Showing posts with label meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meals. Show all posts

Thursday, August 3, 2023

A Little Update

 Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

This is a brief post to update those of you who have been wondering what happened to me.

Since my last post, I have continued to be busy catching up on house projects and major cleaning.

I was able to vacuum and wash the carpet in the living room, clean the windows and window sills, dust the cobwebs from the corners and move a cabinet from the entry way to a corner of the living room  I usually try to wash the carpets twice per year and will likely do it again just before Christmas.



I put put the curtain roads and curtains. This project has been on my 'to do' list for so long that I've forgotten just how long it's been.  I actually put up a rod once before but the screws didn't hold. In the meantime I shopped for special drill bits that are supposed to go through metal. They worked better but I was still unable to drill deep enough in a few sections. I was worried the curtains wouldn't hold again but I put the curtains up anyway and I think everything will be okay. I'm so happy because I think it will really help keep the draughts out this winter and make heating more efficient

The gold floor lamp in the photo below is a new addition to the living room. I don't know how it happened but a small knob fell off of my original floor lamp. The lamp is quite old so I bought a new lamp to be sure I have a good light source. I'll also try to repair the broken lamp and I know I can use it if I can fix it.




The fireplace mantel is always changing, usually because a plant or two has died.  I keep trying but it's so hard to keep plants alive with little light and inadequate warmth over the winter.  One of the houseplants, a ficus lyrata was almost dead. I think it had 2 half dried leaves left on it. I put it outside in the heat and sun and it has sprouted about 12 new leaves in the past 2 weeks! I'll keep it outdoors for a few more weeks and hopefully it will become healthy enough to keep indoors over the darker, cooler months.

Just when I was making excellent progress on work indoors, I got very sick.  I  went to Emergency and ended up being admitted to hospital for about 4 days and 3 nights.  It turns out I had a skin infection (caused by eczema on my left foot and ankle) and cellulitis in my right leg. I was treated intravenously for several days before any sepsis set in and then sent home with oral antibiotics. I had good care at the hospital but was glad to get home after a few days. 


Breakfast one day.


 (Sesame beef) Dinner one day


Steamed Pork Dinner another day.


Hooked up to IV 

Entering my room. I had a room to myself for some reason.


The view out my hospital room.

Since being released from hospital I've eaten out a bit more than usual. I haven't felt up to cooking much though today I made spaghettini and meat sauce. On other days I made cauliflower-vegetable soup, rice and BBQ chicken.

Friday's Bento Box dinner


Chicken Souvlakia dinner (minus the skewers)


Spaghettini and meat sauce with shredded Parmesan Cheese

I haven't been able to do much housework or running of errands this week. I've done a bit of reading instead. 




Wednesday night I went out to buy groceries for the week I'll try to make a few meals ahead (stuffed pork chops and cauliflower, chicken or chick pea curry, beef brisket with rice and greens and chicken and baked sweet potato fries). 

Today I mustered up enough energy to sweep and wash floors, wash a load of towels and bath mats and clean the master bathroom toilet. I still feel tired so I'll be focussing on doing only essential housework this week. I also have a few appointments to deal with this week.

I hope all of you are safe, happy and healthy. Thanks for stopping by!


Sunday, March 6, 2022

Things I Enjoy

Joining in with Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 in  memory of Toni Taddeo.

There are some things we just enjoy quite a lot. Let's talk about it okay?

1. Which book could you read over and over again?

I absolutely love certain authors like Rosamunde Pilcher, Rohinton Mistry and Maeve Binchy.  I've read all the books written by Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy and about half of Rohinton Mistry's books so far.  I would seldom, if ever, read a book more than once. There are just too many books I want to read. I love reading! It's so easy to have a book on hand or have one to read on your phone, Kindle or Kobo.



2. What movie or TV program could you watch and never tire of watching?

I can never tire of watching all the (Jason) Bourne movies when they are replayed on television. I first saw them in the theatre on the big screen. I love them all, even the prequel with Jeremy Renner but I preferred all the others with Matt Damon. 


3. What meal do you like enough to eat several times a week or several times a month?  Got a recipe to share for it?

I do not eat any meal several times a week or month though sometimes it may seem like it, lol. I do eat leftovers the next day or 2nd day after if there is more than enough food for one meal.  In general though, I like variety in virtually everything including food.  Recently I've discovered a recipe for Taco Soup and I love it. I've also made Greek Chicken and Potatoes. I only make the Greek dish 1-2 times a year because it takes more planning and preparation than my usual meals.  I'm basically a lazy cook.  Despite the fact I don't eat it often, the Greek dish is my favourite meal of all time. On Friday, I had my first meal in a sit down restaurant for the first time in ages and I had the Chicken Souvlaki pictured on the photo. The restaurant is one of few remaining restaurants with vintage furnishings and individual jukeboxes at the booths. The man who owns it now was relaying how he has been struggling to keep the restaurant going during the pandemic and he has had to lay off all but one staff (the cook) and he is working long days. They make the tastiest food and it's basically home cooking just as I like it. The restaurant is often used as a movie location, the most recent being in the Sandra Bullock movie, The Unforgivable. 

