I’m Optimistic, Are You?

One of the many 4th of July family reunions

This is a story of a husband to one, a father to four, grandfather to twelve, great-grandfather to fourteen, and friend to many.

Born of German immigrants, Alvin Schultz, met his future wife at the county fair in Iowa. He and Marie were married on October 28, 1945 and resided in their comfortable home on their farm. The farm was home to cows, pigs, corn, soybeans, cats, dogs, rabbits and eventually, children. Alvin and Marie raised three boys and a girl.

Over time the children grew and had families of their own. Alvin and Marie moved into town.  Every year Alvin was asked to ride one of his beloved John Deere tractors in the 4^th of July parade.  And every winter he decorated that tractor with Christmas lights in his front yard.  Alvin was known throughout town as a joker.  When walking into his house one had to be prepared to catch flying objects.  His favorite was to throw an egg. Only when his poor, terrified victim caught it did they realize the egg was rubber. To honor his favorite dog that had passed, Duchess, a cement statue of a German Shepard sat on the porch.  When walking up to the door, Alvin would ask his guests to pet the dog.  Just as their hand got close he would “bark” loudly causing even the calmest person to jump.  He had nicknames for everyone.  I wasn’t Erin, I was Ernie.  And he loved to call my name until I finally responded with a “What?!” His response was always the same, “Oh nothing, just calling my dog.” As a kid, it was very frustrating. 

It started with some loss of balance and then came the trembling.  Alvin was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson Disease.  Then came the shuffling of his feet, the rigidity in his trunk which altered his walking, and his handwriting was getting smaller. He became more and more dependent until Marie had no choice but to let professionals help with his care. While in the nursing home Alvin received physical and occupational therapy to preserve his quality of life. The disease took its toll on the family.  This once vibrant and boisterous man was now so soft spoken he was finding it hard to communicate.  Alvin lost his fight on January 7, 2007, less than a year before his sixth grandchild’s wedding and just a year past his own 60^thanniversary.

Alvin and Marie's 60th wedding anniversary

The point of this story is to make you aware of Parkinson Disease. It is not just something that affects Mohammed Ali or Michael J Fox. It affects normal, happy families.  It affects husbands, fathers, and grandfathers. My grandfather. 

If you have been touched by this story I ask you to help me support APDA. The American Parkinson Disease Association was formed in 1961 to “ease the burden and find a cure for Parkinson Disease.” The cause of Parkinson Disease remains unknown and it is a progressive, debilitating disease. Their organization “focuses its energies on research, patient support, education, and raising public awareness of the disease.” On April 15^th the Arizona APDA, Banner Health-Thunderbird, and the Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy students of Midwestern University will be hosting the first annual Optimism Run. This 5k/1k Fun Run will be held on the beautiful campus of Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ.  You can support our cause in a couple very noble ways. First, you can click on this link (Optimism Run 2012) to participate in our event. Secondly, you can support the work of the APDA by clicking on this link (Donor Drive).  Thirdly, if you would rather donate your time, contact me for volunteer opportunities at the race.  

Thank you for taking the time to read Alvin’s story.  Help me in spreading the “Optimism!”

Case of the Mondays

Yesterday I totally had a case of the Mondays! Work Sunday night was brutal! Our computer system bit the dust so we had to go back to the dark ages of hand written tickets. Makes you appreciate technology when you have to hand write tickets for over 30 tables, for which you were the lone server. Needless to say I got home late but still got up early to get in a run before work.

Tonight I pulled together a pretty tasty little meal.  If you are stuck in the “chicken and rice” rut, try this out.  A while back I found a recipe for Peanut Poi Sauce in Natural Health Magazine.  Topped on grilled chicken it is delicious. This recipe makes a ton so I froze the leftovers which I was able to defrost on a day like today.

Peanut Poi Sauce

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 cup organic peanut butter
• 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 4 T agave nectar
• 3 T brown sugar
• 2 T fish sauce
• 2 T red curry paste

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, whisking regularly, until sauce is creamy. Serve over grilled chicken or a dipping sauce for chicken skewers.

I paired the chicken with something I will call Coconut Curry rice.

Coconut Curry Rice

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1-2 T red curry paste
• 1 cup brown rice

Bring coconut milk and water to a boil in a medium pot. Add curry paste and rice and reduce to a simmer.  I had to keep adding coconut milk and water to make sure it didn’t burn, so keep an eye on it.

And Ta-Da! A boring chicken and rice dinner gets some flavor.  With dinner I enjoyed a present from my brother-in-law.

