AdventureMan’s New Adventure: Cinco de Mayo
When he ‘retired,’ AdventureMan chose Thursdays as his day to cook. It’s worked out well. Recently, he has perfected Naan, baked on our grill. We’ve had it several times – it just tastes so good, fresh off the grill, and he bastes it with either olive oil and garlic, or olive oil and sesame seeds. Oh, yummmmmm.
“I’m feeling stressed,” he admitted yesterday morning. “It’s my day to cook and I don’t have any ideas.”
“It’s also Cinco de Mayo,” I said, and that was all I had to say, he was off and running.
All I can say is BRAVO. BRAVO, AdventureMan, Cinco de Mayo was a taste treat. They were fabulous.
He found his recipe on AllRecipes.com, and made it pretty much just as they said to make it, serving it with a small bowl of home-made pico de gallo and a small bowl of sour cream. Oh YUMMMM. This is the recipe he used:
Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas
By: Tony Cortez
Ingredients
2 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into strips
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup sour cream, for topping
Directions
In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Set aside. (This is the pico de gallo)
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Put the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the hot skillet and saute the sliced onion and green pepper until tender. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until the aroma is strong. Mix in half of the pico de gallo and chicken breast meat. Set aside; keep warm.
In a heavy skillet, heat one flour tortilla. Spread 1/4 cup shredded cheese on the tortilla and top with 1/2 the chicken mixture. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the chicken and top with another tortilla. When bottom tortilla is lightly brown and cheese has started to melt, flip quesadilla and cook on the opposite side. Remove quesadilla from skillet and cut into quarters.
Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve quesadillas with sour cream and remaining pico de gallo.
I’ve never seen him so happy as he has been the last couple months.
Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
I’m at the age where we start worrying we are coming down with Alzheimer’s if we forget a name, or why we went up the stairs. Here are the official guidelines to things that indicate onset of this insidious disease from Everyday Health:
Caregiving in Early Alzheimer’s Disease
By Chris Iliades, MD
Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MS, MPH
A caregiver’s role often starts with the diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. At this juncture, it’s important to deal with both long-term planning and with immediate medical and psychological issues in order to make life as normal as possible for your loved one. To begin, it’s helpful to become familiar with some of the more common symptoms of early, or Stage I, Alzheimer’s disease. These often include:
Misplacing items and/or storing them in odd places. A person with Stage I Alzheimer’s, for instance, may put things in strange places, like a wallet in the freezer.
Repeating the same phrase or story, completely unaware of the repetition and having difficulty finding the right words when talking.
Resisting decisions, even of the simplest sort.
Taking longer with routine chores and becoming upset if something unexpected occurs.
Forgetting to eat, eating only one kind of food, or eating all the time.
Neglecting hygiene and wearing the same clothes day after day, and insisting they are clean.
Becoming obsessive about checking, searching, or hoarding things of no value.
Lisa Gwyther, MSW, the director of the family support program at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C, notes that depression is also very common in early Alzheimer’s. “A depression that comes on later in life, especially in someone without a prior history of depression, is often the first symptom of Alzheimer’s,” she says. Once the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease has been made, it is a difficult time for the person and the family. In addition to feeling depressed, the person with early Alzheimer’s may go through periods of anger, fear, and anxiety.
What Can Family, Friends, and Caregivers Do to Help?
There are a number of measures that can be taken to help a loved one cope better with the challenges presented by early Alzheimer’s disease.
Get a complete medical evaluation.
The first step in caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease is to make sure the diagnosis is accurate. Some possible treatments depend on a precise diagnosis, and your health care provider may recommend a number of tests. Because people with early Alzheimer’s are often not aware of their own forgetfulness and can get quite adept at hiding it from others, family members and caregivers can help the doctor take a good medical history. The doctor will do a functional status assessment to determine if it is safe for the person to live alone, drive a car, or do their own finances. “The ability to do financial calculations is lost early in Alzheimer’s disease. The person may pay bills twice or neglect to pay bills and get themselves in a financial mess. A trusted family member and financial advisor can be a big help at this point,” says Gwyther. Finally, your doctor may recommend a number of possible treatments or referral to an Alzheimer’s specialist.
Don’t shut the person with early Alzheimer’s out.
