Food for Thought

Each week I make a food plan and occasionally I actually cook close to what I planned. Not usually but occasionally. I think I was a little over 50 percent successful this week, but no matter what happens, we eat (too much) and life goes along its merry way. 

This is what was planned:

Chili, coleslaw, cornbread

Vegetable soup, cornbread

Carnitas, over rice or caulirice, tossed salad

Cajun chicken, stewed okra, tomatoes and onions, caulitato salad  garlic bread, 

Veggie meal: peas, okra, squash

Seared scallops, asparagus, mashed potatoes or caulirice

Take out

This is what actually happened:

Monday: Monday started out with a bang and I got so much work done early, then I crashed and from about 2 o'clock on I was a worthless human. Fortunately I had remembered to take some chicken out of the freezer before I became a total sloth.

Cajun chicken over rice or over nothing, stewed tomatoes with  onions and okra, green beans

Tuesday: The evening was was gorgeous. It was perfect for grilling the steak I had lingering in the refrigerator . Son 2 and DIL2 ate with us Saturday and I had thawed 3 steaks. TheHub and I always share just one, but I thought they would each like their own. Son2 came into the kitchen as I was getting them ready for the grill and said they were too big for each of them to have one apiece. So I didn't cook it and now I am glad for my thawing error. It was delicious!

Grilled steak, mashed potatoes (or none), tossed salad

Wednesday: I bought produce from a local truck farm on Saturday and had some things that needed to be cooked or processed for the freezer. I chose cooking since we love veggie meals. After we finished TheHub was in mourning because the season for delicious fresh summer produce is just about over.

Veggie dinner, lady peas (or none) , air-fried okra (or none), squash, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber

Thursday: We dropped our Costco membership over 2 years ago, because we just never used it. Now TheHub was ready to rejoin. I was ambivalent about it, but because there was no real reason not to, we went online to re-up. Next thing I knew we were in the car on the way to Costco. I will admit I found a few things I used to buy there still in their inventory. I also found a couple of keto bargains there__Rao's marinara sauce was about 2.50 a jar cheaper.. Of course I bought some pecans (but honestly I will buy some local ones if I don't get down to my SIL's farm, because nothing tastes better than fresh pecans) 

and a large bottle of olive oil. I will probably give some of it to my sister.

I am going to be really nerdy and keep a total of what we saved on each purchase by buying it there just to see how long it takes to recoup the membership cost. After we reach that I will keep a list of the savings to see just how much, if any we saved. A small codicil: If TheHub goes rogue and buys crap we don't need I am counting that as stupid money, and will not use it in my total. I am only counting things we use regularly that I would buy normally. 

When we were finished shopping it was later at night and I claimed I did not feel like cooking.  ( I had forgotten I had a pot of veggie soup in the crockpot.) Instead we decided to pick up something on the way home.

Wings Stop korean wings, mild wings (one of us likes heat less than the other__wuss!) parmesan french fries (or none) mixed spring greens (another Costco find and it was a great deal)

Friday: The night was rainy and there was no reason for us to go anywhere, so we decided to hang out at home (Oh yeah, Covid! We always hang out at home) Dinner was a no brainer since it was already made and just required warming. 

Veggie soup AKA Stuff salvaged from the fridge that was about to ruin. No keto cornbread was made. The world continued to spin.

 

Saturday: Game Day here! We turn on the tv at 9 so we can watch (really listen to ) ESPN Game Day

while we did some chores.Then at 11 we start intermittent watching. That means we watch a couple of plays, get up and do something, come back and watch a couple more plays, repeat until the game is over__unless it is a really good game, and then we might actually watch the last quarter. Bama played at 6:30 so we did a pizza take out.

Marco's deluxe pizza or  pizza bowl (which is keto friendly)

Sunday: The day was fairly ordinary, but not cool enough to have the planned chili. I still had an ace up my sleeve, in the fridge.

