Poached Chicken and Snow

Eight inches of snow on the ground, partially melted with more on the way from a Winter Storm Warning from 6:00PM today until 9:00AM Wednesday.  

 

Welcome to Cleveland!  J

I tell people that I traded tornadoes for snow.  Apparently, this winter has decided to try and make me sorry I did that…

My backyard, including my raised bed gardens.

 

We had to go out into the storm yesterday to get to some doctor’s appointments.  I cleaned off my car mostly because I felt sorry for it, buried under all that white stuff.  We took the big car and I also cleaned it off while Hubby used the snow blower.  When he bought the thing, I had thought he’d gotten too large a machine.  Not now!!  It is just fine!  Does a great job quickly and seems to be able to handle anything Cleveland winters can dump on it.  It’s even self-propelled so all Hubby has to do is steer.  Maybe some day I’ll even get to use it.  It actually looks like fun…

Cold, but fun…

This is supposed to be a food blog but since my WLS, I haven’t been doing that much cooking.  Well, I made far too many cookies for Christmas (ate far too many, as well!), but cooking of meals isn’t really something I’m doing a lot of these days.

One of the few things I cook is poached chicken.  WLS requires that all meats be very moist and have some sort of sauce to help everything go down and stay down.

 

Poached Chicken

3 or 4 chicken tenders, thawed

1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water and 1 bouillon cube.)

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1 T rosemary leaves or 1 tsp powdered rosemary

Salt and pepper, unless using bouillon then pepper only

1 T flour

Heat broth in small sauce pan to boiling.  Add chicken, lime, and rosemary.  Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until chicken is done.  Remove chicken and keep warm.

Fish out whole rosemary leaves, if used.  Stir flour into a little water.  Stir flour slurry into poaching liquid and cook until thickened. 

Serve chicken with sauce. 

Resolutions

January 2, 2014: a day of new beginnings.  And resolutions.  Well, the living of those resolutions made yesterday or night before last, anyway.

My resolutions:

Lose the last of my weight and reach my Goal Weight.

Ride my exercise bike for at least 15 minutes per day.

Do my shoulder exercises every day

Go to the gym (after finding one, of course!)

Write!  (Doing that one!  Ha!)

Finish at least one quilt this year, not just the top.

As I am one of the millions who had their health insurance canceled at the end of the year, I am sort of dreading the expenses that go with my new plan.  I’m done with my physical therapy for my shoulder, luckily, as those fees go from $20 per visit to $45!  The same fee increase applies to seeing my cardiologist, too.  And my out of pocket went from $2500 to $4900.  And lots of other co-pays went up as well.  But my prostate is covered and I have all the birth control I need!  Thanks, Obama, you bastard.  I hope you rot in hell!!

I have several story ideas rattling around in my brain that I would love to get written.  I think I’m going to leave my computer up over night so I can easily start up in the morning.  I wake up with the voice in my head going and going.  I need to write this stuff down.   Or type it in, as the case may be.  J

Loose Skin

Thus far, I’m down over 72 pounds.  So far, so good.  And I’m really liking what I see in the mirror these days.  When I’m dressed, anyway.

Undressed, not so much.  My skin fits me like my old size 22/24 clothes!  Everything sags or wrinkles.  I have loose skin on my forearms, fergodsake!!  Sheesh!!

I am 6 months post surgery.  I’m over half-way to my goal weight and in a size 14/16.  I just hope that time will decrease the size of my skin at least some!!  The only bra I have that fits isn’t made anymore and everything I try on in the stores is horrible.  Flesh just drips out of them and over them and all over.  I don’t know what I’m going to do when it gets too big.  Guess I’ll just have to keep trying and hope I can find something!!

So, I’m wearing a size 14/16 in clothes but my skin is still a size 22.  Too bad I can’t buy a new one at the thrift store like I can jeans!!

Stall

Ok.  I have to admit it.  I’m in a ‘stall’.

A stall in the aftermath of WLS is when the scale simply does not move for weeks.  I’ve been at 170 or thereabouts for 4 weeks!!  I tried upping my protein, the recommended way to get out of a stall, and thought I’d broken it but, no, I’m still stuck.

Guess it’s time to swap more food for protein shakes.  Blech! 

Snacking after dinner is a major problem.  It always was, even before my surgery.  How do you think I maintained all that weight I was carrying??  So, going forward, no more than 800 calories a day, more protein and EXERCISE.

I gotta get up on my stationary bike.  I was riding it every day prior to my surgery and then the recovery period had me breaking that habit.  I need to form a new one!! 

