Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Journey Through an ER in Flint & My First Attempt at Cooking in a Neck Brace-Enchiladas Verde
Let me start by saying thank you for the outpouring of love and support from all of you after reading my blog yesterday. I was so touched by all of your well wishes, comments and thoughts. Muah!! (is that how you spell the kissing noise?) If it is not, well, you get the idea.
Several of you mentioned the tears that my blog evoked yesterday, so I thought I would take a moment and share some of my Flint, Michigan Emergency Room funnies. Let me start by saying I have very little hospital experience. I think I can count on one finger (yes, finger not hand) the amount of times I have been to an ER and this was definitely my first ambulance ride. So this was all new to me and well it is me so I had to get myself into trouble.
So here are my top ten emergency room experiences:
1. When you are in Michigan and you are in the back of an ambulance and they ask you if there is anyone you want to call, who do you think of? Your ex-boyfriend of course, right? Yeah I can't explain it either, but that is who I called and so he came to the hospital to be with me. He obviously gets ex-boyfriend of the year!! However, wait it gets funnier...because the ER nurse after spending several hours with us proceeds to tell us that we are the "cutest couple ever." So I looked at her all serious and blurt out,"um he is my ex boyfriend." I left her speechless.
2. Before being taken to an examination room I spent 3 hours in a wheelchair and a neck brace in the lobby of the ER. Needless to say the people watching was especially dicey considering I was in the only trauma unit in Flint (and no I did not drink the water). My favorite was the woman who was laying on a bench in her pi's cuddling her urine cup (no this is not a typo it was her cup with her urine sample in it). When the nurse called her name she got up, but left the cup behind, so the nurse yelled across the room,"don't forget your pee cup." Good times!! I would have laughed so hard I cried if it didn't hurt to laugh.
3. While in the same waiting room, the nurse told me not to take my purse off my lap for fear it would be stolen. I guess for some reason a YSL purse in the ER of Flint stands out and screams "steal me." So I was looking through my purse and prior to the accident my co-worker had given me hair care samples. I proceeded to pull one of them out and yell "anyone want some crack?" Several heads turned in my direction. The hair product is called "crack." I didn't put two and two together at the time, but people thought I was offering up drugs haha. She also had given me conditioner in a plastic baggy that looked like a semen sample so of course I pulled it out of my purse and held it up. My boss and my ex both wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I hadn't even had pain meds yet so I can't blame these shenanigans on being high.
4. After 3 hours in the above lobby the pain started to kick in, but since I hadn't been seen yet I couldn't take any medication. Just about this time a guy walked into the lobby smelling like he had just smoked a bowl. I promptly looked at my ex and told him I wanted to go sit by that guy. I thought the second hand smoke would help. He did not move my wheelchair for me and so I had to stay put. Grrrr....
5. After being taken to the examination room they made me put on one of those lovely hospital gowns. I was pretty excited when I realized I was wearing my knee high LA Dodgers polka dot socks and that I had a polka dot bra to match. My enthusiasm for my team spirit quickly dwindled when I realized I was in Detroit Tiger territory and no one else shared my team. Grrrr....but Mom you should be proud my underwear was clean and matched each other and my socks. Win!!
6. I obviously had to get a CT scan and I had been pretty unfazed by everything throughout the experience up until the point they wanted to cut my belly button ring off me. I had myself a mini temper tantrum over that accessory. So they called in this large muscular male nurse to pull my belly button ring apart. He saved it and I was being ridiculous!! Before they put me in the CT machine they asked me if I was pregnant and I promptly responded with,"gosh I would rather have a broken neck." Be careful what you wish for, a pregnancy would have been easier!!
7. So in total we spent about 13 hours in the emergency room. Needless to say we were exhausted by the experience, the long wait and the stress of the evening. I was laying on the hospital bed and my ex was sitting in a chair next to me. I was covered by a sheet and he laid his head on my leg and promptly fell asleep. The nurse came in about an hour later to check my vitals and woke us up. He sat up and there was a giant wet spot on my leg where he had drooled onto my sheet. Haha!! Yup I just told this story, sorry MS!! I can think of so many inappropriate wet spot comments to make right here, but I am just going to walk away.
8. When they finally came in to tell me that my neck was broken I swear they sent in Eeyore, ya know the donkey from Winnie the Pooh with no personality and the monotone voice. This nurse or physicians assistant walks into my room and starts to talk. I am pretty sure she is about to tell me they are out of coffee because that is how unexcited she was, however she proceeds to tell me that my neck is fractured. Her tone of voice was so subtle and even keeled that we both looked at each other and were like,"So what does this mean?" At which point she promptly says,"yes your neck is broken." And leaves. Ok well thanks for being a bundle of joy!!
9. My co-worker was in the accident with me, but she got released before me. However, she had lacerations to her knees and so they decided to cut her pants for her. She walked into my room to say goodbye and I had to burst out laughing. She was wearing pants that resembled yoga pants, however one leg was cut to the length of Bermuda shorts and the other leg was cut away in the front and was long in the back, and was flapping. Imagine pants that look like a mullet. Really? Mr. Medic you couldn't have cut both legs to be shorts?
