Menu Planning

This weeks menu is fairly meat-centric. Mmmm protein!

Monday: Steak stir-fry (red pepper, onion, broccoli, celery, carrots, zucchini) with brown rice.
Tuesday: Baked salmon with lemon, onion, garlic, thyme and couscous
Wednesday: Ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans
Thursday: Chicken caesar salad, peaches
Friday: Baked pork loin chops, corn on the cob, potato-rosemary bread, followed by homemade (hand-picked!) blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. (My in-laws are coming to dinner on Friday)

Happy Eats!

Fall Shoes

I'm fairly tall, about 5'10". J is 6' even. I feel sexy when wearing heels, but have never felt comfortable in them, so usually stick to flats. Boy am I glad that flats have been popular the last couple of years.

I was reading the September issue of Real Simple and came across an article about shoe trends. Guess what? Flats are still in! Wahoo! But of course you know RS, the editors love articles about budgeting, but can't quite get that message across in the products they choose. The $325 driving mocs they featured, for instance, are just plain ridiculous.

But, lo and behold! One of the pairs is purple and only $30. These babies may soon become mine:

The "Cushion Walk Zip Top Loafer" by Avon. They aren't available yet, but I'm willing to wait. Did you know that Avon made shoes? No. Me either, but they're really cute! Hopefully they're true to size and comfy!

On the topic of beautiful purple shoes, I may need these for work.

  

I love the lizard/croc, but the purple patent are gorgeous, too.

Oh shoes, why do I love you so?

Milk

Photo Source

I am not a milk drinker. I just cannot do it. I am semi-lactose intolerant, so if I'm going to indulge I prefer ice cream and yogurt. But I love me some milk on my cereal. Daily.

My husband loves to drink milk, but can't stand it on his cereal. He likes to eat it dry, out of a bowl, with a spoon. I find this weird. He thinks I'm weird. We call it a tie.

I only used to buy skim milk. If I'm going to consume it at all, I'm not going to waste calories on milk fat (bring on the brownies!). Hubs grew up on 2% milk. Blech!

When we got married I bought skim milk until he told me that it tasted like white water. So we compromised and I now buy 1% milk and we're both happy.

Last week, J did the grocery shopping and came home with a gallon of 2% milk. Yuk! Until he drinks it all, I am now reduced to using 1/2 milk and 1/2 water on my breakfast cereal. Surprisingly, it doesn't taste bad at all. I just feel weird doing it.

Patient Satisfaction

What does the term "patient satisfaction" mean to you? Anything? To those in the medical field, patient satisfaction scores can be a huge nemesis. When people leave the hospital a survey follows them home. Most people who fill out surveys are either extremely happy or extremely unhappy. Very few people who have an average or neutral experience fill them out.

In my hospital these scores determine managerial level bonuses. Which means that if the doctors and nursing staff can make the stay pleasant for the patient, the manager(s) of the unit get a monetary bonus.

My hospital takes the surveys and anonymously publishes the comments bi-weekly. I love to read them for my personal growth as a nurse, so that I can provide a better experience for my families, and for a good laugh.

In my unit, the surveys often come back with the same themes:
A) the nurses spend (too much) time in personal conversations
B) the families do not see the doctors enough
C) the parents write a review against a particular staff member

I always rebut each comment/theme in my head that I find ridiculous or do not agree with. It's quite amusing.
A) Nurses love to talk, it's a part of our profession. We spend 9-13 hour days with each other. When parents come in and participate in 45 minutes of care and then spend the next 2 hours and 15 minutes sitting next to the isolette watching their baby sleep or holding their baby, they can't just expect us nurses to not talk to either them or the other nurses. In my unit, we are all in one big open room with 1/2 walls serving as privacy partitions, but you can still see everyone. We nurses are aware that you hear us, and do keep our conversations appropriate, but we do talk.

