I’ve eaten a bunch of steamed cabbage recently. I love the flavor, and if you give it just the right amount of sweetness, it is a delicious side dish. But, salt & margarine, and maybe some bacon grease can only go so far. I thought, what might spiff up steamed cabbage, and immediately thought of adding a mustard sauce. *I really, really, really don’t know why I thought of a mustard sauce. I hadn’t seen anything, recently about this, and I don’t think I’ve ever had steamed cabbage with a mustard sauce. It may be like the time I was walking down an isle in my local Walmart and thought that I might like to make hummus at home. There were the cans of garbanzo beans on the shelf, so I chose one (may have been Hanover), took it home and googled on how to make hummus. I like making hummus, every so often, and having a veggie meal, with olives, smoked oysters, sweet bell pepper and sweet onion, carrot sticks, etc. Surprisingly, even though I like celery, I don’t like celery and hummus. **Not all canned garbanzo beans are equal;-) I found that some companies cooked their beans longer, some shorter. So the canned product may either be too hard, or not. And, when I first made hummus at home, I was using my older, smaller, Braun chopper (came with a chopper, whisk, & stick blender) which wasn’t powerful enough to grind an entire can of garbanzo beans into hummus. I since bought a larger Braun unit which has no problem with a whole can of garbanzo beans. ***The chopper also does excellently on making homemade salsa.
So, I thought “mustard sauce” and googled for a recipe, if that was a valid food combination. Sure enough I quickly found a Cabbage with Mustard Sauce recipe online and looked. It seemed to be a very easy recipe. Steam the cabbage wedges. Sautee diced onion in olive oil. When translucent, remove the onions from the oil. Add a small amount of flour to the oil, then some milk, and finally add the onions back to this sauce. Pour the sauce over the steamed cabbage wedges, and then sprinkle with black pepper. *The recipe is simple, and I even wrote the above from memory. That is something I just memorized about 30 minutes ago. And since, I’ve been online buying microplane spice grinders, Grains of Paradise, and Indian Long Peppers for Christmas presents, via Amazon.com, but came back to write this entry.
I have no illusions that these gifts will be appreciated, or even used, except for the Grains of Paradise. This was a gift that I gave to Danny a couple of years ago, and he mentioned it to me in thanking me for it sometime later. So, I’m planning to give Danny another package of Grains of Paradise seeds this year for Christmas. **I did see online that there is an Alligator Pepper from West Africa. They appear to be pods, which have seeds in them. But then I noted that these seeds are actually Grains of Paradise. Who knew? Certainly not me.
I gave a small sample of the Indian Long Peppers last year as Christmas presents, and no one let me know, “yea or nay” as to them. But, they are difficult to process, with a special pepper mill, or a mortar & pestle (which most probably do not have). I even found using the mortar & pestle mildly difficult. You had to hold your hand over the bowl so that the pepper being ground did not jump out.
So, I’ve been happy with the special “microplane” grinder that I found online. This grinder will grind nutmeg (probably the most “wear & tear” on the grinder), Indian Long Pepper, cinnamon, and various other hard spices. This grinder was well planned and even had a storage compartment in the top grinding handle… but, it is made of a hard plastic, and the threads to the storage compartment seized up and I haven’t been able to twist it open for quite a while. I just add my Indian Long Peppers from an external source and the grinder works fine!
NOTE [ 11/17/23 ]: So after several months, probably 4 – 6, I tried again to open the storage part of the grinder, and today, the seal broke and I was able to get to the contents inside. I found quite a few Long Peppers in it, and took them out and put most of them in the grinder. But later I found that the grinder wouldn’t function properly with too many items, so I took all but a couple of peppers out, and the grinder works fine.
From a comment that Lawrence made some time ago, I’m not going to give him an assortment of flavored teas… although, I wouldn’t mind getting an assortment. Well, I probably wouldn’t want an assortment because I already know what I like and have a pretty good selection at home of what I regularly like: Constant Comment & Earl Grey being my longtime favorites (probably the 1980s and Rick & Linda Bell). Finding Chris, what a horror that must have been. And Raspberry Royal from my trip to Lynchburg, VA. I have several other flavored teas, but none repeatedly satisfy like the three mentioned above.
This microplane grinder was extremely well thought out. I put it in a similar category to the old Northwest Airlines logo, which I deem as the perfect logo for an English speaking audience. Their old logo consisted of two interconnected images. There was a circle with a small triangle pointing to the northwest quadrant, signifying a compass pointing NW. But, the small triangle also helped form an italicized N into a W. Wow, what a brilliant creation. I’ve never seen any other logo that spoke so well, with no wasted space. “This was poetry.”
So, I made the mustard sauce this afternoon and hated it. There wasn’t enough mustard, and I’m not sure if there ever could be enough mustard. I tried adding some horseradish and that wasn’t the right direction. I tried adding some Splenda, because I do like a sweetness to my steamed cabbage, but nothing actually worked. I did try some other BBQ type sauces, and mixing horseradish with them, but had no steamed cabbage to try those sauces on. One sauce had a tomato-ey base and the other a mustard-ey base, and I like both, but not sure either would add to steamed cabbage. **Just saw a suggestion to flavor the steamed cabbage with Soy Sauce. I like Soy Sauce, and that would be a different direction for flavoring. But that also gets me thinking about Toasted Sesame Oil, which I equate with fried rice. Perhaps Soy Sauce & Toasted Sesame Oil together would be a good combo with steamed cabbage. But, might be too overpowering depending upon what else it is served with.
