Wow oh wow! The week I've had. The stories and events that take place in a skilled nursing unit/nursing home.....these are better than the best drama or comedy currently on television. I'm not even kidding!

Today I was told I was skinny and beautiful. More beautiful than "Tweety bird"....which let me tell
you, must be a very high compliment!

With the heat index soaring here, our building temperature fluctuates wildly.  After freezing for the entire morning, I entered a patient's room around noon to discover it was uncomfortably warm and muggy. I started to take off the jacket that I wear over my scrubs and was informed that I needed to "take off a few pounds as well," because he could tell based on my figure that I had had a few children.  I can't get too offended, because with the clientele I work with, these things happen all-the-time. Part of my job is to help people become more pragmatically appropriate. Unfortunately, sometimes this means dealing with insensitive people with zero filter. My patients are endearing, exasperating and above all surprising.

I had three patients that had to have modified barium swallow studies today to determine their least restrictive diets and to confirm that the diets we are currently trialling are safe and that progress is being made with therapy.

They all 3 did AMAZINGLY, which makes me excited that what we're doing is paying off, and thrilled that they are going to be that much closer to eating and drinking a consistency that they want! When I have to tell a family that their loved one is not safe on a particular consistency of solid or liquid, it makes me feel horrible. We are so constrained by time and insurance when patients's don't make progress quickly.  I didn't realize that so much of what my job would be in this setting would be not just educating patients and families, but being strong in my convictions despite their pain and agony of feeling like their loved one is suffering by not being able to drink thin liquids (for example). No matter how many times you educate them about the risks of the thin liquid causing aspiration, they will sneak it in. Their loved ones will get sick, and you will constantly be fighting an uphill battle. Families don't want to deny their loved ones pleasure, but they do so at the risk of causing serious harm - aspiration pneumonia and even death.  It's tough sometimes.

Now onto the craziest part of my day today. First a caveat: When I enter a room, I am generally very cautious about where I sit - if I sit at all. There is a reason for that. I work in a facility that accepts clients with all kinds of conditions, and I really have no desire to bring any bugs home to my kiddos.

That being said, today I entered the my last patient for the day's room. He was a very nice gentleman, who was soft-spoken and VERY hard of hearing. This is not out of the ordinary in my field either. (PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: IF YOUR LOVED ONE NEEDS HEARING AIDES - PLEASE GET THEM!!) Anyway, I had gone in to evaluate his cognition/speech and language to determine whether he was appropriate for services. As I stood at the foot of the bed, he seemed to be really struggling to understand what I was saying, despite my yelling.  So, I moved over the his head side and leaned in to speak loudly and clearly to him. This stooped position was both awkward and uncomfortable, so I looked over and repositioned a large upholstered club chair, so that I could sit near him at bedside. After pulling the chair over I was so focused on him that I was not paying much attention to my environment. I moved my foot slightly and noticed that it sort of slipped on the tile. When I looked down, I noticed a small puddle. When I inquired to the gentleman about said puddle, he looked puzzled, then stated, " I must have spilled some water." Then he motioned to the rolling table and asked if his pitcher was still full of water. It was.....I knew by this point what I was dealing with...the next question was how....I lifted the sheets to find that he had recently soiled his bed. Alarmed, I stood up to notify nursing and to get some alcohol wipes to clean the floor. Except, when I stood up....I noticed that suddenly my pants and rear end felt oddly wet as well. I gasped in horror as I realized that the club chair I had been sitting in was also saturated. I went green as I looked down in disbelief, and asked the patient if the chair was wet. He looked at it and said, "Yeah, well I guess the water must have spilled in that chair too." Yes....I sat in what I believe was urine.   Yes it was disgusting. I told my patient that I had to go and would return later to complete my questions.  Then,  I quickly rushed down the hall in disbelief.  I was unsure whether to cry or throw up.  I made my way to the therapy room, where I stood, shocked and disgusted by my state.  My rehab team just laughed, noting similar things that had happened to themselves and others in the past. My wonderful manager jumped in her car and ran to the nearest store (Dollar General) for a change of pants and disinfectant wipes for me. Needless to say, the evaluation will have to wait until Monday. I took a scalding hot shower and know that there may or may not be an ice cream cone in my near future.

