Something to Say

Well, this is it. I am going to write. About what, I have absolutely no idea, but I am ready. My name is Marti and I am a 45 year old mother of three boys; two are adults and one is 15 (what a fun age...ugh!). I am married for the second (and last) time. I live in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are fondly known as "Yoopers."  We are closer to rednecks than hillbillies, but we truly are our own breed. We are hard working, kind, unsophisticated and sometimes a little small minded (I am trying to get people to see things from a better perspective...baby steps though, one at a time). This is a picture of me with two of my boys, David and Jesse. My third son, Tristan is my step son who came to live with his father and I almost two years ago when his mother died. It has been a rough road, but we are coming along.

I have rheumatoid arthritis and I love to cook.  So I am hoping this blog will be a place to find information on arthritis and some good recipes. Whenever I find a good article regarding RA, I will post a link, and I will also try to fill this board with as many delicious recipes as I possibly can!  I have recently gone gluten free (to see if it would help with inflammation) and I am forever on a quest to find good tasting gluten free recipes. If you have one that you would like to share, please contact me.

One of the first places I found when researching RA, is RA Warriors. The author of this blog, Kelly Young is amazing and very informative. Go to this site: http://rawarrior.com/  to learn more. I have found tons of good information and advice there. I was diagnosed about a year and a half ago and since then I have decided to become as proactive in my own health as I can.  I quit smoking last October (that was a tough one as I was a professional quitter and smoked for 30 years), became gluten free two months ago and have recently taken aspartame out of my diet. I'm trying to do whatever I can to feel better on my own because a good rheumatologist is hard to find. In fact, I still haven't found one that I am comfortable with.  Living in the U.P. of Michigan does have some draw backs. One of them is the lack of good doctors. We usually have to travel two hours away to Green Bay, Wisconsin to find a good one. That is a story for another day.

Going gluten free hasn't really helped my pain, but it has made my tummy issues better. No more bloating, constipation and gas. All of these things I thought were just a part of getting older, but not so much I guess. Let me be perfectly honest here, after the first six weeks of absolutely no gluten and not seeing any relief in the pain, I decided that I am not going to be 100% gluten free all of the time.  If this girl wants a regular piece of pizza occasionally, she is going to have it.   That said, let me share with you one of the more delicious things that I have made that is completely gluten free. I came up with this Breakfast Smoothie because I feel like I don't get enough fruit in my diet and it really fills me up and keeps me satisfied while I'm at work until lunch time.   Here it is (the measurements are approximate, as I always just eyeball it):

• 2/3 C muskmelon
• 1/2-3/4 C strawberries (I use frozen in the winter)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 a container (single serving) Greek yogurt (for the protein factor)
• 3/4-1C vanilla Silk almond 
• 1/4 t vanilla
• one small squeeze of honey (maybe 1/2 t)

Throw all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until it is thoroughly mixed. This is super delicious...I don't mean to brag (okay, I do!), but for someone who doesn't really like fruit this is an awesome way to get some in your diet.

Until next time, eat healthy, pray a lot and love even more!