So...whats for dinner?

Hey there everyone:

You are all so sweet for saying I could talk about SX issues in the kitchen!  Dinner tonight:  1/2 individual-sized frozen vegan mac and cheese. (unfrozen)  

Spent all day at the hospital today (alone!  Yikes) seeing BS.  It seems the road to MX will contain multiple surgeries for me.  BS is doing an excisional biopsy next Friday.  The lesion is 11cm, so it will be full-on surgery -- general anasthetic, etc.  It won't be for treatment purposes; they're going to take the whole thing out to biopsy it. I had partial MX 2008; this new surgery will disfigure the breast, which has already had a lot of tissue removed from it; after biopsy results, we will determine the next step.  

I am in contact with my BS from PA; she is consulting.  She's pretty fabulous.  She advocates MX; new BS is all about "conservation."  Yikes.  There's not going to be much left to conserve, and then she wants to reconstruct it.  Pretty calm, but not sleeping or eating much.  I've been misdiagnosed so many times with this -- I've got a rare cancer, not ductal or lobular -- so all the testing I'm doing doesn't mean much, since doctors very often misinterpret what's going on.  For instance, my kind never shows up on mammography, so when I have a mammo, doctors run around shouting, "It's normal!"  Then they catch up to what's going on with me specifically.  At least, I hope they do.

Hope you all are well.  Lacey, I will try to think of freezer casseroles.  What about homemade baked beans with miso and apple butter?  What about a baked (real, not vegan) macaroni and cheese?

Moonflower I love you, but that casserole does not sound good to me  In fact, though, nothing sounds good to me, so it's not your casserole's fault.

My mom is out of surgery.

Eric,

I hope that your mother has no complications and is ready to go quickly.

*susan*

Lacey,



I second Susan on the soups. The non-cream based ones tend to freeze really well and are very comforting when you don't feel well!



Another idea if she has a crockpot is to package all the ingredients for a crockpot meal into a freezer bag. Then all she has to do is dump it in the crockpot (from what I read seems you don't even have to thaw it, although I think I would be cautious if it has raw meat in it) slap a cover on and forget about it until dinner time. If you google slow cooker freezer meals you'll find lots of ideas! Seems many people do this type of food prep and freeze all in one day and then have meals ready to go for a couple of weeks..... Who knew? lol



Eric,



Glad you Mom's out of surgery... Hoping for an easy recovery for her!

Eric, a big sigh of relief that your mom has her surgery behind her.  Here's hoping she has an easy recovery.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions on the frozen meals.  All I've ever frozen is leftovers.  Foods like chili and sliced beef roast and gravy are good out of the freezer.  I just remembered I have cooked a couple of different casseroles for freezing.  Eggplant parmesan and a yellow squash casserole with beaten eggs and boxed dressing mix.  The eggplant parmesan was the better of the two.  The yellow squash concoction is better eaten when cooked.

The homemade pizza last night was good, but dh played a dirty trick on me.  To be fair, it was accidental.  My half of the pizza did not have onions.  His half did.  When he got up to get his second slice, he took one of my slices!  All I wanted to eat was two slices but I didn't have a leftover slice.  He had two leftover slices. 

I still have enough dough for another pizza or for calzones.  I'm thinking a filling of spinach and ricotta cheese with some melting cheese, too, would be good.

Ladies and gent, thank you for those all of those wonderful ideas! They give me some good direction, and help me get out of my creative dilemma of not thinking I can come up with things to make for her since we are such very different eaters! Soups sound great, tho I guess I have to leave out any pasta products if I am freezing them, eh? Love the idea of prepping slow cooker meals....and It might be nice to buy her a small slow cooker as a coming home gift, along with the packaged veggie/bean ingredients. Will definitely check out on google for specific ideas. I think she would be a chicken pot pie person, so that is a great idea, too. Chicken rice dishes probably make great sense. I will check out that link, Special. All of your ideas are excellent and so appreciated! Thanks so much!!

I think I will be able to come up with a nice variety of things within her limited palate...just hoping she gets out of that damn hospital soon!



On my way home from an appt today, I stopped to pick up some glass freezer containers, but the woman in the store convinced me to go with Sterlite, which were good for freezing, had varied sizes, and allegedly no BPA and microwave safe. They were closing the store so I went with her suggestion w/o thinking much about it. Can always return them. Tonight I'm doing some baking for Anne, so better get back to it.



Glad to hear your mom had an expeditious battery change, Eric. Best to her for getting back to her usual amazing routine.



Bobo, I feel for you having to have that appt alone yesterday. If you think it could be of any comfort to you at all, as you go through what sounds like a complicated process, keep us "abreast" of your procedure dates and we can accompany you as pocket support! Sometimes, just having that supportive energy can feel good. Good luck!

eric - glad that your mom is home and resting - hope she continues to do well.

