Napa Cabbage Salad w/ Asian Dressing

March 7, 2025March 20, 2025 bgibson135

I found this online.

Napa Cabbage Salad with Asian Dressing

Ingredients

1 head napa cabbage small to medium size, halved and sliced thinly
2 medium navel oranges
1 medium carrot cut into matchsticks or grated
1 red bell pepper sliced thinly and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 green onions sliced thinly on the bias
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds (let’s toast them, definitely!)

Asian dressing:

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (Brown Rice Vinegar)
3 tablespoons neutral flavored oil (avocado)
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice squeezed from remaining orange after segmenting
1 tablespoon sesame oil (Toasted Sesame)
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup (Cary’s Sugar Free, maple flavored syrup)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

I just tried this and it is pleasant. I did not add any of the Spicy Chili Crisp.

I was in the Harris Teeter in Cary yesterday, looking for Brown Rice Vinegar, when I happened to see a small, good looking head of Napa Cabbage. All of these that I had seen at other groceries in the Fayetteville area had large heads, and that was something that I knew I couldn’t eat all of, before it went bad.

Years ago, I came across a recipe that was so simple, and so flavorful, but also so fattening, and so detrimental to keeping Blood Sugar and Sodium (salt) under check that it was dangerous. As I recall, the basic items in that recipe were: Napa cabbage, green onions, soy sauce, toasted almonds, crumbled (uncooked) Ramen noodles and the flavor packet from the Oriental flavored Ramen noodles. *Here is a current version of a Ramen Noodle Salad.

And AI’s 2¢: “No, regular ramen noodles are not considered good for diabetics due to their high carbohydrate content, particularly refined carbohydrates, which can cause significant blood sugar spikes…” and, “Instant ramen noodles are very high in sodium, with one package containing 1,760 mg of sodium, or 88% of the 2-gram recommendation suggested by the WHO. Consuming just one package of ramen noodles per day would make it very difficult to keep sodium intake close to the current dietary recommendations.“

And let me recount a story that I will have with me until I die, or go crazy, or get Alzheimers. This story hopefully will emphasize that keeping Blood Sugar under control IS extremely important.

Many years ago, a favorite cousin of mine and I were visiting a distant relative who was in a nursing home. We hadn’t seen this person (man) in a long time. At least, I hadn’t seen him in a long time. It was afternoon and as we walked into his room, we were aghast. He was laying in his bed and, he had no hands or feet. It may be that most of his arms and legs were gone. They had been amputated because he was a Diabetic and sugar had devastated his body. So much so, that it was necessary to remove these diseased limbs & appendages in order to save “the rest of him.”

He was helpless, laying there, unable to feed himself, or get up to go to the bathroom. Yeah, his arms and legs were gone. He had the look of a helpless animal, and his eyes were pleading, begging us to help him. And that was the problem. Neither of us could help him. We were as helpless as he was, in our way.

*This was only a brief event, but it has remained with me to this day. Years later, but vivid in my memory.

So, don’t “write me off” when I tell you, you need to keep your Blood Sugar under check. Watch what you eat, and find those foods and meals that are delicious, but also healthy. Oh, yeah, and don’t put gas in your radiator, or water in you gas tank. You wouldn’t think I’m exaggerating by those suggestions, would you?

On the way up to Raleigh yesterday, I stopped at the library in Lillington and bought two large books. $2 each. One was about WWII and the other was about Abraham Lincoln.

So, why was I looking for Brown Rice Vinegar in the Harris Teeter? Well, this is perhaps the finest Harris Teeter I’ve ever been in, and this wasn’t the first time I had been in THIS Harris Teeter. Years ago I had bought some very fine looking mushrooms there, something like a Snow White. I also recall they had “Tiger Sauce” on a long shelf with a bunch of other hot sauces. It was then that I realized that this was how the other half lived. Their Harris Teeter’s had more, much more, of everything. Yeah, it was all, already on their long, very long, extremely long shelves and down their many grocery isles.

But no, they didn’t have the Sempio Brown Rice Vinegar for which I was looking. But then, neither did the other two, very nice Asian Groceries I had already visited.

The Grand Asia Market

Great price on Hinnant Farms Muscadine & Scuppernong Grape Juices (not wine) $5.99@ , and on the Spicy Chili Crisp was only $3.49@ (so I bought 3). This is the largest, most complete Asian Market I’ve visited. This was my second visit. I think they had Sempio Soy Sauce, but no other Sempio products that I saw. *I bought one bag of Green Szechuan and one bag of Red Szechuan seeds. I also bought a bag of Dried Millet, but have since seen a warning label on the bag that says it may contain cancer causing ingredients.

Oh yeah, one of the first things I saw as I entered this market was several non-electric woks, like the one I had bought recently. These were not the exact same brand, VinChef, but there were two slightly different versions and I think they were $59@ which is what I paid for mine (I hope.). Both had the stylized flame border around the inside rim, but one had a knob on the glass lid, and the other had that awful handle for the lid that is also a hot spoon rest. *Aroma was the brand of electric wok, that I bought through Amazon.

So, after visiting the Grand Asia Market, I pulled up the other Google Map directions to the K-Town Market, on my phone and headed across town.

As I neared the K-Town Market, I saw that there were several construction workers near the street. I think they were probably working on a new sidewalk because as I was leaving, there was a cement mixer that was backing up near me. This store although on Duraleigh Road, is just about a half block from Highway 70 and only about 2.5 miles from Crabtree Valley Mall, which is on Hwy. 70.

K-Town Foods & Market

As I entered K-Town, I saw a clerk and pulled out my phone to show her the image of the Sempio Brown Rice Vinegar label. This was the new label, and not the one from several years ago when I tried their vinegar. I had bought that vinegar at a Korean Market in Fayetteville, which is no longer in business.

As I showed the clerk the image and asked if they had this brand of brown rice vinegar, she immediately said, “Yes,” and started walking back toward the back of the store. Oh, “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy,” I was elated. She turned the corner of the isle and located there were several brands of brown rice vinegar, but pretty quickly I realized that there was no Sempio brand. *I ended up buying a different brand, with the hope that it would be as good as Sempio.

Another tangent. At the Grand Asia Market, I had bought several items. One item was a small jar of dried olives. The words “Dried Olives” were pretty much the only part of the labelling that was written in English, the rest being small, and in Japanese (I think.). When I opened the jar, and sampled one of these, I was “unpleasantly surprised.” Instead of being savory, they were sweet, sickeningly sweet, and a fake sweetness, that reminded me of what a 1980s aqua & peach colored beach house might taste like if you were able to generate that flavor in some high tech laboratory. I ate several of the olives.

At K-Town I bought three items: the “Snow White” Brand of Brown Rice Vinegar, a tall jar of Korean BBQ Sauce, and a bottle of Burdock Root Tea.

