So...whats for dinner?
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Great picture of Gabriel and his friend.
DS's girlfriend may be like Nance was when dx'ed diabetic. She may prefer to fend for herself at a meal and not have a lot of attention focused on her. We'll all be waiting for Easter dinner, Lacey!
Nance, I do not like heavy, sweet red sauce either. Long ago we ate dinner at the home of an Italian man whose sailboat was next to ours at the marina where we were "live aboarders." Waldo's red sauce was the best I had ever tasted. He told me he put a piece of lemon in the sauce. I usually do the same. I would never add sugar, as so many people do "to kill the acid." I was shocked when I learned recently that my sister-in-law's mother, an Italian whose parents spoke Italian, uses Prego with added sugar for her red sauce. This group of Louisiana Italians who settled a town called Independence, about 40 min. from my house, are originally from Sicily.
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Carole & all the rest of you who recommended - so where do you rate Rao's marinara on the sweetness scale? I found a source but only bought one bottle because of the cost. I will try it when my son is here for a day or two next month.
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Nance, Isn't that restaurant on the HILL??? OMG. I wish I could botttle the smell when you open the door to VOLPI's. My Italian friend Maria promised me a road trip for Xmas, and I am hoping she is thinking of grocery shopping soon....0 -
Red, their main restaurant is on the hill but I went to one of the others. Love those smells on the hill!
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Had a refreshing salad with some leftover Costco chicken today. Mixed leafy greens, citrus vinegrette, dried cranberries with orange essence, minced chicken breast, sprinkle of grated cheese. After a couple of days of junky eating, this really hit the spot today.
You gals are making my mouth water with all this talk of marinaras and such. The way you talk of the smells on the hill and the smell when you open the door....it already tastes yummy. LOL I have a favorite Greek place that strikes me that way. They are the ones who have the dressing I like to put on steamed green beans. They have suvlaki that is to die for. I think I might have to make the 4 hour drive to visit that place when rads are done. Mmmmmm
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Well, not sure what if anything will be for dinner. I keep waking up at 3-4 a.m. and then going back to sleep around 6 and not waking up till 8. TOday I woke up at 8:45....Got up made mayself and egg on toast and coffee and phone rang, a girlfriend who had been up since 7 wanting to know if I had errands, well heck yes, and she was offering to drive me, so we took my vacuum cleaner to the repair shop, where I can expect bad news, and then to buy my Dad's groceries at Kroger and Jewell, and then to get the door key I had made re-done as it wouldn't work (thank God he had his car keys in his pocket or he would have been locked out....) and then we delivered his stuff and she said how about lunch at cracker barrel. So we went there and I had Chicken & dumplings, turnip greens and the cinnamon apples along with 2 biscuits. I made a pan of brownies that just came out of the oven...... And laid around all day. This is day two of FEMARA for me. Woke up with a sore left ankle and sore right knee and pain in my cast...... This better go away real soon, or we are dumping this one. I hate to add a statin in to control the cholesterol, but the Arimidex just did "silent' things like mess with my Liver, my cholesterol and my b.p......
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Minus, the Rao marinara is not sweet to my taste. It is expensive but I bought a couple of jars recently because I don't think I can make anything better. I can make something cheaper! The salt content in Rao isn't off the charts, either. I'll be interested to hear how you like it.
I'm making a home-made version of shake and bake boneless chicken breasts, using a recipe in Art Smith's Healthy Comfort cookbook. One side is an enhanced brown rice and quinoa out of a packet. Minus, you buy this, too. Or have bought it. I am adding toasted pine nuts, chopped sundried tomatoes and canned artichoke quarters and grated parm. reg. Will throw together a green salad, too.
If I lived anywhere within day travel to the Hill, I would be going there. I think Italian is my favorite ethnic food.
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carole--How do you make a home-made shake and bake? Are those other ingredients like pinenuts, etc also in your coating or did you mean that stuff is in a separate side dish?
redhead--Sorry to hear about your broken sleep patterns. I'm a serious insomniac (thus my username--lol) I do fine until my sleep gets broken into pieces like you are doing. What's FEMARA--OK to ask that?
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Femara is the same as Letrozole. Its one of the aromatase inhibitors that they give you if your tumor was estrogen receptor positive.
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MZ, the pine nuts etc. are in a side dish. Home-made shake and bake means I mixed up my own bread crumb coating for the chicken, which was marinated in buttermilk.
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Redhead--thanks. I have still have a lot of Herceptin infusions ahead of me. That stuff makes my bones and joints hurt too. Some days I can hardly move. I hope your ankle and knee improve.
