So...whats for dinner?
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Eric, if anyone owns a smooth surface cast iron frying pan, they are hoarding them or selling them for big money...LOL. I HATE the rough interior of my new one and my ex husband stole the one I got from my grandmother (he wouldn't give it back and now that he passed away, no one can find it!!)
Tonight we are having Crack and Cheese (Martha Stewart's wonderful recipe) because I made it on Saturday along with pulled pork so tonight is leftovers. Yesterday we ate Chinese take out with some friends so have plenty left over from Sat.
I agree Sandy, when it comes to pans, esp. non-stick, you get what you pay for!
Minus, I am so jealous of your crab-a-ganza vacation! I love D. crab!
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leftovers
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Eric, my thrift-shop experience with cast iron skillets is that those with cooking-ready surfaces are rare and command top dollar (as much as> $100). Collectors have caught on, so Griswold, Birmingham Stove & Range, Wagner (not “WagnerWare”) and even pre-1960 Lodge show up affordably only if cracked, warped or rusted to a fare-thee-well. I love my 10” Lodge, which I have seasoned, for steaks & cornbread (sadly, no cornbread now that I’m low-carb), and the 12-incher I bought for when I have to sear two or more steaks. And for one or two fried eggs, my little ten-buck vintage Lodge eBay-special is perfect. (The seller doesn’t have anything larger yet).
Last night we went to the Palm for “Sunday Supper:” their March special on Sundays is a broiled 3-lb lobster for $59 (usually $75). We split a “Gigi” salad (romaine, tomatoes, green beans, egg, onion, bacon, avocado & jumbo prawn), the lobster, and sauteed Brussels sprouts and creamed spinach. The spinach has become more “cream” (and Parm.) than “spinach” lately, so next time we’ll get the leaf spinach. And the bread service, which Bob loved because of the pumpernickel-raisin and sourdough breads, has devolved to just sliced white Italian-“French” bread and cellophane-wrapped breadsticks. (Less temptation for me). We plowed through the lobster, which was terrific (a female, so there was plenty of roe), brought home the legs to pick out the meat for salad, and most of the veggies. Might get a small steak or pork chop to grill, or perhaps a salmon portion, after my workout this evening.
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Does anyone else use Seeds of Change 'rice'? It's a perfect size for one or two, certified organic, and heats in 90 seconds in the microwave (or can be done in a skillet). I thought that Seven Whole Grains was my favorite, but today I had Quinoa & Brown Rice w/Garlic again and I may like that best. I have a package in my cupboard that I haven't tried yet, Quinoa, Brown & Red Rice with Flaxseed.
So today's meal was wild caught, flash frozen Atlantic Cod fillets (certified sustainable from Costco), dipped in melted butter & lemon, rolled in Panko and baked 12-15 minutes at 375. Sides were 1/2 a package of the rice above and Brussels sprouts. I have enough of each for another meal. I'm doing well with my one meal plan (but sigh, no bread). I'd gained 3 lbs on my trip and have lost them already. (must mean they were just water, right?) And I'm still eating a snack in the evening. Last night was a small dish of Jelly Belly's 49 flavors candy. Saturday was two Girl Scout Lemonade cookies.
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I don’t eat rice—staying away from starches—except for sweet potato--as much as possible. When I cook, my husband usually doesn’t eat a starch either. (My son likes Uncle Ben’s Basmati, Brown, and Jasmine Ready Rice, which are usually on sale via Peapod for a buck a package). He did try Seeds of Change long-grain brown—it was good but relatively pricy.
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minus - yes, I eat the brown rice and the quinoa one as well, like them a lot. I usually have enough for dinner for DH, little bit for me, and enough left for lunch for him with whatever else we had for dinner.
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Sorry to disappear for a week. Turns out, keeping people informed about how I am doing is exhausting!!! Clearly, I need to reactivate my blog. I can't do weekly updates to everyone, now that the world knows about this crap.
