Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘COOKING’

STUMPED

There are times when everything I try DOES NOT work. Today is one of those times. Years ago, when I first wrote To Pap, With Love — I filed for a state tax number. I thought that I would sell some of the books myself. Actually I did, but the number that was sold was less than 50, possibly much less.

Years have passed and I have made no personal sales but I still needed to file the sales tax form. Since the amount of money I owed was zero, I was informed to file electronically. Trying to do that today wound up with nothing but frustration. I finally got to the right screen, after many tries but my user name and password didn’t agree. If this was supposed to be easy, I missed a step. I will have to get help from a real person. But since this is the weekend, I will have to wait until Monday. I’m hoping that since I’ve had so many challenges I no longer need to file. Wouldn’t that be lovely!

OFTEN when I’m blocked, I’m not supposed to do what ever it is I’m trying to do. Maybe I’m cooking and nothing is going right. It is aggravating when I ruin the dish, or burn or cut myself. Maybe I’ll spill stuff all over the counter or floor. Sometimes I can determine the reason for the mishap. Often it just becomes one of the great mysteries.

Recently I was trying to phone a friend — the call didn’t go through — twice. Then I tried a different person and received their answering machine. Not giving up, I tried a third only to learn that I was calling at a bad time. I finally decided that I wasn’t supposed to be on the phone. I don’t know why — it is another of the mysteries.

I have written a couple of thought rambles about our dog, Robin. We have had many dogs in our lifetime, Robin’s personality beats all of them. She is definitely unique. I think that I wrote that she lead our son upstairs because he came down without his shoes. He needed his shoes to take her for a walk. I had been closing our bedroom door to keep the noise of my TV from disturbing anyone else. Robin got mad at me, she thought I was keeping her out. It took a few days before I was forgiven. She opens the bathroom doors to see who is inside. Just checking! Recently she got mad at my husband — he is her person. He took her for a walk and wouldn’t let her eat something she found. When they got home, she turned her back on him. He tried to give her a favorite treat but she turned her face away. It took some time before she forgave him.

Life is busy. My husband has enrolled with the Veterans Administration and that has added more appointments to the calendar. Many of the appointments are at the hospital, 30 miles from home. We had a lovely, warm winter. IT IS CHANGING. Rain, turning to snow, turning to temperatures in the teens will turn to ice. Of course, none of the appointments are life threatening and we can always cancel. The next two weeks we will be gone more than we will be home. Our Christmas tree is still up and I don’t know when I will have the time to take it down. Valentines? Easter eggs?

My “friends” edit my rambles — if I share something that shouldn’t be said — the ramble isn’t saved. I guess this one is okay — no trouble posting it.

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SET UP

I’ll admit that sometimes I don’t catch on to something right away. Sometimes the same thing has to happen over and over again before I realize that there is help happening behind the scenes and that I’m supposed to pay attention. Recent blogs have mentioned this: CHAPLAINS — for example.

Okay, what am I rambling on about? We had closed up the camper for the season and I was sitting, waiting with my husband for his doctor’s appointment. To pass the time, I picked up an office magazine on arthritis. I found many of the articles to be interesting. One containing exercises I decided to copy on a scrap of paper in my purse. I thought the exercises would help my shoulder. The interesting thing about this task — I realized that my ability to write had improved. Ever since I fell injuring my right shoulder I have had trouble writing. Grabbing the pen, the motion of the arm as it writes — all where affected by the injury. My handwriting, although never something to brag about, had definitely suffered.

The next article that caught my attention concerned cooking — always a favorite subject of mine. The article didn’t contain recipes, if it did, I didn’t write them down. Instead it focused on steps to make cooking easier for those with arthritis. The step that caught my interest was their use of a crockpot. Advantages being one pan cooking, not having to lift many pots and pans on the stove. I have noticed that my energy is up in the morning and GONE by evening. Because of the injury to my shoulder, I have to pay more attention to the weight of the pan and the placement on the stove.