On that note, Netflix is obviously agrees about the nursing home humor and tragedy - as they are putting out a new series soon called "Derek" about the exploits of a nursing home aide. If it resembles real life at all -it might be hilarious. There's a link to the preview below. Ricky Gervais is starring. Hope it's funny! Will you watch with me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd5WdxGRNG8

Anyway, what a day! The adventures in clinical fellowship are going strong.

Creation

Psalm 139:13
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.(NLT)

Ecclesiastes 11:5
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. (NLT)

I am so bad about keeping up!

Quick update. I've been busy creating again...with a little hand from my husband and a BIG hand from God! Here's our latest creation ;)

And I mean really......she's such an amazing creation!  So thankful every day that I get to be a mom - nothing better. It's not an easy job, but it's one that I am extremely grateful for.

I'm also working full-time as an SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist). I'm in my Clinical Fellowship Year, and am currently working at a skilled nursing facility - with adults in need of language, speech, cognitive, voice and swallowing therapy.....and so much more.  I'll post another time about my experience with school, graduation, starting my CFY, etc. It's a very rewarding career and I'm happy to chat with anyone considering a career as an SLP - or anyone curious about the field in general.

With such a busy life, I've had very little creative time left for myself. I have done some projects with my kids and hope to enjoy those again when/if life slows down a bit. For now, I'm doing well just to make sure everyone is fed/bathed and taken care of. Life is full of changes and I'm attempting to grow in grace and wisdom as I move forward. It's not always easy and I often make mistakes, but I'm still a work in progress.

Just wanted to say Hello. Hope I can keep up a little better in the near future! What's everyone else up to?

Lemon Meringue Tartlets

I helped host a baby shower last week for a beautiful adopted baby girl.  She's been adopted into a sweet sweet family and they are overjoyed to finally be a "family" by her arrival. ;)  The shower was simple and sweet in yellow and white. 

My friend and I made tissue paper pom-poms and the food for the event consisted of a delicious pineapple punch (recipe to be posted soon), mini quiches (following the recipe from my quiche post), mini strawberry shortcakes and mini lemon-meringue tartlets. 

The lemon meringue tartlets were an experiment, and they turned out deliciously. I regret that I didn't get a picture of the final product until after the shower, so they had been refrigerated and were not as pretty as they were originally, but the recipe was simple and definitely worth sharing!  (Note - these are not gluten free) 

Lemon Meringue Tartlets: Pictures follow: 

1. Gather your ingredients.

For the tart:

Ingredients:

- won-ton wrappers 1 package (24 min)

- lemon pie filling 1 can

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 lemon (halved)

(For 24 tartlets I used a mini muffin pan, and only needed one can of lemon creme pie filling.)

1. Spray the mini muffin tin with non-stick spray or olive oil. 

2. Place won-ton wrappers inside to form a cupcake-liner-like lining. 

3. Coat with egg yolk to avoid over-browning

4. Zest peel of both lemon halves, juice the lemon halves into a bowl and combine with lemon pie filling.

5. Spoon lemon pie filling into won-ton crusts.

6. Bake according to won-ton wrapper instructions. Approximately 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees, until won-ton wrappers lightly brown and pie filling settles.

7. Refrigerate and add meringue on day of event. 

For the meringue:

Ingredients:

- 3 egg whites

- 6 tablespoons of sugar (finely ground baking sugar is best)

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

Preparation:

1. Coat wonton wrappers with egg yolk to prevent more browning of pastry.

2. Beat egg whites until frothy; gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Add vanilla or other flavoring. 

4. Spoon onto tartlets. Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes, until meringue is nicely browned.

5. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly then place for presentation and enjoy!

  

Melt-in-your-Mouth Quiche

Today I want to share my recipe for a melt-in-your-mouth quiche that is a proven family favorite at our house.  My handsome husband - who could not stand quiche previously- requests mine any time we have a carton of eggs in the fridge. I love making it because it's versatile and relatively easy. The kids love it too, and I love that they are getting plenty of good veggies every time they eat it!  

My recipe was adapted from the "Joy of Cooking" cookbook.  The version I made is gluten-free, but made with regular all-purpose flour it's delicious. 


