So...whats for dinner?

auntie/val - OMG totally forgot about the toilet paper!!! They had to have 50 rolls! Just got a call from DH's bro - he tackled the attic over the weekend, the poor man. The reason being is that it is convertible space to build another bedroom and he wanted it to be viewable by prospective buyers. There were empty cartons, bags, shredded paper, sticks, someone's window mullions (not theirs, lol!), buckets, the toaster from when DH was a kid - more than 50 years ago, and a whole lotta of other crap! 6 trips to the dump, and 3 to the Franciscan center with donations. DH is thrilled that he doesn't have to do it - he was dreading it. BIL is a little worried he now has the hantavirus, lol!

minus - thanks, you are too kind - DD and I were on our way out to a holiday party, so I was dressed up, lol! I decided that since this pic was a true hair length representation, I should update the avatar.Your play and dinner both sound great!

Love the new avatar, Special!

What is it with elders and stockpiling stuff? When my mom died, she had a 2-BR condo but it still took 3 of us to clear out and box up for donation everything we couldn't use ourselves. Clothes, shoes, T.P., paper towels, cleaning supplies, paperbacks, decades-old spices, documents; she left a case of blank videotapes (plus years of tapes of Oprah & Jeopardy), and clippings, notes & scraps of paper she couldn't bear to throw out. Oh--and office supplies too. My in-laws kept a basement full of stuff they bought on sale with coupons (all the more amazing because neither of them drove): canned food, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, tinfoil, etc--all carefully dated. To my horror, when my FIL decided to move in with us (which I didn't know at the time--Bob was supposed to bring him here from NYC to look at assisted living facilities, but he convinced Bob to let him move in with us) he and a friend from church packed up everything in the house--and I mean everything (and this is just a sampling): half-used bottles of olive oil, ketchup, WD-40 & mouthwash; 30 threadbare nearly-identical white shirts, 10 rolls of tinfoil, 20 cans of tuna (dating back >10 yrs), and--get this--not only every pharmacy receipt/patient instructions sheet stapled to prescription bags, but the bags themselves....going back almost 50 years! (Of course, I had better get cracking on winnowing out stuff so I don't inflict the same ordeal on Gordy).

Dinner tonight was seared salmon (the Verlasso Patagonian farmed stuff is so silky & buttery!), grilled polenta and sugar-snap peas. Bob brought home Thai squid salad last night that was insanely spicy; tonight he brought leftover grilled baby octopus.

I have gathered up my courage and loaded up my avatar picture, this is me in my wig on Jan 28th. Considering that we have been trying to keep it a secret I wanted to be as anonymous as possible but once someone told me on these boards that it is always easier to talk to a person knowing whom you are talking to, and I agreed. Besides, the possibility that anyone I know will visit BCO is slight.

ChiSandy, very funny about letting the veggies be just veggie, I actually wanted to try this cauliflower pizza crust but after reading so many posts about how it gets soggy I decided not to. I love cauliflower just sauteed in the pan or dipped in a tempura similar mixture and fried, served with garlic mayo. Or in a soup, it makes a great soup. And I consider onion as a veggie, well, as well as a sort of spice. Any ground meat taste so much better if you add minced onion to it. Actually, DDBF said the other day when I was making lasagne, whether there was any dish we cooked in this family without using onions, and I said, yes, but why? And he explained that DD while staying at his place was cooking almost all the time and she used onions in all her dishes. Well, I tried to explain how sauteed onions add this umami taste to the food, but the boy grew up on half-fabricates, his mom has always been working said DD, and I was like.. eeh? )))

Lacey, lol about people collecting cars vs those who collect toilet paper. I do neither. I actually can see that I am not that bad at bulking stuff, mostly due to limited storage options.

carolehalston, I had beans in my chili too, but also fried sweet potato cubes, they get all sweet and mashy. And I agree with you on bc being unpredictable, only 15 per cent of women who have genetic mutations get bc. I had two children and five pregnancies, breastfed both of my children, was exercising, eating healthy, all these combucha and turmeric and all for nothing, one aggressive bc at the age of 45, go figure. I am from an area close to Chernobyl though but know a lot of people who have been living there all their lives and never get any bc, not even anything that can have direct connection to the exposure of radioactive jod like thyroid diseases. Go figure.

