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So... I've had the panic pukes all this past week, which means I'm eating very blandly and sparingly, and the extra brown rice I made for the meatloaf didn't get eaten. And since the family dinner tonight was very allergy-unfriendly, I decided to turn it into Sardine & Brown Rice Croquettes and freeze whatever I don't have for dinner tonight. If I have two per serving, I have seven meals worth in the freezer. I didn't talk myself out of the binder this time! And it adds plant protein! How's that for a super nutritious pantry dish? What does it taste like? A slightly fishy latke. The brown rice gives you just enough of a fried starch flavor that it hits the latke taste memory, and the onion is pretty prominent. Leave out the fish, and this would make a great nightshade, egg, and gluten free latke substitute for your Hanukkah table that's honestly easier to make than traditional latkes from scratch. Don't be surprised if that's the newest Menu on my allergy-friendly holiday meal recipe roundup series come next winter holiday season... Anyway, the croquettes are going to be great alongside the spring salad mix I'm keeping on hand, and balsamic-lemon vinaigrette I put up to go with it. For you, that recipe: 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/2 heaping teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings (add 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg for a more Greek flavor, if desired) Combine all ingredients in an airtight jar or bottle, and shake well to combine. Store in the refrigerator, and use within 1 month. As for the whole one day away from surgery OMG thing... to take the pressure off of Laundry Day tomorrow, I have a load in the dryer, and a load going into the washer once I change out of what I'm wearing right now. I will still be doing 3+ loads tomorrow. Wish me luck.

One week to New Hip Day!! My BFF and surgery buddy is under the knife right now, lots of good thoughts to her! And I finally have meal number 1 in my freezer! So, I made up a meatloaf recipe with pork sausage, brown rice, and mushrooms. I use flax eggs instead of chicken eggs because I'm allergic to chicken eggs, and I went back and forth on whether the starch in the rice would be enough of a binder or not. I went with just the rice... why do I always blow 50/50 shots? It definitely needed a flour binder. So, it's real crumbly and didn't get a crust, whomp whomp. Family secret spilling time: we do not have a good meatloaf recipe. I've been eating crumbling meatloaf my whole life. I don't know if I can handle a good, solid loaf. So, I'll thaw/reheat these slices in my toaster oven, with a potato baking on the side. I also have half a loaf of this drying out in my cupboard for stuffing: Pinto Bean Bread recipe. It's essentially the bread recipe I've used for years, but with pureed pinto beans added to the dough. I got three 2lb sandwich loaves from the recipe. It has a really soft and chewy but strong crumb that slices and toasts really well. This may be my new go-to recipe, at least for sandwich bread. And, I have six chicken breasts marinading that'll be pan fried tonight. Which means my meal prep will be finished tonight! Whew. Next up is a LOT of laundry (especially next Sunday, when I have to do all my bedding... did I mention I "autism nest" under a bunch of those heavy, faux-mink blankets with the images on them? It'll take all day...), a LOT of battery charging, and actually packing my hospital bag... so get ready for the "what's in my bag" post real soon!

I have a sauteed pan of mushrooms and onions on the back of the stove, and brown rice in the instant pot. That'll all get mixed with the pork sausage I thawed last night, a few flax eggs, and some herbs and be baked in the cast iron bread pan I got for Christmas. When the meatloaf is cooled, I'll slice it down, freeze it on a sheet pan, and store the frozen slices in a bag, so I can grab one and microwave it with a pricked and oiled potato, that'll bake in the time it takes the meatloaf to thaw and reheat. There's one! I'll bake some bread tomorrow with said cast-iron pan, and make stuffing with the leftover Christmas crudite veggies to go with some marinated chicken breasts. There's two! And with just one week to go! I can't believe I'm 8 days and some change out from surgery day already. I'm very glad, my hip is getting really bad. It's starting giving out a lot more, I have to be really careful to be precise with my cane, so it'll support me when needed. And there's only one position I can realistically sleep in right now, which is not good for someone who literally needs to toss and turn to wind down and fall asleep. I've still got a good six weeks of that, but at least I'll know I'll be over the hump in a week. Meanwhile, Penelope is currently burying herself in one of my blankets. Still haven't figured out how to tell her to sleep somewhere else for two weeks...

