*I may have been talking to Jeff Mitchell at lunch the other day when I realized that the Easy Find Lids are not a product of Tupperware, but of Rubber Maid. So what I wrote below was meaningless because Tupperware is having the problem, and Bill is using the Rubber Maid products.

All things come to an end, but the recent announcement that Tupperware was filing for bankruptcy, was disappointing. Why? Well, I have used the Tupperware Easy Find Lids sets for many years. I think I always bought it from Walmart and I’m pretty sure I’ve bought at least two 20 item sets. Clear plastic bowls with red tops. I still prefer the lids that don’t have the vents.

Sears came and went. By the time she went, I wasn’t a regular shopper, but it is difficult to imagine how popular Sears was when I was growing up. There was no Walmart or Amazon, or web. You got the seasonal Sears catalogs, looked though them, and perhaps folded the page corners to remind you of something you liked on a page. The Christmas catalog was a separate issue. Many of the pages were not in color.

Surprisingly, Roses Department Stores have lasted to present day. How? I rarely go into a Roses, but there is one near a Food Lion that I frequently visit. I think I was looking for a chess set the last time I visited this Roses and they didn’t have it. A combination checkers/chess set (using the same red & black board) with cheap shiny plastic pieces was always a part of the games in the toys section of a store.

Bang Bang Potatoes

Sauce

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 T whole buttermilk
• 1 T Sriracha chile sauce
• 1/2 T sweet Thai chili sauce
• 1/2 t rice vinegar

I just had a thought that if I like the flavor of this sauce, I might start using it for my hash browns at JK’s. *So, I just made a small “batch” of this sauce and… it’s okay, but not quite memorable. It looks like Yum Yum sauce (which I like on my egg rolls at Maguro’s.

I’m now thinking of adding some of the other spices listed in the Bang Bang Potatoes recipe to see if that will put this sauce “over the top.” The other spices were to be added directly to the potatoes. — I just tried a bunch of spices and none actually improved this sauce greatly. I added onion & garlic powder with smoked and regular paprika. Nope. I added amchur and tamarind powder, cilantro leaves, celery seeds. No matter where I tried to go with this, failure. Oh, well. But, the new spice jars do make this process easy.

**I haven’t been to Maguro’s in quite a while, but I liked their Thai Basil Chicken for lunch. I had it about once a week back during Covid. ***Russ and Deborah took me to Maguro’s for the first time, for my birthday. Russ had the Thai Basil Chicken and Deborah and I ordered something else, but I kept looking across the table at his meal and thought it looked pretty good. Mine was okay. At some point Russ asks something like, “What’s that hot thing in this.” I thought I saw a slice of jalapeno. As I recall after lunch they were planning to spend the afternoon with me to celebrate my birthday, but as I walked to the parking lot, I was already feeling stomach uneasiness and knew I was going to need to go to the bathroom, so I “bowed out” and told them I was going back home. Which I did, but next day I drove back up to Southern Pines and to Maguro’s and I ordered the Thai Basil Chicken for lunch.

It was soooooo good! It was worth coming back the next day, and for many other lunch specials for the next couple of years. The chicken had a unique flavor. The fried rice was good, and the spring roll was delicious. They had a sweet sauce, but I later asked for some Yum Yum Sauce and it was good too.

This dish wasn’t always prepared the same way. Sometimes it didn’t have any jalapenos. Many times it had mushrooms, which I like, but not in this dish (and sometimes I would pick them out). It did have colorful sweet bell peppers almost always. The spring roll was fried crispy and had a good filling. I guess it didn’t have chopped cabbage like egg rolls. I did find that when I didn’t eat all of this dish at lunch, I could take the rest home in a “to go” box and add some more onions & peppers and it might even be better than what I had experienced at lunch… but not always.

Talking about the spring roll and egg rolls, quite a few years ago, but after I had come to Fayetteville to work (August 1995), there was a Chinese restaurant near the corner of Tokay and Ramsey Street, where the Baskin Robbins has been for many years now. It was called “Good Luck” and it had a small dining area with maybe four or six booths. They had the best egg rolls I’ve ever eaten, and I am speaking about ever in my whole life. These would be the best egg rolls ever like Seaboard Station’s fried chicken is the best I’ve ever had (in my whole life). I think I was told that they double fried the egg rolls, and they were bigger (fatter in diameter) and had a crispy shell. Two egg rolls would make a meal easily.

There was a large Chinese take out box on a pole out front (next to Ramsey Street). It had the name of the restaurant painted on it’s side (maybe two sides) and although I never saw it move, I’m thinking that it might have been an electric rotating sigh at one time. I think the main chef was an old Chinese gentleman, and I figured that when he finally became sick, or maybe even died, that they had no one that could cook those delicious, special egg rolls. One of my first food losses.