The tea was nicely packaged, and labelled, but I didn’t read the fine print until later. The later being after I had tried the unsweetened tea, and then decided to add some Splenda sweetener. Two packages of sweetener and “nope” not any better. In fact it was immediately obvious to me that the flavor of Burdock Root needed to be appreciated as “savory” and then I looked a little closer at the labeling on the bottle, and sure enough, it was readable… “savory drink.” I don’t think I would actually like the flavor of Burdock Root in any form, savory and definitely not sweet. I drank a little more while sitting in front of the Cary’ Harris Teeter. I poured the rest out in the parking lot of the Fuquay-Varina Smithfield’s Restaurant. Some exotic flavor that I like, like the preserving juice in a can of olives, might be added to the Burdock flavor, but not just by itself, and nothing readily comes to mind as the solution. Yuk!

No Sempio Brown Rice Vinegar at the Cary’ Harris Teeter but I did buy a small head of Napa Cabbage and a bunch of green onions. As I was doing the self-check out, a young man came up to me and asked if I wanted the Senior Discount. He had a card in his hand. I said, “Yes,” and he scanned the card on my kiosk, and then told me that Harris Teeter offers a Senior Discount on each Thursday. I told him that Publix offers their SDs on Wednesdays. He was aware of that. I had marked my bathroom calendar for the Wednesdays Publix offer, but now do I need to add HT for Thursdays, or come up with another way to remember these discount days?

Later at home, I tried the “Korean BBQ Sauce.” Not bad. In fact, of all the items I bought and tried yesterday, this was light years toward being pleasing. Not perfect, but very passable, and I still want to try it on maybe, a pork shop. Yeah, I can visualize the thick cut pork chop that is currently frozen in my freezer, in my Aroma wok, in the oven and then covered with this BBQ sauce.

I’ve got to remember NOT to eat at Smithfield’s again. But, this time it was after I had enjoyed the Chicken “Dark” Platter, with coleslaw, potato salad and 3 hushpuppies. At home, as I was entering the items I had eaten at Smithfield’s, that I realized how many calories I had eaten in that one meal. Well over a 1,000, in fact about 1,400 calories in that one meal. That’s about twice of what I normally eat in one meal at home, and I might feel a little guilt at being around 700 calories in a single meal. NOT WORTH IT!

I just weighed myself and definitely not worth it. I am at exactly 250 lbs. this morning after being in the 240s for the previous week. Hopefully because yesterday was not normal, and I did eat out, my weight will head back down in the next few days.

And the “Not Sempio” Brand of Brown Rice Vinegar was not what I was looking for. It has too strong a flavor.

This is a Chinese company.

I find it unusual that I can’t find the exact bottle of Brown Rice Vinegar that I took a picture of above. Also, I am not sure if the company is Snow White, a subsidiary of Cj CheilJedang Co., Ltd. Or, if one company is Chinese and the other a Korean company.

I’ve just finished my latest Pastrami Reuben @ Home Event.

March 5, 2025March 7, 2025 bgibson135

Odd to even think about making a note of this, but there are certain things that delineate this “event” at home.

Making a Pastrami Reuben at home requires me to buy a loaf of Seeded Jewish Rye Bread. I like the flavor of the rye bread, but it is not a bread that I want to use for anything besides making a Reuben sandwich. I am planning on using the last few slices of this rye bread, toasted, and hit with a mound of egg salad. So tasty, and I am surprised at how well the egg salad stays on top of the toast, even when I have a high mound of it placed there.

I make the homemade Thousand Island Dressing to put on these sandwiches, and to mix with the sauerkraut as a side, but once done, I’m probably not going to make any more Thousand Island Dressing until the next round of Reubens.

And I’m probably not going to buy more sauerkraut until the next round also, although I do think this side of Kraut & TI Dressing would go well with a fried pork chop too.

And lastly, this time I used the Wegman’s White American Cheese instead of Swiss or Baby Swiss on my Reubens. If I had bought Swiss, it is something that I rarely use on any other sandwich, preferring the WAC flavor on various other things (Bill McMuffin, Hatfield Pre-Sliced Ham).

So, I guess my “Pastrami Reubens @ Home” might have similarities to special holidays, like Christmas or the 4th of July. They come, and because they are special, people go “out of their way” to make them special by buying things they might not buy the rest of the year, and preparing things they only do rarely, but enjoying the special event and thinking warmly upon it… and maybe even getting a little excited when they become aware of the next event, just before it arrives again.

I think there is a rush to begin & end this event by not wanting any of the Hillshire Farms Pastrami to go bad after I open the package, and this has happened in the past. So, when I make these sandwiches, I may pile on a little extra meat because I don’t want the bread to run out before the meat, or cheese.

Oh yeah, and why not have more Pastrami Reubens @ Home, or have them more often? Because they are fattening and they “throw off my Blood Sugar,” so they are special because they have to be filed under the category of “A Splurge,” or “Special Event.” Not something I can have every week, or even every month. Something like eating a large plate of spaghetti, or eating a whole half gallon of ice cream in a day, or two. A blip or spike on the Blood Sugar radar, but no more, by my choice. An event that satisfies my craving for that event, without becoming a habit that will kill me, or at least do me major harm.

The picture above is what I might consider, my “Perfect Pastrami Reuben” at home. But now, even this has to be “toned down a bit.” Instead of using two slices of rye bread, I only use one slice, cut in half, so the finished sandwich doesn’t look like the nicely, sliced in two, sandwich shown above. Still just as flavorful, but half the fat & calories. And, I don’t really miss the other half of a sandwich. I guess my age is helping me a bit here. When I was younger, I would have wanted that whole sandwich… maybe even needed it for the energy, but not now.

And that reminds me of how “falling off the wagon” with food can be so easy.

I really, really, really enjoyed the Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies from Aldi’s that I had for the first time, last Thanksgiving. I enjoyed them so much that when I returned home, a few days later I made a special trip to Aldi’s and bought a package of them. And “Yes,” they were just as good, each time that I bought them. They were so good that I included “one cookie a day” in my routine, and sometimes with a small glass of cold milk. Soft and sweet, just like I like my cookies.

But, after about my third package of these cookies, I noticed that my resting Blood Sugar Level was just a little higher “over time.” And, my weight was not trending down, not even slightly. Not necessarily going up, but just hanging… and at a level I wanted to eventually reduce. So, I forced myself to “not buy” another package of the Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies from Aldi’s when the last cookie was consumed. And it was a little like stopping a favorite drug, or stopping using white sugar. There was a slight tug on my will to stop.

But, after a few days, the tug went away, and I did note that my resting BGL and weight did start to trend in the favored direction, and if I looked at it seriously, those damned oatmeal cookies were doing me wrong;-)

I didn’t know when I started to write, that this article would morph into an insight on “willpower,” but it did. Making the Pastrami Reubens an “event” was a nod to “willpower” and decision making. Making choices. Wahl, in German, which can mean “to choose,” “a survey,” “to vote,” to make a choice. In this case, to make a choice of what and when to eat, thereby affecting my health in the long run, even when that run is near the end of my life, even if my life goes on another eleven years.

I’ve not always made good choices, or not consistently. At one point in my life, I was just a few pounds shy of weighing 300 pounds. Around the 295 lbs. range. How did I get there? And after losing about 60 pounds over a three months period, twice, and about nine years apart, why did I let my weight go back up? Part of the good decision making has gotten me in the 245 lbs. range now. That’s good for me.

