Did you know that June is Scleroderma Awareness Month?
Scleroderma is a disease that is not very well known. I had never heard about Scleroderma until I learned that someone that I worked with had the disease.
So what is Scleroderma?
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease with no known cause and no cure. “Sclero” means “hard” and “derma” means “skin”.
Some of the symptoms of Scleroderma are:
*hardening skin
*stiff joints
*digestive issues
*lung scarring
*kidney failure
Scleroderma can be fatal.
Scleroderms is a rare disease that affects 1 in 906 people with 80% of those affected being women. Because so few people have the Scleroderma, it is often hard for researchers to get the funds they require in order to do the research that is needed to find out more about the cause of the disease and in turn to try and find a cure.
I was so shocked to find out how much my co-worker suffered with Scleroderma. Imagine knowing that your body is slowly hardening and that it could be fatal. There is no known cause, and no known cure.
My coworker that suffers from Scleroderma is a female. She is my age and looks healthy. You would never know that she is silently suffering from a dreadful disease.
I am taking the pledge to help spread the word about Scleroderma. Please join me in spreading the word to at least one person. Come take the pledge with me.
Here are some Scleroderma Tips….
• Don’t drink alcohol.
• Steer clear of caffeine.
• Get enough sleep.
• Avoid processed foods, sugar and pop.
• Use a humidifier to help keep your skin soft.
• Exercise to improve your circulation.
• Add ginger to your diet to reduce inflammation.
• Add tart red cherries to your diet to reduce inflammation.
• Avoid washing your hands with harsh soaps.
• To avoid digestion problems, eat small, frequent meals.
• Brush and floss your teeth every day to avoid dental problems.
• Dress in layers.
• Avoid hot baths and showers.
• Put plenty of Vitamin E in your daily diet, as it will improve your circulation.
• Eat plenty of raw foods, especially dark, leafy greens to provide chlorophyll and other nutrients.
• Keep your mouth moist with water, ice chips or gum.
• Cook with a crock pot.
• Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.
• Sip your drink through a straw.
• Take your food out of the freezer with oven mits.
• Set your thermostat to 70°F.
• Order your drink without ice.
• Buy boots without laces.
• Bundle up with a heated blanket.
Scleroderma Aware – Scleroderma Recipes (Click to download recipes.)….
Chicken Noodle Soup with Vegetables
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4
Serving Size: Approximately 2¼ cups
Ingredients:
• ½ Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 quarts water
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 cups (3 oz.) uncooked, large egg noodles
• 2 cups diced, cooked chicken breasts
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions:
• Add olive oil to a large pot.
• Add celery and sauté over medium-high heat.
• Add water, carrots, bouillon cubes, thyme and salt.
• Bring to a boil.
• Add egg noodles.
• Cook 8 minutes or until noodles are tender.
• Add diced chicken and peas.
• Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’s ingredients meet your dietary needs.
Alfredo Sauce
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6
Serving Size: Approximately ⅓ cup
Ingredients:
• ¼ cup light cream cheese
• ¼ cup low-fat milk
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt and freshly grated pepper to taste
Instructions:
• Combine cream cheese, ¼ cup milk and flour in a small mixing bowl. Beat until well blended.
• Slowly pour in remaining 1 cup milk and beat until smooth.
• Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in large, nonstick sauce pan over medium heat.
• Add the milk mixture and continue to heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened (about 4 minutes).
• Stir in grated Parmesan cheese, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’s ingredients meet your dietary needs.
Chicken Kabobs
Prep Time: 2 ½ hours
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch chunks
Instructions:
• In a medium bowl, use a whisk to blend together the sesame and olive oils, soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame seeds.
• Add the chicken to the mixture and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make chicken kabobs by threading 2 to 3 chunks of chicken onto a round toothpick.
• Place kabobs on a baking sheet.
• Repeat steps with the remaining chicken chunks. If there is any marinade remaining, discard it.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’s
ingredients meet your dietary needs.
Italian Lover’s Lasagna
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Serves: 10
Ingredients:
• 12 ounces lean ground beef
• ½ cup beef broth
• 12 ounces wide lasagna noodles
• 2 cups low-fat alfredo sauce
• 1 ½ cups grated skim mozzarella cheese
Instructions:
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until just tender. Drain well.
• While noodles are cooking, brown the ground beef in a nonstick frying pan coated with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, add browned beef and broth. Toss together.
• Spread 1 cup of the alfredo sauce on the bottom of 9×13 inch baking pan.
• Add 3 strips of lasagna noodles.
• Spread half of the beef mixture on top.
• Lay 3 strips of lasagna noodles.
• Spread the remaining beef mixture on top.
• Add 3 strips of lasagna noodles.
• Spread the very top with remaining sauce.
• Sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’s ingredients meet your dietary needs.
Swedish Meatballs
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
• ½ ground allspice
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 pounds chilled ground turkey breast meat
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• ½ cup water
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. fat-free sour cream
• Pinch of salt
Instructions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• To make meatballs, combine bread crumbs, egg whites, nutmeg, allspice, salt and turkey in a large bowl.
• Mix with your hands.
• With wet hands, form mixture into 1-inch balls.
• Chill balls in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Pour olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat on medium-high until hot.
• Place balls into the skillet and brown.
• Place balls into a 9×13-inch baking dish and cover with foil.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• While baking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and water, stirring until smooth. Set aside.
• Combine Worcestershire and beef broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and continue whisking until the mixture begins to thicken.
• Remove mixture from heat and gently whisk in sour cream.
• Pour this mixture over the balls and stir well.
• Serve warm.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’singredients meet your dietary needs.
Fried Chicken, Minus the Frying
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
• 6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp. salt
Instructions:
• Place chicken in a large bowl and add milk.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large zipper-style plastic bag, mix together flour, cornmeal and salt.
• Place one milk-coated piece of chicken breast into the flour mixture and shake well to coat chicken.
• Place the coated chicken into the prepared baking dish.
• Repeat steps with the remaining chicken breasts.
• Drizzle half of the melted butter over the chicken breasts.
• Bake the chicken 10 minutes, turn pieces over, and drizzle the rest of the melted butter over the chicken breasts.
• Bake the chicken an additional 10 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
Note: As scleroderma is a very individualized disease, always ensure that a recipe’s ingredients meet your dietary needs.
Come take the pledge with me to help spread awareness about Scleroderma. You can take the pledge on the Scleroderma website or simply share this post to help spread awareness.
Disclosure: I am part of the Scleroderma Awareness Campaign with Influence Central and I received special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.