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Eggplant Meatless Balls Recipe

I normally do not like eggplant.  Its texture puts me off. We were out for dinner last week and eggplant meatballs were on the menu.  We ordered them and I took a bite.  NOt bad.
This summer I began getting fresh local produce delivered.  In my latest box were two eggplants.  I decided to attempt to make eggplant meatless balls.  I served them with heirloom tomato sauce.  THey tasted pretty good. I find this is a great way to disguise eggplant!

Here is the recipe:
2 medium eggplants, cubed and peeled
1 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1  12oz pkg Pacific Natural Foods Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
2 TBLSP basil
2 TBLSP oregano
1 TBLSP parsley

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pan.  Add garlic and saute until light golden. 

Add onions and saute for 3 minutes.

Add mushroom soup combined with 1 c water and cubed eggplant to pot.

Cook for 10 minutes, or until onions and eggplant are soft.  Stir occasionally.

Strain the mixture with a sieve to remove as much liquid as possible

IN a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients with the eggplant mixture.  Mix thoroughly.

Preheat over to 375.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non stick spray.

Form the mixture into large balls.  Place on baking sheet.  (Mine made about 18 balls)

Spray the balls on the baking sheet with cooking spray

Place in preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes.

Use them however you would use meatballs.  
I added chunky heirloom tomato sauce and spaghetti.  
Makes 4-6 servings of 3 to 4 meatballs 

SInce I was awake at 3 am anyway...

A few years ago for Christmas my hubby gave me an imac computer. Until then, I had only used PCs. For a while, trying to figure out how to use it, I felt dyslexic, because a lot of the things are in opposite places than I was used to. Next followed a Mac laptop, an ipod or two, a MacAIr and recently an iPad. I am officially a MAC now.

As far a cell phones go, I have had the same one for about 5 years. It does not do much except get calls and do text messaging. WHenever my family tries to talk me into trading it in, I tell them I am waiting for Verizon to get iphones. Well, last night it happened.

As is usual, I was awake at 3am when they went on pre-order. Just in case, I had put my credit card and my laptop next to my bed so I would not have to hunt for them. Sleep machine mask in place, I did not miss a breath as I ordered my very own iphone - to be delivered by February 10th. SO it begins...

PTL! It Is Nothing

Last October during a sleep test, an EKG showed I had one incident of 33 beats when my heart was racing.

The day I found out about this, my hubby was in Brooklyn at his job there. that night he was attending Brooklyn Tabernacle's prayer meeting along with several pastors from our church. He went forward for prayer for my heart situation. The person who prayed with him, said , "So you want this to turn out to be nothing?" Yes, my husband assured him, we want the heart problem to be nothing. That is what they prayed that night.

My sleep doctor informed my primary physician, who called me. When he spoke to me about it, he said, It is probably "nothing", but we need to check it out just to make sure.

I saw a cardiologist who put me on a Beta blocker . I had an echo cardiogram, which showed "nothing". I wore a Holter monitor for 24 hours which showed "nothing". Next I had a nuclear stress test, which showed "nothing".

The cardiologist, although they had found "nothing" in all of their tests, would not take me off the Beta blocker and sent me to see an arrhythmia doctor.

This doctor wanted me to have a cardiac MRI, which I did. It showed "nothing". At this point he did take me off the Beta blocker. But he said it was troubling that they could not find the cause of the serious incident I had. So I wore a cardiac monitor for two weeks. Today I saw him for the results. Can you guess? It found "nothing". (His exact words). He says my heart is fine, my blood pressure is good (116/61). He will see me in 6 months to check in about the blood pressure and make sure all is well.

From the time the prayer was prayed in Brooklyn, I believed that God had answered and there would be "nothing" found. Each time I got test results, the word "nothing" was used as confirmation that God had handled it. I am thankful for that "nothing" prayer and answer. God is good.

Heart Monitor - Day One

I got my heart monitor via UPS yesterday morning. It looked very intimidating when I opened the box and saw all of the parts, batteries, wires and packages. I took out the instruction booklet and it said I had to follow the steps in pages 1 - 3 prior to the instructional call later in the day.

First I had to set up the monitor's charging station in my bedroom, attaching the wires through my phone and into the electrical outlet. First try I hooked it up wrong, by trying to do it too quickly. My hubby helped me slow it down, and get it wired up correctly, placing the monitor in the stand to charge before the call later in the day.

Fifteen minutes before call time, the instructions told me to open one package of adhesive leads, and to attach one on my left side, three fingers below my collar bone, one on the right side, three fingers below my collar bone, and one on the lower left side, near the bottom of my rib cage. Prior to attaching them, I was to snap the wires from the sensor onto the adhesive leads. Black was to go on upper left, white on upper right and red on lower left.

When the call came, he asked if I had attached the leads and wires, which I had. He instructed me to put the battery in the sensor and then to turn on the monitor. We went through the process of activating the monitor and then sending a base line reading in. He explained when I need to turn the monitor off, when to change the battery in the sensor, and when to change the leads. I need to wear it at all times, except when showering or swimming as it cannot get wet. He said the adhesive leads are waterproof and can be left on during a shower. At the conclusion of the call, he told me if thee was any problem when they got the baseline readings, they would call me back within 30 minutes.

