Comfort Food

After what amounted to 36 hours of a liquid diet, I got home from my procedure yesterday & was craving something savory.

I had bought a container of organic chicken noodle soup which I heated & ate immediately. I took a nap & woke still craving something substantial & tasty.

I decided to make Chicken-N-Dressing Casserole. I had seen this on FB or Pinterest & had been wanting to try it. I baked a skillet of cornbread which, for once, turned out great. It was moist & very flavorful. Must have been the fresh ground corn meal I had purchased from some locals in the country.

You then mix the cornbread with a small chopped onion, 2 boiled & chopped eggs (fresh from the Green Market), 2 cooked & cubed chicken breasts (I used a quart jar of chicken that I had canned last year), 2 c. broth (also used what I had canned) & a can of mushroom soup. Some salt, pepper, a teeny tiny pinch of garlic (we aren't fans of garlic, just like it for the flavor, not the main ingredient) & some sage & oregano (I had dried both a few weeks ago). Mix all together & put in greased casserole dish, bake for about 45 min. at 350 degrees.

Served with steamed broccoli & shaved parmesan cheese (not the kind from the green can of fake stuff). We got our bread, protein, vegetable & dairy.

Boy, did that satisfy my craving.

We ate 1/4, had 1/4 for lunch today & I froze the rest in 2 separate packages for future cravings.

Work, Charities, Health & Garth Brooks

Looking back over Sept. to now, I thought I hadn't been busy but I have. I'll use that excuse for not posting earlier.

I was very busy at work, as our busy season (2 years worth) has begun. Many conf. call, staffing meetings, WebEx sessions & other mundane work stuff. But our office has also been busy with some extras too.

We had a Hands only CPR class. It's a 2 step process if you find someone in need. 1. Call 911 & 2. Do chest compressions until help arrives. The premise behind it, is that more people are apt to do the procedure if you don't have to navigate the mouth area (unless choking or blockage is involved).

We also have gone paperless in our day to day work so we collected gently used file folders, binder clips, paper clips, etc. We donated 28 boxes of stuff to our local county Teacher's Supply Depot where teachers can come once a month to get things for their classroom. They are very creative in what they make out of the donations!

This past week a few of my co-workers & I went to a local Hubbard House fund raising breakfast. Very good organization that helps women (& even some men) & children get counseling & hopefully OUT of the relationship that is harming them. They also offer shelter when needed. Listening to some of the stories really makes me realize just how lucky I am to have had such strong kind men in my life.

Sept. & Oct. are my health awareness months. Labs & Bi-annual regular checkup - good (except my Dr. kindly asked how I had gained 10 lbs. - hint hint).  I also had the dreaded mammogram & bone density tests. Mammo good, bone density - I need to increase my calcium intake. I get about 900 - 1000 g. today (usually) but the Dr. wants me to increase to 1500 (w/o supplements). She suggested the Almond Milk (yuk!). I tried the un-flavored & the only way I could drink it was to put a t. of honey in it. It is very high in calcium. I drink a glass of raw milk with my vitamins each morning but can't get any info on how much calcium is in it. Research thus far only shows that it has a much higher calcium amount than pasteurized milk. If anyone has any links with that info I would appreciate it.

Next week is the dreaded colonoscopy. Actually I dread the day before worse. Jello, broth & a gallon of Meralax (double yuk!). But that Propofil(sp?) will give me the best 2 hours of sleep I'll have all year.

Went to the country last week & did a deep house cleaning. We were having guests come in for the week, for a large Expo nearby. It was a beautiful day & I was able to use my new retractable clothes line to dry the sheets & wipe cloths. It worked beautifully. Here is the last item, our blanket. It didn't get ALL the way dry but I only had to put it in the dryer for about 7 minutes.

Oh well, I'm off work today sprucing up the city house. It's beautiful here, having one of our only handful of fall days. Got relatives from the country coming in tomorrow to go to the Garth Brooks concert. Not so excited to be around that many people but I just won't touch anything & try not to touch anyone I don't know. He does put on a good show & his wife Trisha Yearwood is performing with him & I've never seen her in concert.

Off to cut up watermelon & take rinds to compost. Have a great weekend everyone.