I had quite a trip on Christmas Day, 2025. I had some food gifts I wanted to take with me to Mary Ann’s for Christmas dinner. I also wanted to drive the recently opened Havelock By Pass, but also ride the Minnesott Beach to Cherry Branch Ferry (a 20 minutes free ride).

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Some of the items I managed to check off included:

• Drove to the Minnesott Beach Ferry a different way.
  • Since I wasn’t going to Jacksonville first to eat at Helen’s Kitchen (not open on Christmas Day morning, I thought about looking for a quicker, more direct route to the Ferry.
    • I ended driving up I95 to Smithfield. This route was going to take about 2.5 hours.
      • As I neared the I95 to Hwy 70 Exit, I realized it would be a good idea to take a bathroom break and I thought there was an I95 Rest Stop just a few miles above Selma. I remembered it correctly and afterward, took a more country route back to Hwy. 70 and came back on at Princeton.
    • A large portion of Hwy. 70 has now become I42, and even more is planned.
      • Near Goldsboro I was directed onto I42. I actually rode over (not on) a country road I had been on after stopping at Nahunta Pork Center the first time I visited there.
      • Later after Kinston, the newly renamed Hwy. 70 now I42 took me on to New Bern.
    • I decided to drive through downtown New Bern, but then forgot to actually drive down town and just by-passed it over the old draw bridge and then over the new bridge toward Bridgeton and on to Arapahoe and the Ferry landing. I got to the landing about 10:55 am, but as I waited realized that they only had one ferry running and it would leave the Minnesott Beach side at 11:30 am.
      • That gave me the opportunity to go to the bathroom and then I had a pleasant talk with a Mr. Smith.
        • I started by asking him if he had driven the new Havelock By-Pass, and he said “No.”
        • He mentioned several places including Southern Pines, which he mentioned still had a “Blue Law.” (Businesses not opened on Sunday.) I’ve even gone shopping several years ago in downtown Southern Pines, not on a Sunday. And I’ve visited the Library near downtown several times. Good bathroom. Comfortable to read their magazines.
        • Didn’t like to go to New Bern, but he was familiar with the Montgomery Wards there from years past.
        • Out conversation was cut short because of the arrival of the Ferry.
      • Pleasant ferry ride.
      • On the Cherry Branch side, I headed on back into Havelock and then traveled several miles on old Hwy. 70 to get up to the By Pass intersection and then turned around to get the full effect of the new By Pass. It’s quick, and uncluttered and you go from one end of Havelock to the other. Don’t know if you might save 15, 20 or more minutes by not having to go through Havelock and all the stop lights. But that should take away a bunch of business.
        • May be almost to Newport before the businesses on Hwy. 70 are unaffected.
      • I came back to Hwy. 24 and headed back to Swansboro.
        • Very few businesses open on Christmas Day. That wasn’t the case just a few years ago.
  • Drove in to Mary Ann’s and no one outside, although I wouldn’t expect anyone out on a cool Christmas day.
    • I took my red ice chest with several cheeses in and also my Aldi’s shopping bag with various edible goodies.
      • Okra and vegetable chips, clam pack of walnuts, Claxton Fruit Cake, Castelvetano & C & Nicoise olives, garlic, pickled peppers
      • GOAT Brie, Caprichio de Cabra and Sake 2 Me Cheeses.

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• El Catrin Kitchen
  • Choose the fajita lunch and lay off the rice & beans.
    • Eat the chips & salsa at the end of the meal.
• Longhorn Restaurant
  • Eat the appetizer bread at the last.
• MiCasita
  • Eat the tortilla chips & salsa at the end

• Create Resistant Starch
  • Get in the habit of creating resistant starch by cooking your starches and then refrigerating them for at least 12 hours before reheating and eating them. This includes beans, potatoes and rice cooked the day before you reheat & eat them. Only a small amount of resistant starch is created (12 %), but it acts like fiber and is processed later in the digestive system.
• Eat Your Appetizers at the End of the Meal
  • Not the most normal way to eat your appetizers. After all, they are called appetizers because they are to be eaten before the main meal, but you don’t need all those carbs & starches at the start of your meal. Start with protein and fat before you chow down on the starches & carbs.
• Drink Vinegar & Water Before A Meal
  • The ascetic acid in vinegar helps the enzymes in your digestive system slow down the process.
• Choose to eat Sprouted Grain or Sourdough Breads, Wild & Black Rice, and Blue Corn Tortilla Chips.
• Eat Your High Carb Meal Earlier in the Day
• Take a 10 Minutes Walk After a Meal

