Dumbass

Since I started work at the pizza shoppe, my diet changed.  I went from mostly scratch cooking, to eating from a fast food window.  I don't know exactly where things all went wrong, but before I knew it, the passenger side of my car was lined with McDonald bags.

What a sad thing.

I guess now that I write this, I remember getting my first McDouble, no pickle and medium iced coffee, on the ride into work.  Work started at supper, so I'd eat on the ride in.   And I'd eat that same meal, anywhere from three to four times per week.  Or basically, every Cinderella (closing) shift.

What a dumbass.

Then if I was closing with a turnaround the next morning, I'd stop and get a McGriddle and medium iced coffee.  That would be at least once per week, except for back when they had me on continuous close open, close open.

Then I'd eat more.  I'm not sure how many more times I can type the word dumbass, but you get the idea.

And the truth is, before this, I NEVER understood how people ate out so much.  I was the biggest food snob.  One, I'm a WAY better scratch cook.  Two, my food is less expensive.  And three, it wasn't good for my heart.  But even with all this, I still managed to land a seat on the Fast Food Train.

Dumbass, it is.

PS:  As I was finishing this post,  I got a call from my old boss called and I'm officially hired back.  Just have a bit more paperwork to do tomorrow and then if all goes well, I'll be back to work next week.  Because after all, I'm not dead yet.

PPS: I was going to wait to show you these but I'm here now so what the heck.  Yesterday I snagged a bag of Bulgur Wheat Cereal.  Or that's what the package reads.  Either way, it's something I've wanted to try but haven't.  So I'm giving it a go.  I'm thinking, homemade sesame sticks.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.

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Fighting Back

Right before the weekend I had a painful set back.  I moved the covers to shooting pain in both my right shoulder and center of my chest.  I felt like a character in Once, and the Evil Queen was squeezing my heart.

Trip to my doctor told us I have edema (inflammation).  Trip to my next doctor, will tell us how much and why.

So I had myself a good cry and then decided I would do what I could on my end, and that's fight back with food.

Before I started eating meats and cheeses, I was a whole foods cook.  I ate from my garden and I didn't eat anything refined or processed.  I even made my own corn chips.

I had more energy, my scoliosis didn't hurt, my eyes were brighter, I never ate in the car, and my hands didn't swell.

Now I want all that back.

Which is good, because I've got a good bit of fight in me yet, and I'm ready to do the work to get there.

Meanwhile, dig my Bean Curd Bake, loaded with veggies.

You can see that I baked this sucker in a glass pie dish.  The veg bakes great and the pie dish is super easy to clean.

Two very good things.  That's all from me.  Boogie boogie.

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Addendum: I'm adding this after the written post.

I never stopped being a whole foods, scratch cook.  I love cooking with whole foods.   BUT ... what I didn't always do was eat fast foods and processed snacks.

So what I want back is the absence of that crap.  My bad for not explaining myself correctly in the original post. 

Thanks for reading and again, boogie boogie.

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FEAR ME

Today I'm on the warpath.  Projects that once mocked me while resting on the couch, now fear me.

That's right.  I said fear me.

So far I've de-cluttered, dusted, moved lite stuff and reclaimed our living space.  Which, sadly, we've long outgrown.  And since buying a house is put on hold, I'm going to have to make peace within these trailer walls.

Or as Tim calls it, our really long hallway.

I love him.

But I don't love these partial projects mocking me, so I best get back to kicking their asses.  And, even better, I'm mobile with nowhere near the amount of pain I've been in.  

And dig this, my doctor cleared me to return on the 18th.  So if everything continues well, I'll soon be a preppie again.

Life is good.

Today's Bake

This morning I made an Egg, Mushroom & Colby Bake.  My gosh it was so good.  This is the first time I ever baked eggs in the oven and I can tell you, I'll be doing it a lot more.

This was super easy.

First, I diced baby bella mushrooms and seasoned with Hungarian sweet paprika, Kosher salt and organic cayenne, and baked them.  Then I sprayed a personal size dish, beat two eggs, added Colby cheese, along with the mushrooms.

Bake for about 12 minutes and bam, it was done.

Hard to tell from this, but it was super fluffy and loaded with flavor.   I can't wait to play with other combinations.

Baked eggs.  Who knew?

PS: When pre-baked the bellas, I used a wee bit of
butter and olive oil (non-virgin).

Boogie Boogie

Last night we went out to eat because the kitchen was a mess.  Plus, I felt like celebrating.  Even though I don't have clearances just yet, I'm feeling the excitement of hope.

Meanwhile, Today I woke in less pain.  Actually since my last adjustment on Saturday, I've been in less pain.  And that makes me want to do housework.  But just a wee bit. 

After all,  I want to make sure I save some for Tim.  Don't want him to feel left out and all that.

But first, I'm going to make myself an omelet with horseradish cheese and mushrooms.  I've been baking mushrooms lately and I love it.  So much flavor, and beyond nummy.  As for the horseradish, not sure if it will go with paprika roasted shrooms, but what the heck?  I'll give it a go.

That's all from me.  Thanks for reading and boogie boogie.

Bake 44 & Old Job Back

Wow, I'm almost half-way through my 100 Days of Baking Challenge.  And aside from one bake, the rest I wrote myself.  At the end of this challenge I'll have a solid first draft of a baking book.

Cool beaners.

In other news, my old boss called and pending clearances from my doctor, I've got my old prep cook job back.

Old boss said it's not a problem that I can't lift heavy water jackets or unload the heavy truck stuff.   He just needs to know what I can't do, so he can schedule around my limits.

Pretty darn cool.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and I'll see if it's safe for me to go back into prep work. I hope I can go back.

Meanwhile, I best get to bake 44.  I have just enough dark chocolate chips left to write one yummy bake. 

Catch you Boogerbutts again soon.

The very last of my stockpile chocolates.

1 Year of Couponing

One year ago today, I did my first coupon run.  Since then we saved a ton, but even better, I no longer stress shop.

I went from someone who stress ingredient shopped, to owning a nice little stockpile of freebies and low-priced goodies.  Because of that stockpile, I'm able to take time off to heal my spine.  Which is good, because today the doctor said he wants me to take at least another eight days.

I think if I wasn't couponing, I would have went stress shopping right after he told me that.  But thankfully, I no longer consider ingredient shopping as a way to feel better.  Instead I puzzle out my trips, and save as much as possible.

I love that.

Although last night I had a nightmare that I was leaving Wegmans.  When I looked at my receipt it read 0% Savings.

Ack!

Cast Iron Baking

See that groovy cast iron.  It's round and flat-edged and perfect for my almond meal desserts.  That's why I bought it.  But then I started this 100 Days of Baking Challenge, and boy did I go through a crapload of baking paper.  Every batch of cookies sucked up more paper, and more money.

I don't like that.

So I thought I'd give cookies a go on the cast iron and you know what?  I frickin' love it.  I had to increase bake times on every cookie I tested so far, but that doesn't matter, because the end result is a more evenly baked dessert.

How cool is that?

Note: This cast iron is only used for desserts.
No burgers allowed.