A Little Help From My Little Man

I had planned it all out. Stacey and David went and got the groceries (they are so sweet to do it the last couple of weeks since the majority of the grocery shopping is done at Aldi in our house...it is a lot for me to load, unload and bag, reload into the cart and then load it all into the car - at least right now). I knew that today would be the day but I was kinda dreading it. I thought I would introduce it to the girls and ask them for help. Stacey opted to be outside with her dad picking in the garden (she likes the sunny places).

I had crock pot freezer meals to get together. There were seven of them that I picked out. This week two ground beef and the rest of them chicken. I told the kids that it will be nice to have some things in the freezer for days that I may feel bad. They all thought that would be a good idea.

Imagine my surprise when an hour or so later it is me and Matthew in the kitchen. I am not a big kitchen person. I wish I was but the love of cooking and baking did not fall upon me and I enjoy being able to provide meals for my family and take care of them that way, but I am not one to say "hey, lets go hang out in the kitchen and bake or cook something!" So, it isn't really that I wanted a lot of help, but it is nice to have someone to experience it all with.

Today, that was Matthew! Unlike last week when Kayla was here...Matt and I paused for a picture. He helped me with four out of the seven by opening cans and chopping onions in my mini food processor. He learned how to use one of the sharp knives and did it very well. He said at one time "should I cut off the end and peel these onions?" He said it with such confidence that I said "sure, I am right here!"

We were able to add to the freezer today Chicken Curry, Chicken Fajitas, Italian Chicken, Chicken Teriyaki, Apricot BBQ Chicken Wings, Monster Burgers, and Hearty Tomato Vegetable Beef Soup. I was able to use fresh beans and okra from the garden and I will make another batch of the Vegetable Beef Soup and include some zucchini but only two of us like zucchini in soup at our house so I opted to leave it out of our first attempt. Dawn joined us for a little bit and put together most of the Chicken Wing recipe. All but the Stir Fry recipe will go in the crock pot so that will be convenient for whoever is preparing the meals when it is time to eat them. It has been nice to be up and around again. I think my turning point was probably Tuesday. Wednesday was much better and I was back doing most of the things I normally do. I am not taking pain pills. It seems as though I may be "nesting" as we move forward to chemo starting. Today was a good day.