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I put the Stelo CGM Sensor on this morning at about 7:15 am (12/23/25). I had been planning to put it on the back of my left arm, but then last night it suddenly occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to take my blood pressure on that arm as I have been doing for quite some time. So, I began rehearsing how I would put the Stelo on my right arm.

But, this morning first thing, I went to my easy chair and got out the sphygmomanometer (blood pressure kit) and tried putting it on my right arm. Surprisingly it might have been easier to put it on my right arm than it was to put it on my left arm. It was just the way the velcro tape attached. So, I put the Stelo CGM Sensor on the back of my left arm.

I can’t say there was any pain when I pressed the white button to attach the sensor to my arm, but more like when a fresh breeze suddenly surprises you and you blink. Yeah, not painful but not nothing either. I had watched the “attachment” video and rehearsed in my mind the steps required.

• Take the bottom off the sensor attachment tool.
• Press the tool to the skin on the back of your arm.
• Press the white button, and the needle & filament are inserted, and I’m guessing the needle retracts immediately. My sense is that the needle is the support needed to deliver the flimsy filament under your skin, and having done it’s work, returns to the applicator.
• You then gently press the sensor into your arm. I guess to “seat it.”
• Add the green protector patch around the sensor and press your finger around it to make sure it sticks to the existing patch. I think this is a moisture barrier. *I was surprised that the patch donut went around the hump of the sensor, but it did.
• Then scan the QR code to get the sensor ID so that the Stelo app can pair with your sensor. Took a few seconds but it found it and we were off to the races. Actually it said I had to wait 23 minutes while it checked things out.
• A little more than 23 minutes later I checked the app for the first time. It said my current Blood Glucose reading was 130 and stable. *My regular monitor had said I was at 103, which is the normal “ball park” figure currently.

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This meal has given me my first recorded Blood Sugar Spike and at the moment is nearing the 180 top of the normal range. Looks like it will go higher, but hopefully not too much higher.

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The first sensor I installed worked for a week, from about 6 am on December 23rd, until about 9 pm on December 30th. I didn’t notice that it had stopped sending data to the app on my phone until the next morning and shortly after that I got the notice that this session had ended. That’s it! Fini! I ended up contacting Dexcom Support and they said they would send me a replacement, and that I would need to remove the old sensor and put a new one on. I have done this. It almost seems like this is a known issue. Both ChatGPT and Stelo thought nothing about what had occurred.

I have found a couple of meals that surprisingly do not spike my blood glucose level. The homemade pizzas that I create on the Thomas Keto Bagel Mini shows almost no spike.

Several years ago I was driving and came to a stop light. Off to my left, coming from across the intersection from me, was a small “beat up” car and in it a young college aged guy. But here’s the thing, I looked down at his bumper sticker and it said, “I slept with your girl friend last night, and she liked it.” You do know the type of person that would put that on their bumper? Young and angry, and wanting to be in your face.

Well, my mind was working, as it often does, but not always. And my first thought in response to this bumper sticker was to tell the young guy, “Well you can tell your mother that we’re (me and her) are through dating.” — You do get the message, as he would if he had been a deep thinker, right?

So whenever I see someone trying to make a point, whether I agree with them or not, I have a tendency to try to take the other side. I look for the weak point in their argument and then try to come up with a counterpoint. And, Facebook is an excellent tool for trying to hone this skill. Someone makes a definitive remark or comment, and I have the urge to rebutt, “But what if…”

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Here are two of my politically subversive AI generated images.

I love to visit and comment on the Border Wall supporters section in Facebook. Their famous line is “Build it tall, and wide, and electrified.” My early rebut was, “why not build it only 6 inches high and out of cardboard.” It would be cheap and quick to build and complete. Might even be able to complete the whole wall by January 31, 2025. Paint it so that color blind individuals could see it. And if you are serious about keeping people from crossing it, then post all those National Guard troops, that you are sending to various Democrat run cities, to guard every inch of the wall.