Sure enough, I got a call in 30 minutes that the baseline reading came back rejected. He had me check that the color of the wires were in the correct positions. It turns out I had the black and white wires reversed. I corrected that. Then he had me lie in bed and gave my hubby the directions over the phone how to perform the baseline readings again. It worked this time.

The sensor which I wear around my neck is not a problem at all. I do not even know it is there. Remembering to take the monitor with me wherever I go is more difficult. At night the monitor charges in its cradle while I sleep, so that is easy enough.

At the gym today, I carried the monitor in a case my son gave me at Christmas to carry my cell phone to the gym. I can hang it around my neck so I won't forget to take it from machine to machine.

I am also able to wear my heart rate monitor to count calories and keep track of my heart rate during exercise, along with this monitor. I am happy about that.

When I got home from the gym and got ready to shower, I had to turn off the monitor, remove the battery from the sensor and unsnap the lead wires. Although I was told the adhesive leads were water proof, the two top ones fell off during the shower. Even though I dried them off, and they seemed like they were going to re-stick, they fell off when I snapped the leads wires back in, so I had to change them.

SO my first 24 hours with the monitor has gone well. The adhesive is not at all itchy or irritating so far. One day down, thirteen more to go.

I Can't Make This Stuff Up!

Just an update to my last blog about my heart. About 5:45 pm on Monday my arrhythmia doctor himself called me to tell me he got the results of my cardiac MRI. It showed no heart problems or disease. PTL!!! He reminded me to wear the monitor for two weeks and I would see him in 4 - 6 weeks.

I am celebrating no heart problems and being off the Beta Blocker!

Tuesday afternoon I got a call from his office saying they had been contacted by the company that provides the two week heart monitor. They told my doctor's office they cannot give me the monitor because my phone number has been disconnected. Mind you, this is the very number SHE was calling me on!!! It is unbelievable to me how many problems and issues I have to constantly deal with. Anyway, she said she would call them and try to straighten it out.

I guess they figured it out, because they did call and leave a message on Wednesday afternoon and I will be calling them back today.

On a side note, I am loving my new Shape Ups. They are so cushioned when I walk. I am sure hoping that, after losing no weight for the past month, that between being off the Beta Blocker and wearing my new shoes, I will finally lose some weight this week!

ANy Heart News?

On February 3rd I had a cardiac MRI. Almost 2 hours in the cramped MRI machine with the loud banging. They told me when it was completed that the images came out clear and that my doctors would have the results in three business days. I had requested they send the results to three of my doctors, including the one who ordered it.

This morning I had my appointment with the arrhythmia doctor who sent me for the cardiac MRI to discuss the results. He had told me at my last visit that if the results came back showing no problems, he would take me off the Beta Blocker. I want to get off the Beta Blocker as it is keeping me from being able to lose weight, as well as inhibiting my heart rate.

When I arrived at the office for my appointment, I could hear the receptionist on the phone asking someone about my MRI. When she hung up, she asked me where did I have the MRI done, because U Penn hospital had no record of me there. Probably because I had it done at Robert Wood Johnson. So she called RWJ. Neither did they had any record of me. Probably since I had it done in New Brunswick and she called Hamilton. Finally she called RWJ in New Brunswick. Yes, they had the results, but would not send them along unless they had a signed authorization from me.

This was craziness and out of control. This is the office of the doctor who ordered the test to be done. How can they refuse to give that doctor the results? If doctors cannot have access to results of tests they ask for, how can patients get treatment? But I signed the form and she faxed it on over.

My question in my own mind was , Why did they wait until I was at the office for my appointment to check on the MRI results? This should have been done last week when they called to remind me of the appointment. Hearing the results was the entire reason for my appointment today. And they had no results.

No wonder when the nurse took my BP it was 140/76. When the doctor came in, of course he did not want to take me off the Beta Blocker as we had no MRI results, although he is confident there will not be a problem in the results. He also wanted me to wear a heart monitor for two weeks. He mentioned this to me on my last visit, but I told him I really did not want to do that, as my skin is sensitive and reacts to the adhesive on the leads. When I wore monitor for just 24 hours back in November, I still have the scars from where the leads got all gooey and itchy.

He replied that they have some different leads that maybe I would not be allergic to, that I have to remove it when I shower and to call his office if I cannot tolerate the leads. He asked me to at least give it a try, as the incident of my heart racing was a serious one and they need to try and discover the cause. Then he told me I could stop taking the Beta blocker for now. IF the cardiac MRI show some kind of problem we may have to discuss this issue again. He told me they would call me when the finally get the results.

I like this doctor in that he listens to what my concerns are, he treats me with respect by explaining why he thinks I need to do what he is requesting. I asked if he could be my heart doctor instead of the first one I saw in November. He said he would be happy to see me anytime and as my heart doctor, he would begin to monitor my BP since I was going off the Beta Blocker.

Bottom line, I was hoping my visit today was going to put an end to the heart problem situation. But it didn't. There is always another test to be done. No results from the last one were available. In that respect I am feeling frustrated. But I am happy to stop taking the Beta Blocker. I believe that God has already taken care of the heart problem. I just wonder how many more hoops I have to jump through in order to get confirmation of that.