So...whats for dinner?

Time for me to get off the therapy couch, and dive back in. After all my reading, I can hardly believe how little I remember, but I will give it a try.

Lacey, I can not believe how your allergies have taken over and that you have been able to do this elimination thing. So pleased that you have finally met the DS2 girl though appearing unannounced was a bit cruel. At least give a Mom 60-minutes notice for goodness sakes. And I am amazed at your weight loss.

Laurie, my condolences to your entire family on the death of your mother-in-law. I am so sorry that some of the family focused on conflict instead of your MIL during those last days. Hope that your SIL finds some solace and comfort hanging out on a body of water this summer.

Debbie, I am so very sorry to read of your medical troubles. Nothing I can say to make it better, but goodness, you are handling this with grace.

Deborye, Congratulations on the birth of that beautiful grandchild. What a joyful way to end what must have been a most difficult year.

Moon, so impressed with your recovery from your knee surgery. That is a big surgery and not everyone does as well as you. That potato with beans made me giggle. I have never had beans and a baked potato together, and based on that photo, I may never! I read some implications that you will be moving? Did I read that correctly?

SpecialK, so sorry to hear of your friend. Sounds like you, your husband and all his friends surrounded him with love as he transitioned. Congratulations on your weight loss. Very significant, and impressive.

Auntie, again, thank you for your PM's. Happy Birthday! I am the other person on the planet who hasn't made the salsa chicken. Our family has enjoyed many loaves of the Rye bread, especially with our roasted turkey.

carolehalston, I have never heard of a frog strangler, but this is a phrase that now needs to enter my vocabulary. So rice noodles...... place them in a glass bowl [metal would get too hot, plastic might melt], boil some water, and then pour it over the noodles. Generally the noodles are in nests, so "toss" the noodles with two forks until they are no longer tangled. Let them soak until they have softened, but haven't yet turned into mush [7 minutes or so.] The thinner the diameter the less time to soak. You can toss them with ingredients you have cooked on the stove, or quickly cook them in those ingredients. Expect to fail a couple of time until you get the timing right.

Joyce, so nice to see you posting again. I am so pleased that you are still seeing Rick. He is such a special man, and I know that this has been very difficult for him. Please let him know that I send him my best.

Eric, sounds like your DD is growing up quickly! You must be very proud of how well her approach to adulthood is going.

Bedo, welcome back to the East Coast. Congratulations to your daughter.

Gosh, that is all I can do. My carpal is starting to get active from all of this typing.

*susan*

I had a long post and lost it. Grrr....

It's good to hear from you.  I do wish the news was better--especially with the music. :-(

How in H*** can one be a Syntharoid addict?  I remember Mickey studying the thyroid and if I recall correctly, there wasn't much judgement needed to decide if a dose adjustment was needed.  That doctor doesn't make much sense, but then, some of Mickey's doctor's made no sense. 

Eric

susan - yay!!!!!!!  You're back!!!!!!!  So very happy to see you, we have all missed you so much!  I have to admit I checked periodically to see if you were posting on other threads just so I would know you were ok, I figured you were busy or distracted, but hoped you would be back.

Thanks all for the condolences - will be heading back over at the end of the week to help DH with the house and the service - he is staying afloat and I am helping him from a distance with research on florists, old testament readings, court filings, lawyers, locksmiths - you name it!  Had to have a skin cancer removed on my lower back this afternoon - the reason I came home - not too bad, but starting to sting a bit now.  Tomorrow is the dentist, and Thursday is a mole removal from my FACE!  Eeeeks!  Hopefully that goes well since I will be seeing a bunch of people on Saturday - bad timing on my part, but what can I do? 

Susan, what a pleasure to have you check in!  Sorry that some of your news isn't good.  I have been taking synthroid for at least 15 years and my dosage is determined by the blood test.  That dosage has been the same for quite a few years.

SpecialK, I'm always impressed by your "competency" in handling situations.  I'm sure your dh is appreciative of your help from a distance as he handles his duties as executor.

A thunderstorm swept through last night and took away the high dew point causing the Louisiana-like mugginess.  This morning feels like northern MN again!!!  DH and I plan to play golf at Eagle View, the little course down the highway.  It's short enough that we can walk using our push carts.

Yesterday we pushed ourselves with the biking and were pooped by the time we finished.  I didn't have a dry thread since I'm a "sweater."  So last night's dinner was the leftover pasta and a scrumptious green salad. 

If we go to town after golf, I hope to buy some Canadian walleye for dinner.

Nance, those roasted tomatoes sound delicious!  I'm envious of those of you with home-grown tomatoes.

Hi to all not mentioned, including Joyce, Moon, Eric, Debbie, Deb, Laurie.