I actually took a walk with my daughter yesterday!  Pre-WLS, I could barely get to the end of my driveway and back.  Yesterday, I went to the corner and back, the long way!  (I live 4 houses from the corner going the other way.)  I’d like to be able to go around the block but don’t want to try it by myself in case I get too tired to get home.  Yeah, I weigh less but my heart is still a major limitation. 

The only calories I drink are protein shakes and creamer in my coffee.  Can’t give up the shakes so coffee loses its creamer.  That’s going to be rough.  I may have to switch to tea. 

Also, no more casseroles for dinner.  It’s too hard to figure out how much I’m eating with everything mixed together.  Dinner is salad and a protein.  It’s good for my hubby as well.  He’s been losing weight, too.  All his clothes are too big!! 

So, the plan going forward:

800 Kcs a day

15 minutes a day on the bike, minimum

No creamer in the coffee

Shakes for lunch and snack during the day

Salad and protein for dinner

NOTHING AFTER DINNER

And we will see what happens next week!!

One more week of pureed food.

I can’t wait to be able to eat regular food again!!  Haven’t posted in a while.  Just taking it day by day.

I’ve been battling the bronchitis I caught in the hospital with meds and my nebulizer and I seem to be winning.  I’ve mostly stopped coughing and my nose is not running so much.  My biggest problem at the moment is my arthritis.  I can’t take any pain killers except for Tylenol and I don’t have any so last night it hit me that I did have a pain killer I could take: my codeine. 

I have a bit left over so I took some last night.  I still couldn’t sleep from all my aches and pains and then my feet started itching.  So, I went downstairs and took my Irritable Leg med. Went immediately to sleep and slept until 2PM!  Guess I was tired.  It’s late now but I’m going to do the same as last night at 2AM and, hopefully, I will be able to sleep.

My daughter is coming over tomorrow and we’re going shopping.  I’ve un-grown all my bras and have only 3 old ones I saved that now fit so we’re going to get me some new ones.  I don’t figure I’ll wear them all that long so I don’t want to pay a lot of money.  Walmart was too big a mess to find anything that fit.  I’m hoping Target and TJ Maxx are in better shape!!  I don’t want to have to go to the mall.  I don’t have that much money for this. 

I discovered today that I can’t eat tuna.  Well, I can eat it but I don’t get to keep it.  It came right back up, which was a big disappointment.  Tuna is an easy source of protein.

I made some high protein custard ice cream today.  My ice cream maker works quite well, especially if you put it together correctly!  J  The ice cream came out quite tasty!

High Protein Ice Cream

 

1 cup milk

2 eggs

½ cup Splenda

1 cup soy milk

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

Pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Heat milk in pan until steamy.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs till lemon colored.  Pour hot milk into eggs, whisking continuously.  Whisk in Splenda and salt.  Pour milk and egg mixture back into pan.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes.

Partially fill large bowl with crushed ice and water.  Pour milk and egg mixture back into medium bowl.  Set medium bowl into larger bowl to cool quickly.

Pour soy milk into shaker bottle.  Add protein powder and shake for 30 seconds.  When milk/egg mixture is cooled to 60 degrees or less, dump ice water and dry bowl.  Pour milk/egg mixture into larger bowl.  Add contents of shaker bottle and vanilla.  Blend until frothy with immersion blender.

Assemble ice cream maker.  Pour mix into maker and run for 10 minutes.  Add chocolate chips at end of freezing.  Ice cream will be soft.  Spoon into sealable bowl and keep in freezer. 

Even my hubby liked this.  It’s very good!!  And full of protein. 

Three Days Post-Op

Thus far, it’s been fairly easy.

Had a bad time yesterday morning about 4:30AM when all the pain meds wore off but morphine is our friend and all was well. 

Codeine is also our friend although it keeps making me take naps.  Although I guess taking naps is really all I’m up to right now.  I’m hoping to be able to live without it by Monday.  Get my head clear and get on with full recovery.

I’ve had an entire protein shake already to day as well as lots of water.  Working on my second shake.  I need three today to meet my protein goal: 60 grams.  I should be able to do it without too much trouble.  I just need to take it slow. One tiny sip at a time. 

I have to crush my regular meds and dissolve them in liquid.  Most of them taste vile so I’m going to have to come up with a better way.  Stronger liquid, prolly. 

Most of the nurses and people in the hospital were great.  Only one guy, Frank, treated me like my questions were just too stupid to answer.  I asked a lot of questions.  I wanted to know exactly what everyone was doing and why.  All meds required a full explanation of what, why and what the side effects were going to be.  Frank thought I should just shut and lie there and let him do whatever he wanted to do.  I was glad when I got to go to my room and leave him behind in recovery. 

