Eat With Pills

Truth be told, I did quite a bit of sleeping, and uncomfortably attempting to rest on one side or the other, and getting used to nonstop standing during the first few days. That makes for boring reading. More fun reading happens as I slowly returned to clarity of mind.

If I don't mention a pill meal in the beginning you can assume I had a can of Chicken and Stars with extra water and a half a sleeve of Ritz crackers with cream cheese and possibly some ginger-ale.

I knew I needed something good to make my stomach love me while I inflicted torture upon it. The problem was that B (boyfriend/caretaker/lucky recipient of award of sick me) has a mini fridge and an electric (as in plug-in) two burner range and there was no way I could sit through a meal in a restaurant. We had to do take-out or delivery. B offered to pick-up. We agreed to Go Big.

If Frank Sinatra was on lethal meds he would have gone to Gino. Oh, wait, he did go to Gino (and there is a bar there if you need to stand to eat). Hmm. We split a spaghetti marinara (their sauce is so sweet and good we wipe up every last drop with bread) and a veal Milanese, served with a little spinach and a light potato croquette. I leaned on my left side, like a demented Cleopatra, a pose I knew I take again through this situation, and stood to slice my meat. The picture of elegance.

The technician was truly caring and nice, patient, understanding, easing a potentially traumatic experience for anyone with even mild claustrophobia. I had a similar experience last year. I can’t speak for the quality of the film (but can guess my doctor wouldn’t send me somewhere that did a bad job) but can recommend Lenox Hill Radiology if you need an Open MRI. And I’m a baby when it comes to that kind of thing which is why I next needed a special, healing meal with positive childhood memories.

2 slices wheat bread, toasted

½-inch slice of cream cheese

1 TB of red currant (not easy to find) jelly

Spread cream cheese on one slice of toast. Smear jelly on top. Close with other slice of toast. Eat immediately.

Repeat if necessary.

Alt: Add a slice of cheddar cheese, or a sliced pickle or cucumber, or both to the sandwich.

I don’t mind Jamba Juice (though they did fire my brother, the bastards) but I’d much rather make my own drinks sans Splenda.. Here are two good ways to get the meds down to stay. I’ve noticed it’s best to swallow the pill halfway through the drink.

The first one is a “coolie” because it’s lighter and icier than a traditional “smoothie.” Also, I seem to think I’m creative. If you’re looking for a thicker drink, add a banana or leave out some or all of the ice. And, don’t hesitate to add the “extra” fruit on your counter (those 2 lone strawberries or 3 pineapple chunks).

Strawberry Pineapple Coolie

½ tray ice-cubes (6-8 cubes)

1 ½ cups pineapple chunks (about ¼ of a medium-large pineapple)

1 ½ cups strawberries

6 ounces plain yogurt

¼ cup orange juice

Put the ice, pineapple, strawberries, yogurt and orange juice in a blender. Blend until the ice is in drinkable pieces, about 2 minutes. Makes 4 cups. Drink soon.

My mom sometimes adds a scoop of soy protein, which is obviously optional, to smoothies - just a thought.

Berry Banana Smoothie

½ tray ice-cubes (6-8 cubes)

1 banana

1 cup blueberries

1 ½ cups strawberries

6 ounces plain yogurt

¼ cup orange juice

Put the ice, banana, blueberries, strawberries, yogurt and orange juice in a blender. Blend until the ice is in drinkable pieces, about 2 minutes. Makes 4 cups. Drink soon.

Note: leave out the ice for a thicker drink

Note 2: frozen berries are a good substitute for fresh if the berries are not in season. If using frozen, you’ll only need 4-6 ice cubes.

If your stomach has room for a burger in the smoothie pool, take a trip to Good Burger (no Web site. Go to 800 Second Avenue, at 43rd Street) It's a Burger Joint copycat with some poached Burger Joint employees.

You can stand. Best to go off lunch hours. I'm floating around eating and sleeping. It's weird.

B was doing something on the computer (work, I guess). A couple hours earlier, when he got up, I couldn’t move so I took a pill and stayed in bed until the burning pain in my stomach forced me awake.

“What?” he asked, no doubt thinking about his mini fridge full of various mustards.

“There’s an instant packet in my bag,” I said, “Just boil some water.” I thought about his little hot plate and would have laughed if I wasn’t near tears.

He suddenly had a “meeting in New Jersey tomorrow” after I told him how good it is when you add a little milk to oatmeal.

We went to Veselka for lunch because I, always the grateful patient, was sick of being inside. I dropped half my tuna sandwich in my chicken soup, a casualty of eating while standing. Then I had to lean against a building for a few minutes because I was scarily dizzy. Then I needed ice-cream; you know why.

B is basically babysitting me. He was pretty psyched when I said I was ready to go home.

