Help support Team Hope Walk

The Huntington's Disease Society of America's (HDSA) Indiana Chapter will be hosting the Team Hope Walk - Central Indiana, on Saturday, September 16th at 10:00 AM, at Mulberry Fields, in Zionsville, IN.

Team Hope is HDSA’s largest national grassroots fundraising event, which takes place in over 100 cities across the U.S. and has raised more than $24 million for Huntington's disease since its inception in 2007. Thousands of families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and communities walk together each year to support HDSA’s mission to improve the lives of people affected by Huntington's disease and their families. 

Huntington’s disease is a fatal genetic disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain that is described as having ALS, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease all at once. Today, there are approximately 41,000 symptomatic Americans and more than 200,000 at risk of inheriting the disease.

“While HD might be rare, there are other families and friends here to support you within your very own community,” said Camille Colletti, HDSA’s Upper Great Lakes Regional Development Officer. “With laughter, smiles, and a day of fun; our Team Hope events bring us all together to embrace our challenges, because Family is Everything.” 

As someone who has seen the effects of Huntington’s Disease in Multiple people, it is one of the most heartbreaking things to watch your loved ones lose mobility, and their memories and thoughts as time goes by. 

One of the people was this beautiful woman who I loved with all my heart. I referred to her as my other mother. They never had children. She was struggling with Huntington’s Disease but she was the sweetest and always upbeat regardless of how she was feeling. Her faith was everything to her. She always had a smile on her face and a warm hug for a friend. She was always such a joy and grateful for every day she was alive. She loved to play piano and loved music. She sadly passed away. I will always remember her persistence and her determination and her love for everyone. 

Did you know that Every child of a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the expanded gene that causes the disease. If the child has not inherited this expanded gene, he or she will never develop the disease and cannot pass it on to their children.

Huntington’s Disease is both physical, neurological and cognitive.  Some of the symptoms of Huntington’s Disease:

• Movement problems lead to activity limitations and falls in persons with Huntington’s disease.
• Bradykinesia (slowness of movement)
• Akinesia (delayed start of movement)
• Uncoordinated movement
• Motor impersistence (inability to sustain a movement like holding a cup in the hand without dropping it)
• Difficulty with rapidly alternating movements (turning the palm of the hand face up then face down rapidly)
• Difficulties performing sequences of movements (getting out of bed, standing up from a chair).
• They can struggle with thinking clearly
• Often have memory issues and forgetting things in day to day life. 
• Multitasking 
• As the disease progresses, they will start having a lot more memory loss and experience dementia. 

I feel like Huntington’s Disease, is one of those that not many people knows about. It’s such a hard thing for the patient and for their family and friends. I would love for you to please donate. 

How to Make a Treasure Candle

One of my favorite candles I liked to make are called Treasure candles. Treasure candles are really neat because they have little treasures you find when you burn the candle. It's a great gift for a friend. You can even have special meanings for the items to personalize it. You can create a key so they know what it means after they find each trinket. You could use it to give a bigger gift like a car or a ring. You could even hide a gender announcement or ask someone to marry you. Just find some small metal letters to spell out the letters.

Treasure candles
Candle holder
Wick
Wax. I like granulated wax because it melts faster. You could recycle old wax if you wanted to.
A big can
A big pot
A few small metal trinkets. Make sure they aren't plastic or they will melt.

Melt the wax in the can over boiling water. Be careful not to let the can fall over or allow water in the can.

Prep the candle holder with a wick and wrap the wick around the pencil at the opening of the mold. I like wax coated wicks for this. It helps it stay in place better.

Pour a layer of wax in the holder and let cool. Place a trinket on the layer and then pour the next layer on and repeat until to you get to the top of the candle. Trim the wick and you have your very own treasure candle.

Be very careful when handling the wax and the trinkets after burning. They will be hot.

Easy and delicious Stuffed Shells Recipe

 

I love Italian food in all shapes and sizes. I love the cheese and the sauce. Parmesan is my favorite cheese. I also love garlic. It's one of my favorite things. There is no such thing as too much garlic in my opinion. However, it does need to always be fresh. The only time I use garlic powder is when I make Chex mix. Fresh garlic is always the best. 

One of the recipes I like to make is stuffed shells. I don't make it as often as I like because it makes a lot of food. I am not even sure how long I had the box of jumbo shells in my pantry, the date was still good. It just sounded so good. So I made it before Noah and I watched The Wizard of OZ. It was his first time. I'm surprised I was able to convince him to watch it. 

I wanted to share my super simple stuffed shells recipe. Try saying that five times fast. 

You will need:
19 jumbo shells (cook extra incase they break)
15 ounces of Ricotta Cheese
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan 
5 cloves of very minced garlic (I use the Nextrend Garlic twist to mince it)
Spaghetti sauce (I use Hunts in a can) 
1 cup  shredded Mozzarella 
A few sprinkles of Italian seasoning 

Cook the shells in boiling water for 8 minutes. Let drain and cool. 

In a bowl mix the ricotta, Parmesan, garlic together. Sprinkle in a little bit of Italian seasoning. Be sure not to go overboard. 

Coat the bottom of your 13x9 pan lightly with sauce. 

Stuff a spoon full of the mixture in the shell. Place in the pan.

Pour over the remaining sauce. 

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. 

Sprinkle Mozzarella on  top and return to the oven for 5 minutes. 

Enjoy!

The garlic is such an important part of it. The garlic really comes through beautifully. It really gives it a lot of flavor. It's such an easy and fun recipe to make with your family. Many stuffed shell recipes call for egg but I don't use it. 

I am really looking forward to dinner tomorrow.