Hi Friends,
It’s hard to believe, but it has now been FOUR YEARS since the tumors on my lung were first discovered.
And guess what?
I’M STILL HERE!
And that is definitely something worth smiling about. ❤️
Life certainly hasn’t gone exactly according to plan over these past four years, but then again, when does it ever? I’m still cooking, creating, laughing, loving my dogs, doing my shows, trying new things, and doing my best to squeeze as much LIFE as possible into every day.
Ever since my ablation in May, I have been experiencing profound fatigue. Eventually we discovered that I am iron deficient, so last Thursday I finally received an iron infusion.
I’m really hoping it helps restore my energy before the Plant Powered Party in Las Vegas, because I’d hate to fall asleep during Dr. Goldhamer’s talk! 😂
In the meantime, I’ve been squeezing in quite a few naps.
In fact, I’ve had to nap almost every single day.
You could say I’ve literally been DOG TIRED.
Dinner With Chef AJ!
Did you know I’ve started a brand-new show on my YouTube channel?
It’s called Dinner with Chef AJ, and I’m hoping to make it a weekly feature.
Each episode, I’ll invite you into my kitchen and show you something I actually make and eat at home – not something I dreamed up just because a camera was rolling.
For the first episode, I demonstrated one of my absolute favorites that’s on regular rotation at our house:
Caesar Salad Pasta with Cashew Parm Sprinkle
And wait until you see my game-changing technique for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot!
No giant pot of boiling water. No standing around waiting for it to boil. No draining.
Four minutes!
Once you try it, you may never boil pasta on the stove again.
And if you’re wondering whether marinara pasta belongs on top of Caesar salad, all I can say is:
Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.
You can watch the first episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/z5KCr7-bzrg
🐾🦴🐶From The Puppy Files🐾🦴🐶
Time for this week’s “Pupdates” – and thank you to Susan for giving me my new favorite word.
Let’s start with Shiloh.
Shiloh is what you might call a “special needs dog.”
He actually flunked out of doggy daycare.
Twice.
I didn’t even know you could flunk doggy daycare.
Apparently, Shiloh found a way.
We’ve been working with an animal behaviorist who comes to our home twice a week, and I am thrilled to report that Shiloh was finally accepted into daycare!
I felt like a proud mother watching her child get into Harvard.
He’s come such a long way in the year since we adopted him. He was abused in his previous home, and seeing him learn to feel safe, play and enjoy his life in his forever home makes me incredibly happy.
And then there’s Trixie.
Trixie doesn’t appear to have a worry gene.
This is a dog who was hit by a car, broke her leg, required surgery, endured immobilization and months of being crated, and somehow emerged from the whole experience thinking:
“So…what are we doing today?”
Nothing fazes her!
Shiloh and Trixie couldn’t be more different, but they are absolutely inseparable. They play together all day long, usually while fighting over the exact same toy despite having enough dog toys to open their own PetSmart.
