So...whats for dinner?

Minus, I just ordered my See’s too! I got a mixed box, a box it dark chocolate molasses chips and peanut brittle, can’t wait 😁

Well, I stepped on to the scale this afternoon and...it's back to near-keto again. Not a "quarantine 15," but pretty awful nonetheless. I can still fit into my size 10s, but they don't "drape" on me like they did last month before my back went out and started my sedentary slide. (Still nags me now, but--knock wood--haven't had to take an NSAID in a few days). I let myself eat what I craved (even bedtime snacking on carbs), reasoning that portion control would prevent any damage. Nope. So it's back to peeling all the breading or batter off fried things, eating only the toppings of pizza (yup, even cauliflower-crust, which due to tapioca & rice flour is high-glycemic as hell), limiting myself to one piece of keto bread a day, eating only the innards of egg rolls, and leaving over the crust from quiche (with Cellars closed for the pandemic winter, that's one brunch temptation I won't have). And no wine with dinner when dining alone--and when eating with Bob, no more than 2 oz., either. (Winter plus no indoor restaurant dining means no wine tasting dinners to tempt me). My next official weigh-in is Jan. 28, so I'd better lose at least 5 lbs. by then.

So brunch this morning was eggs Benedict on a Mikey's keto "English muffin;" my cappuccino this aft. was made with unsweetened almond milk, not even the ultra-filtered dairy stuff. Dinner was a four-cheese cauliflower crust pizza, adding diced bell pepper & a mushroom--and I discarded the crust after eating the toppings. Later I had a no-crouton Caesar, a thin slice of salami, and a stick of string cheese. I SO want to snack on something crunchy that isn't a nut or a vegetable, but it'll take a few days before the carb cravings begin to go away

Will likely grill a pork chop (with just-picked rosemary) tonight--it's mild & dry out, and I hope Bob can make it home for dinner. Lots of veggies in the crisper. Brunch was a 2-egg French omelet: gruyere, Boursin, chives, plus some freshly-picked thyme and the last of the parsley that didn't go to seed. (I still have enough mint growing to make mojitos for the entire neighborhood--but mine today will be a "faux-jito," with fresh lime, monkfruit/stevia instead of simple syrup and no rum).

I had stomach issues yesterday and had canned cream of chicken soup for dinner last night with a few slices of French bread.

DH warmed up the last of the chili he cooked days ago and had some warmed up leftover cornbread. He didn't seem overly enthusiastic about his meal but didn't complain. There are times when the "every person for himself/herself" policy comes into effect.

I did cook the pork roast yesterday but didn't feel like dealing with making gravy. I'll do that today. The good thing about refrigerating the roast with its drippings is skimming off the congealed fat.

Specisl, Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary Specialk! Know what you mean about the grown kid thing except then my body reminds me I’m not thirty after all.

Last night’s jambalaya was one of my better incarnations. I used leftover cilantro lime rice which seemed to brighten it up somewhat. Tonight is stroganoff sans mushrooms made with flank steak. DH is intolerant of fungi.

Happy Anniversary, Special!!!!

It's raining today. So far, 0.7 inch. It's 1pm and, outside, it looks like it's early morning. Still, the rain is very welcome. It's just muddy enough that I don't want to be digging more trench for the watering system pipes. So, I'm doing stuff inside, and if the parts arrive soon, I'll go work on the 1957 Jeep truck.

Dinners, here too, have been not exactly inspiring. We need to fix that, so maybe instead of working on the Jeep, I'll look through the cookbooks for some inspiration.

Tonight is the best pasta dish I’ve ever eaten. It’s Tagliatelle Giovanni from Giacomo’s Cibo e Vino. It’s tagliatelle in a Parmesan cream sauce with grilled chicken and mixed veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, zucchini and red & yellow bell peppers). I ordered the Hawks garlic bread too, pesto, garlic and butter grilled. So delicious and is easily 3-4 meals for me.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! We shared a bottle of namesake champagne, DH's cousin owns a winery so it is kind of cool to drink champagne or wine with your last name on the bottle. The winery is in a Pittsburgh suburb, but the wine comes from California, and it is not bad!

auntie - I sympathize on the aches and pains - I have a new back of heel pain that is looking like Achilles tendonitis, and I don't like it! The first dozen steps out of bed in the morning (or middle of the night, lol!) hurt like nobody's business. Made worse from exercise, so that bites. Hope the move is coming along, I know it is stressful and trying to do all this during the holidays in the middle of a pandemic makes it extra stressful!

chisandy and all - Happy Hannukah! I too should learn more, my DH is about 12% Jewish from his dad's side (DH's great-grandfather was Russian Jewish and immigrated to the US) per Ancestry DNA. So, that means my children share in that heritage as well and should learn about and celebrate it!