“One of the most common mistakes that family and caregivers make is to marginalize the person with Alzheimer’s. As time goes on, the family and the caregivers will have to take over more and more decisions for the person. But in the beginning, let them participate as much as possible,” says Gwyther.
Help the person with early Alzheimer’s stay active and healthy.
Research shows that social and mental activity may slow the progression of the disease. A diet high in natural fats such as fish, nuts, and olive oil can help too. Vitamins such as B, C, and E have all been recommended for early Alzheimer’s disease.
Provide a stable environment.
People with early Alzheimer’s do better if their day is very structured. Help them by creating routines around eating, bathing, and sleeping. Keep the environment familiar by making sure things stay in their usual places. Avoid surprises and confusion as much as possible. Sometimes the most helpful thing to do is to just be nearby.
You can also help by getting help.
Contact one of the many national organizations that help with Alzheimer’s care. Most of these organizations will have a local chapter near you. The Alzheimer’s Disease Education & Referral Center, the Alzheimer’s Association, Children of Aging Parents, Eldercare Locator, and Family Caregiver Alliance are all nationwide, nonprofit organizations that offer information and services for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers.
Finally, remember that although it now possible to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, it can’t yet be stopped. As a family member, friend, or caregiver, you can be a tremendous asset to the person with early Alzheimer’s by being an advocate, as well as supportive and available. While someone with Alzheimer’s may not be able to show or express it, they always feel your affection and compassion.
Chew Your Juice
“But we only drink REAL orange juice!” I protested to my friend. “We only buy orange juice squeezed from real oranges, not juice drink, or orange juice from concentrate!”
“Have you read the sugar content on the lable?” she asked quietly.
I grabbed the carton and started reading. Oh. Holy cow. 22 grams of sugar in one serving.
“There is nothing wrong with juice,” my friend added, “but chew your juice.”
” ? ? ? ”
“Eat whole fruit. That way you get all the good stuff, the skin, the vitamins and the fiber as well as the juice. Better for you.”
Sigh. Another habit to break and replace with a newer, better, healthier habit. No more juice.
Hmmm. Now I wonder about my hot-weather addiction, McDonald’s wild berry smoothies. I don’t think I want to know how many grams of sugar per serving . . . .
Pensacola Visitors To Fort Pickens
You ask where I have been. We’ve just had two weeks and three weekends of house guests. Now, before you groan, I have to tell you that it was two different visits, with less than 24 hours in between, and both visits were old and dear friends. Our visitors are people we treasure and who are easy easy guests to have around. We’ve had two weeks of great visits and great conversations, and I apologize if you are feeling a little abandoned. I didn’t really abandon you; I checked the blog almost daily, but . . . I had a lot on my hands. I can only do a few things at a time, and do them well. I chose to focus on my guests. I hope you will forgive me. 🙂
So I am going to share with you some beautiful sights from nearby Fort Pickens. When we first went there, about a year ago, we discovered they have a Senior Lifetime Pass for only $20. There was only one Senior in the car at the time – me – so the pass is in my name, and gets us into every national park in the United States, me and up to eight people in the same car with me. How is that for a bargain? We’ve already used it four or five times worth the original payment of $20. What an amazing deal!
Fort Pickens is out along Pensacola Beach, and is a long narrow strip of land barely above sea-level. We could see it with our eyes, and when we measured it with our iPhones, it gave us a range from below sea level to 33 feet above sea level. (iPhones must be nearly out of fashion because all my friends have them and we are OLD! If we have them, there must be something out there newer and faster and better that all the trend-setting youngsters are buying . . . so what is it?)
Oops! I got distracted! What I want to do is share some photos of what a truly gorgeous place Fort Pickens is:
I think these are trilliiums:
Aren’t these pretty berries? I don’t know if they are edible – or poisonous!
Perfect weather for a walk, and this is the walking trail, .7 miles each direction:
Fort Pickens was constructed to protect the shores from invaders, so this is one of the fortress walls”
A Heron along the nature trail:
A Turtle (we can’t agree on whether it is a Gopher Turtle or a Snapping Turtle):
We finished up with a walk along the beach, where our visitors talked with the fishermen along the shore. These are the lines they have out trying to catch some fish, but I really want you to see how clean and beautiful the beach, sand and water are looking 🙂 :
This week, I need to get some things done in the garden, before the weather starts getting too hot!