Carole--thanks for the tips. These are the kinds of things I want to learn to do--homemade versions of packaged things. I want to cook more healthy, but not have my family whining about too many changes in their favorite things.
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Minus, the Rao's that I bought was arriabiatta and not sweet. It was not very spicy either which is kind of the whole point of arrabiatta and my complaint about it. I do want to try the puttanesca even though dh won't eat it.
Carolyn, make a detour to my house the next time you go to Decatur and we will make a safari to The Hill. You would love it.
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I'll report back on the Raos. I just bought the Marinara to start. My son was horrified by the price, but it will be enough for at least 4 meals for one. He loved Spaghetti O's as a kid for heaven's sake. He still may not be a connoisseur of red sauce but I'm REALLY picky.
Carole - yes I love that quinoa & brown rice. I get the Seeds of Change brand.
MZ - I had the infusion center slow down my Herceptin infusions to 90 minutes and got rid of almost all the SEs except a runny nose.
Redhead - I have sleep issues too. Lately I haven't been able to go to sleep until 4am so then I sleep until 10. I was always a 'night owl' but I thought I'd managed to convert myself. My mind gets going with all the things I need to do and am ignoring so I finally turn the light on and read.
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MinusTwo--Thanks for the Herceptin tip. I will ask if they will do that for me. Next treatment is Tuesday. I have the runny nose part too, plus a few other things that I haven't heard anyone else mention.
I am awake until 3 or 4am most nights. I never sleep in either. I have been an insomniac since babyhood. It got worse when I added children to the mix. The midwife I had with #3 kiddo told me to try a few things that have helped over the years. One is to write down things that are going through your head and won't go away. Two--sometimes a little protein will help, an egg or something. Three--don't fight it. Laying with your eyes staring at the dark is unsatisfying. Get up and do some things and then try returning to sleep later. I never know which one of these will be the answer, but sometimes they help. My naturopath prescribed Melatonin CR. It's a time release version. It definitely helps me sleep. But for me, using it comes with a price--a horrendous headache. Not worth it. Not everyone gets a headache though. It might work for you gals who are sleepless like me.
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It's going to be a busy night. My DH's brother's family is coming to put on a musical concert for all of the family here tonight. They have seven kids. They ALL sing and play multiple instruments and they participate regularly in professional symphonies and local plays or musicals. It's going to be a nice evening I think! My own daughter is singing for a dinner/fundraiser tomorrow. I have to help her practice. She's 4'10' (she has Turner's Syndrome). She's singing Chim Chim Cheree dressed like a chimney sweep, complete with a chimney broom on an 8 foot pole. It's going to be so cute. DH is playing the accordion for the same event.
Dinner will be using leftover rice to make a sort of Americanized fried rice. This was actually something my DH lived on as a poor college student and he calls it Kielbasa Surprise. LOL It's rice, eggs, cheese, kielbasa, onions, garlic, and a salad seasoning called Salad Supreme. Makes up in about 10 minutes and fills starving teens very nicely!
(That seasoning is great on twice-baked potatoes and good in homemade mac and cheese or cheese chowder.)
How is everyone today? Redhead--how's your joints?
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mombiezombie--my joints were not too bad this a.m, but I woke up a 2:30 and didn't go back to sleep--at 4a.m I took 1/2 Xanax and then I woke up around 7:30, jumped in my clothes and tried to make it to the bus stop to go to my Dads, but missed the bus, so I came home, ate a brownie and a cup of coffee and asked a neighbor to take me. Was there about 1.5 hours and thought I could cath the next bus, and had to run a block and then it took me clear out another part of town, and ended up at the Mall, so I got off there and shopped for about an hour and my back hurt so bad I thought I was going to have to sit down and rest. Caught the bus home, fixed a hotdog for lunch and took a pain pill they gave me for my writst. slept from about 2:30-4:30 on sofa like a dead person, so probably won't sleep tonight. My neighbor told me to book myself a massage and she would take me, so I am going on Tuesday. That ususally gets me un-knotted for a while....
Tomorrow and Saturday is our Quilt Guild's quilt show. I
do not have any quilts completed this year with all that has been going on, but I am working 2 hours in our "boutique" so I will have another bus adventure tomorrow as I will have to change buses and walk about a block or two or three from the airport to get to the venue......
Dinner tonight will be leftover chicken, mushrooms and rice with a salad and tomorrow I am planning on having MUSSELS!!!!!!!!!
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MZ, how wonderful to have family members who are musically talented. I am so self-conscious about my poor singing ability that I only sing along to the radio when I'm alone. LOL! At church I move my lips because the ONLY way I can come close to singing on key is to hear myself. Here is a true family story. My brother Shelby took chorus in high school. His teacher called him aside early on and told him she would give him an A if he would move his lips but not actually sing. This is true! He made straight A's in chorus so when he graduated, he received a small chorus scholarship. Is that a hoot? When the chorus put on a musical, Shelby got the butler role. The butler did not have a singing part. He tells this story with great amusement.