A Well Thought-Out Spice GrinderAnother Flavored Tea from BigelowThe Perfect LogoMustard Sauce on Steamed Cabbage
[NOTE 02/16/24]: As I said above, I hated the mustard sauce from the recipe above that included flour, but just recently I wanted to try mustard (yellow) on some steamed cabbage. I added some of the Creamy Horseradish from Inglehoff, and some Splenda Sweetener, and put this on the cabbage, and it was good. [end NOTE]
I’m 69 years old, and grew up in eastern North Carolina near Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. Now I’ve heard of many soldiers being stationed on Okinawa. But only tonight as I am watching an old “black & white” movie called, “Okinawa,” has it sunk in that Okinawa is an island, a part of Japan. I guess through all these years, I knew Okinawa was near Japan, but it never sunk in that it was Japan.
Oh, and Lejeune was always pronounced LEE-JUNE, never Lay-Jurn as it is now pronounced. My mother worked many years on Base, as did my Uncle Bob. She as a Clerk-Typist, and he, as a painter. *Maybe we could remind folks, that in North Carolina , Beaufort is pronounced “Bowfort” and in South Carolina it’s pronounced “Bewfurt”. If the man wants his name pronounced correctly, that’s one thing, but the Marine Base in North Carolina, where many “locals” worked for many, many, many years, it will forever be “Camp LEE-JUNE”. Well, unless the Government steps in and makes you change your pronunciation of “Fort Bragg” to “Fort Liberty.”
And most of the Christian Marines that I knew, believed that victory lay in the Hand of God, and not in the might of their Hum-Vees, Tanks, Bazookas or M16s.
I’ve known and been good friends with Jeff Mitchell since 1985 or so, and with his family through the years, but only recently asked him if he ever travelled and saw the sights while he was in the Marines. He surprised me (although he may have told me this before), but he did go out exploring the various parts of the World he as travelling through. He said he visited many ornate churches and saw a bunch of wonderous architecture. He tells the story of one time, going in to play on a “what he thought was a public tennis court” but the caretaker came out enraged because Jeff had messed up the court (a clay or composite court I am guessing). Jeff was apologetic to the man telling him the gate was open and he thought it a public facility.
Steamed asparagusOne container was hot and one was mild.Tomato chutney
I used some of the Brazilian Starfish peppers (mildly hot) and Biquinho (mild) along with some onion on sauteed pork chops. I added some Agave Nectar & a little Equal and lime juice in cooking the pork chops.
NOTE [ 11/20/23 ]: I was in Raleigh a week or so ago and they still had some peppers in the stand at the State Farmers’ Market, but the season is winding down. I am choosing to not eat really hot peppers because they just don’t please me. Hotter is not better for me. Hot without flavor is useless.
Poblano and jalapeno peppers are my base flavors, and roasting them in the oven before adding them to salsa or soup is preferred. I like some peppers in my lentil soup, with spicy Andouille sausage.
I ate a bunch of corn on the cob, cooked in the microwave, this year. The new guy on Americas Test Kitchen shared a way to use the microwave to get rid of the corn silks. You cut off the stalk end of the corn, and leave on the silks end. You then cook for a couple of minutes. You can then remove the corn and squeeze on the silks end and this will begin to force the ear of corn out of its husk. But the surprise is that the silks will stay with the husk and you will end up with a clean ear of corn. *I cook my corn in the microwave for about 4 or 5 minutes, and this completely steams the corn and it is then ready for salt & margarine.
But, as much as I love corn on the cob, especially when it is sweet and flavorful, it is also high starch/sugar. I have been “good” for about 3 weeks, and have been watching what I am eating and recording it in My Food Diary on the My Fitness Pal website. I have managed to keep my weight a few pounds under 260, and my Bgl has been consistently in the good, but not lowest range. I’m not sure if it will be below 7.0 AC1, but it should be near 7, hopefully lower if I remain vigilant.
The photo above is from several years ago, but everything came together in season for a really good meal. The tomatoes had good flavor as did the corn and fried okra. I fried tomatillos, with onion and added vinegar and sweetener and that turned out flavorful also.
NOTE [ 11/28/23 ]: One of the problems with eating to suppress blood glucose spikes is that anything edible that is either sugar, or is starchy and turns into sugar easily & rapidly is to be avoided, or severely reduced. I love bread, the smell, the flavor, even the different textures and colors of it. But yes, bread is a starch that quickly turns into sugar.
I have chosen to not go completely without bread, although in the past, I can completely cut out eating bread, and did so both times that I lost 60 lbs. One of those times was when I was about 49 years old and then again about nine years later. The first time was before I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, so losing weight that time was super easy. I ate wisely, and managed to turn my body’s metabolism way up, and therefore could eat a bunch during each day, never hungry (maybe once) and still could lose 2 or 3 pounds a week, with very little exercise. I drank a bunch of water each of those days.
One thing I read was that you didn’t want to exercise too vigorously because that would threaten a high metabolism, because the body would begin to wonder where it’s next meal was coming from, and shut down the metabolism thereby wanting to store food as fat. The article suggested controlled breathing and walks that would cause the body to bring in more Oxygen, which encourages a higher metabolism.
Oh, and I ate vegetables from A through Z: avocado, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beans, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, leeks, lettuce, okra, olives, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, rappini, spinach, and zucchini. The first 60 lbs. loss was easy, but by the second time, there were a bunch of veggies that now were off limits… beets, carrots, garden peas, potatoes, all turn to sugar quickly in the body.
