Cancer Clusters ? Help me make a simple map!

Cancer Clusters. 

I want to learn more, but I need your help. I want to make a map of Americans under the age of 18 that have cancer. Keeping the first map simple and easy to read. I will try and update the map weekly & post here on the blog. Here's some simple steps for the first map. 

Step 1) email me teapotsandtoads@yahoo.com
Step 2) subject " cancer cluster"
Step 3) provide (a) date of birth (b) date of diagnosis (c) zip code  where you diagnosed (d) zip code of prior residence if "c" is less than one year (e) diagnosis

Example using Lulu's info
A - 10/20/08
B - 3/3/14
C - 92584
D - not sure of the zip code, Netzaburg Germany
E - high risk ALL


Thanks for helping me ! 

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - High Risk

What a title, right?

This was our daughters diagnosis in March of this year. It has completely turned our world upside down. We take things one day at a time and can tell you approximately our plans for the next two weeks. Anything past two weeks is a gamble because she's so fragile.

She earned the high risk part because after her first phase of treatment leukemia remained. Now that we are at a new hospital, we learned that Lulu should have been treated as high risk from the start. It's a difference of professional opinion, I guess. As parents you just want the best for your child and we're very happy to be in the hands of new doctors.

Why am I sharing this info?

I began sewing when Lulu was a baby. I wanted to make cloth diaper covers for her. They were turing out pretty nice and to support my new sewing hobby I decided to start selling them.  As Lulu got older my sewing projects changed. I moved on from diaper covers to snack bags. Things have changed once again, so I'll be adding more products. I will also be sharing what has helped keep her comfortable while battling leukemia.

I'm a parent. I knew NOTHING about leukemia until it smashed into our lives on March 3,2014. Science and pharmaceutical meds intimidate me. Nurturing, cooking, and sewing are my strong points. I need to focus on what I can do. I'll try and share along the way so that it can help others. This blog has been super helpful when Lulu was done with her 32 days in the hospital and ready to come home. It's helpful to have a parent resource.

Lulu should be waking up soon, time to get morning medicine ready.

Farmers Market Bruschetta

T O M A T O E S ! 

I was too lazy to make some pizza dough to put them on pizza, so I went with making Bruschetta. I found this recipe online and went to chopping. 

 First chop up 1 1/2 lbs. of tomatoes. 

Next add your garlic. Yes it is more than the 2 cloves the recipe states, but #1 the spicy garlic adds a nice kick #2 garlic contains three powerful compounds that help your body help and prevent infections. 

Next add in your oil, vinegar, Basil, salt & pepper. Yes I cheated & used the "tube 'o Basil". (It tastes just as good btw)

T A D A !! 

Bruschetta. 

Some serve on top of crunchy bread, I prefer chips.

Enjoy! 

Hot Cocoa from Scratch

Sometimes it's more fun to make things from scratch rather than just tearing open a pre made pack. 

Can't beat hot cocoa on a rainy day, so here's what we made. 

Mix 

1 cup vanilla almond milk

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

dash of salt

Stir until combined in a pot on the stove and hot. 

Enjoy!

Furlough Foodie - Guacamole & Spaghetti Squash

One of the perks of living in Southern California are the avocados. During late summer you can pick up 25 for $5.00 from fruit vendors on the corner. Now that fall is upon us you can still find a couple tasty avocados at the grocery store. This week they're on sale for .69 each. 

This meal is from a favorite blog of mine, Oh She Glows. I was checking out her seasonal recipes and stumbled upon this spaghetti squash recipe.

The government is still shut down, so this is the perfect meal for fall & inexpensive. 

You can find the recipe here.

Cost of the meal?

Spaghetti Squash @ .99/lb......................$ 4.39
Spices - we already had
Tomato - picked from the garden
Avocado @ .69 / each ..........................$ 1.38
Red Onion - we already had
Cilantro - already had a tube
Lime - keep stocked in the frig for my water

Less than $10 for 4 servings. Enjoy! 

Countdown to #9 for Gift Giving Ideas

Sweets. Who doesn't like sweets during the holiday. My only preference is that they don't send you into a sugar coma after having one bite. Recently we checked out Happy Herbivore's from our local library.

In there we found some delicious Strawberry Cupcakes. We added some toasted almonds for a little sprinkle.

Enjoy!

Furlough Foodie

Our family was spared at the 11th hour from this government shutdown. THANK GOODNESS because our "emergency savings" would have only carried us for about a month. Eek! 

We got lucky, but it still has me worried. What if?

Off to find low cost, but still delicious & filling meals. I googled what I had in my frig "carrots, celery, and rice" and this recipe popped up.

I subbed the spinach with kale, chicken bouillon for vegetable, and added two cloves of garlic. Everything gets thrown into the pot & dinner is done in 30 minutes or less. I was a little worried my four year old would wrinkle her nose to the kale so I served it up with some faux chicken nuggets. (faux chicken nuggets? chicken nuggets minus the chicken, but not a lot of ingredients either. Our family tries to maximize plant foods and minimize animal products)

It's creamy enough that I didn't add any butter, but I wish I had a lemon. Next time! 

Enjoy!