Tonight I made a large composed salad [lettuce, carrots, egg, green beans, cheese] and divided it between us unevenly. Mr. 02143 needed a pizza fix so his salad was a side. I ate his crusts as though it was my bread basket. Tomorrow night I am making some lamb kebabs with pita, tzaikis, and some hummus. I hope to top the lamb with some lettuce and tomato assuming someone makes it to the market. Tonight's lettuce was the end of green material in the fridge. We have hit crisis mode here!

*susan*

Lacey: Just a thought about freezing meals - I freeze in whatever dish then pop out the "meal" and put it in a zip loc bag for storing.  Lots more room in the freezer & dishes don't get tied up.

Some great ideas.  Thanks everyone.  I'm usually reading this thread at 11pm and boy I get hungry.  I had a meeting tonight so skipped dinner.  Having a glass of Kahlua instead.  Maybe some popcorn for dessert.

We got home from Phoenix this morning around 8.  Then I took a 2 hour nap so I should be OK until tonight.  Hubby thinks there's nothing to eat in the fridge, but I see lasagna and a couple of other frozen dishes. 

Eric - hope your mom has a smooth recovery.

Lacey - we had bought a new Samsung with the freezer on the bottom and it was great. 

Thanks, Michelle and Special. I think all of the stainless refrigerators have the fingerprint issue. Willing to deal with it to get the piece to match the rest of the kitchen finally. I do like the idea of the pull out freezer bottom. However, does that preclude having an ice/water dispenser? Spose I could give it up for better freezer access. My current side by side is large but still awful visual access. We also have a certain size that is dictated by the cabinetry around our current one. I will start taking a look online, and get out to a store soon for a real look.



Michelle, are you wonderfully tanned. Last year around this time you were relaxing on your beach if I'm correct.



Learned today that my stepmother is doing a whole lot better, and was transferred to the rehab she was hoping to go to where she is known (previous treatment there, and now a volunteer there). So we will be going down next week for a few days to keep the relative visits coming. Since we will stay at her condo, I figure that I can also cook some things for her in her own kitchen, rather than have to bring a lot of already frozen meals down. Crossing my fingers that her path report is good.



Just got off the phone with MO, and will resume my Tamox regimen after I give myself a last "vacation" day today. She suggested that if the sleep issues start up we will decide on a med for that. Who knows, maybe this round I won't have that side effect. I am also going to get a strength and movement eval in a couple of weeks, which will help my stamina if that resumes as a problem. It is fine now.....



Yesterday I met with the Cancer Center's nurse navigator and she was lovely, letting me know of the various resources that can support me during this period....knowing that I will be feeling like s--t again after my Tamox hiatus. She was a bit surprised that no one picked up on me (and my avoidance of taking better care of myself)last year throughout active treatment. It was no one's fault...I just had a crazy demanding job and felt I could handle all of it..and did. Just at a price I guess. Hindsight is so clear. Anyway, I am hoping that since I am moving a lot more, I can keep it up and feel better once the SE's rear their ugly heads.

Oh, I also learned in my appt. yesterday that I am not stage 1 at all, but stage 2....oh the denial! I was really not paying attention last year at all.....



Have some teriyaki chicken breasts cooking up for dinner....probably will have carrots and a kale salad with it.

Michelle, I'm disappointed that I couldn't get over there before you left.  

It's been a crazy couple of weeks...last Monday mom started shaking and that set off a whole series of medical appointments.  I think she was checked by every 'ologist except a forensic pathologist.... :-)

I hope the weather was at least OK..

Mom is home and she says that a single extra strength Tylenol every 5 hours makes it stop throbbing.  She's up and moving around, but I can tell she's tired.  She has also made it very obvious that she's anxious to get the implants going again so the shakes go away.  She was in the US Navy and married 58 years to a man that spent 30 years in the US Marines, so there were several extra words between "the" and "shakes"...words that would not be heard around Sunday School!  :-)

Sharon's oncology appointment went well today.  First, it's out with the Tamox and in with the Arimidex.  Second, both the CAE and 27-29 numbers were down.  3.4 for the CAE and 18 for the 27-29.  And, finally, the doctor says to come back in 6 months instead of the usual three months.

I guess I can start breathing again.  :-)

Great news Eric and Deb congratulations on 6 years of survivorship. Lacey, I hope your side effects stay on vacation, even if yours is over. However, you'd be welcome to join my club of the medicated sleep challenged.



I too, want a stainless freezer on the bottom fridge. I'm just waiting for our 15 year old white whirlpool to die. It's the only appliance that hasn't been replaced. All the others are black and stainless so it sticks out like a sore thumb.



Chicken cacciatore tonight and creamy orzo with asparagus and parmesan.

Lacey - I do have a nice tan!  I was fairly diligent with sunscreen (an 8...lol) but I did not burn at all.

Eric - I know you had a lot going on so I understand your not making it to Carefree.

Hubby went to the grocery store to pick up supper and breakfast supplies.  I told him I want canned Campbell's chicken and rice soup.  Just not that hungry tonight and that soup just sounds good. 

We had soup and sandwiches for suppa.