As always — the change of the seasons also causes a change in the meals that I make. I didn’t pay much attention to my e-mails while we were at the camper. We don’t have ready access to the internet, and I haven’t figured out how to connect my laptop at the WIFI sites. The last time I used my Ipad, I managed to erase ALL of my e-mails, so I was leery. We have a hot spot that I could have used but I left it for my husband and his ham radio.

I had so many things to do when we came home that I left the computer and emails sit. Of course the longer it sits the more e-mails come in so eventually I had to attack the mess. Now, most of them are junk — invitations to spend money or ?? I found a couple of recipes that caught my attention, made in the crockpot.

I didn’t write them down but having access to a printer at home, I printed a hard copy of the recipe. I tried one yesterday — it was a chicken stew that was a hit with my family, easy to prepare and it cooked while I was busy doing other things. I know that I have used the crockpot for beef stew, and pot roast. Having everything ready when I’m tired is an option that I will have to make better use of. The disadvantage — the fragrance in the rooms, all afternoon — LETS EAT!

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PRESSURES OFF AGAIN

Who am I kidding? It sounds good — but it is a big, fat lie. Yesterday my weight was UP — by 3 pounds. I blamed it on sodium — too much salt in the pickles. I told myself not to worry, the little bit of salt wouldn’t hurt me and it would be gone soon. MY WEIGHT IS UP MORE TODAY. My feet were swollen last night, my face feels swollen today. I haven’t exercised in four days — okay, I’m still walking 9,000 — 10,000 steps every day. I just haven’t made time for the morning exercises and there is no time today.

A loud bang woke me at 4:00 am from a sound sleep — thunder overhead, followed by a downpour. Our skylight has another leak. Hopefully not only will we find the leak, but we will be able to fix it. Our car needs more work. The flappers in the dash are stuck, we are only able to get heat from the engine, no cooling from the air conditioner. My husband doesn’t do well with heat and I don’t do well with drafts.
Buying a new car is not something we can do right now.

Two doctor appointments are scheduled this week. Hopefully all will be well. Pressures off? REALLY?
Now I know that if I exercise, I will work off some of the stress. Deep breathes help too.

Vacation is on the horizon — I still have to pack. My husband is staying home — he will need food in the house to eat, so will Robin. We are planning to go to the camper when I return, I’m trying to gather stuff for there too. Originally, I thought my husband would go out to the camper while I was gone but plans changed. I didn’t have the time to stock the camper either.

I walked into the pantry and reminded myself that I accomplished NOTHING over the winter. It must be the day and the rain. Raining outside, raining inside too. I recently decided to try to stop the negative talk — not doing too well today. I can usually handle stuff when it comes one at a time, it is the deluge that gets me.

It is a good thing I have friends in high places that “help” me. I got hit on the head yesterday, and the freezer avalanched. I need to pay more attention. I always say that I make plans and God Laughs. Step by step, I’m trying. Just slid back quite a bit.

POST NOTE: Before leaving for the doctor’s office yesterday, I tried to save this ramble under the name PRESSURES OFF. I was asked if I wanted to replace the ramble that was already there. ?? NO, I DIDN’T but I did want to read what was on the ramble. It is funny how as much as time passes, things change but remain the same. It was about two years ago, same time of year, preparing for vacation — weight was up, feet were swollen, etc. Today — weight is DOWN, used a pressure cooker to cook beans for chili and DIDN’T blow up the kitchen.

YESTERDAY–my husband asked the doctor about a lump on his neck. I guess I was worried because I felt relieved when I learned it was nothing to worry about, just fatty tissue.

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BREAKTHROUGH

Ordinary Sunday — attending church with our daughter’s family, I stopped in the bathroom before services began. I listened to a woman as she wrestled with her makeup. She wasn’t happy with the way the makeup looked or how it was going on. She was rather verbal about it. So much so, that I counseled her to stop being so hard on herself. Her doctor had threatened her with insulin, she wanted to lose weight instead. And I remembered how my husband is often telling me to stop being so hard on myself. Stop being so negative. The words flow so easily out of my mouth.

