Nurse Laura’s Summer Camp – Week 6, Day 4

Morning Wake Up – Coffee and yogurt to start the day, even for those not in the full-day program

Counseling Session – Reviewing life decisions with more experienced faculty using teleconference medium

Persuasive Orations – Practicing negotiation skills, while ensuring the other party still believes their goals are being met (cross reference to Platform Skills and How to Earn a Junior Oscar)

K-9 Whispering – Encouraging friendly dogs to take turns for treats

Nurse Gardening – Abbreviated session, due to overnight rainstorm

Basic bicycling – Review from prior session, exploring a new route, navigating roads shared with pedestrians, strollers and automobiles

Domestic Life Skills – Preparing noon meal with fresh ingredients and primitive equipment. Followed by documentation of how the meal was prepared

Musical Floors – Demonstrating care for wood floors, while also singing and dancing to pre-recorded scores

Snack Creations – No bake cookies to share with other campers (participation in session not required to sample products)

Laura Lynn’s Lo Mein

I’ve made variations of Asian-American food for a while, but this little Laura version of Lo Mein has been a favorite this summer. I can fix it for a quick lunch. My grandbabies like it. I even enjoy it cold.

I’m not anywhere close to a professional, and I improvise a lot with the tools (and ingredients) I have. Someone in my household prefers we don’t “clutter” the kitchen with gadgets. The first time I cooked this, I reviewed a few recipes, then came up with my own version.

I start with julienne vegetables. I typically will use onions and carrots. Today, I used half of a red onion and 2 large carrots.

I start with  olive oil in a skillet. Once heated, I add the vegetables. As they cook, I stir frequently, add some sea salt, then some garlic shortly before they are done. I typically leave a little crunch to the carrots. Then, I set them aside.

While I saute the vegetables, I start boiling the water for the noodles. I add a little olive oil and a pinch of sea salt to the water before putting the noodles in the water. I use regular angel hair pasta or spaghetti – whatever I have in the pantry. I let the noodles boil, but not too soft.

After draining the noodles, I use the same skillet where I sauteed the veggies. I add olive oil to the pan prior to the noodles. The sauce (honey, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and garlic) is poured over the noodles.  I stir that around on medium high heat, and add the veggies to the noodles.

When I fix this for dinner, I will usually add chicken medallions over a bed of the lo mein.

This reheats well the next day in a skillet or the microwave. Pretty awesome for a quick lunch while doing chores around the house.

VEGGIE MIX

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta or spaghetti noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1/2 onion, julienned
• Other vegetables (bell pepper, broccoli)
• 1 tsp salt

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons  sodium soy sauce, or more, to taste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, and red pepper flakes; set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain well.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add  bell pepper and carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Stir in egg noodles and soy sauce mixture, and gently toss to combine. Let everything cook together for about 1-2 minutes.
5. Serve immediately.

 

Nurse Laura’s Summer Camp – Week 6, Day 3

Today’s schedule of activities (additional sessions TBD)

Remedial bicycle riding, session 1 – objectives include staying upright, avoiding injuries and returning to home base

Domestic Life Skills – washing, folding and changing linens

Information technology – downloading appropriate drivers for home wireless network printer; printing and scanning documents after printer is successfully installed

Creative writing – composing emails to companies when they question why you can’t schedule a start date prior to receiving a job offer with job title, job description and compensation

Arts and Crafts – creating wine charms using clip art from the internet and Avery.com

Remedial bicycle riding, session 2 – review of session 1, but while adding a backpack filled with produce

Gardening by Nurse Laura – evaluating transplants and performing debridements as needed

Orhtinology – studying the location of local birds and their nesting habits within close proximity to residential human housing; removing excrement (review of session from Week 5, Day 5) from the surfaces below nesting areas

Please contact our Director if you desire to participate in future sessions.