Three Weeks Out and Loving It!

Hooter Hotline #13: Three Weeks Out and Loving It!

February 9, 2010

Howdy Hooter Hotline Friends!

February 3rd marked three weeks since bilateral mastectomy surgery. People tell me I’m looking good and that it looks like I’ve lost weight! I know that both are lies, but I love hearing it. I’ve only lost four pounds since surgery and I blame that abysmal result on my good friends who’ve shared their culinary prowess providing delicious meals for my family. For example, Janet M. sent a large picnic basket filled with everything to make our own fiesta dinner. Her healthy taco casserole was something I’d been craving. She didn’t stop there, she added salad, condiments, fiesta themed napkins, plates, tablecloth and a dessert that adds 2 lbs of body fat for every bite. Here is the “thank you” note I was compelled to write:

“Damn you Janet M.! I was going to use my leave to eat right. Yeah, I did have a craving for your taco casserole and you delivered....with sour cream and extra olives. Then you had to go and do it! That's right, your sweet exterior has been proven to be just that, a clever disguise to hide your truly wicked heart. As if it were an innocent version of Pandora's box, you slipped a shinny blue bag adorned with sparkling butterflies into the picnic basket. How could one resist opening it? And once open, I fell captive under its spell. I ate three that night. I've had one nearly every morning. I monitored how many Rog was scarfing to make sure there would be some for ME! How could something taste so divine and yet be so evil? Moist coconut and dark chocolate macaroons, only the dead could resist. As a child, I loved Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars. I was a snob about macaroons because they are not created equal. As an adult I found Cannon Beach Bakery could scratch my forbidden itch with its chocolate macaroons and that "Coffee People" kiosks in the airport also offered a wonderful version. Despite my knowledge of their existence, I restrained my self to an annual indulgence, but now, the shinny blue bag is on my counter...every day...whispering to me..."Come closer, I have something wonderful for you"... Yes, Janet M., you should be very ashamed.
Okay, maybe you shouldn't be more ashamed than I should be for not having the discipline to refrain, but they are soooooooooooooooo good.
I have loved them and you are truly sweet through and through to have gone to that trouble to make them. I am a little embarrassed about how my eyes light up when I remember I have them as I am trolling the kitchen for a snack.

I can't thank you enough for the fiesta dinner. You really went overboard, but it truly lifted spirits around here. The tulips are in full bloom and are the prettiest pastel pink, like the blush on a young Dutch girl's milky cheek.

Thank you Janet M. As my husband said, "You're a good soul."
Jen”

Here is Janet’s casserole recipe. If we’re really nice to her, maybe she’ll share her macaroon recipe too. I’m pretty sure that if I were in a persistent vegetative state, waving one of those under my nose would yield positive results. If not, pull the plug.


Mexican Cassserole

3 cups tortilla chips, crushed
1 lb. ground chicken, cooked
1 eight oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1 eight oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 15 ½ oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 TBS minced garlic
1 cup red or white onion, chopped
1 small can diced green chilies
6 oz. Jack Cheese, grated
6 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 13 x 9 baking dish.
Scatter chips on bottom.
Combine chicken, beans, corn, tomato sauce, salsa, onion, chilies, cilantro, garlic, salt & pepper.
Place half the mixture evenly on top of chips.
Combine cheeses; spread ½ over meat and bean mixture.
Spread rest of meat and bean mixture next.
Top with the rest of the cheese mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes.
Garnish with sour cream, diced tomatoes, olives and more cilantro.

Omit the meat for a vegetarian version and experiment with different beans: pinto, black beans etc.

Now my addendum to the recipe:

After placing casserole on the table, bow head and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the kindness and generosity of our friends who are extensions of His love and mercy. Ask God to richly bless those that are blessing you beyond what they thought possible. Pray for the insight to know when it’s time to pay it forward to the next one in need of being showered with love, casseroles and prayer. Ask for forgiveness for those who make devilishly good deserts. Amen.

This was just one of many meals we’ve received and I plan to share as many recipes as possible with you along the way. It has been a huge gift not to have to plan, shop, prepare and clean up for dinner’s main course. Thank you all so much.

Physically, three weeks out is a good place to be. My drains came out on day 22 and I’m not really having pain. My energy is coming back and I’m driving around. The steri-strips are finally off the incisions and I still think it looks pretty ugly. According to the few friends I’ve “bared my chest” to, they say, “It’s not that bad!” They said it so genuinely that I have no choice but to start believing them. My sternum does protrude a bit, kind of like the bow of a boat and I joked with Sally that I should have a naked lady’s torso tattooed on it like a pirate’s ship!

I do have one complaint however, I have wasted three weeks of leave actually getting well. I had big, big plans. When one hears they will be off work for four weeks or so, one gets ideas. I know I’m not the only one. Wouldn’t it be a great time to get going on those photo albums? What about finishing the quilt you started for your daughter’s high school graduation? This would be a good time to finish it because she’s already completed two undergrad degrees and just finished her MBA… Maybe it would be easier for me to accept that leave is for healing if I were a guy. I might be suffering from a peculiarly feminine syndrome. Recovering is the opposite of multi-tasking, which is second nature to a woman. If I were a guy with four weeks leave ahead of me, it never would have occurred to me to finish a quilt or catch up on the photo albums. I would have put fresh batteries in the remote, piled my favorite magazines next to the recliner, let the answering machine screen all calls and practiced a pathetic facial expression so that everyone in the family would bring me things. Sorry guys, this isn’t really a slam on your gender, but more of an acknowledgement that it’s harder for us girls to sit still without feeling guilty. I’m just admitting my female craziness. The male approach to recovery time is the better plan. Just be. Let things be done for you. Don’t plan extra work. It’s okay to simply recover. Getting well again is it’s own accomplishment. Girls, you don’t need to have a finished quilt to validate having four weeks off. Now, if I only believed that!