I asked her how old she was. She didn’t want to tell me but finally did. I mentioned that she was twenty years younger than myself. She didn’t believe me — she looked at my neck, and said I had a young neck. I thought my neck looked like a turkey wattle.

As a matter of fact, I’m beating myself up with a wet noodle this morning. Figuratively, not actually. My weight WAS DOWN two pounds. I WAS so happy, but not today. In fact, my weight is UP three pounds and it is all my fault. Saturday I made a new recipe for pickles and used one tablespoon of salt to relieve the cucumbers of their liquid. I thought the salt would wash off when I washed the cucumbers before adding the brining liquid. Oops! I should have cut the salt. TOO LATE NOW! I could toss the remaining pickles but I have a feeling that I will continue to enjoy them and deal with the extra weight.

More than seven years ago my daughter gave me a mandolin when she was working for Pampered Chef. It rested in my cabinet until Saturday. I often thought of using it but never did. I always took out a knife and sliced whatever needed to be cut. Over the years I’ve watched demonstrators use it and remembered the one sitting at home. The cucumbers needed to be cut thinly, I needed the mandolin. IT WAS EASY and I was careful and didn’t cut myself.

The minister asked a good question: “What does it take to see real, lasting and effective change in our lives?” I remembered many years ago when I was at the camper, taking a walk, trying to find words to put on cards I was giving to participants in Christ Renews His Church weekend my group was hosting the next week. These words came to me during the walk: “Lord, as long as you are with me, I’m not alone.” I used those words for the cards I was making for the group of women we hosted. My husband used the words to make a card for me. And remembering the gift of those words was a great breakthrough in my life.

It is time for another breakthrough. Real — effective — lasting change? I need to stop being so hard on myself. I need to stop the negative talk — easier said than done.

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GRAMS BIRTHDAY

I lived with my father’s mother for quite a few years when I was young. She probably has had the most influence on my cooking habits — health and long life probably came from her also.

My grandmother was of Swedish decent, mother of eleven children and excellent cook. Since she had such a large family, she knew how to stretch her money and had a dry humor. I have since learned that she earned money sewing beads and sequins on fabric. (That must be where another of my interests comes from.) She passed over at the young age of 91.

Recently I published the thought ramble GRANDMOTHER to honor her on her birthday. That particular day I was shopping with a friend — girls day out. We met for breakfast at Gramma Sally’s, then proceeded to Wal-Mart for a bit of shopping. I had my list, for a change I was prepared. (Don’t laugh!) I really didn’t have a lot of stuff to purchase so I wandered the food aisles. I was surprised when I found a box of no-sodium beef bouillon. Since I eat a sodium restricted diet it was A LOVELY find. It wasn’t with the soups, it was with the sugar. There is NO WAY I would have found it. I must admit I bought three boxes.

It was a day when I left my mind at home. I left home without checking my wallet for cash. I wandered the store, checking my list — everything listed was in my cart, or if not, purposely not purchased. I felt something was missing, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

Walking through the parking lot, with my loaded cart, I remembered — I forgot to check the clearance aisle for miniature planes. My granddaughter mentioned she liked them too when I gave a set to her brother.

My friend suggested I go back to the store and look. She was happy to wait in the car. So I did. I wandered the clearance aisle, searching from top to bottom, all the items that were on the three shelves. I searched from North to South. On the other side, a clerk was stacking more items on the shelf. I asked if she has seen the planes. I asked if she had any planes in her cart. Both answers were negative. I proceeded to search the opposite side of the aisle, South to North, three shelves with more stuff hanging from posts. I was about to give up when I saw THREE packages of planes, marked down to five dollars each on the last post in the aisle. All THREE were MINE! I decided that $15 wasn’t too much to spend for something that I knew my grandkids would enjoy. Imagine my surprise when the grand total for the purchase of all three packages was $4.92. THANK YOU GRAMMA!

