Dinning Alone

[RomSpaceKnight]

Let the banners wave and the flags fly I have returned. Sounds like you had a good yule. Mine was nice. Had Christmas with family. My brother gave me a complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. Had friends over for supper on Saturday night. We had S&B Cajun chicken in frying pan with steamed cauliflower and scalloped potatoes. Now my buddy want's to send his daughter over to learn to cook. The chicken was S&B, and the scalloped potatoes were from a box. His wife is not a very good cook if he is impressed by S&B and boxed potatoes. I baked a chocolate devil's food cake with a hot mocha sauce. I subbed the Becel 67%RSF marg for butter and oil and used the 80% reduced fat and cholesterol egg product in place of eggs. Not something to live on but a marginally exceptable dessert. Fruit cocktail, fat free yougurt with fruit and orange sorbet are ok but I need chocolate sometimes.

 

[selfactivated]

Id raise a flag but whose flag? Yours or mine? I can bake you a cake now! I did miss you though And poor Bear is prolly thanking Great Spirit you came back now that crazy woman will quit following him around like a lost puppy. Im glad your holiday went well. As for the chocolate? I cant parttake im allergic. I get a tiny bit of sark when I have a migrain. Its strange It kills a migrain but it'll give me one if I eat it otherwise. Weird.

 

[selfactivated]

FDA Food Labels

The Federal government is going online to teach people how to read nutrition labels.
For more information, visit

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/dms/lab-gen.html.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

The label link was good. What the label says has more bearing these days on what I eat than anything. Then I don't have much choice in the matter. Being on a lowfat no salt added diet isn't that bad. A diabetic or straight weight loss diet would probably be worse. I need to eat a more whole grain cereal and cut out the refined stuff (sugar, rice and flour). I've always liked oatmeal so that isn't much of a stretch. Putting sugar on my cornflakes is my big source of refined sugar. I should switch to brown sugar with my cornflakes or go to oatmeal and put real maple syrup on. I find the converted rice so gosh darn convenient. Rice is sort of new to me so making the switch to brown rice should not be hard. I am learning to bake, so it's not like I use a lot of white flour. Oooh I live dangerous. I use white flour. What a risk taker, lol.

I tried a 50/50 mix of balsamic vinegar and pure maple syrup with s&p to taste on some salmon fillets the other night that worked well as a sweet and sour sauce.

 

[selfactivated]

Diabetic diet is actually pretty easy. My nephew's diabetic and the kid eats better than me in portions. I bought a bottle of balsamic daybefore yesterday I'll have to try it. As for oatmeal I was 230 cholesterol now im 173 and all I changed was 1 bowl of oatmeal aday. Doc was pleased. In fact all my blood work looks like an 18 year old but the meds Im on make it impossible to loose weight. It drives me nuts........ok nuttier.

I adore baking. I miss making suffles and quiche but with this new oven I'll be able to indulge ever so often.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

I am jealous you have a rotisserie. I should have gone up a level in my toaster oven and got one that had a rotisserie. What can you do on them beside chicken? It would take me too long to eat a whole chicken even a game hen. Even 1 breast is a large portion for me and with eating it once a week a chicken would have to sit in fridge for a month. Guess I don't really need or have a use for a rotisserie. Still interested in what else besides chcicken you can cook on one. All I can think of is Swiss Chalet chicken.

 

[selfactivated]

It says roasts (Ive got beads every where and I cant find the book! sorry) But I can make 4 meals out of a chicken including a soup so its a good deal for me. I also freeze leftovers for later use in other things. Guess its old habits from feeding a family of 5. My ex hated leftovers but the kids didnt care and they loved the "concontions" Id come up with

 

[selfactivated]

Figures Zack knocked it off the bed! THIS is why I live alone. Even the cat gets irritating! Yes, roasts upto 5lbs. Beef, veal, pork.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

I don't find roomates irritating especially. I got one now but he is a real hermit in his room. I just love the freedom. Like being able to walk around the house naked scratching private parts. ooohh eeeeeew Not even a pretty picture for me, lol.

 

[selfactivated]

Zack is my cat. He's the only one that would put up with me. LOL Im not all threre. Im bipolar and you can ask my friends online Im at best difficult to deal with at least Im honest to a fault. I hate being me let alone sharing my space with someone else. I have a very sweet friend (off line) just one. ever so often he comes by and reminds me Im adorable. Thats all the real socialization I can deal with. I meet 8 times a year with my circle and I go camping regularly alone. Exciting eh? But the other side of the coin is living with someone that will eventually hate me just like my ex's and I dont need that either. Ive been alone 5 years. I like it. Im proud I can take care of myself. Its the first time ever I have been alone. Im good at it.

 

[selfactivated]

There's one thing I forgot to tell you about my Zack. I saved him from being gassed. He was born 6/1/00 (OMG THERES MY GEMINI!crazy) and he's allowed me his aquaintance 2 years. Zack is my familiar He reads my heart. Th night my son died I was holding circle, and during the ceramony I was dowsing with my pendulum. Zack AlWAYS stays within circle he is a fabulous Wiccan cat. This circle was no less but Zack kept crying in the west quarter of the circle I looked up and I say a figure of smoke. A white horse with a rider. Zack cried at the figure and I could not understand the vision until a few hours later when my sister called and gave me the news. Well of course I fell apart but when I come undone I run a hot shower. Zack everytime I do this, sits outside the shower and waits. If Im to long he bats at the shower curtain. I always know Im loved, watched and cared for with my amazing companion around.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

The only cat I ever had was fascinated with showers too. He would wait outside and rush to the tap when I opened the door. He was fascinated by dripping taps.

