25. Still all about the food

Food is still a learning curve. The further away I got from my chemo day the better I felt and was able to add a little more variety into my meals and to eat a little more at meal times and a little less at snack times. By the 11th day I had chicken tacos which Jon made when I was visiting him, Ange, Evie and Ros with my parents for lunch. Delicious and I also love Mexican food - which is rather hilarious with my chilli allergy. (However, I did get a crampy tummy and some diarrhoea that evening so maybe it was a little too rich - or I ate a little too much. Whatever it was it was only a few hours and fine the next day). I also had some tuna a couple of days. I made an amazing vegan shepherd's pie (sans potato topping, so really just the pie bit) that I saw on Jamie Oliver's channel. I have leftovers in the freezer for when I want something nutritious and simple but don't feel like cooking. I still really just want mostly simple and fresh foods.

I also felt like baking again and made some lemon cupcakes and Evie helped make some buttercream to frost them with. Before I arrived she made her own icing sugar by having mum help her blitz castor sugar in their vitamix. I brought down my hand beaters and after holding them for a short time she decided that I could hold them and she could slowly add in the sugar to the creamed butter. Then it was time to decide if she wanted lemon or lime juice added. She decided on both and spent quite a bit of time adding 1/4 teaspoons of the juice of each into the mix, tasting it and then saying "3 more lime and 1 more lemon" or "1 lime and 1 lemon". She also put in some freshly ground pink salt "for contrast". She's been watching a lot of Preppy Kitchen and John Kanell says that a lot when baking. She's listening and learning. The final butter cream was certainly a delicious lime with a hint of lemon. She delicately decorated each cupcake, asking each person which topping they would like. Choices were 100's & 1000's, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, silver balls, pink hearts, white balls. As part of her preschool experiences this year she will have some Aunty Caz baking/cooking visits. She also has asked me to help her with her birthday cake. She has been researching Preppy Kitchen recipes to see what she will like. So far it seems she wants the ultimate chocolate cake. She also wants cupcakes around the main cake and has yet to decide on those yet. That's why I decided to make some cupcakes and the lemon ones I have made before and they are refreshing ones. It's possible that it was me eating the cupcake and buttercream that messed with the tummy and digestion that evening and not the tacos...maybe a combination of both. They were both yummy so I guess a few hours of discomfort was ok.

Today I made some crackers. I do like the salada ones but I wanted to have some with a bit more nutrition in them. These have sesame seeds, chia seeds, pepitas, and sunflower seeds. The recipe said rice flour (as it was meant to be a gluten free recipe) but I put regular flour in. I think there was a bit too much water for the flour I used so had to fudge it a bit. I wasn't sure which of the reusable baking mats would work so I tried two different ones and then baking paper. I also tried three different types of trays and I think the smaller ones work best as they crisp up quicker. They are exceedingly moorish and the Mither had a few test nibbles that ended up being a few more nibbles. They have cooled down and are now in a container out of sight.

I have one more full day before my next chemo. I had a visit with Dr Man a few days ago and we were discussing the cycle of each time. So it possibly will be similar, feeling pretty crappy for a few days and then getting a bit better the further away. However, there isn't really a normal so continue to listening to the body and take it a day at a time. My super sonic sense of smell has diminished a bit as the days went by and I could tolerate smells better. So, stay tuned with what will happening with cycle two.