Carnitas over rice (or none), steamed asparagus, spring greens with tomatoes

I did none of the baking I had planned for the week. It was ok but by Friday I was getting a little itchy to have something like a keto cookie. I can only blame myself because I did have time to make some, I just didn't do it. So this week has some baking I need to do, badly before I self sabotage.

Keto cornbread

Chaffles

Keto dinner rolls (Maybe)

Keto cookies

Keto coconut custard pie and/or Keto maple cake

And now for the planned meals:*

1. Grilled tuna, broccoli, tossed salad, potatoes (or none) 

2. Chop Suey over rice or cauliflower rice, daikon salad

3. Chili, coleslaw, keto cornbread

4. BLT salad, keto dinner rolls or regular rolls

5. Veggie meal: Butter peas (or none) squash casserole, air fryer okra

6. White sauce keto pizza bake, tossed salad

7. Take out

As usual these are only suggestions and can change based on my mood, lack of interest, or the way the wind is blowing.

Have a good week on plan, off plan or with no plan at all!

* Let me explain that TheHub is not a picky eater and as long as he has some bread, potatoes, rice or noodles with his food he never complains that I am cooking keto compliant foods. He really does like the keto cornbread also, so I don't have to make two separate "breads"

B-A-B-Y Baby

I will admit that I am interested in  curious about the people who share their lives on the blogs I read or those who have no blogs but come here, read mine, and leave comments. I know a bit about the comings and goings of all of you, and yes, I know curiosity killed the cat and all of that.  Still, I am asking each of you to satisfy my curiosity.

Sam at Sam, Coffee, Money &Thyme  has been experimenting posting pictures of herself on her blog. I think it is admirable, but I am not sure I am ready to do the same.  However I have been looking through old photos at Mom's and found a few pictures of me I have never seen before.

I am posting a new to me baby pic of myself and including a childhood memory that came to the forefront of my memories while we were looking through all the old pictures. What I am asking all of you to do is post a baby or childhood picture and add childhood memory so I can get to know you a little better. 

If you are willing to play along link your post in the comment box, or if you are smart enough to figure out how to post a pic there all the better, and I will bow to your brilliance!

When I was beginning first grade (back in the dark ages when you went to private kindergarten before starting first grade in a public school) the schools held a get acquainted day as soon as school was out for the summer. They invited all prospective first graders and their parents  (which really meant their moms back then) to come to the lunchroom at the school, meet the principal and the first grade teachers, and have a little cup of ice cream.  I do not think I had ever eaten a cup of ice cream before. Some of you may remember them, They were a little round cardboard cup with a cardboard lid which had a small tab to pull to get the cover off.  

WHEN YOU OPENED IT THERE WAS A COMPLETELY SMOOTH, UNTOUCHED  CUP OF ICE CREAM THAT YOU HAD TO SHARE WITH NO ONE!  

This was my first experience with Nirvana! But the story only gets better. Mom and Dad were house hunting, and unsure exactly what school I would wind up attending. I got to go to two meet and greets so I had my very own ice cream 2 times in a row.  I remember going home and ragging my sister because I got something she didn't. Not only did she not get any, she had never had any either. If you would like to call me a brat here, feel free to, because I was.

Karma is swift and brutal though. Some weeks later we moved to our new house, and had just gotten settled and I had met my new very best friend when my sister had to undergo heart surgery. At the time it was a delicate operation and she was a very very tiny 4 year old. 

I was shipped to my grandmother's house for the two weeks she was in the hospital and for the first week she was home. She not only got all of my parents attention (plus my aunt's  and my grandparents who swapped out time watching me to go be at the hospital with Mom, or to do whatever they could do to help when she came home) but with the exception of  the day of surgery and the first day post op, she got ice cream in a little cup every single day! Revenge is best served cold, with a small flat wooden ice cream spoon(?).

