Healthy New Year

Matt and I have decided to get healthier. We are watching carbs and trying to limit calories. Matt has been getting plenty of exercise chopping and stacking wood since we installed out wood boiler for heat. I have been using the Wii Fit Plus and have lost a few pounds, and feel great. My back is a little sore, but it is very weak due to the time it has been in-active from the bulging disc. I have recently made a couple of low calorie, low carb recipes that I wanted to share.

Cauliflower Cakes (Like Crab Cakes)

One Head Cauliflower
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese (I used cheddar made from 2% milk)
1/2 Cup Ground Pork Rinds (Pork Rinds have NO CARBS!)
1 Egg (I used 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)
Salt and Pepper

Cook cauliflower using your preferred method. Add all ingredients and mix. It should look sort of like lumpy mashed potatoes. Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons Olive Oil. Make patties and fry on each side until they are browned and crispy (about 3 minutes on each side). Eat plain, or with sour cream.

This made 22 cakes.

17 Calories/cake. 1.5 Carbs/Cake

These were so good! The kids LOVED them!


Banana Oatmeal "Cookies"

2 over-ripe bananas
1 Cup Quick Oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet using cooking spray. Drop mixture by spoonful onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

This made 12 cookies.

26 calories/cookie. 5 carbs/cookie.

These turned out kind of bland. Next time I will add 1/4 cup brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. It will add a few calories and carbs, but should still be less than most other cookies. Great for breakfast with your coffee!


I encourage all of you to share any healthy recipes or tips you may have, along with workout tips.

We have taken this on as a family and the kids have thanked me for making such delicious food. I was worried they wouldn't like baked fish or mashed sweet potatoes, but they do! I figured I would be making 2 different dinners each night, but they are liking everything so far. Trevor is not a fan of greens, but he chowed down on the cauliflower cakes. It has only been about a week and we are already feeling better - I can't wait to see how we feel in a month.....and if we lose enough weight we'll have to make a shopping trip!

As promised, here is the scoop on Jarrod. I will start from the beginning for those who haven't known his background. Jarrod was diagnosed with ADHD in kindergarten, although I knew very early on that he was "different" from other children. He was not just a rambunctious child, but he seemed troubled with emotion and social interaction. My youngest brother had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrom ( high functioning autism) years back, and felt there was some connection with his symptoms and Jarrods. As he has aged diagnosis have been added and dropped, but he continues to struggle with the same things. School is a nightmare and he is contantly being expelled. He cannot maintain relationships with friends, or family members. He has paranoia that people are watching and/or judging him. He acts out in aggressive ways and due to this he can no longer live in our home as he is dangerous to others. He has recently started self-harming, which is what has landed him into the psychiatric treatment center he is in today, as he was a danger to himself. In the time he has been in treatment we have learned that he has extra electrical currents in his brain, which are basically seizures inside his head.These seizures are in the temporal and cerebral areas of the brain, which control impulses and emotions. These are not visible on the outside and are only found when special E.E.G's are run. I thank God every day for this treatment facility and the tests they have run! He has begun taking an anti-seizure medication that takes some time to be fully absorbed into his system. He has not yet been deemed "medically stable", so any psychiatric treatments are not "fully" effective. He has been doing better the last couple of weeks and I am told we are close to being "Medically Stable". When this happens we can much easier adjust psychiatric medications and therapies. We will also know if there are additional diagnosis.

On a personal note, this journey has been a very difficult and emotional one for this family, immediate and extended. No one can know, unless they are going through something similar, what this feels like. For so long, until he went into residential treatment, I was made out to be crazy, a bad parent, or even worse, an uncaring parent. To all of you, it is not your place to judge, and you'll most likely never understand, but being supportive and learning about mental health and the short comings our healthcare system has in this area is a positive thing you can do.