Do you think that drinking from a Buddha bottle counts as meditating? I’m going with a yes 😉

Shimmy with some Chimichurri

What a nice, relaxing weekend. Yesterday I joined the hoards of pre-teens at the movie theater to watch the newest fad. I did not camp out for the midnight release, I went like a normal person on Saturday afternoon. Some friends of mine went on Thursday night and I’m pretty sure they were the only ones that do not go to a school that has recess as a subject.  My sister said it best, “First it was Harry Potter, then Twilight, now this. What will be the next craze I’ll get sucked into?!” The Hunger Games stayed pretty close to the book.  There were several cheesy parts that made it hard not to roll my eyes, but overall I give it a thumbs up. 

For dinner Friday night I decided to use the grill because it is getting so nice out.  We had some chicken with a chimichurri sauce, quinoa cooked in chicken broth, salad, and fresh baked bread with olive oil.  Quite gourmet 🙂 Here’s the recipe for the sauce which I got from my Whole Foods Recipe app:

Chimichurri Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups of fresh parsley leaves
• 3 T red wine vinegar
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I put 1 tsp in)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Put everything except the olive oil in the food processor and blend into a paste.  While it is still mixing slowing add the olive oil to make the sauce.  Baste the chicken in half of the sauce for about an hour.  Grill and serve with the remaining sauce.  Gotta head out to REI.  We are going backpacking next weekend and guess who doesn’t have a sleeping bag.

Gazpach-wow!

My personal trainer (my husband 😉 ) is very happy that I have actually listened to him and have completed all my workouts so far this week.  Yesterday was a 20 minute easy run followed by an upper body workout.  I did back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, and abs, in that order.  Piece of cake. So last night I decided to go to hot yoga.  It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a class and my doctor has been telling me its part of my prescription.  I always feel so amazing afterwards, why don’t I make it a better habit?!

Today was sprint day. It was a tough one but I survived!:

• 2 minute sprints, 5 times followed by
• 1 minute sprint up a 6% incline, again repeated 5 times
• 1 minute recovery in between each sprint

Last night I went to a farmer’s market.  I picked up some nice skin care products and pretty vegetables. 

I decided to try out a gazpacho recipe tonight to use my fresh veggies.  Here is the recipe that I loosely used because I have never made this delicious soup myself.  Of course I tweaked it to my liking, so this is my recipe:

Green Tomato Gazpacho

• 2 green tomatoes seeded and diced
• 1/3 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1/3 red pepper, diced
• 2 clove garlic
• 2 T fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno
• 3 T water
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp sherry vinegar
• salt to taste

Throw everything in the food processor and blend until smooth.  Garnish with diced fresh tomato. 

This was so surprisingly good.  I’m so excited that I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, the Hunger Games movie comes out! I’m as excited as my “tween” patients… maybe more, that’s so embarrassing 😉

 

No strapless gowns for me

My day started with a nice little leg workout that my loving husband told me I had to do.

• Squats 4×8 reps (I squatted 115 lbs!)
• walking lunges 2 laps of 15 each way (with dumbbells)
• Leg Curl 3×8
• Leg extension 3×8
• Calf press 3x 15
• Follow with abs

Not a difficult workout but I HATE lifting legs. That is why I am having Chad tell me what to do for a while, so that I actually push myself. After my legs stopped shaking I had another appointment with my naturopath.  She started with some acupuncture.

This time she hit all the trigger points on my back. Not as relaxing as last time! She then decided to do fire cupping.

What is that you ask? I really didn’t know either. So I looked up some stuff that I will now share with you… Cupping is an ancient Chinese medicine technique.  The doctor douses a cotton ball in alcohol rubs it on the rim of the glass bulb and lights it on fire. The fire burns out quickly. The bulb is then placed on the patient’s skin, the heat dissipates, and as it cools it creates a suction.  Blood is brought to the area to promote healing. (sources: wikipedia and www.cuppingtherapy.net) To me the theory sounds similar to a physical therapy technique called Myofasical Release, so I was excited to try it. Before she started this was our conversation:

• Dr: You don’t have to wear any strapless dresses anytime soon do you?
• Me: Nope, I’m just working at my internship.
• Dr: You aren’t strutting around in a bikini, right?
• Me: No, I think they would frown upon that.  Why exactly?

This is why

This is my back 9 hours later! Trust me it looks worse in person. It felt pretty good though. She also told me that I get to start adding foods back in next week.  So, next Friday I am supposed to have a “cheese heavy” day. Woo hoo! I think I can probably handle that. Chad will be happy too. This weekend at the grocery store when he realized how deprived we have been without cheese he told me, “Erin, I love you but, if we find out you are cheese intolerant and that’s why you get migraines… I might have to leave you.” He was kidding…I think.