My plans for the grocery store was very limited since my freezer is stocked. I wanted some catfish until I saw they were on sale and one bag became two. Then I notice if I spent $25, I would get a ham butt for .69 a pound. That was too good a deal to pass up. All I had to do was find another $6 of food to buy, but it couldn’t be frozen or need freezing. There was no room. I had a challenge — I MET IT!

Did I mention that I said THANK YOU again.

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STILL COUNTING

It dawned on me after I posted COUNTING that I left out a part that was of “help” to me this holiday season. I LOVE to cook — not gourmet — just plain, family style fare. After cooking almost daily for more years than I wish to count, I’m running out of ideas. Of course, the food would also have to be stuff my family would eat. Not as easy as it sounds.

I have more friends in high places this year who also liked to cook. Are they helping to enlighten me? Good question — no answer. Recently I received three recipes that are a hit. One is for chicken in a crockpot. That recipe was on Facebook. A cookie recipe was on the afternoon news. A third for apple pie bites was on a cooking show. All three — from various sources that I don’t always frequent — were a hit with my family. I didn’t plan to get together with a friend before Christmas but suddenly I had a free day and she did too. We stopped in a grocery store where I learned that ham with a $25 purchase for other food was only 79 cents a pound. Ham is a favorite of our family. The sell date was February. I couldn’t pass up the savings. Maybe I should mention that this wasn’t the first time that I have chanced on a deal for ham. Let me say “thank you” just in case I forgot.

Very quiet Christmas morning, walking to Mass behind a family of four. The father whistled a Christmas song as he walked. By now, if you have read many of my rambles, you know I enjoy music. I enjoyed tagging behind the family. Music was abundant at church as well. I attend an early morning Mass. The music director and the cantor where accompanied not only by an organ or piano but also TWO horns, and a violin. This was their first Mass of the day with three more to follow. There were three Masses on the Eve. I didn’t expect the extra accompaniment. The church with the manger and trees with lights was beautiful. On the way home a flock of large birds landed in a neighboring tree. As I wondered who they were, I heard a crow caw. Question answered.

My mother passed over when I was four. I’m confident she has been behind the scenes for all of my years. She was smart and kept her involvement hidden — or I was purposely blocked until my father passed over and let the cat out of the bag. The house we are living in, although in the city, is perfect for us. It was only a mile away from my husband’s job. He didn’t have a long commute every day. It was in an affordable German neighborhood. The neighborhood is no longer affordable — I never dreamed I would be living in a neighborhood that had million dollar houses. It is close to shopping, the lake and I can get downtown via public transportation. It is big enough to shelter my growing family when they come to town. Over a hundred years old, it would not compete with the more expensive houses. Was my mother involved in our search for a house? Many good questions. No answers. And do I really need the question answered?

Still counting my gifts, my family tops the list. I could keep counting my gifts but this ramble is long enough already. It would probably help if I kept a daily list of the many gifts that come my way. That way I might remember but if history repeats itself, I’ll get busy, think I will remember, and forget.

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NOT GIVING UP

This new eating idea is all my husband’s fault. We were at Costco. I have had the book in my hand many times without buying it. He told me he wasn’t leaving the store until the book was in our cart. So it came home with us. I have to admit that I have enjoyed reading it. The author makes a lot of sense. So as not to keep you in the dark, the book is THE FAST METABOLISM DIET by Haylie Pomroy. She is a nutritionist. (You might remember that I was counseled to meet with a nutritionist last March.)

Through the years I have tried many eating plans: Weight watchers, The South Beach Diet , and the Shred just to name a few. Some I actually lost weight on but recently, even though I eat healthy, walk and exercise, my weight loves me. I’m hoping that the author’s idea to awaken my metabolism will work.

Most of the food on her plan I already eat. Some food is off the diet and I will miss my caffeine, dairy, potatoes and wine. I really don’t snack on cookies, cake or pie. Nor do I munch on chips or drink soda. So  the eating plan will be interesting. I have to drink half my weight in water a day. That will not be easy! Trying to match the food my husband and son will eat with my eating restrictions will also be a challenge. Her book suggests making meals in advance and freezing them. That would work EXCEPT there is NO ROOM in the freezer.