Taxol, day 1. Well, let me tell you this wasn't that bad. She accessed my port for the first time, and could not have been more kind. She explained everything. She was disappointed that I didn't have the numbing cream. She was so gentle, and did I mention, kind? My one button down shirt was perfect, if totally out of style 12 years later! She left the catheter in, so the port only had to be accessed once. [But a bunch of you already knew that.] There was an allergic reaction, but not too bad. Charge nurses were involved. My oncologist came to listen to my lungs. One additional dose of the Benadryl. I went home and fell asleep. Wednesday I just didn't feel the steroid rush, but I did make bread, cookies, and prep some bagels. Maybe there were steroids involved after all. Had the crash Thursday at 2PM. By 3, I was asleep, and that was it. No fatigue. No nausea. No increased appetite. The port is still a bit sore, but that might be Olivia's fault. I have the cream, and will use it tomorrow morning. Who would have "thunk" it? So far, this is way easier than Xeloda. I will reserve total judgement until I have done the full cycle of 28 days. Oh, there is that diarrhea that has begun to rear its ugly head.
Over the past week, I have also made fish chowder, Chinese soups, a simple meal with burgers, and then a delicious meal for a good friend with lamb chops, baked sweet potato with a sage-garlic compound butter and a fabulous salad. My mother came down to take pictures with Olivia while I still have hair. She splurged on an Indian meal that we all really enjoyed. Tonight I made a simple meatball and pasta dinner. I needed some protein and carbs. I had lost last night's dinner and today's lunch.... needed something simple for my stomach.
Olivia today ate: 1 egg omelette with 3-year aged Gruyere, pineapple, chicken falafels, cheese tortellini, raisins, 1/2 cup lima beans and 2 tablespoons butternut squash. Her Dad picked her up early so I wasn't able to feed her anything more.
This picture is everything that I want her to know– we adored, loved, and trusted each other.
[damn, now I am crying.]
*susan*
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Susan, awwww. So sweet. Glad you are doing well.
Sandy, I use grocery store non-stick pans. My 10" ones were under $30. I refuse to spend a fortune for my skillets. Then again, I don't cook exotic things. My pet peeve is glass lids. I hate them! They make the pans so heavy. I have 2 ancient (20+ year old) T-Fal 2 and 3 quart sauce pans with aluminum lids that I hope never die.
HUGS!
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Sandy - yes it is relatively expensive, but it's only a tiny fraction of the cost of going out to dinner - even fast food, which most of us don't seem to do too much. It's $2.48 at WalMart, and that amount wouldn't even buy a restaurant appetizer, let alone a salad. So 1/2 of one bag & some added veggies is a really good deal in my opinion.
This is similar to a previous discussion we had on this thread about Rao's marinara. Several of us determined it was a good buy for us. Yes, that's expensive too. It's less than $7.00 at WalMart, but one jar provides sauce for 3 meals for me - less than $2.50 per serving. So with a handful of pasta or zoodles from 3 zucchini for $1.00, that still wouldn't pay for a bowl of soup in most restaurants.
It's all relative to our personal budgets. I eat well when I go out, but my budget doesn't usually allow for a good meal out more than once a week. (not counting vacations of course)
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Susan - sorry I was apparently cross posting. The picture is wonderful. Yes, total love & trust. Way to go!!! Amazing what the little girl eats. I can't tell for sure, do you go for an infusion every day for a month? I hope it remains easier than Xeloda. Thanks for updating us. I have a friend in ICU and I've volunteered to be the point person for calls so 25 people don't call her husband every day for the same update. It's a lot of work updating and we appreciate it. And of course we love hearing about what you're cooking.
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I found the delicious Raincoast Crisps are shipped from Canada to parts of the US. It's worth tracking them down. Oh, with a delicious Brie!!! Or a sharp NY cheddar. Below is a link that has a store locator.
http://www.lesleystowe.com/us/product-line/raincoast-crisps-us/
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Susan....the eyes say it all...yours AND hers....love and trust..no matter what. Absolutely precious.
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Awww Susan - I think that picture says it all.
Hope you find taxol very doable.
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We get Raincoast Crisps at Whole Foods. Fortunately, Bob & Gordy finish them before I can even get to them. I could live on nothing but good Blue cheese (Roquefort, Stilton, Cabrales, Maytag, Bayley Hazen, Roth Buttermilk) and quince paste or blueberry jam on Raincoast—if I were willing to weigh >250 lbs.
