It’s been up to 50 degrees, melting the snowpack on the roofs considerably, which is very welcome. The koi are deep asleep under a slab of ice; and everything is still snow-covered, with dark holes where the footprints have melted down to soil.
Last night we looked out to great slushy glops raining past the streetlights onto wet pavement—this could have been nasty. But it went back to rain, and when Jane reported to the lab this morning for the quarterly blood test (thyroid, and so should I) it was pretty clear.
We added up everything we were apt to spend on antibiotics and downtime—or a new (and too late) tree—and decided that we should just get it together and got down and get some air purifiers for our respective bedrooms: so it was pricey—that was a major dent in Christmas—but we think it was smart. I’m already breathing easier, when every breath was going down to the lungs like fire.
The real stuff is coming in this weekend, so they say: it’s supposed to snow and Patty and Mike Briggs (Patricia Briggs) are coming in for a book signing from their home south of here. We’ve arranged to have dinner with them; but we’ll offer to put them up if it’s as dicey as it could be—there’s an absolutely wretched junction of I-90 with WA 305 or whatever, around Ritzville, that is a magnet for ice and the worst weather to be had. So we hope for better—at least for their trip—but it is what it is.
Trying to figure what to have for supper tonight. The big deal on South Beach is veggies. No matter what else you have, you have to eat a cup or two of non-starchy veggies apiece at every meal, so there, I’ve got to figure something. It may end up being a huge helping of cauliflower and a main course of southwestern beans with cheese. (That would be the protein, which is how we get by with beans.)
On the good side of things, the weight is still trending downward. It’s taken us two weeks to diet off what we gained at Thanksgiving, but hey, we had fun!
What’s your diet’s stand, and your and Jane’s opinions, on veggies via juice? I’ve always liked carrot juice, if fresh and non-cooked (canned is dreadful), but the only easily available source was Odwalla, which is very pricey. I recently discovered the carrot juice at Costco, which is less than half the price, and very good, especially when mixed with orange juice. They say there are 8 servings of vegetables in the quart.
There’s also making your own. My blender died, and I am lusting after a Vitamix. But the price! Owie! On the other hand, it does stuff other blenders only dream of. Hmmmm…
Juice is rated great, but alas, carrots and beets and oranges are on the forbidden list, and most of the veggies we are allowed are in the salad vein. Unfortunately both of us, Jane more than me, are sensitive to tomatoes. Potatoes are forbidden anyway, but neither of us can eat them often: the penalty is arthritis-like pain. In point of fact, we have a real problem being vegetarian; Jane detests most veggies that would enable me to spice up the diet Med style—eggplant, olives, neither of us can tolerate onion at all, garlic is iffy, and only ok once in a while if fresh; Jane doesn’t like horseradish. I’ve conned her into tofu, but she tastes bitterness so acutely that I don’t think there’s any way I can fix eggplant to get it past her—I don’t taste it, and I know all the methods for removing it, but they’re still not enough. She really, really hates olives, doesn’t like salty green ones because of the salt, and doesn’t like ripe ones because of the texture; and since I love Mediterranean food, this is a problem. We are, however, ok with bean sprouts, which is good. You can sub them for noodles in chow mein, and I cook a Szechwan- or Hunan-style Chinese which is spicy enough for anyone. You can also sub quick-wilted, shredded spinach or other stubborn greens. The problem with Chinese is that on our diet you can’t use thickener, (starch)—and that’s a pest.
My ongoing frustration is that I’m at a plateau, and it’s coming up holidays again. I cannot get past this one number on the scales no matter what, and it’s been 2 months of flirting with it: just past it is territory I haven’t visited since 1980.
Persistence, however. Patience. I’m having to discard multiple pairs of jeans as falling-off, and a few years ago I couldn’t find any that fit. I’m zipping coats that haven’t zipped in 15 years. I’m looking at one that hasn’t zipped in 20. [Leather: it’s forever.] My skates have to be reshaped. I’ve lost a shoe size. Jeggings and I are not incompatible at this point, and at my worst, it had to be men’s jeans. So there’s reason for optimism.
I also just discovered that Odwalla is now wholly owned by Coca-Cola. Well, they don’t need my money for an overpriced product, even if it is healthier than soda-pop.
Have you tried roasting the cauliflower? It’s divine, especially with a sprinkling of a good-quality parmesan cheese and just a touch of salt.