The Crust: 

"Pat in the Pan-Cheddar/Parmesan Crust"
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Toss the following ingredients together in a bowl:
      - 1/2 cup lightly packed extra sharp cheddar cheese (or 3/4 cup if omitting         
        parmesan cheese)
      - 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
      - 2/3 cup gluten-free or all purpose flour 
      - 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I use kosher salt)
      - 6 Tbl (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into 1/4inch pieces
3.. Cut butter into ingredients until mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs
4. Press and pat dough directly into pan, lining bottom and sides. Thoroughly        
    prick bottom of crust with fork.
5. Bake in oven at 425 for 18-22minutes - until golden brown, then remove and    
    paint with uncooked egg-yolk & pinch of salt, covering evenly. Return to   
    oven with this glaze for 1-2 minutes to set. 

Select Your Ingredients:

      This time I used fresh Roma tomatoes, spicy turkey breakfast sausage, fresh    (minced) green onions, fresh minced spinach, Fresh minced basil, cheddar cheese, and bacon crumbles. 

      I usually see what I have and improvise based on what's available. Feta cheese is a favorite of mine, but I didn't have any this time!  

      I also chose to incorporate the egg-white into my recipe that was left from the egg yolk I separated to use on the crust. Using more yolks makes the quiche a bit richer, but the extra egg white added a fluffiness that I appreciated.

Making the Quiche filling:
      1. Remove prepared crust from oven.
      2. Preheat oven to 375. 
      3. After selecting and preparing ingredients by mincing, whisk together the          
         following: 
            1 cup milk
            1 cup Half & Half or Cream
                  (You can use just milk, but the more cream you use, the richer the   
                   quiche will be.)
                  3 eggs (plus remaining egg white/optional)  
            1/8 teaspoon black pepper
            1 pinch of ground/grated nutmeg
            1/4 teaspoon of salt if salty meats are not used in quiche (I omitted this)
        4. Whisk in minced vegetables (spinach, basil, green onions)
        5. Sprinkle the base of the crust with selected meats (bacon and sausage)  
            and heavy vegetable items like tomatoes
        6. Cover with 1/4 cup of cheddar or parmesan cheese
        7. Pour the custard-like mixture over the meat, into the crust

Return to oven to bake for 35-40 minutes until top is golden brown, and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Slice with spatula and Enjoy!!!! 

Week 2 Menu - GF

Menu: Week 2 ;)

1. Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes the Cheesecake Factory Copycat

(minus the white flour)

                                       Photo by roxy0316 on February 28, 2011

2. Parmesan Crusted Tilapia w/ Asparagus

3. Panera CopyCat (but better) Broccoli Cheese Soup

4. Curried Rice w/ Shrimp

5. Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken

This week's meals were a BIG hit. Having tried several of them...I highly recommend recipes from Real Simple. If you've never attempted one of their recipes, give it a whirl and let me know what you think!

I've also been finding a lot of meal inspiration on Pinterest.  If you are a Pinterest user, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but if not - you are definitely missing out!!

This week I have my FINAL final.....maybe, ever! I graduate on Saturday, and am starting Grad school the way I started it.....expecting! ;)


We didn't make it to every recipe on our list, but those we did try were fantastic!  I should have been better about taking pictures, but....I was too busy enjoying the delicious food!  We tried 4 of the 6 recipes we listed, and this week plan to make the existing two.  The chicken with white beans and tomatoes was delicious. The beans ended up taking on a smokey roasted garlic flavor, and were good as leftovers as well! The skirt steak with chick peas, tomatoes and feta was one of our favorites. It was also VERY easy. This meal will be on repeat.  The gyro meat with tzatziki sauce was delicious, but sadly, wasn't 100% gluten free. It was nice for a quick meal though. The sauce was slightly labor-intensive, but my family LOVED it.

Last, but not least-  the cauliflower parmesan crust pizza. My family devoured the pure deliciousness. It wasn't as crisp as we normally like our crust, but it was every bit as tasty! Another family favorite - with some extra veggies snuck in. You can't beat that!!  I DID manage to get a few pictures of that delicious meal before it was devoured. Our toppings were organic pasta sauce with garlic, roma tomatoes, spicy breakfast turkey sausage, mozzarella cheese and fresh arugala. It was FANTASTIC! We followed the directions, but next time I might make a double batch - knowing how quickly it disappeared!

Have a good evening! Bon apetite!

Gluten-Free Meal Planning- Week 1

Hey friends!


This week has been a BIG one!  I took my certification exam and only have two finals left to take before I graduate with my Master's in Speech-Language Pathology! What a journey it has been! 


This week my (awesome) husband requested that we trial a gluten-free diet and see if that had any impact on our health. He has been battling Eosinophilic esophagitis, and it's often related to undiagnosed gluten allergies, among other things.  Being the supportive wife I am (sometimes - lol) I decided we would give it a shot! If it helps his health, I'm game!


