Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Big 9-0

Well today is actually the day - Mama is officially 90 years old today. Brother Tom and his wife Susan are still here and they took her out to breakfast this morning. This afternoon we'll be going out to Harpoon Louie's - a local restaurant where a cousin is part owner and the only place Mama trusts the kitchen not to put salt in her food. We're eating late afternoon because I am helping to officiate a memorial service that starts at 6. Thankfully, Mama is flexible about things like meal times.

The party was a great success - good food, good music, good company. Lots of folks came to wish her well and she enjoyed herself immensely.

Happy 90th birthday to you, Mama!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Milestones

It's been a busy week, getting the house ready for company and preparing for a party. Mama will be 90 on Tuesday and we're throwing her big birthday bash tomorrow (Sunday). It's going to be quite the party and we hope she enjoys it. I'm off to the farmer's market to look for some nice red peppers and to see what I can find in the way of fresh fruit. Got to watch that sodium even when we're celebrating.

Mama and I both got pedicures yesterday and she also had a manicure and got some face waxin' done. Now we'll have twinkly toes so we can kick them up at the party. We are blessed and grateful that she is in such good health and looking so awesome at this great milestone she is celebrating. I just hope I've inherited those genes.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Recipe Success!!

I mentioned in a previous post that I subscribe to a newsletter about low-sodium cooking and was especially pleased to get some recipes for several varieties of pickles. I tried one out this weekend and made some truly awesome bread and butter pickles and onions. The recipe was actually just for bread and butter onions but I had been to the farmers' market and bought some pickling cucumbers so I used both. (It's the last recipe on the list.) It was my turn this month for the Tool Time Girls workday at my house so I served the pickles at lunch and we ate the whole batch they were that good! Rave reviews from all the girls and they had a hard time believing that I had not used any salt in them at all. They were really easy to make and best of all I was able to add something that she really had missed back into Mother's diet. I'm taking on the dill pickle recipe next so check back later to see how that works out.

Friday, September 19, 2008

In community

I have found a site called High Calling Blogs that is a community of Christian bloggers and I have put in a request for Feedin' Mama to join the community. There are a great many specifically Christian/Spiritual blogs but there are blogs on lots and lots of other issues and topics as well. I believe that communities such as this one can be immeasurably helpful, supportive and a source of encouragement and we all know that care givers need all of that sort of thing that they can get. I hope that Feedin' Mama readers will follow the link to The High Calling and take a look around. I'll bet that they will find one or more sources of interest and perhaps be blessed by a word or thought that they find there. Drop me a comment and let me know if you find something useful and/or encouraging for your caregiving journey. If your care receiver is computer and internet savvy (my 90-year-old mother definitely is) help them link to it as well, I'm sure they will enjoy and benefit from it also.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Gold Mine of Information

In my internet wanderings I came across a veritable gold mine of information at the Family Caregiver Alliance that has general information and also lets you search by state to find resources in your area. I followed that path and found CAPS, (Children with Aging Parents) a national organization and online support group for people involved in the care of their aging parents. Another great link from this site is to yet another helpful site Aging Parents and Elder Care.

Caregiving can be an overwhelming task in itself no matter the particulars but caring for your parents is a leap to a whole 'nother level. A lifetime relationship brings its own communication and ingrained idiosyncrasies that are driven by a lifetime of family dynamics. When we can come together, even on a relatively anonymous level such as an online support group, we are strengthened by the support and encouragement from folks who are walking in the same moccasins as we are.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

A really good day

Today I did something that I have always wanted to do but never have for whatever reason. I went with a friend to the county extension office and attended a workshop on growing herbs. There was a very informative talk on growing and caring for herbs and then we got to plant our own herb dish garden. It has chives, thyme, tarragon and parsley in it plus some alyssum for color and I just love it. Then we watched a cooking demonstration of some recipes using herbs and then we got to eat some really good food. So for $15 and two hours we got an herb dish garden, some great recipes, a tasty lunch and inspiration for more great ways to cook healthy and low-sodium food. So I'm back up on my soapbox - when you have great herbs and spices you don't need all that salt. When we left we went to the farmer's market to buy some fresh produce to test-drive our new recipes.

As an added bonus I found information on other classes and workshops offered at the extension office. We're thinking about signing up to make rain barrels next. Check with your county's extension office, it's a wonderful thing.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Nutrition Data

Sometimes it's not easy to figure out the sodium content, especially when you're using fresh food. God bless the Inter webs because you can find just about anything. I found a site that will give you the nutrient values of almost any food right down to the micro nutrients as well as the usual calories, fat, sodium... It will also track your daily intake which is a big help when you're trying to stay under a certain number of calories, mgs of sodium, whatever. And the best part is that it's my favorite price... FREE! Fabulous! Check it out for yourself and get to tracking that nutrition data.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Unjoined

So I received an e-mail from the folks at Local Harvest (see previous post) to let me know that they only accepted members who are directly involved in growing and selling food so Feedin' Mama can't join. I can accept that although our common interest in promoting the benefits of eating fresh locally grown food. There's still a lot of good information on their site and I'll continue to link from them from time to time. Once I get over the whole rejection thing... just kidding.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Eat Fresh, Eat Local

I keep harping on the need to eat fresh or frozen "real" food in keeping Mama's diet low in sodium. Today I ran across a site called Local Harvest that has tons of great information about eating locally grown food. I became a member (well, Feedin' Mama became a member) because there is a symbiotic relationship and I think we can learn from each other and you just can't have too many resources available. There's a lot of interesting reading over there so stop by and check them out.