B) I agree, our families do not see our doctors enough. But, all they have to do is ask (and they know this from day 1). As the nurse I am constantly asking the family, "would you like to speak with the doctor?" Our doctors work 24 hour shifts and do their exams early in the morning (3-6 am). They examine all the babies at this time because there are fewer interruptions--they can do the exam and then go transfer their thoughts immediately, which results in safer medicine.

C) The "we hated nurse X" just kills me. You don't have to love your nurse. Personalities do not always gel the way we want (it's fabulous when that happens!). Was your baby properly cared for? Yes. Then that should be enough. Because you know the "we hated nurse X" comments are always personality based, never based on the care given.

My personal favorite comment doesn't fit into one of the above categories, but is pretty funny. My hospital is located in a so-so area. I feel safe, but don't want to go walking around outside at 3 am by myself. The community and the hospital have built a partnership and purchased an old apartment building across the street, maybe a 1/2 block away and turned it into free and low-cost parent apartments for families who want to stay close by their children while hospitalized. It's an awesome program that we are able to offer. If parents are leaving the hospital late at night, we often will arrange a security guard to escort them to the apartments. Well my favorite comment stems from this. The parent complained that the security guards were too slow and that the hospital should provide a shuttle to escort them to the apartments. WTF? Really?! We're giving you a free place to live and you can't walk 1/2 a block?! Give me a break! Be grateful.

Do you ever read what gets put in the comment box at your job?

Menu Planning

Happy Monday, all!

Last week I didn't plan a menu because I was out of town and J was stuck eating leftovers. This week, however, is shaping up to be fantastically yummy. Tuesday and Thursday happen to be two of my favorite meals, ever.

Monday: baked pork loin (s&p, garlic, onion) and couscous

Tuesday: Potato Pesto Penne. This recipe I picked up off of The Today Show last summer. I vary it a bit each time and always use a pre-made pesto, but this is a fabulous, filling, meatless summer option! Recipe found here.

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, sausage, orange juice, homemade fruit compote

Thursday: Crock-pot French Dip sandwiches on ciabatta rolls, broccoli

Friday: Spaghetti with turkey meatballs, green salad

Day of Hope

Working in a NICU, I do my fair share of grief and loss tending. It is so important to remember the littlest souls are truly members of the family: very much loved and very much missed.

Don't be a part of the taboo or add to the stigma. It is ok to talk about the deceased and to ask how the family is doing. They want to know that you care and are sticking by them through their (and your) shared time of sadness.

Today, my heart goes out to all of you who have suffered infertility, miscarriage, infant loss, still birth, death of a small child: sibling, friend, child, grandchild. That soul was loved and is truly missed.

Menu Planning

This week's menu features lots of chicken and salsas, which for me is the epitome of summer. Love it!

This is Monday's dinner. Yummy!

Monday: Jerk-Light Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
Tuesday: Left-over Fettuccine Alfredo
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner! Scrambled eggs, sausage, whole wheat toast
Thursday: Double Lemon Chicken with Tomato Basil Salsa
Friday: Shrimp and Corn Chowder

The above linked recipes are from The Nest, which is one of my favorite places to go for tried-and-true, simple, yummy recipes!

Book Report: The Mountain Between Us

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin surprised me.
A. I don't normally read male authors. Not to be sexist, I just often have a harder time relating, and if I can't relate, I can't enjoy, and rarely finish the book.
B. I don't normally read books without a recommendation or reading online reviews, unless familiar with the author.
C. I don't normally read books about survival, roughing it, mountains, etc.

BUT... the jacket art grabbed me, the soft muted colors looked pretty to me, the author is good-looking (a bit like beloved Nicholas Sparks), but truly it was the synopsis that stole me away high into the mountains.

The below synopsis is from Martin's website.

On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport.  Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding.  Dr. Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to return home to Jacksonville, FL for a slate of surgeries he has scheduled for the following day.  When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a broken de-icer and a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connection.  And when the pilot says the single engine prop plane can fit one more, if barely, Ben offers the seat to Ashley knowing that she needs to get back just as urgently. And then the unthinkable happens.  The pilot has a heart attack mid-flight and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness-- one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States.

