I have had people lie to me. I have had people lie about me. Sometimes the lies were way out there tall tales that no one could possibly have believed. Could they? Sometimes the lies were about the person telling the lie for the most part and I somehow got a dishonorable mention. Sometimes the lies turned out to be a twisted up version of the truth. Has any of these ever happened to you? If so, did it make you ask yourself how their memory of a situation or event could be so

I forgot 2 things, plus to answer a recipe request .... I am updating today's blog. First, add Eggplant Parmesan with Twice Potatoes to the menu list for this week. Second, Happy Birthday to you Daron. Third, the recipe for Ratatouille on Polenta: Note: If you are making your own polenta then you need to start this well ahead of time and make the polenta, get it refrigerated and ready to use. I prefer to make it a day ahead. This time I bought a tube from the store. (Italian

I have gotten off schedule a bit and that's okay, nothing is written in concrete. I still have one meal to cook from the last menu, which is Rosemary Dijon Chicken. For the rest of the coming week: Ratatouille on Polenta Tilapia and Rice Medley Pasta and Chicken in a Pumpkin Sauce Gnocchi N Brussels Sprouts Last night was baked potatoes with leftover Awesome Sauce and cauliflower florets. That was not on the menu. It was a spur of the moment suggestion and it was quite go

It's not just the diet changing thing out of necessity as you get older it's a whole bunch of stuff. I was shocked to learn that people in their 30's are considering themselves as 'older'. It took me a moment and some head shaking but then I laughed. "Wait until you get to be MY age", I said out loud, to nobody. There are some things that are difficult to deal with as you age and if you want to take these as a warning, an alert to prepare yourself, or just as something to r

I am hearing a lot about "clean eating", so I thought I'd answer an inquiry about it here. It seems to be really trending right now, the idea of clean-eating. Honestly, it isn't new and it is not any different than what I have been posting about all along. So what is it? It refers to eating foods that are as close as possible to their natural state. This encourages us to make our meals from scratch to make them as “clean” as possible.  Once just a buzzword, “clean eating” is

Besides being the wrap-up of another year, and a month filled with all kinds of larger bills to pay, this month in my family is loaded up with birthdays. Nieces, cousins, aunts, a sister and myself too all have birthdays this month. Even my mother-in-law has a birthday this month. I had several ideas for gifts to give her but none of them panned out. We ended up having to ask her what she would like, which of course takes out any element of surprise. She said she likes to ea

I am a reader. I like to read. I tend to lean towards magazines that talk about topics I am currently interested in, things like diet or crafts or discoveries. But the real reading is in books. I like mysteries, thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, and books about the paranormal or supernatural in story form. Some of my favorite authors are Robert L Asprin, Heather Graham, Nora Roberts, Joan D Vinge, John Grisham, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Sandra Brown, Michael Connelly a

Here's this weeks menus. Homemade Pizza with yogurt crust. Black Bean Cheese Burgers with the fixins. (Have to use up the rest of the batter). Greek Zucchini Rotini Chicken Burritos and Fruit Salad And of course Friday Fish with Baked Potatoes and Green Beans It might not sound like a healthy menu to some, especially if you just say cheese-burgers, pizza, burritos and pasta. As you can see, it really is better than it looks because of the ingredients and the preparation.

The guy who wrote the following article is a PhD and advocates strongly towards healthy eating. He has his focus on people with Type 2 Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes, but what he has to say applies to everyone. It's a common misconception that eating carbs will make you gain weight no matter what. In reality, this is only true if the carbs come from the wrong places. In fact, high-carb diets can be healthy and beneficial for your body when they are sourced from nutrient-dense sou

You know you have stepped into the age of Modernism when the first thing you do when you leave the bedroom is plug in your phone to charge, plug in your headset to charge, and unplug your tablet which you had charging overnight. When you purchase charging hubs with multiple plug-ins and yes I said that in plural, then you know. The first one is in the bedroom to charge the toothbrush, the shaver, the bug light and a phone, too. I have become a device junkie. I have alarms on