Other than that asshole, everyone was quite happy to explain things to me.  They put in lots of effort battling blood clots in the legs.  I was bruising so easily at one point that I turned down any more blood thinners.  They took blood at one point and I bled all over everywhere!  Not big deal but kinda scary to look down and see all the red stuff!!  They wiped me down and bandaged me up and everything was fine.  I also have a fine bruise on my left forearm from something they did in surgery.  No idea what but it left a great, big bruise.  I think I had had enough blood thinners!!

So, I’m napping in my recliner, sipping water and shakes and just generally taking it very easy.  I don’t have anything I need to do so resting will be my activity from now on.  J

The Night Before

Tomorrow morning at 9:30AM I have my surgery.  To say I'm anxious would be a vast understatement.  I'm incredibly anxious.  But, then, I always am before this sort of thing.  I don't expect to sleep tonight.  I'll pack for the hospital, put away my clean laundry (Monday is Laundry Day) and take my shower with anti-bacterial soap per my surgeon's instructions.  That should take a while and then there's always all the TV shows on my DVR. 

My current life ends tomorrow and my next life begins.  I hope I'm a lot healthier in it.  I should be.  The docs tell me that I will go to sleep with Type 2 Diabetes and wake up without it.  I'm looking forward to that: no more painful holes in my fingers to test my blood sugar. 

For my last meal, I had a quite delicious bacon cheese burger and sweet potato fries.  Yummy!  Maybe I'll be able to have something similar, in a much smaller portion, next July when I can eat real food again.  Between now and then, it's protein shakes and baby food.  Yum, yum.  :-) 

Actually, the shakes are quite good.  I've been living on them for the past 2 weeks.  And I've had nothing else today.  Getting my innards emptied and ready.  The rest of the procedures you really don't want to know about!  Let's just say that magnesium citrate tastes nasty!  And is quite effective, too.  :-P

I've been examining my eating habits to try and pinpoint my mistakes so I won't repeat them after surgery.  I have already drastically changed what I eat to conform with my diabetes.  I gave up sweets years ago.  I think my biggest problem is not eating any one food nor any one type of food, I just eat too much of everything.  Portion size has been my biggest enemy.  Having 90% of my stomach removed should fix that problem;  if it eat too much, I will throw it up. 

I've been doing battle with my stomach since I was in my teens.  I seems like I was always hungry.  I could stay on a diet long enough to lose weight but eventually Hunger would win and I would go back to my old habits.  And regain any lost weight.  Again and again.  This time, I win!!  Sanity prevails. 

SNAFU

Yet another SNAFU on my way to surgery: first my endoscopy was rescheduled without my being adequately notified and Tuesday I discovered that my pre-surgery class has been cancelled as well!  I certainly hope my surgeon is more competent than her staff!!  These are the same people who can’t remember to bill my insurance company for office visits.  I suppose the hospital will be better about that, though.  I’ll bet I get billed for the physician’s portion and have to call them, again, and have them bill my insurance for it. 

 

As for adequate notification of a changed medical procedure, leaving a message on someone’s answering machine is not good enough!

 

Years ago, I was the person in charge of empanelling citizens to read grant proposals and give away Arts money.  If I had to reschedule a panel, my job was to TALK to everyone affected by the change.  Not leave messages on machines!!  I couldn’t consider my job done until I had spoken to everyone.  Spoken to them, personally. 

 

In essence medicine is a service industry.  It is extremely poor customer service to leave a patent standing in a medical facility being told their procedure has been canceled without notifying them, personally of the change.  I understand that things happen.   In this case, my surgeon lost her grandmother, for which she has my sympathies.  Her staff not taking the notification of her patients of the cancellations seriously enough to keep trying until they reached every person is inexcusable.  I received 1 phone call, which went to my machine.  My time is just as valuable to me is anybody else’s is!!  Respect for the people you service is the basis of good work in any profession.  It is doubly important in medicine!  Poor customer service could result in serious consequences.  It is life and death. 

 

I realize that I should have checked my machine.  Believe me, I have been ever since this happened but 1 phone call is not adequate notification.  Had she tried even one more time, I would have been home and gotten the news of the cancellation.  "I left a message" is a cop out. 

Diets and Insanity

I’ve been on my pre-op diet for a week now.  I’m not good at diets (no kidding! I got 100 pounds over weight by being such a good dieter!) so I’ve not been perfect but I think I’m doing OK.  At least, I hope so!  Protein shakes get kinda old very quick!