Following my weight and Blood Sugar Levels on the MyFitnessPal website, almost daily, has definitely made the task easier for both tracking my results, and the FOOD section, for recording what I’ve eaten, and even what I plan to eat. *I don’t always adhere to the total daily calorie intake, but I’m pretty good about the sugar/carbohydrate levels, usually.

So, I think you should be able to see that my focus on food and what I eat, isn’t completely an obsession. Okay, maybe it is.

[NOTE 03/07/25]: Just happened to see this on the Web and thought if I could get it cheap enough, and it worked, this would be one of my presents for next Christmas. I ordered this package of 3 from Amazon for under $7 and it is supposed to arrive tomorrow. The first price I saw was about $14 for just one of these. It is supposed to work on boiled eggs and raw eggs.

The advertising video they showed made it look so easy. They put three hard boiled eggs in one of these, one at a time, and it only took a second or so before they opened it back up and dumped the whole boiled egg out. I guess you just reach in to pull the two empty shell halves out. *I do not have a trick for peeling eggs successfully. Sometimes they peel easily and at other times the boiled egg white begins to peel off with the shell. Frustrating.

[end NOTE]

pu’er tea

February 13, 2025February 16, 2026 bgibson135

It was at Dobra Teas in Asheville, North Carolina that I first experienced pu’er tea. I don’t think I actually tried the tea at Dobra, but bought some and tried it later when I was back in Fayetteville. In fact, I can almost visualize the setting in which I first drank some pu’er. I was sitting on my couch and had brewed some hot tea. It is a rude awakening when you first taste pu’er, especially if you have been used to drinking black tea (Luzianne, Lipton, Nestea or Tetley) most of your life. One thought is that the flavor is similar to that of drinking water that has been flavored with a dirty gym sock. It tastes nothing like black tea. But, I do like it sweet and with a little cream which may not be how most of the World enjoys their pu’er.

*That sort of reminds me of the Sassafrass tea I liked to drink as a child. Mom & I might find a Sassafrass bush or plant on the old family farm. You would cut off a woody root and take it back, brush off the dirt, and steep the root in hot water. You would end up with a rich pinkish colored drink that tasted good with cream & sugar.

But fairly quickly, I came to recognize the unique flavor of pu’er, and I could like it as I had black or orange pekoe teas.

And, I do love tea. I have drank Bigelow’s “Constant Comment” and “Earl Grey” tea since about 1985 when a friend & his wife introduced these to me, when I went over to their house after Church. This was Rick & Linda Bell. Rick had been a Marine Corps Air pilot and after retiring, a few years later, became a Baptist pastor.

I’ve written elsewhere about “falling in love with” “Raspberry Royale” tea, also by Bigelow. I came across this while on a brief vacation, and I had stayed at a Quality Inn in Lynchburg, Virginia and the next morning took a tea bag packet of “Raspberry Royale” and made my first cup in my motel room before checking out. Loved it hot. Loved it cold. Bought a box of it when back home, and even bought a 6 box case of it from Amazon and gave them out as Christmas presents one year. *Recently I’ve found that Wegman’s in Raleigh carries the Bigelow “Raspberry Royale” tea.

This was the Quality Inn in Lynchbugh, Virginia that I have stayed at, at least twice. I brought a Raspberry Royale tea bag with me on one visit to celebrate where I had first tried this tea. I didn’t drink the first in the breakfast area, but took the tea bag back to my room and brewed it there.

I’ve tried various flavored teas through the years. I think I first bought Rooibos (red bush) tea from Whole Foods in Raleigh. At the time, they sold this tea from a large copper colored container. You scooped out the tea you wanted and put it in a plastic zip bag. Sometime later, they stopped selling Rooibos, but I found what I currently drink, as a box of Rooibos tea bags at Harris Teeter in Fayetteville.

Sometime in the last couple of years, I tried Taylor’s Scottish Breakfast tea. I hated it when I tried the first cup at home. I would call it a “heavy” flavored tea. But, I gave it a second, and even a third try, and surprisingly by the third try, I actually liked the flavor and then started drinking it fairly regularly.

Early this morning, and when I say “early” I mean about 3 am, I thought about having some hot tea, and this time I wanted to try something that I hadn’t had in a long while. I saw a packet of “Assam” tea, which I had bought at a organic food store in Greensboro, North Carolina last year.

I first tried “Assam Brahmaputra” at Dobra Teas in Asheville several years ago. They brought a cup and small tea pot to my table. They didn’t bring any sugar or sweetener, or cream or creamer, so I tried the hot tea. It was good. I managed to drink the whole pot without either creamer or sweetener. At home, I googled about this tea and found that Assam was a region in northern India which butted up against the “tea region” of China, and Bramaputra was the River going through that region. Not sure, but you probably have to be a local in that region to know when you are in India or China. If you’re on the border, they might point to two mountains that both have tea growing on them, and one mountain is in China and one is in India. “Assam” was the type of tea.

I think I recall that pu’er tea is a fermented tea and that it actually changes with age, but doesn’t get stale or go bad. And because of this, this type of tea has been used as money. The disk of pu’er tea that you see at the top of this posting, might be collectable to use when money runs short. The tea is tightly compacted into the disk shape, but there is also a version of pu’er that is loose and is sort of rolled into little curly cue balls.

*The ritual of drinking this tea is to first pour hot water over the tea, and then drain that first pour off. Then you pour more hot water on the tea and this you let steep, and then drink. The ritual may partly be because the tea is so compacted, that the first water loosens the tea so that it can steep fully. But, at that I’m just guessing.

Even though I started talking about tea, I also like a few brands of coffee. Actually, I currently like the “Breakfast Blend” (ground) by Starbucks which is sold at Walmart.

But, during the Covid Epidemic, I could no longer buy my favorite coffee from Harris Teeter. It was a flavored coffee (whole bean), but I don’t recall what flavor. *I just came across an image of the Harris Teeter coffee that I liked, “Hazelnut Creme.” They stopped serving coffees from the pull down handled containers. It took me a while to find another coffee that I liked.

So during Covid, I ran out of my favorite, and I looked in my cubboard and found a bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee (ground). I tried some and it was pretty good coffee. The next day I tried some more of the Cracker Barrel Coffee and it was good again. It took me until the third day and when the Cracker Barrel Coffee was good again that I realized that, “I hate the coffee at the Cracker Barrel Restaurants.” I hated the restaurant coffee so badly that I came to always order their hot tea. But this was good coffee. I think it was a Christmas present from a friend. I finished this coffee just before Covid restrictions let up.

At the end of Covid restrictions, I went out for a hair cut, and to buy another bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee. The bag color had changed, and unfortunately, so had the flavor. The new coffee wasn’t anything to write home about. So, I had to go on a search for a new favorite coffee.

It was about $9 a bag, and I tried about four different brands before finding what I liked.

