Call me Popeye...

Ok, I know I'm going to lose some of you on this one, but I love Spinach. Always have done. In bad IBS years it was not so easy for me to tolerate but I'm doing better with all that these days.

Even as a child, when my Mom would take me to the Hot Shoppes Cafeteria at Tyson's or Landover (a long gone chain for you young folk) I always asked if I could just get mashed potatoes with gravy and steamed spinach. She'd raise her eyebrows at my choices but she let me and I was in hog heaven. I'd usually get one of their scrummy white cloverleaf dinner rolls as well. What REAL foods did you love years ago that you may have left in the dust of memory? Can you try to rekindle what it is you liked about it in order to make something like that as a gift to yourself and your family now?

As an adult I discovered how yummy creamed spinach is and there was a brand I can't recall, that used to make quite good frozen creamed spinach. Seabrook? something like that. I think Birdseye made a similar thing. A couple years ago when Glenn and I went out to dinner at the Cottonwood Grille, I had a lovely cream of spinach soup there. With this in mind I went off to foodgawker and hunted away. I settled on a recipe by Mark Bittman from the New York times. Made as it was, I found it a bit thin, so I made a roux with butter and flour and added this, which made it more like I had in mind. To be fair, it's probably not an issue with the original recipe,I may have accidentally had thinner soup due to having to halve his recipe. Anyway it's good to know if you want it thicker you can make it so. I also might try it with some Parmesan cheese added.



This one is a keeper! And it made a great companion to the Bagel chips.
(Take two bagels, slice across so you are left with circles, sprinkle up to 1/4 cup of oil-I used olive and if you like sprinkle them with some garlic salt. Bake on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan at 300 until lightly brown, check every 5 mins so they don't burn, this made enough for soup and a snack the next day.)

That Barefoot Contessa...

Never seen her, never watched her, but her name comes up in recipe recommendations from my daughter. Took out one of her cookbooks months ago and didn't find anything that sounded like I'd make it, so I must have gotten the wrong book because the few things I have her recipes for look and taste wonderful.I've not been able to find this recipe exactly under her name, so this may be an adaptation. I am quite pleased with my substitution of Bob's Red Mill Large Flake coconut. I love coconut but don't miss the sugaryness of the old fashioned kind. Also the large flake is pretty. Bob's also makes a small traditional grated unsweetened. Many grocery stores are carrying Bob's products and they are also easily available online.



My hubby loves this. I find it a bit too sweet, so I'm going to tweek it for my own taste and I'll get back to you. I think the sweetness I find too much isn't in the base, that's perfect, it's the cranraisens.

Homemade Granola

makes 12 cups

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut(some folk omit, or use just a handful to omit calories...I substituted unsweetened large flake coconut by Bob's Red Mill)
2 cups sliced almonds
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup good honey
1 1/2 cup of cranraisins
1 cup of golden raisins
any other dried fruit that you would like (I like a cup of Pecans)


preheat oven to 350 degrees
Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oat mixture and nuts are coated. Pour into a 13x18 inch baking sheet.(What is called a Jelly Roll pan, improvise as needed) Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice even golden brown about 45 minutes. (you need to check this frequently as you don't want it to burn)

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the cranraisins, golden raisins and pecans. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.






If you have never tried Greek Yoghurt please do so for me, just one little thing, pretty please? I don't like regular yogurt very well, but the greek, yes indeedy. AND it's better for you. It is a bit thicker than the American style, not as tart, and nicely creamy. I believe it is lower in fat and higher in protien as well.
Even though this was too sweet (just a bit) It was glorious soon after cooling with my greek yogurt. I find it in regular grocery stores now, but if not, try health food stores or ethnic markets if you have such.

Roasted Veggie Pasta

Even though I do not like Raw tomatoes, I do like this dish quite well using the tiny grape tomatoes. The one's I got at the co-op were a gorgeous assortment of 4 varieties including an almost purple heirloom tomato. I'd eaten this at my daughter's house and enjoyed it, even though I did let my 2 year old grandson eat many of the tomatoes off my plate. They get to a consistency I can appreciate and lose that raw taste. I leave out the basil of this recipe because for my taste, as Fabu as basil is, it can overpower. Here's the link to the recipe at Everyday Food, a favorite site and magazine... with pictures following.I have Rebecca to thank for my making this as I'd not likely have tried the recipe without her having fed it to me first.

Roasted Summer Vegetables with Pasta.

Veggie Before and After. Do watch them closely after the first 10 mins or so. I cooked them until there were some veggies blackening as it tastes best that way and I like my veggies softish. I also used more yellow squash and less zuchinni as the recipe calls for. The later is prettier I think but I don't fancy zuchinni as much as summer squash. You can really splash out and do what you want with this. In face I only made a half recipe and it was enough for the three of us for one meal.



This is a very satisfying and yet healthful dish. I ate mine as was, hubby wanted a lot of black pepper and some parmesan on his. To each his own!

It's not all bad news...