Food losses? Well, I think I’ve lost the really delicious Margherita Pizza from “Sticks-n-Stones” Restaurant in Greensboro, NC. The last two times I’ve been there this pizza just hasn’t tasted as good, and I’ve had many of these that were so good that I would actually stop, briefly, and say to myself, “That’s a really good pizza.” I first heard about this exceptional pizza from a morning TV show. They said that Sticks-n-Stones was one of the three best artisanal pizzas in the United States. When I heard that I told myself that I was going to go there and try one. And, I did and it WAS really tasty. I think I read or was told that they had a wood fired pizza oven that helped make these pizzas so special.

Lost foods? There was a Chinese restaurant near the Red Lobster Restaurant in Fayetteville. It was called “China II” and it was located on the corner of McPherson Church Road. The Hibachi Grill came to town and it wasn’t too long after that that China II closed up shop. I guess they couldn’t compete. But, China II had a Jalapeno Pork dish (on their buffet) and I would get that almost every time that I had lunch there. I have tried to repeat the flavors of this dish, and have come relatively close, but have never quite made it perfectly at home. Cooking cubed pork with jalapenos and with a little garlic powder might go a long way. *As I recall I loved the spicy flavor of this dish, but as good as it tasted at lunch time, when it was burning my asshole at 3 am the next morning I always regretted it. I did think several times it would be wonderful if you could get that jalapeno flavor without the jalapeno heat, but it was years later that I saw a jar of “Tamed Jalapenos,” which were without much heat.

Wendy’s hamburgers? Several years ago, I was eating one of the basic Wendy’s hamburgers and began to think that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I once had. After I came back to work from lunch, I googled about this and found that Wendy’s had changed their basic burger. I think they changed from a sesame seeded bun that was steamed before serving, and the hamburger might have also been steamed in the process because both bun and burger were warm and moist. Well this change wasn’t for the better. I must have saved the chain money, but if it chases away enough customers it wasn’t worth it in the long run. Still Wendy’s hasn’t gone out of business, but I haven’t been to Wendy’s in a long time.

Subway lunch combo? For many years, Subway offered a lunch combo which included a six inch sub (your choice of bun, meat and veggies) and you could have chips or a cook with that, and a drink with free refill. The Subway that I visited for lunch, for many years, located on Raeford Road just down from the Harris Teeter (now between HT & Publix) stopped offering this special about two years ago. I haven’t been back since they first told me about no longer offering the special. But, during tough economic times, I appreciated that they offered a cheap & delicious lunch.

Almost forgot this loss. Hunan Garden Chinese Restaurant on Raeford Road in the Harris Teeter shopping area. I went to this restaurant for many years, and they had good food even changing ownership at least once. But then one day I go for lunch and order and I ask the waiter if they can change out the rice for more veggies. And, to my surprise, the waiter told me they couldn’t do that. After the waiter left I thought about this for a while, and finally came to the conclusion that I had switched out rice for veggies many times in the past. Later I found that the new management had said to no longer do this.

I was also thinking that the egg rolls didn’t taste as good as I remembered. And, now I would say, “they weren’t as good, because their flavor had changed.” It wasn’t me, that had changed. So, all those years of good will that had accumulated “went out the window” with the new ownership. I noted that they closed off the side entrance and created a new one facing Raeford Road, but I don’t think I’ve ever returned to this restaurant since they made that change. I just saw it “in passing” in my car.

[NOTE 09/19/24]: I bought a bag of Russet potatoes at Food Lion. They had an unusually dark brown skin and all were approximately the same size, small. But, this is exactly what I wanted. I’m a Type 2 diabetic and I don’t need a lot of starch in my diet, but I also don’t want to cut out potatoes all together. Normally when you buy either potatoes or onions in a bag there is an assortment of sizes included. But as I said, these were ALL the same small size.

I was a little wary of their dark skin color, but I guess that’s a fear ingrained from my youth;-) No, in a potato, I thought their skin might be tougher. But they weren’t. I have baked several of these already and the whole potato is tender and delicious. I don’t have to cut a larger potato in half to get the exact portion I desire.

The company that packed these potatoes was Nature’s Way Farms of Faison, North Carolina. This surprised me. I guess I think that most potatoes come from Idaho, but this produce packer is “local” and I often drive nearby when traveling on I40 (going to/from Jacksonville, NC to visit family). I would also like to compliment this company on an effective web site. I am a retired web master from a small, local university, and I wouldn’t think that a local agri-producer would be this “on the ball” regarding both a good product and good communications/advertising via the web. *I hope they won’t mind if I try to visit them sometime in the future. [end NOTE]

I had some Noosa Blueberry Yogurt today. I was shopping at a Food Lion that I normally do not frequent and thought about buying a cup of yogurt to eat before I ate lunch. I’ve made the mistake before of buying yogurt that doesn’t actually have real fruit in it. The Noosa container was smaller than others, but it appeared that there was actual fruit in the bottom. The yogurt itself had a better flavor and you could scoop the fruit and jam into the start yogurt with each spoon full.