I am trying to stick to vegetarian, non-fat, no meat, diary or cabs diet, because I want this weight off me asap. I only have one pair of pense that I still can wear but last time at my PT office when I was trying to button it up I was wispering president Obama's election campagne slogan Yes We Can, I am not kidding(( My PT told me, come on, buy a new pair and I just looked at her, all that thin and tall, and thought to myself, you buy a new pair, I will make it eventually, I intend to wear my old penses. So, what I am basically eating nowadays are borsch and ash, Russian and Persian vegetarian soups, sometimes a salad. And sometimes I cave in and eat a bit of bread and it tastes terrific. I also eat fruits and dates. But I cook for the family. The other day I made a huge lasagne and they finished it up today, DD&BF had meatballs with pasta for lunch today and are now heading to his parents house. The BF was carrying two plates to the kitchen and I was taking them from him, asking was it not good? It was the first time the BF tried my lasagne, btw) And he just handed me plate with the rests telling, this is not mine, it is hers, she did not eat it up, I have cleaned mine, it was so good! And I realizing that it was DD’s rests just grabbed a fork and ate it up)) Because I am tired of salads but I cannot justify servimg myself a portion of lasagne, so I am cheating eating up after my kids))) I am not doing it because of bc but because of the weight, my lasagne had organic minced beef, whole wheat pasta sheets and organic tomato sauce I still did not make any moussaka but the eggplants are still firm and I will make it when I am done with my leftovers. I will try a veggie variant and will use veggie chili I have in my freezer, we will see how it will turn out.

I was unpacking my grocery the other day and dropped the pack of egg, six of them cracked so I had to make an apple pie, dusted the apples with both cinnamon and grinded cardamom even though I prefer the apples being just apples, but the kids grew up here and apple/cinnamon combo for them is sacred. The BF run to the store to get vanilla sauce and was all over it. The funny thing, yesterday I heard them arguing in her room, he sounded irritated and she was telling him off, and I thought, what the whaaat? I started to listen and it showed that while they were playing online (both are gamers and DD is always playing defence parts in her teams, she did it before they met) and she did not watch his back properly. I just thought, nerds!! At her age I was already expecting her.

I still did not use my KitchenAid but will probably bake either some bread or pierogs this weekend. Hope you all have a great day, although here it is already an evening.

Oh, SpecialK, thank you! But based on your looks you cannot have a 45-year-old daughter)

SpecialK, my DH’s mother was 16 when she had him, he was not exactly planned, his dad went to the countryside for summer vacation.. He was 18 when DH was born, they later divorced. I met DH when he was 25 and his mom a bit over 40. All she wanted to do was partying and he said it was like this as long as he could remember. Being teenager mother is so unfair both for the mom and the kids but of course you never regret having a child no matter what age you got it. But a little planning is always great. So, I belive 25-30 actually is the optimaltime to start having kids. How many do you have? Two sons and a daughter? This is what I think I remember from the previous posts, am I right?

eric, I have only one refrigerator and one freezer, I also have a food storage in my appartment building, it is an old building, back in 50-ies people probably made their own jams and pickes snd probably bought potatoes for the whole winter, but nowadays we just use it to store some other most certainly useless stuff.

I had to google FC-170, you are right, it looks so funny))

Cherry, you are so cute! And young. Only 45. What rotten bad luck to have bc at your age.

We had lamb burgers (no buns) for dinner. I put a lump of goat cheese inside each one. Butternut squash flavored with butter and brown sugar and topped with chopped toasted walnuts. A delicious romaine salad that dh put together. Additions were blue cheese, grape tomatoes and avocado. Dressing was white balsamic vinegar and olive oil. A very enjoyable meal even though the burgers were slightly overcooked. I cooked them in the cast iron grill skillet.

Cherry, you do look young enough to be my daughter. I'm 67, and married almost 47 years. (Our son--our only child--is 33). Please, though, I implore you: eat a more balanced diet! True, dairy is unnecessary (except for baby mammals). But skipping animal proteins, fats, and carbs? Your brain needs fats (at least the healthy ones like omega-3s). Especially if you are vegetarian, you must eat foods that provide adequate protein--which you need for healing after surgery, chemo and radiation. And all vegan sources of protein are higher-carb than green and yellow veggies. If you are not eating dairy or meat, you need legumes, some whole grains and at least quinoa. Those--as well as fruits & vegetables--are good, healthful carbs, and utterly essential if you are avoiding animal products. If you are cutting carbs, cut out the refined sugar and "white starches" (refined flours, white rice, and white potatoes. But I hope you're still eating fish and shellfish).

Chemo is not the time to try and lose weight--any weight the steroids may be adding is temporary. Your taste buds are altered when on chemo, and you will be eating less than an optimal amount even if you're not trying to diet. When you lose weight the way you say you're trying to do, you run the risk of having inadequate protein & fat stores, as well as even less glycogen that your muscles need for energy and stamina than one normally has during chemo & radiation. Worse, your body thinks "famine!" and tries to conserve as much of its mass (especially fat--evolution hasn't yet gotten the message that women now outlive our fertile years) as it can, so your metabolism slows down. When you can & do start eating normally again, unless you exercise much more than before you will regain weight more rapidly...and then some. And meanwhile, you might not even be overweight--talk to your oncologist. It is so important to keep a stable weight during active treatment that the only non-Stage IV patients for whom my oncologist will sign a medical-marijuana permit application are those on chemo who don't have enough appetite to eat an adequate diet.

