Currently Listening Rodrigo y Gabriela (with Bonus DVD) By Rodrigo y Gabriela see related

Food, Glorious Food

I’ve been collecting cookbooks and reading them like fine fiction for years. Seems that some of the inventiveness and joy of cooking has rubbed off. While preparing the usual meat and potatoes meal for Shrek tonight I needed a nosh, a bite, something to fill the hole until dinner at 8...in the morning.

Shrek is not that adventurous when it comes to food and I am in love with Mediterranean Cuisine. Many of the things I buy to enjoy Shrek doesn’t care for. I find myself making up dishes with these ingredients with a Mediterranean flavor, mostly Italian fare. I’ve yet to fix something that is inedible, but some I won’t revisit, mostly I make something so good that I have to write it down. Tonight was one of those nights.

Monday and Tuesday nights are either crock pot or pressure cooker dishes for Shrek, tonight as I prepared the corned beef I got to thinking that Shrek’s idea of a ham, egg and cheese grilled sandwich sounded perfect, maybe with a little tomato soup. Then I realized I didn’t have any cheese that I wanted to use. The old brain started churning and I re-found the rolls of mozzarella and proscuitto (Italian Ham, packaged as “panino“) and cherry tomatoes in the fridge. Looking at the bread situation and knowing Shrek would most likely want a corned beef sandwich in the morning I opted to make an omelet instead of a sandwich.

I also tend to opt for a low - no-carbohydrate meal…so a new taste treat was created. Trust me, it was fantastic!! Since I wanted to write it down I needed a name for the dish. Thinking on the ingredients I remembered that a classic Italian appetizer salad uses mozzarella, proscuitto and tomatoes and they call it “Caprese”. So “ Salata Caprese Omelet with Mushrooms” was born. Here’s the recipe:

Salata Caprese Omelet with Mushrooms

Serves 1

2 eggs, beaten and at room temperature

5-¼ inch slices of panino, if you can find it or 2 slices proscuitto and 3 slices of mozzarella

8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

3 mushrooms, sliced

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Garlic powder, Italian herbs, Salt and pepper to taste.

1 leaf of fresh basil, julienned or chopped

In a sauté pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat add the tomatoes, skin side down and allow to sauté for 5 minutes or until they get slightly soft. Turn the tomatoes and squish slightly with edge of spatula, sprinkle with garlic powder, herbs, salt and pepper to YOUR taste. Add mushrooms and a little more oil, if needed. Sauté until mushrooms are done to your liking, set aside.

In second sauté pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add eggs. Turn eggs around pan to coat bottom and cook until half set, should still be runny on top. Over half the egg layer the panino or proscuitto and mozzarella, cover and cook until cheese is melted. Remove cover, fold over omelet and transfer to warm plate. Reheat tomato topping and pour over omelet, sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a crusty roll or toast. Enjoy!

I often fix little meals like this and love making omelets with a twist. I’m quite inventive when it comes to omelets, adding favorite sandwich or salad ingredients to the cooked egg. It’s a good way to cut down on carbohydrates and always tastes good.

If you try my recipe and like it let me know or just let me know if it sounds good…

An A-1 Dr. Seuss Freak

It has to be a good twenty years since the last time I read the Dr. Seuss classic, "Green Eggs and Ham."  I took a little trivia quiz this morning...on my knowledge of said book.  I scored 10/10.  I even knew what year it was published. (1960)  When asked to fill in a word in a line, I was able to do so...even on the NON-multiple choice questions.

My question and terrifying thought is...WHERE THE HELL WAS THIS TOTAL RECALL OF THE WRITTEN WORD WHILE I WAS IN NURSING SCHOOL???

Is it the simplistic language of Dr. Seuss?  After all he used only 50 different words in the story and only one was more than one syllable.  Or is it the rhyming and pace of the story that makes it so memorable?  Quick and snappy, no long winded explanations.

Maybe all text books should be written in Dr. Seussian style...or maybe I'm still a Dr. Seuss Freak (geek) after all these years.

Working On The Nightshift

I’ve been working the nightshift for almost eight years now. When I first started, it was very hard to sleep during the day. I could hear kids playing and life in general going on. Many interruptions happened, phone ringing, lawn mowing, garbage trucks…traffic noises woke me. It seemed the whole world was conspiring to keep me awake.