Food Lion was selling this yogurt at a substantial discount. Only $1. I’m guessing that they will discontinue Noosa soon.

I just saw a Noosa commercial on TV and there was an Aussie announcer so I guess Noosa is an Australian company.

01/01/25: The Noosa yogurt was delicious, but I eventually found the Greek God’s Yogurt (plain) at Harris Teeter and it has been good for me.

[NOTE 09/17/24]: At the end of the growing season last year (2023) I tried three distinct peppers: trinidad perfume, brazilian starfish and the biquinho. I put them in a seafood chowder that I made that included: cod fish, chopped clams, shrimp and bay scallops, with a cream base. The cod fish has a unique fibrous texture. The chowder was very delicious and it was both hot physically and spicy hot, but not too hot. I don’t like really hot peppers, but do like those with a little heat that have unique flavors.

So this season I went up to the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh each week and slowly at first the peppers began to appear in Ronnie Moore’s vendor space. They separate the peppers both by individual pepper, and also between hot & mild peppers. They charge more for hot peppers.

I don’t recall which of these three peppers I saw this season, but I know I didn’t see all three, even though I asked about them each time and even late into the season, and my last visit, I noted that the number of the different varieties had severely been reduced. [end NOTE]

I am able to easily grab spices now as I begin to cook. I currently like to add a little vinegar with some Agave Nectar and some sweetener. But also, I added some Amchur (mango powder), some Tamarind powder, garlic powder, freshly ground Long Pepper & S, and a little ground mustard.

I had bought two good sized pork chops at Publix. The two chops weighed a little over a pound so I cut one in two so that I would have a single portion of about 4 ounces. I baked a small Russet potato (for 4 minutes) in the microwave and I also cut up some lettuce, tomato, onion and sweet bell pepper and added a little Ranch dressing to it.

I like the mango powder because it is a little tart and then the vinegar & sweetener add to that sweet/tart flavor.

I enjoyed my meals yesterday and two of the things I measure, my weight and my resting blood sugar level were very positive this morning. My resting bgl was 123 (excellent for me), and my weight was 253 lbs. My weight has fluctuated over the last week and yesterday I was 255.2.

I used my last Rybelsus pill this morning so tomorrow I guess I can start my Ozempic shot. This is a once a week shot like Trulicity was for me. I don’t think that the Rybelsus was working as well as Trulicity had been, both for keeping my bgl down and reducing my weight. And at my last doctor’s appointment with Dr. Norem she admitted that Rybelsus was not as effective as Trulicity.

I see online that alternatives to Trulicity are Jardiance, Metformin and Glipizide. I am currently taking all three of those and have been for several years.

Not sure which level of Ozempic I am starting out with. Probably their lowest dosage, so I may have to ask Dr. Norem to increase the dosage level.

I had proved that I could control my A1C effectively at my appointment before the last one I had, but at the last appointment my A1C was almost back to the previous high level, somewhere over 7. But before I had gotten it down to 6.7. There is no way that I want to start taking insulin shots on a regular basis, although I would imagine that they have migrated to the way you take Trulicity or Ozempic. The shots are kept in the fridge, and you turn the knob at the top and place the shot on your stomach and then press the button. You hear the spring release the needle and there is a slight discomfort and then in about 5 seconds you hear the spring pull the syringe back into the holder. Then, you just throw away the used needle.

I have to pay attention to what I eat and how I fix it. I can’t add “Cream of…” Celery or Mushroom soup to create a gravy because this throws off my bgl. I can’t eat a bunch of bread, although I can eat perhaps one slice of bread at a meal, and some rice crackers at another, and polenta at another. That satisfies my hunger for bread. I can have a small baked potato, just not every day. I can have an ear of corn once a week (in season) or maybe some garden peas but not a whole can in a day. I like garden peas in my tuna salad, and I did “cheat” the other day and made some garden peas with country ham and added a few slices of Anne’s pastry. The pastry is not something I can have every day, or in great quantity, but this turned out very well.

I liked steamed asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. I also like squash, brussels sprouts and zucchini. I almost always add onion to my cooking. I like tasty tomatoes and okra (in soups or fried). And I like carrots in my stir fry, or glazed with some Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup. I like various beans but they affect my bgl also. However, I can fix lentil soup (andouille), or I have a shrimp/kielbasa/zucchini dish that is consistently good. I like salad and went through a Greek Salad period at home a few months ago. I bought Romaine lettuce, feta cheese and kalamata olives and with a little onion & tomatoes, and enjoyed homemade Italian dressing (red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and sweetener).