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

My old cat J.D. would not usually cuddle. But if I brought out a newspaper he would have to climb up on my lap so I could not read it. Do all cats do that? Maybe it was a paper thing. Big paper bags were one of his favourite toys.

J.D. (yes Jack Daniels) was not technically mine. My roomate got him and promptly started living at his girlfriends. I raised J.D. He weighed 15lbs at a year old. He was one big kitty. The biggest tom in the neighbourhood.

He used to play with my workboot laces when I came home from work. One day he did not and had I swear a guilty look on his face. Walking past him I found half a dozen cats in my living room. He was having a party. I had to tell him he was not allowed to have friends over.

My other roomate/gf brought in a cat when she moved in. It brought home a rabbit one day. This rabbit was bigger than her and she lept up 4 feet with it over her shoulder to drag it in through front window that was left open for the cats to come and go. She drops it at her owners feet. It promptly recovers from the shock of being caught and heads off across the living room. My cat sees it and nails it. I walk in door just after this happens. My roomie is in tears. J.D. had saclped the rabbit from front legs to hind legs with 3 swipes of his back legs. 3 more and he would have disemboweled it. She had to cuff him off to save it. One look at her face and I knew not to suggest putting it out of it's misery. We put it in a box in the spare bedroom. The cats hung out in front of the door all night. It was dead in morning and I buried it. She did not talk to either cat for 2 weeks after. Cats are nature most perfect killers. If they wanted to hurt you they could. Don't forget add 500lbs to your kitty and it is El Tigre.

I had a date come over one night for supper. J.D. figures if she is allowed at table so is he. He promptly jumps up on table. I hissed at him and he ran. My date jumped a mile. She said she had never heard a human growl before. I told her I was just speaking cat. Cats don't listen to people well. I think they have issues with our language so I tried to speak his.

He liked to sit on ottoman near TV when the motorcycle grand prix races were on and watch the bikes go across the screen.

I raised him rough. We would fight and chase one another around the house. I would chase him and then he would chase me. He would scratch me hard enough to draw blood and I would cuff him enough to bowl him over. He learned that the hand is not the tender part but go under the hand and attack the soft forearm. owwwwwwwwww He also learned that the foot tormenting him was not the tender part but would leap past and dig all 4 claws into your upper thigh. A couple of buddies who did not like cats found out the hard way not to kick (not hard) my cat. He would be at my door every morn when I got up. Most times he would attack my ankles as I walked bleary eyed to the john for a morning pee. A couple of times he took me down by hitting high up behind the knee. My roomie/gf would let him in her room and he would bite her ankles when she put her feet on floor in morn from under her bed. He came home one day with dog slobber all over him. I checked him out. He had no marks on him at all. I tossed a roll of toilet paper on to floor one day to see what he would do. Within seconds there was toilet paper all over the living room. he killed that whole roll. wow

I had to flea bath him once. The fleas came from a kitten my first roomate dumped off before heading back to his girlfriends. It was a rescue but it had issue so I requested he take it somewhere else not dump it on me. It need a lot of love and care I was not able to give. Anyways, I had to wear motorcycle gauntlets to dip him alternatively in a bucket of flea shampoo and then warm water.

Eventually my roomate decided to move in with his gf fulltime and took J.D. with him. He was promptly neutered. I know it is best for house cats and due to problem of abandoned animals a good practice all around but...................He was my best bud. owwwwwww He really packed on lbs then and went to 20 easily. Eventually he got a urinary tract blockage that required 500$ and birth control pills to control. The second time it happened the vet said 1000$ and 50/50 if he would survive. My buddy made hard choice and had him put to sleep. We got drunk together in celebration of J.D.'s life.

I still consider J.D. to be one of the best friends I have ever had. Makes me think of going to pound and rescuing a tabby to bring home. I have expensive leather furniture so would need to declaw and I guess neutering is a good idea.

 

[selfactivated]

awwww Im so sorry he's gone to summerland. Zacks the last man in my life that deserves my heart. I have second hand furniture and he has scratching rights anywhere he likes. My house is like a small tipi, sage hanging everywhere and dreamcatchers. Zack does not allow anything I create out of the house without a rub. He loves paper too and twice a week he gets catnip lol. He is fixed and he gets to go in and out. As he pleases in the summer and as I can take the cold in the winter. He likes to play hunter with my hands under the covers but he KNOWS the Wiccan creed Do NO Harm! He's brought me 1 finch and I used the feathers in a dreamcatcher..........a picture of it is in one of bears threads on cultural exchanges. But after a reaming from me Zacks never done it again.

 

[selfactivated]

I need sleep. Sweetest dreams when you get there.

 

[selfactivated]

At New Tears its a tradition in my house that EVERYTHING is washed by hand (if possibble) and if it hasnt been used in over a year its put in a bag for the vetrans charity. I spent all day in the bathroom and kitchen (pantry) And I noticed my new ceramic tiles (the grout) is stained) I only use earth friendly detergents and its not getting it clean. Any Ideas?

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

My kitchen floor is tiled and my grout needs to be cleaned. I thought I had a dark grout but when I pulled out my fridge and stove to clean under I saw light grouting. I got same question but may use not so eco friendly products.

 

[selfactivated]

Im going through my spice rack......do you get old bay seafood seasoning over your way?

 

[RomSpaceKnight]

No (?)

 

[selfactivated]

http://www.old-bay.com/content.cfm?id=11526

its a regional fish seasoning