I had my endoscopy on Thursday.  My surgeon likes to take a look at things before she cut them up.  Seems like a good idea to me!  They found a small esophageal erosion but that won’t cause any problems with my surgery.  Lots of Prilosec in my future, I guess.  My biopsies taken during the procedure just to be extra sure all came back clean so more good news!

Actually, I am a pretty good dieter.  I’ve lost over 50 pounds 6 times that I remember.  The problem with dieting and losing large amounts of weight is that it always comes back and brings a few ‘friends’ with it.  The end result over time of dieting is that you get fatter and fatter until you’re hopelessly obese.  Look at the research.  It happens to everyone who tries to lose the weight this way.  It has nothing to do with will power!!!  We are not bad people because we can’t keep the weight off. 

Neither is WLS ‘cheating’!!  Is chemotherapy ‘cheating’ against cancer?  What a ridiculous question and, yet, losing weight and beating obesity with the help of bariatric surgery is called cheating.  “You should have enough strength of will and character to lose the weight with diet and exercise alone!”  This is usually said by people who have never had a serious weight problem in their lives.  They think their experience losing 10 or 20 pounds qualifies them to opine on the severe problems faced by the morbidly obese. 

We fat people need to stop listening to these ridiculous people!  Do what you need to do for yourself!  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Sure, I could go on another diet.  I did, as a matter of fact.  After I found out I was diabetic in 2009, I lost 40 pounds.  Then, since the first of this year, I’ve lost another 18 pounds.  Without my WLS, I can expect to regain all this weight plus an additional 10 to 20 pounds within the next 2 to 3 years.  I don’t want to weigh over 300 pounds!!!!  

So, I’m not going to be insane about my weight anymore.  I’m making a drastic change to my behavior and am expecting different results. 

One More Week

One more week until my surgery.  One more week of my old life and until my new one starts.  I’m excited.

I keep getting that old ‘Christmas is next week’ feeling that you get right before something good you’re waiting for is about to happen.  I’m really looking forward to losing the weight and losing my co-morbidities, too.  And, maybe, my knees and feet stop hurting me all the time.  I have bins and bins of clothes in the basement that I’m looking forward to going through and wearing some of my favorite too-small clothes once again. 

Women have three wardrobes:  the clothes we can currently wear, the clothes we out-grew but will get back into ‘some day’, and our fat clothes that we un-grew on our latest diet but don’t dare throw away because we know we will need them again. 

My ‘some day’ is going to happen in the next couple of months and I’m giving away my fat clothes and what I’m wearing now as it will all be way too big.  I’m in a size 20/22 now.  My fat clothes are all size 24. My hoped-for new size is a size 10.  The bins contain mostly size 18 and 14 so there will be some shopping in my future!

According to my daughter, a 1970s size 10 (what I hope to get back to) is a size 8 now due to size inflation.  I may still have a couple of size 10 things from back then so we’ll see how it works out. 

I have an entire 1980s size 14 and size 18 wardrobe down in the bins.  What, no size 16?  Nope.  I wore my 14s until they were vastly too tight and then replaced them with 18s.  At least, I don’t think I have any size 16s.  Guess I’ll find out!!

Thrifty Chicken

Well, waddya know?  A food post!!  :-)

Every so often, my local grocery store offers whole roasting chickens Buy One, Get One Free.  I usually take advantage of these sales.  It makes a nice, plump whole chicken cost less than $1.00 a pound.  I cook one fresh and freeze the second one for future dinners.

For Easter this year, I roasted the frozen one.  It was delicious!  We had mashed potatoes, green peas and homemade yeast rolls with it.

The left over half chicken I put in Ziploc bags and refrigerated. 

The second half of the chicken became Chicken Enchiladas. 

 

1 or 2 recipes of Enchilada sauce (below)

1 – 2 cooked chicken breasts

8 corn tortillas

8 ozs. Queso Fresco

Shredded cheddar

Make enchilada sauce.  Allow to cool slightly.

Shred chicken.  Add 1 – 2 ladles sauce to chicken and stir.

Heat tortillas in a damp paper towel in microwave for 30 seconds. 

Using smaller rectangular Pyrex pan, spray liberally with Pam.  Spread bottom of pan with 2 ladles of sauce. 

Per tortilla:  chicken and a strip of cheese.  Roll and place pan.  Make up all 8 tortillas.  Fold a strip of aluminum foil to serve as a separator between the servings, if desired. 

Cover pan with foil and cook at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Uncover and cover with sliced queso fresco and shredded cheddar.  Return to oven and bake until cheese is melty and slightly browned. 

