Before I had my child, I thought I knew all the boundaries of myself, that I understood the limits of my heart. It’s extraordinary to have all those limits thrown out, to realize your love is inexhaustible.
Uma Thurman
Parenting is not for the faint of heart. Up until the day HBear was born, I had no idea I could love anyone or anything as much as her. That’s saying a lot because I was a pretty selfish kid/teenager/young adult 😂. I didn’t even know if I wanted to have kids for the longest time because I didn’t know if I wanted to give up my sleepins! True story 😂. I guess I always assumed I would have kids, but I never pictured what that life would look like. Me, being a Mom.
I knew once I had 1 that we would have 2. Ninja and I wanted to give HBear the world and giving her a sibling was something we worked very hard at for years. I had a devastating miscarriage between pregncies and we were over the moon when we found out we were pregnant again soon after.
This pregnancy was NOT the same as my first. I was so busy being a Mom to a 4 year old, I didn’t do the “things”. I had so much guilt as I kept on thinking that this baby didn’t stand a chance. There was just no way I would ever love it as much as HBear. As an older sibling myself I was so scared that I would never be able to see the perspective of my youngest. It was very overwhelming.
Then SBean was born and I instantly realized how wrong I had been. I loved that little Bean with my whole heart the first time I heard her scream 😂. I didn’t love HBear any less but found that my heart was big enough to love them BOTH equally. I even find myself understanding my youngest’s point of view even though I was the oldest in my house growing up! Crazy!
Well, this week my heart was put through the wringer! This week, my Baby had to be put under as she went into surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids 🥺😩.
I had my tonsils taken out the summer between grade 3 & 4. I remember because the boy I had a crush on invited me to his birthday party and I couldn’t go. By the time I recovered he had moved away!!! 😫. I remember my Mom and my Auntie Lori being SO scared for me. I remember waking up in the recovery room with my Mom, holding my hand and being so confused. One of the borders was upside down and I kept trying to tell my Mom that the ducks were upside down and she kept on patting my hand and telling me I was confused lol later when I had fallen asleep, she looked up and saw the duck border upside down, it became a story that was told many times over the next 35 years.
SBean was a trooper. We were only allowed one parent inside and because it was very early in the morning, in Summerland, and I have trouble driving on the highway in the dark now, Ninja took her. I wasn’t there in the waiting room. I wasn’t there in the recovery room. I felt sick all morning waiting for updates. It was agony knowing that I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t be there to hold her hand like my Mom was for me. Like I said, she is a trooper! She killed it and has been doing great in recovery! Every day is a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but we are doing it. It’s awful to see her in pain. But she is tough, like her Mommy and her Nana, her Grandma and her GG 💛.
Parenting. It’s like letting your heart walk outside of your body. A love for a child is like nothing else in the whole world. Who knew how much love I had to give to these very special humans, made with Ninja’s and my deep love for each other. That’s still SO crazy to me!
For SBean’s birthday Dad got her a nutribullet smoothie maker!
She was SO excited!! SBean LOVES smoothies and she has for her whole life. She also received a gift card from J and her Mom for the grocery store to pick out special smoothie ingredients. She has been patiently waiting for this week to stock up on all her favourites. She made a list and picked spinach, vanilla Greek yogurt, apples, bananas, sorbet, popsicles, frozen raspberries/pineapple/mango, puddings and jello!
Now, I have to tell the truth. She had a rough time getting anything down last week. She is STILL having a hard time even this week. The white gross scabs in her throat/mouth makes everything taste awful! She hated most of these 😂. BUT, HBear and I tried them all too and they were all pretty darn delicious! SBean’s 2 favourites were the Tropical Smoothie and the Creamsicle. I loved the Green Tropical Smoothie and HBear really liked the Sore Throat Smoothie. Both the Cinnamon Bun Smoothie and the PB & J Smoothie were filling and perfect on the go breakfast smoothies that we will definitely make again in the future! **I made half batches of a lot of these smoothies, especially in the first few days. So, the recipes will make 1 big smoothie even if the pictures only show a half cup sometimes.**
Cinnamon Bun Breakfast Smoothies
½ cup oats, quick or old-fashioned
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk
¾ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Measure oats and hemp seeds into blender. Blend until ground into a fine powder. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high until completely smooth, scraping the sides halfway through.
