the battle continues....a new migraine approach

For those of you who know me or have been reading for awhile know I'm a migraine patient. When I first saw my neurologist in 2008, I didn't quite realize what that meant. He told me to treat any pain above the neck as a migraine. He told me life as a migraine patient was not easy but was hopeful we could treat them.  At that time my migraines were more of monthly occurrence. A minor bump in the road but life went on. I got this, no big deal.

Now, four years later, "migraine patient" has a new ring. In 2011 my migraines became a weekly thing. I believe stress plays a big factor among other things. Cancelled plans were frequent, we'd take advantage of days I "felt good" because tomorrow I might be sick. A few times we'd drive to the grocery store and by the time we got there, I was so sick we'd turn around and head back home. I'm not saying this in search of pity, I'm just simply explaining what life is like. Before I go on, I must say I am beyond thankful to have a such an understanding husband who takes care of me, prays over me, and understands how I feel. Without him, this struggle would be ten times worse. If you know JD, he oozes with compassion, unlike myself.

 My mom always encouraged me to fight back and not to give in to these life-suckers. So, in times when I just want to cry and give up (which happens a lot), I use my time to research, experiment, and see what works. I tried gluten free for 3 months and didn't see much of an improvement.

After talking to a few acquaintances, I decided to see a naturopathic doctor. Nothing against my neurologist (who I still see), just adding something new to the mix. After a long appointment, I left feeling energized and again hopeful for a new direction. In short, I'm trying to get as healthy as possible through a combination of diet and supplements.

Through more research, I stumbled upon Kris Carr. Maybe you'd heard of her? She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2003 and has completely changed her diet and is alive and doing better than ever. You should listen to her story. It's inspiring if nothing else. So, now I'm juicing. She swears by her green juice.



So, that's where I am on this crazy journey. I'll see how I feel within the next 2 months.

Mexican Casserole

I'm back with another recipe. Wow...three blog posts in three days. I'm on a roll.

We love casserole dishes during the week. They're usually pretty quick to make and always last for two meals. I've been on a Mexican kick lately. We made this dish the same week me made the Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup because they both used some of the same ingredients. We used the same package of tortillas, chicken, and corn bread for both meals. Double success.

The photograph didn't come out so great and it looks a bit like slop but it was quite tasty. I adapted this recipe  from allrecipes.com. After reading a lot of the comments, I sauteed an onion in garlic, then added the chicken. I didn't add any water and didn't drain the corn. I added about 3/4 cup of salsa instead of 1/4 cup and I didn't add the tortillas because I wanted them to be crispy and just served them on the side. And by served I mean to myself and JD. ha.

I'm not a fan of the boxed corn bread and made this recipe instead and it was very good.

Happy Cooking!

Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've got a few new recipes to share.

First up, Chicken Tortilla Soup from eat-yourself-skinny.com. The only thing I did differently was add some corn. We made this last night and it was flavorful and super healthy. The best part was the homemade tortilla chips. Have you even made them? They are soooo good and so easy to make. JD and I both preferred these over the store bought kind any day. We had left over corn bread that we made from another meal and it was a great addition.

I often refer to my own blog when looking for a recipe I previously made that I want to make again. I realized it was hard to find what I was looking for so to help myself (and you) I organized all my recipes. Click on the recipe picture on the right side bar and everything is sorted into category.

Are you ready for fall? This soup got me excited for cooler weather, sweaters, and boots.

a new school year

Some of you may have saw the picture I posted on facebook, but I wanted to document a new school year here on the blog too. This is the start of my 5th year teaching and every year except one, I have moved classrooms.

This year I moved into a brand new portable. It's much cleaner, brighter, but also smaller. It looks pretty spacious now, but this week with 29 kids, there wasn't much room to spare.

i have since gotten a new longer white board that extends all the way to the all stars bulletin board

back of the classroom

It all came together literally 30 minutes before the students came for open house when the final repairs were being done. My portable got broken into and vandalized over the summer. Paint was splattered all over the front wall and the window was broken, but everything was replaced just. in. time. Looking forward to a new year and wishing the same to all my teacher friends!