So...whats for dinner?

minus - DD is a massive fan of Beenie Weenies! Her favorite things from childhood are still her favorite things.

Dinner last night was an exercise in cleaning out some random bits from the fridge. I had 1/3 jar of marinara so I excavated some cooked hot Italian sausage from the freezer and warmed it in the marinara. Cooked a big baked potato and sliced it in half and spooned the sausage over. Accompanied by creamed kale - had half a bag of kale and part of a brick of cream cheese. That was DH's dinner while he watched the last NFL playoff game. I had a pulled pork sandwich on an onion roll and some 3-bean salad.

I have a large napa cabbage also so I think I will make a variation of Chinese Chicken Salad with it for dinner tonight.

Happy Belated Birthday to chisandy! Congrats on the weight loss!

Carole, The corn is a good idea. I can use refried beans for mine.

Tonight’s dinner was coconut curry salmon, salmon and spinach in a Thai inspired sauce over rice.

Shrinkrap, the salads are lovely. I'm attracted to the one with olives and farro. I just happened to buy farro today at Fresh Market! An impulse buy. DH picked up the package and eyed it questioningly. I intend to google recipes with farro but you've already given me one idea. This farro is pearled, whatever that means.

The Einkorn flour at Fresh Market was marked down to $7.50 for the 2 lb. bag. That's a better price than I was paying to Amazon.

Tonight's dinner will be beef/veggie/noodle soup. DH has been having intermittent jaw pain for a few months and it has become more constant. He's having an MRI tomorrow. I'm so hoping nothing serious is wrong.

I’ve had a sweet tooth all day and didn’t feel like cooking, so PB&J is a good fit.

@carolehalston Best wishes tommorow.Dinner sounds good !

@maggie15 , that sounds great! I'm trying beets next.

Pearled farro has some of the outer part removed and cooks faster.

Here is the farro and olive recipe

https://food52.com/recipes/40234-heidi-swanson-s-mostly-olive-salad-with-some-farro

Yes, pearled vs hulled…farro or barley, same results. Pearled is more refined than hulled, but cooks much faster (like brown rice vs white).

Carole, I'm sorry for your DH's jaw pain…been living that nightmare here. We go back to Seattle on Monday for another consult and the 12th for surgery. They have yet to tell us what kind of surgery but at DH's age and condition, I worry. He's going to do his PSA again and hopeful it is still stable otherwise new treatment crap thrown at him.

I made a BBQ chicken "socca pizza" and tonight will be leftovers. Tried a new bbq sauce and BLECH…waaay too sweet for me; DH loved it.

Minus, everything is SO expensive here. I don't dare purchase spirits here (amounts to a 30% tax) and I found a place that has a selection of wine that they ship free if you order a case. Easy-peasy. Out here, I think costco wine is cheaper than total, but I haven't been diligent about comparing.

Maggie, my DH is scheduled for a mandibularectomy, which sounds like what you went through. I hope we don't have to drive to Seattle for the antibiotic infusions and can do it locally. He will be in a hospital setting. I just learned some of this today, on his myChart, when we looked for his lab results. On a happy note, his PSA is now down to 4.something….HUGE drop from the 10,000+ he started with in 2019. Grateful that the horrific Pluvicto treatment is still on pause. It doesn't appear that his jaw has the infection, only the gum areas, but maybe the specialist is seeing more than our regular dentist(s) have indicated. No cancer was found in his jaw though it is riddled throughout his whole skeletal system everywhere else.
Maggie, were you able to eat after the procedure? Anything you can share, I would appreciate. My DH cannot afford to lose any weight.

Maggie, thanks so kindly for sharing your experience. DH's age makes me extremely nervous about the surgery. Since the Pluvicto has been paused, virtually all of his pain is gone….I guess we'll learn more on Monday when we go for the next follow up. Really appreciate your input…both here on my swallow post 😘❤️

Carole, thank you for that kindness. I don't know…I sometimes stress and wonder if I am more harm than good, but I try. At the least, I'm a good researcher who has guided him and his team. I also love the back of the chicken!!! That is my favorite part if we do a whole chicken!
I'm not up on any of the implants since I went flat…did they think that an MRI could negate the ultrasound verdict? If yes, maybe worth doing…at the very least, they'd have more info and be better prepared. If you know the brand/type you had, anything on the internet about how long people have left them in? Depending on your age, maybe you can do nothing …Best to you with that decision.

I'm making sockeye tonight. May have a side of brown rice and make enough to make rice pudding.

Carole - I'm 10 years out and did know 10 years is the average "best use by" date - so I've been wondering about my implants (Allergan 410). The radiologist who diagnosed my cancer in the first place recommended breast MRI at 5 years and breast ULS every other year. The breast ULS last fall did not show any indication of leaking so I'm in the "do nothing" camp for now - even they they have 'fallen' with age (just like real breasts). I will talk to my PS again at the urging of my oncologist, but he previously indicated there was no way he could promise not to make LE worse. I would definitely push for a breast MRI before surgery. Also I read on another thread that your doc likely would not position replacements under the pectoral muscles. How will they fill in that space?