I am aware that blog is on hiatus, but my mom keeps bringing home bagels that I can eat, and cream cheese that I can't. Not an issue with an Everything bagel, I always have the fixins for hummus around, but she brought home brown sugar cinnamon, and blueberry... I've never been a huge fan of the brownie hummus the way most people make it, but I started throwing ingredients in my food processor, and... ended up replicating the flavor of Aldi's Jaffa Cakes exactly. Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it! Check it out here. btw, I hate the life story format, too, so I just drop the recipe and a link to my Ko-Fi in each blog post. No ads, not even pictures. Heading over to my Ko-Fi link to leave me a tip in appreciation would be awesome of you.

I have finally figured out my meal plan, hallelujah!! Edit: I had a great initial plan, at least. The initial plan: Steak & Pinto Beans with Cornbread Marinaded & pan fried chicken breasts with a recipe I just realized never made it on my blog - cornbread dressing with lentils for added plant protein. Kofta-spiced meatballs with chickpea flour as my binding flour for the plant protein, with a recipe that isn't on my blog because it belongs to my friend, Chef Abbey - whipped white beans with olive oil. I also just pinned a tahini dressing recipe I'll put up to have on hand with this. Subbed with Split Pea & Kapusta Stew THE UPDATE: does ground beef smell and taste fishy to anyone else? I started noticing it about a year ago? No other (so far) beef, including cuts like round steak or stew meat. And it's only raw ground beef purchased from the grocery store, Taco Bell tacos and McDonalds quarter pounders still taste the same to me. I don't know if it's perimenopause nose, or a new preservative they're using, or what, but raw ground beef, and the food I cook with it, has that smell of slightly rotten fish washed up on the lakeshore. So, I started the pinto beans and the meatballs with a pound of ground beef from the local restaurant supply company, thinking if anyone has premium meat, it'll be them. But, I had to deep-six both - even after forty-five minutes of pressure cooking, it's just overwhelming fish smell. I have always had the augmented AuDHD senses, and sense recall - raw ground beef has never smelled like this to me before. I've been cooking with it since I was a kid, I know what it's supposed to smell like at every stage of cooking... this is not it during any part of the cooking process. I still have tons of pinto beans, I'm not sure if I want to make the dish with another meat, or leave meat out together. Meatballs are getting scrapped, and subbed with the Ukrainian Split Pea & Kapusta Stew I made with the sad, forgotten cabbage I found in the back of the fridge. END UPDATE I don't usually worry too much about breakfast, plain instant oatmeal or dairy-free yogurt with flax seed is easy enough. But I will probably make a batch of pancakes and freeze them, as well. Frozen homemade pancakes reheat really well in a standard toaster. And I will, of course, have lots of fresh fruits and veg on hand to eat, as usual. There, now I know what I'm going to make, that's half done, right?

I'm at 2.5 weeks to New Hip Day! Officially the halfway point of pre-op. I have today and tomorrow left on The Pill, and one more week with anti-inflammatories. Knowing this, I was trying to front-load my pre-op, so I can spend as much time in bed with a heating pad as possible once the pills wear off. So, how am I doing with the pre-op checklist? ✅ Parking Placard procured. ✅ Surgical Optimization completed; walker, pre-op wipes, and glucose drinks procured. ✅ Stuff Procured - massively huge thank you to my mom and my friend Tracy, they half-and-half tackled my list, and I am SO ready to go because of them. You're both wonderful 💖💖 ✅ Hair products prep - I have a full quart of scalp oil, and 8oz of chebe butter ready to go! ✅ Pedicure... funny story. My left toes don't have any feeling anymore. It's not that they "feel numb," they just... don't feel anything. I learned this when I sliced 4/5 nailbeds open on my left foot with my nail file yesterday. Now I have a request in to my PCP for a podiatrist referral, because I obviously can't be trusted to do my own toenails. But, they're short and rounded right now. ⬜ Meal Prep - I'm just now settling on a menu. Which is actually fortunate, considering like any good Michigander in winter, I was planning on keeping this in a tote in my garage and letting nature be my deep freeze. But we're in a warming trend for the next week, so putting that off definitely saved me trying to find freezer space... ⬜ Cannabis purchase, which will happen within a few days, as I am running very low right now. ⬜ Covid Vaxx, which I'll do when I head out for cannabis. I... feel very on top of things right now. Who is this person with unmedicated ADHD??