10. After 13 hours in the ER, a diagnoses of a broken neck and a lovely neck brace I was discharged from the hospital. I put my clothes back on, including my Ralph Lauren black leather knee high heeled boots because when you walk out of a hospital in Flint you have to do it in style, fractured neck or no fractured neck. Peace out!! I saw the Officer who wrote the accident report on my way out and he was very impressed with my sense of style and told me he could tell I was from California. Hmmm wonder what gave it away?
So tonight I decided to try and cook with a broken neck. Let me just say the things that I have always taken for granted in the kitchen like seeing your food were the things that I struggled with. I have always complained that counters were too tall because I am short, however tonight I would have liked counters that came up to my chin so I could actually see what I was cooking. I have also never had a fear of knives, however when you can't see where you are cutting those things are straight up terrifying. I kind of figured I didn't want to lop off a finger to go with the broken neck. I also found that I couldn't open any food packages-jars are straight up impossible, opening a package of cheese felt like a wrestling match and getting into a bag of spinach, well lets just say the spinach almost won.
I decided to start off easy and make spinach cheese enchiladas. The recipe has 5 ingredients so I thought it would be pretty safe.
First of all, combine the sour cream and green salsa in a bowl. The recipe called for a cup of sour cream, but it didn't like the grey color that it made the salsa so I cut it in half and used 1/2 cup. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with the salsa/cheese mixture.
Next chop the spinach (yes this was the scary part).
Take a corn tortilla and place approximately a tablespoon of the salsa mixture down the middle. Fill with spinach and shredded jack cheese. Roll up the tortilla and place in pan. Continue until all 10 tortillas are filled.
Top the enchiladas with the remaining salsa and cheese. Cook for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Here is the actual recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup light sour cream
1 (7 ounce) can green salsa (I actually used 16 oz because I like my enchiladas saucy)
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (10 ounce) package corn tortillas
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl, stir together half of the sour cream and the green salsa. Spread enough to coat the bottom into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
On each tortilla, spread a small amount of the salsa and sour cream in the center. Lay a small handful of spinach over that, and sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese. Roll up, secure with a toothpick and place into the baking dish. When all of the tortillas are in the pan, pour the remaining salsa over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the enchiladas are browned and heated through.
Overall, I was happy with my result. Sure I think they would have been better with homemade enchilada sauce, but that was just a little too gutsy for me to try tonight on my first night back into the kitchen. I love green salsa because of the tangy and zesty flavor, cheese just straight up makes me happy in any form and the fact that I cooked brought me a great deal of joy. Cheers!!
Several of you mentioned the tears that my blog evoked yesterday, so I thought I would take a moment and share some of my Flint, Michigan Emergency Room funnies. Let me start by saying I have very little hospital experience. I think I can count on one finger (yes, finger not hand) the amount of times I have been to an ER and this was definitely my first ambulance ride. So this was all new to me and well it is me so I had to get myself into trouble.
So here are my top ten emergency room experiences:
1. When you are in Michigan and you are in the back of an ambulance and they ask you if there is anyone you want to call, who do you think of? Your ex-boyfriend of course, right? Yeah I can't explain it either, but that is who I called and so he came to the hospital to be with me. He obviously gets ex-boyfriend of the year!! However, wait it gets funnier...because the ER nurse after spending several hours with us proceeds to tell us that we are the "cutest couple ever." So I looked at her all serious and blurt out,"um he is my ex boyfriend." I left her speechless.
2. Before being taken to an examination room I spent 3 hours in a wheelchair and a neck brace in the lobby of the ER. Needless to say the people watching was especially dicey considering I was in the only trauma unit in Flint (and no I did not drink the water). My favorite was the woman who was laying on a bench in her pi's cuddling her urine cup (no this is not a typo it was her cup with her urine sample in it). When the nurse called her name she got up, but left the cup behind, so the nurse yelled across the room,"don't forget your pee cup." Good times!! I would have laughed so hard I cried if it didn't hurt to laugh.
3. While in the same waiting room, the nurse told me not to take my purse off my lap for fear it would be stolen. I guess for some reason a YSL purse in the ER of Flint stands out and screams "steal me." So I was looking through my purse and prior to the accident my co-worker had given me hair care samples. I proceeded to pull one of them out and yell "anyone want some crack?" Several heads turned in my direction. The hair product is called "crack." I didn't put two and two together at the time, but people thought I was offering up drugs haha. She also had given me conditioner in a plastic baggy that looked like a semen sample so of course I pulled it out of my purse and held it up. My boss and my ex both wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I hadn't even had pain meds yet so I can't blame these shenanigans on being high.
4. After 3 hours in the above lobby the pain started to kick in, but since I hadn't been seen yet I couldn't take any medication. Just about this time a guy walked into the lobby smelling like he had just smoked a bowl. I promptly looked at my ex and told him I wanted to go sit by that guy. I thought the second hand smoke would help. He did not move my wheelchair for me and so I had to stay put. Grrrr....