Wally - when I was in active treatment and kept losing weight, I took a protein supplement recommended by MD Anderson - Beneprotein by Nestles. Two great points: absolutely no taste and it dissolves in ANYTHING - cold or hot. I had a friend who mixed it for her husband with things like applesauce, baby cereal, mashed potatoes, etc. I usually mixed mine with Carnation Instant Breakfast. Hope the appointment Monday brings good news.

carole - I have had many replacements of both expanders and implants, most recently a bi-lateral swap of implants in 2021- right side was ruptured, left side was replaced because I was already under anesthesia and I actually did have the recalled textured Inspira implants. After all of my swap surgeries I was recovered enough after to travel within two weeks - unfortunately, the trips were to funerals. DH carried my bags, but I was fine for everything else. For this most recent swap I was experiencing some discomfort on the cancer side - which ironically is not the side that has had so many skin issues - so my PS ordered an MRI to check. The imaging revealed the rupture. There had been no trauma, or obvious reason that I could determine for this implant to rupture and it was not easily detectable - my PS actually had two different radiologists read the images. These implants were less than 5 years old and when removed there was no glaringly obvious issue, just a split. My SIL is a recently retired PS nurse who had her implants for 30 years before she replaced also due to a rupture caused by a fall on some steps. If you are not experiencing any issues - and maybe do an MRI to check integrity - I too would consider a do nothing position. The whole 10 year thing is about the warranty. The manufacturing companies issue a 10 year warranty against defect. If your implants "fail" prior to 10 years there is an obligation, if you registered the implants at the time they were put in, by the company to replace the actual implant (cost) and I believe kick in a specific amount outlined in the literature that comes with the consent toward the surgery cost. This is geared more toward augmentation patients since they have to pay out of pocket for the surgery. Since our surgeries are covered by insurance the warranty aspect is usually not a player. Some people have interpreted the warranty time period to be a lifespan of the implant, but it really is not so much the case. My original implants were sub-pectoral, and all replacements have also been. I am definitely not a candidate for pre-pectoral due to all the skin problems - my skin is too thin even with massive reinforcement with dermal matrix, but that is an important discussion to have with your PS.

On the farro discussion - I think Giada De Laurentiis has a number of recipes - both on Giadzy and Food Network.

Dinner was non-existent for DH last night. He was out with DD scouting the venue for her off-roading expo that she puts on every spring. they didn't get home until after 9pm, so he had almonds for dinner in the car, lol! I had some teriyaki noodles with extra broccoli, carrot and onion, and a peanut sauce on top. I have a bunch of leftover turkey from T-Giv in the freezer so I may pull it out and make some old school tetrazini - I have all of the other necessary ingredients. The turkey is smaller pieces, since we have already used up the larger ones, so it is good for that type of dish. Alternatively, I could also do burgers with sweet potato fries, or black bean soup with sausage.

We just watched the series on Netflix - You Are What You Eat. It profiles sets of twins in an experiment at Stanford with one twin eating a vegan diet and one eating a clean omnivore diet. It was very interesting as they quantified with labs and looked at muscle mass gain/loss, fat gain/loss, brown fat gain/loss, cognition, ability to exercise at full capacity, circulation, etc. There were pluses and minuses for both diets, but the documentary also profiled the environmental impact of animal farming versus plant farming. I have been leaning more toward plant-based eating, although I won't eliminate animal protein completely I am aiming for a larger proportion of meals to be plant oriented.

shrinkwrap - awesome looking salads! I'm a salad girl!

Sharon and I are mostly plant based…with "mostly" having different definitions as time goes on. :-) I'd guess we're probably 80%, maybe a bit higher, plant based.

The mention of the Off-Road Expo made me smile. My first date with Sharon was a four hour long 4WD trip through the forest. Later, I got a 1950 CJ3A Jeep and our 4th or 5th outing was a 150 mile, at 45mph, drive in that old Jeep to get to a nice camping spot. She drove the old Jeep so much that after we got married I found a "her" jeep…a 1964 CJ5. :-)

Carole - I did take a low dose Xanax for the breast MRI so I could stay still during the procedure. I drove myself, so I just walked over to eat lunch after the procedure until the drug wore off.

Special - thanks for the details about implants. You made me feel better also about "do nothing".

Interesting stats on veggie transitions. I'd guess I'm probably pretty close to Eric - maybe 75% plant based. I do eat chicken & fish, once in a while some bacon, but very little beef anymore. And yes it does vary. But I will never give up milk & eggs & cheese and transition to vegan. So glad that chocolate is in the plant based diet - well, cacao beans…

So after saying I rarely eat beef, I had a meatloaf sandwich for the second time this week. I make a very small meatloaf and only two or 3 times a year, but it sure was good.

We were going to be in Florence (south of Phoenix), attending a bluegrass music festival, but we decided to stay home. Some of the areas where would need to drive through to get there were expected to get a foot, or more, of snow…..and the forecasters were correct…..

Filbertos is a good, and fast, place. It's not an elegant, but the food is fairly authentic.

Those stuffed peppers look good. Sharon has joined Weight Watchers, and both turkey and peppers are "zero point" foods. Thank you for the dinner idea. :-)