used for energy.
In insulin resistance, the body's cells have a diminished ability to respond to the action of the insulin hormone. To compensate for the insulin resistance, the pancreas secretes more insulin.
People with this syndrome have insulin resistance and high levels of insulin in the blood as a marker of the disease rather than a cause.
Over time people with insulin resistance can develop high sugars or diabetes as the high insulin levels can no longer compensate for elevated sugars."

The good news is you can fight against insulin resistance and even sometimes reverse the cycle. However, it takes a very strict diet and exercise plan to do so. I immediately started medication, a high protein-high fiber-NO carb diet, and exercise. By not taking care of oneself with insulin resistance, you become at risk for other problems such as osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer and many other things.

So I've decided to make the most of this opportunity by doing the following things:

1. Blogging recipes. I intend on coming up with substitutes for my favorite dishes. Everything I cook will have to be sugar-free, low-fat, and low-carb. So look forward to some healthy dish ideas!

2. Keeping you up-to-date with my progress.

3. And not turning my blog into "the diary of the girl with insulin resistance". But rather, informing you about new healthy options every now and then!

For now I've started this book, to learn as much as I can about my condition. While there was nothing I could have done to prevent becoming insulin resistance, I intend on doing everything I can to reverse the cycle.


For all of those who have been with me over the last year following my progress, this is the end of the road. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all.