Minus could you share your chicken florentine?

OK, all my fellow Jewish (and part-Jewish) BCO sisters, here's how to celebrate Hanukkah. You can light the special menorah called a Hanukkiah (which is the only kind of menorah with which even most non-Orthodox Jews are familiar--the generic menorah has six even-height candleholders rather than eight, but both have an extra elevated one called the "shamash," or "caretaker," whose candle lights the rest). The first night you light the shamash, which then lights the first lower candle; tonight was the second candle, etc. You add candles from right to left, but light them left to right. You're supposed to put the Hanukkiah in the window facing the street for all to see, but if you have anything flammable nearby (or peripatetic pets) you should put it somewhere that if it gets knocked over it won't set anything on fire. (We put ours on the back of our stove--and in the front window, an electric one, which has bulbs to tighten to light).

There's a game called "dreidel," in which you spin a special 4-sided top called a (duh) dreidel. Each side has a Hebrew letter which is the initial for each of the words "a great miracle happened there" (Israeli dreidels substitute the final initial for "here"). Everyone antes up (nuts, raisins, foil-covered chocolate coins called "gelt," or real coins) and takes a spin. Depending on which side lands facing up, you either get all, nothing, half the pot, or have to chip in. AFAIK, there are no dreidel tables along the Vegas Strip.

Another tradition is to eat stuff fried in oil (olive or not), to commemorate the "miracle of the oil:" when the Maccabees beat the Syrian forces and reclaimed the sacked (first) Temple, they found only enough oil to light the "ner tamid" (eternal flame) lamp for only one night, but it (as legend has it) burned for eight nights. Hence, eight candles plus the shamash. The most familiar oil-fried Hanukkah food is, of course, potato pancakes called "latkes." They can also be made out of sweet potatoes (as we made them for "Thanksgivukkah" a few years back) or even zucchini, for the no-fun-carb-averse. The second most familiar (and in Israel, most prevalent) oil-fried food are jelly-donuts called "sufganyot" (in Israel, usually the size of Dunkin' Munchkins so you can eat more of them). But anything oil-fried will do, even Navajo fry-bread, wonton strips, French fries, Doritos or potato chips. (Nothing with pork or shellfish of course).

And little kids get a different present each of the eight nights. Traditionally, they're not expensive--eight presents per kid sorta piles up.

But in terms of religious significance, it's a relatively minor holiday: you're allowed to work, travel, write, use electricity, cook, handle money, etc. and are not expected to take off from work or school. It's not a day of obligatory worship, either. It got to be a big deal in the U.S. & Canada because it happens roughly at the same time as Christmas, so that Jewish kids get an alternative to even the secular Christmas celebrations. Our big deal happy religious holiday is Passover. (Which is still not the "Jewish Easter," despite the fact that in most years the holidays coincide because the Last Supper--commemorated as Holy Thursday--was a Seder).

Dinner tonight was more roast chicken, broiled asparagus, & fries. (More veg for me, more spuds for Bob).

Oh you're right. Just looked it up on Wiki. 39.... Shows you what age does to the mind. Oh well, I like 39 even better.

Eric - Happy Birthday. Time does fly doesn't it.

Happy Birthday, Eric!! Your age, 60, seems very young. I will be 78 in March.

I was tired yesterday afternoon after playing 18 holes of golf. I took out frozen catfish fillets but ended up not cooking them. I did make potato salad and drove to Subway while dh washed dishes (he had a choice of Subway or dishes). So dinner, after the cocktail hour, was home-made mashed potato salad and tuna Subway with most of the available veggies. Tasted good.

Tonight I plan to cook the catfish.

Happy birthday, Eric. We December "babies" need to stick together; I'll be 80 next Wednesday. In 2019 I said this year would be a good one with a celebration on each end--2 years post diagnosis in January and a milestone birthday in December. Little did I know what 2020 would really be like! But the anniversaries happen anyway, just without the party I had planned for. Just happy to be here to celebrate a birthday month with Eric and other December folks!