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere the bag of Russet potatoes I bought were all about the same size. Small, and small is what I currently like. I don’t need a lot of potato and if the potato I am cooking is too big I just cut it in half. These Russets also had an extremely dark brown skin, but it wasn’t tough and I ate the whole potato with some margarine and sour cream. The four minutes cooking time might have been almost too long, because the skin of the potato had begun to wrinkle, but the potato wasn’t dry or tough.

[NOTE 09/27/24]: Hurricane Helene came through quickly mostly west of here, but I see there was quite a bit of damage in Rocky Mount. I think they may have said that there were 15 people injured by the high winds that came through.

I had a pork chop (with the Tamarind and Amchur (Mango) powder, Agave Nectar, Equal, lime juice, vinegar and S&P. It was good again. I like those flavors together. I also steamed some cauliflower (added a little Toasted Sesame Oil after it was cooked) and a few asparagus stalks and a little polenta. [end NOTE]

the question comes up regarding a space vehicle’s name. You need to know “what was Apollo’s sister’s name.” To which I answer, “Helga the Slut.” The correct answer was “Artemis.” I guess that’s why I was never chosen for one of these teams in high school.

I was in Lee’s Market near Benson, North Carolina about a week ago. I go there especially to buy their Pepper Bacon. I don’t recall the weight of the package, but the price is usually around $14. The strips of bacon are probably a foot long and I can either cut them in half or into third lengths. I then have enough bacon to freeze two containers (I like using the reusable clear plastic containers, with the red plastic tops that the Hillshire Farms Deli Meats come in.) and have a third container to use currently. I like this bacon with my fried apples, my waffle, and/or my scrambled egg (that I cook in my onion cooker, in the microwave.). I also like liver pudding/mush (Penders | Larrys) with my egg for breakfast. I’m currently using the Larry’s version which seems just as good as Pender’s. Neese’s Liver Pudding is packaged differently and has a different flavor & texture, and I like Neese’s when I am making a sandwich.

Okay, so I use a whole introductory paragraph about me being at Lee’s Market and fail to mention that I bought a large container of Taco Seasoning. It’s always a “crap shoot” when you buy something like this as to whether you’re going to like the flavor or not once you taste it. I liked the flavor of this taco seasoning. *Buying coffee provided the same type of problem. It doesn’t matter what the name of the coffee is, it is whether it tastes good to you or not. I went through several packages of coffee (at about $9 each) before I found one that I liked. I bought the Starbucks brand, “Breakfast Blend” at Walmart and it has a good flavor to me. So, I like the flavor of this taco seasoning.

It’s heading toward 4 am this morning (a Saturday) and I’ve already prepared several items for my Mexican Taco Lunch today. The total calories for this lunch is spot on at 900 calories. I had a small ripe avocado so I mashed it up, and added some S&P and chopped up some sweet bell pepper and some sweet onion, and added just a little lime juice to hopefully keep this guacamole from turning brown. Oh, I think I also added just a few whole cumin seeds. I also opened a can of Pinto beans, mashed them up and heated them to use as refried beans. I had some “unlabeled” spice, that I finally decided was probably ground cumin that I added to the refried beans. Why unlabeled? I had bought several packages of spices from the Indian Market in Apex a month or so ago, and I didn’t label the container to which I transferred this spice. Another spice of which I did cut out the name of the spice and included it in a different container was Amchur, which is ground Mango. It is tart. I also plan to chop up some lettuce and a few tomatoes, but I prefer not to put tomatoes in the refrigerator before their use. I think the cold changes the flavor of a tomato making it less flavorful. I only plan to use one small flour tortilla for this meal, but with all the other items, and a little sour cream and Mexican Cheese blend, those 900 calories should be delicious and worth it.

I like Mexican food, burritos, tacos, fajitas, rice & beans, chips & salsa, guacamole, some sweet chopped onion and sour cream. But, I haven’t quite got it right at home. I have most or all of the ingredients but the flavors haven’t quite “got there” yet.

Since I wrote the above paragraph, I have found at least two Hispanic/Mexican themed meals that are both satisfying and repeatable: Black Beans & Quinoa is one, and my Mexican Meal is the other. Both of these include homemade guacamole, which may be blended with either sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, chopped cilantro & diced onion. The Black Beans & Quinoa are the base in one meal, homemade refried beans (either Pinto or Black Beans) pureed or smushed are the base in the Mexican Meal. The third element in the Black Beans & Quinoa is homemade salsa (not cooked, which includes diced tomato, diced onion, chopped cilantro, lime juice, etc.) and the Mexican Meal has ground beef, diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, onion, cilantro and select sweet or hot peppers, and this mixture is cooked on the stove top.