Shortcut Block Party Lasagna

This post is dedicated to Mr. Hoing, a former neighbor and teacher, for always pestering me about making lasagna for the neighborhood block party.  We were talking about those parties this morning at breakfast and dad commented they were a lot of fun.  Sure, because he didn't have to do extra spelling words for Mrs. Hoing like Jeff, Linda, and I did!  So to a-c-c-o-m-m-o-d-a-t-e Mr. Hoing's love of lasagna, here is a shortcut version.  It started with Mrs. Mellette's home ec recipe and has been refined over the years.  This version is a shortcut since we don't have access to all the herbs and things that go into the full version I usually make. Know what?  I'm not going to mess with all that again.  This was just as good!

Nice and brown on top!

Shortcut Block Party Lasagna
1 1/2 pounds bulk mild or sweet Italian sausage, browned
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 three ounce can tomato paste
1 twenty-four ounce can Hunts Garlic & Herb tomato sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup garlic powder
1 ten ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles (no pre-cooking so Greg couldn't snitch them)

Combine sausage, onion, carrots, tomato paste, and tomato sauce in skillet.  Rinse paste can and add that water to the skillet.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, Parmesan, and spinach.  Mix thoroughly.

Lightly spray a 9"x13" deep foil pan with non-stick spray.  Spread about 1/2 cup of the meat sauce in bottom.  Lay 4 noodles, overlapping edges, the length of pan.  Cover with half the meat sauce, half the cottage cheese mixture, and two cups of mozzarella.  Repeat layers.  Top with noodles, and scrape the last of the liquid from the skillet on top.  Cover with remaining two cups of cheese.

Spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick spray and cover pan.  Set pan on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  Remove foil, and let sit for 5 minutes.  Cut into desired sized pieces.   Devour with much gusto!

The perfect piece of lasagna!  Look at that cheese . . .

By not cooking the noodles in advance, they absorb the excess liquid from

the lasagna, which makes them taste better and no messy liquid all over the pan.

A Sunshine Kind of Day

Wow, what an unexpected surprise! Thank you so much to my Klatt cousins for brightening up our day. The package mail came a while ago, although none of us were expecting any deliveries. Couldn't believe it was for me. Thank you so much Jeri, Penny,  Michael, and Joy for the basket full of sunshine! I now have sunshine yellow nail polish, yellow Play Doh, Juicy Fruit gum (which we all used to get in our birthday cards from Uncle Harold), Lemonheads, a chickee PEZ, puzzle book, gardening magazine, a scrubby sponge, yellow towel set and a bar of 444Farms goats' milk soap in one of my all-time favorite scents--Oatmel Milk and Honey. I think it smells like a bath-fresh baby that just ate its cereal. Plus the oatmeal in it is exfoliating, which I can use with my dry skin. Thanks again to all of you! The day is bright and sunny--and now even more so!

Cookie Nirvana

Oh, how I wish I could claim that I created these; but, alas, I did not.  But it doesn't mean I can't enjoy them in the PT (post-transplant).  I'm sure that Herman, too, will love Nutella.

http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2013/02/25/nutella-lava-cookie-cups/#

That's all for now.  Going to hit the pharmacy in a bit, then the Icee machine at Walgreens for another CherryLime Icee.  Best flavor EVER!

Herman, Where Art Thou?

Who is Herman you ask?  Herman is what I have decided I will name my new liver when I get it.  Odd--maybe.  But to know me is to understand that!

This summer, the first of my produce was Herman the pickle  I harvested him.  When receiving a transplant, I will receive an organ that the surgeon has "harvested" from the donor.  Got it now?  I know, it's still kind of odd.  But I'm trying to keep things light to keep from going crazy just sitting around, day after day, waiting.

Thursday I will have another paracentesis done to remove abdominal fluid.  Trying to sleep is miserable.  There is NO comfortable position.  I whistle when I breathe whether lying down or sitting.  Not that I enjoy the shot that stings then the needle insertion to vacuum the fluid off into the jars.  They are vacuum jars--no one hooks up a Hoover or Oreck to get rid of the fluid. 

Although my score (MELD) has dropped to 20, I get credit for the time at higher scores, and for the overall length of time since my listing (July 2011).  So I am still number 1 for the Aurora clinic's B blood group.  Apparently, my best chances for an organ match would be from an Asian or African American donor.  Here is how the blood types break down by population:

	Caucasians	African American	Hispanic	Asian
O +	37%	47%	53%	39%
O -	8%	4%	4%	1%
A +	33%	24%	29%	27%
A -	7%	2%	2%	0.5%
B +	9%	18%	9%	25%
B -	2%	1%	1%	0.4%
AB +	3%	4%	2%	7%
AB -	1%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%

They say that you sometimes get odd cravings from your new organ attributable to the donor.  Great, I'm going to want stir fry or collard greens.  I'll go for the stir fry, but no collard greens!  Oh, Herman, where are thou?  You need to hurry u and get here!

