MENU MONDAY: Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The last time I had BRUSSELS SPROUTS was in 2003 right after I was released from the hospital following my first flare-up and diagnosis with Crohn's Disease.

I had always been a picky eater growing up. Though not as picky as some--I had a friend who did not try pizza until fourth grade!--I was very picky when it came to vegetables. I stuck to the trusted, kid-friendly ones such as potatoes and corn, but I also liked fried summer vegetables like squash and okra. I loved raw celery and carrots, and I often tried to eat cooked carrots that were boiled, but, of course, the boiling killed all the flavor, and I ended up not eating them. I liked lettuce and onions on my hamburgers (actually I could eat an onion like an apple), and I liked tomato sauce in things.

And I think that was it when it came to vegetables.

In August 2003, I was started on a low-fiber, low residue diet that required I avoid fried, greasy foods, raw fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, and other items. Slowly, I was allowed to reintroduce the items--and I only rarely had problems until this flare-up--but, at first, I strictly adhered to it. I was allowed to eat fruits and vegetables, but they had to be cooked. As I had been on TPN (total parenteral nutrition) for three weeks, my taste buds, stomach, and such had changed. I felt I needed to retrain them, and inspired by Genesis 1:29, I decided I needed to try things that I had not liked or thought I disliked previously.

I believe that, on the afternoon I was released, my mama and I had dinner at the hospital cafeteria where I tried sautéed mushrooms for the first time. I didn't like mushrooms before I was sick, and we never had them when I was growing up--which may be why I never liked them!--so I thought I would give them a go. (I didn't like them. I still don't. But I am going to give them another go with this little project.)

Before I get to the BRUSSELS SPROUTS, here a few pictures right before I was diagnosed in 2003. I started having initial symptoms about a year before I was hospitalized, in 2002 (ten years ago!), but in the months leading to my diagnosis, I had more and more trouble and turned more and more pale. One thing I remember is that I had a cyst on my face that would not clear up no matter what I tried. I must admit that I did "photoshop" a few of the photos sometime ago because that wasn't something I wanted to remember...

Designer of the Year, April 2003

Prom, April 2003, with Tasha and Brandi

Bryant High School Graduation, May 22, 2003

En route to Florida via Memphis with Aunt Tay and Savannah, June 2003

I had been to see my gastroenterologist by this time and had had a colonoscopy. They only did colonoscopies through her clinic on Thursdays, I believe, and as a senior in high school, my schedule had been crammed those last months of school. I did not have a colonoscopy until the Thursday before we left on this trip though I believe I first saw Dr. Helen Casteel in March; I think this was just two days after. Following my colonoscopy, I had been put on a Prevacid, an antibiotic for H-Pylori, and two other medications I don't recall. I wasn't quite faithful in taking all of my medicine on the trip. I didn't realize how serious my situation was.

Man, I thought those yellow-shade glasses were sooo cool.

Panama City Beach

We were trying to dress like twinkies!

on a ferry

one night out

at Hooters

We went through Biloxi on our way home to view the damage from recent storms. It was very much changed then, so I can't imagine how it looked after Katrina two years later. (Our family went to Biloxi last May for Erin's wedding, and much has been rebuilt, but you can still see the scars.) I was getting very sick this time; I was running a fever, and my throat was so sore. (I picked up some kind of infection from the ocean, which was made worse by my condition.)

We thought we were getting a picture on the Biloxi sign. After all the trouble it took to climb up there and get Savannah satisfied, we said screw it--we'll take the Gulf Coast!

So I had BRUSSELS SPROUTS for the first time in 2003. In the fall of 2003, I was strictly adhering to my low-fiber, low-residue diet, and I started eating cooked green beans and peas happily. (Well, I wasn't so keen on the peas, but I have started to like them much better of late.) One week I picked up a bag of frozen SPROUTS in a butter sauce. The directions said to steam them in their sauce, so I did. THEY WERE AWFUL! They were mushy and bitter, and I just did not care for the sauce that came with them. I never tried them again.

Until now.

These ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS are amazing! I seriously cannot wait to make them again. They are crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside and salty but slightly sweet. I love them--I could just pop them in my mouth like mini pretzels or kettle chips. They are also adorable. What I previously thought looked like alien brains now look like these charming little cabbages that I could use to play with my American Girl doll Samantha.

