Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Granola Bars

My husband was admitted to the hospital for his stem cell transplant on Monday, November 5.  He had a rocky start, with a medication making him violently ill, and then he had a reaction to one of the anti-nausea medicines.  He was "out of his head" (i.e., confusion, agitation) for about 36 hours.  It was a very, very difficult time for me, trying to keep him from getting up by himself, having him get angry with me for coddling him, and not being able to answer his nonsensical questions.  Since the confusion cleared, he has progressed as expected, with all his blood counts reaching zero yesterday.  He has developed a sore in his mouth today after several days of complaining that his mouth was tender.  Again, not unexpected, but it makes eating even more difficult.  I don't know how much longer he will be in the hospital.  The original estimate was 14 days, and I am hoping he will be home for Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten more than a couple of stitches put into my current project.  I spend a lot of time helping Phil, doing things that help the nurses, who are patiently dedicated to their patients in this unit.  But I did want to say that the granola bars I mentioned in my last post are absolutely delicious!!!  You can find the recipe at Money Saving Mom.  I used the Rice Krispies (generic ones from Aldi), and for my add-ins I used tiny cinnamon chips, peanut butter chips, and peanuts.  (I love peanut butter!)  I would like to try making them with flax seed (maybe using half flax seed and half wheat germ), and using other mix-ins such as coconut (another favorite) and sunflower seeds.  I froze my bars after I cut them, and they are still deliciously chewy once they thaw.  I highly recommend this recipe!  If you make it, let me know how you tweaked it to your taste.

I have pictures on my computer to share, so hopefully I can get to those soon.