Morning Cooking

Since the weather in East TN has been fairly humid these last few days and it seems that this humidity is going to continue, I have taken the liberty to cook my future meals in the morning rather than in the afternoon or evening when the house has become overwhelmed by the outside heat.

My present concern is spoilage or waste pertaining to the vegetables that are growing in our garden and having to throw them away because we cannot eat them fast enough...  these veges are:

• cumcumbers
• squash
• zucchini
• pepper
• tomatoes

SO...  I have decided to make as much soup as I can from those ingredients that can be easily frozen in small plastic containers should I not be able to consume it all...  to eat at a later date...  and, the good news is that I have not had to freeze anything...  YET.

Cumcumber Soup

Dice the cucumbers into a cooking pot.  Pour in 2 cans of diced potatoes.  Roughly chop up 1-2 onions and put in pot.  Add a tablespoon or two of garlic.  Add a couple of tablespoons of Greek Plain Yogurt...  and, one box of frozen spinach & artichoke dip...  add coarse pepper and salt to one's individual taste.

Cook on normal heat until all ingredients are soft then using a submersible mixer, mix up the entire contents until it is almost as smooth as a baby's ass...  let cool and put into containers that go in the frig to eat over the next couple of days.

For me, I used about 4-5 cumcumbers (actually I lost count and I'm guessing).

I have 5 dinners ready to put into the microwave and eat over the next 5 days...  and, any longer than that is questionable...  especially if one grows tired of what one is easting.

My calorie intake for each meal is 170.

My calorie goal each day is 1,600 to 1,800

If one has 3 meals plus a couple of snacks, then that's about 400 to 450 calories per meal including the two snacks as one meal.

My morning coffee and capuccinno mix accounts for 250 calories each day...  so, now I need to look at my meals being right around 400 or less...

Exercising

Did You Know???

...that the fatter you are, the more calories you burn...  of course this sounds logical after I have shared it with you...  but, one would think that the more you walk on a treadmill the more calories you burn and while that is true also...  weight also seems to be an important factor in burning calories...  however, this is not to suggest that you should bulk up now so you can burn more calories when you finally start exercising...

I have always been one for exercising or working outside at something so that I SWEAT a lot such as splitting wood with a sledge hammer and wedges or using a push mower to mow an acre lot or moving 7 rooms of furniture with just a hand truck, a sturdy rug, and a 1/2 inch nylon rope.  If that was not good enough for me, I usually would fast walk for 90 minutes around the community which included hills, some of which were fairly steep....  since a mile is covered in about 15-20 minutes, I figured I walked 4-6 miles each time...  and, I would typically walk everyday unless it was raining or snowing.

BUT, exercising is not enough to STAY HEALTHY...

If you really want to stay healthy, you must:

1. Quit smoking cigarettes, cigars, and/or marijuana
2. Quit or  substantially reduce your intact of alcohol & red meat
3. Quit eating all friend foods
4. Quit eating sweets
5. Eat more fish and chicken, turkey
6. Eat more vegetables, fruits, and nuts
7. Manage stress with exercise and/or meditation
8. Get the required hours of sleep for you age
9. See your family doctor & eye doctor annually
10. See a dentist twice a year

OR, you can just get lazy, fat, and old and die earlier than expected...