Chemo - Part 12 - Day 11

Today I had an interesting conversation with my co-workers. We started with the question of when Google was created. I guessed it was late 1990s, but had to google "Google" to find that it was founded on Sep 4, 1998. We then progressed to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the latter of which reminded me of a process department meeting where my manager's manager said that our HR department will know if you update your resume on LinkedIn and start looking at other jobs. Yikes. "Private eyes... they're watching you" (Thank you Hall and Oates). So of course we moved to the topic of job searches and making sure you don't post your college party photos on Facebook, which led to a conversation about fraternity parties and a discussion about Greek Tug and back to fraternity parties. Because GT fraternity parties often had police officers checking ID at the door, we then started discussing the drinking age versus the age you'd need to be to buy a gun. The result of this conversation... Lawmakers don't want you to be drunk when you have a gun. Sounds pretty solid to me. So, summary of the day: Founding of google leads to "don't drink and shoot."

Now for the chemo update: The rash that I mentioned yesterday has spread, enough so that my parents called the oncologist and were told to come in to get it checked out. So it seems unlikely that it's just a heat rash. So add steroid, benadryl, pepcid, and a topical cream to the list of drugs that need to be taken daily. I believe that brings the grand total of daily pills (excluding vitamins) to 9. And for someone who hates taking pills because of how it affects the mind, it's not good news at all. I have a not so pleased parent.

Also, the current blood chemistries have dropped further than what it was before chemo. Here's the current levels with the normal levels in parentheses:
white blood cells: 1.8 (3.8-10.8)
platelets: 62 (153-379) -- [this was at 96 before chemo]
red blood cells: 2.34 (3.75-5)

And for more disappointing news, the doctor today said that because there was bone pain as a result of this first round of chemo, there will be more bone pain with the next round of chemo.

Here's the results of a recipe I found via pinterest at 3.2.1.Paleo, that I tweaked a bit.

Paleo Pumpkin Brownie Swirl

Brownie Batter
8 oz chopped walnuts
1 cup creamy almond butter (no added salt)
1 egg
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbls vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Pumpkin Batter
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup almond flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Dump the walnuts into a food processor and run until the walnuts become creamy, like almond butter.
3. Mix all of the brownie batter ingredients into one bowl, and mix the pumpkin batter ingredients into another.

It even looks like non-Paleo brownie batter.

4. Spread the brownie batter into a coconut-oil greased 13"x9" pan. Put spoonfuls of pumpkin batter across the top of the brownie batter. Grab a knife and drag the knife through the pan to mix up the batters and create your swirl.

5. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
After it bakes:

And here's what happens after it cools.

Paleo Pumpkin Brownies

It's been a long week. Today I reached 41 hours of work for this week (including the day I spent at work on Sunday). I slept through both of my alarms yesterday because I was out late on Monday. I have a 7:30 meeting tomorrow morning. The back tire on my 2-month-old car is slowly losing air. I'm frustrated to say the least. So by the time I got home, I was stressed and wanted to fall back on my typical splurge on sweets stress-relief technique. I ate one of my Riesling-Pear Popsicles, but it wasn't enough, so I decided to attempt to whip up some dessert with my limited sweets. I think the sweetest things that I have in my apartment right now are fruit, dried fruit, and wine. I didn't want any of those (the dried fruit mix I have is just too sugary). It turned out okay. It's not the best dessert that I've ever baked, but it's as good as I'm going to get right now. It doesn't have a big pumpkin flavor and it gives me a slight reminder of coffee, but it's a decent dessert.

Paleo Pumpkin Brownies

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup + 2 tsp coconut flour

1 Tbls almond flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbls cocoa powder

1 Tbls unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbls coconut oil, melted

2 1/2 Tbls honey

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix pumpkin and eggs together in one bowl, then add vanilla, coconut oil, and honey. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Put into loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Rumspringa 5-6-7

For the last few days, I've gorged 

My last non-Paleo recipe...

Definitely Not Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie - Oreo - Brownies - OMG!

1 pack Oreos

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (see below)

Brownie Batter (see below)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Bowl 1
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Bowl 2
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Sift the ingredients of Bowl 1 together. Bowl 2: use a stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer) to beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time, followed by the vanilla Once the eggs and vanilla are incorporated, slowly mix in Bowl 1. After all of the flour has been blended in, fold in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Brownie

8 Tbls. unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup flour
2 Tbls natural cocoa
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Cool slightly and transfer to different bowl. Mix in sugar, salt, and vanilla, followed by the eggs, one at a time. Beat in flour and cocoa. Fold in white chocolate chips.



Preheat oven to 375 F. Spread the cookie dough along the bottom of the pan and top with a layer of Oreos.

Spread the brownie mixture over the Oreos. Cover with hot fudge

Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until center is baked through. Let cool and then eat!