Archives for September 2011

CF Wives Dinner

Filed Under: Cystic Fibrosis5 Comments

It is so great to have the chance to meet new friends. It’s especially great when you know that these new friends have SO much in common with you. Last night I had the opportunity to meet up with four fabulous CF wives and we had a great time… a really great time!

A couple of months ago, a CF wife out of state started a facebook group called CF wives. I saw the group right away and was one of the first to join the group. Each wife knew one or two other wives and our group quickly grew to now 65 members!

CF-Wives

Before last night I was friends with only one of these girls, Ami. She had the idea to set up a get together for the CF wives that lived in the area. I had no idea there were so many of us so close by, and we’re all about the same age too. I had been looking forward to meeting them since the moment I got the invite. We covered a lot of ground for just one night. We leaned some background info about everyone, and exciting stories about how we all met our CF hubbies. We asked questions and learned about some different meds and how we handle our homes being overrun with medical equipment. Plus there was plenty of regular girl talk.

I normally would have felt nervous and a little awkward to have dinner with people I had never even met before, but that wasn’t the case at all. I felt like we were all instant friends, having so much to talk about. I think we probably annoyed our waiter just a little, being much more interested in talking than eating. He had to check back several times before we were ready to order. Then he had to kick us out at the end of the night when the restaurant closed.

Thanks for such a great night, ladies! I’m already looking forward to the next time we are able to get together.

Nuggets: Jesse

Filed Under: Nuggets6 Comments

We have been super busy this week, I can’t believe the week is almost over already. Not to mention that we have clinic tomorrow so today is really like our Friday. We’re looking forward to catching up on a few things this weekend, one of those things being some much needed rest and relaxation time.

I hadn’t really intended to make this post be about Jesse, but as I looked through the photos I had of the last week most of them included him.

:: I made this awesome dinner casserole that was made up from all the leftovers I had in my fridge. It was packed full of veggies including a tiny piece of onion, a little green onion, a few carrots, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini (these were fresh), and a bowl of leftovers peas. I mixed all this together will some ground beef and a few spices. I layered half of the mixture, a little cheddar cheese, the rest of the mixture, and topped it with more cheddar cheese and baked it long enough to melt the cheese. I wasn’t really sure if Jesse would want to eat it, but he LOVED it! All those veggies… yum!

Casserole

:: Every now and then we will have dinner at the coffee table to watch a TV show while we eat. We rarely do that, but this happened to be one of those nights. I carried the hot casserole dish into the living room to set it on the table and it slipped out my hands spilling all over the table, the table decoration, and the carpet. I was so upset with myself! We later concluded that the amount of tomato juice in the bottom of the dish must have been what made it so unbalanced. I must have tilted it just enough for the inertia of the juice to cause it to spill. My table decoration was ruined, covered in sauce and cheese and had to be thrown out. At least we were still able to eat the casserole.

Empty plate

:: I was most upset because the decoration was a birthday gift this year. After a while, Jesse made me realize that it really wasn’t that big of a deal since it was something that was very easily replaced. I was able to order a replacement the next day. Oooh… as I am writing this the door bell rang with the delivery of my new “orbs.” The plate is now refilled and everything is right again in our living room.

OrbsReplacement decoration

:: We are looking forward to participating in Outrun CF again this year. Outrun CF is a virtual race/fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. Runners can sign up and then run their own, individualized race wherever they want, for whatever distance they want. If you’re interested, it’s not too late to sign up. The shirt that comes with registration came in the mail this week. Jesse has worn it almost every day since.

Outrun CFJesse in new shirt

:: Most nights I will cook dinner while Jesse finishes up work for the night. Except for stir fry nights. Jesse is a great cook and stir fry is one of his best meals. I love having a break from cooking for stir fry night.

Jesse cooking

:: After several months of saving for a new computer, Jesse finally has his work station all set up the way he wants it. (Note: he’s wearing the orange shirt again.) He looks super geeky working over there with his three monitors and multiple keyboards. He says he can be much more efficient working that way, but it looks kinda confusing to me. I’m glad he’s happy, I love my geek!

Jesse working

Happy (day after) hump day everyone, hope your week has been great so far!

Baked Hamburgers

Filed Under: Recipes12 Comments

Baked hamburgers is a recipe that has been in Jesse’s family for years. My recipe card notes that it was originally from his great-grandma. So, I pretty much had to learn this recipe to marry into the family. I’ve come to love having baked hamburgers as much as Jesse does.

When I was first diagnosed with food allergies we went quite a while without making these since there are several ingredients in them that I can’t have. I finally decided that I needed to rework the recipe to make them allergy-safe for me. I’ve made them several times in recent months as we make up for the time we lost not having them. It’s one of those comfort food recipes that you just don’t get tired of having.

I start by finely chopping half an onion and mixing it with one pound of ground beef. Then I form the beef into patties about the size that would fit in the palm of my hand. I find that one pound makes approximately 10-12 patties, which is the perfect amount for Jesse and me to have dinner with leftovers for the next night.

Burgers

Then I make the sauce by combining 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tbsp. water, 1 cup ketchup, and 2 tbsp. mustard. Heat the sauce in the microwave for about 30 seconds to thicken a little, stir, and heat another 30 seconds. I like to taste the sauce to make sure it has the right flavor and adjust if necessary. I often add a tad more mustard, just to make sure there is enough tangy-ness to balance out all the sugar… I don’t like the sauce too sweet.

Sauce

Finally, pour the sauce evenly over the patties and they are ready for the oven. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Extra tip: I will often split this into two dishes of five or six patties each. I bake one for that night’s dinner and stick one in the fridge to bake in the next day or so. That way it’s as easy as having leftovers, only they are freshly baked!

Ready to bake

I’ve had these pictures saved for a while because I wanted to get a picture of the final product before posting the recipe. However, every time I make them they smell so good and we are so anxious to eat them that I keep forgetting to get a final picture. So, you’ll just have to see for yourself what they look like cooked.

Also, here is the original, non-allergy version of the recipe if you’re interested:

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg

Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. mustard
2 tbsp. vinegar

Give these a try. The recipe also easily scales up to make for a larger group. Enjoy!