And the leads to another memory of being at Grandmother's house. Dad had arranged with my grandparents to give me 50 cents a day while I was there, with the promise that Grandmother would take me shopping for something special right before I was to go back home. I guess they were trying to keep me from missing them and thought the promise of a toy that was not a birthday or Christmas present would be so novel that I would not be homesick. 

 I was nowhere near homesick. My favorite cousin stayed with me the entire time and I always had fun playing with her. She was just a few months older than me and we spent the night with each other all the time anyway, so having her with me for the duration was nothing but fun. 

It was finally the last day of my stay and Grandmother took us shopping. I knew exactly what I was getting__a  Barbie and  a Solo in the Spotlight dress.

 I had been eyeballing it for weeks prior to my stay and had just enough money for both of those things.  We got to the store and I picked out a Barbie with blonde hair and was holding the gorgeous black dress in my hands, when my grandmother said these words that changed my world. 

"You got a new Barbie but S has been with you the whole time. I think you need to buy her a Barbie too." 

They say the Lord loves a cheerful giver__I'm sure he had very little love for me that day. I am glad she got a Barbie too and we spent many hours playing with them, but I never did get that Solo in the Spotlight dress, because just like me, Barbie had only homemade clothes.

Many years later Son 3 was on a travel ball team. If you have ever had a kid play travel ball you know it is an all day affair. He was playing in a farthest suburb of Birmingham, too far to go home for the 2 hour break, but I was hot and tired of baseball so I drove to a nearby small town. While I was exploring Main Street I found a curiosity shop and went in to see what was what it was all about. I found stacks of paper doll books, which I had not seen since I was a kid (I loved paper dolls) , so I was looking through them and lo and behold there was a Barbie paper doll book . I flipped through the book to see what dresses were in it and there in full color was "Solo in the Spotlight' I bought the book, came home, cut out the doll and the outfit, mounted it then framed it and, to this day, Barbie dressed in that slinky black frock lives on my downstairs den wall. 

And all was right in the world!

Get Well Sluggy!

 I just wanted to let all of you know that Sluggy had a gall bladder attack Tuesday afternoon and wound up having emergency surgery. She is not feeling to chipper right now and wanted to let everyone know she will be away from her blog for a bit. 

I know everyone wishes her well and hopes for a speedy recovery. Please share this with anyone you know who follows Sluggy.

Thanks, 

Anne

New Month, New Joys

                                                        Otis Redding "The Happy Song"

If you have been reading my blog you know I keep a list of the joys I find each day. At the end of the year I plan on sitting down and re-reading these weekly posts so I can remember just how joyful life can be, and what I might have missed if I did not actively look for it. Even the worst day or days have something joyful if I really look for it.  It is there!  Every.  Single.  Day. 

 Wednesday: A woman whose aunt lives up the street from Mom's house came to the estate sale and bought quite a lot, but asked us if  we would put a few things aside so she could wait a couple of dayss before buying/taking them. We agreed because we knew we would not have the house emptied by then. Fast forward, after nearly two months of her arranging to get them, me going down to wait for her and her being a no show or texting me her excuses for not coming, she finally called and picked up her things.  At last the stuff is gone. 

When I returned home things changed rapidly. I was freezing and felt less than stellar. So I made a light lunch which turned out to be a bad move. This is a weird joy, but I was very happy to have the ability to see things on demand. I tuned in to The Alienist, curled up in the recliner with a thick blanket, and watched, napped the afternoon away

Leftovers caused extreme joy because TheHub could warm them up while I remained n the den. On my brief walk to the kitchen to grab a ginger ale, the smell of food made me nauseous.

Thursday: Got a lot of the laundry room reorganized. House work itself is not a joy, but the room is large and was crammed with everything imaginable. Getting things in a much more controlled state is fabulous, plus I made a space for Mom's sewing machine. It is an old Singer in a cabinet and is the best machine I have ever sewn on. When we were young my aunt and grandmother would come to our house because Mom had the best machine, and they would have a sewing marathon. My grandmother would cut out clothes for the four girls, Mom would sew and my aunt would press all the seams.  The only downside is all four of us would have several matching outfits at the end of the day.  The real loser in the 4 matching outfits was my sister. She was the youngest of the four of us and we were stair stepped. She got everyone's hand me downs so she had to wear the exact same outfits for  four years in a row.

