Summing It up

From recent past posts, here goes ...

• Weight loss to date 45 lbs.
• Cut or not to cut, majority rules, it stays.
• New baby Bridget (my great niece), I get to meet today!
• Sunshine's comment contest, THANK YOU for helping me WIN.
• Wrapping lettuce in paper towels works, it stays crisp.
• I love my new Tai Chi class.

And coming up ...

How I spent the past week with Caitlin battling fleas in her apartment.

Limp, Mushy and Bruised

I read that if I put bananas in the refrigerator, they will stay fresh and stop the ripening process. It did say the peel will turn dark, but the inside would remain fine. Here is my first attempt. Yes, the outside is unappealing (pun intended) but it tasted fine. It did have some discoloration inside, but nothing that affected the taste.



Since I am eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, I have been trying to figure out how to keep them from going bad so fast. I really don't over buy. I would like to go to the market just twice a week.

My cukes go limp (I know, BIG time set up for jokes), my lettuce looses it's crisp, 'scrhums start turning brown, celery gets rubbery, and baby carrots get dry and white.

I think this banana thing will work, but any suggestions on other fruits would be helpful. Do you have any tips to keep fruit and vegi's fresh just a wee bit longer?

Gourmet, Nancy Style

Sandi has always been the gourmet chef in our family. I have a very limited ability to cook. My kids favorite dinner is my chicken, vegi, pasta casserole. It reminds me of mess hall grub. She has to call me everytime she wants to make it, so I am posting it here so she can just look it up.

Chicken, Vegi, Pasta Casserole

1 of those BIG ASS cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of cream of celery soup
1 small cut up onion - Kroger has them already chopped in the frozen section,
no teary eyes or two days of smelly fingers
2 packages of the pre-washed, pre-sliced 'shrums :Rachel Ray 101
3 precooked diced chicken breasts
4 cup bag of finely shredded mozzarella cheese,
save time and knuckles, just open a bag.

Add the soups, chicken, 'shrums and what ever vegi's you want, or what ever is in the fridge that are on the brink of being pitched.

I use carrots, broccoli, zucchini, fresh green beans,cauliflower ... watery vegi's tend to mush like, celery, green pepper, asparagus .... and can vegi's are already mushy when you open them, so they don't work well.

Precook and add a box of your favorite pasta, elbow, bow tie, shells, etc.

I add spices to taste, like Mrs. Dash, pepper, garlic salt.
Mix well, put in huge lasagna pan, cover in finely shredded mozzarella cheese and then cover it all with foil. Bake at 350' for about 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake until cheese lightly browns, or to your liking.

Bon Appetit!

Dinner for two nights, then on the third night everyone is so sick of it, you simply throw the leftovers in the garbage disposal and poof, it's gone!

Eggs-travagant

Because I am on a perpetual diet, I am forever looking for "new, great tasting recipe ideas" to try *yeah, right* Don't you hate the diet food marketing campaigns? We are over weight, not under brained! No matter how they slice it, dice it, package it, or color it, most diet foods taste like Styrofoam and look like cardboard.

Fruit, vegi's, fish, meat, cheese, blah blah blah blah. One thing I don't tire of is eggs. I like omeletts for lunch or dinner. I like egg salad with lite mayo on celery. Scrambled eggs in the microwave is super fast for the always-late-for-work me. My favorite though is hard boiled. Until today, I assumed my simple, perfectly timed, bright yellow, hard but not dried out yolk, never having that gray halo, boiled egg couldn't be topped. My nephew Michael, working in Germany, attended a party celebrating Carnival and someone actually brought this as a dish. I mean really, who would have ever thought you could do all this to hard boiled eggs? I am ashamed of myself.