I’ve never had a really expensive coffee maker, usually just the low end makers with a glass pot but I would “foot the bill” for a reusable gold plated metal filter. But, the last cheap coffee maker I bought was a Black & Decker, and it didn’t last but a few months before it stopped heating. I ended up buying a larger glass pot after the smaller one also went “kaput.” And, I decided I didn’t need to buy another coffee maker. I would heat my water in a regular pot on the stove and then pour it through the filter by hand. Worked fine and I have done this process for a couple of years.

I just remembered, “I hate the unsweet tea at Smithfields Chicken -n- BBQ Restaurants. It reminds me of the taste that a drink might have, with cigarette ashes mixed with water. But, their sweet tea tastes great. It has lots of sugar. I have repeatedly told workers at different Smithfields that their unsweet tea “sucks.” This is something that has to be intentional by the owner(s). You can’t suck this badly without hearing about it, and then doing nothing about correcting the problem.

So, last night I ordered some more “Indian Long Pepper” from Amazon. The odd thing about this order is how long it is going to take for it to be delivered. Today is Thursday, February 13th, but the pepper isn’t supposed to be delivered before April 7th. Damn, that’s almost two months. *I don’t think I have enough of the Long Pepper to last two months, but I do have regular mixed (white, black & red) pepper which will suffice.

Sanderson Farms

February 10, 2025May 22, 2025 bgibson135

I’ve bought chicken gizzards at the IGA, in Eutah Village Shopping Center, several times, and just bought chicken livers there today. Both the gizzards & the livers were from Sanderson Farms. I guess with a processing plant & hatchery located in St. Pauls, North Carolina, the chicken is about as fresh as it gets, unless you have chickens in your back yard and kill them yourselves, as needed.

I had a hankering to have some stir fried chicken livers along with stir fried green beans. I had this combination at “No. 1 China Buffet” in Asheboro, North Carolina last week. Actually, their chicken livers were combined with sliced jalapenos.

The stir fry green beans came together pretty quickly. First I steamed the beans for several minutes to help them tenderize before I put them in the wok to finish them. I added some toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, a little powdered ginger, a little Splenda sweetener, and white sesame seeds. Tonight I also added some chopped onion. The high heat of the wok causes the green beans to crisp up. They are a little salty, but with a slight hint of sweetness.

I questioned myself whether I should cook the green beans or the chicken livers first as I wasn’t going to clean the wok between whichever one I cooked first and then the second one. So my logic was, cook the green beans first, even though I was going to use the toasted sesame oil & soy sauce which both have distinctive flavors. I then added some canola oil to the wok and added about three large chicken livers and the chopped onion. I used a fork to turn the livers over several times to make sure they cooked through and there was a little blood red gravy on the plate at the last although they were cooked through thoroughly. I did not use any flour to coat them.

The stir fried chicken livers went very well with the stir fried green beans & onion. I used less than half of the container, but may cook the rest, the next time. I wish I could eat rice with this meal, but no. The rice, which I love, severely affects my blood sugar. But rice would round out the flavors, and the rice could soak up some gravy.

I think another item that would go well with this is the Asian Cucumber Salad. It is more sweet and includes Spicy Chili Crisp, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar and some sweetener. And if I make it far enough in advance, I refrigerate it, and the coldness contrasts to the warmth of the freshly fried livers & green beans.

Sanderson Farms, Inc.
St. Pauls, North Carolina

Our St. Pauls, North Carolina, complex is comprised of a fresh processing plant and hatchery.

Opened: 2017
Business Unit: Fresh
Weekly Processing Capacity: 1,300,000 birds

Carlie C’s IGA
Eutah Shopping Center
Fayetteville, North Carolina

No. 1 China Buffet
Asheboro, North Carolina

STORAGE CONTAINERS

Not too long ago, I was moving some items on a pantry shelf, dry beans to be precise, and I realized that there were live “mealy bugs” in the beans. Upon closer inspection I saw that several of the plastic bags in which the beans had been purchased (like black eyed peas, lima beans, green split peas) also included these bugs. I ended up throwing out several of these, and making up my mind to store any fresh dry beans in air tight containers. I realized that my old Dukes Mayo jars (made of plastic) would be perfect for this purpose. I also often buy assorted types of nuts at Food Lion, cashews, roasted pumpkin seeds, and elsewhere, almonds, pistachios & walnuts. These come in small plastic containers whose lids provide a vacuum seal, or enough to keep out the bugs… I hope. I also, sometimes, buy items at The Fresh Market such as Okra Chips, and Vegetable Chips. They come in slightly larger plastic containers, but also with the tight fitting plastic lids. *Just bought some more of these today, Thursday, May 22, 2025.

For a time, I was buying various deli meats from Hillshire Farms. I especially liked their Pastrami, which I would buy when planning to make my “Pastrami Reubens.” Very soon, I realized that the Hillshire Farms Deli meat containers (clear plastic bowl, with a red see thru lid) were intended by the company to be reused. These containers are microwave & freezer safe, and seal tightly. I currently have one of these in my refrigerator with hummus & black bean hummus in it. I also use these for storing my current uncooked bacon. A pound of bacon fits perfectly in a container. I just have to recall to take a package of bacon out of the freezer in time to use it for the next batch of bacon. But, they also work for storing leftovers.

And, I haven’t tried this yet, but I am planning to use my old Greek Gods Yogurt containers for storing my homemade chicken broth. I’ve only recently made some chicken broth using the carcass of the rotisserie chicken I bought at Harris Teeter. Now that is using the bird to the Nth degree. The price may have gone up with the recent Bird Flu problem, but before the price was about $8 for a whole cooked rotisserie chicken. This would provide at least four meals, if not the fifth being the remaining white & dark meat pieces which could be used for making chicken salad, or perhaps my Avocado, Chipotle & Chicken Soup.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality (flavor) of the homemade broth because several recipes I used it in produced very pleasing results. I used an empty Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottle to store my first batch of homemade chicken broth and it fit very well in the refrigerator door.

*I want to mention again, that I have been saving, and freezing my onion, carrot & celery scraps because of what was said in a cooking video I was watching a short time ago. When the chef mentioned that she saved the onion tops & bottoms that she cut off when preparing an onion for a recipe, and saved them in the freezer for when she next made homemade broth, it fell not on deaf ears, but willing ears.

My main problem is that I don’t have a lot of space in my freezer, but have been trying to clear it out. The process of saving scraps and using homemade broth should be symbiotic: scraps increasing & broth decreasing, and since I don’t buy a rotisserie chicken every week or even every two weeks, I should have a generous amount of vegetable matter for my next batch of broth. **I also am eating a whole container of Greek Gods Yogurt (Plain) about every four days, so I should have plenty of these empty containers next time. I’m thinking maybe four of these containers might hold all the broth I make.

So, I am trying to clear out some space in my freezer in order to store maybe 3 or 4 of the repurposed Greek Gods Yogurt containers. Just last night I re-used some Canola oil that I had stored in one of these GGY containers, and the oil had been kept in this air tight container successfully.

One final thought, if that is possible before my death, is that I’ve also recycled a sturdy plastic medicine bottle to use as a SHARPS refuse container. Doctors & hospitals use Sharps containers to store medical waste before it is thrown away. I give myself a weekly injection of Ozempic and each time I am left with a hypodermic syringe tip that needs to be thrown away. So, the thick white plastic medicine bottle is perfect for these sharp tipped devices. I don’t think Sharps containers cost very much, but free is even better.

