While this post is ostensibly about the recipe for Soba Noodle Salad with Chicken and Scallions from November Everyday Food, it is also about my frustration with food.

Let’s start with the recipe. It’s actually sobas, chicken, scallions and red cabbage with an oriental dressing. Very easy to put together and very tasty. I added some carrots to get another veg in there. I enjoyed it and will be eating leftovers for lunch. This is a nice quick meal – particularly if you already have some leftover chicken you can just shred.

This was a good recipe for me to make the night that I did. I’ve mentioned that I’ve been struggling with an ongoing infection for months (UTI) and then what we believe are kidney stones (lab report not back yet). On the day in question, I returned from the Dr’s office struggling to process the latest info. Although we have no verified proof yet of stones, that’s what they believe I have. And it turns out I’ve probably given them to myself via my weight loss.

Here’s the deal – as I’ve blogged about here, I’ve lost about 20 lbs eating Martha’s food and thinking about food as Martha does.  It was really eye-opening for me and I drastically changed what I eat, encompassing lots and lots and lots of greens and eating nuts for afternoon snacks.  As a cruel joke, those foods are high in oxalates, which can cause kidney stones.  I came home with a little pamphlet listing foods high in oxalate. On the list is pretty much everything I have been eating.  In fact, the only things it seems that are not high in oxalates are foods I’ve learned to avoid  – things like white bread!  I’m sure I am simply in shock and will figure this out, but right now I’m mad at the world that spinach, swiss chard, chocolate (yes, chocolate), nuts, sweet potatoes, wheat germ, berries and much more are on the list. I (jokingly) told Mr. MarthaAndMe that I’m just going to eat cake and ice cream since they are the only things that are safe.

I’m supposed to cut way back on oxalates for now then try to find a balance. Snort. Turns out the buckwheat in the soba noodles is even on the list. I looked in the cereal cupboard this morning and of the 6-7 boxes in there, the only things I could eat were Special K or Frosted Flakes. Blech. Maybe I’ll eat oatmeal for breakfast from now on. They also told me to drink lemonade – something I used to drink a lot of but learned to cut out of my diet because of the sugar content. Yes, I know I could just put some lemon juice in my water, but I really hate that!

Yes, I’m crabby about this. I finally found a way to eat that allowed me to first lose, then keep off the weight I had lost (quite an achievement for me) and now I learn it was all wrong, wrong, wrong.  Let me be clear that I will not cut out chocolate. I’d rather be dead. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but small amounts of chocolate must remain in my diet.

I have an entire bunch of Swiss chard in the fridge I was going to use to make a recipe in November Everyday Food. I’ll have to give that away. No more spinach and mushroom omelets, spinach salad, wilted spinach, creamed spinach (are you seeing how much I like spinach?). Sigh. Goodbye honey roasted cashews. Goodbye peanut butter.  I’ll pull myself up by my bootstraps and handle this dietary challenge, if not with grace, then at least with determination!

Update: Thanks for all your comments and support on this. Test results now say it was not kidney stones but “sediment” (I can’t find much on Google about this, so if you can point me to something, I would appreciate it). Back to the drawing board, but I’m still supposed to stick to the non-oxalate plan in case I have stones too small to see. I’ve got appts set up for 2nd opinions in the coming weeks.

While this post is ostensibly about the recipe for Soba Noodle Salad with Chicken and Scallions from November Everyday Food, it is also about my frustration with food. Let’s start with the recipe. It’s actually sobas, chicken, scallions and red cabbage with an oriental dressing. Very easy to put together and very tasty. I added … Read more →

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

I ordered Martha’s November Pick, Mario Badescu Cellufirm and have been using it for a few weeks.  I paid $25 plus shipping for one ounce. Eek. This cream is supposed to tighten and plump your skin and improve elasticity. You’re supposed to use is after toner and before moisturizer. Three steps, way too many for me.

This cream is green, which is rather scary, but the color goes away once you rub it in. It smells nice and has a nice feel to it. My skin does feel tighter after I use it, but I have not really noticed much change in my skin’s appearance.  Maybe I’m just ignorant about skin care, but I don’t quite get it.  I’ll stick with my daily moisturizer and skip this I think.

