Category: Low pro food / cooking

Low pro food / cooking

February 12th 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

International Pancake Day! 

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Today is international Pancake day all around the world , So I celebrated with some low protein mix pancakes. They are so easy. 1 cup mixquick, 2/3 cup water. Topped with Banana , butter and maple syrup.  Totally off my calorie count for the day though. Sometimes you just have to induldge. I still remember the first time  I had mix quick pancakes. I had gotten a sample from the clinic, just one cup, while I was staying in vancouver at my friend Claudias house. Her Dad made them for me. We where so amazed how “real” and “normal” they looked and they tasted just fabulous! Before Mix Quick I only ever had Kingsmill all purpose pancakes. They where thick, white and never turned colour. They looked really odd and where so hard to cook. And you could not make waffles with them in a waffle iron. Mix Quick is one of my favorite products as its so easy to use. I make muffins with it, bananna bread, waffles , pancakes , scones and more. I love adding fruit to my pancakes. keeps it interesting. I have added canned peaches with the liquid. Apples and Cinnamon,  all types of berries, Kiwi, or even bananas. On Christmas my sister in law made me gingerbread pancakes! There is so much you can do with them. Its a great warm winter breakfast. We use to have pancake or waffle days once a week. Now its more once a month. 

 

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Low pro food / cooking

Pizza pops and Wheatstarch buns

Posted on by Amanda Horner

This is the recipe I use for my wheatstarch buns and pizza pops. It is from cambrooke foods.

ategory: Dough, Pizza

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 loosely filled cups (350g) CBF Wheat Starch
  • 1/3 cup (60g) Metamucil®
  • 1 1/2 tsp (6g) yeast
  • 1/2 tsp (5g) salt
  • 3 tsp (15g) baking powder
  • 2 Tbs (30g) sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups (275g) warm water
  • 2 Tbs (16g) vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup (115g) non-dairy liquid creamer, warmed

Directions

  • Heat oven to 115-120 degrees F.
  • Mix warm liquid ingredients together in a bowl. (They can be combined and placed in a microwave for about 1 minute to lightly heat). Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and incorporate into liquid ingredients and mix vigorously.
  • Dough will stiffen quickly. With greased hands, knead the dough for just a few minutes.
  • Return to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let dough sit in warm oven (115-120 degrees F) for about 10-20 minutes or until dough almost doubles in size.
  • Remove from oven and press into a 16-18-inch pizza pan and bake for approximately seven minutes at 400 degrees F.
  • Add your favorite sauce and toppings and bake pizza for approximately 10 more minutes.
  • Makes one pizza crust.
  • SUGGESTIONS: Dianne Sullivan English Muffin prep tips: Fry 60g discs of dough in margarine in covered pan on medium low heat for about 3.5 minutes on each side.

Serving size:  106 g   ( 1 slice )
Servings per recipe:  8

Per Recipe Per Serving
PHE: 136 mg 17 mg
LEU: 200 mg 25 mg
Pro: 4.3 g 0.54 g
P.E.: 0 g 0 g
Calories: 1920 240
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Low pro food / cooking

February 5th 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

Successful baking day today :) Finally found some motivation and have a very good start to the morning. I had yoga class this morning then I came home and relaxed for a bit. Then I went to get groceries from our local store mostly produce.  I love being able to just run down the street and pick up things that i need during the week. I spent 28 dollars and got all new fresh veggies, some captin crunch, and a few small things.  When I got home I was able to do some baking I have some bread in the bread machine and I made wheat starch breakfast buns and wheat-starch pizza pops. Today I stuffed the pizza pops with ragu, garlic, green onions, white onions, mushrooms and cheddar dayia cheese.  I cant wait to eat them. I just have them on the table cooling! I have some photos I took and Will post them to this blog post. I tried to take step by step but they may not upload in the right order. WordPress only allows me to upload one at a time. 

I love it when I have fresh baking, tonight I will put them in individual zip log bags and freeze them for the week. having my low protein food on hand will help keep me more on track. I have fallen off this week and havent had any low protein food in a few weeks. So hopefully I can get my levels back down :) 

So that was my morning. Now I am going to sit down and enjoy my lunch while catching up on my favorite show. 

I hope you enjoy the photos! Let me know if you make your own. I will post the recipe I use from Cambrooke foods as well! 