So, here’s the answer to the question. Ultra-processed food items — which aren’t perishable like fresh produce — are becoming cheaper. “Junk food is cheap because you can keep it forever. You can buy it in bulk, you can produce it in bulk, you can deliver it when it’s cheap to deliver it.” Think about the supply chain. Fresh produce, fish and meat need to be refrigerated and restocked, unlike shelf stable items. Those transportation and replenishment costs get passed on to th

I keep asking myself why the stuff they tell you is good for you, or at least better for you than the stuff you are already eating costs so much more? There are these apps that you can use to 'rate' your food. One, my doctor told me about, the other I found on my own. The first is called YUKA. I have probably mentioned that one before. The second is called ZOE. I have both on my phone now. So I was eating Cheerios. Supposed to be good for you. Good for cholesterol and ther

One idea is to make bread pudding. Here is a recipe straight from the AHA. (American Heart Association) Why did I pick this recipe? Because I like sweet and because I still strive for healthy stuff in spite of my sweet tooth. I liked the inclusion of apples in this recipe and the fact that it did not include any tropical oils or milks like coconut oil or coconut milk which are actually bad for you, even though it's the popular thing to do these days. Calories 131 Per Servin

I wondered what the price of things might be now that Feast Day has come and gone, for that $40 deal at Aldi's and Walmart. I had to check it out. Turkey is still the same price. (For a whole frozen turkey the same size). The Artisan Macaroni and Cheese is still the same price. The Pumpkin is still the same price. And so forth. So it makes me wonder how much of a deal that whole thing really was? Just another thing for me to puzzle over but still be grateful for at the same

Cravings can sometimes feel like a challenge when trying to maintain a healthy diet. Last week, mashed potatoes were the star of the cravings, and this week, the desire has shifted to fresh salads with a bold, tangy dressing reminiscent of Roquefort cheese. Store-bought salad dressings often contain preservatives, added sugars, and unhealthy fats, which can derail healthy eating goals. I cannot have them especially if they contain "gum-gums". Luckily, there’s a delicious home

I am a very curious person. (In the sense that I wonder about stuff). So I am constantly asking questions about a number of different things. Today I asked the question, "What is the difference between Flair Pens and Sharpie Markers"? This is not an out-of-the-blue type question. I really wanted to know because I tend to do a lot of journaling and 'marking' of boxes and labels and such. So internally I was also asking myself, do I need to buy both? Or does one or the other d

Pretty bad. Thanksgiving often means a table full of rich, carb-heavy dishes that can leave you feeling sluggish and guilty afterward. Cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls are staples, but they pack a surprising amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates. If you want to enjoy the holiday feast without the carb overload or sugar crash, it’s worth exploring healthier alternatives that still capture the spirit and flavor of Thanksgiving. This post explains

Every now and then I get a whiff of something floating past my ski-jump nose and wonder, what was that? Sometimes it's like perfume or cologne. Sometimes it's something appealing like bacon frying (and it really appeals because I don't eat bacon anymore and I miss it), sometimes it's something icky-nasty. I have a somewhat sensitive sniffer so I have to wonder if this is a scent that has wafted in from the neighbor's or something carried on the wind from a few places down? I

Oh yes, I could rag on and on about taxes and the various thoughts I have about them but I will spare you all that dribble and angst and shoot the arrow right at the reality that the time has come to pay. My huge complaint about it (at this time) which I carry-on about every year at this time is why on earth they decided to make the taxes due just a few days before the Holiday? That's when people are selling their gifts from last year to pay for gifts to give this year and th

Many of us have left our communities of origin searching for careers, love, adventure, and more. These communities traditionally supplied us with safety, comfort, and support. When we felt lonely or isolated, we could come back to our center and be soothed, understood, or supported. But this fracture is also being played out in the networks we built around us for the same visceral feeling of connection. We have had to become mobile and flexible to survive. Working from home o