AdventureMan’s New Talents
This has been a great month for AdventureMan.
He knew what he wanted. He thought about it, planned it, sought out resources. He now has three photo shelves in his office, where he can display a changing round of photographs. He bought the lumber, tacked on the trim and mounted them on the wall, all by himself.
All these years he has worked so hard – he has never had the time for a fun project like this, and he just sits there and grins that something he was able to do himself can give him so much satisfaction and happiness. Retired, maybe, but still learning new skills, scaling new mountains.
Last night, he baked his first pork tenderloin, and then roasted up some asparagus with an olive vinaigrette sauce. Oh, yummmmm. Still growing, still developing new skills, it is so much fun.
Today, he is going out to explore what kind of kayak he wants to buy. 🙂
You Can’t Take it With You
I awoke this morning from the most horrible dream, and it’s a dream I have had often, but this time, there is no reason. I am packing boxes. I have a deadline. I have a lot to pack, I am feeling very anxious, and I keep getting distracted from my packing. Soon I will have to go, and I haven’t accomplished what I meant to accomplish.
This dream is a very common dream for someone who has moved 31 times in her life, who had packed boxes and suitcases and never missed a deadline. Never once have I left a box with someone else to mail for me. I’ve had these anxiety dreams so many times, but never when I am not facing a move.
So I felt depressed, and I felt anxious this morning, wondering what my dream means. Does it mean that I am thinking about my mortality, and distracted by my attachment to things? Does it mean that I need to be clearing up and organizing my life so I can depart? Or is it just a remnant anxiety, like those leftover dreams about having to take a college exam you haven’t prepared for?
For me, the cure for depression, anxiety and morbidity is action. We hit the water aerobics class this morning and she worked us so hard we both fell asleep this afternoon. I got some tomatoes (not the Black Krim, which I have not yet found) and basil potted, and some weeding done. Depression gone. Anxiety gone. Inklings drift across my consciousness, but I sweep them away like cobwebs.
Exercise Reverses Aging
When I lived in Qatar, we had a group that did water-aerobics, and we, sort of ironically, called ourselves the Aqua Babes. (If you knew us, you would snicker along with us. ) The best part was that we had a lot of fun, secondly, we got some exercise. Our motto was “Any exercise is better than nothing,” and we would repeat it to ourselves on mornings when the pool was too cold and we were kicking lacksadaisically in the hot tub, LOL. It tickles my heart to see the researcher use the same words. 🙂
I found this report on AOL NEWS
Photo Courtesy of Adeel Safdar
Ph.D. student Adeel Safdar is pictured with one of the mice that took part in the exercise and aging study at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Research Shows Exercise Reverses Aging in Mice
Rebecca Delaney
Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky is not a couch potato. The professor of pediatrics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, recently placed first in his age group in a series of trail races in the United States and Canada. He’s also competed internationally in winter triathlons, ski orienteering and adventure racing. However, if he feels burnt out and needs a little motivation to hit the gym, he needs only to look to his lab.
Tarnopolsky recently published a groundbreaking study with Ph.D. student Adeel Safdar that found exercise reversed the signs of aging in mice.
Tarnopolsky specializes in studying and treating mitochondria dysfunction. Mitochondria are similar to little furnaces in each cell that convert food and oxygen into energy for the cell to do its job. As people age, the mitochondria break down, causing the cells to break down as well — thus contributing to the well-known signs of aging, brain atrophy, wrinkles, hair loss and heart problems.
“We knew that exercise was beneficial and that runners had a lower risk of death,” Tarnopolsky told AOL News. “But we wanted to look at the systemic effects and find a therapy [exercise] that’s available to most people if they got off the couch and did it.”
The mice that Tarnopolsky used in his study had been genetically modified with dysfunctional mitochondria, meaning they were engineered to age prematurely. Half of these genetically modified mice ran for 45 minutes on mini treadmills, like those at a gym — except smaller — three times a week. The other half remained sedentary in their cages.
The results were staggering.
“After a few months of exercise, there were absolutely unprecedented changes,” Safdar said. “And we saw improvements not only in their running capacity but also their other organ systems.”
