Made my own minced garlic.

Okay, I love, love, love garlic.  So I have in the past bought garlic at the grocery store already minced in a large jar.  I have been watching the cooking shows and a lot of chefs make their own, so I decided to also.

Next time I make this I will get the 3 pound of garlic already pealed at Sam's Club or BJ's Warehouse.  This time I bought the bulbs of garlic and had to peel them myself.  Not too bad, but a lot faster to get them already peeled.  So I put about 2 bulbs of peeled garlic in my small food processor and pulsed.

Then I had a small emptied Pimento jar that I put the minced garlic in and added olive oil to cover, mixed and added more olive oil to cover.

Ta-da, I have my own mince garlic in the fridge for me to use.  Way cheaper than buying it this way and all natural - no preservatives to boot!

This is getting back to basics and whole foods without all the preservatives and additives that you cannot pronounce to save your life.  God is good, and blesses me continually.  Eat the good foods God has given.

Banana Bread made with unsweetened applesauce and honey.

Got this recipe that does not use oil or sugar.  I made this last night added some cinnamon (helps to level your sugar levels) and walnuts (good oils) - and it tastes downright GOOD! 

2 Cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 Cup honey
3 mashed really ripe bananas
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine first 3 ingredients.  In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey.  Stir in the eggs and mashed bananas until bell blended.  This is where I put in 1 tsp. of cinnamon and about 1/3 cup of walnut pieces.  Stir to just moisten and pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted to center of loaf comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Delicious and healthy - YES PLEASE!!!

Gout? Really?

Well, Sorry for not posting in a while.  I really have not had much going on lately to blog about.  Mostly just every day life.  About 2 weeks ago I noticed a pain on the upper part of my left foot on a Friday afternoon at work.  It felt like my sock was wrinkled underneath the tongue of my shoe.  It steadily got worse on Saturday, and I did not sleep hardly at all Saturday night.  Well Sunday morning @ 5 am I called my daughter to come take me to the ER.  I could not walk on my left foot - AT ALL!.  Bryan and Amanda had to kind of carry me out to their car, the pain was excruciating.  Thought maybe I had really bad tendonitis or a blood clot.  Got to the ER, they took 3 ex-rays of my ankle/foot and they came back clear.  After that the ER Dr. came in was feeling my foot and moving it which I was not very happy about to say the least.  I got a boot and 2 prescriptions - 1 an anti-inflammatory and 1 pain pill, bought crutches and took 2 days off of work. By Tuesday there was just a twinge of pain in my ankle and now I need to avoid foods that are high in Purines.  This includes high fat content also.  So not allowed Beef, Pork, Lamb, organ meats or meat base gravies (no more sausage gravy), no Beer (there goes the wine coolers), Anchovies, Sardines, fish eggs (what no caviar?), Herring, Mussels, Codfish, Scallops (man, I love these), Trout or Haddock.  No Spinach, Asparagus (love both of these!), Cauliflower or Mushrooms (pizza without mushrooms?), no oatmeal, dried beans (like black beans or navy beans), peas (don't like these much anyways) or Lentils.

Now what I can have: Breads, grains (Quinoa anyone?),cereals, pasta and rice.  Carbonated drinks, coffee, milk and milk products.  Tomatoes (LOVE anything with tomatoes!) and some types of green vegetables, fruits, olives (yuck), eggs, cheese, chocolate, and sugar.

There is always a "But", I have high glucose levels so I have to avoid anything white like bread unless whole grain, pasta unless whole wheat, rice unless brown rice.  Should not drink carbonated beverages, don't like black coffee unless it is a little coffee with my creamer (not so good), can have low-fat dairy (I have been drinking almond milk), can only have 2 servings of fruit a day (heard that tart cherry juice or tart cherries are good for gout) and to stay away for sugary stuff.

So there you have it folks, I have been trying to lose weight this year - even joined Planet Fitness and have been going about 3 times a week since middle of January.  So, with trying to figure out even a newer way of eating, exercising, and Gout (associated with arthritis - which I have in spades) getting older is not for the faint of heart for sure and certain.  God keeps blessing me but He also sends trials too!  So I have to tighten my belt and get on with it and be thankful for every day.  Hope this finds you and your family well.