5. After being taken to the examination room they made me put on one of those lovely hospital gowns. I was pretty excited when I realized I was wearing my knee high LA Dodgers polka dot socks and that I had a polka dot bra to match. My enthusiasm for my team spirit quickly dwindled when I realized I was in Detroit Tiger territory and no one else shared my team. Grrrr....but Mom you should be proud my underwear was clean and matched each other and my socks. Win!!
6. I obviously had to get a CT scan and I had been pretty unfazed by everything throughout the experience up until the point they wanted to cut my belly button ring off me. I had myself a mini temper tantrum over that accessory. So they called in this large muscular male nurse to pull my belly button ring apart. He saved it and I was being ridiculous!! Before they put me in the CT machine they asked me if I was pregnant and I promptly responded with,"gosh I would rather have a broken neck." Be careful what you wish for, a pregnancy would have been easier!!
7. So in total we spent about 13 hours in the emergency room. Needless to say we were exhausted by the experience, the long wait and the stress of the evening. I was laying on the hospital bed and my ex was sitting in a chair next to me. I was covered by a sheet and he laid his head on my leg and promptly fell asleep. The nurse came in about an hour later to check my vitals and woke us up. He sat up and there was a giant wet spot on my leg where he had drooled onto my sheet. Haha!! Yup I just told this story, sorry MS!! I can think of so many inappropriate wet spot comments to make right here, but I am just going to walk away.
8. When they finally came in to tell me that my neck was broken I swear they sent in Eeyore, ya know the donkey from Winnie the Pooh with no personality and the monotone voice. This nurse or physicians assistant walks into my room and starts to talk. I am pretty sure she is about to tell me they are out of coffee because that is how unexcited she was, however she proceeds to tell me that my neck is fractured. Her tone of voice was so subtle and even keeled that we both looked at each other and were like,"So what does this mean?" At which point she promptly says,"yes your neck is broken." And leaves. Ok well thanks for being a bundle of joy!!
9. My co-worker was in the accident with me, but she got released before me. However, she had lacerations to her knees and so they decided to cut her pants for her. She walked into my room to say goodbye and I had to burst out laughing. She was wearing pants that resembled yoga pants, however one leg was cut to the length of Bermuda shorts and the other leg was cut away in the front and was long in the back, and was flapping. Imagine pants that look like a mullet. Really? Mr. Medic you couldn't have cut both legs to be shorts?
10. After 13 hours in the ER, a diagnoses of a broken neck and a lovely neck brace I was discharged from the hospital. I put my clothes back on, including my Ralph Lauren black leather knee high heeled boots because when you walk out of a hospital in Flint you have to do it in style, fractured neck or no fractured neck. Peace out!! I saw the Officer who wrote the accident report on my way out and he was very impressed with my sense of style and told me he could tell I was from California. Hmmm wonder what gave it away?
So tonight I decided to try and cook with a broken neck. Let me just say the things that I have always taken for granted in the kitchen like seeing your food were the things that I struggled with. I have always complained that counters were too tall because I am short, however tonight I would have liked counters that came up to my chin so I could actually see what I was cooking. I have also never had a fear of knives, however when you can't see where you are cutting those things are straight up terrifying. I kind of figured I didn't want to lop off a finger to go with the broken neck. I also found that I couldn't open any food packages-jars are straight up impossible, opening a package of cheese felt like a wrestling match and getting into a bag of spinach, well lets just say the spinach almost won.
I decided to start off easy and make spinach cheese enchiladas. The recipe has 5 ingredients so I thought it would be pretty safe.
First of all, combine the sour cream and green salsa in a bowl. The recipe called for a cup of sour cream, but it didn't like the grey color that it made the salsa so I cut it in half and used 1/2 cup. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with the salsa/cheese mixture.
Next chop the spinach (yes this was the scary part).
Take a corn tortilla and place approximately a tablespoon of the salsa mixture down the middle. Fill with spinach and shredded jack cheese. Roll up the tortilla and place in pan. Continue until all 10 tortillas are filled.
Top the enchiladas with the remaining salsa and cheese. Cook for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Ingredients
1 cup light sour cream
1 (7 ounce) can green salsa (I actually used 16 oz because I like my enchiladas saucy)
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (10 ounce) package corn tortillas
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl, stir together half of the sour cream and the green salsa. Spread enough to coat the bottom into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
On each tortilla, spread a small amount of the salsa and sour cream in the center. Lay a small handful of spinach over that, and sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese. Roll up, secure with a toothpick and place into the baking dish. When all of the tortillas are in the pan, pour the remaining salsa over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the enchiladas are browned and heated through.
Overall, I was happy with my result. Sure I think they would have been better with homemade enchilada sauce, but that was just a little too gutsy for me to try tonight on my first night back into the kitchen. I love green salsa because of the tangy and zesty flavor, cheese just straight up makes me happy in any form and the fact that I cooked brought me a great deal of joy. Cheers!!
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