We've been using a weekly menu to get ourselves organized, and it's really helped de-stress pre-dinner planning. If you aren't already meal-planning, I highly recommend it!  We usually make a simple meal plan at the beginning of the week (Sunday is our planning day). We select as many meals as we need for the week, but we don't assign them days. Then as the week progresses, we pick what we have time to make, as dictated by our schedule.  It's been a good method for us. 


On that note - here is our Gluten Free Meal Plan - for this week: 

1. Chicken With White Beans and Tomatoes 

from Real Simple

2. Steak With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Feta

from Real Simple

3. Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Asparagus

4. Homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup (Better than Panera!)

5. Curried Rice with Shrimp

6. Cauliflower Crust Pizza 

Beth @ Eat-Drink-Smile

7. Gyro meat and Tzatziki Greek Yogurt Sauce

That's it for this week!  Have a good one! Anyone on a gluten-free diet that can make recommendations?

Prepping for time at home....

I am one HUGE step closer to wrapping up my long-awaited Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. We just took comprehensive exams and I found out - I (along with my entire graduating class) PASSED!!!!!  It was a thrilling victory and I'm happy to be one step closer to graduating. That being said......

I am very nervous about what's coming. I will soon be a mom to 3 kiddos! I had anticipated getting my degree and quickly finding a job to begin my new career....God had VERY different plans. I graduate in May and a few short months later, we'll welcome #3.  We're thrilled, and thankful for God's provision and for the further evidence of his plan in our lives.

That being said, this new plan has me re-evaluating a lot about my current attitude about staying home. I don't know why, but when I attempted staying home once before, it was not the joy-filled occasion I had dreamed that it would be. Being on one income meant we were financially a lot less able to do many of the fun and creative activities that I had dreamed we would be doing.

I found out that given so much freedom, I was a lot lazier than I had previously imagined myself to be. I occupied my time with a lot of crafty endeavors and really enjoyed having time to complete them, but I also found myself frustrated when my children needed my time an attention.....this was not how I wanted things to be.  I tried to include them in activities, but then was frustrated by the mess and lack of structure.....which again....was due to my own poor planning and poor attitude.

Don't get me wrong - we did A LOT of fun activities together, but the problem I really ran into was that our fun activities lasted only a few hours each day...and the day was much longer than that.  I began to feel isolated and lonely.  The pressure of planning fun and exciting activities every day - that would keep the kids out of the sweltering heat - and that would give them lasting memories and education....was so much pressure.  I felt like I didn't have the energy and stamina to provide hours of entertainment to my children...and I felt like they were nearly unable to occupy themselves.

Admitting this is not easy friends. I really dislike this part of my sinful attitude.  At times,  I really began to resent our long days together.  I also resented the work that came along with staying at home.  Finding joy while preparing every meal....cleaning constantly, while everyone around me made messes...My attitude was wrong and so my time at home was not what it should have been. I don't want to let that happen again. I don't want to be lazy and self-absorbed this time.

I am planning on being a little more organized this time around. I want to develop a summer curriculum, an organized plan for dealing with our day to day. I'm hoping the structure I provide will allow me the freedom from the daily planning pressure and I hope it will also give the kids a sense of security about what to expect throughout the day.

Do any of you have any great suggestions for things that work for you? How do you manage your time at home? What does your day to day look like? How do you entertain your kids and maintain time for yourself? Tips appreciated!!! ;)

2012 Valentines

So, I saw a few great Valentine ideas on Pinterest, and decided to give it a go.

Here's a board with some of my favorites! A Little Season-ing Board

I ended up doing something like this:

 Found on http://24-7-365.blogspot.com

June bug was a willing participant. Little Mermaid - not so much. But we made it work.

Here are my final products!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fascinating indeed!

I just realized that I didn't share any pictures of the actual event. My sister-in-law's wedding was amazing. She was breathtaking and the day was the most perfect imaginable. If you live anywhere nearby, I highly recommend Chateau Julien for your wedding & reception.

Here are a few pictures from the big event!

I should add that these pictures don't even do the people or the event justice. I got there and realized that I had left my "real" camera at home. These were all taken on my iPhone. Thank goodness I had it with me!

Wonderful day & a wonderful reason to celebrate. Congratulations!!!!!