Getting Creative

It has now been almost two weeks of this current “anti migraine” diet.  Much to my surprise, I have not keeled over yet. I have had to become creative with my meals, however.

Plain Greek yogurt with honey and pumpkin pie spice

Lentil Wrap with Beef Pho

For dinner this evening I made a great marinade for some chicken kabobs.

Chicken Kabob Marinade

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper (I like it spicy, if you don’t do less)
• season with salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a container. Add 1 lb of diced chicken. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.  Add to kabobs with red peppers, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Grill on medium-high for about 10 minutes. (If you are using metal skewers be careful taking them off the grill. Chad burnt himself. He also has reminded me about this five times since dinner 🙂 )

We supplemented these tasty kabobs with some kale chips, a roasted tomato and sweet potato gnocchi. I’m not a potato fan but I like sweet potatoes.  These things kinda rocked.  I have gotten in a rut with my workouts and running. Although I was a trainer for years sometimes I find it impossible to get motivated to do what I know I need to do.  It’s a good thing I have an ex-personal trainer for a husband.  Chad wrote me a fun little plan for this week.  Day one was a two-mile run at a quicker pace (I’m trying to get faster) followed immediately by 20 minutes on the step mill (I’m also trying to continue the meltdown). I ended with some abs an foam rolling.  Tomorrow is leg day and I am already feeling sore just thinking about it!

Staying Strong

So it is now day 5 of this new super-duper diet.  I must say I am surviving and feeling pretty good actually.  I’ve even managed to drop three pounds! We just decided we are going on a cruise in May so maybe I’ll tough out this cleanse a little longer. 😉  Today I almost messed up though.  After doing a kick butt Body Pump class I was getting ready to down the protein shake I brought with me only to realize… Ugh! I used chocolate protein powder. I couldn’t check the label but I’m fairly certain there is cocoa in it which is a big no-no right now. Bummer.  So I stopped by the convenience store and settled for this instead.

Last night I made some changes to a pretty tasty pasta recipe I found.  I’m usually not a pasta fan but this was so good I even ate leftovers today.  Click here for the original recipe.  I used greek yogurt instead of creme fraiche and used half the amount of butter. I also omitted the onions and used half the garlic because of my diet restrictions.

Poblano Cream Shrimp Pasta

• salt and pepper
• Cooked Whole wheat pasta or brown rice pasta
• 3 T butter
• 1  Poblano seeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 T skim milk
• 1/2 lb medium shrimp
• thyme and shredded parmesan as a garnish

In a medium saucepan melt 2 T of butter.  Add poblano and garlic and cook until softened, 7-8 minutes.  Whisk in the flour for one minute.  Whisk in chicken stock and simmer and stir for 5 minutes.  Mix the yogurt and milk to thin.  Heat either in microwave or on stove.  Stir heated yogurt into poblano mixture.  Transfer to a food processor, season with salt and pepper and blend until smooth.  In a large skillet melt the remaining 1 T of butter.  Add the shrimp and cook until firm and pink (if using precooked frozen shrimp like I did, thaw then cook until heated through). Season with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked pasta and sauce and mix well. Garnish with thyme (and if you are not me, parmesan cheese). 

I started my internship this week.  So far, so good.  I can tell that by Friday, I’m going to be wiped out!

Two Wheels Are Better Than One

While I cleaned the house yesterday my dogs were being lazy like usual.

Look, It's a Yin-Yang!

Then we headed off to our friends BBQ.  We had a beef brisket that had been on the grill since 5 am. I can actually eat beef right now so I was excited.  I must say, that any other brisket will not even touch this one. We still had an hour before everyone else was showing up so the boys went outside to play. Our new friend Chris has an interesting hobby.

Yes, that is a motorcycle helmet.

Danny hanging on for dear life

This guy even mountain bikes on a unicycle!

I think the other boys decided that two wheels are better than one 🙂  My contribution to the party was a delicious recipe I found in this month’s Natural Health magazine. The fruit and the chips were addicting… it was even healthy!

Fruit Salsa

• 1 lb strawberries
• 2 peaches or 4 apricots (I didn’t use these)
• 1 1/2 cup chopped pineapple
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1-3 T chili powder
• 1 tsp finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint (I  used mint extract because I couldn’t find any)

Dice all the fruit and combine in a large bowl.  In a small bowl combine lime juice and agave nectar.  Add 1 T of chili powder (this is where I added the mint extract).  Keep adding chili powder by the tsp until you reach the desired flavor.  Mix well.  Add agave mixture, cilantro, and mint to the fruit and toss to combine.  Serve immediately.

