Chemo - Part 7 - Day 6

Today I went to the Atlanta Steeplechase for my friend's birthday. It's bright and very colorful. I didn't see a single horse, but I did see a lot of our tailgate. LF told me after the event that she saw me getting my flirt on... I do miss my fraternity boys - there's not as many within my social circle in Houston. There were four of us that are gluten-free, so we stuck with cider. And there's a liquor store in Atlanta which carries my favorite cider, Kopparberg, so we drank a fair amount of that. Her younger brother, who we used to torment when we were growing up, and his friends planned the gathering, and it was a lot of fun. I recommend that you go if you get the opportunity. A similar upcoming event is the Kentucky Derby. Celebrate this fact.

While I was gone, my parents stayed at home dealing with the repercussions of chemo. I feel guilty that I wasn't there to help out. The bone pain that I mentioned yesterday was worse today. The pain has extended from one shin and one shoulder to both shins and shoulders. And there's not anything that I can do about it.

On the bright side, our neighbors made DELICIOUS pork loin with grilled asparagus for us for dinner. OMG! I would eat that pork all day, everyday. And he sought to make sure that I could eat it with my funny diet. It was wonderful. I plan on chasing him down to get the recipe tomorrow.

Last week one of my family's other neighbors brought us some kale from the DeKalb Farmers Market (yet another instance of my family's support system). She had bought some dinosaur kale, which I had never seen before. But when I was flipping through The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, one of the many cookbooks I borrowed from the library, I found a recipe that called for dinosaur kale. So yesterday afternoon when we got back from chemo, I decided to give it a try. Here's the recipe (found on page 89):

Kale with Sweet Potatoes and Pecans

2 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1 sweet potato, peeled and finely diced (~1 1/3 cup)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup bone broth
5 cups dinosaur kale, washed, stems removed, and chopped into bite-size pieces
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbls golden raisins
1/4 tsp maple syrup
chopped pecans for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the ginger and cook for roughly 30 seconds, until just aromatic.

2. Add the sweet potato, cinnamon, and bone broth, and cook for 1 minute.
3. Toss in the kale, salt, and raisins, cooking for about 5 minutes, until the kale turns dark green and the sweet potato is soft.
4. Stir in the maple syrup and remove from heat.
5. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the kale and serve.

According to the cookbook, kale is like a "twenty-four-hour pharmacy." Kale contains "phytochemicals that attack cancer." So go eat some kale. It's good for you!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Muffins


Bowl 1
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cloves
Bowl 2
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
2 tbls coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla


Streusel
1/2 cup choppen pecans
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbls coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Sift the ingredients of Bowl 1 together. Set aside. Put pumpkin puree into a bowl and mix in eggs, one at a time. Add honey, coconut oil, and vanilla, stirring well. Add in the dry ingredients, beating until no large lumps remain. Fill muffin tin 2/3 of the way and top with a spoonful of the Streusel mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

YUMMMM!!!

Dijon-Pecan Chicken Breast

Dijon-Pecan Chicken Breast

2 large chicken breasts, sliced open (butterfly-style)
1/2 cup hot Dijon mustard
2 Tbls honey
1 cup pecans, ground
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking pan with tinfoil for easy clean-up.

Use a blender or food processor to grind the pecans, but don't grind to the point of making pecan butter or flour - texture is good. Mix the mustard, honey, and pecans together.

Before the oven

Spread resulting paste over both sides of the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place chicken breasts on baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the juices run clear.

The first picture shows the chicken plated on a bed of baby spinach and cucumber tossed in a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a couple shakes each of oregano, parsley, and cumin. It may not look terribly appealing, but it's really good, especially with the hot Dijon mustard.