Then there was the sunlight…it streamed in the windows, mocking my efforts to sleep. I tried heavy curtains, covering the windows with aluminum foil, nothing seemed to work. It was hard trying to sleep with the sun shining.

Then Shrek started the nightshift and we found a good solution. We discovered black contact paper and covered the windows with it. It’s fantastic. It doesn’t allow any light in and the room stays dark throughout the day. Finally I could sleep, except Shrek has a habit of falling asleep with the light on…the “daylight” compact fluorescent bulbs that we bought…but that’s another story.

Anyway…the windows have been covered with the contact paper for a few years. The bedroom is always dark unless you turn a light on…

This morning I woke up (yes, I messed with my sleep schedule) and wandered out to the kitchen. I thought it was still pretty dark for being 8 o’clock in the morning so I peeked outside and noticed we were severely overcast. Stumbling back into the bedroom I told Shrek that it was really dark outside for being morning time. He asked if I was sure it was morning and that we hadn’t slept all day. Nope, it’s morning alright.

So Shrek, in all his chipper “Good Morning” alertness, peeks through the blinds and finds that it’s REALLY dark. He’s peeking out the bedroom window…the one that is covered with black contact paper.

I’d like to say that I kept my composure and didn’t laugh at him, but that would be a lie. I was freaking roaring, tears coming down my face and I could barely breathe from laughing so hard. I got the standard, “Don’t laugh at me, I just woke up.” I just roared more.

Later on I started laughing again and Shrek was like, “Oh give it a rest!” Let me tell you, it took until about noon until he started laughing at himself and almost 6 PM before he referred to it and started me laughing again.

But, from the beginning he just knew I’d be telling everyone about it…and he was right!

STRANGE TIMES

Yes, very strange times. Many things all coming together at once and it’s a bit overwhelming…but first…

Last night (Sunday) I was sitting, thinking and my thoughts wandered to a person I had not thought of for a while and I broke down in tears. Sadness encapsulated my being and I had a hard time stopping crying, especially important since I was at work and I needed to get back out on the floor and take care of my patients.

My thoughts had wandered to my cousin, who had been killed by a drunk driver many years ago, at least 20 years ago. Shrek could tell you exactly when it was, he remembers things like that and he was pretty much on the scene when the news came.

It might just be the time of year that brought me to thinking about this untimely death and I don’t even know what I was thinking about beforehand that would bring it all back to me. But anyway, for about 25 minutes I was an emotional wreck. The emotion was so strong and just as fresh as it had been then. But, I did get myself back together and managed to get my work done. The strange thing is…that wave of emotion is not hitting me now.

Strange Times…this morning I got a call from a supervisor asking me if an aide had shown up for work. She was on her cell phone and walking into the building at the time. I told her that the aide had shown up and as I was hanging up I told her, “I love you.” Now where the heck did THAT come from? Talk about a knee-jerk response on the phone…I hope I don’t do that when I call the hardware store and finish my call…well, at least that person wouldn’t know who I was.

So my supervisor comes up the hall and she’s laughing…”You love me?” I told her I sure did and I bet she didn’t hear it often enough around here so I thought I would just mention it. I made her day.

Strange Times…further south from here is the Land of Far, Far Away. The King and Queen, my parents, live there. Daddy has 6 more working days before retirement…those 6 days are spread out over the next several weeks along with vacation and sick days he needs to use up before the end of the year. He’s also getting the last surgery on his feet that needs to be done while he still has the company insurance. The surgery happens next Friday…the day that Momma is having her last chemo treatment. My brother and sister will be ferrying them back and forth for these events.

Momma, the Queen, is retiring at the end of the year, too. She also has sick days and vacation days to burn up. Next Monday she gets her implanted port removed, she’s really excited about that and with her new hair growth, she actually has enough back that she needs to go get it cut into some style, but she says she’s going to keep it fairly short.

But the reason this is so strange…my parents are too young to retire…aren’t they? Weren’t we all just in high school a couple of years ago? Has 48 years gone by already? I’m freaking out a little here thinking about them being old enough to retire. I’m only 18 years behind them…am I an old lady now?

