Get-a-Booty Mission

Well, the Christmas holidays have finally drawn to a close and I have returned to college. This means that I have also returned to feeding myself i.e., making breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don’t mind really. I quite enjoy cooking. I actually find it kind of relaxing. So I’ve been planning ahead by trying to decide what I’m going to have for lunch and dinner. Breakfast isn’t all that hard- a bowl of weetabix and 2 slices of toast, there’s not a lot of planning needed for that.
But lunch and dinner? They are extremely important because as I’ve discussed many times before I have crohn’s disease. This means that I need a very balanced meal. It also means I need red meat AT LEAST three times a week and I also have to find other iron sources on days when I’m not having red meat. So let’s say I decide I want gammon steak for dinner. There is virtually no iron in that, so I’ve created something so extraordinary and tasty that my dietician was glowing with pride- Black Pudding Mash. It’s quite simple really. It’s mashed potatoes with black pudding broken up and mixed through it. Now I’m first to admit that it looks absolutely awful but God it tastes GOOD!
On other days when I have say, chicken, I don’t bother with a source of iron with my dinner. Instead, I have chicken liver pâté on toast later on in the evening. Oh- it is so good. I know it sounds absolutely rank but trust me, it’s not!
In order for me to be able to absorb all this wonderful Iron, it is also essential that I drink Ribena with my dinner which is packed full of Vitamin C. I can’t eat ANY fruit or fruit juices so this is my only source of that particular vitamin. And let me tell you it works wonders because the last time I had a blood test my iron was up 2 points!
Speaking of blood tests and things, I have a hospital appointment 3 weeks after I return to college. This means that I am going to be on what I like to call the “Get-a-Booty Mission”. Last time I was at the hospital I got on really well. Normally when that happens my next hospital visit doesn’t go so well because I think I have a tendency to get complacent. Well, let me tell you, I am full of grit and determination to never let that happen again. My targets are to get my weight to 51.85kg or over (preferably to 52kg), my protein to 20 and my Iron to 12. They are huge targets, I know. But as my old biology teacher used to say, if you don’t aim for it, you can’t achieve it! They were all so happy for me in the hospital the last day that I just really feel I’ll be letting them down if all those levels were to drop again!
So over the past few days I have been busy typing up menu plans and searching for iron rich recipes and just some tasty recipes too to help me on my way to a big booty. One that I found was a Beef Stir-Fry. Naturally, I had to alter it because I can’t eat chillies or peppers (although I’m not altogether convinced about the latter) but it still sounds so so so tasty. The beef is marinated in dry sherry beforehand, so what could be wrong with it? Also, I’ve recently discovered that there is very few cooked vegetables that I can’t eat so I want to try stir-fried vegetables in Soya sauce when I’m cooking something like roast chicken.
Maybe that’s enough talk about food for now... the mother thinks that I’m becoming slightly obsessed with it... but I can’t help it... it’s just so tasty. But you can see that there is a lot of planning involved in a crohn’s sufferer’s diet!
Laters
Sal