Ben, who has broken ribs and Ashley, who suffers a terrible leg fracture, along with the pilot’s dog, are faced with an incredibly harrowing battle to survive.  Fortunately, Ben is a medical professional and avid climber (and in a lucky break, has his gear from a climb earlier in the week).  With little hope for rescue, he must nurse Ashley back to health and figure out how they are going to get off the mountain, where the temperature hovers in the teens.  Meanwhile, Ashley soon realizes that the very private Ben has some serious emotional wounds to heal as well.  He explains to Ashley that he is separated from his beloved wife, but in a long standing tradition, he faithfully records messages for her on his voice recorder reflecting on their love affair.  As Ashley eavesdrops on Ben’s tender words to his estranged wife she comes to fear that when it comes to her own love story, she’s just settling.  And what’s more: she begins to realize that the man she is really attracted to, the man she may love, is Ben. 

As the days on the mountains become weeks, their survival becomes increasingly perilous.  How will they make it out of the wilderness and if they do, how will this experience change them forever? 

Both a tender and page-turning read, The Mountain Between Us will reaffirm your belief in the power of love to sustain us.

Mountains, survival, love, twists & turns, hope. Yummy! Ok, ok, except for the whole surviving the mountains part. Although, the survival was interesting and held my interest. I also think I may have fallen in love with Ben a little bit. I bet you will, too.


I am now excited to go and grab another one of Martin's 6 other books.  


Happy Reading!

Book Report: Orange is the New Black

Piper Kerman is the honest, open author of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison.

Kerman is the first one to admit that she got in over her head when a lover convinced her to come along on a trip with drug-related ties. 10 years later, Kerman's short stint with the drug trade, comes back to find her.

When federal agents knocked on her door with an indictment in hand, Piper Kerman barely resembled the reckless young woman she was shortly after graduating Smith College. Happily ensconced in a New York City apartment, with a promising career and an attentive boyfriend, Piper was forced to reckon with the consequences of her very brief, very careless dalliance in the world of drug trafficking.

Following a plea deal for her 10-year-old crime, Piper spent a year in the infamous women’s correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, which she found to be no “Club Fed.” In Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, Piper takes readers into B-Dorm, a community of colorful, eccentric, vividly drawn women. Their stories raise issues of friendship and family, mental illness, the odd cliques and codes of behavior, the role of religion, the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailor, and the almost complete lack of guidance for life after prison.

Compelling, moving, and often hilarious, Orange is the New Black sheds a unique light on life inside a women’s prison, by a Smith College graduate who did the crime and did the time.                                                   --excerpt from Kerman's website

I first learned of Kerman's memoir from this post by Jen Lancaster. (Side note: Do ya'll read Jennsylvania? OMG! She is so funny!) Now, when a famous author recommends a book on her personal, non-publisher-sponsored blog, I'm apt to sit up and listen...err, read. This time, Jen did not lead me wrong.

I opened Kerman's memoir thinking that she was going to take the "woe is me" stance throughout her book. She never did, and I respected that. So I kept reading, and thoroughly enjoyed my vicarious "visit" to jail through Kerman's experience.

I whole-heartedly recommend reading this book.

Menu Planning

It seems that menu planning is becoming popular right now. It sounds like it could be a great way to relieve some dinner-time stress and to help ease our grocery budget. Someone told me that approx. 60% of what we purchase at the grocery store is an unplanned purchase. I'd like to cut down those purchases and only buy what we really truly need, when it is needed (unless I can stock up on something when it's on sale).

Menu planning probably won't happen every week around here. But I am going to try to pre-plan at least 2-3 meals during a typical Monday through Friday.

Here is my first try; this week's menu:

Monday: beef enchiladas
Tuesday: chicken stir-fry with brown rice
Wednesday: turkey burgers, green salad, sweet potato fries
Thursday: grilled pork tenderloin and corn on the cob
Friday: on the road to a weekend getaway! I'm thinking Subway.

Any tips for meal planning?