Oh, once in the eating zone, with my metabolism going full tilt, and eating properly each day, I could even satisfy those extreme urges, every once in a while… not every day, but maybe every couple to three weeks, I could splurge on a “craving”. Say a large plate of pasta with delicious spaghetti sauce, or a whole quart of ice cream or maybe a couple of slices of pizza. My weight would go up maybe 2 or 3 pounds the next day, but then I would go right back into that proper eating pattern and by the end of the week I was still losing a couple of pounds. Now when your body is taking in a bunch of food, and processing it efficiently, and not storing fat it is more of a “life style” and not a “diet.” Diets don’t work long term because humans can’t maintain the extremes that most diets require. Eat nothing but eggs & water for a week. Sure, you might lose weight, but you can’t keeps those extremes up, so when you go back to your former eating patterns, yup, you start to gain weight again.
A proper eating pattern requires you to regulate your daily calorie intake, while satisfying your body’s needs for nutrition. You need a certain amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat each day. You need to regulate your salt and sugar intake. Water helps flush the system, getting rid of waste and some of the excess items you have taken in, but don’t need.
At one time I could eat about 2,200 calories a day and maintain my weight, but now it is down to around 1,900 calories a day. So, if you have ever religiously recorded your daily food intake with an eye to satisfying all the nutrients your body requires, you realize very quickly that there’s not a lot of “wiggle” room to what you can put into your mouth.
You have 3 meals a day, so that’s 21 meals a week. Now, you may also choose to eat three meals a day with two snacks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This might make more sense because you could eat less at each of the 3 meals, and the snacks would be providing your metabolism with a little “pick me up” during those normal low points. But still seven of those meals are breakfasts. That only leaves 14 main meals. You are probably not going to have steamed asparagus, broccoli, or cabbage for breakfast. Although, I made some delicious Seafood Chowder a few days ago. I made it early in the morning, and it tasted so good that I had a small bowl of it as my breakfast that morning. *I had some for one of my meals yesterday, and it was still very delicious. A little spicy, and served hot, very flavorful.
So for fourteen meals, I will probably want some protein at each of those meals. Beef, chicken, pork, lamb and maybe fish. A steak or a hamburger, baked chicken, or shredded chicken in a soup or as chicken salad, a pork chop, a round bone lamb chop, or tuna fish salad. So for the 14 main meals you are probably going to want to rotate those different sources of protein so that you don’t get bored with a hamburger at each meal. Now, you not only have to start watching what you eat, but what is going to happen to any leftovers. You have to limit what you put in your mouth, but you also have to reduce waste by not preparing too much of any one thing. You can’t prepare a large pot of spaghetti sauce that might last for 5 or 6 meals. For one, you don’t need all of the pasta that would go with that much sauce.
I like vegetable beef soup. I make a delicious vegetable soup, but have found that it is difficult to make less of it unless I find a way to store some of the veggies for future use. What? Well, many of the cans of vegetables that I use for this soup; corn, green beans, garden peas, diced tomatoes and even okra come in 15 oz. cans. If you dump five 15 oz. cans of these veggies into a pot, the pot begins to fill up quickly. And you are going to cut up some carrots & potatoes, add some ground beef and some chicken stock… and the pot is filled with delicious soup, but FILLED is an important word here. I know you could do it this way, but then you would have to store the extra soup in your freezer.
What I have chosen to do, after years of making too much and freezing it, and throwing away the frozen soup that never gets eaten, is to make less of it to begin with. How? Well, the 15 oz. cans of veggies are normally a better buy than the smaller 7.5 oz. cans. So only use half of each of the 15 oz. cans and freeze the rest. You can even save the extra veggies in a single Tupperware container. Find a way to label your frozen items by date & interred item. So you might have a container that has corn, garden peas, green beans, diced tomatoes & okra all waiting to be thawed for another batch of soup.
*Oh, and okra. I love the flavor of okra, and I do not have a problem with slimy okra… it is just another form of a veggie that I like the flavor of. I like fried okra. I like diced okra in vegetable soup or in my Seafood Chowder. I like pickled okra. I like those okra cooked under pressure at a low temperature that come out like a brittle, dry okra chip, but still in the shape of the original okra pod. These may be priced at $16 a pound, but each of them weighs so little that you can get a bunch for a reasonable price. In the past I would buy a can of okra, or a can of mixed okra, corn & tomatoes, to add to my soup, but last time I bought a bag of frozen, diced okra, and add the frozen okra directly into the pot. During the okra season, I prefer to dice fresh okra up and add them to my soup… or fry them, without batter on the stove top.
What I prefer is to cook fresh and not store a bunch of leftovers. If I could fix each item with just enough for two meals… the one I am about to eat and one more a couple of days later, that is what I would do.
My original intent at the start of this note was to make mention of a new cracker that I had recently purchased to take the place of the White Mountain Bread that I buy at Publix and love to eat. For the White Mountain Bread, I try to limit myself to just one slice a day, although I might do two slices. One for the egg salad that I have at breakfast, and maybe one for the pork chop & steamed cabbage I am having at dinner.
I was in Harris Teeter yesterday and wanted to find a cracker so that I could cut back on my bread intake. Price matters when I am in Harris Teeter, so unless it is a special item that only HT has, I can probably find the item cheaper elsewhere. Spices and fresh vegetables are two of the items that can usually be found cheaper elsewhere. But, HT does display their veggies exceptionally well. I found a small package of “Savory Rice Thins” by Sesmark (original flavor, rice snack crackers). They are made of rice and have sesame & soy and they do have a pleasant flavor. A serving of 16 crackers, each a little bigger than the diameter of a golf ball, provide a total of 130 calories. There are 3 servings in a pack for under $4.