 

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Low pro food / cooking, That's my PKU life

January 22nd. 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

Well I just finished a rotation at work and have a day off today. Got a chance to finally get some rest today. Happy to have some days off so I can get back to working on my activity and fitness. I was reflecting on my goals and progress today. Though I have not lost any weight yet I feel better. I feel more postive and I feel happier and I am trying to focus on my over all health. I was thinking today how important it is to me to transform my body and my health while maintaing compliance to a strict PKU diet. I have been making small changes here and there. I really have increased my fruit intake already. I didnt really notice it untill I looked back over my notebook at my meals . and I did get some baking done this week so I have been having low protein toast for breakfast, and for lunch at work I have been taking 1 pizza  pop, banannas, peaches or applesauce. On the weekend I took carrots and celery sticks.  I have been reading alot of information on organic fruit and vegetables as well as the benifits of raw food.  It has reminded me how important they are for over all health. Since the PKU diet is so restricted fruits and veggies make up such a large part of it , it is easy to get bored and frustrated. I am such a picky eater as well. So i have been coming up with tricks and trying to be more creative. When i was at work on monday the girls told me about “yonanas” its this all natural soft frozen yogurt or soft ice cream maker . All you use in it is frozen fruit. No added liquid no sugar or sweatners. I cant wait to give it a try! I dont like alot of fruit textures and have a hard time getting all my servings in so this would a great healthy snack for me, great for breakfast or dessert. cole thinks it will be fun come summer too!  Here is the website for yonanan: http://www.yonanas.com/

and i have posted some information on my fan page about it. I am so excited!

I bought it from bed bath and beyond , as well as a healthy and natural chip maker.  with this chip maker I can make sweet potatoe chips, potatoe chips, kale, apple , mango and other chips. It comes with a slicer to and you can add salt or seasonings and then you lay them on this special tray and put them in the microwave for 3 minutes. I am exicted because I can make them myslef and I know what will be used and where the vegtables come from! I will be able to pronounce all the ingredients I use and I can use all my home grown and organic veggies. I of course will post some photos when I get the chance to use both my new appliances!

Today I went to yoga as well. I was so stiff and tired and sore all over it was hard to get motivated to get there but wow so worth it! i really enjoy it and I was thinking its something that is going to really help my body. i can already feel the differences and I want to be to doing it more than once a week. Our teacher teaches classes over in the north shore twice a week so now I am going to be able to go 3 times a week.  I feel pretty good about my routine and my plans ahead. So far its a variety of things each week.  Gym and Aqua fit on mondays and wednesdays.   Tuesdays are yoga days, thursdays is just gym day for me , and a walk with sherry. Friday is gental curcuit and badminton.  Starting February 1sy yoga will be 3 times a week monday and tuesday mornings and wednesday afternoons as well. I cant just do the same thing every day, I need a hole body all over work out!

I am feeling pretty postive going forward. I know my focus are just to be healthy and fit. i want to get into shape. I want to have a healthier life style. I dont want to have pain , or end up with diabetes. But mostly , I want to be able to live a better quality of life and be more active. I want to take part in more  activties this summer and not get left out. I want to try new things and be able to keep up and not be in pain or out of breathe. These are the things that are important to me. I am doing this for me, and for cole. A new life for my body. one step at a time!!

I am also proud to say I have been drinking way way more water!! I have been drinking almost my hole 2 liters a day.  I use to go days even weeks with no water. No liquids at all other than my formula. I never really use to notice the effects. I never felt thirsty really. Now I am thirsty all the time. I wake up dehydrated, I crave water, and I am drinking it all day long.  It is almost overwhelming but I notice I feel alot better .

So thats all that is new with me!  I look forward to see how this week goes!

wish me luck! thanks for reading!

xoox Amanda C

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Low pro food / cooking, That's my PKU life

January 19th 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

Despite my lack of sleep I found some motivation today and did some baking when I got home from work. I made some pizza pops and a fresh loaf of light homestyle low protein bread. Nothing like fresh bread baking! I am looking forward to having toast again for breakfast. I love warm breakfast foods they warm me up and wake me up for the day. I work all weekend day shifts so need to take a lunch. Today I took cracker and jam sandwhiches and salad.  Will be nice to have a pizza pop and fruit tomorrow.  I am hoping to have enough energy after work tomorrow to make some tortillas. I like to fill them with salad , or fruit. 

i am feeling better these last few days , other than being really tired and not sleeping well. I am drinking way more water too. I was looking over my records today on my lunch break and I have been recording every day counting calories and my phe and every day expect when I have sushi I have been under my intake. I try to be under or just at it. I dont like to be over.  Also my calories have been much better. It has been alot of work getting them lower and it took weeks for my stomach to adjust to the less volume of formula. I am finally not feeling starving and working on my portion sizes. My friend and I went to the gym twice this week, once to aqua fit and once to yoga. So it was an eventful week. Hoping to work out 4 out of 5 days this coming week. I am down 1.6 lbs since the begining of january. Id like to loose 1 or 2 pounds a week than i will meet my goal in time for summer! 

So wish me luck and fingers crossed! I am feeling very postive though and not discouraged. I am looking forward to working out this week and my yoga class on tuesdays. 

before I go , here are some photos of my baking from today! 

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Low pro food / cooking, That's my PKU life, Weight loss

January 7th 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

Well I feel like I have had some accomplishments today. I mailed in 2 blood dots over the weekend, and began tracking my food again. Made up my note book and am making an effort to just drink my p.ade and mte. 

Today however I woke up to fresh snow and it was really coming down. It was just to perfect for a pancake breakfast. so much for calorie counting ! But mmm gingerbread pancakes are my new sweet addiction that my sister in law introduced me to over christmas. 