I just spent the last 3 hours making the personal care products I do make - namely coffee-infused scalp oil, chebe butter, and deodorant. And my phone was on the charger and not taking photos or video 😅😅 That’s okay, I’ll give you recipes instead, probably more useful! Why do I make these three products, specifically? Cost and ingredient control, mostly. Wild Growth Hair & Scalp Oil is what got me on the scalp oil train to begin with, it’s a wonderful product… but $10 for 4oz is pretty pricey when I can make about 5x that of the recipe I use now for the same price. Chebe butter was pure ingredient control, it’s really hard to find natural hair products that don’t use nut oils. And deodorant is pure cost efficiency - I can pay $10 for a stick of natural deodorant, or 50 cents to make twice as much at home. Today was pretty chaotic, because it was “use up the bottom of the bottle” for most of my ingredients, so there wasn’t a ton of exact measuring. But, here’s how I did it: Large Batch Coffee-Infused Scalp Oil 2 cups olive oil 1/2 cup papaya seed oil 1/2 cup avocado oil 1/4 cup whole bean coffee 2 tablespoons rosemary oil 1 teaspoon clove oil 1 teaspoon vitamin e oil In a double boiler (or glass mixing bowl in a saucepan like I do), combine the oils. Grind the coffee very coarsely, and add to the oil mixture. Allow the mixture to infuse over the boiling water for a half-hour. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Strain out the coffee grounds (cheesecloth is best for this) and bottle before adding the rosemary and clove essential oils and the vitamin e oil. Shake well and let sit overnight before using. Alternatively, instead of using essential oils, you can use the same amount of dried herbs for both, add them when you add the coffee, and strain them when you add the oil to your bottle. To use: apply directly to your freshly cleansed scalp, and get your fingers up underneath your hair to massage the oil evenly over your scalp. Chebe Butter for High Porosity Hair 1/4 cup Shea or Cocoa butter 1/4 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup avocado oil 2 tablespoons Chebe powder 1/4 teaspoon fragrance oil (optional) In a double boiler (like above), add your butter and oils and melt them down together. Add the chebe powder, stir it in well, and let the mixture infuse over the boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat, and add your fragrance oil, if using (Chebe powder smells a lot like church incense, but the smell disappears in the butters. The end result is unscented unless you scent it). Cool to room temperature before transferring to your storage jar. To use: apply over your favorite leave-in conditioner on wet hair, concentrating especially on the ends on the hair. This works best if you wear a steam bonnet for a half-hour or so after applying, to melt the butter into the hair. So, your hair is low porosity? Try using aloe butter for your butter, and grape seed oil instead of avocado oil. Homemade Natural Deodorant Paste 1/4 cup cornstarch, arrowroot, or tapioca starch 1/4 cup baking soda 1/2 cup raw coconut oil (it cannot be refined to work) 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon essential or fragrance oils of choice (optional) Add the starch, baking soda, and coconut oil to a mixing bowl, and use a hand mixer or whisk combine into a paste. Add your essential or fragrance oils if using, mix into the paste thoroughly, and jar or bottle your deodorant paste. Allow to sit overnight before using. Since it’s Christmas and stuff, I used clove, nutmeg, ginger, black spruce, and lemon. PLEASE NOTE: lemon essential oil makes you sunburn very easily. I expect this batch to be long gone before my armpits see the sun again. No citrus oils go in my summer deodorant blends.