Well, the day ended on a better note. Glenn was out running a mission of mercy and called me on his way back home offering to pick up some type of carryout. I was only briefly tempted and then said no. Instead, I cooked the fresh green beans into a favorite dish of green beans with tomatoes, accompanied by two slices of fresh bread with butter. It was a much more satisfying dinner than anything he could have brought home. I'm glad I made the effort. (It's not pink looking like in the picture) It's a recipe I got off some Italians I used to know. It is a simple dish that lets the flavor of the veggies shine through, containing only Olive Oil, Garlic, Green Beans, Canned Tomatoes and salt. It should be even tastier tomorrow.

I think in light of the past day's set backs, I need to work at cooking a couple days ahead in the evening, so I am not caught short, with nothing simple when I feel the worst. I also want to figure out some kind of cold beverage other than water, which I drink lots of already. I'd like something without caffeine. If sugar is added I'd like it still to be healthier than soda. I'm thinking maybe some kind of iced green or white tea with a little sugar or honey? If anyone has something to suggest let me know.

Becca (my daughter) asked me why I felt I could give up chips, knowing how I enjoy them. I said, I didn't know, maybe I just got bored? Maybe I ate my life's maximum allowable total? I seriously feel like some bizarre switch has been thrown that took away my interest in them. Yes, I have prayed for some aid in this matter of eating well, and that could be it, but I expect I've prayed before and not come to this result.

I have long noted that my "taste" changed when I lived in Scotland. I went off sweets almost completely. No chocolate, no desserts. I thought at the time that it was because the "sweets" in the UK seemed so excessively sweet, over the top sugary, toffee-ish sweetness. A physical therapist friend suggested it could be my physical change because of exercise and weight lifting. Has anyone else noted that at various seasons of their life, particularly related to menopausal changes, that they have gone from prefering sweet to salty or starchy?


I've often thought it was the excerise and local oversweetness in the Uk combined but perhaps also a change in hormones? Given that chocolate affects neurotransmitters and brain chemistry, perhaps it was a change of " mind" literally. They say some people "self medicate" with chocolate because it boosts seritonin. Who knows, maybe in Scotland my seritonin was boosted by the walking and fresh air?


Now it's a few hours since Becca asked and I think I've figured out in part why I wanted to do something different with my eating and cooking, I think it's because I'm so unable to "fix" what ails me with the fatigue and long periods etc, that this is one small thing I CAN do, it's about the only thing I can do, that and pray and use my down (as in laying down/sitting down) time as best I can. Being like this causes one to see energy like tokens one gets to spend, and when they are gone, they are gone, and they don't get replenished quickly. Spending decisions have to be made. At least with eating well, and effort for cooking, it's not energy out only, but also, hopefully, energy and future health IN.


I don't know how long the decreased desire for salty treats will last, though I suspect that chip loving is something that "feeds" itself...ie the more you eat the more you want. So perhaps just not having them here for weak moments (like I had during the night and early am) will do the trick. I know that when I feel really cruddy, and when I wake up feeling that way, especially from a nap or a restless night, I want crunchy salty goodness. Oh, just saying that makes me go weak in the knees. I may need a healthy substitute. (Maybe some of those frozen coconut pops at the co-op?) though that doesn't sub for salty, but it might work if I wake with annoying allergies or itchiness or sinus. Idea's always welcome. Still trying to figure out the perfect breakfast treat for with coffee. Meanwhile I should make some of Becca's fabu granola. She uses Ina Garten's recipe. It's not quite the texture or experience I'm looking for, I'm wanting something like a breakfast cookie (-: but not as hard as a biscotti, or a small danishy thing. Haven't ruled out the rugelach, just haven't gotten out to buy ingredients. I like the fact Rugelach is highly versatile ie I can do apricot or nut or chocolate chip etc.

On another front...Is it just me or when you buy potatoes in the bags vs loose, do they seem to go bad much quicker than the one's you pick individually? The price is like half or better of the loose but if they are wasted or rot it's not a value for us. (In our case we don't eat them that fast anyway so the singles are probably best but I'd like to know if anyone else has noticed this)

I know the picture will put normal folk off wanting to make the green beans above, but I'll put the recipe here just in case.

Susan and Rebecca's Italian Green Beans

1lb or 2 of fresh green beans boiled or steamed
28 oz can of whole tomatoes, crushed or pureed in food processor
1/4 tsp salt.
olive oil
1 clove of garlic, sliced

As many fresh green beans as you want to eat. I'd say I bought about a pound but have bought as few as three or four handfuls. It's up to you.

Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan, not enough to cover, just a hand size circle.
slice a garlic clove and saute it in the oil being careful not to burn or brown, it goes quickly. If it burns start over, it will flavor your oil badly.

Add to that one 28 oz can of whole tomatoes which you have run through a food processor or broken tiny by hand or cut with a pastry blender or what have you. You don't want big chunks.
Add in 1/4 tsp salt.

Saute these together on simmer for about 20-30 mins, until the liquid starts to condense out.