PB&J Smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 banana
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk as needed to thin out the smoothie to the desired consistency.
Sore Throat Smoothie
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup ice
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
pinch of pepper (My Bro said that pepper “activates” the turmeric, so we threw some in.)
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more juice as needed to thin out the smoothie to the desired consistency.
Creamsicle
8oz OJ
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup orange sorbet
1 1/2 cups ice
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more juice as needed to thin out the smoothie to the desired consistency.
Tropical Smoothie
1 frozen ripe banana
3/4 cup frozen mango chunks
3/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup milk
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk or juice as needed to thin out the smoothie to the desired consistency.
Tropical Green Smoothie
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 kiwi, peeled
1/2 green apple, cut into chunks
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup ice
Add all ingredients to a blender, placing the heavier ingredients on top, and blend until smooth. Add more milk as needed to thin out the smoothie to the desired consistency.
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #313: Suffering Bastard HERE! This week, we get together post Syd’s surgery to discuss: PAC, OK Google, garage, tonsillectomy, being put under, pool update, sports streaming, the Rankins, & Daisy Jones & the 6.
The recipe I want to share with you this week is inspired by SBean. It’s one of her favourite dishes, well, kinda. SBean LOVES Chicken Pot Pie but unfortunately it’s not the easiest dish to make for an ordinary weekday dinner. The other week SBean wanted Chicken Pot Pie but I didn’t have shells in the freezer and I didn’t have time to make a pie crust so I came up with a super easy “pot pie” that really isn’t a pie at all but has all the same flavours and comforts of the original dish but with ingredients you probably already have on hand! PLUS you can make this, let’s be honest, LAZY “pot pie” in less than HALF the time as a real chicken pot pie! Your welcome!
Chicken “Pot Pie”
1/2 package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups frozen onions, celery, pepper & carrot mix
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 3/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons thyme, minced
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 cooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Unfold puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Cut puff pastry into 4 long “sticks”. Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl whisk together egg with the water until well blended. Light brush some of the egg mixture over top.
Bake in preheated oven until nicely puffed and richly golden brown, about 11 to 15 minutes.
In a skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add mushrooms and saute until they soften and brown.
Add garlic and saute 1 minutes.
Add frozen veggies and butter.
Pour in chicken broth then milk. Add chicken, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add cornstarch to a bowl with a ladle of chicken stock/milk mixture from pan and whisk. Add to pan. Let cook until thickened, while stirring.
Stir in parmesan and warm through.
Serve with puff pastry sticks.
What a week! We went to the library and picked some new books and movies for SBean to watch while stuck in bed for the next 1-2 weeks. I also picked up a few for myself 😉. I read the first one in 1 afternoon! It was a sweet book about relationships and… books! My Sis also sent me a book by my favourite author as a wonderful surprise and Ninja bought me a new book this week too 😜. Thank you 💛. SBean was so brave as she got out her tonsils on Monday and spent the week reading, playing video games, having LOTS of baths (the bath is SBean’s safe space), baking, watching TV, playing VR, doing LEGO, painting, cuddling, and hanging out with Oliver. HBear had a big week too! It was finals this week for the high schools and the first time HBear has ever had finals! She thinks she did well and made sure to dress with confidence on the day of the big tests! I met my MMBesty for coffee and J brought me a McCains Deep and Delicious Cake to get me through the week. Yoga also helped me 💛. SBean ended the week by ratting out her Dad 😂 and playing with her family of friends, The Ladybugs 💗.
1 thought on “Surgery, Smoothies & Chicken “Pot Pie””
This post was full of tasty recipes I want to try. I love that chicken "pot" pie idea! I hope your girl is feeling ok now. My baby girl had her tonsils out when she was in college, and I spent the night at her apartment a couple of nights to take care of her. She had such terrible pain. Thanks for sharing with us at Thursday Favorite Things!