I finished A Painted House. If you liked To Kill a Mockingbird, you will probably like this book. If you try it, let me know. I have no idea where I put Hillbilly Elegy.
We went to The Pig for 50 cent bell peppers so I could make stuffed peppers. The peppers were fresh-looking. However, they were so knotty and twisted that there was no way one could be stuffed with any amount of filling! They were ugly but okay for use in cooking. I only bought two since I still have frozen chopped and sliced packages in the freezer. I bought three bananas. The ones at Publix, while having perfect skins with no black spots and still green a bit sometimes, are rotten in the core. The ones at The Pig, so far, have been good bananas.
Then, I went into Publix and got three samples like they had before Covid...,cantaloupe, smoked gouda macncheese, carrot cake. When I went to the car, Tommy tried the mcn chee and spit it out the door. It was not bad but he hated it. The cantaloupe was all his. I ate half the carrot cake. I had gone there to get the raisins that were bogo and got salad and, maybe something else. I did refuse to take my mask down in the store to sample.
The raisins are the kind in a cardboard box/canister with a plastic lid, 22.58 ounces, two of them for $7. Tommy demanded a box of his own. I wanted to put some in a container for him. He wanted the whole thing. We had an argument about this. He wants them to continually eat, even with diabetes. He was pouting and whining when I gave him a portion of a box. I told him we had so many kinds of fresh grapes that he should eat fresh and save most of these for when fresh was gone. He does not see it that way!
One container is for winter cooking. He considers it mine and I can do as I wish with it, but he intends to eat the other by himself, snacking three or four times a day. He said no one saves dried fruit for eating when fresh in not in the house. Well, historically, that is correct even though we can get fresh most of the time. But, the principle holds. Fresh may not be in the house or money may be tight. I have done it myself with dried apples and dried bananas, and cranberries.
When I took a nap this afternoon, I was dragging as I got into bed. Then, it was breezy on my feet, so I fidgeted until I got the breeze off my feet (45 minutes). Actually, I moved until the feet were in a different place. I had three blankets over me and still had wind on my feet!
I was busy in my dream. I was lying on a twin bed with my sister and lying head to feet. We were talking about something. I have no idea where this dream came from or which sister was there. Then, I awoke to pee and told Tommy to wake me an hour later than I had told him. I forgot what I dreamed about last. But, I do remember it was a busy dream and neither pleasant nor unpleasant. When I awoke mid-nap, I was surprised not to be sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed. I was tired.
Dinner was some sort of Southwest Chopped Salad with cilantro dressing and chicken. I could not eat it. Tommy had chicken thigh he had picked off a chicken I baked. I thawed a baked breast and ate a bit of that plus the leftover vegetables from last night. I should not have, but I ate banana chopped over ice cream. He had just ice cream.
Is there anything in your house that gets eaten too soon that could be stored? Then, does a fresh item get pushed aside in danger of spoiling? He will not eat frozen grapes.
Managemnent of food is a continual issue here. My daughters have a habit of deciding they feel like *insert dish here* and they ignore what needs to be eaten. If it happens just once it probably doesn't matter but they do it over and over again.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time I just thought I was a bad manager but I'm wise to it now and have become a lot stricter about it.
I still think they are brats about food but I won't change them now :)
AGH! Sometimes, I have urges for something and discover there is too much to be eaten and squelch the urge. I suppose this is a teachable moment for you to try to get across to them. Thankfully, Tommy is very good about looking for things that need to be eaten. Of course, he is looking for something he does not need to prepare. Honestly, he is being practical about not wasting food. Maybe they could be persuaded to cook that dish tomorrow.
DeleteI don't know how to cook any more.
ReplyDeleteWhen my children were at home I cooked daily. I entertained and held extended family/friends get togethers. All holidays were celebrated here. I own enough dishes to set tables and decorate for any occasion. That was then.
This Is Now. At the moment it is pretty much just my husband and me, cooking for the 2 of us is difficult. (My adult son is also living with us but is rarely here.) I am an adventurous eater and lean towards vegetarian dishes. John is a basic eater. While he will eat most anything I fix he would be happier with Tacos, burgers, spaghetti, baked potato, a salmon filet, hot dogs, most soups, grilled cheese, enchiladas, chile rellenos or chicken. I fixed steak last night and he ate well. I cooked a single steak for the 2 of us and we have leftovers.
I give john a very large fruit salad for breakfast along with a 12oz V-8. I add a 2 egg omelet 3 times a week. Later on he has a meal replacement drink and maybe 1/2 a sandwich.
Dinner is my problem. While he will eat most anything I fix (Except Brussel's sprouts, Sweet potatoes, tofu.....etc.) I just do not know how to cook for 2 with only a reasonable amount of leftovers. Your meals always interest me.