Yesterday morning was my Pre-Op appointment with Surgical Optimization, and I don't remember one of these being so difficult to personally process. If you've never done this before, you go in to meet with a bunch of RN and NP's to go over general health and fitness, get fitted for your mobility aid, get your pre-op instructions for carb drinks and itchy body wipes, and get told when to stop taking what medications before you go under. I told you this would veer pretty quickly into TMI territory - my birth control pill is a clot risk. I have to stop taking it two weeks before surgery, and I have a question in on MyChart as to how long I have to stay off of it, considering I'll be on baby aspirin for a month after surgery to make sure my blood stays nice and thin. Now, I'm a 43 year old asexual person with hypermobile joints, I am not worried about any babies happening in this time off the pill. But I am on the pill because the fibromyalgia and the hypermobile joints made even the lightest menstrual cramps a disabling agony. And since the Possibility of Baby does not concern me in the least as an asexual person, with my gynecologist's blessing I have been skipping the placebo pills and taking the hormones constantly to stop my periods altogether. I have basically tucked my uterus away and let it gather dust while I went about my life effectively uterus-less. I did have one notable bleed experience after my last spine surgery, as I had a cerebrospinal fluid leak at the surgery site as well, and that was the last time I had to worry about a period. But now, I get a period for Christmas. In an ironically full-circle way, I got my first period on 12/21/93, at 11 years old. How do I remember this so precisely? One, that was also the day we got pet bunnies for the first time, and two, it was the winter solstice, which I'm pretty sure my mom made a point to mention as a science thing to her homeschooled brood as we were heading home in the dark before dinnertime with our new rabbits, that that was the darkest night of the year. Also, definitely still bleeding on Christmas morning, poor little me. How am I doing one of the most stereotypically "old person" things ever, and yet I feel like such a young teenager about this part? I just desperately hope Santa hurries up with the delivery if it's going to happen, because I have to go off all anti-inflammatories on 12/27, a week later. Meloxicam is the only thing keeping my pain reasonable right now. Before I doubled my dose, tho? A constant 8.5. This is not the kind of pain that comes and goes, or gives you any kind of reprieve, otherwise. If my uterus decides it wants to join the pain party then, I'm fucked. I also have to give up the Naltrexone three days before, which my friend just texted me to let me know counteracts opioids, which she found out through some awful personal experience. Knowing that, I might just drop it with the NSAIDS... They give you a big ol printout that they highlight with you about everything you take and when you need to stop taking it before surgery, as well as all of your post-op appointments. My advice: choose a color in your calendar app for everything about surgery, and enter it in with alerts. When last dose day comes (mark THAT, not the day after), put the now-verboten med out of reach, out of its usual spot after you take your last dose. I'm sure everyone has some version of "place where I put my daily meds" and "place where I store overstock until I get to it," I usually move said med from the former place to the latter. Also, put your post-op appointments in. It's nice to look at your calendar and be able to see at a glance, by color, when you have an action day. It also means you can eyeball appointments you should cancel and move, like I had to do with my next spine injection. tbh, I'm hoping this implant will re-align my lower back to where I won't need the injections anymore, but we'll see. My urinary checkup may need to be moved, too, again, I'm hoping a new hip joint fixes that, too... we'll see.... Also, name suggestions needed for the new walker, which I got yesterday. It's older brother, a rollator, is named Kevin. I'll be using it for six weeks post-op. So, basically, don't expect me to be going too far too fast for six weeks.

I’m watching the Joint Replacement Class video… no Meloxicam for 7 days before surgery. That was bad enough before spine surgery, without Meloxicam right now, I’m at a constant 8.5 pain level with my hip. Deep breaths, deep breaths… Also, no pets in bed with you the night before surgery. Again, someone needs to inform Penelope of this, she’s not going to take it very well…