I’ve kept several of the empty Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottles and filled them with water, for emergency purposes. I did this a couple of months ago, when we had a winter storm warning, with the threat of power going off (and perhaps water also). I fill them with water, and add a little vinegar or lemon juice to thwart bacteria growth.

AI says: “Yes, adding a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice to stored water can help prevent bacteria growth because their acidity creates an environment unfavorable for most bacteria to thrive in; essentially acting as a natural preservative.“

Food: Specialty Items

January 14, 2025September 28, 2025 bgibson135

Ranch Dill Pickles

All you do is take one packet of the powdered Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley is the standard & costs about four times more than, the Food Lion brand which costs about 50 cents a packet) and pour it in a jar of Dill Pickles. I use the GV Dill Pickle Spears from Walmart. I pour out just enough pickle juice to make room for the dry Ranch Dressing powder. You want to try and make the juice cover all the pickles. Put the lid back on, shake it up, and put it in the fridge for a day to let the flavors soak in.

A cousin of mine mentioned that he thought the skins of the pickles became tougher after they were brined in this Ranch Dressing & pickle juice mixture, and I think he is right, but the jar of pickles usually is gone before the skins become too tough.

Oh, and I definitely reuse the Ranch Dill pickle juice from new jar of Dill Pickles to new jar.

*I bought some whole dill seeds in order to try and sprout them. They didn’t, but I put some of them in a jar of Ranch Dill Pickles and I think they have “kicked it up a notch.” I guess they’ve added more dill flavor.

Wakame Seaweed Salad

I wanted to fix the Wakame (seaweed) Salad like the one I bought at Publix a few years ago, and that was also offered at a few restaurants as a side dish. Over the last few years I’ve bought various brands of seaweed (perhaps some were not Wakami) to try and reproduce this dish, but none were anywhere near it. Last year I found a jar of “Seaweed Salad” that looked a lot like what I had eaten, so I bought a jar at Golden Hex in Cary. Golden Hex is a European Foods specialty store, which carries many canned goods from various European countries, but also has a meat & cheese section, and even various candies.

The salad from Golden Hex was not “perfect” from the jar, but the ingredients I added to it did make it “PERFECT”. The additions included toasted sesame oil & seeds, soy sauce, vinegar, and some sweetener. *I think there was also some hot pepper flakes. *Not sure where I found the ingredients list, but probably online because I can’t imagine coming up with the ingredients from memory.

I guess if I would just read the ingredients
listed here, I would know.

[NOTE 04/12/25]: I made some more of this last night. I poured out the liquid from the seaweed which was a little salty and vinegary. I added:

toasted sesame oil,
red wine vinegar,
soy sauce,
red pepper flakes,
white sesame seeds, and
some sweetener.

* I had talked with one of the owners of Golden Hex and he knew this item but it wasn’t in stock at the time. He said he would order it. I don’t usually put much trust in someone saying this, but maybe a month & a half later I was in Golden Hex again and asked some of the staff if they knew if they had any of the seaweed. They didn’t know, but eventually we found it stocked on the shelf. Apparently, he had re-ordered it. I bought two jars of it, so now I have 2 because I used one last night. **I’m going to try the Walmart brand and see if it works.

Aisle A36 ***I was surprised to find, with the help of Alex, a Walmart employee, that they actually had the Seaweed Salad. It was in the refrigerated section but there was no Aisle A36, and I got it home and it worked just fine. I even added a little ground ginger and it was just as good as the Golden Hex version that is unrefrigerated. [end NOTE]

Ingredients:

Seaweed, Agar Agar, Sesame Oil, Sesame Seed, Fructose, Soy Sauce (Water, Soy Bean, Wheat, Salt, Sugar), Vinegar (Grain Vinegar, Water, Rice, Salt, Alcohol), Water, Salt, Chili, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Blue #1.

Nutrition Facts (per 1/2 cup / 112g serving):

Calories: 100
Total Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 420mg
Total Carbohydrate: 9g
- Dietary Fiber: 2g
- Total Sugars: 6g
  - Includes 5g Added Sugars
Protein: 2g
Vitamin D: 0mcg (0% DV)
Calcium: 30mg (2% DV)
Iron: 0.6mg (4% DV)
Potassium: 20mg (0% DV)

[ADDENDUM 04/16/25]: The Walmart Seaweed Salad is delicious, and it is super easy to add the other ingredients that make it “perfect”: toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, white sesame seeds and some sweetener. And I added some GV Wonton Strips and sprouted Mung Beans. This is a really satisfying combination… and alas, I’m going to have to not eat it too often. It is high in sodium and sugar. I could imagine the combination being so wonderfully “diabetic friendly” but it is NOT. I checked with the Gemini AI. Oh, well. The sodium is a natural part of it coming from the ocean. [end]

[ADDENDUM 05/31/25]: I hadn’t had this in a while and this time I added some of my Mung bean and broccoli sprouts and it was just as good, perhaps even a little more crunchy. *My quinoa sprouts don’t seem to be. They are supposed to sprout more quickly than most other seeds, but these don’t seem to be at all. They may not be the actual seed, but some processed seed. [end]

[AND MO ADDENDUM 06/28/25]: I just had another Wakame Seaweed Salad, but I added several things. I first added some of the wonton strips. I’ve done this previously and they should be a “must” because they add crunch at little or no cost, nutritionally. But, this time I thought about adding some almonds. Yeah? I’ve never thought of that before and when I added some, they were pretty pleasant in the mix. I already had the Mung bean sprouts, which are also a “must.” They definitely add crunch, and deep down inside I think they’ve got to be adding a bunch nutritionally. And, as I ate the almonds, the thought of even adding some dried cranberries creeped in… and I think they might work also. I think the thought of cranberries & almonds came from some other salad. I’m not sure if I would ever go walnuts, but it might be worth a try and walnuts and cranberries definitely applaud each other.

**I’m tacking this on, from the next day. I made my Souped Up Wakame Salad today, and added all the bells and whistles, and it was FANTASTIC! So, Walmart Seaweed Salad, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, white sesame seeds, Agave Nectar, Equal, a little garlic powder, almonds, dried cranberries & wonton strips.

Example Scenario (Serving Size 1):

Walmart Seaweed Salad (1/3 cup): 75.0 calories
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil: 40 calories
1/2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce: 10 calories
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar: 0 calories
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes: 0 calories
1/2 tsp White Sesame Seeds: 20 calories
1 tsp Agave Nectar: 20 calories
1 packet Equal: 0 calories
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder: 0 calories
Almonds (1/16 cup whole): 42 calories
Dried Cranberries (1/16 cup): 23 calories
Wonton Strips (1/2 tbsp): 8.75 calories

Total Calories = 238.75 calories

That all combined makes one delicious snack.