SUSAN!!! So happy to see you back, but so sorry to learn of those major tears in the fabric of your life. Hopefully music can be a source of joy in other ways for you....and, like Nance, I can in a small way relate to the hand impairment. It is so damn frustrating, since retirement has allowed the time to do the very things that I love but now hurt to do, and sometimes can't even manage.  I am glad that things are going well in other areas of your life, and congrats to DD on her very successful year! Please keep us posted when you can!

Special, since I've been offline a couple of days, I'm just seeing your post about DH's friend who died. It sounds like your DH and you helped him have a full and peaceful end of life, surrounded by many who loved him. What a wonderful example of a "caring community" for a man who obviously helped raise its members!    I do hope your next skin procedure is gentle for you. I would imagine that the people you are seeing on Saturday have probably all dealt with the skin cancer issues, so they will get it.....and probably remember to make their derm appts!

DH and I are back home for a couple of days before heading back to the lake. We had such an absolutely delightful time with our little grands, our sons, and DDIL The kids are a riot, but wow (!) are we exhausted from their high level of activity. Makes us realize what an old retired couple we really are.....        I did get a chance to make sea stone faces with DGS while DGD napped. He only stops moving for puzzles or arts and crafts projects so it worked out well....we enjoyed creating them, and made one for his sister too.

We half-cleaned the lake house yesterday after their departure, (we'll regret that when we return on Thursday) and in the process I came across a squiggly tiny thing that I think could be an infant snake? DH put it outside. Hope we don't have snakes coming up through the drains!! And really glad I'm not snake phobic!

Made it to the stretching class yesterday after bombing down the highway, and stayed to do my much needed whole exercise  regimen! For dinner we had leftover pasta and shrimp and salad...it was well travelled.

I actually went to sleep early.....we were both wiped....and I'm moving slowly this AM, but need to get moving since there is much to get done here. It does not include planning dinner since DH has food after his late afternoon meetings.....yay!

Hope everyone has a nice day!

Susan, glad to hear from you again! Sorry for all the things that aren't right though. 

Carole, we finally got the summer temps here yesterday and today. It's been 85. 

Lacey, I am always how much you pack in to the weekends!

Specialk, I'm sorry you have to face the funeral with those extra problems. I hope your facial one goes smoothly and leaves you with little or no pain. 

Much love to all!

Carole, your after golf meal sounded lovely! 

Our lake house is only 2 hours away when there is no heavy traffic. Remember, everything is closer for us Easties. In fact what is funny is that our Cape time share is exactly the same distance from our house....tho it is rare not to have traffic when we go out there. The NH trip, if we time it well, is always fun to try to make in under two hours...I have been known to do it several times over the years.  Leadfoot!

Susan - so glad to hear from you but I too am sorry for the curve balls life is throwing you.  I'm mentally arguing in my head about selling my piano since I can no longer play with the neuropathy.  But for years I've only played for my own enjoyment when no one else was around so it's nothing like your loss.

Special - good luck with the skin surgery.  Had my 6 months full body exam a couple of weeks ago.  My derm doc was thrilled last year to see that chemo had "killed" all the pre-cancerous lesions.  Now they're growing again and she had to freeze 15 spots.  Adding my condolences for your friend.

Hi to all the rest of you.  Love reading your adventures and my thoughts are with you in your troubles.  Sorry I haven't checked in much but my son has been back & forth from CA helping me get a new roof.  That was finally done 2 weeks ago & new gutters last week.  This week I have Herceptin infusion then I'll start researching windows.  All this house maintenance stuff planned for when I retired was put on hold for BC so now it's catch-up time.

Grilled T-Bone steak and spinach tonight.  I cooked a baked potato too but it was too much to eat.  In honor of Bedo, I think I'll have candy corn for dessert.

Susan - oh yes the music.  I have much of my grandmother's sheet music from the turn of the last century, and most of my mother's music - not to mention what I've collected.  Discovered 3 boxes in the attic when my son was here in addition to the shelves & shelves in the den.  Mind you, I was really a singer & not an instrumentalist.  But the piles of scores for choral works & symphonies & musicals & operettas.  Oh my!!!  My DS is not in the least interested and niece & neph not musically inclined.  Let me know if you find a good outlet.

SpecialK, I had a burn and scrape procedure on my neck before we departed in June.  DH had told me how slow those are to heal.  He has had a couple of big ones on his back.  But mine healed fairly easily and hasn't left nearly as noticeable a scar as I expected.