I need to start meal prepping. Yes, this early, I want to make sure I pace myself so I don’t wear myself out - my battery drains real fast right now. I’m aiming to put up 4 portions of 3 meals, for a total of 12 meals… I don’t need to put up for the entire recovery, my family does know how to cook to my diet, but I want to have some convenience comfort meals ready anyway. If you follow my other blog, you know that I can’t eat dairy, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, or tomatoes. You may think this limits my diet, but if you follow my other blog, you know that I eat Very Well. I’m also thinking about the nutrient content of the meals, and making sure they have lots of ingredients high in things to help me recover, like iron and calcium. Not too hard, the way I eat. So, let’s play a game. Pick 3: Smoky pinto beans & cornbread Cajun-style red beans & rice Lentil “meat” loaf with a baked potato Mujaddara with lentils, rice, & caramelized onions and a side salad “Buddha Bowl” with rice, grains, beans, and roasted veggies. Coconut curry chicken & spinach over rice Marinated chicken in the cast iron skillet w/ cornbread stuffing Kofta kebabs with a rice pilaf Sardine & white bean croquettes with a side salad You see my dilemma. Seriously, comment your 3 below, I need advice here.

So, how do you pre-surgery panic? I am well medicated against panic attacks, they have to be really, really bad to break through the med barrier and manifest as a full-on attack. I was expecting this recent major medical malady, so I haven't gone into full panic mode yet... but the nausea and vomiting has started. Especially at night. Now, the first thing I was taught at Fibromyalgia Clinic is that the first rule of Fibro Club is that we do not talk about Fibro Club. Discussing your symptoms in any detail with anyone but your care team in a clinical setting puts your focus on your symptoms, and focusing on your symptoms regularly makes your brain solidify them in as normal more and more. Actively keeping a blog about a pain condition goes completely against everything I've ever been taught about pain management. So, I figured that if I was going to have any psychosomatic reactions to the stress - like the spontaneous pukes - I'd have them as I'm writing blog posts and actively focusing on my pain and my surgery plans. Nope. I'm waking up to it at 2am. Great. My mom is going to make me ride in her car with a puke bowl in my lap until after surgery now 😅😅

