Time to Start Cooking! Again!

So, I like to feel like I’m in control of my life. I can make my own choices. I can determine what I will do and when it gets done! Then I was brought to my knees and I realized what an illusion that is. March 10^th of last year I was diagnosed with cancer. 

I had a rash but I wasn’t feeling sick. I had an enlarged lymph node in my neck. I thought maybe it was some sort of infection in my body causing a rash and the enlarged lymph nodes. I tried antibiotics and nothing helped. Finally, I had a biopsy and it was confirmed. I had squamous cell carcinoma. The problem was, they couldn’t locate a tumor. I know, I know, is that possible? I had cancer but no tumor?  I soon learned while uncommon, it has a name and my official diagnosis was “Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Unknown Primary” Which simply means the tumor may be very small and they cannot detect it or it may have disappeared. My lymph node was classified as stage 4A (Stage 4B is untreatable so I was lucky) My PET scan showed the cancer was isolated to 2 lymph nodes so I thought that was a good thing. I soon found out that since they could find no tumor, they would have to treat both sides of my neck which meant 3 months of chemotherapy and 36 radiation treatments. I was devastated and talked to my doctor about just treating the cancer with minimal intervention. He told me with minimal treatment I could count on 3 to 6 months to live. His initial treatment has an 85% survival rate. I decided to go with his initial treatment plan and so it began.

I started treatment on April 21^st 2014 and completed treatment on July 13^th. I’ve had a couple of trips to the hospital and recovery has been a long process. It’s now been almost 8 months since I completed treatment. I’m in remission but recovery has taken much longer than I thought. I’m still working on it. For now I am feeling so much better and I’m ready to move on to really important stuff like “What’s for Dinner?”

Peanut Butter Noodle Nests with Spicy Orange Shrimp

8oz shrimp, peeled, de-veined

2 tablespoons sriracha sauce

¼ cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon grated ginger

6oz ramen noodles

2 tablespoons peanut oil

¼ cup red pepper, diced

¼ cup onion, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

¼ cup coconut milk

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

¼ cup island teriyaki sauce

2 teaspoon crystalized ginger

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (or to taste)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup coleslaw mix

6oz ramen noodles, cooked according to package directions

Marinade

In a medium bowl, combine sriracha, marmalade, soy, vinegar and grated ginger. Stir to combine and add shrimp. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Sauce

In a large skillet over medium heat sauté onion and pepper in peanut oil until tender. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Reduce heat and add coconut milk, peanut butter, Island teriyaki sauce, ginger, hot pepper flakes and brown sugar. Simmer sauce 2 to 3 minutes adding additional coconut milk as needed. Pour off ¼ cup of sauce and add ramen noodles to remaining sauce.

To serve: In a large skillet over medium heat cook shrimp 2 to 3 minutes on each side until tender. Move shrimp to outer edge of pan and cook coleslaw mix in center just until it is starting to wilt. Add wilted slaw mix to ramen sauce mixture. Divide ramen between 4 plates and top with 4 or 5 shrimp. Garnish with reserved sauce and peanuts if desired. Serves 4

My children love everything peanut butter so when they were younger I would try to find ways to incorporate it into our meals. They also loved Asian food so as they got older I would try new ways to make Asian sauces and decided to add peanut butter. What a success! They are now adults so we spice it up a bit and enjoy our spicy peanut butter noodle nests whenever possible.