Valentines!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and we're still sitting here in Milwaukee--waiting.  So we went to lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ for a treat.  And we went to KMart, Target, and Wal-Mart since it was a warm (41 degree) day and sunny.  Tomorrow is supposed to be snowy, and Friday is back to the doctor for the weekly appointment.  I'm thinking I won't need a paracentesis, but will wait until tomorrow afternoon to decide.

When I was in the hospital in September 2011, Dr. A (nicknamed Dr. Sunshine) had a heck of a job convincing me I wouldn't be given a monkey liver as a transplant.  Monkeys have creeped me out ever since.  I have decided that sock monkeys are cute.  So for Valentine's Day, mom and dad gave me a sock monkey that I have named Sunshine.  Here you go, Dr. A!

I bought mom and dad some flowers, and dad bought some for mom.  Nice and bright and spring-y looking.  I appreciate everything they have given up and put on hold to be here with me.

I also (partially to break the boredom, and partially because they are so awesome) put together this  Valentine basket for the nurse and support staff at the transplant clinic.  Everyone thought it was cute!
"Operation" bandages, lollipops, heart-shaped Snickers, Conversation hearts, and Dove dark chocolate as the filler.  Plus  a pile of free tickets to the Shrine Circus this coming weekend.  They came in the mail for a former occupant of the house, and were not able to be forwarded.  So we got them.  Since clowns are about the only thing as creepy as monkeys, I stuck them in the basket.

I also got a great Valentine postcard from my friends the Kings, who took a Presidents' Day vacation to Florida.  My little buddy Matthew (who has grown so much) and his sister Lolita wrote me a message in the sand.  I love them all (even crusty old Thomas).  If you are even in Pierrre, stay at the Kings' Inn.  Very nicely renovated and great service  They take great care of my brother when he has to go on business.

On Friday, we saw the awesome Dr.K--who is as nice as Dr. M here in Milwaukee (and both Drs. S, the surgeons), and my liver doc at home Dr. E.   Dr. K said it shouldn't be too much longer.  I hope it isn't.  We're all bored, and want to get back home to our lives.

Pastor Liz, we all hope your installation service was wonderful.  You had a beautiful, sunny day for it  We hope all is well with you and Nick.  Best wishes to you and the congregation!

I Smiled

Normally, any video dealing with transplant makes me cry.  This one made me smile.  I have made the right decision to go ahead with the transplant here at Aurora St. Luke's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JVzC_KKsYo

And please, if you aren't already a donor--think about it and share your decision with your family.

Bored

Have you ever been so bored that your butt cheeks hurt from sitting?  We all have.  My furniture and stuff had more fun than we are.  It left Pierre on January 13.  The moving van's motor blew up in Huron.  A pickup from Madison came to tow my car back to Madison and got it in my parents' garage.  The tow truck wouldn't come get the moving van to Madison due to weather.  The next day it hauled as far as Howard.  Then it got pulled by the movers pickup to his house in Madison, then my belongings taken pickup load by pickup load to my parents' garage.  It is now waiting there until I get home and can have it hauled once again to my new apartment.

This past Friday I had labs done and another paracentesis.  This time they took 3 liters, for a total of 19 liters since December--or just a touch over 5 gallons.  My MELD is 21 this week, but a big jump in my creatinine, so I need to reduce my diuretics to prevent my kidneys from drying out.  I guess that means less running to the bathroom, so there is a slight up-side.

Raining today, and supposed to continue tomorrow.  They are getting loads of snow back home, so I'll take a little rain even if it does freeze.  Not like we have anything urgent to do--other than the hospital.  Otherwise it will wait until Tuesday or Wednesday when it dries off.

OK, not much else going on, so until later . . .

Mixed Signals

Ok, I was told to here to Milwaukee as soon as possible because of my MELD score increase and overall decline in health.  So we did.  My parents put everything in their lives on hold to bring me, we arranged all my moving long-distance to take my belongings from Pierre to Madison.  The doctor wanted to see me weekly, and increased my medication to help get rid of fluid, and I've endured two more paracentesis taps to draw off 11 more liters of fluid.  I liked the doctor (Dr. M).  He thought it wouldn't be too long before transplant.  The other transplant surgeon said it wouldn't be long.

The doctor we saw today was totally opposite, acting like "why are you here?"  And she assured she understood how I was feeling about how long it is taking.  No, Dr. Brown, let me assure you that you do not.  You may have dozens of patients on the waiting list--but you have NOT been on the list.  Your child has not been on the list.  She said some patients get transplanted after a month of waiting in Milwaukee, while others wait here eight months.  Eight?  That is NOT happening.  We are not waiting here so far from home for eight months.  We will be going back home and if the time comes for transplant, they will be bringing me by air ambulance.  I will be in my apartment, my parents at home, and their psychotic dog back with them.

Let's get on the same page people!  How can one office be that fractured in its communications?  Make up your minds and let me know, ok?  The only good news was that I didn't need a paracentesis today.  MELD is 21.

We did a little exploring after the doctor.  Lunch at The Chancery Pub whose French onion soup isn't all that great.  Went to Target and got a heated throw for the sofa so I can be nice and comfy.  Then to Pik N' Save to buy groceries.  Yummy fruit.