The 130 calories may sound high, but compared to most of the other crackers (wheat) this is very reasonable. Four wheat crackers might be 130 calories.
I’ve recently wanted to add a different flavor to my steamed cabbage. I love steamed cabbage, and with just enough sweetener, and/or bacon fat, I could eat a bunch of steamed cabbage. So, the thought of adding a little Toasted Sesame Oil to my steamed cabbage came to me. I tried it, and it worked, and then I was reminded that shredded, steamed cabbage comes in many of the egg rolls I love to eat. But haven’t eaten many lately. So a little soy sauce, and some toasted sesame oil flavors steamed cabbage very well. And I am thinking, that these rice crackers flavored with sesame & soy would go well with the steamed cabbage, and the crispness of the cracker would provide a welcome texture also. *A few of these crackers would probably go well with my Seafood Chowder, or with my Greek salad and these would be in place of a whole slice of White Mountain Bread. Okay, if I chose to eat just 6 crackers for each meal, that would be eight servings (@49 calories for 6 crackers) per package. The White Mountain Bread (counted as whole wheat) is 91 calories per slice, so I would be saving 42 calories each time I ate these crackers instead of the bread. Oh, and on the package, these crackers appear to have 0 sugars, but 8% sodium, carbs are 9%.
[ 11/30/23 ]: I fixed some steamed cabbage earlier this afternoon, and I had enough to mentally divide the cabbage on the plate into three sections. I put some bacon fat on one section, some toasted sesame oil on another, and margarine on the other. I had already added some salt, pepper and a little Splenda to the cabbage. All three versions of steamed cabbage were delicious, and then I thought about what else to serve with this. Corned beef. I grew up eating corned beef about twice a year. It would always be fixed the same, in a pot on the stove-top in water, with onions & white potatoes. This was a delicious comfort food for a cold day.
But, I just googled regarding whether corned beef is okay for a diabetic, and the suggestion was not to eat it, or not to eat much of it, as it was high in salt content. So as I am writing, I think of the boneless pork chops that I bought this afternoon. There were seven small pork chops, less than a pound total, for less than $4. Yes, maybe a couple of these would go good with the cabbage. And yes, some green beans and white potatoes (not too much of the potato). And, some seasoned black-eyed peas and Vidalia onion! A perfectly flavored “comfort food” meal. [ END NOTE ]
1 cans (6 ounces) light water-packed chicken, drained and flaked
1 large red apple, chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 cup Dukes mayonnaise
1/8 cup sour cream
2 lettuce leaves
Originally I was going to make a Waldorf Tuna Salad. I like a good tuna salad, but at some point, I said to myself, “Maybe I won’t like tuna with a Waldorf Salad, chicken would probably be a good substitute.” I do like a Waldorf Salad. I use dried cranberries and coconut.
READ makes a 3 Bean Salad also.
I was planning to make a multi-bean salad including green, kidney, and cannellini beans but I know from past experience that 3-15 oz. cans of beans makes far too much bean salad for me to eat, even refrigerating or freezing it, so I was going to use half a can of green beans, and use the rest of the green beans with some white potatoes & seasoning meat for another side dish. I took out a can of green beans and a can of pinto beans, and then I saw the can of READ 4 Bean Salad.
In the past, I’ve also used wax & pinto beans, and even added assorted other sweet pickled items, like peppers and curried cauliflower. Fresh Market has a delicious curried cauliflower on their olive bar. I see on the can that this salad also includes turmeric. I just opened the can and the liquid is a sweet vinegar. I like it! So no need to make my own bean salad.
NOTE [ 11/12/23 ]: I ate some of the 4 Bean Salad. It was okay, but I found that I had no desire for a second helping in the near future. The problem is that I can make a multi-bean salad that is delicious, but opening a can each of the different beans I might use, means that I end up with way too much homemade bean salad. I would use green, yellow wax, pinto, and kidney beans. I’ve also put in sweet pickles, sweet onion & some of the roquito (little red pearl shaped) peppers. I think it was an episode of Guy Fieri, at home in which he made suggestions of other items to add to his bean salad. I had already tried some of these extra items. I think it was Ryan’s Buffet that had a multi-bean salad that I liked.
Ryans was over about where the current Cracker Barrell Restaurant is located, off of Skibo Road and next to the Walmart. There had been another Ryan’s Restaurant across town, next to where All American & Raeford Roads cross.
Ryans had a good buffet, although I recall chipping a tooth filling one lunch. I think I was trying to eat a pork cracklin (the hard fried skin). But, my dentist, Dr. Lewis was good about getting me in, maybe the next day, and re-filling the missing filling.
At some point, I had not been visiting Ryans every week. Seems I might have been out of town one week on a business conference, and had missed a couple of other weeks going elsewhere for lunch. So, I decide to go to Ryans for lunch that day. I turn in to the Ryan’s parking lot and then I notice there is only one car in the whole lot, and it is parked oddly, up close to the building, not in a parking space and running along the side of the building. I get out of my car and walk up to the front door. There was a sheet of paper pasted on the glass door and it said something about a group that was scheduled to meet at Ryans. They would need to go elsewhere because Ryans was now closed. Closed for good!
I talked to one of the waitresses I knew sometime later. She said that management had said nothing to the waitresses or staff, and just closed the doors one day. I later found an article online that said many Ryans had closed, but that not all had gone out of business. I’m thinking it was one of those towns over near Charlotte that still had a Ryans in business.
