Home from the Hospital!

I had my surgery yesterday and wanted to let you know I'm okay!

PS - I'm on percoset right now, so please pardon typos/general senseless meanderings.

My surgery was scheduled for yesterday at 11am. It took forever for them to get me checked in even though I was technically checked in and paid for on Monday at my hospital pre op. I showed up at 8:55 and they told me get there at 9.

When I finally get to the prep center at 10ish, guess who doesn't have a bed for the scheduled patient! I got to go sit with my husband and parents out in the surg waiting room which is definitely better than sitting back in pre op where it's super cold!

I checked with the waiting room nurse close to 11 just to make sure they didn't forget about me. They finally called me back.

They asked a ton of questions about previous surgeries, medications etc and took vitals. I asked for a "cocktail" something that relaxes you before surgery. I am SO glad.  My least fav part of any operation is going into the OR awake. I barely remember the ride TO the OR!

One thing I recommend for anyone having surgery of any kind: If you've had any kind of bad experience, share it with the anesthesiologist. I had a freak thing happen years ago where I aspirated when they pulled the breathing tube out, ended up with pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital, so my team yesterday had a whole game plan to make sure that it didn't happen again!

I woke up and was moved to my room where my family met me. I remember very little outside of asking for a drink and making sure I didn't scare my boys who had arrived from school. I was in and out of it for hours.

Here's the bad part. This generally happens to me, so don't panic if you're having surgery soon. My BP dropped out. I was at like 79/43 or lower. Because of that I could NOT have pain meds because those drop you lower. So I was not very happy. The good thing is I didn't stay conscious for a lot of it. They came and did labs in case I needed a transfusion but I was ok, so as soon as they got my BP up into the 85/50 range, they let me have some pain meds, praise God.

After that, I ate 4 packets of this awesome strawberry jello that tasted EXACTLY like fresh gala apples. SO good. I wish I knew what it was because I would be hunting it down. Oh and by "ate" I mean Chris spoon fed me because I kept dropping it all over myself.

I had major trouble sleeping at all last night but I had no pain so I played on my phone while my husband slept on his cot. =)

This morning my husband got me a Starbucks and I begged to get the heck out of dodge, so they let me leave around 10am. I'm home and managing pain, sleeping a lot and doing well!

Thank you to every one that sent me tweets, dm's, emails and texted! You sure know how to make a girl feel loved!

I Don't Know What To Title This Post

I sat here for twenty minutes trying to come up (unsuccessfully) with a title before giving up. =)

I just wanted to let you know I might be a little MIA, and there won't be many new recipes for a little while (I still have some new ones that I'm editing pics of that I need to post though!).

I'll be having surgery on Wednesday. I've chosen not to mention any of this and almost decided not to mention it at all (here or on twitter) but finally decided to just share with you, because maybe someone out there is in a similar situation.

I am 29 and I will be having a hysterectomy. Why? LOTS of reasons. I have lots of issues that led to our infertility struggles and even more that I've never discussed here or anywhere, really. I've had several doctors tell me that I would need to have this done sooner rather than later.

Last November my doctor told me that now is the time. I told him no. Recently things have gotten so bad that I can't really take it anymore and surgery was scheduled for this week.

I am very thankful for some friends (you know who you are!) that have recently or not so recently had this procedure done and who have taken the time to talk to me about it and answer my 82,987 questions.

I thought that this would be an in and out thing but found out it's considered "major surgery." I'll be spending one night in the hospital (unless they have to do a different procedure, then 2-4 nights) and the recovery period (bed rest, very light household chores) is 4-6 weeks. I'm not really sure yet what I might have to blog about during that time frame but we will see!

I will probably be on twitter a little more than usual, so come chat with me there. Here's a link to my account. =)

30 Minute Enchiladas

While I LOVE the other chicken enchilada recipe I have posted, I wanted something much faster! I combined some of the things I love about that recipe along with some of the things I love about my creamy baked chicken taquito recipe and combined them into this awesome dish!

30 Minute Enchiladas
Source: JennaBlogs.com
Yield: 8 large/very well stuffed enchiladas

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (purchased from the store to make this easy and fast)
8 oz (1 block) light cream cheese, completely softened
1/3 cup light sour cream
1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1.5 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1 cup salsa (your favorite brand)
1 bunch chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup after chopping)
1/2 can or 1 cup frozen corn
1/2 can (2 ounces) diced green chilis
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 flour tortillas
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9*13 pan.

In a large bowl cream cheese, sour cream, 1/2 cup salsa, paprika and cayenne until very well combined (no lumps in the cream cheese). Add 1 cup of each cheese, reserving the rest for the top. Add all remaining ingredients except tortillas.