Greek dish of Chicken Souvlaki without the skewers.

Tonight (Sunday) I made roasted carrots/potatoes tossed in herbs and oil, grass fed beef patties with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a kale salad. Monday night I'll be making Pesto Chicken; another new to me dish that I read about recently on Mari's blog

Keto friendly Taco Soup

 

Here is a link to the Taco Soup recipe (Keto friendly) but I didn't use quite as much cream cheese in mine. I also used Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream as that is what I had on hand. The second time I made it I added beans, corn niblets and more seasoning. It was even better so this will be a dish I continue to make.

4. What place do you enjoy so much that you go back again and again? Why do you like it so much?

I love several places and have gone back again and again. In Canada, I love the interior of the province where my late mom recently passed and my niece and a nephew and his family still live. It's beautiful there. 

 

I also love to go to the far north of BC and Alberta as I have relatives living there. 

Out of the country I love Australia and have been to the East Coast (and from north to south). I love it's beauty plus I have distant relatives there. I still do have distant relatives there and have travelled to the land Down Under 3 times. Once with my mother and twice with my brother.  I would love to return however there are so many other places to visit in the world and to explore if we get a chance to travel again internationally.

I also love Kenya and Africa in general. I've been to Kenya 7 times and have friends there. I love the exotic wildlife, the people, the landscape and the work I do in missions to feed the hungry and help the very poor. This is a labour of love and is not backed by any church or organization though I wish it was. I have also been to Ghana in West Africa, a very different place to Kenya. I would dearly love to travel to many other parts of Africa if I get the chance but I also would love to travel through more of Europe and parts of Asia. 

Please click this link to see a bit more of the places I'm writing about. I hope you enjoy the tour.

Thank you for visiting and leave a comment. Enjoy the week ahead.

 

Friday, February 19, 2021

Middle of February and We Got Our First Snow

On Sunday Valentine's Day we had snow fall. It snowed a few times more during the week but it didn't last more than one night before it all melted, at least where I live. 

Sky

 


As the week progressed we also got more colour in the sky and it was so lovely to see the sunshine and the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds.






I made time to go for coffee. I just stopped off at McDonald's as it was close to where I needed to run some other errands. Besides I like their coffee since it is always hot and fresh. 

Reading

Going for solo coffee is when I love to bring a good book to read. I read these two different books on two different occasions. The first book is written by a fashion psychologist and talks about the science of fashion. It also gives you some tips on creating a minimalist wardrobe. I found it a very satisfying read and would like it for my  personal library but right now I'm still in downsizing mode so I'll hold off on that. I am not into working on my wardrobe right now but in future I will have to make time to go through all my closets and drawers and get rid of things once again. I've been on a long and slow process of weight loss and so I have to get rid of things I'd like to keep but  no longer fit well.

 I am also getting into the book below about French women and how they survived in Nazi occupied Paris.

I bought this beautiful magazine as a nice easy to read treat. I love decorating magazines but don't buy too many because once they are read you need to store them. I used to buy a lot of magazines and so now it is a real treat since I only buy one or two every few years.

I've just order this book, Woman in the Wilderness from the library and it's ready for pick up. I saw this woman and her husband interviewed on a You Tube video. They both live in the wilderness of New Zealand and the woman is 30 years younger than her husband. They don't even live in a house except when Miriam's husband Peter got sick and they live primarily off the land. Miriam is a beautiful, healthy looking creature who kills the animals they eat. Before she lived on the land she was a vegetarian.  Now that they live in the wilderness they need the protein that comes from the animals in order to survive.

Meals

Here is a sample of meals I've prepared this week.

First up is raviolini stuffed with butternut squash served with a cheese sauce, baked chicken and simple salad.

On another day I made hamburger and macaroni soup in a tomato broth.

Next up is a batch of roasted beets,carrots and nugget potatoes.

The roasted vegetables accompanied roasted brisket which I marinated overnight before cooking.

Another day I made roasted pork chops and onions and sliced roasted potatoes flavoured with onion soup mix. I read about using the onion soup mix but if you suffer from swelling then I would advise against using this and to add fresh herbs and spices instead.

Kenya

In my last post I mentioned that Pastor Jonah had to return to Kericho Town to assist with showing the land to local leadership and court and land officials. The expectation is to also provide tea or lunch. Apparently the meeting went well but it was raining so heavily and cars had to be hired to transport people. They didn't linger for a long meeting due to inclement weather but they were provided tea. The officials in attendance seemed satisfied that everything is in order concerning the land grant application but I am not sure how long it will take before a court hearing is scheduled to learn the outcome of the land grant petition.

Next week it will be time to send funds to various people in need. Please keep the needs in prayer if you pray.

Thank you.

 

Linking this week to Skywatch Friday.

 

It Was a Spectacular Day! ~ Skywatch

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