Susan, what a wonderful picture. Hopefully, that past tense of “love” & “trust” will mean that when she’s in her teens, the two of you will look at that photo and reminisce. And as to her diet—you and your kids are raising an amazing little foodie! Start ‘em young is what I say, before their peers tell them what they’re not supposed to like!
I chickened out—literally. Bought a salmon filet and was going to pan-sear it, but then I realized my nails are a mess and I have a mani coming up Wed. That can mean only one thing: BUFFALO WINGS!!! (Don’t want to ruin a fresh French mani with orange cuticles). Couple of ribs of celery and blue cheese dressing of course, and seltzer with lime. About to treat myself to a decaf breve cappuccino (had a regular one earlier). I stopped using my large latte cup & 12-oz. steaming pitcher, and instead using trad. (6 oz) cappuccino cups and an 8-oz pitcher. Same calories, but twice the enjoyment (and I finish drinking before it cools off). Going to have a little square of Nespresso 70% cocoa dark chocolate, one big perfect strawberry, and one drop of balsamico. Then off to a hot juniper-oil bath and to bed. Maybe if my muscles aren’t sore and I’m up early enough in the morning I will check out the Silver Sneakers class (though the Zumba Gold class going on while I was training tonight looked do-able). Dropping off the taxes at our CPA and then will swim tomorrow evening…assuming my suit stays on in the pool. (Check Lumpectomy Lounge for my sad swimsuit saga).
My biggest beef (no pun intended) with cheap pans is uneven heating—which can mean burning or steaming when you want to sear. If lack of durability were their only flaw, I wouldn’t mind them.
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Susan, Olivia is beautiful...and so are you. Your photo will mean the world to her when she is grown. I know this for a fact from my own photos of my grandmother and what they mean to me. You can see the obvious love in both of your eyes and yes, when she looks at this, she will KNOW how much she meant to you. The last sentence made ME cry and was very poignant and shows just how much you love her. Hugs and hoping that Taxol kicks butt and Olivia has you in her life for many years to come.
Tonight will be escarole and white bean soup and salad with a sour dough bread that I asked hubby to pick up.
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Susan, wonderful picture and such a special relationship.
April, I would love your meal.
We had an early dinner before Dh went off to a woodworkers' meeting. I made a large salad and topped it with leftover sliced chicken.
On the way home I detoured to stop off at a local veggie stand where I bought eggplants, green beans and cucumbers.
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Peggy, the 10" OXO nonstick arrived today--turned out to have been $25, not $35. The 12" arrives tomorrow. Used my 8" All-Clad this morning for exactly the same omelette that the 10" Copper Chef botched. Turned out perfect! Tonight, pan-seared salmon and veggies for me, shrimp scampi over linguine for Gordy. Bob is being fed at a downtown focus group.
Our front porch reboot starts tomorrow morning! New stairs, banisters, railings, flooring and "holy" stucco replaced with cedar. Our house will no longer look like something out of the Beverly Hillbillies
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Am I the only Taxol person in the world with a suppressed appetite? I made a lovely pork-noodle soup tonight with dumplings, and I just couldn't eat much. Managed half a dumpling and about 1/2 cup of soup. Everyone else I talk with added pounds and pounds of weight. Me? I will need smaller pants soon if this continues. And I hate to shop, especially for pants!
Today's infusion was with Nurse Karen. Let us say this, I don't ever need to have her as my infusion nurse ever again. She didn't listen. She hadn't read the notes. She lectured me. She didn't listen. The whole day lasted from 8:00AM to noon. I brought some Peppridge Farm cheddar cheese fishes and nibbled those as the Taxol hit my system. Very successful. Kept the waves of unsettled-ness at bay and gave me something to do with my hands while the steroids make me jittery.
The great Miss Olivia can now walk the entire house on her own. She owns this place. I do adore her. You have heard that before.
*susan*
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Just an FYI thing...I think all of you foodies might find this article interesting. It is the 26 most successful chefs in 2017. Number one actually surprised me and I thought I was pretty up on this stuff. I knew of every single chef mentioned but number one blew all of the others away as far as net worth (by FAR) and I had no idea!
