Bon Appetit

Since working night shift, I have found myself doing more cooking and baking. Kroger is open 24/7, and it does not bother my neighbors if I am attempting to bake a pound cake at 3am.

Today, I made Julia Child's saute'd chicken. I saw this video on youtube, and I have been craving some cuisine. Therefore, I took notes, and made a visit to the Kroger across the road. The recipe called for a whole chicken cut into pieces (two breasts, two leg-thighs, two wings, etc). Ok, so Kroger did not have any cut that way. So, I asked the man behind the butcher counter only to find out that Kroger would not cut the chicken for me. Fine! So, I walked out with a whole chicken. Having no experience with this predicament, I referred to this article "How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken" by Gourmet Sleuth. I pulled my Pampered Chef knife out of its box, and braved the chicken. I know I did not remove the one thigh properly. A real chef could probably do a better job at getting more meat from the carcass, but all the pieces were there. Chel was happy.

Julia recommended using butter and either peanut oil or olive oil. I chose the peanut oil because I have never worked with it before and wanted to try it. After that it was just chicken, salt, pepper, and some dried Tarragon. There weren't too many ingredients, but the flavor was outstanding.

In case anyone is wondering, YES, I watched Julie and Julia. But even before that, making food from scratch without the preservatives is something I've always wanted to get into. Something about typical American "fast and easy" type cookbooks don't cut it for me anymore. There is such a different taste and feel.

Here's the link to the video. I seriously think everyone should try this.

Learn How to Saute Chicken with Julia Childs

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!

My Experience with Grief Counseling Class

So, for those of you who know me at all probably already know that I am a registered nurse at a university hospital in the bone marrow transplant unit. I take care of patients who have been diagnosed with various types of leukemia, lymphomas, and anemias. Very few of my patients ever live to see a true cure, which at times, can make my job very sad.

With that being said, I decided to volunteer for a wonderful organization in Morgantown, WV called the West Virginia Family Grief Center. This organization provides the only grief support groups for families with young children in West Virginia. I am glad there is an organization like this, so please do not take what I am about to write as a hit against the WV Family Grief Center.

Because I am volunteering with the WV Family Grief Center, I was asked to take a class on grief counseling that is taught by a grief counselor in the area. Originally, I viewed this as an exciting opportunity because they did not teach us anything about grief counseling in nursing school, and I deal with families facing the loss of loved ones at work on a fairly frequent basis. I thought the class would provide me with more tools to help families who are truly struggling. What I found though, was even more enlightening.

So, I go to class. Most of the other people in the class had either social work or counseling backgrounds. I was a slight misfit, but I can handle that. Many of my classmates worked in healthcare, so that was OK. But I'm sitting in this class, and the instructor shows us a picture of an iceberg. I still don't understand that analogy. Somehow grief was supposed to be like an iceberg. I'm not sure how that works, but I don't think I want an iceberg. Icebergs are cold.

Another week, I go to this class, and the teacher tells us that grief is like a bag of rocks. When you lose someone or something, you add a rock to the bag. And you can never put the bag of rocks down, but you have to get stronger and learn how to carry the rocks and it gets easier. I sat there and thought, "But don't you eventually wear out?"

Last night, the teacher compared grief to a river. Grief is like this river you float on, yet you never reach the shore. You just have to learn to roll with the current. OK, Michelle has had enough!

It hit me last night just how thankful I am to not have to compare my burdens to an iceberg, a bag of rocks, or a river. I am so thankful that someone taught me about God and about how Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we can have eternal life. How wonderful it is to truly believe in my heart that there is more than life on this earth! I don't need a dumb poem about a "Rainbow Bridge" to cope with the losses in my life.

I'm NOT a Bible scholar by any stretch, but I can read. Romans 8:38-39 says "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither heigth nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus or Lord."

Tell me, is that not better than a picture of an iceberg?

Corinthians 15: 55-57 says "Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Or what about something nearly everyone has heard of like John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."?

I think I would rather hear something like that than to be told that I had a bag of rocks to carry around for the rest of my life. Even though supposedly I'll "get stronger", eventually don't people become exhausted?

Oh and about that river with no hope for landing on a shore...

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD'" Psalm 122:1. If I am not mistaken Jesus said something to that effect when he was dying on the cross, and there are days when I am truly homesick. Not for my parent's house in Keyser, but for an eternal home where people do not have to deal with the pain and suffering that goes on while we're here on earth. I very well may be on this river, and I may not know how far away I am. But there IS a shore for me to land on where there will be no tears.

Praise the Lord!

Dealing with death is still not fun. Please don't get me wrong here; however, I praise the Lord that He gives us what we need to deal while we're still here on earth. Knowing a loving God who loves us unconditionally and having a Savior who has experienced our earthly pain is SO much better than being told I have to carry around a bag of rocks forever. We don't have to carry the rocks. Jesus did that for us. Thanks be to God!

Carrot Cake Made Easy

Ok, so the Easter holiday is coming and for some that means a family gathering. Other people just need an excuse to bake. Anyways, I have discovered an awesome way to do a carrot cake that people will actually like and that's easy. SO here's how I make carrot cake!

1 box of cake mix (spice flavor)

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 little bag of "nut topping" (with the nuts in baking section)

3 cups of grated carrots (one regular sized bag of whole carrots will do it)

1/2-3/4 cups raisins (optional)

Combine all ingredients except for the nuts and raisins. Beat with a hand mixer on medium for about 2 minutes. Then, fold in half the little bag of nuts and the raisins with a spatula. You can use this batter to do cupcakes, a 9X13 sheet cake, 2 8" rounds or whatever you like. Then bake according to the directions on the box of cake mix.

I don't really think this cake needs icing; however, cream cheese flavored icing with a dash of cinnamon works well.

Happy EASY Baking!

National Marrow Donor Program: Something Worth Considering

In June of 2009, I started working in a bone marrow transplant unit. Before I took that job, I never really thought much about how catastrophic a leukemia or lymphoma diagnosis could be or how complicated the process to get people the medications needed to keep them from dying. Life literally has to stop in order to pursue the treatment necessary to save the patient's life. People of ALL ages can have their lives turned upside down by these diseases. Many of the people I take care of are close to my age (teens, 20s, 30s, etc). For many of these people, a bone marrow or stem cell transplant is the only way for patients to even have a chance of surviving their disease.

It's a somewhat complicated situation and these doctors actually explain it very well if anyone wants to know more. They specialize in treating hematological cancers (blood cancers).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pD-J1A4rL0&feature=channel


I joined the National Marrow Donor Program "Be the Match" registry not long after I started working this job. When I realized that people really do die because a transplant donor can not be found, I signed up. I did not want anyone to have to lose a parent, a child, a spouse, or a friend because they could not find a donor. What if I was that match that could not be found?

The process of joining the registry is actually quite simple. You can go to the National Marrow Donor Program website and sign up to receive a FREE kit in the mail. The kit comes with 4 Q-tips and a set of instructions. You swab the inside of your cheeks with the Q-tips and put them in the envelopes according to the directions. You then send the kit back, and you are finished. It takes less than ten minutes to complete the kit.

Many people have concerns about the donating process if they would match someone. That procedure is described on the National Marrow Donor Program website. It is not horrific as many think, but it is still a procedure. Trust me when I tell you though that people with leukemia suffer way more than a stem cell donor. And if I were the person needing that transplant, I would hope that someone would be willing to donate so that I could have a chance at life.

So, here's the website http://www.marrow.org

I would love to discuss this further with anyone who is interested. Please consider joining if you have not already. You may get the unique opportunity to give someone a chance at life.