It was freezing when we got to my apartment. My neighbor/landlord “doesn’t get cold” and figured we didn’t need heat anyway because “it’s going to be 60 on Sunday.”

Last winter, my friends like (and need) to remind me, was brutally cold. Did you ever see that episode of "Little House on the Prairie" when Laura and Mary are walking somewhere and they get caught in a tremendous blizzard and have to take shelter in an abandoned barn or shed or something and it's freezing and windy and all they have is a couple of golf windbreakers to keep them warm? Well, first of all in real life that wouldn't have happened because Pa Ingalls would have caught a bear or something and Ma would have made coats but Michael Landon was probably some animal rights guy so they couldn't possibly have those girls in furs. And, second, in real life that actually is my apartment in winter, and some spring, and some fall. In summer, of course, it's disgustingly hot. And, better, my bathroom is a 1930's "addition" so it's really a concrete outhouse that happens to be connected to my back room, which is my bedroom. I LO+VE getting up pee and shower.

And that reminds me of a fantastic poem by Judith Viorst. Another excellent childhood memory (shelves and shelves of books from my parents and the Tooth Fairy):

She did turn it on, the heat. But it was off again around 5am when I woke up. My head was freezing; it was like outdoor winter camping without a hat. Without much effort I stayed in bed until 1pm.

My first day alone I decided to take some ground veal out of the freezer and take a walk to the meat market for ground pork and ground beef. Yes, I had a hankering for a project that would occupy many hours and result in many meatballs.

Meatballs

breadcrumbs (or white bread with no crust) I used panko

milk

1 medium yellow onion, small dice

1.5 lb ground beef

1 lb ground veal

1 lb ground pork

2 eggs

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese

1 small-medium bunch parsley, rinsed and chopped

salt and black pepper, to taste

In a large mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, milk and onion. When the milk is absorbed, add other ingredients to the bowl. With very clean hands, gently and evenly combine mixture. Shape into balls (I like golf size but some like bigger; it's up to you). Hopefully you thought to get a large plate or baking sheet for the uncooked meatballs to gather. That same sheet can take the meatballs into a 350° oven -or- you can add meatballs to the simmering sauce (see below) - or - cook them in oil in their own skillet.

I actually do some each way. I like the variety and the different tastes.

In the oven give them a good 15-20 minutes to get brown. If you're not adding them to sauce (where they will continue cooking), make sure the middles are the temperature you like (as in medium / well, etc.).

On the stove (in oil), same.

In sauce the process is slower and the meatballs get soft and moist. Yum. But every way is great. I keep eating them as I cook. This is a process that involves much hand-washing.

Meatballs, cooled, can be stored in tupperware or ziploc and even frozen that way. I freeze some plain and some with sauce. Great for busy days when there's no time to cook.

Sauce

olive oil, enough to generously at the bottom of a heavy skillet or le creuset

1 medium-large yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine (something you'd drink when Not on meds)

pinch of dried basil, crushed between your fingers

pinch of dried oregano, crushed between your fingers

red and black pepper, to taste

In a heavy skillet over medium-high flame, heat olive oil. Add onions. Sautee until starting to soften. Add garlic. Combine. Don't let the garlic brown. {you could cook some meatballs at this point}

Add other ingredients. Combine. Allow to bubble, but not boil. Lower heat to simmer.

This is the time to start adding meatballs. As the sauce cooks down, the meatballs will cook, or finish. You can let this simmer for hours, or eat, or remove from heat (then refrigerate) and re-heat the next day.

Easy and people will love it and you will have leftovers.

Note: I doubled this for all those meatballs. Usually I just make a single batch.

Inspired by yesterday’s accomplishments, I decided to modify a Cooking Light recipe for a sort of pumpkin cake and make mini muffins. As I previously warned you, baking is not my strong point but friends and neighbors who received little ziploc baggies said these muffins were pretty good. Thankfully I was on the phone with a friend who warned me not to overcook the minis. You can obviously make these in regular muffin tins and cook for a few extra minutes. Anyway, in the end I got sick of spooning batter into the mini slots and dumped a good bit into a 9-inch square pan which was too big but still made an edible product.

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1 15-oz can pumpkin

2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

2 t pumpkin-pie spice

1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Fill muffin tins with liners (I used mini, you use what you like).

In a large bowl, beat sugars and oil with a mixer until combined. Add eggs; beat until combined. Add pumpkin; beat until combined.

In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Slowly add this dry mixture to the wet until well combined. Spoon batter into tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean), longer if using the regular sized tins.

Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes then remove from tins and cool completely.

Can be stored in tupperware and/or ziploc bags for a few days.

Note: I wish I'd added some pecans or other nuts to the batter.

adapted from Cooking Light

I ate a bunch of these with an apple and a couple cups of coffee with milk and my stomach was fine.