[end]

[ADDENDUM 08/03/25]: Damn! Sorry I didn’t scroll down further and remind myself of the almonds and dried cranberries. They do make this dish so good. But, I did add some mung bean & broccoli sprouts to this with the wonton strips and it was good too. If I haven’t said it previously, and even if I have, the wonton strips are a gift. They add crunch and there isn’t enough negative to not add them. [end]

[NOTE 09/28/25]: Yes, again. The seaweed I had in the refrigerator hasn’t gone bad. I pretty much recall all the ingredients, which is a surprise to me. It’s as if I naturally know what should go in this. I even did the Agave Nectar and Splenda without looking at the menu. The one thing I forgot, but added were the white sesame seeds. It is a pleasing little interlude. of flavor. [end]

Dolce K Sweet Olive & Fruit Mix

I have yet to order the Spanish Marcona Almonds (blanched). Above, I show a zester that I bought to zest the orange rind. It works well. I don’t have the amounts of each ingredient to use, but the first time I made this was “spot on.” Once you have your marinade, you just put the olives in and wait for a day or so, and they take on the marinade flavor. I think I should just use currants and not raisins, because the yellow raisins I used rehydrated to almost their original size, and at first I thought they were olives.

I bought some of the Mix from Whole Foods after I had made my own, to compare the two. I actually liked my version better. It seemed thicker, and more pungent. I also think that I can reuse the marinade several times, but just add a new jar of pitted olives. *It does take a day or so for the new olives to take on the flavor of the brine/vinegar but they do.

*Funny, once I knew how to make this, I stopped eating it. I haven’t had it in a long while. Not that I don’t still like the flavors.

Asian Cucumber Salad

January 13, 2025June 18, 2025 bgibson135

I had a simple Cucumber & Sweet Onion Salad tonight. I’m not sure I think of it as a “salad,” but I’ve grown up with it since I was a child. My Aunt Sis made it, and it is so simple: sweet onion, cucumber (with or without the skins), vinegar & sugar (or in my case now, sweetener). Maybe a little salt would cause the flavors to “pop.”

*I’m not sure of what kind of onion my aunt used, because we didn’t grow up with Vidalia onions, and “sweet” onions only came along after the Vidalia became popular. My guess is that the “sweet onions” don’t take the name Vidalia because they aren’t grown in the “Vidalia” region of Georgia much like certain wines or chesses can’t take on a specific name because they don’t come from a specific region of France, or Italy, or elsewhere. *Now that I think of it, we didn’t grow up with English Cucumbers either, but I don’t recall regular cucumbers as being as bitter as they now are.

But then I came upon an Asian Cucumber Salad online that piqued my interest. So much so that, I got up and made a test sample to see if it would have a distinct flavor… and boy, IT DID!

First, you’ve got to know that I’ve fallen in love with the flavor of “Spicy Chili Crisp.” I found this while looking for something to add to my Stir-Fries, as a “change-up” flavor. It is about the cheapest chili oil that you can find, and it only costs about $5 at Walmart. And I like it just from the jar. It has an earthy flavor.

My version:

INGREDIENTS

English Cucumber
Spicy Chili Crisp
Toasted Sesame Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Garlic Powder
Splenda Sweetener
Salt
Sesame Seeds
Romaine Lettuce (if you have it)

I’m thinking that this sauce would spiff up more than just cucumbers. Maybe Cannellini beans, or even green beans, or the two combined. Maybe this direction is based upon me thinking about a 3 Bean Salad, where beans are combined with vinegar & sweetener. Kidney beans & Garbanzos?

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

I have some pork chops that I think would go well with this Asian Cucumber Salad. Another thought, is using this sauce either on raw or roasted cauliflower. I’ve had something like this on roasted cauliflower, but I didn’t have the sweet vinegar. I think that is exactly what it would need. Oh wait, the roasted cauliflower had turmeric & garlic. I usually prefer sweet to savory flavors.

Spicy Asian Cabbage

I had steamed cabbage tonight and added Spicy Chili Crisp, sweetener, toasted sesame oil, and white sesame seeds. I may have liked these flavors together better than the Spicy Asian Cucumbers. I ate this with a pork chop that had agave nectar and some lime juice. I did not add soy sauce or vinegar, although that should be at least one taste test later on.

Yes, I do like the Asian seasonings with the steamed cabbage. I have made this about three times and I like it each time. I’ve also tried “smashing” the cucumbers to provide more surface area for the sauce to stick to. After I smash them, I sprinkle on some salt and set it in the fridge. After a while I pour off the liquid that has leached from the cucumbers and then add the Asian seasonings.

Broiled pork chop, charred onion, pickled beets and Asian Steamed Cabbage.

Note the one fried peanut (the red bean) that comes from the Spicy Chili Crisp.

Vinegar, Turmeric & Fenugreek…

ImageJanuary 9, 2025April 8, 2025 bgibson135

I’ve been drinking a mix of red wine vinegar, turmeric, fenugreek, Splenda and a little water either before or after each meal for the last few days. Apparently the vinegar helps regulate blood sugar, and may help in weight loss. I had noted online that it was suggested to not mix turmeric & fenugreek because […]

Sourdough English Muffin – Publix

January 5, 2025March 30, 2025 bgibson135

I was in Publix and was about to buy some dark, whole grain bread, and while at the counter, I noticed a package of Sourdough English Muffins. I quickly checked online asking, “Is sourdough diabetic friendly.” The answer came back, “Yes.” So, I took half a loaf of the dark, whole grain bread, and a package of 4 (I think.) sourdough English Muffins and headed to the checkout.

I fixed a homemade Egg McMuffin yesterday using one of the sourdough muffins and it was okay, but I didn’t toast the bread. I may have put the muffins in the microwave and melted the cheese slightly, but the sandwich was “lacking.” But I made a mental note that I should toast the bread in the oven.

I made another Egg McMuffin, at home this morning, and this time I toasted the Sourdough English Muffin in the oven first. I used the copper colored wire rack that Mary Ann had given me some time ago. After I got a little char on the bread, I added a slice, on each half of the muffin, of Wegman’s White American Cheese and let it melt a little while I was cooking the egg in the microwave. It takes about a minute and a half to get the egg just right. One minute and there might still be a little runniness, and add another 30 seconds and the egg is cooked, but not dry.

Somewhere late in the process, I put a slice of the fresh ham, that I had bought at HT (across town), in the microwave but because it started popping, I stopped the heating at only about 30 seconds. I rarely buy “fresh” ham and I did check the package before I bought this to see how much sugar was included and it said only 1% which I thought was very good. I didn’t think to check the salt content. This ham was already cooked and sliced just a little thicker than sandwich thickness. *I thought of using two slices, but then decided not to, and one slice was enough for this breakfast sandwich.

So, the sandwich was: top of sourdough English muffin, slice of White American cheese, slice of fresh ham, microwaved egg, slice of White American cheese and the bottom of the sourdough English muffin. I think I had some garlic powder, Dulse, and S&P on the egg, and a little olive oil, in the egg, and on the bottom of the microwave onion cooker.

This toasted egg, ham & cheese sandwich was delicious. It “hit the spot,” and I would definitely want to have this again.