But then for Christmas the thought came to me that Santa is the most Jesus-like character we have in present day. I realized that you couldn’t build the wall so high that Santa, Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer couldn’t fly over it. And being “America First” centric, it was obvious that Santa would travel from Europe over to Canada & America and then head south before heading out to Hawaii. So, it was natural that Santa would have no trouble flying over the Border Wall, no matter how high, wide or electrified it was. And I’m guessing that as he flies over it, he would change his preferred language from English to Spanish. That’s why he speaks both English & Spanish to his reindeer. And Santa isn’t going to hesitate giving good gifts to all those who are South of the Border because he doesn’t understand “America First.”

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Now because I write an email almost every day to my U.S. Senators & Congressman (who all are Republicans) regarding that the video of the second missile strike on the drug boat in which, I am told, there were two surviving drug runners, clinging to their disabled vessel, with no opportunity to radio anyone for help, when what should eventually be determined as “an illegal order,” was given either by Pete Hegseth, or Admiral Bradley and carried out all the way down the chain of command to whomever pushed the 2nd missile button and killed the helpless survivors. *I know it was wrong because of all the WWII War movies I’ve seen where the German U-Boat surfaces, and finishes off our helpless survivors with their deck gun! We NEVER justify the actions of those damned Nazis, and we shouldn’t do it either, for ANY reason.

This started out as a Pasta Fagioli recipe, but got re-carb-o-nated and zucchinied.

Zucchini + Small-Pasta Beef Soup

(Instant Pot Mini – 3 qt)

Ingredients

• ¾ lb ground beef
• ½ large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 (14–15 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• ½ cup red kidney beans, drained & rinsed (optional)
• ½ cup white kidney beans, drained & rinsed (optional)
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 cup low-sugar spaghetti sauce
• 1 tsp oregano
• ¾ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp parsley
• ½ tsp Tabasco (optional)
• 1½ cups zucchini, quartered & sliced
• 2 oz dry pasta (elbows, ditalini, or small shells)

Key idea: zucchini = volume & mouthfeel, pasta = accent, not bulk.

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Instant Pot Mini Instructions

1. Brown the base

• SAUTÉ (Normal)
• Brown ground beef with onion
• Add carrot & celery for last 2 minutes
• Drain excess fat if needed

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2. Build the soup

Add:

• Tomatoes
• Stock
• Spaghetti sauce
• Beans (if using)
• Seasonings

Stir and scrape the bottom well.

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3. Pressure cook

• Lid on, valve sealed
• HIGH pressure – 8 minutes
• Natural Release 10 minutes, then vent

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4. Add zucchini + pasta (critical step)

• Switch to SAUTÉ (Low)
• Add zucchini + 2 oz pasta
• Simmer 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally

Zucchini goes in with the pasta so it doesn’t dissolve.

If it thickens too much, add ¼–½ cup hot water or stock.

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Why this works (blood-sugar logic)

• Pasta capped at 2 oz (vs 8 oz original)
• Zucchini slows digestion and replaces starch bulk
• Beans are modest and optional
• Protein and fat lead the meal

You’ll still get that spoonful-with-bits feeling instead of “tomato soup with noodles.”

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Optional refinements (very on-brand for you)

• Dice zucchini small, about pasta size — visual trick helps satisfaction
• Add extra black pepper at the table
• Finish with parsley + a few chili flakes
• If reheating later, add a splash of broth so pasta doesn’t swell further

Chlorella is a single-celled freshwater green algae that’s rich in nutrients, including protein, chlorophyll, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It’s commonly taken as a supplement and is often associated with potential benefits like supporting detoxification, immune function, and overall nutritional intake. *In a discussion with my AI, I’ve decided not to pursue taking Chlorella or Spirulina (tablet form) as a supplement. I do however, like the flavor that Chlorella gives my egg salad so I may continue to buy the powder form periodically.

Well, it’s official. I’m an elderly man because that’s how ChatGPT described me.

