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...

Today's Debriefing

Today, was much like any other day, but was different in that I actually accomplished more than I had originally set out to do which does not happen too often, at least with me...  Yesterday, I had gone to the dentist for something that I thought was routine and ended up leaving with a root canal and a crown and knowledge that I had another tooth that would soon be needing a root canal and crown.

Fortunately, I used my stimulus money to pay for it...  thank goodness for the democrats...  without their desire to spend money like a drunken sailor I would have had to pay for this out of my own pocket and that would have sucked.

Anyway, after the numbness wore off, my mouth and jaw continued to hurt even after 12 hours so I took a couple of tylenol and was able to fall asleep.  this morning when I awoke the pain was gone and I am wondering if that had anything to do with my productivity.

Not only was I able to combine blogs today, but I posted several to my poetry blog,  wrote 7 pages on my work in progress novel, cooked some squash, zucchini, onions, peppers, and rice (enough for 3 meals) and make myself a ribeye steak, green onion, peppers, mushroom, tomatoes, and cheese omelette. (omelet)...  of which i ate half and will eat the other half tomorrow.

I was also able to make several postings of items I liked that I found online to one blog rather than spreading them around to several different blogs which was much more convenient as well as much more logical.

I have no more appointments until next wednesday and thursday when I have to go in for my monthly cancer treatments.  so far, the cancer treatments are working as i am in my 13th14th year, depending upon how the years are counted.  That is to say, counting each year separately or  increasing counting each time you move from one year to the next.

For example, the years 2019 and 2020 could either be counted as 2 years or as 1 year....  and my count would also depend upon when i actually started...   either january or june/july.

Most of my days are spent inside and i really need to start thinking about returning to or adding in an exercise routine into my schedule.

An East TN Saturday

On the weekends, I awake and begin my day about the same time that I awake and begin my day during the week...  there is no differentiation between the work week and the weekend for me as there used to be when I was working.  I suppose that is the real benefit of being retired although and this is just supposition but I believe the wealthy people pretty much have the same schedule during those 7 days as well...  even it they are still working and earning millions.

As always my day(s) begin with feeding our three cats, taking my thyroid pill, filling up my YETI cup with coffee and Cappuccino Mix, and watching FOX NEWS....  and as I have explained before, I do no get ALL THE NEWS or the TRUTH OF THE NEWS if I were to watch:  CNN, CBS, ABC, or NBC and that bothers me because I used to watch CBS and CNN all the time...  but those days are over.

As with all news shows, the same news is broadcasted over and over again throughout the day and the only additions to that news is when something unexpected happens...  so, after a while this redundancy causes me to change channels.  I then turn to shows about animals, cooking, history, scifi, or living in Alaska and/or living off the grid.  Somewhat entertaining these shows are but I oftentimes wonder about the drama that they try to create especially when the CAMERA CREW IS ALSO PRESENT TO FILM THIS SO CALLED DRAMA...

After a couple of hours of watching, I get bored and begin posting articles to my blog which I will do for the rest of the day unless I decide to cook something like I plan to do today and I am not sure what you would call this other than Turkey Burgers, Peas, and Noodles.  I will make a fairly large pot of this concoction and divide it up into 3-4-5 bowls depending upon how far it will go...  ranging from 300 calories/bowl to over 500 calories/bowl.

My meals will go in the frig and I will eat them for the next several days until I have to cook again.  I would rather cook like that than cook daily.

I Must Be Crazy -- part II

Oddly enough and over 7 hours later...  it is still raining outside and I am assuming in the Valley as well...  and, while the temperatures have warmed up a tad (an East TN word that could mean one inch or a mile)...  I am still writing but inside reclining in a chair...  and, making it somewhat difficult for me to type is my Siamese cat laying in my lap...  of course, he appears to be sleeping which is a matter for conjecture because as soon as you think this damn cat is sleeping, he has used his claws to push himself off my legs as he goes after another of our male felines...  of which we have three...  and, I am not sure how we ended up odd because I'd prefer even...

For most of the day, I have been typing on the computer except for a couple of hours that was devoted to making home made soup because we had finished just yesterday all our Thanksgiving leftovers...  lasting 7 days is not bad at all...  I would think since that one big supper was a tad more expensive than all out other meals...  getting a good ROI on prepared food is what my Dad taught me...  as every time I left food on my place, he would remind me that there are starving children in CHINA...  I am not sure why China was on his mind because I knew for sure he did not give a damn about China or the fact that their children were starving...  hell, he never spoke about the starving children in America...  and, he had to know that they were not eating 3 squares a day...