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April - #1 is worth $400 million? and #2 is only worth $78 million? Something's really weird here. Imagine when we all believed that ONE million meant something. 'Worth a million', 'one in a million', 'a million kisses', etc.
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susan - I am sorry about Nurse Karen, it is important to have an infusion nurse you like and trust. I was lucky with all of mine, and they are mostly all still there six years later. I just had my port removed so kept going to the infusion room for flushes and got to see them all. FWIW - I think most gain on taxanes because of the steroids - at least I did, definitely not because I was eating more. I ate less often and less volume throughout chemo, and only certain things were appealing due to the loss of taste buds and the oddness of certain food textures. My dad did Taxol regimes twice, separated by a six month break and he had a hard time keeping weight on as well. Also, I love the photo with Olivia - the love is evident and the smiles precious - the photo really captured the moment.
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The phone has been ringing off the hook this morning. I sent this message to my doctor's assistant around 8AM this morning.
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Good morning Paula,
As you can see from my records, I have now had two Taxol infusions. I am rather surprised by how well I am tolerating this treatment. I will give Dr. C the details when I see her on Tuesday.
However, I do have some concerns about the infusion process and who will be administering the drugs. My primary infusion nurse is Katy but Katy doesn't work early mornings. This has placed me into what I am calling "Nurse Roulette." I have had two different nurses and this is not tenable. I can't re-educate nurse after nurse after nurse on the specifics of my body; listen to lectures about Taxol week after week; I just don't have that kind of energy.
Unfortunately, on patient gateway, I can't see a list of past appointments and the provider. I really liked the Nurse that I had for Taxol Nº1. I never want to see Nurse Karen again.
The reason for this email is to alert the two of you that I believe I need to have a new primary infusion nurse, and I do not want that person to be Karen. I need someone who listens better, reads the previous infusion notes more deeply, and has a bit of humor. It makes sense to have someone who is regularly available for the morning hours on a Tuesday, though I do understand that schedules change. So, I am not saying I MUST always have the same nurse. Instead I want to have a nurse in my records who is apt to be available regularly.Though I would appreciate a message back before Tuesday, I understand that time is in short supply. I will hope to talk about this on Tuesday with Dr. Herold.
Thank you so much for your attention.
Susan= = = =
Well, there have been many Nurse Karen complaints. She is on some kind of probation like thing. I will never have her again. The doctor has called to apologize. The nurse manager has called. I have been moved to another nurse permanently, one who is generally working early Tuesday. The outcome is good. I was just able to eat an egg with melted cheese on top. Can't say I enjoyed it, but it was tolerable. Another 2 lbs gone since yesterday.
*susan*
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Susan: Happy days. It's really nice when our communications are acknowledged. So glad you took the initiative to write.
Sorry about the extra two pounds. Since this isn't a treatment forum, I likely never mentioned that I lost 60 lbs during chemo. Well yes, the first 10, or even 20, were OK. After that I became skeletal. One solution for me was protein powder. I used Nestles BeneProtein, as recommended by MD Anderson. It has no taste & mixes & dissolves w/no granule residue. Usually I put in in Carnation Instant Breakfast or soup or applesauce.
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Good result on infusion nurse, Susan.
I have been making positive use of a day at home. I cleaned the interior of my car, giving it priority because of the heat and humidity of a March that has resembled June. Next I made three layered eggplant dishes, two for the freezer. I used a sauce that was bottled locally and it was quite delicious. Also used some cooked and seasoned ground beef out of the freezer. A combination of bagged grated mozzarella and fresh grated romano. The third dish was a little skimpy, so I cooked a cup of penne pasta and used it for a top layer on top of the eggplant layer. The pasta is topped with meat sauce and cheese. DH will undoubtedly approve of the improvisation.
Next I prepped the fresh green beans purchased yesterday and large-diced the two medium sized new potatoes that came with the beans. So dinner should be easy tonight.
I have yeast dough rising to make wheat buns for burgers. The recipe is one out of a church recipe book. The lady cook was Mrs. Inez Jake. She made all the bread for her large family and her bread is legendary with my siblings and me. I modified her recipe by using half whole wheat flour. I have learned the hard way that using all wheat flour just doesn't work out well except for bread objects to use as weapons. These buns will go into the freezer.