Enchilada Sauce

2 T vegetable oil

2 T AP flour

2 T chili powder

½ tsp ground cumin

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

2 C water

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

Heat oil in large 2-quart saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder; cook for 1 minute.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

 

The remaining meat and bones go into the soup pot. 

            Chicken and Noodles

            Bones, skin and remaining meat from 1 roasted chicken

            1 large onion, cut into pieces

            3 – 4 cloves garlic, crushed

            6 cups water

 

Simmer chicken bones in water with onions and garlic until it falls apart.  Allow to cool.

            Strain out solids, reserving broth. 

Carefully pick through bones and skin for meat and edible goodies.  Throw away skin, bones and gookie parts.  Maybe give some chicken skin, chopped, to the cat?

Cook 6 to 8 ounces of egg noodles in the reserved broth.  Add 1 T sherry, 1 T soy sauce, 1 tsp savory, 1 tsp oregano and 1/8 tsp ground ginger to broth.  Don’t forget the salt and pepper. 

If you made gravy for the roast chicken, reheat it in the microwave for about 1 minute to soften.  When noodles are done, add meat and gravy to pan.  Cook until everything is hot.

Serve with leftover rolls and butter.  A salad would go nice as well.

 

I don’t have pictures of any of this as it didn’t occur to me to blog about this until it was all eaten! 

Utilizing a chicken this way appeals to the frugal housewife in me.  I’ve spent so much of my life never knowing if or when I would have money for food again that I cannot bring myself to waste perfectly good food.  This way, I get three yummy dinners out of 1 chicken! 

You could use baked chicken in either of the above recipes, too.  Or buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.  They’re still only $5.00.  Not too bad a cost for 3 meals for 2 to 3 people!! 

 

 

Hospitals

I found out this week that I’m going to be in the hospital longer than I thought.  I thought my “two days in the hospital” included the day of my surgery.  No.  It means 2 days after surgery.  So, I have my surgery on Tuesday and I go home on Thursday. 

Oh, well.  It’s not like I’m going to have to worry about the food!!  J 

I am concerned about the comfort of the bed, however.  I’m going to take my special pillow so my neck doesn’t hurt me but a bad bed could give me lots of back pain.  Somehow, I don’t think I’m going to need any more pain! 

I’ve also figured out that I’ve been pursuing Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) for over 19 months.  19 months.

I first heard that the only cure for Type 2 Diabetes is WLS in September of 2011.   That’s been my goal all along.  Getting skinny is a special bonus. 

I first tried the Bariatric Unit at St. Vincent Charity Hospital.  They advertise heavily in this market and have free seminars several times a year looking for clients.  What they don’t tell you is that they are the most conservative Unit in the area.  There’s a Unit at the Clinic, at University Hospital and one down in Summit County serving the Akron area.  I'm going to be at UH so, if any friends are reading this, come visit me on Wednesday!

After taking my money for their nutritionist and wasting lots and lots of my time, SVC turned me down due to my heart condition.  I KNOW I’m a high risk patient.  I’ve lived with this risk since 1994.  EVERYTHING is a risk for me: going to the dentist, getting my hernia repaired and dealing with the infection the Clinic gave me, getting my pacemaker implanted, everything!!  Like everyone else, I have to weigh the benefits against the risks.  I believe this is worth the risk.  I (and my cardiologist) am of the opinion that it can only help my heart for there to be 100 pounds less of me.  And getting rid of the sugar problem, which can further damage my heart, is a good thing as well.

And I could die.  It could happen.  I’m going to re-do my will, just in case.  It needs doing anyway and this is the perfect excuse to stop procrastinating about it. 

A New Beginning

This is supposed to be a food blog but it’s my blog and I can do anything I want with it.  :-)

Blogging about significant life change is an internet tradition, if something only a few years old can have traditions, so here’s mine!!  And this is sort of food related…

I am having Bariatric Surgery on May 7^th.   I’ve chosen to have a Gastric Sleeve procedure otherwise known as a Sleeve Gastrectomy.  Basically, they’re going to remove most of my stomach leaving my intestines alone.  The benefits of this over the RNY are that I’ll have no mal-absorption issues and won’t have to worry about dumping syndrome, which sounds nasty.  And I’ll finally lose the 100 pounds I need to lose and be able to keep it off.