In my soup, I put:

2 chopped medium size onions

1 heaping tablespoon of garlic from a jar and maybe a little more

3 stalks of celery

2 orange bell peppers

2-3 ounces of frozen sweet potato fries

1 can of white beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 large bag of frozen Kale

a shit load of pepper, and a little oregano, turmeric, paprika, and salt

NOTE:  all totaled, I had about 1600 calories but after cooking was poured into 5 plastic containers which calculates out to 320 calories per container.  These plastic containers previously held sliced ham in a sealed package and are more economical to use than buying new ones.

So...  now I have at least one prepared meal each day that only needs 2-3 minutes in the microwave...  and NO...  I do not get tired of eating the same meal 5 days in a row...  as long as it saves money...  and, the fact that I have gotten used to doing this since I started the practice in College in 1966...  does not hurt either.

In College, I would cook a cup of rice along with a can of vegetable soup in a popcorn popper and have a meal for 2-3 days, especially in the winter, because I could put the containers I used on the window sill between the screen and the glass, to keep the contents from spoiling.  In the 1960's, springs and falls were never as warm as they are today, so it was fairly easy to keep food from spoiling.

Staying at Home -- 5th Week

For my wife and I, we started staying at home March 16, 2020, and I remember when I went to my

monthly cancer treatment last month on March 26, I was wearing a surgical mask and disposable gloves and made a point of gargling mouthwash in my car before leaving the parking lot...  We postponed all our medical appointment until the month of June except for those that were critical to our health and for one I had a video teleconference...

Once or twice a week, my wife who has a better immune system than I do, drives to a restaurant for a take out meal so that we can support our local restaurants as best as we can.

From what I have heard on FOX NEWS, many Americans are having a difficult time staying at home because they are the most comfortable and relaxed when they are around other people.  I logically understand why it is difficult for those people while at the same time cannot identify with those feelings because I have never needed to be around people for my happiness or sense of self-worth or comfort.

What do I do each day?

First of all, I give our three cats their morning treats and then fill their food bowls which are typically empty from their nocturnal hunger...

Second, I watch FOX News for a couple of hours while drinking coffee in an effort to stimulate my body to have a bowel movement...  sounds crazy...  but, this has been a routine for me since 1966 and 99% of the time it works perfectly...

Third, I start writing...
I have a Composition Notebook in which I write each day.  It could be thoughts, feelings, concerns, a list of things to do, financial analysis of our future funds, recipes that I found on the Internet, counting my calories for a meal I want to cook, a political opinion, ideas for a novel, and possibly a poem which does not happen that often anymore.

I review my 4 blogs and make sure that something is ready to be posted for the day and if not, then I create a post and schedule it.

Fourth, I eat breakfast and take my 6 morning pills.

Fifth, I work on my chores either inside the house or outside the house.

Sixth, is lunch.

Seventh, is preparing article for my blogs which includes research.

Eighth, I cook something if I need to and if I don't I play with the cats.

Ninth, I eat dinner

Tenth, I watch something that we recorded on Cable or a series on Netflix until it is time for my evening pills and bed.

This is my routine and it never gets old.
I am comfortable being with my wife and cats and writing.
I want for nothing. 
I am content.

Click link below

MAKING HOMEMADE DOUGHNUTS

COOKING SALMON and steak...

If you want to learn how to cook a perfect steak every time, CLICK HERE...

Personally, I prefer fish and chicken.

When I had my heart attack back in 2007/2008, my Cardiologist was encouraging me to stay away from red meats because of their negative impact on the heart...  Ever since then, I have tried not to eat red meat, especially steaks.

Additionally, when I had previously eaten steak, I NEVER MUCH liked the fat and meticulously would cut that away from my steak before eating the first bite.  Interestingly, it is the fat that gives steak its flavor and keeps it moist when cooking.

Salmon, Cod, Flounder, Grouper, and Tuna are my favorite fish although I also like crab meat and lobster tails.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I took an ALASKAN CRUISE and on the first night in the dinning room, I asked my waiter if I could have SALMON every night except for the night we were scheduled to have lobster tails...  He arranged that but also arranged for me to have both Salmon and Lobster Tail on that special night.   AND, one of our excursions was a Salmon Bake and I had 5 pieces of Salmon that afternoon for lunch.

There ain't nothing like ALASKAN SALMON...

However, the Salmon that you typically are served in restaurants are "Farmed" Salmon which is not as healthy as "Wild" Salmon.

Make The Best Pancakes