Meanwhile boil water or get your veggie steamer out, and cook the green beans until they are tender (I like mine pretty soft but not squishy, about the texture of pasta) After your sauce has cooked down some, and your green beans are cooked to your desire, drain green beans and toss them into the tomato sauce. Heat together to coat. Serve with nice crunchy bread for dipping.
More flavorful the second day. If you find the tomatoes bitter or green beans to be less than great tasting (cause they turned out to be not such great fresh beans) you can add just a tsp or so of sugar to balance the flavor, but don't overdo.

Day three...ehh pffffttttt....

Yes Susan is waning in enthusiasm though I think Sunday was still a decent effort. Nothing to write home or my two dear readers (Hello Ladies) about, but aren't you ever so glad I'm going to anyway???

It started out well enough. I was up at half three Sunday am, and having gone to bed hungry and early Saturday night, I ate a reheated burger (natural beef) that Glenn had grilled the day before. (yes grilling has carcinogens, I just don't care, I am a 200 lb plus woman, carinogens aren't making my knees tired ok? though maybe they are making me snarky.) I learned one thing, it takes a heap of effort to finish a dry boring burger first thing in the morning even if you went to bed hungry.


On the topic of weight, (and if you recall that isn't the specific focus of this effort and in fact isn't a focus at all, though any byproducts in the downward direction will be accepted without complaint) last time I was under 200lbs (196) I lived in Glasgow, walked 2- 10 miles a day (for three years) and lifted weights at the "Leisure center" (oxymoron that) 2-3 times a week. You can see why when one has to work that hard and long to be a weight no female one in north america would be advertising, (unless said female had just been on a reality tv series weighing 400 plus pounds and was proud of her new low) it just can't be a priority. I have no reason to walk 2-10 miles a day anymore and honestly, my knees probably aren't thanking me for the three years.

So where were we? Yes, yesterday...woke up early, in effort to bump said poptarts from their status of only breakfasty pastryish thing in the house, I perused foodgawker.com for something that spoke to me and I had ingredients for. Found blueberry crumb coffee cake and thought the way she cut them into flowers was mondo cute.

I was forced to make it with frozen blueberries, which may have contributed to my texture failure, or the fact that I cut my piece out while it was still hot, but the bottom part was crumbly and wanted to fall off and the top which I expect to be crumbly came out more like armor. Tasted ok though, and it wasn't a poptart. Was it better for me? Who knows, I think it was more pleasing and less soul killing than poptarts. (Uh oh, Oprah got sued over saying she wasn't going to eat beef, you think Kellogs is gonna come after me?) And one wonders, does the energy it takes to make said breakfast, help in any small way burn off the calories, say as opposed to lying in bed and having Glenn toast and bring said poptart with the coffee? I only had one piece and I was content. The others in the house had two each. (tattletale) Noah said "Lucy cooks good."

Onward and upward, I had planned to make Julia Child's Potage Parmentier (leek and potato soup) for lunch but I couldn't figure out how to time the whole business. If I made it before church it would still be so hot as to heat up the whole fridge and might not cool in a proper food handling safety way. If I waited to get home and make it, the fam (and I the fam-ished) would be left waiting for nearly 1.5 hours for lunch. In the spirit of, hungry family needs food, I just gave in and made this above pictured dried soup mix from Bear Creek. Now don't get me wrong, that soup is tastier than say canned soup, and probably more "real" apart from being dried, but it was pretty dumb to make something so close to what I intended to make because now I have leeks taking up most of my produce drawer and I feel potato souped out. (hope locals don't read this as I live in the famous potato state.) What to do now. I guess I can go on foodgawker or google and start googling "gigantic bunch of leeks seek home" and see what I find.



By the time I went to sleep at the end of the day, I was feeling peckish and really missed my potato chips "friends" and I didn't have anything left in me for food prep, heating or what have you. I had laid in a couple of boxes of granola ish bars in hopes that if desperation came they'd be an "ok" alternative. I ate one of the nature valley dark chocolate and peanut and raisin one's. It was hard enough to threaten my teeth with damage, and not very satisfying but also, not evil enough to give me heartburn or to have me feeling "off the wagon." (had I eaten half a bag of "Dirty Chips" salt and vinegar flavour (my new fav, at the co-op) I'd be crying in my unmade potage.



It was a day. Not great, not horrible, but with some hope, more now that it's morning, of a continued journey Monday.




And ladies, thank you for your comments, I was starting to second guess doing this as it felt so pathetic,open and dumb. Who in their right mind would want to read the ravings of a woman on potato chip withdrawal?

Oh and Laura, I love love love a "good can" (if that isn't another oxymoron) of cat food, I mean, Corned Beef hash, which someone else in my life used to refer to as "corned beef trash" I only like Libby's brand though which is hard to find. It's one of those things that I could eat maybe, 5 times a year, when the mood strikes, it's "just the thing" I'll have to come up with a ratings system for real-ness...not sure where that one would fall. Yes Diane, poptarts, I guess I was thinking cinnamony goodness? (-: warm, hot, toasty? available?