The fresh ham I bought was a pretty good sized chunk of meat so I divided it up and froze two chunks in the freezer and had a small amount in a sandwich bag in the fridge. I already know that the dark, wheat bread I bought, even though I only bought a half loaf, is too much for me to finish before it goes bad. I still had a little of the French Baguette (LaFarm Bakery, but purchased at Whole Foods) left in a plastic bag but noticed it had become moldy so I threw it out. The Sourdough English Muffins are in the fridge. *And, I’ve just decided to half the half loaf of wheat bread and put half in the fridge also.

*I see that online this 1.5 lbs. (24 oz.) ham is only $3.99. This seems like an excellent price to me. You could get six 4 oz. servings from this ham. *When I couldn’t get the Hatfield ham at HT I went looking elsewhere. I think I paid about $11 for the same sized package of ham (not Hatfield), but then I realized that the $3.99 price I quoted was probably NOT for the whole ham, but was a per pound amount. **And, I just checked and now HT is showing the 1.5 lbs. ham for $7.99 and that appears to be the total cost. It doesn’t say “per pound.” ***I liked the flavor and texture of the Hatfield ham better that what I bought at Walmart.

[NOTE 02/14/25]: Surprise, surprise! I was shopping in LIDL today and while looking across the meat section I saw that they sold Hatfield Ham. I saw what I wanted, and bought it. I want to see if the ham makes the difference when I am making my “Bill McMuffin.” [end NOTE]

While in the new HT, I also checked the availability and price of the Plain Greek Gods Yogurt (see above – 01/04/25). *And because HT has been out of the Plain Greek Gods Yogurt a couple of times, I went looking for another vendor. Sprouts has the Plain for about 20 cents more, but they have it.

I just had some of the plain Greek Gods Yogurt with some blackberry puree that I made. I added a few walnuts to this and it was even better.

Something I started yesterday was taking a small “shot” of red wine vinegar, turmeric, fenugreek powder, Splenda sweetener and a little water if needed, to thin this drink out. I’ve read before and in the “Magic Foods” book I’m currently reading, that vinegar can help regulate blood sugar. Feungreek may also have this sugar regulating control, and I don’t recall why advantages turmeric has, but I think the term is “Golden Milk,” when you mix a little turmeric powder with milk. When I add a little sweetener to that it reminds me of egg nog. Not exactly, but “on the road to.”

It seems that the mixture of vinegar, turmeric and fenugreek causes the mixture to coagulate. Maybe the fenugreek does this because I haven’t noticed that result when adding just turmeric to milk.

*I was “talking” with an AI, ChatGpt the other day about this drink and “out of the blue” it asked me if I had to shake up the jar when I took it out of the fridge. I didn’t prod it for this observation. From it’s vast databank, it knew that Turmeric did not mix with vinegar or water, and would settle in the bottom of that kind of mix. Sort of like when Gemini realized that I was setting up my 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL 9000 scenario. The can be sharp, and they can be an “Idiot Savant.”

Aldi’s: Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie

January 2, 2025March 26, 2025 bgibson135

Last Thanksgiving I was visiting my favorite cousin, Mary Ann in Hubert. Her daughter was also visiting, with her husband, and she had brought several things to eat. One of those items was “Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies” from Aldi’s.

I’m a Type 2 Diabetic, so I shouldn’t be trying a sweet cookie, like this, but I did. And, “boy oh boy,” the cookie was delicious. I love a soft cookie, usually not chocolate or pecan, and this cookie was just about perfect. I like the flavor of cranberries and I knew I liked the flavor of an oatmeal cookie.

So, after Thanksgiving I am back in Fayetteville and I decide to go to the nearest Aldi’s to see about buying a “Stolen” Cake to give as a gift to a good friend for Christmas. The friend had introduced me to this German “fruit cake” several years ago, and she had bought hers at Aldi’s. The two flavors that are common are almond and cherry flavored fruit fillings. *Stollen is mostly a cake, in the shape of a baguette, and sprinkled profusely with powdered sugar, and down the center of this cake is a pureed fruit or nut filling. Only one flavor of either a fruit or a nut.

*When you mention a “fruit cake,” I always think of the Claxton Fruit Cakes that we always had at Christmas time when I was growing up. A Claxton (Claxton Bakery, Inc., Claxton, Georgia) fruit cake is a densely packed dried fruit & nut cake, with not much cake between the various fruits & nuts: California raisins, pineapple, papaya, pecans, cherries, walnuts, almonds, and lemon and orange peel.

Several years ago I made a pilgrimage through Georgia just below Interstate 16, on State Road 280. The two towns that I was interested in visiting were Claxton and Vidalia. Claxton for their fruitcake fame and Vidalia for their “sweet onion” fame. I did buy Claxton Fruit Cake in the Claxton Bakery, in Claxton, Georgia. And later, I also bought Vidalia onions in a grocery in Vidalia, Georgia. The heads up: I found when I returned to Fayetteville, that I could buy a bag of Vidalia Onions for the same price in my local WalMart as I had in downtown Vidalia. And a couple of years ago, Harris Teeter had a special on Claxton Fruit Cakes for about $2.99 each. I recognized that price as being noteworthy, and bought several and gave them away as Christmas presents. *I think the Claxton Fruitcake this past Christmas season was selling for $4.99 each.

[03/26/25]: On Monday I drove to Hamlet, North Carolina to have lunch at Seaboard Station Restaurant. They have consistently great fried chicken, and their thin cut pork chops are pretty good too. After lunch I drove past the regional airport and a short distance away was a small, IGA, local grocery.

A glass door freezer, without the Hershey’s advertising all over it.

I’ve visited there once before, and stopped in to see if they had the Hershey’s Roadrunner Raspberry ice cream I like. No, but I bought a small container of their Black Cherry, and the checkout clerk, wrote down the name of the ice cream so she could ask the Hershey’s delivery guy if they could get it. Her wedding buffet was supplied by Seaboard Station. *Beside the Hershey’s “Glass Door Ice Cream Freezer” were Claxton Fruit Cakes on special. They were listed as 2 for $4. So, I bought 4 of them and I’ve already given away two, before I made it back home. [end]

I haven’t done it in a while, but I like to freeze my Claxton Fruit Cakes and slice off a chunk and have it with either cold milk, or hot tea or coffee. **And, when talking about freezing cakes, I also liked to freeze the pound cakes that Bill Korver’s wife, Marcia, made quite a few years ago.

As I was driving along State Highway 280 in Georgia, it must have been harvest season for those Vidalia onions because I passed a large, long field that had been plowed and had several rows, side by side. But, the unusual thing for me was that there were large bags of Vidalia onions (possibly 50 lbs. each) stacked beside each other along each row, and as if each was propping up the next. A string of bags of onions like falling dominos.

As I mentioned the bags of onions lined up like falling dominoes, I realized that this was one of those rare events that a person can only experience “by being there.” And, I recalled the android character in “Blade Runner” (the original movie, and played by the Dutch actor, Rutger Hauer) as he is dying and waxing philosophical about the things he had seen in faraway galaxies. I too have seen things that only I or a select few have seen.

