Monday night I had a breakdown. It wasn’t full-blown, but man did I want it to be. It was one of those days where the little things weren’t going correctly, and when you have the weight of the world already on your shoulders, the little things are a big deal. Sorry, “don’t sweat the small stuff”. Sometimes we can only rely on the small stuff in life.
So as I laid in the fetal position on the couch with tear filled eyes, my husband came to the rescue. I woke up to a rainy day, a dog that splashed in puddles and got me covered in mud (and not my dog – which makes it worse!), a ruined scheduled run, a repair man coming (nothing is more stressful than waiting around for a repair man), and a ruined dinner by stinky chicken. The husband took over. He seemed a bit frustrated, which is completely acceptable, but he did the work. And that made me feel happy, grateful, and bad. I hate it when I don’t come through for him, so it always stings a bit when he has to pick me up and put our world back together.
I wrote him a note yesterday. We do that on occasion. Write a word document and email it to each other. It’s cheesy, but it works for us.
The gist of what I wrote came down to this:
- I have no sense of control over the big picture in my life. And I’ve been working for over 2 years to get out of my current job situation, and I’m still stuck in the same place. So when little things don’t go as planned, my world seems like pure chaos. Doomsday thinking.
- We do have some happy stuff planned in the future (think a year from now future), but I don’t like to look at that because it depresses me. And yes, I’m still working to get myself out of my job and into my chosen career, but I’m still not there. And I don’t look into the future because it makes me that much more disappointed and frustrated with my current state.
He of course knew this. It was just reaffirming what he suspected. But it helps to get it out, and to have someone else hear it. So if you have a hard time putting things into actual vocal words like I do, write letters. It really helps!
Now on to the nickel free world I’m not trying to create for myself.
I love breakfast. It’s my favorite meal of the day and I could eat breakfast foods for all 3 meals if it were up to me. And with my limitations in my diet, it’s easy to go for bagels and muffins every day for breakfast. And I did that a few mornings when I first started my elimination diet. But the bloated, icky feeling I was having on a daily basis reminded me I can’t do that.
So now I create healthy low nickel breakfast meals. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Banana and eggs “pancakes”. These are thinner than regular pancakes but have a surprising pancake feel to them. And I love bananas, so the flavor is right up my alley. Now I’m only suppose to have bananas a few times a week, so when I do, I make these pancakes.
- Take 2 whole eggs (or 4 egg whites) and a banana – put in a blender and mix well.
- Pour the batter on to a preheated griddle and cook just like you would a regular pancake (they bubble up and everything!)
- Flip when the bottom is set and cook an extra few minutes until the whole cake is set.
- I usually end up pouring all the batter in at once and create one big pancake, cut it into 4 quarters when it’s time to flip, and then flip as best as I can. I comes out looking a bit messy, but they are tasty and filling!
- Fruit and yogurt
- This is an easy and tasty breakfast. Take plain or vanilla flavored Greek or Regular yogurt and mix in your favorite fruits (except for the one’s that are high in nickel – pineapple, dates, raspberries). I usually go for blueberries and strawberries. For a little crunch, I add in Corn Puff cereal (or you could also get a white rice based cereal like Rice Krispies).
- Egg white and veggie scramble
- I use 100% liquid egg whites for this and usually leftover vegetables from the dinner the night before, such as chopped broccoli, asparagus, or sweet peppers.
- Put the veggies in a pan on medium heat to get them crisp and flavorful again. Then pour in 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites. Add any seasoning you like, such as basil, parsley or dill. Cook until the eggs are set and done.
- If you want an extra umph, you can add some shredded cheese to this recipe. Cheese always makes things taste better. Just don’t go overboard or your breakfast will start to head towards the unhealthy side.
I rotate these three breakfast feasts and have been happy. Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day, even at low nickel!
The Cold Penguin 