I’ve lost over 50 pounds at least 5 times that I can remember.  And on January 1, 2009, I weighed 280 pounds.  That’s very hard to admit to the world but it’s the truth.  All the effort I’ve put into losing weight over the past 30 years and I’m still almost 300 pounds.  <sigh>  And I’m also a diabetic.  So.  I went looking for a permanent solution.  I don’t want to lose my eyesight, kidneys or feet to diabetes.  I also have dilated cardiomyopathy.  Look that up on the ‘net for a scare!  It’s been trying to kill me since 1995.  I guess I’m just too stubborn to die. 

Since 2009, I’ve lost 55 pounds.  I know that if I don’t do something different, it will all come back and bring a few friends with it.  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  I know what will happen.  It will all come back.  So it is now time to do thing differently.

Surgery is a drastic step.  Having most of my stomach removed is very drastic.  I’m at the point in my life where it’s time for drastic action.  Dieting hasn’t helped.  Exercise hasn’t helped, although it did help some, but I can’t ride that damned exercise bike for the rest of my life.  My knees are already protesting.  My heart condition and the diabetes are killing me.  Drastic action is called for!

I’ve been doing extensive reading online on this subject trying to figure out what my life will be after 5/7/13.  I’ve got 3 different makes of protein shakes in assorted flavors; I found sugar free pudding and gelatin that don’t contain NutraSweet.  That was difficult to find.  All the Jell-o products have NutraSweet and that stuff gives me migraines.  Not a good scenario.  I’ve found several websites of post-op people who put their recipes online for the rest of us to benefit from.  My go-to place these days is theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com.  if you’re considering any bariatric surgery, check out her site.  It’s a great source of information. 

I’m still in the ‘last binge before surgery’ phase.  I can’t really go too far off the reservation as I still have to worry about my blood sugar but I think that last 18 pounds I lost has greatly improved my insulin resistance.  I’ve been eating all sorts of things not on my approved diabetic diet and my sugar hasn’t tested over 156.  Or I’m just damned lucky.  Which ever works for me!! 

 I start my pre-op diet on the 23rd so I have to get all this out of my system before then.  Cookies, pie, ice cream, candy, pop, pizza, eating out, all that sort of thing...

After surgery, I’m going to have to make sure I drink all the water I’m supposed to.  I always do better when I have a system so I came up with one.  The goal is 64 ounces a day.  I took 4 Propel water bottles, 16.9 oz. each, drank the contents, removed the labels, numbered them 1 through 4 and fill them every morning and put them in the fridge.  I have to empty all of them by the end of the day.  I’ve always been a water drinker so this is really working well.  Since I started this last week, I’ve not finished all my water only one night.  I think I’ll do OK when it really counts:  post-op.

Of course, I’m anxious about having surgery.  I’m not a good patient.  I don’t stay where I’m put.  I require meds to have injections.  I need nurses who can take a joke without becoming cruel.  (Maybe I’ll tell that story sometime.)  And I have anxiety attacks if left alone too long without medication.  (Yet another story!) 

I don’t expect to sleep the night before my procedure.  I don’t sleep the night before dental visits and I have sedation dentistry and don’t remember what is done to me.  But, I’m a worrier.  Always have been.  I have just too good an imagination.  J

I can’t talk about all this stuff with the Hubby.  He’s barely going along with this as it is.  If I talk about my fears to him, his support will cease altogether!  So, World, I guess I’ll talk to you!  ;-)

Before Pix:

 

Smoked Chicken

I watch the cooking shows on PBS on the weekends and I saw something this past weekend that I wanted to try.

America’sTest Kitchen was demonstrating their instructions for smoked chicken.  I love smoked chicken barbeque but it’s almost impossible to find it on Cleveland’s west side.  None of the barbeque restaurants serve smoked pulled chicken.  It’s all grilled.  Yuk!  Not the same at all!!  So, I’ve been wanting to try it myself but had no idea where to start.  I was going to invest in a smoker until I saw the show where ATK turned a grill into a smoker.  They used charcoal and I have natural gas but I figured I could adapt their directions. 

I went to their website and, lo and behold, they had directions for gas, too!!  I’ve never brined poultry before but this worked so well, I may do it more often.  Put cup of salt and cup of sugar in a galleon of water.  I had to use the top of my cake keeper as I don’t have a bowl that big.  I added ice as I can’t fit something that big into my fridge for the hour it needed to soak.

 They called for 3 cups of wood chips, not any particular variety, so I went to the scrap wood pile between the houses and pulled out some oak sticks that were nice and dry and clean.  I broke them up and soaked half of them.  Then I wrapped the two sets of twigs in double layers of foil and poked a few holes in for the smoke to escape.

Once everything was brined and soaked, I drained the chicken, patted it dry and brushed it with a little veg oil and ground on some pepper.  Out to the grill!