We are going out to dinner with a couple who live next door. They're so busy we seldom get a chance to visit with them. Their four boys have taken turns being our yard caretakers during the summer. Now the youngest is a senior in high school. He probably will get a better job this summer. So...we'll have to make different arrangements.
I'm not sure where we'll go to eat, but I'm hoping it's somewhere that serves good fresh fish.
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Carole, funny story! I tend to just move my lips in church too mostly because I'm an alto and they always sing in the wrong key for me. My dh gets highly amused when I'm wearing my iPod because apparently I sing much louder than I think I am!
At Costco yesterday I got one of the smoked hams Susan mentioned. It's the first time I've gotten one there, I hope we're pleased with it. We'll have it for Easter dinner. I also got some of their lamb chops and asparagus, which will be dinner tonight. Dh has requested a cheese sauce for the asparagus, so I cooked some cream down, added a little white cheddar and a tiny dab of Dijon and we'll call that a cheese sauce. I have some baby golden beets to serve with butter and dill.
MZ, sounds like a fun evening!
Red, I admire your quilting prowess. I don't have the patience for needle arts but appreciate those who do.
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Redhead--Goodness, what a night and day you had! Glad you made it through, but it sounds like it came with a price. I hope you get some sleep tonite. Yay for massage on Tuesday! I am getting one on the 7th--can't wait. I admire people who are quilters. I don't do much, only to be social. But DH's family are big into quilting. Would love to see some of your pride and joy quilts.
Carole--That's hilarious! I think I would brag about that too. So funny! I hope you get some yummy fish tonight.
Auntienance--Dinner sounds good at your house tonight. I haven't had lamb chops in forever. My family raised our own lamb in Arkansas, so I grew up with some really tasty stuff. Once we moved to Washington, my mom quit preparing lamb because she said she couldn't find good quality anywhere to buy. She's picky about how it's butchered so it doesn't get ruined by the lanolin in the wool. I need to find a place that sells good lamb meats.
Dinner plans changed. In-laws invited us to dinner along with all the others who have come to town. Mini reunion time! No one is letting me do any work because I'm under the weather, so I guess I get some free time before we practice daughter's song.
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I had my first appointment with the nutritionist in the Cancer Wellness Program offered by the Hospital where I had my chemo. looks like there isn't very much that I can eat!! Basically all she did was give me a list of fruits and vegetables that are good to eat and told me how many servings per day. Cut the sugar and diary. Here I thought I could do fruit smoothies and be okay..she said no, its juice. Need to add other stuff to it to slow down the sugar.. cut the coffee with the dairy. This is not easy. Does anyone have any suggestions as to easy breakfast that is okay for us to eat. ?? Are there any books out there with recipes that anyone has used.
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thinkingpositive - I use coconut creamer in my coffee, and for smoothies/shakes I use frozen berries, vegan protein powder, coconut milk, and ground chia seeds - no sugar, juice or dairy - works great.
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Thanks SpecialK. Its hard trying to change diet. DeCaff?? what about green tea. I drink unsweetened iced green tea all the time. I have read that its okay, just want to make sure. Any recipe books that you know of for breast cancer?
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I use frozen fruit in my breakfast smoothies, too, and ground chia seeds for protein. I do consume some dairy so add 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt. Usually throw in a few almonds or walnut halves and splenda for sweetness. I tried using stevia but it isn't sweet enough. I have agave but it's high in calories. I use almost no regular sugar. Does anyone have a recommendation for healthy sweetener not high in calories?
I disagree with the nutritionist that blended fruit is the same as fruit juices. The blended fruit has all the fiber of the fruit.
Dinner last night was pricey but good. We ate at a little restaurant in Madisonville called Waterfront Bistro located in an old house. Very attractive interior. I had the fish special which was speckled trout fillets served over linguine with a butter lemon sauce and lump crab meat. Small serving of pasta was just enough. An alternative to the pasta was spinach but I went for the pasta. The trout tasted really fresh. DH complained that the food wasn't hot enough for him. No excuse since the restaurant wasn't crowded on a Thurs. night. On weekends you need a reservation.