Time is not a factor on the other side. “My friends” must have been aware of this plan for a while. I found some of MY frozen single sides in the freezer that will work in her menus. Speaking of aware, I tried to renew a prescription for a cholesterol pill UNSUCCESSFULLY. After many phone calls, I learned that my doctor wants me to get a fasting blood test. He placed an order for one refill but where the order went, I don’t know. The pharmacy doesn’t have it.

My plan, (don’t laugh now) is to try this 28 day plan, hopefully lose some weight, then do a blood test. Maybe my cholesterol will be in a healthy range and I will no longer need pills. I only have one prescription, but I take many vitamins and a few herbs. I’m planning to put them aside for the duration.

Her plan only calls for aerobic exercise one time a week, strength training once, and yoga, massage or walking once. I usually try to exercise a bit more. It will be interesting to see if my metabolism wakes up. I planned to start this coming Monday. I thought I would be in control of my eating. Laugh with me!
Monday we are taking our eldest daughter out to dinner for her birthday. Tuesday we are meeting friends for lunch.

Stay tuned. Either way — I will write about the results.

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DISCONNECTED

It is a very good thing that I get “help” from my friends in high places. My father had Alzheimer’s disease and my brain is not as dependable as it used to be. Words that I know  — are missing when I need them. Very Frustrating! Or I write down the simile for the word. It is a good thing there is spell check but it doesn’t always help. My automatic pilot kicks in regularly. I don’t mind except when I have forgotten what I am doing or where I am going.  One of my new phrases, used too often is “Why am I here?” I noticed this morning that I’m speeding through SPRING. I’ve lost a week. I thought my husbands doctor’s appointment was Tuesday, nope — its a week from Tuesday. Overtired? Overstressed? Overweight? All of the above.

Yesterday. I spent over half an hour looking for a recipe I found when we came home from Hawaii for Mahi Mahi. I have MANY recipe books. I was NOT successful. I verbally reprimanded myself for not writing down the source of the recipe. Looking at the back of a notebook later, I found my note on the recipe I had been looking for. I was reminded to “Detach From the Drama.” Shopping later in the day, a friend enjoyed my search and find story. It gave her a laugh.

I must have left my compass at home. Heading home,  I made an unplanned stop at Whole Foods. I remembered more supplies that I needed as I walked the store — they have many items that are low sodium. As I was leaving, I decided to make another stop, to get corn flake crumbs for baked catfish. Almost home, I realized I missed the store. Where did it go?  I realized that I should have made a right turn and drove South instead of making a left to go North. The store was were it was supposed to be. At the camper, I was surprised when a store I normally frequent was leveled, a new store is promised for the Spring of this year. Construction has not started yet.

Last night, I decided to share two recipes with my daughters. The computer did not give me their e-mail addresses when I typed their names and I DID NOT REMEMBER their e-mail addresses. I was told my address book was empty. I WAS IN TROUBLE. I shut off the computer and started again. LUCKILY, this time the computer had their addresses plus the rest of the addresses in my address book. I have to admit that as I typed the ingredients, I changed my mind, and decided to do something different.

Trying once again to lose weight — it is up since Hawaii — I decided to make kale and white beans. This time I bought packaged kale since it was prewashed. Last time I bought a bunch of kale that I didn’t rinse enough and ate grit. I needed three cups for the recipe. I looked at the label — 2 cup serving, less than I needed.  I just didn’t realize that there were five servings in the package. Oops!

It was extremely cold, and windy yesterday. Branches were down all over our neighborhood. I noticed this morning that a lovely pear tree is gone — blown over in the wind? Gale winds caused thirteen foot waves to  hit the shores. When we were at the camper, I was surprised that Lake Michigan affects weather so far away. Our camper is over 100 miles from the city but the lake effect is mentioned regularly in the weather reports.

This morning, I was advised “To Find the Blessing In Your Current Situation.” I’m looking! I went for a walk — that is when I noticed the pear tree, and thought of this title. I thought writing would help me find the blessings.

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