Today, January 5, 2011 at approximately 1:30 p.m. I witnessed my daughter have a stroke. She was quietly attempting to activate Robert's new phone.
I was especially watching her because she had been feeling "strange". She was released from the hospital the day before. At that admittance she was suffering from complications of asthma and flu - like symptoms. She was by no means ready to be released. She became ill yesterday, vomiting and complaining of her five year headache.
She began to lean to her right, not able to speak, flailing her arms telling me....I don't need help. I didn't listen. Within five minutes a rescue squad arrived. Same that took her to the hospital the other day. They were so professional, and quick to aid her.
Robert spent the remainder of the day in the hospital waiting room. When Nikki arrived the neurologist and ER doc were waiting and ready to take over.
At long last she got her MRI and dozens of blood tests and x-rays. Why the anxiety over the MRI? She and I have been asking her primary for years to do one. She needed to find out once and for all what was causing this headache, That is not to say we know now....but it needed this? to get some answers?
Low and behold.....by 7p.m she called me from her intensive care room. She did slur her words a bit but she felt fine otherwise. She improved as the evening went on.
Her last visit from her Doc....he jumped up and down that she responded so well to their aggressive measures upon entering the ER. I guess I'm jumping up and down myself...a little cautiously however. I've been on the phone constantly with her sister who happenchance is temporarily living with her inlaws.
Her mother-in-law is a veritible encyclopedia of health issues. She has survived 6 heart attacks and I don't know how many strokes. So talking with her made it easier for me to comprehend what was happening. In fact Elaine spoke with Nikki at the hospital and quizzed her as she was quizzed after her stroke. She feels that Nikki is doing fine but to be cautious.
That is all I know for today. I needed to vent this with you and hope that tomorrow will bring some sunshine. Keep yourselves safe...RD
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Year Soup Recipe
New Year Noodle SoupIf you don't have beans that have already been cooked you can use canned ones. Or you can soak the garbanzo & borlotti overnight, and add them after the broth comes to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes, then stir in the yellow split peas/lentils. This way the beans/lentils should be done cooking around the same time. The original recipe calls for fresh borlotti beans, which aren't in season. I used dried borlotti that I cooked a couple weeks back, then froze until now. And, on the noodle front, I couldn't help but add more than what the original recipe called for. You can actually use more/less noodles - even when it seemed like too much, they always manage to get slurped up in a soup like this.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 long red chili OR green serrano, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 1/2 cups / 2 liters good-tasting vegetable stock/broth
100g / 3.5 oz yellow split peas or brown lentils
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed if using canned
2 cups / 350g cooked borlotti beans
fine grain sea salt
120 g thin egg noodles, fresh or dried
3 1/2 oz / 100g fresh spinach leaves, finely shredded
1/2 cup finely shredded cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
juice of one lime
Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
100 ml sour cream or creme fraiche
50g / scant 2 ounces of toasted, chopped walnuts
Heat the oil in a large, thick-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and the chile and cook until they soften, a few minutes. Add the spices and cook for another thirty seconds, just long enough for them to toast a bit, then stir in the stock. Bring to a boil and add the split peas/lentils to the pot. Cook until they are just tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cooked chickpeas and borlotti beans. Once the beans have heated throughout, season with salt to taste.
In the meantime, you can prepare the toppings. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat along with a couple big pinches of salt. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, 8 - 10+ minutes. Set aside.
Just before you're ready to eat, add the noodles to the simmering soup and cook until al dente. Stir in the spinach, and cilantro and dill. Add a big squeeze of lime to the pot or serve wedges along with each bowl of soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Serve right away, each bowl topped with a big spoonful of caramelized onions, some creme fraiche, and a sprinkling of walnuts.
Serves about 4.
Adapted slightly from the Ash-e Reshteh / New Year Noodle Soup recipe in Saraban, by Greg & Lucy Malouf
Prep time: 20 min - Cook time: 40 min
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Related EntryHealthy One Pan Recipes
My favorite healthy, one-pan recipes. The type of things that you can pull together any night of the week without too much fuss or fanfare. I love big-flavored, colorful stir-fries, and hearty chunky soups, so I included a lot of those types of recipes on the list.
I didn't want to start the new year out by copy and paste, but that particular wish was not written in stone and I was so intrigued with this recipe I needed to spread the good news around.
We are all sick on the Wits End Ranch. In fact my daughter is in hospital right now with severe asthma and some kind of infection. I stayed up all nite doing breathing treatments just to stay out of the ER on New Years Eve. and Bob is sneezing and coughing to beat the band. So what is better than a comfort soup?
I'm a bit over chicken noodle, the first go at it during the early winter months its a treat, but then I get to thinking "what is that dead chicken smell?"
Perhaps tomorrow I will give you the scoop on the new blog name. No big secret just don't have the time at this late hour.
I wish you all a healthy week ahead, and I will be trying out this soup recipe. Take care. RD
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 long red chili OR green serrano, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 1/2 cups / 2 liters good-tasting vegetable stock/broth
100g / 3.5 oz yellow split peas or brown lentils
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed if using canned
2 cups / 350g cooked borlotti beans
fine grain sea salt
120 g thin egg noodles, fresh or dried
3 1/2 oz / 100g fresh spinach leaves, finely shredded
1/2 cup finely shredded cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
juice of one lime
Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
100 ml sour cream or creme fraiche
50g / scant 2 ounces of toasted, chopped walnuts
Heat the oil in a large, thick-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and the chile and cook until they soften, a few minutes. Add the spices and cook for another thirty seconds, just long enough for them to toast a bit, then stir in the stock. Bring to a boil and add the split peas/lentils to the pot. Cook until they are just tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cooked chickpeas and borlotti beans. Once the beans have heated throughout, season with salt to taste.
In the meantime, you can prepare the toppings. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat along with a couple big pinches of salt. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, 8 - 10+ minutes. Set aside.
Just before you're ready to eat, add the noodles to the simmering soup and cook until al dente. Stir in the spinach, and cilantro and dill. Add a big squeeze of lime to the pot or serve wedges along with each bowl of soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Serve right away, each bowl topped with a big spoonful of caramelized onions, some creme fraiche, and a sprinkling of walnuts.
Serves about 4.
Adapted slightly from the Ash-e Reshteh / New Year Noodle Soup recipe in Saraban, by Greg & Lucy Malouf
Prep time: 20 min - Cook time: 40 min
Print Recipe
43Comments Print Recipe Email Recipe Add to del.icio.usGet recipe updates via email:
Follow 101 Cookbooks via RSS
Get updates via Twitter
Get updates via Facebook
Related EntryHealthy One Pan Recipes
My favorite healthy, one-pan recipes. The type of things that you can pull together any night of the week without too much fuss or fanfare. I love big-flavored, colorful stir-fries, and hearty chunky soups, so I included a lot of those types of recipes on the list.
I didn't want to start the new year out by copy and paste, but that particular wish was not written in stone and I was so intrigued with this recipe I needed to spread the good news around.
We are all sick on the Wits End Ranch. In fact my daughter is in hospital right now with severe asthma and some kind of infection. I stayed up all nite doing breathing treatments just to stay out of the ER on New Years Eve. and Bob is sneezing and coughing to beat the band. So what is better than a comfort soup?
I'm a bit over chicken noodle, the first go at it during the early winter months its a treat, but then I get to thinking "what is that dead chicken smell?"
Perhaps tomorrow I will give you the scoop on the new blog name. No big secret just don't have the time at this late hour.
I wish you all a healthy week ahead, and I will be trying out this soup recipe. Take care. RD
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