*I just found the Facebook site for the Fayetteville, NC Ryans from 2012. A post on the site says, “Located 1470 skibo rd Between Logan’s and Sam’s club.” Looks like the chain closed several locations in January 2012, and a later note says the remaining locations closed due to COVID.
25 grams of cashews are about 13 cashews. This is about 160 calories.
NOTE [ 11/21/23 ]: I am hijacking this posting just because I can, and I didn’t want to start a new posting.
It may have been while I was still living over in Queen Ann Apartments that I last made a Broccoli, Raisin & Bacon Salad. At least that is the mental image I have, and I haven’t thought of the dining table in that apartment, perhaps ever since I left over 11 years ago. It was about this time that I also made a Bill’s 50 Salad that included kiwi fruit and black olives. Seems like the black seeds in the green kiwi fruit, were mimicked by the black olives, but I don’t recall the other items in this concoction.
However, the Broccoli, Raisin & Bacon Salad I fixed today was delicious and I added a bunch of stuff some suggested elsewhere, but probably not all of it together.
I added kiwi fruit, dried coconut flakes, dried cranberries, crumbled walnuts, with mayo, red wine vinegar, Splenda, and Agave Nectar. Don’t recall if I also added some diced celery, maybe not. I had bought a 6 pack of little boxes of raisins from Walmart earlier this week.
I fixed a regular salad and added some of my homemade Ranch dressing, but didn’t really like it. Earlier in the week I’ve enjoyed a homemade Greek salad made with my homemade Italian dressing. I guess it’s Italian. If not here are the simple ingredients: olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, Italian dried spices, and S&P. The actual salad ingredients include: salad greens, Kalamata olives (pitted), sweet onion, tomatoes diced and Feta cheese crumbles. I guess the term would be some of these flavors provide an “acrid” tone to this salad. *I order a Greek salad at Pharaoh’s Legacy when I order their Lamb Gyro. Those same acrid flavors, of the unsweetened vinegar, make the heavy lamb chunks pop.
I doubled some of the original ingredients the first time I made this, and it came out wonderfully! The smoked paprika gave the dressing a beautiful glossy ruby color. As I recall, I thought this was excellent, and then when I actually put it on a salad, I just thought, “ah, so so.” Still, this is one dressing, along with ranch that I like to put on my salads when I visit Ruby Tuesday’s.
I think my confusion was because some restaurants have called this dressing either French or Russian, but after perusing the Internet, I think Catalina is the correct label.
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice, more to taste
1/2 cup mayo/Greek Yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 a jalapeno, sliced (more for more heat)
1/2 teaspoon honey/Agave Nectar, more to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, packed (tender stems OK)
I made this without modifications except for using Agave Nectar instead of honey. I like the flavor, and it heads a little more toward savory, and not sweet, like I usually like. Made a little less than a pint. This came as part of a Grilled Salmon Salad with this dressing, which I am planning to make tomorrow for the first time.
[NOTE 03/02/25]: I made this again, and I only used half of the amounts shown above, used Plain Greek Yogurt instead of mayo, Agave Nectar instead of honey, and processed it all in my chopper. It is a very pleasant alternative to my regular dressings. The Greek Yogurt makes this even more tart along with the lime juice, and there isn’t enough jalapeno to make this hot. I think it would go well with the stir fried green beans, or a simple salad along with stir fried chicken livers. [end NOTE]
[NOTE 05/02/25]:
cilantro
jalapeno
Ajicitos Dulces pepper
sour cream
lime juice
garlic powder
cumin powder
Ranch Dressing Powder (cheap 50 cents packet from Food Lion)
I did not add any sweetener or use Plain Greek Yogurt, although the yogurt would probably do just as well as the Sour Cream I used, and would certainly have less calories. I have made this twice and the Ranch Dressing powder does not take anything away from this sauce. I could also use Fenugreek powder, and I think this would be a positive addition. I added one Ajicitos Dulces pepper because they still had them a Compare foods in Fayetteville. I am also thinking that adding a tomatillo would not negate any of the existing flavors, although it might make the sauce thinner.
[end NOTE]
RANCH
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk
¾ – 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon finely cracked pepper
freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste approximately 1-3 teaspoons, adjust to taste*
I have not tried to make this, and when I do, if it is not good, I will either modify it or try to find a better recipe. Also, I will probably use lime juice instead of lemon, or maybe vinegar.
NOTE [ 11/02/23 ]: Okay, I just made this but only half measures and it did turn out good. Half filled a pint Ball/Mason jar, so I guess going exactly by the recipe would make a pint of homemade Ranch dressing.
I did use lime juice instead of lemon juice. I bought a quart of buttermilk, which I will probably use for nothing else. For the salad, I used mixed Spring greens, sweet onion, Campari & cherry tomatoes, and sweet red bell pepper. And, I had a slice of Tuscan Boule Loaf bread with it. Bought a new loaf this afternoon at Publix.
The only real problem with me making this instead of buying a commercial version is acquiring the buttermilk each time. *I’ve read something about making a buttermilk substitute, and may explore that.
NOTE[ 11/19/23 ]: Made it again and this time went by the recipe above, but substituting lime juice for lemon juice (again), and it makes a pint of Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. *The buttermilk still tasted good, and this has been 3 weeks in the refrigerator since the first time I made this dressing. **Also thought that maybe this dressing would be good on steamed cabbage (since I didn’t like the mustard sauce).
