Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Dressing Things Up (Veggie Burgers)




Did I tell you that I am an MOH?  Matron of honor.  Yesiree.  I have never before had this honor and I am so excited!  It means so much to me that Jeanine would ask me and that I would get to do fun stuff like try on beautiful dresses.  This is finally the one.  It will be in charcoal gray instead of pink.  It's so pretty!  

I haven't been feeling all that great.  I've been thinking about denial and stuff.  I went to the neurologist last week, we went over my MS history and he pronounced me as "primary progressive MS." This is very rare type.  I had come in planning on saying something like, "Do I really have this?  I don't fit the relapsing remitting pattern, I only have a few annoying symptoms, blah blah blah."  Denial.  

Over the years of being not 100% healthy, I have received much advice.  I've probably given other people some of that advice too.  It's crap you know.  You will not get healthy as soon as you learn whatever lesson is there to be learned.  Switching to only pomegranate juice will not fix all things.  The fact that one doctor told you there is no such thing as MS does not mean he/she was correct or that I don't have something significant.  I do not just have Lyme Disease.  And hence, I never talk about it.  Ever.  The other advantage of this strategy has been that it really supports the denial angle I've got going.  The same discussions have occurred around my spine issues - you just have to see this doctor, healer, specialist in BOSTON, acupuncturist, nutritionist, shamen, and so on.  The weird thing is that no one really ever asks me how I do deal with it or who's opinion I do take under advisement.  I'm not meaning to sound like a bitch here - it's just something I'm starting to understand about chronic illness.  People around me are desperate to see me get better.  They think they see me getting better sometimes when I am in intense pain.  Denial, right?  Sometimes I think it's because I am pretty.  I smile and joke around constantly - it's the way I am.  Does pretty equal wellness?  

I'm on some new medication for my tremors which should also turn my overall nervous system down a notch.  I am still acclimating to it and it is making me really tired.  Oh - the neurologist is very familiar with esophageal spasms and has about a million ideas.  The neuro dude is one of the best MS doctors in the country - for those of you who worry about doctor things.  He's very open to my ideas - very pro-natural stuff - just likes me to keep good data on what I do use and how it works.  

So what does this have to do with food you ask?  I was thinking about dressing something up.  I love veggie burgers and I hear people say that they hate them.  Like everything it's how you serve it.  This is a Trader Joe's veggie burger.

Veggie Burger All Dressed Up

1/4 onion, sliced
1 C spinach
4 T or more barbecue sauce (I always misspell barbecue sauce - why doesn't it have a Q?)
1 pita warmed in the oven
1 slice of Muenster cheese

Sautee onion in some olive oil until is starts to caramelize.  Make room in the middle and put the burger in the center.  Cook 2 minutes then flip.  Put cheese on.  Throw spinach over top and cover.  Keep an eye on it so nothing burns.  Serve on top of a warmed pita.  This is so good that I ate it for 3 days in a row.



4 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you are talking about this.You make a beautiful MOH.
    The burger looks really good. I have always considered you to be a healthy person, you take good care of yourself and eat well, minus all the cupcakes.

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  2. Jeanine - I know you understand. I love you. I'm the MOH. Just call me MOH, yo.

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  3. Have to add that this is pretty low cal/low points if you leave off the cheese or use low fat cheese.

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  4. how did i miss this? part of the thing is: i had no idea...well, i guess i just kept myself from reading carefully to remain in denial about your chronic illness. another part of the thing is this: it's so nice to see that you know you're pretty! and the last part of this for me is that i too love veggie burgers, but am stuck on gardenburger black bean or morningstar farms black bean. with cheddar + avocado + on an english muffin. should i try a TJoe burger? i like to branch out, but am so risk averse about changing brands. as if wasting $4.50 on a box of frozen pucks would end the world.

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