Ready for my close-up!

In the past year, Milestone Project Management has been responsible for several imaging projects, including the replacement of a nuclear medicine gamma camera, the replacement of two traditional MRIs, and the installation of a new high-field open MRI. A new 3T magnet was installed for one of the replacement MRI projects, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer for a scan last week.

Prior to having a scan, most of my experience with MRIs had been (1) removing them from buildings and (2) installing them. I didn’t have an experience to compare this to – other than the descriptions I’d heard from other people and the videos I watched on YouTube. I heard about feelings of claustrophobia, and the noise that the machine makes likened to a jackhammer.

What was it like? Well, everything started out just fine – after changing into a gown I sat down for a few minutes with a warm blanket while the scan room was prepped. Once in the room, the technician gave me a pair of earplugs and also a headset for listening to music. And then I was “inserted” into the bore of the MRI – head first. This is where I got a little uncomfortable. All I could see was the white interior of the machine; there was nothing to focus on. I had the technician move me out of the machine and I asked him for something to put over my eyes – to keep me from looking around. He moved me back in and explained that I was far enough towards the rear of the machine that I could actually see out – I just needed to tilt my head a little. That made me feel loads better, and we started the scan.

So I listened to some tunes from the 80’s and heard some intermittent beeps and buzzes. I was trying my best to relax when the noise from the scanning started. Frankly, it sounded like the warning noises you hear before something (like a spaceship in the movies) blows-up. VERY disconcerting. But I just lay there imagining what the pictures would look like, and I tried to think about other things, including my holiday shopping list, while the series of beeping and knocking sounds progressed.

After about 20 minutes, I heard the technician say that the scan would only take a few more minutes and then he would come in and get me out. At this point, I started to relax – until the jack hammering started!

I was very happy to exit the machine a few minutes later, and excited to review my scan with one of the MRI physicists that I had been working with. I am thankful to have had this opportunity – so if I need to have a scan done in the future, I will know what to expect.

Of course, thinking of food reminds me that it is time to check in again and share this week’s meal plan.

First, the highlight from last week: Turkey Meatballs with Pesto Cappellini was FANTASTIC. I cheated a little and didn’t make the fresh fava bean and mint pesto that Martha did, but I used some store-made basil pesto from the grocery store and it worked just fine. The meatballs took a while to prepare, but since we made this on a Sunday we were not pressed for time. I used a mixture of 4% lean ground turkey breast and 12% lean ground turkey, and the meatballs stayed moist and tasty. We will definitely be making these again.

Sadly, we didn’t cook very much last week there were fewer leftovers, but we managed to find things in the fridge and put together some lunches.

This week’s meal plan:
Sunday: Super Bowl Party!!!
Monday: Ginger Mustard Chicken (Olive’s Table) with Shredded Carrot Salad (Oranges & Olives)
Tuesday: YOYO (Alumni Reception)
Wednesday: Gnocchi w/ Sausage and Garlicky Spinach (New Joy of Cooking)
Thursday: Whole Wheat Pasta Shells w/ String Beans and Cannellini (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Dinners at Home) and Tomato Mozzarella Stacks
Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Pizza and Salad
Saturday: Dine out!

Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, we’ll forgo the babysitter and dinner at a restaurant, and plan to have dinner together as a family. I’m scouring my cookbooks for a lovely meal that will please everyone!

The high point of the week was definitely the meatloaf. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it on Sunday night (and for several lunches later in the week). My son thought it had too many onions, but he can be quite picky…

The Maple Mustard Salmon and Gingered Snap Peas were sort of a miss. Every time I smell salmon cooking in my oven I remember that it really isn’t my favorite fish. Oh well. The snap peas, while quite fresh and tasty, had “too much crunch” for one of my tablemates. I suspect this dish would have been more popular had it been mixed with some brown rice. Next time!

The fried rice was really tasty, and I felt like I was serving a healthier option of a not-so-healthy dish. However, I felt a TEENSY bit guilty telling my son that the tiny cubes of tofu were “chicken.” The important thing was that he ate it! Next time, I’ll add some shredded chicken to make this a substantial entrée.