And the best thing is that BRUSSELS SPROUTS are cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli or cauliflower), which are some of the healthiest around!

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. This is what the stars look like. :)

-Cut off the white stem end from each sprout and remove any yellowed leaves. Then cut each sprout in half. (This makes it easier to roast them as well as eat them.)

-Rinse sprouts well. Here are all of my tiny cabbages split and ready to go!

-Mix together 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Then add sprouts and toss to coat well.

I originally felt this was a tad bit too much salt, but they really were seasoned perfectly!

-Place sprouts on a nonstick baking sheet. (I would suggest using one that is not stained or one that is too dark. I think they brown/blacken too quickly otherwise, but I didn't want to stain my nice Wilton ones. *lol*) I started by laying them cut side up. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes. I flipped them halfway through the cooking time, but since they browned on the bottom so quickly, I wish I had flipped them more than once. This may not be the case for your oven/pans...or for mine the next time. :)

Here they are in all their glory! I served them with mashed potatoes and this yummy roast my mama made while she was still visiting this last week. It was such a tasty meal! And I really cannot wait to make them again...maybe next week? ;)

And here are a few more pictures of me with Tasha (and Steph and Brandi). These were taken at Tasha's graduation in May 2004, the spring after I was diagnosed. I was still on prednisone and azathioprine at this time, but I think the prednisone may have been tapered at this point. My face is a little rounder than normal in these photos, but it's really not that bad. (You always think its worse in person and when you are growing through it.) As of now, I am down to ten milligrams a day when I started at 30 (40 back in November). My face is still puffy, but I don't think it is as puffy as it was (moonfaced), and my appetite is more normal. My hair, however, is still doing crazy things. As I was on prednisone for a much longer time and at a higher dosage, my face seemed to gain weight and stayed puffy much longer. I could literally feel when it would puff up after I took my medicine. It was a crazy feeling! My friend Brandi in these photos joked that people would see me driving down the street and think I was much heavier than I was...until I stepped out of the vehicle. (The rest of me was a normal size; only my face swelled although some people's hands and feet also swell.) I could show you some more interesting photos from that time--I seriously look like Gwyneth Paltrow from Shallow Hal in the face--but I have never scanned them onto my computer. Probably because they are so frightening...and I wouldn't want them to pop up on our Apple TV!

And I am not trying to make fun of anyone--I just think I look crazy when my face puffs up but the rest of me is normal (or as normal as I can be! *lol*).

As my husband says, "Everybody Poops," OR Boring Health Junk and Frustrations

I haven't written since my last post because I had a cold and some tummy troubles, then we lost my granny and had to go out of town for her funeral; afterwards, we have had visitor after visitor, and now I am sick again with tummy problems and sinuses. *bleh* No me gusta, as a friend from my study abroad trip used to say when something was wrong.

If you have been following my blog, are my friend on facebook, or know me in real life, you know I love food--talking about it, cooking it, eating it. Yet food is a frenemy to me.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2003. That first major flare-up probably lasted about two years (counting the year pre-diagnosis when I started having symptoms), and it was a perfect storm of disease when I was hospitalized as I simultaneously had a bacterial infection from visiting the Floridian beaches and ocean that summer, H-Pylori (a bacteria that causes inflammation), and a bleeding ulcer. If you don't know much about Crohn's, it is the inflammation of the lining of the colon and is often seen as an autoimmune disease because you body basically attacks itself (along with food it views as invading enemies). Someone--I can't remember whether a nurse or a doctor--described Crohn's as if you had a really bad sunburn inside your colon. My daddy was diagnosed with Crohn's in 1989 or so, when it was fairly unknown. He suffered indescribable pain that was exacerbated by his alcoholism. (On the other hand, the alcohol helped him handle his pain). When I started having symptoms and my first G.I. test came back negative for Crohn's, I researched the disease and said, "No, I do have it." Turns out, I was right.

I lost fourteen pounds in two weeks at the height of my flare-up, which would have been great if I could have gotten out of bed for activities outside of going to the bathroom for various reasons. I was in the hospital for three weeks and three days, and it could have been much longer. Except for the last few days, I was on TPN (total parenteral nutrition)--that is, I was nourished through an I.V. All I could have were ice chips. Once I was released from the hospital, I changed my eating lifestyle, avoiding such things as raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, and fried foods. (The first time I had McDonald's after changing my diet I definitely could tell a difference in my poop.)