I'm from the Midwest, and both of my grandfathers are military veterans - one in WWII, one in the Korean War - so "Dopp Kit" is one of those traditions and terminologies that got persistently handed down in my family, much like calling chipped dry beef in cream sauce served over toast "shit on a shingle." But I digress. A Dopp Kit is a particular design of men's toiletry bags used for travel. Nowadays, there are many travel kits out there, and the kind that fold open and hang over a shower head are usually the most popular. But, as someone who does all the travel, from air to road tripping, from four-star hotels to rustic campsites to hospital beds, I prefer Charles Doppelt's general design... as a matter of fact, you saw my Dopp Kit and how I packed it for my hip surgery last January. Now, you're probably wondering why I don't just drop the $10-15 for one of those single use, TSA-approved pre-packed toiletry bags they sell like just about everyone else does. Thing is, I handle my hygiene needs, especially when it comes to my hair care, a bit differently than most. And I'm not particularly fond of single use items if I can help it. Besides, I prefer keeping a kit on hand. Medical emergencies aren't usually planned, and as someone with more than one bathroom, all of them shared, being able to grab a pack to shower or spiff myself up in the bathroom I don't usually use is incredibly handy. And I'm ready for a spontaneous overnight somewhere if needed. This is the exact bag I have, I love it (not sponsored, I really do), and I will show you why. I'll also show you how I keep it packed and organized, and what I use everything for (a lot of it has multiple uses). The Main Compartment Right now, I have a mix of travel size and full size bottles and tubes because I'm not planning on air travel in the foreseeable future. If I do plan to board a plane, I'd decant and label what I'd need to, and pack this in my carry-on. Speaking of labels on decanted products, they're important, especially if you'll have any interactions with TSA agents, Border Patrol, or Park Rangers. Micellar Water face cleansing wipes. If you're wondering where the pack of Micellar Water full-body deodorant wipes went from the hospital stay in January, they've been moved to my hygiene pouch in my adventure bag, which will also be with me wherever I am if I'm travelling. Full-body lotion. Makes more sense than packing a face lotion and a separate hand & body lotion. Whole Body Deodorant. Leave-in conditioner/detangler specially formulated for curly hair. Tangle Teezer Mini hairbrush 2oz jar with my favorite leave-in creme conditioner decanted in. 2oz jar with kokum/mangosteen butter whipped with full spectrum vitamin e oil. one of the most multi-purpose additions to my kit - can be used as a hair cuticle seal, a nighttime face slug, and a layer against friction anywhere skin meets skin. In the three large side pockets: 2oz Amber glass bottles with mist tops filled with: HOCL: antibacterial, can be used as a hand sanitizer, skin deodorant, fabric deodorant, first aid disinfectant, surface disinfectant, also can be sprayed on the face as an anti-inflammatory. 1 teaspoon Dettol to the rest of the bottle filled with water (it works out to about 30% concentration) : antiseptic, can be used as a hand sanitizer, skin deodorant, fabric deodorant, surface disinfectant. 92% Isopropyl Alcohol with six drops lavender essential oil and four drops clove essential oil: antiseptic, can be used as a hand sanitizer (that removes cannabis resin, just sayin'), skin deodorant, fabric deodorant, insect repellent. 2oz bottle Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. Refillable from the big bottle... those little bottles are ridiculously expensive for a little bottle. Q-Tips stored in an old, cleaned-out prescription bottle to keep them clean. A silk scrunchie. A handful of bobby pins. A roller bottle of perfume oil. Evening In Paris, if you're curious. A small pair of fingernail clippers and a pair of tweezers. In the zippered side pocket: Migraine rescue medication. A small mirror. Band-aids. Alcohol swabs. Lip balm. Sleep earplugs, in a case attached to the zipper pull. The Main Side Pocket This is the part that makes me absolutely geeky about this bag. The side pouch is perfectly set up for dental hygiene! A toothbrush, with a travel hygiene cover. Protip: after using the brush and case, give them each a squirt or two of HOCL. Individual-use toothpaste packs. Individual-use mouthwash packs. Dental floss. The Other Side Pocket It's flat to the bag and open mesh, and the only thing that really fits there is an African Net Sponge. But, it's a fabulous place for said African Net Sponge, considering the nature of said African Net Sponge. And that's that. Sun products and menstrual products both go into the aforementioned Adventure Bag, and if I'm carrying for a full period, I'm carrying a full pack of Tena pads in my luggage, too. Bonus: How to not shower and still not stink! A very useful life skill for anyone who camps, road trips, or requires the frequent-ish hospital stay! Hair: The most important hair hygiene tip if you have to go longer than normal between washes is to keep it detangled, regularly brushed or combed if your hair is strong enough to withstand that. Basically, keep the oils moving down the hair shaft regularly. If it starts to smell before you can wash it, spray it with HOCL, especially at the scalp and roots. For hairstyles; loose, high ponytails or "messy buns" with a silk scrunchie, or double cornrows braided tight enough to keep them done but not so tight to pull on the scalp are the best, whether you're wrapping your hair or not. Also remember to keep your hair hydrated between washes! A mist bottle of water followed by a few sprays of a detangler/liquid leave-in with your detangling at least every other day will keep your hair healthy between good soakings. If your hair is going to be exposed to sun, wind, or salt, don't forget to protect it with a good layer of kokum/mangosteen butter & vitamin E before going out. You can wash it out with the Dr. Bronner's soap when you're ready. Armpits: This is a three step process: Wipe down with Micellar Water wipe - the deodorant wipes are preferable, but the face wipes will work. Pick your poison - HOCL, Dettol, or Alcohol & essential oils all make a good pre-deodorant prep. My favorite for this is HOCL. Spray 2-4 times directly on your armpits. Apply a drop of Whole Body Deodorant to each armpit. Congratulations, you're socially acceptable again. If you need to touch up while you're out, carry a little bottle of whatever you used in step 2 with you. All 3 sprays in step 2 can also be sprayed directly onto the armpits of your shirts, if the fabric is holding onto the BO scent. Crotch: Wipe yourself down well with a micellar water deodorant wipe or two. Remember to get into the labial folds and down by the urethrea. Do this at least once per day until you can shower again. All of the sprays in Armpits Step 2 can be sprayed directly on the crotch of your panties or pants if they're holding onto odors - HOCL will be the gentlest to use if you're particularly sensitive. Feet: Same three step process as your armpits.