This week’s meal plan is a little light on home cooking, due to some scheduling conflicts:
Sunday: Turkey Meatballs with Pesto Capellini (Martha Stewart)
Monday: YOYO (I have a reception from 5:30-6:30pm)
Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan (short-cut dinner) with Garlicky Spinach
Wednesday: YOYO (Science fair night at the school!)
Thursday: Take-out Sushi
Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Pizza and Salad
Saturday: Dine out!

The best thing about Friday’s meal (you’ll see pizza repeated here weekly) is that anyone can make it. My son, while he needs some help with rolling out the dough and some supervision with the oven, could practically make this himself. His favorite part – eating the pepperoni as it makes its way onto the dough.

Until next week, happy meal planning!

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to provide better food for my family. For us, this means cutting back on meals at restaurants, using fresher ingredients, and serving meals that include most of the four food groups. At least I think there are four, and I am pretty sure that one of them is not pizza. My seven-year old is not convinced.

So, here I am at week two of my resolution (the first week we were out of the country and didn’t go to the grocery store for a while – so it didn’t count) and I am going to share with you what I am doing to achieve my New Year’s goal.

On Saturday morning, I wake up and start perusing my cookbook collection. As an aside, I LOVE cookbooks – reading them, looking at them, collecting them. Until very recently, however, I rarely used them for the express purpose of cooking. In any case, I keep them in the kitchen so they are within arm’s reach should I feel inspired…

Using my cookbooks as a starting point, I start to build a menu of dishes that are easy to assemble and won’t take too long. For the dishes that take the longest to prepare, I schedule these for Sunday, when I have a few extra hours to spend in the kitchen. I also keep a calendar of our family’s activities in the kitchen, so it is easy to see when we have plans or commitments and won’t be cooking, in which case I tell everyone YOYO (you’re on your own). Usually there are some leftovers in the fridge.

This past Saturday I decided on the following meal plan:
Sunday: Chicken Piccata with Quinoa & Kale
Monday: Chicken and Beef Stir-fry (a meal in itself)
Tuesday: YOYO (I have a meeting from 6-8pm)
Wednesday: Gnocchi w/ Italian Sausage and Spinach Pesto Salad
Thursday: Take-out Sushi
Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Pizza and Salad
Saturday: Dine out!

The next thing I do is use one of my favorite iPhone apps, Grocery IQ, to put together a grocery list. I add all of the items that I will need for the dinners I am going to make, and also the staples that we usually consume over the course of a week (apples, bananas, yogurt, milk, etc.). For me, it is critical to make sure that all of the ingredients for the recipes are on hand; if I forget one and someone has to run to the store, dinner is quickly derailed and I end up abandoning the project.

Sunday morning is our shopping day – we head out early before the grocery store gets too crowded and make our way through the aisles, list in hand. Now, part of what allows us to have dinner on the table in NO LONGER than ½ an hour are what I call “shortcuts.” You might pay a premium for shortcuts, but in our case it is important that we also be able to eat dinner before 7pm (we need the rest of the evening for homework, showers, and getting ready for the next day). For example, the shortcuts for Monday’s dinner (Chicken and Beef Stir-fry) include ready-made rice (already cooked and pre-portioned), marinated chicken and beef, pre-cut vegetables, and freshly made stir-fry sauce. When we are ready to cook, we heat up the wok, add the meats, add the vegetables, and add the sauce. This takes about 10-12 minutes total. While all of the activity is happening in the wok, the rice goes in the microwave to reheat. Dinner is served in 15 minutes!

The other weekday meals use the same strategy – for the Gnocchi w/ Italian Sausage I’ve found a wonderful fresh tomato sauce. For the Spinach Pesto Salad, I use prepared pesto. For the Pepperoni Pizza, we find that Pillsbury Pizza Dough (in a tube) works great. Admittedly the dough is not fresh, but I’ve heard that some restaurants will sell you their pizza dough to use at home.

The day we spend the most time in the kitchen is Sunday; it’s good to use those extra hours to prepare something that takes a little longer to make, or to make something where you know you’ll have lots of leftovers. Most of our dinners provide us with leftovers that we can take for lunches during the week, so we are outing even less at lunchtime.

Thankfully, my resolution has not been met with resistance at home. Everyone is willing to pitch in and help cook and clean up, and though there is less delivery pizza on the menu, we are on our way to a healthy New Year!