Friday: Yee Haw! The movers came and we were so happy. Mom had three hand tied rugs that are gorgeous and we had decided she would want them to stay with us. Since Son2 and my sister and I all live in town it made sense that they would go to our homes. The rugs look great in their new respective homes as do all the bits and pieces of furniture.

I had been a little worried about how her things would look in my house with my existing furniture. I am very happy that it looks pretty dang good.

Saturday: Ball game day!  TheHub and I worked and ran a few errands before getting ready for most of the day of ball games. Then mid afternoon Son2 and DIL2 came over to watch them with us. My biggest joy though was Shelby, the dog. When they were leaving they called Shelby to come with them. She walked into the foyer and stood there with her tail between her legs, refusing to go any farther. It secretly makes me happy that she loves us enough that she does not want to leave.

Sunday:  Evidently I forgot to add Sunday until a commenter mentioned it. Thanks Heather! We woke and attended our church streaming service, then had a Webex Sunday school class before heading to the lake. It was gorgeous on the drive down and back, and the lake itself is always beautiful.

Monday:  I was home alone most of the day and spent the brunt of the day in the kitchen making things for the freezer. Not meals, mind you! Just things to have on hand that can be warmed quickly to make staying on keto much easier. Occasionally the call of bread gets strong and it is nice to have keto compliant rolls, muffins or cornbread already made. And did I mention cookies?  Then right after dinner I had a package delivery. When I was looking at keto cookies a few days prior,  I found a recipe using white chocolate peanut butter cups that were sugar free! I had never heard of such animal before, but off course I ordered them immediately. Of course after looking at their website I ordered more items also. They came and TheHub and I both tried one (well he tried two). If you are on keto and need something delicious (albeit kind of costly) look up Choc Zero .

Tuesday: My Beloved Sister and I met at Mom's because we go there all the time to do whatever needs to be done. It's odd to go in there now. With the rugs and nearly all of the furniture gone the house echos as you walk through it, All of it except my sister's childhood room. We have used it as the catch all room for things we have no idea what to do with but know we don't want to get rid of. We sat on folding chairs (the only chairs left there) and went through a box that contained pictures, letters, bulletins, announcements and anything else Mom thought was important. We both laughed and teared up looking through each and every piece of memorabilia. It was a nice way to spend some time and we did get rid of a garbage bag filled with things that meant nothing to either of us. I am pretty sure I do not need  even one of the 10 or so

high school graduation announcements we found. 

And  a lesser joy, but joy just the same was going to CVS. I had gone to pick up a couple of items and noticed Reese's  peanut butter cups in a bag on an endcap for 1.99. These are the full size single cups and I bought 5 bags.  I scored inexpensive Halloween candy and I got a bag for TheHub so he can satisfy his non keto sweet tooth and leave my Choc Zero alone. (I don't mind sharing but he never stops at just one__or two.)

And now I move on to the next week of the year. I will continue to look for the joys I find each day. Some are harder to find than others, but there is something joyous in each day. Look, listen and feel each day  to find your own joy. Peace

 

Tuesday 4 About Fall

For the past few weeks I have been following Annie @Tuesday's Place. She poses 4 questions each week. This week it is all about changes Fall brings.

Are you decorating your home for fall? Thanksgiving? Show us some photos if you don't mind!

Right now I am in the process of incorporating furniture and items from Mom's house into mine so seasonal decorating is about as far from anything I want to do as possible. I will throw some outside Halloween decor up before the actual day, but we are having no guests in our house and I am not feeling the need to decorate inside just for us. 

After Halloween I will change over the front of the house to a fall/Thanksgiving theme__maybe. Or I may just take the Halloween decor down and wait for Christmas.