He added, “It went way above and beyond the muscles and heart, but also the brain, gonads, kidneys and other organs. It was absolutely exciting.”
The exercised mice were also more robust and had shinier, fuller fur.
“Every organ was better off in the mice that exercised,” Tarnopolsky said. “And not just a little bit better — it was a 100 percent improvement.”
Safdar said that before he joined Tarnopolsky’s lab he wasn’t that interested in exercising, but now he makes a point to stay active by running and doing karate.
“People who exercise are generally physically active longer and are happier,” he said. “Their whole system remains young, so to speak.”
And for those who haven’t exercised regularly, it’s not too late to start, the scientists said. People don’t have to run on a treadmill for 45 minutes three times a day, like the mice.
“Anything is better than nothing,” Tarnopolsky said. Those who are older than 65 can still see the benefits if they just start walking for five minutes and slowly ramp up.
Tarnopolsky also conducted a previous study on weight training in seniors, which proved to significantly slow the body’s aging process.
“It all about keeping yourself moving every day,” Safdar added.
“You Seem Happy Here – Are You?”
The landscape designer and I met last year as she toured our garden and helped us identify the plants we have in our garden. She had great ideas, and gave us a lot of help caring for a mature garden. She suggested we live with our yard for a year, and then decide how we want to move forward.
It was the best advice. What looked like a wreck of a garden after last year’s very cold winter came back back with a vengeance. We had fabulous plants, plants the birds and bees and butterflies and hummingbirds all loved to visit. We had a chance to visit other gardens and to see what we like. This year, we have more of a plan, and this lovely lady who has been gardening in Pensacola all her life, helps us fine tune our plans.
We’ve been going around the yard, figuring out where to put a pomegranate tree, a lime tree, a couple hydrangea bushes.
“You seem happy here,” she starts, “Are you?”
“You sound surprised!” I laughed, thinking how many moves I’ve made, and how I really like living near our son, his wife and son. We’ve been here a year now. I make friends slowly, but I actually have a few now.
“I wasn’t sure you would be able to handle the heat,” she confided.
I laughed. “I can’t. There is this wonderful thing called air conditioning. When it gets too hot, I don’t spent much time outside. I’m doing fine.”
It’s been almost a year since we bought the house here. It seems like so much longer, so much has happened. Last night, AdventureMan made a fabulous Bermuda Fish Chowder. Our son’s wife and little Baby Q came by for dinner while our son waited in line at Best Buy for a new iPad2, wooo hooo. He came by as soon as finished the purchase. Life is sweet, and yes, I think I am happy.
Hitting the Wall
“Ummm . . . . I can’t stay up any longer. I have to go to bed now,” AdventureMan says to me, bleary-eyed. It’s 8:15 PM.
I’m still slowly going through mail that came while we were gone. I went through quickly the first day, checking for any bills that needed to be paid right away, and the rest I’m going through when I can.
We are not exactly not jet lagging. We are sleeping through the night, which is a really good thing, but we still hit slumps at odd times during the day. I am waking up early, but I don’t mind. This morning was a huge full moon, so I went out and walked a mile; it doesn’t even take 20 minutes, and I am savoring this spring weather. In the summer, it is hot – for me – even at 5 in the morning, even when that is the coolest it is going to be all day, it is still hot for me in the summer. I relish my walks at this time of year, relish the coolness.
We spent yesterday taking care of the Happy Baby, who was a little less happy than normal. Well, happy enough, he is such a good baby, but suffering the after-effects of the one year vaccinations, fever, lethargy, just not his normal self. We were delighted not to have anything else on our calendar, and at the same time, we were exhausted by the end of the day. My heart goes out to grandparents who are raising their children’s children . . . we just don’t have that energy anymore; it takes two of us to keep up with a very mobile one-year-old. No wonder God gives babies to young people!
Today, a beautiful spring day when the high will be around 72°, I think I will start cleaning out the garden in back. Last year, I had to completely cut it back, but when it started growing, it was lush and glorious. I’ll just pull out the dead growth this year, trim where it might need trimming, and look for a new honeysuckle vine to plant along my back fence. I love the smell of honeysuckle. I might also plant a jasmine plant, see how it does, have a great smelling back yard. 🙂
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