THOUSAND ISLAND
mayonnaise
catchup
hot sauce
finely diced sweet onion
sweet relish.
I use this on my Pastrami Rachel (Reuben) Sandwiches. I put the Thousand Island Dressing on the sauerkraut, on the sandwich. I found that I can use sauerkraut as a “side,” and just add some Thousand Island Dressing to “turn it.” This is simple to make and is delicious.
ZESTY ITALIAN
dijon mustard
red wine vinegar
olive oil
sweetener
italian spices (oregano)
Not sure that this will be Zesty Italian Dressing, but this is what I use on my Greek Salad. Simple and yet the vinegar for the salad “cuts” the heaviness of a spaghetti sauce, or a round bone lamb chop. I get a lamb gyro at Pharaoh’s Legacy Restaurant and a Greek Salad, on which they dress with a Zesty Italian dressing.
[ NOTE 12/30/23 ]: I add a little sweetener to this, and I have made this a bunch in the last month.
My basic ingredients for the Greek Salad: romaine lettuce/spring mix, sweet onion, quartered small tomatoes, feta cheese crumbles and perhaps cubed cucumber.
NOTE [ 11/02/23 ]: Jeff and I had lunch together today at “Chicken Salad Chick” in Fayetteville. I had never been, but recall when it first opened that the Hendricks had gone and liked it. There were quite a number of customers, in groups, mostly older women. But we did have fun with a young woman who had trouble parking her little red car in one of the side spaces. She took an incredibly long time parking and it became funny. I mentioned her to Jeff who turned around for a brief look. And later as Jeff and I were leaving, a woman at another booth mentioned the girl’s parking. I said that I was going out to “harrass” the girl, and I took out a $5 bill, walked outside to the girl who was “finally” coming inside, gave her the money and told her we appreciated her parking effort. She seemed like a nice person, and it was an incredible act on her part, a tenacious effort to “get it right.”
NOTE [ 11/26/23 ]: I just fixed another Greek Salad. But I had a few extra items that made this one especially delicious. I did not have cucumber, and really did not want it. I had three types of olives: Kalamata (Mezzetta), Nicoise (Fresh Market) and Picholine (Fresh Market). Only the Kalamata olives were pitted. I also had some Pepperoncini Peppers (Mezzetta) and had bought a bag of “Hearts of Romaine” lettuce at Walmart yesterday. *Walmart has a bag of “Hearts of Romaine” lettuce by Marketside for about $3. If the quality and price stay the same, and this lettuce looked great, then I will buy this again as the basis for my house and Greek salads.
I chopped up a little jalapeno, some sweet onion, added some Feta crumbles and made a simple Italian salad dressing:
Olive Oil 1/2 C
Red Wine Vinegar 1/3 C
Dijon mustard 1T
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Agave Nectar/Splenda
S&P
I don’t want to use iceberg lettuce for my salads. I normally get a bag of Spring Mix salad, which has assorted greens, but these normally go bad before I am about half way through using them. And, a few years ago I had a really bad experience when I was trying to save a little money. I had some salad greens in my fridge and wanted to use some to make a salad. I noticed that a few of the greens had started to go bad, but I separated those from the greens that I used… which ended up being a bad mistake. I later became very ill and was sick, with diarrhea, for several days. And, this came just before I was scheduled for a brief vacation to Asheville. This may have been the time where, on the way to Asheville, I stopped briefly in Statesville, NC and bought a bag of adult diapers (gray in color), from Walgreens, so that I wouldn’t accidentally mess up the motel bed. *I must have been over the worst of this brief illness, and did not need the diaper, although I did wear it the first night. I stopped at a bank, a First Citizens, to get some money. It was later in the afternoon when I entered the bank and as I walked into the main room, there was no one to be seen. As I began to feel “wary” a female clerk poked her head from around an outside teller cubicle, and then came to assist me. Statesville was also where I thought about mailing some letter. It may have been given to me by someone else to mail. So, being unfamiliar with Statesville, I drove around the downtown section and saw what appeared to be an old Post Office. I think the building still had fancy gold lettering labelling the building as a Post Office. I walked up the few steps, and as I approached the front door, I noticed a warning sign regarding not bringing weapons into the building. I opened the door and as I turned to my left toward another door, I was greeted by an officer, in plain clothes. It seems that the old Post Office building was now being used as a District Court (family/divorce cases) and there must have been a problem with irate family members coming to court with guns. I explained that I thought the building was a Post Office and the gentleman politely guided me back outside. I found an outdoor mailbox around the corner and mailed the letter, and then on to Asheville.
First Citizens Bank Statesville, NCWalgreens Statesville, NCPost Office & District Court Building Statesville, NCQuality Inn Asheville, NCQuality Inn & Suites Asheville, NCQuality Inn Asheville, NC
Looks like this trip was in April of 2015, about the 15th thru the 18th. Google Timeline recorded some days back then, but not all.
I find using Google Timeline & Streetview, combined with any photos I may have taken during my trips to be especially rewarding as I am trying to tell a tale and illustrate it, or verify when or if I was at a certain location, at a certain time. And, I begin to feel more like Garrison Keillor when he would start to tell a story, segway into something entirely different, and finally bring you back to the original tale, leaving you wondering how he got to the segway without you becoming aware of the change. The segway came with the bad lettuce that made me terribly sick.