I pulled the grates from the right side of the grill and laid on the two foil packets.  I put a small aluminum pan on the other side under the grates.  I turned on the fire on full and let everything heat up.  After about 10 minutes, I had lots of smoke.  I cleaned and oiled the left side grates, where there was no fire and put on the chicken, breasts furthest from the fire, legs next and then thighs.  I turned the heat down to medium high, set my timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes and went back inside to see about sides.

When the timer went off, I took out my instant-read thermometer and everything was the correct temp; 175 degrees for thighs and 160 degrees for breasts. 

They came out beautifully and were wonderfully moist, too!   The smoke flavor was just enough.  It smells divine! Oak seemed to work fine.  I have access to holly wood and apple wood and may try some of those to see if there is a taste difference.   I made enough for 2 meals and I’m going to put barbeque sauce on the rest later in the week.  Yummy!!

Calzones

I think I finally got calzones right!  Took me 3 tries but tonight, they were perfect!

Calzones

2 c bread flour

1 tbsp dry active yeast           

1 tsp salt

Water

Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl.  Turn on mixer.  Pour warm water into bowl slowly until dough forms.  Allow to process for 2-3 minutes until dough gathers on paddle.  Turn off mixer and test dough for stickiness; it should be slightly sticky.  If it’s too wet, add more flour and mix.  If dough is correct, change to dough hook and knead in mixer for 7 minutes.  Dough should not be sticky at all.  Place dough in greased bowl, spray with Pam, cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour, until doubled.

Punch down dough.  Cut into 2 pieces.  Roll out dough into a 10 – 12” circle on corn meal covered pizza peal.  Layer on the toppings of your choice on half of circle.  Don’t forget the cheese! 

Pull dough over top of toppings and pinch to seal.  Cut several slits in top of dough pocket to allow steam to escape.

Bake on pizza stone or baking sheet at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve with sauce.

Yum! 

Back Home Again!

After 1,000 miles and 3 states in 4 days, I’m pooped!   Vacations are great!  The new baby is totally adorable, (congrats, Teresa and Michael!), the daughter is graduated with all proper Pomp and Circumstance and an Award of Excellence (congrats, Katt!) and the night in the hotel room with the private pool was… well, this is NOT that sort of blog!  ;-P

So, tonight we have:

Tater Tot Casserole

1 lb. ground beef

½ large onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp flour

1 tsp savory

Salt and pepper

1 can beef broth or 1.5 C water with 2 beef bullion cubes dissolved in it.

2 cups shredded cheddar

Brown beef and onion til cooked through.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Stir in flour and spices.  Add broth and cook til gravy forms.

Spread in 9 x 12 casserole pan well sprayed with Pam.  Cover with tater tots.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Spread on cheese, return to oven and bake til cheese melts.  

This is very simple but quite tasty when you’re too tired for anything more complicated.  And the hubby likes it.   It also makes great leftovers.  Even the picky grandson will eat it! 

It expands easily for a crowd as well.  Double or triple and use a larger pan.  I use the smaller of my rectangular Pyrex pans.  If you use too big a pan, the meat layer would be too thin for all the potatoes and cheese.

You could also add different spicing to suit your taste.  Take the basics of meat, potatoes and cheese and add what ever you little heart desires: spices, veggies, wine, etc.  I’m too sleepy to get really creative tonight so it’s nice and simple for us.  Maybe next time, I’ll get a little crazy.  J

Good eating!!

1968 Meets 2012

Tonight, I cooked and served a recipe from a 1968 Pillsbury Cook-off Main Dish Cookbook that I have had for over 30 years.  Inside, I found a recipe I remember making back in the early 1980s for Butthead the Ex-husband.  I will try it again, soon. This night, I made a different one that went over very well.  It was simple to make, gave complicated looking results and was quite tasty.  I give you:

Baked-in Beefburger

2 C AP flour

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sage

½ tsp marjoram

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 c tomato sauce

Milk

Celery salt

Filling

1 lb. ground beef, as lean as possible

1 tsp salt

½ cup saltine crackers, crushed to crumbs

2 tbsp instant (dried) minced onion

1 egg

2/3 cup tomato sauce

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sage, and marjoram.   Combine water, oil and sauce.  Add to dry ingredients all at once, stir until batter comes together.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead 8 times.  Roll out to a 15 x 8 rectangle.  To facilitate rolling, do this on wax paper or patchment paper. 

