This cold weather seriously had me on a domestic as fuck kick.
2tsp tomato with chicken bouillon 1 dried puya pepper 1 dried cascabel pepper 1 can muirs organic fire roasted tomatoes 1/4 c barley
For the meatballs: 3 tbsp garlic sauce 1/4 c parmesan cheese 1/4 c bread crumbs 1 egg 1 lb ground beef
Preheat the broiler. Mix the ingredients for the meatballs togethher, form into about 1" diameter balls. Place in pan lined with foil, broil about 3-4 minutes, or until just starting to brown.
In crockpot, mix the first 5 ingredients. Add 1 can's worth water. Stir and add meatballs. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Snow is flying, so I have been making a ton of soup lately.
1 c red lentils 1/2 c rice 1/4 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp dried lemon peel 1/4 c jarred minced garlic 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp vegetable base 8 c water
Heat olive oil in bottom of saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and sautee until starting to turn golden. Add water and everything except lentils and rice. Bring to boil, add lentils, boil uncovered 40 minutes. Add rice, bring heat to medium low, boil covered for 20 minutes.
1 can Muir Organic fire roasted diced tomatoes 1 can goya tomato sauce 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 C (or more) minced garlic (jarred. Not as potent as fresh) 1 bay leaf 2 Tbsp sugar 1 C milk about 1tbsp vegetable bouillon stuff
Heat olive oil in bottom of pan over medium low heat. Add garlic, saute for about 3 minutes, or until just turning golden. Add the diced tomatoes and the sauce, rinse the goya can once and dump the water into the pan, rinse the organic tomato can twice, pouring both rinses into the pan. Add bay leaf and bouillon stuff, cover and bring to simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes, remove lid, stir in sugar, pour in milk slowly. Hit it with the immersion blender, until a few chunks still remain.
The sugar cuts the acidity, the milk adds a bit of sweetness as well, the fire roasted tomatoes add a much greater range of flavor. This was a very successful experiment.
1 C dry red kidney beans 1C dried lentils 8 strips of bacon 1-2lbs of roast (it was a huge one I chopped into smaller pieces, not sure the weight), cubed 1/2 C minced garlic 2 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp shallot powder 1.5 inch piece smoked dried chipotle pepper, snipped up. 1 tsp of dried red pepper flake 1 Tbsp mushroom bouillon 4 C water
Soak the lentils and the beans overnight in water to cover. Day that you assemble the soup, bake the bacon in a 425 degree oven until crispy. Drain the fat into the slow cooker, which is set on high. Add the paprika, shallot powder, dried chipotle, red pepper, and 1/2 C garlic. Stir well and cook until smells start releasing. Add the beef and bacon, stir to coat, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, put the lid on, ignore it for at least 8 hours on low, although it's best after 20 hours.
I got creative again, and made my own BBQ sauce. Which went perfectly on ribs. It's sweet and flavorful with a slight tang and burn. So, of course I'm including the recipe here :D
Last week Tuesday, I ended up in the ER. Not exactly a great start to my day. Turns out I have gallstones, and one had decided to make my life miserable that morning.
So, I'm currently very sick of the medical profession. There was the ER trip, visiting my arthritis doctor, talking with my primary this last week, and I get to consult with a surgeon on Thursday. Then, sometime, the actual surgery. I have a mini pharmacy going with all the drugs I'm supposed to take on a daily basis (and even then, I'm bad and usually only take half to a quarter of what's currently prescribed).
I don't WANT surgery. But the medicines for dissolving stones are expensive, ineffective, and take forever. So, it's a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation. My diet is already pretty low in fat when I do eat (currently a lot of seafood, some chicken, garlic, and a splash of olive oil), so the trigger is whenever I do something against that (Steak & Shake hamburger, prime rib or bean soup...)
What's interesting, is that when it was my tubal consult, I went in there gung ho and thrilled to have it done. This, being something potentially medically necessary, I am very "Nononofuckno" about it.
At least it's not the MSU team. After the way they treated Grace and I on the vet side, and an acquaintance of mine on the medical side, I do not want them to touch me. Even the ER doctor that night went "our surgery team on call is MSU, and I'm going to get you pain free so you can discuss surgery with your primary, because I don't want them touching you", that's just fucked.
I have taken Grace back to Dr. Hoschek, as MSU clinic has been giving me the runaround and just seem to be in it for the money, rather than listening to me or testing Grace. I brought up to the vet there that perhaps she had had a stroke, and he went "no no, couldn't be that" then starts flipping through the bloodwork and went "actually, you may be right". I KNOW MY &!^*&^@%$ CAT.
At my request, Dr. Hoschek got Grace a prescription for Phenobarbital. Which, today is day two, and she hasn't had a seizure since starting it. She's back to her loving, cuddly self, instead of Ms. Hissbitch. She is more aware of her surroundings and more alert to the birds outside taunting her.
I normally don't catch the news. I also normally don't notice the blurbs on world news when surfing the internet.
I wish that had been the case this time. However, I noticed the stuff going on in Egypt. One of my best friends is currently teaching in Cairo, and her phone is VOIP. With the Egyptian government blocking all incoming/outgoing internet traffic, I have no clue on if she and her husband are okay.
Great Cat, I don't ask for much, but please make sure they get home safely.
I get to rescue another cat from mom. This one not old though. Semi-kitten shaped, nothing but skin and bones, very weak. It glued itself to me when I was there.
Don't need another cat, really. But I also know that at the level of malnourished it was at, it needs to be at a vet for a while, rather than just in the house. So dehydrated that if you did the skin pull test, it looked like it had a skin mohawk.
Heart of gold, brain of lead. I swear to the Great Cat that's a good way to describe me.
accomplished
full
infuriated