Oh, that sounds good!
Is spaghetti squash a no-no? I find it a good substitute for noodles. Although, being a squash, you may have other problems with it.
Actually, squash is a New World plant we do enjoy. But I have never gotten a good recipe for spaghetti squash.
I cut it in half and bake it getting rid of the seeds beforehand. Scrape it out and then treat as you would noodles. I have microwaved it with some success except for once when I musn’t have put enough holes in the skin to let the steam out. It exploded and blew the circuits in the microwave. Ghastly mess. Although not as bad as when my mother was pressure cooking apricots and didn’t lower the pressure soon enough. The valve came off the top and there was a fine spray of apricot all over the kitchen ceiling. This was in the days when you didn’t know what the pressure was and had to adjust it by how it sounded.
ROTFLMAO! Been there! Mum was canning tomatoes—big vat full of jars. They must’ve boiled dry, and we looked like the worst crime scene you can imagine. My poor mum was pregnant with my brother, and I was 7, so I got permission to climb on the counters and scrub cabinets, walls, ceiling, fridge, you name it.
Roasted Cauliflower is heavenly as I discovered this Thanksgiving. What I did was modified a recipe I found (neither myself or the bf care for cumin or curry powder, so I omitted those and it still turned out really good.) which is essentially 3T Olive oil, 1T dijon mustard (I used a sweet honey dijon, you can probably use any nice mustard here), 1tsp curry powder (I left this out), 1tsp ground cumin (another omission on my part), and 1 tsp herbs de provence. Salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (I roasted em at 375 for a half hour or so as I was making meatloaf as well and that was the temp for the meatloaf.)
Cut cauliflower into medium, golf ball-sized florets, discarding tough, woody base of the stem and leaves. Cut softer parts of stem into bite-sized chunks.
In a large work bowl, add olive oil, mustard, curry powder, cumin, herbes de Provence and salt and pepper to taste; whisk until dressing is well-incorporated and smooth. Add cauliflower pieces to bowl and toss until pieces are evenly coated.
Spread cauliflower in an even layer on a baking sheet, and roast until florets are tender and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. (The recipe doesn’t say to layer the cauliflower on parchment paper, but I found that worked nicely with minimal sticking to the pan.)
My standard for spaghetti squash: Cook the squash so that it makes the strings, but isn’t mushy. Layer half of it in a dish, top with your favorite spaghetti sauce, a layer of cheese (provolone, mozzarella, etc. I use slices, but shredded would work), the other half of the squash, more spaghetti sauce on top. Pop it all in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes or so until everything is bubbly and the cheese has melted.
Sounding good!
Hm: I’m way out of my depth. CJ; may I humbly suggest you visit a Trader Joe’s next time you’re coastal of Spokane (unfortunately, that seems the criterion), also look at http://new.wavewithoutashore.cwgservices.org/?page_id=525&cpage=13#comment-15571
PS: I LOVE preview!!!!
I’m so glad to hear you have air purifiers in your rooms now – you must spend most of your lives in there is you work and sleep in them …. and to be feeling like you can’t breath – that’s awful. I open my bedroom window for as long as I can during the day, even i the winter a good couple of hours – but then I don’t work in there! (hate heated bedrooms, I am sure I would feel like dying if I lived in a properly centrally heated house)
you can do that cheese thing with quite a lot of veggies I should think …
One of my friends uses grated cauliflower in place of rice — and it might be a good thing for you to try. Oranges are on stage 2, which I finally hit today. Stage 1 removed 15 pounds, which only tells you how badly I needed to do something. Tomorrow or the next day I plan to bake an acorn squash. They ae very good.
Today it was devilled eggs, a huge bowl of broccol1, sliced beef, more broccoli, and later I’ll do a salad.
Ricotta casserole was good, and the homemade sauce has no sugar at all, and sits in a small cup next to the ricotta.
I know this is a few days out, but was really curious about your air purifier. Just tried a couple of ion towers and had a ghastly time of it — severe headaches, sinus pain, started coughing. Took me a bit to realize that it wasn’t a cold, and the one day I didn’t have them turned on, I felt amazingly better later in the day. A bit of research on line said that they can produce high levels of ozone — especially in a closed space. Any suggestions? Would be nice to have clean air sans pollen and such, but the ozone was really nasty.