Mix filling ingredients.  Spread filling on dough even with the 15 sides and within ½” of 8” sides.  Starting with 8” side, roll up jelly roll style.  Pinch seam.  Place seam side down in 9 x 5 greased bread pan.  Make 7 slashes 1/3 way through whole loaf.  Brush with milk and sprinkle with celery seeds or poppy seeds or sesame seeds, whatever you like.

 

 

Bake at 375 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes.  Turn out onto cutting board and cut into slices through slashes.  Serves 4 to 8. 

This sounds way more complicated than it was to do.  And the results were fantastic!  We both really liked it.  I served it with some buttered corn for the veg but you could use anything your family likes or maybe a salad. 

Almost every recipe has some sort of biscuit and meat.  Lots and lots of Pillsbury flour! 

As I was making this, it occurred to me that there were things I was using to make this that weren’t available in 1968:

Pam.  As far as I know, Pam is a recent development.  Spray on grease is a wonderful thing.

An instant-read thermometer.  Also not something found in your typical kitchen in 1968.  I personally didn’t get one until this century.

Food processor.   I guess in 1968, they would have used a blender to smash up the crackers. 

I originally included my big Kitchenaide mixer on this list but my hubby says that had similar things in the late 60s.  I don’t know.  I was a kid. 

Fish Fry!

Fridays during Lent we don’t eat meat.  So, I get to have myself a fish fry! 

Fried Fish

Tilapia fillets (or any other white fish.  Tonight, it’s swai, available at Aldi.)

1 egg

Flour

Panko bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

Thaw and pat dry the filets.  Make an egg wash by beating the egg with about 1 tablespoon of water.  Place flour in pie pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place Panko in separate pie pan.  Dredge fish in flour, dip in egg wash, dip in Panko. 

Put about ½ inch of peanut oil into an electric skillet.  Heat to 350 degrees.  Fry fish for 2 – 3 minutes, turn, fry additional 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

 Drain on rack over paper towels.  This gets the most oil off the fish and lets it stay crispy.

French Fries

Potatoes, sweet or russet, sliced to desired thickness

Peel and cut potatoes.  Soak in ice water for about an hour.  Heat oil in deep fryer or deep pan to 325 degrees. 

Drain potatoes and pat dry.

Cook potatoes in hot oil for 3 minutes.   Drain and let cool.

Increase heat of oil to 350 degrees. 

Refry potatoes in hot oil 3 – 5 minutes until golden and crispy. 

Precooking the potatoes lets them cook all the way through and the refry gets them crispy while leaving the insides nice and fluffy.  Yum! 

Salt the potatoes or use cinnamon sugar for sweet potatoes.  For a special treat, dip sweet potatoes in marshmallow fluff.  Yum!

Vegie-Beef Soup

Tonight, I made soup.  Vegie-beef soup.  We got out 2012 side of beef last month so I'm trying to use up the last of the 2011 steer.  Soup seemed like a good idea.

Recipe:

1 lb. stew beef
1 soup bone
1 extra large onion
3 stalks celery
5-6 cloves garlic
oregano
basil
savory
sage
salt pepper

Brown the beef in a large soup pot in a bit of olive oil, including the soup bone and its meat.  Add onions, celery and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Add 8 cups water and herbs and spices.  Cook 3 - 4 hours until beef is tender.

Vegies:

1 leek
1 cup peas
5-6 small carrots
3 potatoes
1 cup corn
1 box lima beans
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
Anything else your heart desires!

Add vegies and cook another 20 to 30 minutes, until vegies are the desired tenderness.

Serve with bread and butter.

Yum!

Grandson

Spent yesterday with my not-quite-four-year-old grandson.  The daughter and her IB tried to go to the movies (the showing was sold out!) and were gone all afternoon so Grandson and I got to play together uninterrupted for hours!  He's getting so big!

I also got to feed him dinner.  He's gotten a bit picky lately so I never know if he will eat what I cook.  I played it safe this week and made Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. 

Tomato Sauce

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped onion
3 -4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce (Hunts)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes  (or 1 large can crushed tomatoes)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/8 tsp (heavy pinch) cardamom

Cook onion in olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Pour in tomatoes, rinsing cans into pot.  Stir in herbs and cardamom.  Pour in a big glug of red wine.  Simmer for 1 hour or so until desired consistency.  Add meatballs, browned ground meat or sausage of your choice. 

Serve over pasta, include in lasagna.  Just a good, all round red sauce. 

The cardamom is a vital ingredient.  It really takes the sauce over the top to wonderful.  I put some in by accident one day and really liked how it turned out. 

My grandson really like his dinner and actually cleaned his plate!  :-)