I spent the morning working on PKU awareness on both my twitter account and my facebook fan page. I posted all the links I could find for other PKU blogs to help promote all my fellow bloggers, I posted information about food and the up and coming BC PKU DAY. I cant wait and am greatly looking forward to it. There is a great line up of guest speakers this year and i love going to these events for the social aspect. Meeting people face to face, sharing stories and getting to know the community and the support that is out there. 

I ordered some new low protein foods today finally. about 200 dollars worth. I ordered 2 boxes of aprotein biscotti cookies, 5 aprotein ditalini, 5 aproten riatini, 4 wheatstarche baking mixes, 1 dietary specailties mac & Cheese, 1 wel plan baking mix and a special order of CBF short grain rice.  the rice is not included in the over all price and has to be special ordered so will take 2 weeks. 

Just before lunch I was getting really hungry again and trying to figure out what to make when I got a special deliveray in the mail, well 2 actually, one from cambrooke foods and one from my friend Nicole pallone. Cambrooke foods sent me new samples of there products swirl and flavoured bettermilk. I was so excited to try the bettermilk but was deeply dissapointed. It was way to strong for me and just not a fan. I have never been able to handle that synsatized fake strawberry flavouring. Not sure if its to sweet or what it is. But it actually makes me sick. So now I am scared to try the orange.  Have not tried the swirl yet. it is carmel flavour and can be a pudding or a formula depending how much liquid you add. Kind of excited to give it a try. 

Nicole sent me a pkg of Spanish rice made by dietary specalities and that is what I had for lunch. It was really good. Next time I am going to add more vegtables to it though. 

so other than that not alot going on.Cole is home from work early do to the snow knocking out the power at his job site so hopefully we can go for a walk later. I am really tired again. still not sleeping well.  hopefully wil get up some motivation to do some baking tonight or tomorrow. 

 

well thats all for now, thanks for following! 

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Low pro food / cooking, Managing the diet, That's my PKU life, Weight loss

January 3rd 2013

Posted on by Amanda Horner

Well I am working night shifts for the next little while. Night shifts are sure hard on the body. I knew when i became a nurse that I would have to work a crazy schedule and specially starting out casual and on call. I just thought id get use to it. Even almost 3 years later it still takes a toll on my body. I do not know many people with PKU who work in health care and the ones that I do know I have asked them for advice. I just cant seem to get a system in place. Night shifts really mess me up for a few days at a time. Normally i dont work to many in a row but a nurse recently quit at my facility and her line has not been filled yet. So I worked over night on the 27th of december, new years eve, yesterday, today, saturday, sunday and then the 8th and 9th. 

Normally I try to bring low protein snacks to have with me but I try so hard not eat. Does not work so well by 2 am I am so hungry. Eating anything on night shifts even if it is low protein effects my daily intake. I usually take things like low protein cookies, pizza pops, crackers, apple sauce or whatever is quick and easy. Right now I have a very limited supply of low protein food so I have been taking cereal and working really hard not to eat it till at least 5 am. I also take an extra formula. 

Its frusterating as I am trying to loose weight and on the days I work over night my intake and my calories are higher. Not to mention the next day after I wake up for my nap I have “gut rot” which is a really upset stomach , nausea and a pounding headache. Today I have not been able to get much sleep at all. I had a bad fall on new years eve day and I think I have bruised my ribs on my right side , and my right shoulder , arm , elbow and wrist right down into the bone so i can not get comfortable  I need to get some sleep today since I go back again tonight at 11pm. 

it is very hard to sleep during the day. so many sounds and even with my heavy curtins drawn it is still to bright. I have tried ear plugs and I am going to get an eye mask to try to help.  I wake up every 1 or 2 hours. The most I can sleep at a time is 4 hours. And i am a person who really loves my sleep. 

atleast tomorrow is pay day so I can order some more low protein food. I am going to stock up and get a bunch of pasta, rice and baking mixes. 

I have a physio appt at 3 pm , my first one since moving to kamloops. So that is another reason why I cant get to sleep, scared I will over sleep and miss it. 

I plan on having a bubble bath when I get home to make myself relax and then try to get some sleep again. 

My annual blood work came back yesterday and seems all is ok accept my triglcerides. They are to high. So I have to continue to take my salmon fish oil capsules. My level from December 8th was 10.0 and my level from December 13th was 6.6. They are higher than they where last month and I know it is because of the lack of baking and low protein food. I would like to get them back down to around 4 for January. 

I joined weight watchers for the month of january to give it a try and see if I can make it work with my PKU diet. I am hoping the meetings, support groups and education will motivate me and help me stay consistent. That is my biggest problem when it comes to weight loss. I cant stay on track , I usually push really hard for 3 months and then I get exhusted, or injured and stop working out or eating right. I am not active enough so that is my goal for this month to. I want to work out 3 days a week. And When I say work out I dont mean just in the gym any more. I want to get back in the pool, walking and yoga. So we shall see how it goes this time round, Wish me luck! 

Thats all for today. must get ready for physio. 

Take care and thanks for following!!

xoxo Amanda 

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