Please play Freud...my anniversary...and chicken pot pie!

This is only tangentially related to weight loss surgery, but I thought you guys might get a giggle out of the wacky dream I had last night...

Real life: my friends have a five month old daughter. They are having childcare issues, and they asked me if I could babysit on Tuesday - tomorrow. Initially, I thought this was an emergency thing, so of course I agreed. I work for myself, from home, and have a flexible schedule. I then found out this request was due to them not wanting to pay full cost for a nanny (they were doing a nanny-share that wasn't working out so they were trying to get into another one). While they aren't loaded, they do make decent salaries and I believe could afford to pay for a nanny, especially for a few days, but would rather not. Once I found this out, I became very defensive, unfortunately, only inside my head! As I said, I work for myself, and I don't yet have enough clients that I am working "full time".  However, at this point in my life, my expenses are low and I can manage to make ends meet while I build my business. Ideally, I would have more clients and work more hours, but still have more time than most people who have to work an office job. That is the benefit to not having benefits (I live puns!) - I pay for my own health insurance, don't get paid vacations, etc.

Long story short, I am sensitive to people not respecting my work and my time because I do work from home, for myself. I worked myself up, getting angry and resentful of my friend. She had offered to pay me to babysit, and I got all nasty and snobby in my own head - I am a professional, I am not looking for work as a babysitter, my hourly rate is twice as much as what she would spend on a day with a nanny, etc.!

I've resolved that I am going to have fun with baby Zoe tomorrow, and just politely respond to any future day-time babysitting requests with "sorry, I am working"!

BUT HERE'S THE FUNNY DREAM: I wake up in the morning, ready to go to the hospital with my mom to get my lap band - today is surgery day! I get to the hospital and my friend shows up with the baby, thrusts her into my arms, says "I knew you weren't doing anything important today, so can you want her? 'Kay, thanks! Bye!" and rushes away (aside - I will not be telling this friend about my surgery, as she is obsessed with exercise and eating very little. My friend and I have theories that she had exorcise anorexia for several years.)

I realize that I don't have any bottles to feed the baby. My  mom tried to go back to my apartment to get them, but I realize she won't get there. I have to cancel my surgery to go home and get the bottles. I put the baby on my bed, and want to get the bottle - but I remember my friend had told me that Zoe can roll over now - so I grab my copy of Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, which is HOOOGE, and use it as a paperweight on the baby! I go and get the bottle, and when I come back I see what I think is a baby toy on the bed, folded in half  (one of those activity centers, where the baby lies on a mat and there are toys above her to play with). I open it up, to see what we've got to work with, and realize it is a play pen for a ferret, my other friend had left it on the bed, next to the baby, with the ferret in it! I woke up freaking out, Oh my God, I am a terrible person - I used a book as a paperweight on a baby, and I almost let a ferret eat her head!!!


In other news, today is the one year anniversary of me meeting A. He sent me an email...after his mother asked my  mother for my contact info! Go moms! And now, he is sweetly snoring up a snore in the home we share - what a difference a year makes - I expect that a year form now I will have a very different physical appearance, and I am so excited!


Finally, I have a recipe for a meal I made tonight that I think would be nice for bandsters - A liked it, but he's super loose and can eat just about anything these days. He is getting a fill right before I go on my re-op diet.

Chicken Pot Pie...
Two small leeks (or one large one) (optional but super yummy!)
One small onion (or half a big one)
Parsley
Thyme
Oil (I used olive, but canola or grapeseed or anything else that can handle high temps is good)
One whole chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Two large carrots (I used three little organic ones from the CSA)
Two rib of celery
6-7 white mushrooms.
One medium sized potato
3/4 cup frozen peas
Two tablespoons flour
Two and a half cups chicken stock
One frozen pie crust, defrosted or you can make your own - I didn't!

In a medium sized pit, place the chicken, peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, the green top of the leek(s), 1 +1/2 ribs of celery, and the stems from the parsley. Cover with water, and bring to a slow boil. Simmer for ten minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Drain and roughly chop. I make extra, to make chicken salad. This technique makes super flavorful chicken, and is pretty easy!

Heat the oven to 400 F.

Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or heavy oven-safe pot, over medium low heat, in a little olive oil, toss a few sprigs of thyme and sweat the white bottoms of the leeks, the onion, and the celery, all chopped up pretty small. Add some salt. Cover and cook until soft and translucent. Don't let it brown! This should take at LEAST 15 minutes, but check it frequently. Once they are translucent and soft, add the mushrooms, sliced thickly. Also, while this cooks, chop the carrots, potato, and parsley. Once the mushrooms have cooked a bit - about 3-4 minutes, sprinkle in two heaping tablespoons of flour. Stir, so it is all mixed in to the oil and veggie juices. Make sure their is no white flour showing. Add the chicken stock, a little at a time, and mix well, so it dissolves all the flour clumps. Add the chicken, the carrots, potato, peas, and chopped parsley. Add some thyme leaves as well. Stir well and remove from heat. Use the pie crust to cover, cut air vents, and cook at 400 F for 45 minutes.
In the alternative, you can use biscuits to top. A more traditional recipe uses butter and milk or cream, but this is relatively healthy, has a sauce, and the white meat stays juicy! Let me know what you think of my recipe style, as I would like to add more...