This evening I made something I like. I never had Sloppy Joes as a child but as an adult have found that I really like one every 6 months or so. Let me back up.....I am trying to work my way through my cupboards and last week I PURGED the indoor pantry and tossed an embarrassing amount of spices, mixes, out of code foods. So tonight when I looked for an envelope of sloppy Joe seasoning I came up empty. I did a quick online search and made my own. It was delish.
I have food both in the freezers and pantry I am feeling uninspired. For so many years I cooked for a family now I have no idea how to cook for the two of us.
I absolutely need to stop wasting food. I end up tossing a shameful amount produce that I have allowed to go bad or a container of rice or other starch that I neglected to serve the second time.
I hope you will continue to post your meals.
We don't eat chicken breasts unless it is used in a dish or if we have cooked it on the Grill. When it is over-cooked I find chicken breast difficult to swallow. Ha Ha remind me to tell you about the time I served my Los Angeles food Inspector friend undercooked chicken..... (we are still friends)
Janet,
DeleteFor years, I cooked one breast at a time in the oven in a cast iron skillet with a cast iron lid. It came out moist and tender. Now, I put five or six monster boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in a cooking bag on a huge cookie sheet. I can immediately freeze the breast, one to a quart bag. We get one out and eat a portion each and have another portion for another meal or sandwiches. If we ever don't want to eat chicken two days in a row, I can just freeze half of one of these giant breasts. The thigh meat was from January. The breast was from last week. I can use just salt and pepper or some sort of mixed spice. Tomorrow, I am going to make something Tommy suggested and it really won't matter the seasoning.
There are days when I want to buy lots of produce but know we will never eat it before it goes bad. So, I just get a portion of the produce I want to eat.
We both like a salad, so a bag of Romaine is a good choice with various things on top--cheese, sliced squash or zucchini, tomatoes, anything.
I don't worry about cooking for two...lol. I know anything can be frozen. I'm glad John is not a picky eater. Having a few dislikes is not bad. We all do. I cannot serve Tommy Butter Beans. He will eat Lima Beans.
That should be a good story! Once I was served raw chicken, very much undercooked.
I cut two yellow squash and one zucchini and heated in water and olive oil with garlic. We both ate one meal and I refrigerated one serving. He wanted the one serving the next day. So, rather than have to cook him something, I let him have it rather than having to half it. So, the point is that sometimes there is not two servings left over for the next meal. So, we punt.
It is good that John is still eating. I know some Alzheimer's patients quit eating. That would be hard.
I just watched the Hillbilly Elegy film last week. It was different from what I was expecting, sort of sad in a way. I don’t take my mask off in a store either. Good for you. Those peppers sound odd, but stuffed peppers sounds really good right now.
ReplyDeleteBelinda,
DeleteThe book is about abject poverty, so I am not surprised it is sad. The peppers were lovely except for the shape, which is what I wanted. I suppose we will have meatloaf. I put bell peppers in meatloaf.
I thought I had read A Painted House, but apparently not. I will have to put that one on my reading list. You are very creative to make meals with what you have on hand. I cannot do that, I wouldn't know what to put together or how much. I have to have a recipe.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteYou will love the book. There are a few things I do need to follow a recipe to cook, mostly baking. But, the rest is just what I have. I never write out a meal plan. But, I do know within reason what is available to eat.
Tommy should be told, if he doesn’t already know, that eating a lot of raisins (and I consider a handful three or four times a day a lot of raisins) will lead to bouts of diarrhea. If he gets it and can’t figure out why, it’s due to the raisins. Our Tennessee daughter-in-law learned this the hard way on a long trip years ago with a toddler and giving him raisins for snacks along the way and to keep him quiet. It is one of our family’s funny stories now.
ReplyDeleterhymes,
DeleteSometimes, he has a really soft movement, not diarrhea. He yells and blames it on my cooking. I think it is ridiculous and laugh. My laughing makes him furious, so it is a fight. Then, there is hell to pay if I cannot squelch my laughing at the ridiculous.
I am a mask wearer but I have worn a mask everywhere I have been since the Covid crap started.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteSo am I. It just seems prudent. I just read that more people in Mississippi don't wear masks because they believe in an afterlife. Well, who is ready to go right now? I imagine the people who don't wear masks in Alabama are depending on an afterlife.
Stuffed peppers sounded really good. Many times I cook them for my husband's birthday, but not this year, every day for I don't even know how long it has been in the mid to high 90's and it makes it too hot in here for our little old sickly dog. The first day it is cool enough I will be needing to make some stuffed peppers. I prefer to use red bell peppers for stuffing, but they are too expensive unless there is a sale, so I use green bell peppers. I season the ground beef and put it directly into the cut in half pepper. When my daughter makes stuffed peppers she browns her ground beef first and then puts it into the pepper. I tried her way, and it is good, but I usually just make them the way my Mom did instead.
ReplyDelete