I’ve already found that I like to wear my gaudy suspenders underneath my shirts. But, a problem with that is what to do when I go to the mall for a massage. I wouldn’t want the suspenders in the way for the masseuse, and I wouldn’t want to take off my shirt to get to my suspenders before the massage. Just thought of the solution (till now, I think ahead and wear a belt instead of my preferred suspenders) this morning. With the colder weather arriving today, I’m now thinking of wearing two shirts (previously I wear a long sleeved shirt & a short sleeved shirt on top of that. Well, I could wear the long sleeved shirt next to my skin, and then my suspenders, and then on top of that put the short sleeved shirt. That way when I get to the masseuse, I take off my upper shirt, and drop my suspenders, but leave the bottom shirt on. *My glasses and keys normally go into a little plastic bin that the masseuse puts beside the chair. I keep my money in my pants, and almost always don’t take my phone/wallet.
Oh, just noted this in the last few days after talking with the Humana representatives regarding a different Medicare plan (which it was decided would be best for me to stick with my current group plan)… there is a deductible for chiropractor visits. I think it said $20 but not sure if this is for a one hour visit or not. *Also there is a $500 a year allowance for hearing aids (which I need). I’m definitely going to explore the chiropractor & hearing aids. I spend $25 for a 20 minutes massage, or $35 for a 30 minutes massage (not including a small tip, which I may not always give any tip). If I could get a 30 minutes or hour massage and only have to pay $20 each time, hey once every week buddy!
I really do like these suspenders instead of trying to deal with a slipping belt. Once you understand them, they are easy to use, and they do their job. Just leave them on your pants if you plan to wear those pants again. Slip them off each shoulder and unfasten your pants. And easy to put the pants back on, and then place the straps back on each shoulder. No need to unfasten the suspenders from the pants.
I weighed 258.2 lbs. this morning, which in looking at my stats for the last quarter or so, is the least I have weighed during that period of time. My BGL was 137, which also was a low number.
[04/27/25]: Funny. This morning when I weighed, I was at 250 lbs. again. I’ve been as low as 243 just a little over a week ago. And, my resting BGL was 139, but I had just drank some hot tea with milk, so that may have been up because of that. I have been recording very low (for me) resting numbers for a couple of weeks (under 120 mostly). [end]
Not sure, but I drank a lot of Pomegranate juice yesterday. I don’t recall exactly where in Sprouts it was located, but it is a Sprouts bottle. One thing I find unusual is that the juice is a dark color. It says that it is made from Pomegranate Concentrate, but I recall what the seeds looked like and each little seed was surrounded by a clear gelatinous flesh. *Unusual, but when I was growing up diagonally across from the old Swansboro High School (1960s & 70s) on the corner of Highway 24 and Queens Creek Roads, we had a Pomegranate tree in the backyard next to a deep drainage ditch. Mom nor I ever figured out how to make this edible. If you could strain the juice and put a little sweetener with it that might be good. But the little seeds were little pulpy things. Not quite as irritating as trying to chew watermelon seeds, but not pleasant for me either.
I checked online regarding Pomegranates and diabetics. Surprisingly, pomegranates & their juice are a positive for diabetics, in moderation.
I started to write this posting because I have been struggling with organizing what I eat, especially over the course of a week. That would be 21 meals, not counting any snacking I would do, of which seven of these would be breakfasts. Lately, I have three favorite breakfasts… fried apples, bacon and either tea or coffee; egg salad, bacon, slice of bread, a few small grape tomatoes, tea or coffee; or a waffle with sugar free syrup & Agave Nectar, some margarine, tea or coffee.
[04/27/25]: I’m planning on fixing a waffle this morning. Haven’t had them in a couple of weeks. I haven’t been paying as close attention to what I am eating, and that is why I have been going up. I basically have 14 meals (lunch & dinner) to coordinate. My breakfasts are locked in as to the basic ingredients. I either have fried apples & bacon, or an egg salad with bacon, or avocado, and some toast, or a waffle and bacon. I do substitute polenta for the bread, and the bread is usually either a sourdough from Publix, or “Knock Your Sprouts Off” from Aldi. If I have half an avocado for breakfast, it will turn brown if I don’t use it for lunch or dinner, latter that same day.
The problem with lunch & dinner is that for instance, I broiled two large thick cut pork chops yesterday. That will be at least 4 meals, if not 5. But, I also have some chicken thighs, which need to be cut up for stir fry and most of it frozen. And then what if I slip in a steak (usually cook enough for two meals) or have a ground sirloin burger meal? [end]
When I have fried apples, I put some Splenda sweetener on the apples and then sift the following spices: cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace, nutmeg & Pumpkin Spice (which includes several of the previous). I guess I could have mashed sweet potato for breakfast, because most of these spices would go well with this also.
Finally, what I wanted to get to. So, there are 14 meals in a week, 7 lunches and 7 dinners. I’m probably going to eat one dinner from Taco Bell; a Beef Burrito Supreme, a Bean Burrito and a Crunchy Taco. I might leave off either the bean burrito or the taco, and a few times I might not order the burrito supreme. I will sometimes make salsa at home. *I stopped eating a meal at Taco Bell quite a few months ago. I may get one bean burrito, but that’s about it because of the high calorie count.
Last night, I roasted several peppers in the oven and then added them to some diced roasted tomatoes, chipotles, and some sweet onion with sweetener, Agave Nectar and some lime juice. I also chop up some sweet onion separately, and also put some sour cream in one of my “three footed” bowls. My favorite bowls are yellow and lime green, made of plastic. *Having a few of these bowls is a necessity, if for no other reason than using them as salsa bowls (maybe guacamole too).
So, day before yesterday, I made both spaghetti sauce and some vegetable soup. The soup was about 4 helpings and the spaghetti sauce was about 2.5 helpings. I had a bowl of the soup yesterday.