I remember the first time I saw Daddy with a head full of white hair…I was so startled I screamed when I recognized him…it wasn’t that he looked bad, it’s just that I was so startled that I didn’t recognize him I first. I actually asked him what I could do for him when he rang my doorbell (I wasn’t expecting him, it was a surprise visit) then I let out a scream and Shrek thought someone was attacking me at the door. I was so horrified that I hadn’t recognized my own father.

Then the other day I was looking at a picture of Shrek and I with my stunning Step-daughter (yes, I am an evil-stepmother)…It took me a second to recognize me in the picture, I thought it was my mother looking back at me. And that’s not the first time I have fooled myself. Once in a shopping mall in Denver I was positive I had spied my Mom walking towards me, I waved and she waved back. Once again we had worn the same outfit…we do tend to do that. I was almost to her when I realized I was walking toward a storefront that was a giant mirror. (stop laughing…it’s not really funny) So there I was waving and smiling at myself…

Strange Times…an era is passing…at least for me. The future is puzzling and the past is poking it’s nose in. My hormonal balance is out of whack and I can’t even watch commercials anymore. But one thing is the same, I turn on a Star Wars movie to fall asleep to…

Dumb People Trick

Do NOT try this at home…even to get out of work.

I was running at top speed last night and could vaguely see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had a few more patients to see before I got my lunch break at 11 PM. I was starting to hang an IV antibiotic when I realized I didn't have a syringe to flush the IV line.

Back up the hallway, luckily this room was only halfway down, but I had been up and down the full length many times over before then. I got into the med room and the door closed behind me, locking as it closed, per usual.  This is important to note...If I had severely hurt myself, noone would have been able to get in to help me.

I reached for the syringes on the shelf below the counter. As I reached down…my head connected with the emergency medication kit that some nitwit (me) had left sitting on the edge of the counter. There was a solid thunk, brilliant pain and I was suddenly on the floor. I’m very sure that I missed at least 30 seconds there as I was shaking my head trying to get the stars and bright lights to stop spinning. Cussing myself for an idiot I pulled myself up, supporting myself on the edge of the counter. I stood that way for about five minutes until my head cleared. I had some brilliant pain over my right eye and the skin was very tender…but no blood.

Back up the hallway, got the IV started, check the blood sugars of six patients and wrapped the legs of another patient. I was standing at the nurses station at about 10:15 PM, finally done with the bedtime meds and treatment and considering what I needed to do next. That’s when it hit me…a sudden wave of world whirling and nausea. My nurses aide said I looked like a drunk trying to stand upright. I tried to walk to the med room and my aide grabbed my arm and made me sit down. I checked my blood sugar…normal, very normal…my oxygen levels were fine, I instructed the aide on how to check my pupil reactions, they were fine. My blood pressure was up…but not too bad and my pulse rate was way up…most likely from just finishing running the halls.

Even sitting I was feeling the world wobble…and starting to feel some neck pain. I called my supervisor and she said she’d be there ASAP. Meanwhile, I wrote up a quick report list on my patients and got the most needed items on the Central Supply order…things I knew we had to have, before turning it over to my boss.

The boss had my aide walk me over to the ER, it’s in the next building, just in case I decided to topple over in the street at midnight. It was a quick trip, with me making my usual nervous jokes and being the class clown. Told my story to three different people, declined their offer of Tylenol (at $7 a tablet…no way I’m taking them) and wobbled my way back to work. Got some Tylenol from the boss, copied my paperwork for workman’s comp and was wondering how to get home.

Boss solved the problem by having another nurse and aide watch the unit for about twenty minutes while she drove me home and my aide drove my Jeep.

Got home and sat down, after making some coffee…I’m was not supposed to go to sleep for at least 12 hours after the accident, got a little bit of food…but still feeling nauseous.

Upshot…in medical terms I have a scalp contusion, in layman’s terms…I bumped my head. A little ice pack will take the swelling down and the wobbly world will go away as the pain in my head stops throbbing. Just medicated my self again, the world is stabilizing and I’m not bouncing off the furniture as I walk around the apartment.

So much for the fun in my life…now I’m going to go lay down for awhile.