I ordered Martha’s November Pick, Mario Badescu Cellufirm and have been using it for a few weeks.  I paid $25 plus shipping for one ounce. Eek. This cream is supposed to tighten and plump your skin and improve elasticity. You’re supposed to use is after toner and before moisturizer. Three steps, way too many for … Read more →

I ordered Martha’s November Pick, Mario Badescu Cellufirm and have been using it for a few weeks.  I paid $25 plus shipping for one ounce. Eek. This cream is supposed to tighten and plump your skin and improve elasticity. You’re supposed to use is after toner and before moisturizer. Three steps, way too many for me.

This cream is green, which is rather scary, but the color goes away once you rub it in. It smells nice and has a nice feel to it. My skin does feel tighter after I use it, but I have not really noticed much change in my skin’s appearance.  Maybe I’m just ignorant about skin care, but I don’t quite get it.  I’ll stick with my daily moisturizer and skip this I think.

I ordered Martha’s November Pick, Mario Badescu Cellufirm and have been using it for a few weeks.  I paid $25 plus shipping for one ounce. Eek. This cream is supposed to tighten and plump your skin and improve elasticity. You’re supposed to use is after toner and before moisturizer. Three steps, way too many for … Read more →

In keeping with my plan for the blog, I’m going to share a recipe I made that was inspired or influenced by Martha, but not actually a Martha recipe. Last night I made shrimp tostadas.

First I cooked my shrimp in boiling water then plunged them in ice water (Martha trick). I made up a salad of romaine lettuce (4-5 leaves ripped up – here’s another trick – my lettuce was very wilted. I soaked it in ice water for a few minutes and it perked right back up), some leftover corn, a diced tomato, 2 scallions, an avocado and the shrimp. I made a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, sugar, cilantro and salt and pepper. I always like to make dressing in a little jar which I just shake to combine (Martha says to make it in the bottom of the salad bowl, but I prefer to be able to control the amount added to the salad).

I brushed the tortillas with oil and heated them in the oven (another Martha-inspired move) and then I spread some goat cheese (which I did not like before the Martha project) on them.  I served them separately, so we could load our own tostadas at the table. I served it with some sour cream. I loved this. I’m a sucker for avocado and cheese no matter what.  There’s enough left for one more tostada which I’ll be having for lunch today!

Please forgive the bad photo – I’m still learning with the new camera!

In keeping with my plan for the blog, I’m going to share a recipe I made that was inspired or influenced by Martha, but not actually a Martha recipe. Last night I made shrimp tostadas. First I cooked my shrimp in boiling water then plunged them in ice water (Martha trick). I made up a … Read more →

The pick for the next Martha Mondays is the apple tart on page 212 of November Living, chosen by AquaSunday. Sounds delicious! Please join us! Still room for new members if you’re interested – just leave me a comment or shoot me an email.

The pick for the next Martha Mondays is the apple tart on page 212 of November Living, chosen by AquaSunday. Sounds delicious! Please join us! Still room for new members if you’re interested – just leave me a comment or shoot me an email.

Today’s Martha Mondays Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon was chosen by Pru at My Life: Pru Singer. Thanks Pru.

Let me be honest. I didn’t think I would like this. At the least, I knew I would be the only one in my house who would eat it. Mr. MarthaAndMe really doesn’t like Brussels sprouts. The kids are not fans. I like them a lot, but the idea of them in pasta was kind of weird.

I cooked my bacon (anything with bacon can’t be horrible) and then added my shallots (I cheated and used one shallot and then some onion), garlic and sprouts. Once it cooked a bit I added chicken broth. By the end of the allotted time, the sprouts were not cooked, so I covered it and cooked it longer until they were soft.

I didn’t have rigatoni, so I used some curly pasta in the pantry. Mr. MarthaAndMe ate it under duress (not much else on the table to pick from), TeenMartha ate most of hers (picking out the sprouts for the most part). Dude Martha wanted no part of it. I liked it, but still think Brussels sprouts in pasta are weird. I needed something more. I admit I didn’t have fresh sage, so I used dried – maybe that was the problem. It just tasted like pasta with Brussels, bacon and some onion. I don’t know what else it could taste like since that’s all that is in it, but it really needed something else for me. I don’t think I would make this again, but I will probably be picking at the leftovers for lunch all this week. It was fun to try it though.

