We have these large boxes in our back yard that were just perfect when we moved in a few years ago to use for a vegetable garden.  I’ve cleaned one of them out as the people before us never used it for that purpose (they bathed their dogs there, which is strange…I digress, and have one to go.  I’ve got several starter plants that are anxiously waiting to be planted there and will by the end of this week, weather permitting.

I’m in a weird mood tonight.  Goofy.  But then again, most people who know me would state that I live in a perpetual state of goofy. 

UFC night is Saturday.  I’ll be cooking this time and doing my 5 cheese stuffed shells.  I may share this recipe after Saturday is over so I can write down all that I do to make it.  Real easy…TONS of cheese…and makes enough for the large group that will be here.  Good times.

Well, Pooka, aka, Princess Butters McNuggets is woofing at me for attention…so I shall retire. 

Okay.  I think I’ve mentioned that my husband is on disability due to degenerative disc disease and two botched operations that left him in worse shape than before.  It’s not a good thing when you get told by the neurosurgeon that they’ve never seen a disc that bad before in a 20something year old, nor that they akinned it to that of a 90 year olds.  He has two discs that are bad between the L4 and L5.  The upper of the two was the worst, which was described as gelatinous.

Anyhoo.  We battled the insurance company, Providence, for over a year and a half after he had two procedures that didn’t work and he needed a fusion.  All the while, we had a craptastic neurosurgeon whom didn’t seem to have time for the vast amount of patients he had.  So we went to a new neurosurgeon, pain management office, and went to his general practicioner to get the low-down on why someone who was 6′2″ had dropped weight down to about 145.

Come to find out, all the strong pain meds he was on completely screwed up his system…leaving him with high-blood pressure, zero creatine being produced, high calcium and potassium levels, and the inability to really stomach anything.  He wouldn’t have had his if the insurance company would have approved he fusion/dynesis that he needed to begin with.

That was about a year ago.  Now, after going up and down trying to get his chemicals balanced for him to even be cleared for surgery again, the doctor/neurosurgeon locally has stated they do not want to clear him as they think the risk would be more than they want to take and they don’t know if they can, in fact, fix his back with a fusion.  So they told us today they basically want him to stay this way and try physical therapy to the best he can to help him be comfortable.  Physical therapy was attempted in the past and this made his back and the pain worse.  So now he’s basically being told to live on disability and they aren’t really going to help him get better.

Insert choice explictive here.

For two and a half years, he has not been able to live his life as he should be able to.  He’s too young for this.  Whom used to be a soccer keeper, a damn good one at that, and a hard worker at his regular job, has now been reduced to living on pain medication and being mostly confined to laying on the couch.  Too much activity causes his back to seize up in knots and spasum and causing him to be down for days…this is all the while he’s on strong pain medication.

It’s just depressing.  Why the hell do we have doctors and insurance if they aren’t there when you really need them?  Sure, they’ll be there for you when you have a cold or when you need antibotics, but when you REALLY need them, all it seems is that they cower into the shadows, too afraid to make a decision or to cheap to help pay for it.

GROWL.

My husband and I have a favorite restaurant in Eugene, OR, called Shoji’s.  You know, one of those Japanese restaurants that performs a show as they cook your food for you.  Everytime we’d go, we’d get the fishbowl drink to start and share and get a wee bit tipsy just in time for the show to begin.  The cook would show off his mad skills and toss up the best tepanyaki we’ve ever had.  We went there so much, on special occasions, that I started to quiz the different chefs that we encountered on how they made it and then I took that information, perfected it, and came up with my own.  This is best cooked if you have a wok.  Not that you cannot use a large skillet, mind you; however, with the wok, it really saves your flinging rice all over your kitchen walls.

Serves 2-4 (depending on how hungry you are)
Cooking/Prep time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 cups long grain white rice (Do not use Minute Rice.  If you do, you’ll be sorry as it’s too wet for this recipe.)
4 cups water
kosher salt
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. margarine
Sunflower Cooking oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
teriyaki sauce (any old brand will do, I like Kikkoman, myself)
Wok Oil blend

Bring the water with a dash of kosher salt to a boil and add rice.  Turn to low and cover for 20 minutes.  Next, in your wok or skillet, heat the butter till melted and add in eggs and scramble.  As the eggs are almost done, with your spatula chop them as finely as you can.  This will save time when you add it to the rice later.  Set the eggs aside, covered.  Next, spin the wok oil twice around the pan and heat your skillet/wok back up again.  Toss in your chicken and cook until almost done.  At the end, throw in about 1 cup of teriyaki sauce and cook for another 5 minutes, allowing the teriyaki to somewhat reduce and very slightly carmelize. Set aside, covered. 

About now, your rice should be getting done.  Once complete, take a fork and fluff.  Add the eggs into the rice.  In your wok/skillet, pour in roughly a cup to a cup and 1/2 of sunflower oil and bring to a simmer.  Throw in your green onions and cook for 2 minutes.  Immediately dump in your rice/egg mixture and toss until the onions get fully encorporated and the rice looks to be covered in the oil.  Here’s where it gets tricky and you really have to watch things, otherwise you’ll either get really greasy rice or burn it.  What you do is take your spatula or favorite tool and press the rice upside the walls of the skillet or wok to the best you can.  Let it sit for a few minutes until you see steam rising from it, then flip the rice.  Everyone’s wok/skillet cooks differently and you may have to play with it a bit till you have it down pat.  You’ll want to repeat this a bit till the rice just barely begins to fry…then you will need to add in about a half a cup of teriyaki.  Toss to encorporate and then repeat the press/flip method until the rice begins to get a light golden brown.  Immediately remove from the heat at this point and cover and you’re done.

Now you could always fancy this up with some chopsticks, tea, and saki and let everyone pile the food on your plate at will.  I will sometimes bake up some marinated tofu to go with this instead of chicken, since I used to be vegetarian and I’ll also add a step before the frying of the rice, and stir fry some of my favorite veggies (onions, mushrooms, zucchini, squash) and set that aside to serve with the rice as well.  My husband is a total meat/potatoes carnivore, though, and so that usually gets skipped. 

Have fun and enjoy!