Now, I like to have my Polska Kielbasa, Shrimp & Zucchini dish, but when making it, I end up with two helpings. One to eat immediately, and one to put in the refrigerator. I came up with this meal a few years ago, and I have continued to love the flavors. Not a lot of ingredients (I’ve added some raw peppers, mild & hot, lately.), but consistently satisfying in flavor. *Odd, but I haven’t fixed this meal in quite a while, and I have at least one zucchini and the Kielbasa. I am out of frozen shrimp, but have it on the grocery list, and plan to try the HT frozen shrimp instead of the Publix. HT sells a 12 oz. package compared to the 16 oz. Publix bag, but HT is cheaper per ounce than Publix.
How about a salad with the spaghetti? I could make some Catalina dressing, or use some “store bought” Ranch. In this salad: cauliflower, tomatoes, sweet onion, baby spinach leaves. The homemade Thousand Island dressing is for my Pastrami Rachel sandwiches. These also come with some extra sauerkraut, a spicy dill pickle and maybe even some wavy potato chips. Satisfying, and I now have a process that generates a delicious sandwich, with toasted margarine on the outside and toasted Swiss cheese on the inside, sauerkraut & Thousand Island dressing, but the sandwich doesn’t become messy. *Way different from my first attempt.
Now, I like a Round Bone Lamb Chop (London Broil in the oven.) with maybe some mashed potatoes (add some chopped asparagus to the potatoes), maybe some cabbage slaw, and a few sliced small tomatoes, and a slice of White Mountain Bread. Oh yeah, how soon I forget: corn on the cob, fried okra & onions, or a tomato chutney.
I like a Greek Salad with the lamb chop too. What makes it Greek for me is using a few Kalamata olives, some Romaine lettuce, tomato and sweet onion, and the dressing is basically some mustard (with seeds), red wine vinegar & olive oil. This dressing isn’t sweet.
I haven’t made any carrots with maple syrup & butter (margarine) on the stove top in a while. I just bought a new bottle of Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup. I don’t think I would buy an old bottle. But interestingly to me, you can pour some of the sugar free syrup into the pan, with the carrots, and also add some margarine. Unlike sugar or Karo Syrup, when you heat these they thicken in the pan and sometimes burn black. The sugar free syrup does not thicken. It remains thin and cooks the carrots well. The margarine makes a good sauce with a sheen on the carrots.
Some polenta might be good. I haven’t made that in a while, and it sops up gravy really well.
NOTE [I’ll probably come back to add more to this…]:
A traditional Greek salad consists of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta cheese. Greek salad dressing is a simple mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, and dried oregano. *I don’t usually add cucumbers, and normally don’t have any green bell peppers, but do have red/orange/yellow bell peppers, but don’t add these either. I do like cucumbers and bell peppers, but just don’t put them in a Greek Salad. I like the cucumbers diced up, with some sweet onion, and maybe diced bell peppers, with a little Red Wine vinegar & sweetener. The colorful bell peppers, which are normally milder & sweeter than the green ones, I like to use in my spaghetti sauce, or my Mexican chicken dish, with tomatoes, onions & the peppers. **One other, more exotic thing, is that I might chop some bell peppers, sweet onion and tomatoes and add Red Wine vinegar to a small Tupperware bowl, and then add a bunch of Turmeric. Let this sit for a while and hopefully the Turmeric will leech into these veggies. The result is a pleasing, acrid taste. You might even add some Kalamata olives to this. And, this would go well with some homemade hummus. ***Hummus is easy to make, and you could have a “veggie” meal including: sliced small tomatoes, sweet bell peppers (various colors), some chopped sweet (Vidalia) onion, sliced carrots (for some reason I don’t like celery stalks with hummus, but I do like celery). Not vegetarian, but I’ve found I really like to open a can of Smoked Oysters and include this with my hummus & veggies. Also, Fresh Market has an olive bar which includes red pearl peppers in vinegar, some curried cauliflower, roasted garlic, those smallish hollowed out peppers in sweet vinegar, etc. I normally don’t do cheese with hummus. Castlevetrano olives or some of the green California olives (which taste like black olives) would also be good. And, although I don’t think I’ve ever done it, maybe some guacamole (mashed avocado) would also add interestingly to this mix.
Why was I thinking of a Greek Salad today? Well I have a couple of helpings left, of spaghetti sauce that I made a couple of days ago, in the refrigerator. A salad would go well with the spaghetti.
But, I also have several helpings of vegetable soup that I made at the same time as the spaghetti sauce, and they need to be eaten also. Okay, unusual, but I might just have soup for breakfast this morning.
The mySugr app stopped being updated with my daily blood testing data a couple of weeks ago. Later I noticed that when I was in my car, the phone wasn’t connecting to the Toyota app. I finally came to the conclusion that some kind of update, to the phone, had broken the Bluetooth connectivity. *That is why I bought the new phone. Got the new phone yesterday afternoon, late. Couldn’t get the Blood Glucose Meter to pair effectively with the app on my new phone. Finally today late, I went into the mySugr app on the phone and found a place for adding a new device. This got connectivity working and the data from the meter got added to my new phone (not sure if the previous data was copied over from the phone or was trasferred from the web). But, all previous data, and the data for the last two weeks in now in the mySugr app on my new phone.
OCASE Case for Samsung Galaxy 23+Lock Screen Background from My ApartmentmySugr Screen After Successful Upload of Data
Bill Gibson, II 