So, I was in Aldi’s looking for Stollen, but they didn’t have any. I went looking for the Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies and found them. I bought a package and when I got them home and tried one, the cookie was just as delicious as the one I had back at Thanksgiving. I would definitely recommend these Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies from Aldi’s! A soft, sweet, oatmeal cookie and I like cold milk with mine.

A Heads Up: After a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, there are certain items at your local grocer that may be temporarily “out of stock.” I’ll mention only a few: milk, eggs, bread, and orange juice. I usually forget about these shortages until, just after the holiday when I am in the store and come to the milk section, and there is a gaping hole where the half gallon of regular milk should be. My first thoughts are, “Why can’t the store plan better? They know that there is going to be a ‘run’ on these items. It’s not like this doesn’t happen every year.” And then the other awareness comes, “Why can’t I plan better? You know there is going to be a ‘run’ on some of these items. It’s not like it doesn’t happen every year.” From me to me, “Just plan better Bill.“

And a further note for next year: “If you want to buy Stolen at Aldi’s next year, you should buy it early and not wait until it is completely out at two different Aldi’s locations in Fayetteville.” Does that sound like I am speaking from experience? Recent experience? “Yes I am!” *Now, I did get a ‘heads up’ from someone that “World Market,” which I had not visited in Fayetteville until a short time ago, also sold Stolen, and they might still have some. *I did go to World Market, and found the rack on which they had their Stolen for sale. But, I was disappointed on two levels: The size of their Stolen cake seemed much smaller than what I had purchased a couple of years ago at Aldi’s. And, the price for this extremely small looking cake seemed a little too expensive. They did have a much smaller Stolen cake, but it was priced at about what I thought the “full sized” Stolen cake should have been priced. But recall, that I don’t currently want to pay $7.49 for a single Country Ham Biscuit for breakfast, either.

[01/05/25]: I was talking with someone in Fresh Market yesterday and they gave me a “heads up” for next Christmas. Check in a day or so before Christmas and you should be able to get a good deal on those Christmas items, like Egg Nog.

I bought some of this Homestead Creamery egg nog at Fresh Market a year ago, and I kept the bottle & cap after I was through. Not too long ago, I poured my Half-n-Half into this container and put it in the fridge. I like the feel of the cold glass on my hand when I get it out of the refrigerator and pour it into my hot coffee or tea.

I didn’t have any egg nog this year, and then just yesterday (01/04/25) I got the urge to have some egg nog. It may be that I’ve been writing about the Christmas presents I received as a child & boy over the years. I knew that most grocery stores don’t have any egg nog as soon as Christmas is over, but I went searching anyway. That was one reason I stopped by the HT across town, but they had none. And, later last night I stopped in the Fresh Market hoping they might still have some of the Homestead Creamery egg nog I had seen in the store earlier in the season. But no, there was none there. The clerk said they usually put egg nog on special just before Christmas so that there will be none to return to the milk supplier. [end].

[ADDENDUM 03/01/25]: I just wanted to add a few photos from the LIDL (near the Mall) in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I have found several items worth buying. I’ve highlighted green beans, bagged carrots, Camembert cheese and half gallons of 2% Milk (@$1.29 a half gallon/limit 6), but recall that they have a good price on Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa and Smoked Oysters.

[end]

Carrots with Hummus

December 31, 2024June 5, 2025 bgibson135

Diabetic Friendly Snacks (from a YouTube video)

Carrots w/ Hummus
Celery Sticks / Peanut Butter
Cucumber Slices

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

I saw this breakfast meal in a list of diabetic friendly alternatives. I liked the looks of it, and I had just bought some Romaine lettuce hearts a few days ago, and I knew I had an avocado that was very ripe already. As I read through the ingredient list there was nothing that I would need to substitute or leave out completely. Jalapeno, I had bought several bright red ones yesterday at Compare. The eggs came from Aldi’s because they had a very good price on them . Sweet onion and grape tomatoes (I like the Campari tomatoes.).

I put a little olive oil in my small Guy Fieri frying pan and turned the heat on low on a small top electric burner. Doing without meat is usually not pleasant, but I’ve got to say that this breakfast was delicious and I would definitely like to have it repeatedly. I still like bacon for breakfast, but this was delicious. I think the little bit of jalapeno, with a bite of sweet onion, and then some avocado, and a bit of lettuce and some scrambled egg all worked well together.

This was a Woman’s Day recipe for “Mexican Scrambled Eggs” from 2015.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
Avocado
Onion
Jalapeno (diced)
Cilantro (diced)
Lime Juice
S&P
Eggs (scrambled)
Olive Oil
Romaine Lettuce (chopped)

06/05/25 pic shown above: Without the Romaine Lettuce (because I didn’t have any), cilantro (because I forgot it) or the lime juice (forgot that too).

Spiffing Up Canned Collard Greens

I had bought a cheap can of Great Value Collard Greens from Walmart the other day in anticipation of fixing some for New Years’ Day. Since it is just myself that I am cooking for, there is no need for me to buy a large bunch of fresh collards, chop them up and cook them down.

I googled for ways to “spiff up” ( my words, not the search words I used ) canned collards. One suggestion was to add a little Toasted Sesame Oil. I like the flavor of TSO, but didn’t try that this time. I have put TSO on steamed cabbage and steamed cauliflower, and it does change their flavors positively.

I still had a shallot that I had bought at Whole Foods last week. I diced the shallot in a small dice. I had a small Russet Potato, that I peeled and diced in a small dice, and

I used two slices of bacon that I put in the bottom of a small pot on my stove top. I added a little bacon grease, some garlic powder, Splenda sweetener, and some S&P. I just wanted the bacon to begin to become tender and the shallot to sweeten with a little heat.

I added a little GV Chicken Broth to the bacon and potatoes and cooked the potatoes until they started to get tender. I then added about half the Collard Greens to the pot and continued to cook.

For the quickness that I used to prepare the ingredients and cook them, this side dish worked very well.

For New Years Day dinner, I heated up some chicken gizzards that I had prepared a few days ago. I had fixed some black eyed peas early this morning to make up for those I had ruined a few days ago by burning them on the stove. They were still edible, but a little scorch just sets everything to “wrong.” But this mornings’ peas were delicious. And with the gizzards and peas I had the spiffed up collard greens. It all worked well together.

For lunch today I had some pork chop, pickled beets, red cabbage slaw and butterbeans (that I had fixed early this morning at the same time I was cooking the black eyed peas). That meal was “okay,” but it didn’t quite float my boat. And breakfast this morning wasn’t quite as good as it was yesterday. Not sure if the avocado wasn’t quite ripe enough, or what. One note is that both mornings the scrambled eggs looked grayish. Not sure why.

CHICKEN GIZZARDS:

Bacon grease
Onion
Celery
Chicken broth
Chicken gizzards
Dulse
Marjoram
Savory
Thyme
S&P
Butter

I think the Savory might be the one ingredient that makes all the rest work. They are all necessary. Not sure if thyme or marjoram are essentials, but they don’t seem to hurt either.

I listed the ingredients in the order that I think they should be added to the pot. The bacon grease flavors the onion & celery and when they become translucent, then either the gizzards or the chicken broth should go it pretty close to each other.