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thinkingpositive - I drink regular coffee, not decaffeinated! Not giving that up, lol! I do drink green tea, and I think there is pretty universal agreement that it is good. I follow the Virgin Diet - it is an elimination, anti-inflammation diet. It is pretty restrictive and eliminates sugar, soy, dairy, gluten, peanuts, corn and eggs as sources of potential food related inflammation and sensitivity. After the elimination period you can add things back in to see if you are sensitive, but the author does not recommend adding sugar back in - or corn and soy as they are predominantly GMO crops in the U.S. I added eggs back in but don't eat them often. I am not comfortable with dairy due to the hormonal aspect, and I have found that for me it causes GI upset. I try to eat lean, grass fed, pasture raised or free range protein, organic where applicable (I follow the dirty dozen/clean fifteen rules), and the cleanest possible, least processed food sources. I don't have a breast cancer specific book, but Anti-Cancer - A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber has good info. There are a couple of other diet/food related threads on this site too.
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My nutritionist says you can't put fruit thru the juicer, but if you do your smoothie in the blender, it is fine. She also suggests using fermented dairy---ie greek yogurt, cheeses, etc. I drink the Horizon Organic, Hormone Free ultra pasturized milk.I look at the Paleo cookbooks, but primarily try to focus on shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. Eggs, Oatmeal, grapefruit or other whole fruitm, especially berries with yogurt, are all good choices You could even do breakfast pizza.
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Thinkingpositive--Not much I can add to what's already been said. I agree that if you use whole fruit in your smoothies, it shouldn't count as just juice. The advice you were given sounds really similar to what my oncological naturopath wants me to do. I am making changes slowly. I gave up most sugar first. I plan to follow what he told me the majority of the time, but I want to still enjoy certain foods that are restricted. So I will have those sparingly. I am keeping yogurts in my diet. I was only told to keep dairy small. The thing I have trouble with is trying to eat the number of servings of veggies and fruit and whole grains, and water drinking. I feel like I have to eat all day to cover it!! And I don't like water much. I am working on making things that I've always made, but I bend them into fitting my new diet requirements. For instance, I made chicken and dumplings two weeks back. I made the soup part of it super healthy. I put the dumplings in for the family. I made quinoa for myself on the side. It was a new experiment, and I had my doubts, but I was pleasantly surprised--it was yummy over the quinoa and I didn't miss the dumplings too much. Not finding it easy to change though.
Anti-cancer, A New Way of Life was recommended by my naturopath. It's next on my reading queue.
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Not cooking tonight. Thought I would share this. It made me think about our struggles to eat healthy when sometimes we just want something "sinful"!
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Sorry to disappear for a few days... sometimes life is just too much! Have I mentioned how much I am anticipating this vacation? I really, really need it!
Wednesday I decided to let someone else cook me dinner. Pretty well-known restaurant, and the food was okay. I just wish for the price point it was a bit better. Over the years, our maximum limit per person has crept up to $20 per person for a non-special outing and this meal was at $25. I know, I live in a huge city, with a high cost of living, and I should just get over it! I just compare the cost and quality to home cooking, and most restaurants don't measure up. We split the Rhode Island calamari [which weren't made properly, but were tasty] and I got a tuna burger that was way too big to finish. I threw the leftovers out today since I didn't feel that well that evening.
We continue to work our way through the turkey for lunches, and I added some leek and potato soup to the mix for the past two days. Since it has gotten colder again, it is really nice to have a warm bowl of soup. Last night, I made some black beans and crowned up the braised pork chunks, and served it all with a bit of avocado. Tonight is grilled lamb chops, peas, and a sweet potato gratin.
This dietician's advice seems off to me. The all or nothing approach to eating is simply unacceptable to me. I don't believe in anything fundamentalist, and that is what this sounds like. Modest portions and 80% of your plate as something that came out of the ground seems like the best method of eating. But what do I know??? Special K and Carole have come up with reasonable approaches that take care of their needs to enjoy their food while treating their bodies well. I eat very little dairy, but yogurt and cheese have a role to play [but it better be good cheese!] Since sugar doesn't appeal to me, that has never been a large part of my diet. Back to the dietician, I wish they did a better job of cataloguing what you actually eat and then help you find ways to modify those foods to make them more body-healthy. Zombie's example is a good one.
I am pushing hard to finish all the work on my desk [which is disaster zone] and make sure I have Paris days planned so we don't wander about aimlessly.
*susan*
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p.s. And there is no one who can agree on what "healthy" means when it comes to food. Some are all about no sugar, or no carbs, or no fat, or no <<insert word here.>>
p.p.s And I admit that I live to eat; I don't live to eat.
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Susan--My dh feels like you do about restaurant eating. He says nothing is ever better than home cooking. I have a trip coming up on May 1st. So looking forward to it. Paris!! When do you get to go? I'm interested in that sweet potato gratin--what's in it? I like to cube sweet potato, put olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic and bake or broil it. So tasty. Haven't thought of gratin before.
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