Spoon remaining 1/2 cup salsa into the bottom of your greased pan. Stuff and roll tortillas placing them seam side down. Spray lightly with non stick spray to help them brown. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through and the cheese is melted.

Garnish with additional cilantro and green onions if desired.

Side dish suggestion: Cheesy Mexican Rice

Ooey, Gooey, Pecan Pie Bars

Confession: 

I hate pecan pie. Well, at least I did  hate pecan pie until I had it at a charity event recently. It was the only dessert option and it was just sitting there, looking all pretty and scrumptious and I decided to give it a teeny, tiny taste and...I was hooked. And I thought to myself that the only thing that could possibly improve it was CHOCOLATE. Because, duh, chocolate makes absolutely everything better, right? 

So I found a delicious looking recipe online from Midwest Living and added the chocolate to it. Because, like I said, chocolate makes everything better. ;-)

Ooey, Gooey, Pecan Pie Bars
Source: JennaBlogs.com adapted from MidwestLiving.com

For base:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter

For filling:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup light colored corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups pecans, chopped roughly
2 teaspoons vanilla

For ganache:
1/4 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, white sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in 3/4 cup butter using a pastry cutter until it resembles fine crumbs. Spray a 9*13" pan with non-stick spray, press mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 18 minutes, or very lightly golden.

In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, corn syrup and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Beat eggs in a small bowl. SLOWLY add about 3/4 cup of the hot mixture while stirring continuously. Once eggs are tempered add egg mixture to corn syrup mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour evenly over base. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling is set. Remove from oven and cool.

For ganache, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly. Once combined remove from heat and let thicken slightly. Use a fork to drizzle ganache over the bars.

First Visit From The Tooth Fairy

Back in February, Brayden had an accident that caused some damage to his front teeth. I've taken him to the dentist several times, and this last time they said he would need his four front teeth removed. I had one of those 'mom moments' where I knew that what they were telling me just didn't feel right, so I called another dentist for a second opinion.

It turns out that he really only needed one tooth removed, and so we had that done yesterday. They gave him laughing gas before they started. It certainly lived up to its name!

 And then we had to pry his iPad away from him...

And before he knew it, the tooth was out!

And of course, last night the tooth fairy came for her first visit to our house. He made out well!

He got quite bit more than we will usually give, but it was bit of a traumatic experience, so it was warranted. ;-) He was so excited to go show his friends at school!

Pretzel Chicken with Honey Mustard

I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory. 

One of the things I love so much there are their pretzel chicken skewers. They are SO good. I'm fairly sure they are fried so I set out to make a baked version that is equally as yummy. This is a kid and adult pleaser! 

Pretzel Chicken with Honey Mustard
Source: JennaBlogs.com adapted from cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com
Yield: 2 packages of tenders, enough for 6 people

2 packages of chicken tenders (about 1lb per package)
2 cups pretzel crumbs
2 cups panko
1/2 cup EVOO
2 eggs
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water plus 1-2 Tablespoons
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper

In a food processor grind up pretzels until they are in very small pieces (but are not turned to dust!). Place in a pie dish.

Over medium heat, toast panko in a DRY pan. Once a golden color, add to the pretzel pieces. Stir together and set aside.

In another pie dish, add your eggs plus 1-2 Tablespoons water. Whisk well.

In a third dish, add flour.

Open your chicken packages, and sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken first in flour, then in eggs, then in pretzel mixture. Remove to a non-stick sprayed sheet pan. Once all chicken has been dredged, bake for about 18-22 minutes at 400 degrees. Check internal temp for doneness.

While chicken cooks, make your honey mustard by wiping out the food processor bowl and adding in dijon, honey, 1/4 cup water and EVOO. Pulse until well mixed, season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve alongside chicken.

Need side dish ideas for this meal? I served mine with biscuits, mac and cheese and these delicious brown sugar green beans. 

Our Weekend

We enjoyed a relaxed weekend at home over Labor Day and the only pictures I took were with my phone! Saturday was game day for us, and the boys were so excited to watch it in our Razorback room. I realized that I never shared pictures of our playroom or the Razorback room when I did the home tour, so I'll have to add that to my list of things I've been meaning to post. =)

I did take this picture of the four of us watching the game:

The boys call it our popcorn room because we have a stand alone popcorn maker up there. They love it!

On Monday Chris and the boys built a race car and a monster truck using kits he got at the hardware store. They had SO much fun helping nail the pieces together and putting the stickers on the cars. 

Unfortunately, Brody and I caught a bug that's going around and neither of us feel very well, so hopefully we will kick it soon! I hope you all had a great three day weekend!