Sugar ‘n Spice Chips

• 1 bag of corn tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup of sugar ( I used Sugar in the Raw, yum)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 425*.  Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and chili powder in a small bowl.  With a pastry brush coat each chip with a thin coat of butter. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over each chip. Bake for approximately 5 minutes or just until golden.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Time to go be productive.  I think I should probably go for a run before work tonight.  I’m training for the Warrior Dash!

 

 

Farewell To My Favorite Things

I’m pretty sure this is how Paddington got her smashed face. Although most pugs are considered Chinese in origin, Paddington is Vietnamese. I got her from a family that was raising money for their Vietnamese Christian Church. Chad says that is why she tends to not follow directions, because English is her second language.  I’m pretty sure that she is just stubborn. I posted this picture because my head felt like I had gone through that factory for three straight days. Migraine. Ugh.

On day two of this fun adventure Chad brought me breakfast in bed.  What a sweet guy huh? I think I’ll keep him around a little longer 😉 I finally gave in and went to our naturopathic doctor to get these things under control. If you are in the Phoenix area, check them out at the link above. She gave me acupuncture (I really should’ve gotten a picture!), a shot of magnesium, and some cranial manual therapy.  I am now on a magnesium supplement and on a strict diet. This last part, for lack of a better word, SUCKS! Let me just list a few things I am to avoid: nuts, nut butters, bread baked with yeast, olives, pickles, and… CHOCOLATE, CHEESE, AND RED WINE!!!!! As one of my friends kindly put it, “What’s next, no breathing?” I am to keep to this diet for the next three weeks.  We will then start adding things back in to see if one of these delicious things trigger my head to explode. If its one of those last three, I may just cry!

This was really good. I will miss you my friend!

So dinner last night had to be a bit modified.  Since I do most of the cooking, my family is going to go on this diet with me 😉 Here is a link to the original recipe for the Tamale Pie.  I changed a bunch of things so here is what I did (its healthier too):

Tamale Pie

• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 cup instant masa
• 1 cup boiling water
• salt and pepper
• 2 T butter
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 T corn oil
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 T thyme
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 T coriander
• 1 cup beer
• 1 can hatch chilis
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilis
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• cilantro for garnish

1. in a med saucepan heat the milk on med-low. Whisk in the masa and boiling water. Continue to stir for about 10 min, It will get really thick.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in butter and honey. Remove from heat. 2. Preheat oven to 400* In a large oven proof skillet (I just cooked and transferred to a baking dish), heat the oil over med-high. Add turkey and cook until browned.  Season with thyme, cayenne, coriander, salt and pepper.  Stir in the beer to deglaze for about 1 min.  Add the chilis and tomatoes to heat through.  3. Spoon the masa mixture over the turkey mixture, spreading evenly.  Top with the cheddar (except for my piece 😦 ) Pop in the oven and bake for about 15 -20 minutes.  Garnish with cilantro and serve.

I’ve had a very busy morning teaching, marketing, and cleaning. Now it’s time to go to a BBQ to have one last relaxing weekend before I start my clinical rotation on Monday.  It’s springtime in Phoenix!

Recap with some Alfredo

Let me give you a quick recap of things I learned over this past week back at home.

First, my dad eats sandwiches and such the way I do, with a fork and knife. It drives Chad crazy! I just don’t like getting my hands messy. My niece loves her food, just like auntie:)The pizza and wine place I worked at in high school is still delicious.Leftovers are delicious. My dad taught me that braised lamb shank and sautéed spinach are amazing the next morning in eggs.My niece dresses better than I do.My sister makes sure that she does! My ring is so much prettier when I get it cleaned. (and when they replace the tiny diamond that falls out)

Whew! Now we’re up to date.  Last night I made a “skinny” fettuccine alfredo.  I don’t think the boys even noticed the “skinny” part. I also made some yummy broccoli.  I don’t even like cooked broccoli. You should try this one if you are in the same boat.

Slightly Cooked Broccoli

• 1 bag of broccoli florets or 1 pack of broccolini
• 1 T of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T of lemon juice
• 1 T of grated parmesan

Preheat broiler. Coat broccoli in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Broil for about 8-10 minutes. Coat cooked broccoli with lemon juice and sprinkle the cheese on top.  Serve immediately.

All done!