Susan and Minus, you both were very blessed to have musical talent and training.  And the joy of those years when you were playing music or singing.  I'm envious because I didn't have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument.  When I was a kid, I wanted to play the piano and took a few lessons from a woman who came to our grammar school and gave lessons for almost nothing in payment.  Maybe $1?  But we didn't have a piano at home.  Couldn't afford one and didn't have room for it anyway.  So, yes, it's sad for you to have to give up performing.  But, I repeat.  You were blessed.

I had a great "nature" day today.  DH and I went out on the lake fishing this morning.  Sitting at anchor we watched a gorgeous loon float up close to the pontoon boat.  So close I could see his/her red eye.  When the bird dived down and surfaced seconds later, I actually saw the tiny fish in the beak.  It was quite thrilling!  At our next anchorage, an eagle flew overhead low enough that we could clearly see his white head and white tail feathers.  Another thrill! 

Finally, when I was taking an exercise walk later after returning to the campground, a pretty deer bounded out of the woods, stopped and looked and me before bounding into the opposite woods. 

So who cares what's for dinner!  LOL!  Actually there's a whole chicken cooking in the slow cooker.  All I did was sprinkle s & p, onion and garlic powder, poultry seasoning, and Hungarian paprika all over the chicken on both sides.  Shove it down into my not-so-large cooker and turn it on High.  It smells really good.  A while ago I turned the setting to Low. 

One side will be salad.  A second one will probably be corn cut off the cob and cooked in butter with some chopped colored peppers out of the freezer. 

Water aerobics at 7pm on Monday & Wednesday means dinner is small or non-existent.  I usually try to eat a big noon meal those days but had Herception infusion today and I had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.  So dinner was sushi from the grocery store.  Don't worry - it was California Roll since I understand we're not supposed to eat raw fish after BC.  Or was that only during treatment?  Anyone still eating raw?  Also I had it with Wasabi mustard and not soy, just in case the rumors about soy & BC are right.

My back seems ok - but the spot is looking a bit angry at the moment.  I have experienced slow healing with some of these spots - the derm always says the farther from the heart they are, meaning lower extremities, the slower they heal.  I had two on the shin just before chemo - they scarred badly and took forever to heal.  The good news about this one is that it is not in a place that will be seen much.  The area is about the size of a quarter and they warned me the scar may be larger than that as the skin stretches.  Nice, right?  Dinner was non-existent.  I am home by myself and spent the evening on Skype with DH and phone with DD, but kind of never got around to eating.  I am headed to the east coast of FL very early Fri morning - will be a challenge to maintain any kind of healthy eating, but I will try!

Susan, I'll try them. I've never made crackers although I've wanted to.

Count me as one of the stupid ones. I made what is quite possibly the best cherry pie I've ever made yesterday.

Tonight is chicken and"slicks" and a tomato tart.

We had frozen chicken strips Shake 'N Baked only because it only had the oven on for 20 minutes. Leftover dressing and carrots and salad. No idea what tonight will be. Maybe dribbles of leftovers. Maybe pasta salad if I get it made before noonish. Under extreme heat advisory thru tomorrow but bet it gets extended at least thru Sat. poss. Sunday. I need to buy more of those frozen dumplings. I have a few of the froz. chicken strips left and the turkey carcasses. We are supposed to be getting another cool spell the middle of next week. Need to plan for these things. Wish I could remember how I did the chicken/dumplings the last time. I'm just terrible about making notes these days. I did put the blueberry ice cream sauce in my recipe book. DH loved it. Maybe we need some lowfat vanilla BlueBell ice cream.

Special - I know I forgot to express my condolences for your DH's dear friend's passing. What a wonderful testament to his life that he made so many special friends even without a wife/children which I consider a gateway to ready made friends. Have a safe trip to the "other" side tomorrow. Special prayers for an uplifting service for your friend.

Welcome back Susan. I have been tempted - in cooler weather - to make homemade graham crackers. Even bought the graham flour which I really should use up on something. Maybe a project to look for today.

Going with DH to doc appt tomorrow. Not that he needs me but I need to get a tetanus shot. Mine is long overdue and we have so much stuff to get hurt on - barbed wire, goat feet, you name it plus a horse and a donkey living next door. I made him promise I can run into TJs for my beloved figs. Not too far from where we are going but not exactly the route home he would take. My fig bush/tree is bigger than it usually is by this time of year. Hoping it might put on a few. Thank goodness the numerous varieties of grasshoppers don't really like it.

They are really good figs Nancy even though they look a little green around the ends. I've yet to get a bad one and the ones I bought about 2 weeks ago are just getting - some of them - to be a bit on the past due stage. $3.99/lb I think - a very good price. Central Market had them same kind for $10.99/lb then went down a bit but not as good a price still as TJs had them. Good luck.