My surgeon's NP said, when I asked about whether I needed to cut out all wine, "moderation in all things." You can have a small piece of that lasagna (which sounds much more healthful than what U.S. Italian restaurants serve) and the apple pie. If you deprive yourself too much for too long, there's always the danger of rebound. At 45, with the kind of breast cancer (and treatment) you have, statistics show that you have at least 30 years ahead of you. Don't go overboard and overindulge--but make sure you have some good quality of life to make that "quantity" of life satisfying and enjoyable. Nobody ever said on their deathbed "Dang--I wish I'd never tried the tiramisu!"

Cherry, speaking of playing Germans vs. Red Army as a kid, have you ever heard Al Stewart's song "Roads to Moscow," about a fictional Russian soldier in the final year of Gernany's WWII march through & retreat from Russia? I first heard it when it came out in 1973 on his album "Past, Present & Future," and was so taken with it that I taught myself to play and sing it. By the end of the song, I still get goosebumps to this day--no matter if I'm performing it or listening to the original.

Eric, for the first 3 yrs. of Bob's & my marriage, we lived in U.W. grad student housing. Our refrigerator was one of those under-counter dorm-room fridges. The freezer was so small that it could hold only an ice tray and maybe a couple of Popsicles.

carole, thank you for complementing my picture, it is hard to feel not beautiful but feminine nowadays. Fat and bold and broken inside, feeling like I am very old because of Tamoxifen I guess, cancer is ridiculous. And I have been moaning and crying so many times about how unfair life is and how could I possibly get it (!) at our Triple Positive thread that I lost count, SpecialK knows, but it is what it is, it awful, but it is what it is. No family history, no genetic mutation, I don't know why and how just like everybody else who gets it and keep asking themselves, why, oh, why?! I am glad I found these boards, I would have gone insane. Today while waiting for rads I got to talk to a few women with bc for the first time here! I told them that and they could not believe it. One was also triple positive and very young, probably 30, very bold too, sort of a tomboy. She wore no hat and talked a lot, and she recently had a baby. She also was enrolled into a trial for Her2 and now I wonder why I wasn't? I actually regret that I did not asked for her number but the nurses told me that I probably get a chance to meet her again. We will see)

Even though I am trying not to eat meat and diary I am still cheating and eat it anyway, sometimes, a small bit, and then I am feeling guilty. But I am a freak for cheeses and only trying to buy organic but still I have been told that since the cows, even if they only receive organic fodder, are to be milked they have to give birth to the calves so there are a lot of ER in their milk as well. Now I do not know how much truth in it but it sounds logical and I am trying to cut down the diary too. But today after I red your posts I went to the store and got myself jamon serrano, figs, came home cut the figs drizzled them with dates balsamico crema and just ate it. it was a bit disappointing though, the figs tasted bitter. Either due to chemo that is messing with my taste buds or if they actually were bitter. But that jamon with balsamico crema, what can I say, you are absolutely right no one will ever regret eating tiramisu or jamon or for my part also cannoli, just love them.

And thank you, ChiSandy, for believing that I have 30 years ahead of me, sometimes I just need to hear it. Wishing you all at least 30 happy years ahead. Yay to tiramisu!

But my bathroom scale is a b.. and it only shows I lost 3 kg of 10 so far. We are going on the trip in the end of March and I really want to be at least near my weight, I do realize I will not be able to get there in time. But I ordered new clothe for running outside and I am looking at new jogging shows, my 1,5 years old Nike Air are getting pretty worn and with this plantar facsitis I want to get the best cushioning the market has to offer or I can afford so I am considering Asics Nimbus)))

Love the new avatars! I won't change mine unless I get new glasses.

I'm embarrassed to say that we have three refrigerators and a chest freezer and there are times when they are all full. One refrigerator is dedicated to beer and other beverages. it also houses baking staples such as yeast, vital wheat gluten, dried fruits, etc. In addition, it contains assorted condiments including my not insignificant Asian collection. The refrigerator in the garage houses overflow during entertaining cookathons and summer vegetable bounty. It will soon be housing two ten pound bags of of Texas grapefruit.

We are on our way home today. As soon as I get there I will have to go grocery shopping as the cupboards are quite bare. Of course it's 28 degrees today after being in the 60s and 70S while we were gone. Dinner will be something quick and easy. Maybe breakfast. Last night we made tikka masala with some store bought naan. The side was a golden pineapple that my niece brought us from Hawaii. YUM! My DSIL also dug out of her freezer a tres leches bread pudding with a vanilla cream sauce that was amazing! I got the recipe and will definitely be serving this soon.

Today I made the beef stroganoff again. I also had some spinach that was getting a bit "old", so I sauteed that with some mild onions, salt and pepper. It tasted a bit dull until I added some vinegar and red pepper...it was really good then.

Sharon is watching the television news and both dogs are laying against her. Jessiecat is on the arm of my recliner chair so he can watch me type and occasionally add a keystroke.

eric, there is a Persian side sauce/dressing that is done exactly the same way, you sautee onions and garlic in olive oil, add spinage and then take it into a bowl, salt and pepper, let it cool and then mix it with Greek or Turkish yoghurt, and let it stay in the fridge (one of tour fridges)) to let the taste to develop and then you can eat it as a sauce to rice or probably just with potato chips