First Post - A Welcome word, then onto food!

Well I've been planning to start this blog for like a month now, and I have finally decided to sit down and take the time to make this happen. I must start off by saying that the idea of posting a blog came from two wonderful (though one i do not know personally) people who helped push me that extra step towards compilating my journey through health. I have always eaten relatively well, following fads here and there, but now I have a different outlook!
Firstly, "Kath eats Real Food", a blog about healthy living which gave me the wonderful gift of Oatmeal. Once you make Kath type oats, you will never want to go back to instant ever again!
Secondly, My good friend Valerie who created "The Cherry Cake" which is also a blog about making and reviewing healthy recipes. We both love the oatmeal :)

These past few weeks have been very stressful (stress is my arch nemesis) and I have been feeling the muscle pains, weakness and chronic fatigue increasingly. Finding a way to unwind and manage my stress is one of my greatest goals, as everything I have tried has failed.

-Yoga: I loved it at first, but my back problems hinder me from being able to perform it properly which just makes me more stressed and aggravated as I sit in "child pose" watching everyone else doing just fine with the head stands and wheel barrows... *sighs*
-Meditation: my brain won't shut off...ever... which means I spend half an hour sitting there with my eyes closed stressing out about what to make for supper.
-strenuous exercise: My fibromyalgia makes that insanely difficult. My exercise program right now simply consists of walking with Burny (my 1 year old puppy) for 30mins everyday. It is not bad in itself, but not strenuous enough.

I am open to solutions!!

Now for food...
I made a wonderful Risotto for dinner tonight which was both tasty and beautiful. It had a deep shade of burgundy purple which, paired with a bowl of crisp greens was a joy for the eyes and mouth! I was inspired by a recipe on a french food blog called "Saveur Passion" but modified it slightly.
Red Cabbage Risotto
approx. 2 cups of shredded red cabbage
1 cup arborio rice
4 cups poultry or vegetable stock
2 spring onions
1 cup red wine (nothing fancy)
pinch of thyme, garlic powder and cayenne
fresh parmesan cheese

soften the onions and cabbage in some olive oil and add rice and spices. Mix with wooden spoon so all rice is "glazed" with oil. Add the wine and mix quickly. Like any risotto you then have to add simmering stock to rice mixture a laddle at a time, letting it absorb all liquid before adding more. Do this until you have no stock left. Adjust taste with salt and pepper. Voila! The secret to a creamy risotto is lowish heat and lots of mixing to release the gluten and break up the rice... Oddly enough, kinda like Kath's oatmeal!

Later during the evening I had a craving for sweet, so I had one of my homemade yogurts with a spoonful of one of my favorite jams ; the E.D. Smith no sugar added peach, apricot and passion fruit spread. YUM! I have been making my own yogurt for a while now, and appreciate that It has no additives and the consistency and sourness I like it to be! The trick is to put equal part fat free evaporated milk and 1% fat regular milk. I use storebought lyophilised starter and prepare it during the night in a yogurt maker.
With added fruit or jam there is no need for sugar
and when I want an extra sweet treat I simply add non pasteurized honey... Its very thick and creamy... Don't hesitate to ask more detail if you are interested, making homemade yogurt is especially rewarding and healthy! Valerie got inspired by my recipe and posted her own post on the subject of making yogurt.

WELL! that was a long blog for a short lazy sunday and I'm due for a long night of sleep! Tommorow we are having oatmeal for breakfast and i'll be dreaming about all the combinations before falling fast asleep...

....ZZZzzzz.......