Are trees changing in your area yet? Do you mind showing a fall photo from your area?

The leaves are not changing yet, but may have lost a little of their vivid green color, with the exception of the muscadine vines. The leaves on them are yellowing and falling.

If I knew where a fall picture from past years was I would be happy to share with you, but right now I can't think of where one might be. There are none on my phone picture roll.

Do you like to use scents in your home? What kind do you use and what scents do you enjoy in your home?

I burn a candle in my kitchen most days and tend to burn something sort of seasonal. In the summer I like citrus scents, in the fall I tend to burn coffee or chocolate scented candles. During the winter I like to burn candles that smell like baked goods or burning spruce. Springtime is the only time I use a floral candle. Kudzu is my absolute favorite. It smells like a cross between a flower and grapes. It is kind of hard to find and when I do I buy more than one.

Fall's weather usually turns a bit chilly. Sometimes we change how we eat by seasons. Can you share a nice recipe for a good fall meal with us?

This is my grandmothers apple roll recipe which is more of a "how-to" than it is a recipe. She could never tell you the amounts  because she learned from watching her mother, so I would watch her make it and take mental notes. Understand there was no measuring going on and everything was a handful of this and a pinch or two of that. We grew up eating it when I was a kid, and I make it rarely now but it is always delicious. And now that I am remembering it and how good it is, I am going to make one some day soon.

Grandmothers Apple Roll

1 piecrust recipe 

peeled sliced tart apples (I use Granny Smith but have used York or Winesap) 3 cups maybe? (I just eyeball it)

sugar (1/3 to 1/2 cup?)

cinnamon (teaspoon maybe)

cloves (about 1/8 teaspoon)

allspice (1/8 teaspoon) (Grandmother did not use allspice, but I like it and added it to mine)

1 1/2 tablespoons cold butter

butter, melted

extra sugar

flour

water

Roll the piecrust into an oblong shape. Through trial and error I have found it is best to do this on a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper that has been floured.  Place  (mound) the peeled, sliced apples on the piecrust leaving about 1 inch on one side and two inches on the other free of any apple slices. Make sure you have about 2 inches of just piecrust at the top and bottom of the oblong also.

Sprinkle the sugar on top of the apples, then mix all the spices together and sprinkle them over the sugar. Cut the butter into small bits and dot the entire mound of apples with it. 

Now beginning with the 1 inch side begin to roll the piecrust like a jelly roll until you get to the two inch side. Run your fingers under water then take those same wet fingers and run them down the 2 inch side of the piecrust and fold it over to create a seal.  Pinch the crust on the top and bottom together using the same wet finger trick, then fold them over the roll to meet the two inch sealed side. Use damp fingers one more time to seal the top and bottom to the rolled pastry.  

Carefully place the apple roll seam side down on a buttered 9x13 baking dish. Brush the entire outside with melted butter then cut 3  short diagonal slices in the very top of the crust . (I have no idea if three is required or not but it is what Grandmother did so it is what I do)

Bake at 350 until it the crust is set and has a tiny bit of color but is not truly browned. Sprinkle the entire roll with sugar ( a generous amount 1/4 cup maybe). This next part is for the truly brave. I have been known to just add the sugar and let it finish baking, but sometimes I do the rest. I had the advantage of watching Grandmother so I know how it is supposed to work. It is hard to explain the magic without the visuals. Sprinkle about a tablespoon and a half of flour over the sugar, the oh so slowly pour about 1/2 cup of warm water over the top. Pop it back in the over and continue to cook, but you have to open the oven door every few minutes, stir the liquid at the bottom of the pan and spoon it over the roll. Continue until it has finished baking. You want to let it sit a bit before serving. It is delicious with ice cream or by itself. 