The summer departure is fast approaching. My goal for this summer is to eat healthier than last summer. It will entail some better planning. I hope to avoid the meat and potatoes on the grill habit.
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Carole - hard to believe that you'll soon be preparing to depart for the North again. It doesn't seem like you've been home much time at all. Good cooking!! I discovered the same about 1/2 white flour when making my Mother's no-knead whole wheat bread bread. It was great for toast but too hard for much else. Except of course for bread & milk, but I don't think anyone eats that any more.That's what my grandpa had for his 'supper' most nights. How is your Mother doing now that she's settled back in the nursing home?
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Sorry to report that my good friend who was in ICU died Monday night. She went in for totally easy 45 minute surgery, which was successful, then things just kept going downhill. She was the spark of our neighborhood and will be sorely missed. She's the one who got me out of the house when I was doing cancer treatment & recovery by starting a Chickenfoot group & teaching us to play.
Related to this thread - her husband didn't want people bringing food when she was in the hospital since he didn't know when he would be coming & going. Now he & the family have asked me to call everyone and say "no food". For a long time he has preferred to eat out twice a day. There are two grown/married sons in town & two grand sons who are away at college, but they all go out to eat together regularly. People don't know how to respond when they can't take food. Something in our genes I guess. I've suggested they wait a couple of weeks and then call and either invite him over to eat, or say 'lets go out & grab a bite'. They'd been together for 60+ years so I doubt he'll want to be eating a warmed up casserole in a lonely house.
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susan - sounds like progress on the infusion nurse front - glad there is no more Karen for you to worry about. I didn't mention that when my dad started Taxol he was a very spry 82 years old, he did very well, not even considering his age, and Taxol worked to maintain stability as well.
Last night we had cabbage, onion and carrot sautéed and added to leftover sliced rib eye with soy and hot sauce over ramen noodles. It was a quick dinner as we were celebrating our dog's 10th birthday. Yes, you read that correctly. He is an awesome dog, named Toby, and we take animal b'days seriously around here - I made him some "pupcakes" which were carrot and peanut butter cupcakes frosted with cream cheese and peanut butter, topped with a little dog cookie. DH tasted one - pronounced them bland, but that seems like a good thing for dogs!. He opened two presents and barked out the lone candle on his pupcake - we got it on video, his pupcake was accompanied by some dogzerts ice cream. The cat did not eat anything, but was very interested in the festivities - was a bit alarmed when the normally very quiet dog, who doesn't even bark when someone comes to the door, barked continuously as we sang to him. He needed to alert us to the fire atop his pupcake. We call the Happy Birthday song the Fire song because he barks like a wild maniac when anything is on fire - we will never be overcome by flames in this house as long as he is here! The humans had Nothing But Bundt's lemon cake and white chocolate raspberry cake with vanilla ice cream.
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Minus, so sorry about the loss of your friend. Perhaps in lieu of bringing food, people can make charitable contributions in her name (making sure it’s a charity to which she didn’t object) or offer to perform a service such as house cleaning, mowing, car-washing, laundry, etc. for her husband.
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minus - we must have been cross-posting, sorry about the loss of your neighbor and friend, scary that she had an easy and successful surgery and then this happened.
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Minus, I'm so sorry about your friend. How shocking.
Susan, good job on the nurse situation. I'm sure that will make things go much more smoothly. Or at least give you some peace of mind on treatment days.
Special, I'm smiling about the dog birthday because we are celebrating grand-dog Olivia's first birthday this weekend. I didn't bake a pup cake but I got her a large decorated doggie cookie and Frosty Paws. She also has a gift bag of stuffed toys and bully sticks. Not too spoiled!
Yike Minus, 60 pounds! That must have alarmed your treatment team. I lost 20 but that's because taxotere blew up my stomach (so to speak.) Unfortunately, I found them again after treatment ended, even though my stomach hasn't been the same.
Burgers cooked in cast iron tonight, on brioche buns with a salad.
April, that was an interesting article. I was a bit surprised by it too.
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