I have had a few minor flares since being diagnosed, but they were easily treated with short term prescriptions of prednisone and Flagyl, an antibiotic that can cause you to be very, very sick if you have any kind of alcohol, including mouth wash. Thankfully I had insurance when I was diagnosed; after I turned 19, my minor flares were treated by the Student Health Center at UCA. I came close to being referred during my last year as a student, but luckily Asacol, an expensive medication covered by a prescription program, took care of business until recently.

Once Zach got his job in November, we got insurance, which didn't go into effect until January.

Now insurance is great and all, but it's still not perfect. Out-of-pocket costs can still be very expensive, especially as I have been unemployed for four months since Zach got his job at NWACC. I know, I know, it would be A LOT worse if we didn't have insurance. (As a kid, I was on ARKids First, and it covered everything, thank God. So this kind of insurance with deductibles and whatnot is new to me. I think Zach gets frustrated with me because I don't know what questions to ask when it comes to payment plans. *lol*) We were so afraid that my Crohn's would not be covered because it was a pre-existing condition, and fortunately I had not been treated within the year before our insurance went into effect. Why is it that the people who need insurance the most cannot access it? I could go on and on with the problems with healthcare and attitudes regarding healthcare and the problems regarding said attitudes. But I won't (at least not today).

Crohn's is something I will always have, so it's important for me to always be under a doctor's care. (It's also important to go to your dentist. I'm paying for years of skipped check-ups now.) That just wasn't possible when I was in school, even when I was working. My mama has always told me that good health is your most important asset, something this country doesn't seem to prioritize. Thankfully, with Zach's insurance, I was able to find a new gastroenterologist here and get started on maintenance meds. I started having a few problems after stomach bug during Thanksgiving that continued until my primary physician put me on a short run of prednisone and Flagyl in January (January 4th, to be exact--I wasted little time getting into a doctor once our insurance went into effect.) Then she referred me to Dr. Stagg. (BTW, Dr. Stagg reminds me of Dr. Stengel, my undergraduate thesis advisor. *lol*)

I had a colonoscopy in January. (Oh, the joys of that!) It came back with fairly good results; I had some inflammation in a few spots, but nothing major. So Dr. Stagg started me on Entocort, a steroid (Oh, the joys of that!), and an enema to treat my sigmoid colon, which is the lowest part of the colon (Oh, the joys of that!). I had a check-up a month after my colonoscopy, which I reported I had a lot of gas that was making me rather uncomfortable. I've never had much gas, so this was a little worrisome. I assumed that was from enema because it was a side effect. As things seemed to be going well otherwise, I got to stop the nightly enema. (Did I mention it was nightly? Oh the joys of that!) Once I finished the Entocort, I would start Balsalazide, similar to the Asacol I had while at UCA that fixed me up right except this med is cheaper. :)

The gas continued, and, after some research, I saw that gas was also a side effect of the Entocort. So I assumed it would stop once I stopped the Entocort. Well, I had about two weeks left when I started noticing blood in my stool while the consistency of my poop went downhill. (I wish I could be constipated one day. ;) So I have been checking in with the nurse. During my first call, my doctor decided to go ahead and start me on Balsalazide while I finished the Entocort. A week later, still no improvement. At this time, we decided that since my sinuses sometimes upset my tummy, as does a woman's monthly visitor, we will wait it out another week or so. (My cousin has a very funny name for her monthly visitor, but I can't remember it now.)

I have felt awful the last few days. I feel week and achy, the weather changes have flared up my sinuses, and my tummy feels the need to keep going. I start my job at NWACC on Friday, and then I start training for my part-time instructor position at University of Phoenix Saturday. We also have a friend staying with us this weekend. I am hoping and praying I get better in the next two days. Zach is out of town for a conference, so I am lounging around the house and working hard to take care of myself. It's really frustrating that my maintenance meds don't seem to be working and that I felt better before I started on them, which means I may be going to see Dr. Stagg sooner rather than later. At least we have met my deductible, so we shouldn't have to pay anything but co-pays now. But who knows? Every time we talk to Blue Cross Blue Shield they tell us something different from the last person with whom we spoke. *argh*