OGM! Have a Time - 4:30 Tomorrow!

WOW! I can't believe tomorrow is the big day and they scheduled me for 4:30 PM! That means I have been on clear liquids all day and nothing tomorrow...UGH! OK - so some things are worth scaraficing for..... I have a great chicken broth recipe if anyone is interested. It made a good lunch. Got to finish packing...... later ya'll

Hi Suzanne, I know your excited your day is finally here. You will be in my prayers. I am on a week of protein shakes and liquids, my sugery is in 6 days and then I'm on clear liquids for ten days after that, then I go to solid liquids for a week. So I would love to have you recipe for chicken broth. Like you said, some things are worth scaraficing. Take care& God Bless, Kelly

Kelly: I hope you enjoy this soup. I developed this recipe for the holidays to feed about 24 people - so you can make the full recipe and freeze for future use or just divide and scale back on the ingredients. If you do scale back, just keep the ratio of salt to water 1/2 TBSP salt for each quart of water and err on the side of more chicken. Here it goes: 6 Q****er 4 Chickens (I like to by pre-quatered ones, but often use the cheaper packages of all drum sticks or thighs with the same result if there aren't enough cut up chickens in the store at a decent price. The parts make it easier to fit everything into the pot.) 4 medium to large onions peeled. Put cold water, chicken and onions in a big soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil then simmer for at least an hour. Then to make sure all of the other stuff fits in, I take the chicken & onions out of the pot and put in: A bag of baby carrots (we serve them with the soup so I find these easy - no pealing etc. You can use the cooked ones for a puree or carrot soup later.) 3-4 celery stalks 1 celery root. (These need to be peeled with a knife to get the dirt out of the cracks and crevices.) 3 parsnips with greens 3 leeks - cut up and washed very well. (I soak in cold water while the chicken & onions are simmering and check each leaf.) 4 trunips - peeled. 2 bunch dill ****ep the bunches tied up so they are easy to remove later.) 2 bunch parsley****ep the bunches tied up so they are easy to remove later.) 3 Tablespoon salt Fresh pepper to taste. Once all of this is in the pot, I add the chicken and onions back in to weigh it all back down under the water. I bring it back to a boil covered then reduce heat to simmer for another hour or so. There is no magic on the time, but give it at least an hour. Remove chicken and veggies and let broth cool. Strain to make it truely a clear liquid. (I don't usually do this, but for our purposes I did.) It is easier to skim the fat off after the soup is chilled in the fridge or freezer. For post-op, I measured out 6 oz portions into freezer bags. You can also use an ice cube tray to make small portion sizes to use for cooking or adding moisture to protiens later on. I also found two other broth recipes that I haven't tied yet so I can't vouch for the taste, but will make them soon. One is Calcium-Rich Broth and the other is Iron-Rich Broth. Seeing that we need all of the extra nutrients we can get, they caught my eye. This is from a cookbook I have called "Mommy Made (and Daddy too!) Home Cooking for a Healthy Baby and Toddler" by Martha and David Kimmel: For each you start with cold water, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour covered, remove veggies and strain. They make 3 cups each: Calcim Rich Broth: 1 qt cold water 2 broccoli brances wased and cut into 1/4 inch rounds 1/2 cup collard or dendellion greens, rinsed well and roughly chopped 1/2 cup well-rinsed, roughly chopped kale 3 carrots,scrubbed, trimmed and cut into 1/4 in rounds Iron-Rich Broth: 1 qt cold water 1/2 cup shelled fresh or frozen peas 1/2 cup well-rinsed roughly chopped beet greens 1/2 cup endive or escarole, rinsed well and roughly chopped 1 large sweet potato, peeled and quartered I hope you find these helpful and I wish you an easy time! Regards, Suzanne

Good luck tomorrow. God bless you as you have your surgery. Hugs, Trish

Suzanne, I wish you the best of luck today on your surgery. I pray for a fast safe recovery for you. Please keep us posted and look forward to hearing from you when you return. I will be a loser on wednesday the 16th, so save a spot forme. hugs and prayers, Cheryl

Suzanne, I had my surgery at 4pm on the Aug 2nd and it is hard not to have ANYTHING to drink for that long but just keep in mind that you are about to start a new life!!!!! And if this is helpful I had surgery at 4 in recovery at 5:15 and walking around the Hospital at 9:30!!!!! Get up and walk and you will be home faster than you realize. This is going to be a whole new you and I pray for a speedy recovery and I am saving you a seat on the loser bench!!!! Keep me updated!!! hugs, Tanya