Katiebird's Garden & Wildcraft

So we've made the official announcement, we're going to have a baby boy in January!  Hence the reason I've been MIA lately, besides having my surgery, then going to Flagstaff, AZ for the Labor Day weekend.  But the topic of this post is diabetes-related.  The dreaded insulin resistance in 2nd-3rd trimester has started... In the past 2 weeks I have continually increased my basals at all hours to at least double what they were pre-pregnancy.  My carb ratios have also almost doubled at all times.  Today was the last straw though, I had about 50 carbs for breakfast and actually bolused for 60, just to be safe, and 1 1/2 hours later, a damn 300 blood sugar!!  WTF?  I'm just tired of chasing the numbers...so low carb we will go! My husband has done the Adkins/low carb thing before and liked it because of course, he loves meat.  I'm slightly "meh" about eating meat, etc. all the time, but feel that high protein/low carb to be ...

I've been laying low for a while, as I had my carpal tunnel and trigger finger release surgeries last week.  It's been a week and I'm still pretty limited on my right hand use.  The surgery itself wasn't bad; I had a nerve block on my arm, which is a big, bad tourniquet on my shoulder, they sqeeze all the blood from your arm, and then they numb the arm with a local anesthetic.  I chose to forego the anesthesia to knock me out, which all of the nurses were quite impressed with me.  It was very weird feeling things, but not quite feeling things.  Slowly it's getting less swollen and more mobile, but the stitches will be in until the 5th.  I'm also proud that my blood sugar was 143 pre-surgery and was 139 post-surgery.  Usually it freaks out if my body is freaking out, but it stayed put!   Speaking of body parts, remember in biology class the critters and bits and pieces that were in glass jars filled with formaldehyde?   I at...

I still sometimes forget that I pretty much need to bolus for most things over 5 carbs that go in my mouth.  Every once in a while I'll regress to the old Lantus safety-zone thoughts of, "oh a little bite here and there won't matter, it will be absorbed and covered magically."  Nope.  I was making refried beans last night and a Tequila-Lime cake (more on that later!) for my husband's birthday party tomorrow and couldn't resist taste-testing the beans, well maybe more like eating 4-5 big spoonfuls because they were so damn delish.  And had to have one of the shortbread cookies I made the other night (pure buttery goodness) and later tested to see a crappy 197 on my meter.  Blah.  Here's my new mantra: MUST-REMEMBER-TO-ALWAYS-BOLUS-WHEN-BAKING-COOKING-TASTE-TESTING!  I do have a collection of rolling pins, just like JC.   

First batch of big jalapenos are ready to go!  We usually make turkey-bacon-wrapped, cream cheese stuffed, grilled peppers, but didn't have time last week, so I tried some pickles.  Plastic gloves were a must, they were super hot! An awful lot of mustard seed in this recipe, but hopefully they taste delish!   My beautiful Trionfo Violetto beans, or as I have come to call them camo-beans and when they're steamed just to heated, they start to lose the purple coloring and look like camouflage.  We had some for dinner last night and they were nice and full-flavored. Leeks!  They will be used to make potato soup with my potatoes I have growing in pots. Pepperoncini!  Next to be pickled after the party this weekend.  I didn't realize the plant got so big!  It's nearing 3 1/2' and doesn't look like it's stopping soon.

These are the invites that I made for my husband's Birthday Fiesta in August.  His birthday is actually (one of) the dates that is said to be the BEGINNING of the Mayan calendar!  I chose the serpent motif from the Chichen Itza pyramid .  Just so happens I found the perfect paper at Archiver's that had the blue waves on the back and the fun zigzag on the front.  Of course, the fun stickers had to be added too.  Menu: A Taco and Nacho Bar Tomatillo Enchiladas Homemade Refried Beans An assortment of homemade FRESH salsas-my jalapenos and habaneros are growing insanely well-I think I have to pickle some just to save them we have so many! Tequilas and margaritas will also be served The piece De resistance: A Twinkie-pyramid-inspired cake-playing on the notion that Twinkies will survive the end of the world/nuclear holocaust/etc.  Not fully Twinkified, as to make it to scale (9 steps) with solid Twinkies would create a...

My carrots are ready for picking!  They are very delicious and most are nice and straight-which was questionable in the shallow garden area they were in.  I'm going to be blanching and freezing a bunch tonight to get a head start on my veggie supply for homemade soups and stews.  Another bunch will make its way to my sister's house for her and almost 1-yr. old nephew if she's willing to share!  It's not a good harvest until you get that mutant carrot with too many appendages! 

Finally here it is!  These are super easy, quite quick and don't cost much at all.  Things you'll need: Foam board (use your Micheal's coupons!) Cotton batting-I bought the crib-size and still have leftovers Fabric Glue gun and glue sticks-I used 2 long ones Duct tape Picture hangers or small brackets of your choice Step 1: Measure your window width and cut or tape more than one piece of foam board together to fit the space if needed.  I made sure it was at least 1" beyond each side of the wood moulding.  Remember you'll add thickness and need to attach brackets.  Mine were 64" long, 9" tall and the sides were 2" wide, your proportions may be different depending on the window size and style.  Duck tape holds it all together nicely.  I did add wooden chopsticks to the middle where I taped two long pieces together so it didn't bend.  You won't have to do this if your window is smaller....