Planning around the chemo

Every three weeks I get a heavy dose of chemo. So, I have to try to plan my life around that. Knowing that 2 out of 3 weeks on my life will be unpleasant (to say the least) for the next 20 months... I have to try to get used to it. 

My actual birthday is December 25th, I usually celebrate on the 26th or 27th. But unfortunately I have chemo on the 21st, so I celebrated my birthday on the 19th. My brother and his wife thankfully hosted this small event. And my good friend made the deserts. I was too distracted to take pictures, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of my oreo cake! 

The unfortunate thing is that on Christmas, when my family will be in from Ohio and my parents house will be full of wonderful people, I won't be able to enjoy myself as I usually do. There will be an infinit amout of my favorit foods and I most likely won't have much of an appetite. 

The past few week have been pretty rough because I was neutropenic, so I may a tad pessimistic about the whole thing. Time will tell! 

Thug kitchen's Vietnamese salad

Amazing! Just made this fresh salad with the help of my friend (having a rough week) she did 90% of the chopping! 

Organic veggies and herbs! My belly is thanking me! ;) 

They suggest adding tofu to make it more of a complete meal, but we opted not to do so. No regrets, it was very filling as is! 

As for the recipe, I don't think I can legally share the details, buy the book! It is worth it. 

I will say this: the sesame dressing suggests for half a cup of rice vinegar, I would definitely reduce that to at least 1/3 of a cup. Especially for me as my mouth is sensitive from the treatment, I found it too heavy on the vinegar.

Big Bald Step

Today I'm taking a big step! I'm daring the outside world with nothing on my head! Here are my eyes holding back tears. My patchy head and my very swollen cheeks caused by all the medication I'm on. And where am I going? To a Christmas party. A fashion industry Christmas party.

Let's do this. 
Let's try to forget that I never thought I'd look like this. And enjoy the night as much as I can!

Acid Reflux Hell

A big issue for me is acid reflux. I'd say it's as much of an issue as the fatigue in my case! Why? Because it effects my eating :(  and as you've come to learn, food is my life!
It also makes sleeping very uncomfortable and even just getting up from my seat at all a serious pain in the but!
Unfortunately some of my favorite things to eat make it much worse...
Like cheese! OMG fatty and creamy cheese!
Basically anything high in oil or fat definitely does not help. Most sweetened and processed food are not very friendly either!
But I am a big fan of compromise and I've realized the more veggies I eat the easier it is. Raw is always better but cooked works for me too! Camomile tea eases the pain and helps me relax. As long as there is a balance I'm ok.
Raw veggie juice always also gives me a lot of relief. my favorite mix is apple/baby spinach/cucumber and a bit of lemon if you're not too irritated (helps me with nausea too!)

I also drink at least 2 litres of water, sounds easy enough but when your stomach is on fire it can feel very forced.
For protein I try to stick with white meat. Mainly chicken breast. Shrimp and most white fish sit well with me too.
I am in no way a doctor; These are just my little tips and trick and they could apply to anyone with bad acid reflux or irritation.
FYI .... WATER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!!

One Pot Thai Quinoa Bowl with Chicken and Spicy Peanut Sauce

To start off I did get the original recipe from Pinterest:
http://withsaltandwit.com/one-pot-thai-quinoa-bowl/

But here are a few chances (marked in red) that I would make to fit my taste better the next time i make this.
Be prepared, it is simple but a bit time and energy consuming, do not attempt this if you're not feeling well or ask for some assistance.

 

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Serves: 4-5

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1½ cups sliced portobello mushrooms
• 2 cups julienned carrots
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2½ cups chicken stock
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp pepper
• 2 cups frozen edamame, thawed
• 4 cups precooked, chopped chicken - I cooked mine in sesame oil, salt and pepper
• Juice from half a lime
• Peanut Sauce:
•  ½ cup peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1½ Tbsp gluten free soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• For Garnish:
• Handful Cilantro
• ½ cup Chopped Peanuts
• 1 cups sliced red cabbage (I prefer my cabbage raw)

