13 bean soup

Tonight's schedule lists 13 bean soup as the crock pot special for the night. I had printed a blog post but discovered I didn't have the called for ingredients. So I dug out another cookbook and combined the recipes like so:

1.5 cups of 13 bean mix
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 can of chopped tomatoes
6 oz ham, chopped
6-7 cups of water
dash of pepper
1.5 Tbs Italian seasoning
1.5 Tbs Pizza seasoning
3 cloves garlic, diced

Since I didn't plan ahead and soak the beans I left it on high heat in the crock-pot today and it will cook for about 12 hours. I hope it doesn't get too over cooked but I suspect if I'd left it on low, the beans would still be hard tonight. (Do any of you cooks out there think I should call my dad and ask him to go turn it down?)

It also may have a very "special" ingredient. As I was rummaging through the spice cabinet, muttering to myself, "Where is that Oregano, I know I have oregano!" A glass spice bottle slipped out of the cupboard and hit the corner of a pot, shattering and spraying glass everywhere. The crock pot was still open so it may have gotten a shard or two, although I'm really hoping not. As I cleaned up the mess I muttered, much aggrieved, "Well there's the oregano, not that it's any use to me now!" *rolling eyes* I'd intended to season it with basil, oregano and thyme and not use the pre-combined spices but the loss of the oregano sort of shot that plan.

I love this...

Watch how they catchy a tushy feel as they pass. Oh, to be so in love and harmony after 62 years of marriage!

Got my labs...

HDL: 51 Within normal limits
LDL: 156 High--Optimal is <100
Cholesterol: 250 High--Optimal is <200
Triglycerides: 217 High--Optimal <150
Cholesterol/HDL ratio 4.9 within normal limits (although barely-desirable is <5)

My Vitamin D levels are at 52.6 which is within the optimal levels of 32-80ng/ml, HOWEVER, I'm taking 5000 IU daily to keep it there.

Obviously there is work to be done on the cholesterol and triglycerides (also Blood pressure hasn't been normal for over a year) but this is mostly because of genetics. I'm on a relatively low fat, low cholesterol, low sodium diet (as long as I don't go out to eat). I have little to no dairy products. I eat lean meats and try to limit red meat to once or twice a week. I go for low sodium products or cook from scratch to avoid the sodium. I try to limit my empty carbs (white bread, white rice, etc). I don't keep a lot of salty snacks around my house. My biggest weakness is chocolate. Because my body doesn't digest green leafy vegetables, I have a hard time getting enough vegetables in my diet. I should also increase my fruit intake. I know what is required for a balanced and healthy diet and I am trying to maintain that. I also have been trying to get 50 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week. Some weeks are better than others, since it's somewhat workload dependent and/or weather dependent.

I've been very irritable and frustrated because I think the doctor is going to think I'm using genetics as an excuse and ask me to go on an even leaner diet for some awful amount of time to prove I'm right after all. Here is the scoop: My mother has high cholesterol and blood pressure, she wears a size 12 and is fairly active. My grandmother had high cholesterol and blood pressure, wore a size 10-12 and was very active and worked hard. My great-grandmother had high blood pressure and probably high cholesterol but they didn't test for it back then; she was also a fairly healthy size and worked hard all her life. If you look at pictures side by side at about the same ages, you will see that we have identical body types. That Norwegian blood seems to breed quite true. It doesn't seem to have much affect on longevity. Grandma was 96 when she died and great grandma was very similarly aged. All this isn't to say that I don't want to get it under control but rather, that I will need medical help to do so. Neither Mom or Grandma were able to control it with the leanest of diets. I don't expect I'll be able to either. I'll probably need to take a low level of Statins to get it under control. Not my preference maybe but probably the only way and certainly preferable to eating nothing but dry broiled chicken or fish and raw vegetables and fruits to keep it at a minimal level (which would probably still be too high).

I have decided that, if the doctor doesn't listen to me about the genetic component I will be switching doctors. My first preference would be the GP my parents see but I don't know if he's covered under our insurance.

Add this bit of anxiety to work and I'm just not a very happy person right now. Did I mention that in the process of moving to Waldo hall in June, we've not allotted any space for a Dean's assistant...guess who gets to continue taking care of all of that too?! *sigh*

Sparkpeople.com

I joined sparkpeople.com to help track my calories, fat, cholesterol and other nutrients. Is anyone else on there? I have no friends yet (not that it matters). So far this has been a useful tool.