If you made this, please post the link to that post and let’s try to visit everyone else’s posts!

Today’s Martha Mondays Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon was chosen by Pru at My Life: Pru Singer. Thanks Pru. Let me be honest. I didn’t think I would like this. At the least, I knew I would be the only one in my house who would eat it. Mr. MarthaAndMe really doesn’t like Brussels … Read more →

I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. But Martha has a recipe for it in November Everyday Food using homemade onions. I decided to try it out.

First, let me say, this dish was kind of a pain in the butt to make since it used a lot of pans and bowls. I cut up the shallots and dredged them in flour and fried them (1 bowl, 1 pan). This took a few batches, even though I cut the recipe in half. Next, I had to blanch the beans, which required another pot and a strainer. Then I made the mushroom cream (quite easy actually – butter, mushrooms, broth, flour and milk, although this was another pan). You could make the dish up to this point and refrigerate for a day or two I think. Next, I baked it (1 casserole dish). When it comes out of the oven, you add the onions to the top (what was left of the onions – ahem – I couldn’t stop sampling them, they were so good!).

This smelled and looked good. It tasted good too. It was a totally new experience for me. I usually steam or blanch green beans and serve with slivered almonds or just plain butter. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything else with them. It was very good. I loved the mushrooms and beans together. The fried onion topping is wicked good. This doesn’t feel like a veggie dish – it feels like a casserole. In fact, it could be a main dish for my family, served with some other veggies and a potato or rice side.

I liked it, but don’t think I would serve it for Thanksgiving. For one thing, there are so many rich things on the table that day that I prefer to serve some simple veggies to kind of cut the decadence. Since it’s not part of my family’s tradition, I don’t feel like it’s missing. I do recommend this recipe though. I’ve never had the one with the canned soup and the canned fried onions, but this has got to be a million times better! I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and enjoyed them very much.

As you’ve already noticed, I have no photo. I took photos of this with the new camera, but somehow in trying to download them everything on the camera and memory stick got erased, so I can’t show you my results. I can tell you that it looked very much like the photos I’ve seen in magazines of this dish. The beans were a nice bright green. The sauce was creamy with slices of mushrooms. The onions on top were very thinly sliced rings that were golden brown and very crunchy.

I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. … Read more →

A few days ago I made Martha’s Spiced Pork Roast with Acorn Squash. I had some leftovers, but not a lot. I always have trouble with pork roast leftovers, because it tends to get very dry if you reheat it. So I decided to get a little creative. I scraped the remaining 4 slices of squash and smashed up the insides. I dumped this in a pan with about 1/4 cup cream. I added a few sprinkles of garlic powder, lots of salt and pepper and a little cinnamon. I also added a few tablespoons of water. I slowly heated the mix and stirred until it was thickened. I put in the leftover pork roast slices, turned them over in the mixture, put a lid on and turned the heat off. We ate about 10 minutes later. The pork was nice and moist and sauce was really delicious, if a bit different. Dude Martha said it tasted like pumpkin to him. I was quite proud of myself for finding this creative use of the leftovers. I am sure Martha is not big on leftovers, but in the average American household, leftovers are a way of life. Applying a little Martha creativity to them was fun for me.

Please forgive my lack of a photo. We just got a new camera and it is refusing to let us take the photos off it. On top of that, I’m struggling with yet another bout of kidney stones and had a CT scan Friday for it.  I’ve been sick for more than 3 months at this point and am simply bone tired. Dinner last night was grilled cheese (on wheat Italian bread with some cheese I don’t know the name of – but it was not yucky American and was very good) and basil tomato soup (from a can – I had none frozen). Dinner tonight was at Friendly’s, where we took Dude Martha and his pal. They enjoyed it is about all I can say! I didn’t have much appetite anyhow since the latest kidney episode started about then. I’m gearing up to make my Martha Mondays dish tomorrow and hope that I am through this current episode by then.

A few days ago I made Martha’s Spiced Pork Roast with Acorn Squash. I had some leftovers, but not a lot. I always have trouble with pork roast leftovers, because it tends to get very dry if you reheat it. So I decided to get a little creative. I scraped the remaining 4 slices of … Read more →