Instructions

1. Quinoa Bowl: In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the red onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until soft. Add the minced garlic, and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
2. Add carrots. Stir and cook 1 minute.
3. Add the quinoa, chicken stock, ginger, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. adding broccoli mid way ( I like my broccoli crunchy, but if you like yours soft, add them at the time you added the carrots)
4. Remove lid and fluff. Add the edamame and chicken. Stir in and let cook 1 - 2 minutes, or until chicken is heated through and add lime juice.
5. To Make the Peanut Sauce: While quinoa cooks, mix all the ingredients for the sauce and wisk until completely smooth.
6. To Serve: In a bowl, add the quinoa mixture in layers with peanut sauce and garnish with cilantro, cabbage and peanuts

Le vieux vélo

Today I went out for a quick brunch with my friend at Le Vieux Vélo. To my unfortunate surprise most of the breakfast menu consisted of eggs Benedict witch a risky order for someone with my amune system. Thankfully they had a vegetarian chilli on their lunch menu that sounded appealing. But since I really wanted eggs, I asked them to add one.

It was delicious!! The service was pretty quick, laid back and friendly. And the menu is wonderfully inexpensive (11$ for this, including the extra charge for the egg) 👍

Top 5 freezer friends

On the theme of unbearably low energy days, here are some of my favorite freezer goodies.
These also work for anyone short on time or just plain lazy! ;)

Let's start with the basics:
1. A bag of frozen vegetables
Fresh and raw veggies are always the best but it is surprising how much energy it takes to properly clean and prep vegetables, especially after a round of chemo. These are an easy way to add some much needed nutrients to your meal.

2. Stromboli vegetarian pizza
Pizza is my friend. Pizza is everyone's friend! But sadly there is some guilt associated with being so close to such a friend. On the other hand, this one is packed with yummy garlicky veggies like diced tomatoes and artichokes <3 (this brand is only available in Quebec)

3. Amy's breakfast burrito (organic & vegan)
Ironically I'm not vegan and don't usually like tofu. But these burritos are a yummy and pretty filling quick breakfast option for those morning where even boiling an eggs seems exhausting.

4. Natural selection pizza snacks
Ok ok.... Guilty pleasure! Not particularly nutritious but damn they're good! I actually like these better than pizza pockets...(BLASPHEMY!!). No but seriously they have more filling and the dough is better in my opinion.

5. Edamame
There have been many nights where I wanted a snack, and thought to myself "If I have one more baby carrot I'm going to kill someone".
Boil these babies for 5 minutes, add some salt (and a bit of sesame oil if you're feeling crazy) and voila! A snack fit for a queen :)

The foodie road blocks

Being the foodie that I am, learning about the food restrictions that come with undergoing chemotherapy was pretty hard to hear.
For the next 2 years I have to avoid all my favourite foods:
Tartars
Sushi
Oysters
Raw egg (includes home made mayo and hollandaise sauce.... There goes my favourite brunch items)
Any meat cooked under well-done
Charcuterie
Soft cheeses (brie, camembert..)  
Basically, the only thing I can have raw are vegetables.

All this seriously broke my heart.

Added to all this is the oh-so-wonderful nausea, unbearable stomach acid and the occasional ulcers that make it uncomfortable to eat anything at all!
You also can't forget the very heavy fatigue caused by the treatments and medication that stops you from cooking up that healthy fresh meal that follows all the rules.

My blog, for the majority, will be about how I deal with all this, what I eat when I don't feel well, low energy easy recipes, restaurants I go to when I'm feeling good and maybe a few rants or anecdotes from time to time.
Here's hoping this little blog will find it's place in the over saturated world of the internet!

What it's all about

For those who don't know me, my name is Donna. 
I am 24 years old.
And this past august I was diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia A.L.L. 
It was quite the shocker for both me and my family. 
I had just moved out on my own for the first time, just started a new job and even adopted my first pet 2 weeks prior to my diagnoses. 
I was right there were I wanted to be: really ambitious and WAY too excited for the rest of my life. And then BOOM "you have cancer".

Well the dust has now settled, and I've been sitting at home with not much to do for the past 4 month and I have 5 more months of joblessness ahead so I figured starting a blog could pass the time, answer some questions and maybe even offer some support to other young adults going through this too.