Month: August 2017

Red Velvet Bundt Cake

4 Comments

                                                                  

                                                 
In honor of my baby turning one this week I wanted to share with you my new favorite cake. This is the easiest and tastiest cake I’ve ever made!

Food H & P:
1 box red velvet cake mix
1 small dark fudge instant pudding mix
4 eggs
½ cup of oil
½ cup of water
16 ounces of sour cream
12 ounces of chocolate chips

Food Rx:
Mix all ingredients together and place in Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour or until toothpick is inserted into cake and clean when removed.

Another tasty option is using a devil’s food cake mix instead of red velvet.

It’s already a delicious cake so you can stop here and enjoy or sprinkle the top with a little powdered sugar, add a scoop of ice cream, or cool whip. You could also take it up a notch and add a buttercream frosting!

Optional Buttercream Frosting:
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 stick of room temperature butter, unsalted
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 Tablespoon of milk
Beat together with an electric mixer. If needed add more powdered sugar to thicken or another splash of milk to thin the frosting. I then place the frosting in a zip lock bag and cut the corner off. That allows me to pipe rows of frosting over the cake.

Print

Speaking of birthdays, our staff looks for any excuse to have a cake and celebrate anything while working in the ER. However, one thing that we do not wish to celebrate is actually birthing babies. There is something about an ER crew delivering a baby that gets the whole staff jittery. Our cut off for seeing pregnant patients in the ER for pregnancy related complaints is 20 weeks gestation. One would probably sense the urgency of a patient being whisked upstairs to Labor and Delivery for being 20 weeks and 1 day gestation. This is mainly due to the fact that an L & D unit is better equipped with supplies, monitoring, and expertise when delivering a baby. There is an occasional baby that makes his or her debut in the ER. It does bring about a lot of excitement; however, it’s still a joy that we would rather the L & D unit experience!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

1 Comment

Food H&P:

4-5 chicken breasts (I use frozen)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of salsa
1 pack of dry ranch
1 pack of taco seasoning
½ cup of sour cream

 

Food Rx:

Mix the cream of chicken soup and salsa together. Place everything in a crockpot except the sour cream. Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred with 2 forks. Return chicken to the sauce in the crockpot and stir in ½ cup of sour cream.

The meat is ready! I usually place a couple of spoonfuls of the chicken taco meat in a soft tortilla and sprinkle with cheddar cheese and sliced green onions. Then roll the tortilla and grill on the stove. I also enjoy the meat in taco salads. This is a great recipe to double and freeze the leftovers.

Print

 

With English being the only language I’m fluent in I always get a little nervous when my Spanish speaking patients arrive. The extent of my 9th grade Spanish class that I retained was My name is… and dolor (for pain), past that it is a lot of charades! For a true emergency the treatment is very reliant on the physical exam. We can utilize interrupters and language phone calls; however, this can become time consuming and pertinent information can become lost in translation. Truth be told due to the language barrier additional testing might be utilized to truly rule out an emergency in patients that do not speak English.

Cornbread Salad

Leave a comment

                                      

This recipe came from one of favorite night shift nurses. She’s amazing with her patients and has a way of being motherly to the staff, making sure everyone is taken care of. This salad became an instant favorite of mine. I look forward to making the whole recipe then eating on it when I’m on a long work stretch. Nursing does not lend itself to designated lunch breaks. We take it where we can get it! Since this is a cold salad it’s perfect for those days with many interruptions.

1. Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (make according to package directions)
2. 2 cans of pinto beans- drained
3. 2 sprigs of green onions and a ½ of a green bell pepper- chopped and mixed together
4. 2 large tomatoes- diced
5. 2 cans of whole kernel corn- drained
6. 2 cups of sharp shredded cheddar cheese
7. 1 package of dry ranch mixed with 16 ounces of sour cream
8. 1 package of bacon bits

Crumble the cooled cornbread in the bottom of a large bowl then continue to layer 1 through 8 finishing off with the bacon bits!

Print

 

This recipe is like a united emergency crew working on a patient that is in cardiac arrest. It takes a team…doctors, nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists, x-ray techs, lab techs, and emergency room techs to provide the best care. Like the emergency room crew the different layers of the cornbread salad are essential in providing the most amazing and cohesive flavors for a lunch in the midst of chaos!