I went on one of my little excursions yesterday. First to Asheboro and “No.1 China Buffet” for lunch. It’s in the Walmart shopping area. They have a Senior Discount on Tuesdays. Afterwards I went to the Main Library for a short while and looked through a cookbook. Then I drove up to Greensboro, about a 30 minutes trip from Asheboro, to a co-op store, Deep Roots Market, located at 600 N Eugene St, Greensboro, NC 27401.

I’ve visited this store before, maybe twice and had bought some spice, herb or teas there. I bought three items there yesterday and one was something new. Chlorella. It was almost a silky deep green powder. When I tried it this morning, just a taste from a wet finger, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. It was an earthy flavor and I liked it. After a while I realized that it reminded me of Knorr’s Pesto powder that I’ve used many times to flavor clams & pasta. *And in reading the description of Chlorella, I just realized that me eating a bunch of one celled algae is a lot like a whale eating plankton.

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I’ve already tried the Chlorella powder in my breakfast egg salad. Good. And, this afternoon I put it in some homemade hummus. Turned it green, as I thought it would, but did not take away from the flavor at all.

The other two items I bought were ground cardamom and fenugreek seeds. I use a little fenugreek almost every night to make a drinkable tea. It is for blood sugar control and I add fenugreek and a slice of dehydrated Bitter Melon to water, and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave. I let it cool and then I add vinegar, sweetener, turmeric and some ground black pepper and then reheat it once again for 30 seconds. This warms it and makes it a pleasant sweet vinegar drink. The vinegar masks the slight bitterness of the fenugreek and Bitter Melon. Why the two step process? If you add the vinegar at first it keeps the fenugreek seeds from rehydrating and they remain hard.

I’ve ordered this used chess set because I had one like it in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. Most of these photos were snagged from the Ebay site from where I bought it. Hopefully it will be in as good of a condition as shown in these pics. It did have one picture of loose felt on a Queen’s bottom. But, if you’ve ever felt a Queens bottom, you know that’s easily fixable.

The set looked good in the eBay pictures and when it arrived on December 19, 2025 it was in awesome condition! The only flaw I see other than the felt on several pieces needing a little glue, was a few creases on the box and that not even the top of the box. Flawless. The pieces look like what my set might have looked like when I first opened my chess set over 50 years ago.

The pieces were molded plastic, but were weighted inside and had felt bottoms so they felt substantial but did not scrape the board.

Frogmore is a coastal community in South Carolina. Frogmore Stew isn’t actually a stew because it doesn’t include a broth. However, this version does have some broth left in the IP Mini pot, and it also includes okra, which works well with the rest of the flavors.

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Ingredients

• Andouille Sausage
• Red Potatoes
• Corn on the Cob
• Shrimp
• Okra
• Old Bay Seasoning (a generous helping)
• Garlic powder, Pepper, Paprika or Smoked Paprika (but I would wait until after all is cooked to add salt, and not to the broth)

Process

• Add 1 C of water to the Instant Pot Mini
• Layer ingredients in the steamer insert
  • Sausage
  • Potatoes
  • Corn
  • Shrimp
  • Okra
• Close IP Mini Lid and set Pressure for 3 minutes
• Immediately after the 3 minutes press the Quick Release to severely slow the cooking process
• Remove the ingredients from any broth that may be left in the bottom of the pot

If there is any liquid in the bottom of the pot, I might suggest pouring it in a cup to drink like you would the “pot likker” of turnips or rutabagas. It has a bunch of good flavors. I wouldn’t add any salt that would get into the broth, because the broth can also be used to make a Frogmore Stew Soup later. *This is something that can’t be done when Frogmore Stew is prepared outdoors and for many people. Usually that broth is highly seasoned and would be too salty to consume. **Save the salt and just put that on the corn, potatoes and shrimp, then the broth will be drinkable and usable in a soup.

I asked ChatGPT (AI) to take the collage of images at the top and apply an “artistic” filter to it and this is what it came up with. Excellent, I think. I also asked Gemini (AI) to do the same thing and this was it’s artistic triumph. I do like the one above better, but this isn’t bad.

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I had some left over Frogmore Stew items: a third of an ear of corn, a few potatoes, shrimp, okra and Andouille. I had the left over pot liquor from a second Frogmore Stew in the IP Mini. It wasn’t too salty, so I combined the two into a soup. Worked great, although it is odd to eat the wet corn on the cob from the soup. But worth it!

