Stuffed Squash

It's only 102 degrees at 3:30PM, but the humidity is up at 27%.  Oh sure, sounds pretty good to folks in places like the southern states that get REAL humidity, but it's still yukky to us. :)

Oddly, yesterday I was getting my Thursday-after-chemo leg pains.  It was very sporadic though, thank the deities.  And I had another Ocular Migraine.  At least in this round it's only been two of them.  I'm beginning to feel antsy about the CT that I will be having on Friday.  I can't tell you how hard it is to try to just keep these tests in perspective.  The results of this CT will tell me if this very toxic chemo regimen is doing me any good, or not.  I need to not think about it until Friday rolls around, and then I can be an anxious, neurotic mess until I see my Oncologist on the following Tuesday.

And on that Tuesday, the 12th, I am supposed to have my fourth chemo of this round.  I'm feeling wildly ambivalent about that.  I will not lie and say my body could not really use a break from all this.  And if the results of the CT are bad, it will get its break.  But if the results of the CT are good, we'll go for chemo four, and it'll be more pain, more feeling sick,, more creepy side effects, but I would still be getting RESULTS, I would still be LIVING.

But if the results of the CT are bad, will there be anything left to do?  Let me clarify that; will there be anything left to do that I could survive?

Well, I had to get all that off my chest, and now I can move on to today's happier subject, stuffed squash!  I looked around and found a decent recipe from the Food Network, and had to bastardize it.  For one thing, there will be no oven use until... oh...around November, I'd have say.  Unless we have one of this past year's winters from hell.

Back to the squash.  I scooped the seeds from a round zucchini, a normal zucchini, an acorn squash and one I could not identify, but looks like a variety of turban squash, which is weird since I thought they were winter squash.  After getting the seeds cleared out, I put them in a large glass bowl, with about an inch and a half of water in the bottom, and steamed them in the microwave.  Each variety of the squash was done in its own time, so I had to watch them like a hawk. :)

After they were all cooked, I got out some ground, lean turkey, and with Jane's help, we made the stuffing.  Once the meat was cooked through, we added a can of original Rotelle, sea salt, cracked pepper, corn, and let it simmer for a bit.   We diced another zucchini, and a slice from that unknown turban, and added it to the stuffing along with some of the last of our collards and spinach.  Finally, we had made our favorite brown rice mixture, and folded that in as well. Oh, and I tossed in some chopped walnuts for some extra texture and nutrition.  I also love to use McCormick's blend of Greek seasoning, so I tossed a couple tablespoons of that after rubbing it between my palms.

Once we were satisfied with the seasonings, we stuffed it into our squashes, topped it with Parmesan and popped it in our Oster Toaster Oven on broil, just enough to get it all warm again and melt the cheese.  I must say it was WAY satisfying; toothsome, flavorful and SO fresh!  I love growing my own food.  On the off chance that this cancer gets cured, I think my sisters and I should go buy a small farm somewhere cool.  Dreams.... :)

Oh, and Happy Fourth of July to America.  In honor of this occasion, I watched "John Adams" on HBO with the brilliant Paul Giamatti.  In fact, I don't think there was one sub-par actor in that movie.

Back to work tomorrow for many of us.  Have a great week, and I'm sure I'll be writing again soon.  Love ti all!!!

Saturday, Bright Day

My friend, the sun, is out this morning, already blazing away.  I think yesterday was around 80 degrees and that's the forecast for today, as well.  It's just after 7:30AM and it's gorgeous outside.  How can you not be excited to step out into your garden and be able to grab an orange to have with your breakfast?  Heaven!

Yesterday, I decided that I would just randomly grab two cookbooks from my collection, and choose a recipe or two from each and that's what we'd cook this weekend.  And thus, I chose a roast chicken recipe from Nigella Lawson, and something called "Dinner in a Loaf" from a quite whacked out, spiral bound 'community' cookbook someone found in a thrift shop.  Today we'll do the chicken, and pair it with her gratin of potatoes and mushrooms.  I need to head over to Sprouts and see what's available in the fresh veggies arena.  I would LOVE to add some celery root to that gratin; just sounds really good to me.  Or we could top it with some blanched asparagus.  See, I definitely have my appetite back. :)

As for that "Dinner in a Loaf," we'll be adding a bit more nutrition to the original recipe that is essentially ground beef and Velveeta. :D  I'll have to think on that one, but we're good at that sort of thing.  I'm thinking roasted chilies, and maybe some shredded spinach, and ... goat cheese!  Dang, I'm hungry.

Didn't get a call from the PET Scan place, so if they don't call on Monday, I'll call the doctor and he can raise some hell.  He's not a big guy, but when he gets going, he can be pretty scary. :D  I love him to bits.

Ok, I'm going to grab some of my muesli, add some dried cranberries and walnuts and have a good breakfast.  Love to EVERYONE!