The point to making your own seasonings is to avoid the salt and sodium that is put into the premade mixes. Sometimes there is also anti-caking or coloring additives in the premade mixes. I know that corn starch is often included from reading the ingredients on the packets. Nothing wrong with corn starch, just it's another thing that maybe does not need to be in there. That's up to you. For the butter chicken seasoning packet, there is maltodextrin added. Actually, the first

I stepped back from working on my painting and my drawing recently. I had already stepped back from decorating bottles and jars. And a host of other crafts I like to do, or used to like to do. They say that losing interest in things like hobbies, or things you used to do often is a sign of early onset dementia and/or depression. Gosh I hope not. I'm so tired all of the time that I find it hard to turn to my hobbies when I get done with chore. All I seem to want to do is sit

I am a big fan of Nora Robert and Heather Graham - for fun reads. Nora often writes about magic and the supernatural. Heather writes about a band of psychic people who solve crimes. That's the kind of thing I like for light reading. I also like reading James Patterson, Stephen King, Michael Chrichton who's writing is often cautionary tales. Intriguing. Sometimes scary. So right now I am reading books by Heather Graham entitled the Unseen, the Unholy and the Unspoken. I finis

Mercy me. It's been so hot here. I mean really hot here. Triple digits hot. When it's this hot (and mind you I do not have central a/c) it is hard to think about cooking. Yet, I still want to eat. Of course I do. I want ice-cream, ice-cream bars, hot fudge sundaes, and that sort of thing. I want salads for dinner - BUT - the parasite scare is keeping me away from doing that. Cold noodle salads maybe? Cold bean salads? Somehow, none of that is grabbing me at the moment. Geez.

I neglected to post the menus and I didn't even make a grocery list from the menus because I knew what I wanted and how I planned to make the meals, and then realized that sure wasn't helpful. So, here's the menus for this week: Triple C Soup (Cabbage, Carrots + Cannellini) Ocean SOS (Shrimp On Seashells) in a Lemon Dill Sauce w/ Sprouts Chickpea Casserole (Chickpeas, Carrots and Spinach with Chicken) Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas (using Egg Wraps instead of Tort

Those of you who were brought up on the notion that you had to 'count calories' in order to keep a healthy weight and to stay healthy, this blog is for you. For those of you that transitioned from counting calories to 'counting carbs' in order to lose weight and avoid diabetes, this blog is for you also. Some of you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure (or hypertension) and were told to count how many grams of sodium you were ingesting each day in order to keep your c

When you have nothing to say for your blog except how stinking hot it is, then you don't blog. That's what happens. Will glass coffins be a success? Remains to be seen.

I am making a pledge to myself to make the effort to try and eat more fruit. I know I should eat more fruit, I just have trouble making myself do it. If I eat too much fruit my body reacts in unpleasant ways, so I am not pledging to eat lots, just more. Every diet list of menus (the healthy ones) stick fruit in the plan as part of a meal or as the main part of a snack if not the snack all by itself. For day one you'd be eating a pear, an apple and a banana. All three in one d

Hope you had a grand Holiday weekend. Here it is Monday again. Time to get back on track, get busy, get back on schedule and all that kind of thing. This is one of my most favorite places to be. I love coming here. The cherry blossoms are always in bloom when I come to visit. The air smells so sweet. It snows soft pink petal-flakes, they cover the sidewalks. It's like a dream. If I was a writer, my novel would start out with the paragraph above. Well, one of the novels anywa

Weekends are all about leftovers. There is usually plenty because I purposely cook more than what we would eat at one sitting. So the menus for the weekends vary depending on what is left from the days prior. Sure makes 'cooking' easy on the weekends when you want to spend more time playing than in the kitchen anyway. Holidays are "Cheat Days", usually. So for the upcoming Independence Day I think I'll plan on a picnic. Indoors, outdoors, here or somewhere else, it doesn't ma

I said I was going to catch you up on what am up to so, here's what I am doing now. I am reading: a book titled "The Brotherhood of the Tower Rats". It's about a persons' experience in the military and moral dilemmas. What is a dilemma in the military? A situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or unsatisfactory. It's interesting and upsetting both at the same time. As you know I seem to always be reading more than one book at

Adam and Eve were the first ones to ignore the Apple terms and conditions. I have talked about this before but it's been a long while so I am going to talk about it again. I have new stuff to add to it. I participate in a learning program put on by the Ardmore Institute of Health. The program is called "Full Plate Living". It is a free program and you can learn a lot about nutrition and cooking from this program. I joined a long time ago and I'm still participating. It's very

Why did the candle feel happy? It got really 'lit'. What am I still doing? you ask. I am still comparing my old self (young self?) to my current self. That really has to stop. Everyone, at some point in their life, is told not to compare their own self to someone else, or to others. Especially Hollywood people. Those folks just are not any image to hold up for anyone. My issue is my size. For the first almost 50 years of my life I was either slender or skinny. Sometimes ver

I keep comparing my current self to my old self. I have to quit that. Have you ever stopped for a moment — really stopped — and noticed how much has changed around you? The kids are a little taller. The seasons have shifted. A recipe you used to make every week has been replaced by something new. Life doesn't ask permission before it moves on. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. There are days when I feel like I'm running to keep up — with the family, with the kitchen

So, there's this huge purge happening ------in my head. LOL. No, I am cleaning out all kinds of stuff. I put a 'FREE' table out front and anything that was new or unused that I had not used (um, duh) and had no plans to use in the near future went out on that table. I even put houseplants out there. Stuff did go away. I look around at every room in this place, especially the bedroom, and find that all I have truly accomplished so far (at least that is visible) is make a horr

I discovered that many people think that a tea bag is to be used just one time, that each tea bag is single use. Not so. Each tea bag can be used for at least 2 cups of tea. I've been doing that for a really long time. Recently, with the situation with decaf coffee I am drinking a lot more tea (or herbals, tinctures, etc.) I am using the term tea quite loosely because we all know tea only comes from actual tea leaves grown in China. Anywho, because of this I am making 'pots'

How does that song go? Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done. ??? I feel like that song should be rewritten to fit my current situation. So here we go...... Once I rose above the clutter and confusion Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high Though my eyes could see I was still behind Though my mind could think I still was going to make it I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say (

This is more about me, I admit. I am feeling conflicted and overwhelmed. So. Feeling conflicted and overwhelmed is a common experience that can disrupt daily life and cloud decision-making. When emotions pull us in different directions and tasks pile up, it’s easy to feel stuck. This post explores practical ways to regain control, find clarity, and move forward with confidence. Understanding the Roots of Conflict and Overwhelm Conflict often arises when our values, desires, o

So apparently RSVP'ing back to a wedding invite 'maybe next time' isn't the correct response. LOL. I love those one-liners. So, yeah, the struggle. It applies to so many things in my little world. Let me start with my desire to move. I want to move. Yet, the thought of moving after this many decades is truly overwhelming. It would mean parting with a huge number of items, a whole lot of work, an expenditure I would not be pleased to put out and 'adjusting'. Rebuilding. Ugh

Finally getting back on schedule. Well, at least for the menus and shopping. Groceries coming early Thursday morning. Menus all planned out on Wednesday morning. And here they are: Butter Chicken on Brown Rice with Sweet Peas Sweet Potato and Black Bean Bowls with Lime (Caribbean Style) Teriyaki Salmon, Baked Potatoes with the fixins, and Green Beans Red Pepper and Cashew Pasta with Cauliflower Yes, I'm still making up stuff. LOL. The weather here has been all over the pl