Archive - November, 2008

Proud of my Indian Dish!

November 5, 2008 in Lana's Journal with 5 Comments

Yesterday an amazing 6 year old lost her battle to Sandhoff, a disease very similar to Tay Sachs. We met Riley and her parents at the Tay Sachs annual family conference in March. Riley’s parents took such wonderful care of her. We will be praying for this wonderful family today and in the coming days. Please consider leaving a note on Riley’s caringbridge site. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/princessrileybear

For my friend Karen:

My favorite food is really good Indian food. Every birthday I ask for Chicken Tikka Masala from this yummy place called Tandoori Nights. My neighbor shared a recipe for Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken). I made it and it is really good! I will warn you that your house will seriously smell like curry and garlic so maybe have some chocolate chip cookies ready to bake for a better smell!

The base of this recipe uses a paste by Kitchens of India (see picture below). I did not follow the recipe on the back of the package but used my neighbor’s recipe. I did not put any butter in the butter chicken dish so the name is a bit misleading!

Butter Chicken
1 package Paste For Butter Chicken Curry by Kitchens of India
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders, cubed
1/2 small onion, minced
1 tsp. Coriander seeds
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Slice of fresh ginger, minced (about a small chunk of it!)
1/2 jalapeno (optional), minced
Basmati Rice

Saute minced onion and slightly bruised coriander seeds in a small amount of olive oil. Add minced ginger, garlic, and jalapeno (optional) and cook until limp. (I minced all of the ingredients really fine with a food chopper.)

Brown chicken. Add sauteed vegetables and curry paste and 1 cup water. Cook on low for 20 minutes and then high for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Serve with steamed Basmati rice, steamed broccoli and Naan bread (I buy frozen Naan bread at Trader Joe’s.)

Did You Vote?

November 4, 2008 in Lana's Journal with 6 Comments

Carmen update: Carmen is doing OK. I picked up lab slips and specimen containers this morning to do another 3 day C-diff test. If Carmen does still have C-diff, which I am sure she does, then the next step is IV antibiotics. All of these antibiotics aren’t doing a thing for the C-diff but they must be helping her lungs as she sounds the best she has in months!

This morning I got up early and went to vote! I stood in line in front of a friend and he told me that his dad became a U.S. citizen just a few months ago and is so excited to vote today. So, don’t take our voting rights for granted. You still have time. Go Vote!!!

Here’s my sticker to prove it. (I got a free cup of coffee for wearing my sticker into Starbucks!)

Monday to Friday Adventures

November 2, 2008 in Lana's Journal with 2 Comments

Carmen update: Carmen continues to have diarrhea. She is on her 6th week of antibiotics to try to get rid of C-diff but nothing is working. Tomorrow I will call Carmen’s pediatrician and Carmen may be referred to an infectious disease specialist. I bet you will all be happy when I stop updating about poop. I know I’ll be happy to stop talking about it! I’ll be REALLY happy to stop cleaning up poop! Carmen’s seizure activity has increased over the past few days. She is maxed out on Keppra and Phenobarbital and also gets Ativan four times per day. We may have to start another seizure medication if the seizures become more distressing to her.

We survived Dave being away! My face broke out like a teenager but we survived. Big thanks to everyone who took Lauren to school and brought her home. Every week I am so thankful for all of you and this week I was extra thankful!

On Monday Monica the Magnificent brought over Chick-Fil-A. Yummy! Monica also brought puzzle books for Lauren. Does she know Lauren or what!?

Thank you Monica!

Tuesday I took Lauren to school while the nurse stayed with Carmen for the morning. I then went to the gym for a nice elliptical work out. I hurried to the grocery store and got milk, bread, etc. Then, I drank the calories I had burned off at the gym with a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! (Hey, they are going to stop making them soon, right? I have to hurry and drink them before there are no more!) My friend Lori came over with fruit for lunch, which was good considering the latte. Thanks Lori!

Wednesday a friend took Lauren to school and then to lunch. While Lauren was gone I got some stuff done around the house. One fun thing I had to deal with- crossed Verizon phone lines. Every time someone called us, the line crossed with another Verizon customer. The phone calls were being routed into both our house and the other Verizon customer’s house, at the same time. I had a three-way conversation with the Verizon customer and a friend of mine. Confusing enough for you?! It seems to be fixed now, which is good!

Thursday Dave arrived home just in the nick of time to go to Lauren’s class singing. She was sooooo excited! I ran some errands on Thursday and my neighbor, who had locked herself out of her house, came along with me!

Friday we had several friends over and then I took the girls for their flu shots. Let’s hope they work better this year than last. Last year was the first time we got flu shots and the first time we all got the flu! Well, all except Carmen who miraculously did not catch the flu from us! I can’t imagine how hard the flu would be on Carmen so we are praying she gets through the winter without colds, pneumonia or the flu. Or anything else bad!

Well, that’s our week in a nutshell. Always an adventure around here!

Harvest Festival

November 1, 2008 in Lana's Journal with 2 Comments

Last night we went to our church’s annual Harvest Festival. Lauren dressed up as a cat and Carmen was a princess. About 30 seconds after arriving, Lauren took off her cat mask and cat tail so that she could bounce around in the bouncy house! Carmen slept the entire evening and only woke up when we arrived home.

We didn’t come home with much candy, which is good and bad! Good because none of us need candy. Bad because Dave and I were looking forward to eating all of Lauren’s Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Mr. Goodbars and Snickers! (Lauren is allergic to peanuts.)

Thank you, Jin, for letting us borrow the cat mask! Lauren loved it!

Here are a few pictures:

Lauren the Cat and Carmen the Princess

Me and tired Lauren

Lauren getting her face painted

Page 4 of 4«1234