The Chemo Cookbook

Chemotherapy : Latin for "these medications have too many damn syllables!"

For the past two weeks, I've been home in Greensboro with my folks. This is the longest I've been home since my mother was diagnosed, and it's been an experience, to say the least.  Two weeks marks a "cycle" in my family's life now.  Every other Tuesday is Chemo Day, meaning I got to live through Chemo Week and Normal Week while I've been here.  I've seen the ups and downs, and I actually attended Chemotherapy.

side note : I HATE HOSPITALS! end side note.

Now, there's not a lot I can really do to help out around here.  I mean, I've done yard work and I helped take care of the dog, but I can't speed the healing process and I can't pay the bills. What I CAN do is take over the kitchen.

You see, a nasty little side-effect of Chemotherapy is toll it takes on your taste buds.  My mom has lost most of her ability to taste.  Apparently, everything tastes like sawdust, or it doesn't taste at all.  And when your body is fighting against itself all day, you kinda need the nutrition.  Go figure.

There are so many different schools of thought on what to eat when you have cancer.  There's the raw food diet.  Stay away from sugars.  Eat this, not that.  But honestly, in cases like this, you eat what you can when you can.  If Mama's craving ice cream, then Mama's gonna HAVE it!  So THIS is an area where I could help.  I started researching (a special "thank you" to all the readers who responded to my REDDIT THREAD) and then I got to work.  After a rigorous day of taste-testing where I made about nine different things, trying to piece together what she can taste and what she can't, I have come to the following conclusion : GARLIC.  And Zucchini, apparently.  Those, she can taste. Oh and, weirdly enough, Tootsie Rolls.


This, while delicious, did nothing. Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Sauce. For her, it wasn't like tasting sawdust, but rather like not eating anything at all.
But for those of you who still have full command of your taste buds, I'd recommend it :) You can find it on my Pinterest, here!


These she could taste pretty well, and they're really easy to make! It's one of those recipes that you can adapt to fit your needs, so we're going to make them again with more garlic!
Very easy, mini chicken pot pies. You don't even need to make a dry crust, the Bisquick base cooks with it! The Lazy Chef approves :)

But THIS was our winner. Slow-Cooker Sesame Chicken. Easy to make, DELICIOUS, and very few ingredients!

Little tip for those of you trying to eat healthy, or just looking to add more flavor to your meals: Brown rice is so much better for you, but it's not nearly as tasty as white rice ... cook it in chicken broth!

Again, all of those recipes, as well as several others I'm planning to try, can be found on my "Pearls in the Kitchen" board on Pinterest. And now, I'm on the hunt for more recipes that are heavy on the garlic!  If anyone has anything to throw my way, please let me know!

Fast Food

Brayden and I swore off fast food this summer. We're trying to start off our new life together on the right foot. No fast food, no excessive spending, whole wheat bread, that sort of thing.

I cheated. I was on my way home from taking my bridals the other day and I was starving, so I swung by the good ol' fallback, McDonalds. I had half of a cheeseburger and about twelve fries. Not twelve orders of fries, twelve fries.

((We interrupt your current program to bring you this important background infor

mation -- my typical McDonalds meal is as follows:

• one double cheeseburger
• one large order of fries
• a cinnamon melt
• an m&m mcflurry
• a chicken sandwich

And now, we will return you to your regularly scheduled blog.))

It made me sick. Really really sick. My body has gotten so completely out of the habit of eating anything fast food that I could hardly touch it. And now, we get to the heart of the matter.

I'd only gone about a month without fast food, and my body was already completely over it. I never would have thought that I couldn't go that long without fast food. I was sure that at some point in the last few years I'd gone without for a month.

I hadn't. I have been assured that it was an almost weekly thing. I never thought anything of it, because I shopped on the dollar menu. I grabbed a bite on the way to or from work, or rehearsal. Or when I needed a break from studying.

It's amazing how much a body can change just by getting rid of one thing. I imagine that principle goes for just about anything in life. Physical, spiritual, emotional. You can change one thing, and your whole lifestyle can alter for the better. As for me, not only am I significantly healthier, but I am saving so much money. (Yeah. I went back to my bank statements to figure out just how much fast food was costing me. I could have bought a new car by now.)

So that's my semi-profound thought of the day. Do with it as you will.

~Katydid

"Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."