One of my cousins printed what she called Grandmother's recipe, but it used biscuit dough. I have a feeling Grandmother sent a bogus recipe to her mom so it would be close not nowhere near as good as the way she actually made it. This particular cousin was a foreigner (South Carolinian rather than an Alabamian) so she had no way to observe the makings of this like the rest of us did!

Close but No Cigars

Another week of meal planning and I actually came close to making what I had planned. As my cousin used to say "Well, pin a red rose on your ass." Yeah, compliments were not my family's thing.

What I planned:

1.Leftover spaghetti (TheHub) tossed salad

2. Cheeseburger salad

3. Egg roll in a bowl

4. White bbq chicken, caulitato salad, green beans

5. Greek chicken salad, asparagus, rolls or keto rolls

6. Grilled steak, grilled veggies, green beans, tossed salad

7. Grilled tuna steaks, coleslaw, cauliflower mashed potatoes or real mashed potatoes (TheHub)

What Really Happened:

Monday: I already had the chicken thawed and ready to cook when Mother Nature decided to send buckets of rain. So much for grilling. I decided to just roast the chicken and pour the white bbq sauce over it, but when I was gathering the ingredients from the fridge I noticed a partially filled bottle that was taking up space, would be just as tasty, and it would use the remainder of the bottle.

Buffalo ranch chicken, green beans, coleslaw

Tuesday: We have what we call ball game meals which are simple and easy foods to make and eat before we watch a game. Tuesday TheHub suggested we have a ball game meal before the boxing match  debate.

Cheeseburger Salad  (This tastes just like eating a bunless Whopper)

Wednesday: I felt icky all day and the one time I did eat, I paid for eating. It is so nice to have some leftovers

Spaghetti with meat sauce (TheHub) glass of ginger ale (me)

Thursday: The house was mostly ready for the movers on Friday. I spent the day getting places ready for everything that would not be going into the empty living room and forgot to take anything out of the freezer until early evening. Fortunately some things thaw quickly.

Grilled tuna steaks*, baked potato (TheHub) tossed salad

Friday: The movers came and I spent all day trying to integrate some of Mom's things into my house. I moved furniture from. here to there trying to come up with an arrangement I found pleasing. By the time TheHub came home, nothing was ready to eat, I was not going to cook, plus every thing in my body ached. Because he is a very smart man, he suggested we order some take out.

The Red Pearl basil chicken and pea leaves

Saturday:  Son2 and DIL2 came over to watch the game (Roll Tide) then ate dinner with us.

Grilled steak, mashed potatoes (them) caulimash (me) tomato cucumber onion salad, crescent rolls (them) zero carb bread toasted(me)

Sunday: We had a small hunk leftover from the Saturday night T-bones. Time for a little reformation movement.

Steak soup with onions, mushrooms, leftover pea leaves, and caulirice

And on to the new week: (TheHub is going to be working late most nights so I need meals that will hold well or cook in under 10 minutes) 

Chili, coleslaw, cornbread

Vegetable soup, cornbread

Carnitas, over rice or caulirice, tossed salad

Cajun chicken, stewed okra, tomatoes and onions, caulitato salad  garlic bread, 

Veggie meal: peas, okra, squash

Seared scallops, asparagus, mashed potatoes or caulirice

Take out

And now that I am doing keto again it means I have to do everything from scratch. This week I need to bake:

keto dinner rolls

keto corn bread 

keto butter cookies

keto chocolate chip cookies

          or

some type of keto cake

* If you have never tried the frozen bag of individually wrapped tuna steaks at Aldi, do yourself a favor and buy them immediately! They cook on the grill in about six minutes, thaw quickly,  and most importantly they are delicious! I keep them all the time. They come in a package of three so two packs gives the two of us 3 meals. 

Cause I Can

 As you all know,  I love music and share YouTube videos all the time. Well this one I am sharing right now is very special to me. My wonderful DIL3 has a new single that dropped at midnight. I hope you enjoy it. I know I do!

It is on YouTube, Spotify, and can be purchased for downloads on bandcamp, and Apple Music.