I intentionally did not add any salt to the second Frogmore Stew I made in the IP Mini. I wanted it to be drinkable, and a previous version had been way too salty. This little bit of thinking ahead made it all work. *Frogmore Stew is normally a very communal meal. It almost has to be because it is cooked in a large stock pot, normally outdoors, and then the broth, as far as I know, is discarded and the other cooked items spread out on a table for people to pick and choose what they want to eat. It’s only when you bring this meal to the IP Mini that it becomes less communal, although you might be able to make enough for two, but definitely not enough for three. It just wouldn’t fit into the small pot.

But the Instant Pot Mini makes this a repeatable meal, Often and for one or two. And possibly even a third meal as soup.

In looking at the spread above it suddenly came to me something that was missing, and would go well with this. Not hush puppies, although they might be good, but some kind of cornbread. The rustic kind that I would eat when mom fixed fried fish, oysters or a “mess of crabs.” A thin, fried cornmeal fritter. And, here is where I might introduce some onion, in the batter. I love onion, but adding it to the boil doesn’t work for me here. It would just disappear or not be something you would pick up as you do the other items on the table.

Could coleslaw be far behind? And dipping sauces?

[NOTE 12/31/25]: I added okra to my stew tonight, but this is late in the season and these came out slimy. I like okra, even if they are slimy, but. And I definitely think if I had a green cabbage, it would be worth it to make a simple cabbage slaw. And a crispy corn meal fitter or cake would also be a pleasant addition. — Simple to dice up the ingredients. Three minutes cook time, with immediate Pressure Release helps make this a winner. And, really good repeatable flavor. [end NOTE]

What happens when you run out of Teriyaki Sauce but still have Soy Sauce? Well ChatGPT suggests modifying some of your Soy Sauce to mimic the sweet Teriyaki Sauce. And here’s how:

Base Teriyaki “Flavor Profile” (no thickness)

This is the core taste without the glaze:

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce (or reduced-sodium)
• ½–1 tsp sweetener (choose one below)
• ¼ tsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• Pinch garlic powder (or fresh)
• Pinch ginger (powder or fresh)

Sweetener options (ranked best → worst for glucose)

🥇 Best

• Allulose (behaves most like sugar, minimal BG impact)
• Monk fruit (pure, not blended with erythritol)

🥈 Acceptable (use very little)

• Honey (¼ tsp goes a long way)
• Agave (you already know this one — tiny amounts only)

You’re aiming for hint of sweetness, not sauce-level sugar.

Make it feel “thicker” without sugar

Teriyaki mouthfeel matters almost as much as taste.

Choose ONE:

• Reduce it: microwave or simmer 30–60 seconds
• Cornstarch slurry:
  • ⅛ tsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water (very small carb hit)
• Xanthan gum:
  • a pinch (literally grains) — powerful stuff

You don’t need much.

Green Split Peas

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Yellow Split Peas (IP Mini)

(½-cup dry → ~3 half-cup servings)

Ingredients

• ½ cup yellow split peas (dry), rinsed
• ¾ cup water or broth
• 1½–2 oz seasoning meat
  (fatback, salt pork, country ham, or smoked ham scraps)
• ¼ small onion, finely diced
• ½ clove garlic, minced (optional)
• ⅛ tsp black pepper
• Pinch smoked paprika (optional)
• Salt → add after cooking, if needed

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Layering (no sauté needed)

1. Split peas
2. Water/broth
3. Seasoning meat
4. Onion + garlic
5. Spices (not salt)

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Pressure Cooking

• High Pressure
• Time: 10 minutes
• Natural Release: 10 minutes, then quick-release remaining pressure

This shorter time keeps them creamy without collapsing completely.

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After Cooking

• Stir well (they thicken quickly as you stir)
• Taste before adding salt
• If too thick → add hot water 1 Tbsp at a time
• If too thin → Sauté (Low) 1–2 minutes

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Yield & Portions

• ½ cup dry → about 1½ cups cooked
• Makes ~3 servings of ½ cup each

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Storage (Mini-friendly)

• Keeps 4–5 days refrigerated
• Thickens when cold; loosen with water when reheating
• Reheats well in microwave or on Sauté (Low)