Have I been eating the wrong stuff?

This morning on the scale I got a number that's 12 pounds off my usual. The number has been dropping over the past few weeks more or less but dropping anyway. The one thing I must be doing differently is a general avoidance of eating salads.

Salads were touted as THE way to lose weight. And why not? It's all VEGETABLE matter. Maybe it works for some people but not me. I have had weeks of 6 salads for 6 days at supper but I'd actually GAIN weight. But my recent diet of a sammich at supper with a serving of Arroz con Gandules (a rice dish) is doing something different.

The salad is loaded with Water & puts my digestive & other parts into Starvation Mode. It's got to be. I also add stuff to my salads so they're more like a meal like low sodium options - no salt canned peas, crunchy tortilla strips, diced onion, green pepper, sliced mushrooms... The occasional crumbled hard cooked egg. And Blue Cheese dressing. Measured to the GRAM.

So now I eat more complex starches & more fiber. More proteins. Getting good sleep. Really watching my water intake. And trying to get physical activity. That's my hardest thing to do. I'm going to keep observing.

Arroz con Gandules

Tonight, inspired by my favorite streamer, Maika Mallow, I finally made Arroz con Gandules aka Rice with Pigeon Peas aka Puerto Rican Rice. I may season it extra hard next time without increasing the sodium even though I followed the recipe I found exactly as written. The rice turned out a bright orange which may not come through in these pictures, adjusted for blue hued LED lighting & my cell phone's potato camera. I'm also now a fan of Sofrito, and excuse me if I want to eat the stuff right out of the jar! I did substitute regular sliced pearl black olives for the ones the recipe said to use because I'm not a fan of green olives regardless of the name.

This took a while to assemble because the ingredients aren't the usual things I buy. But I can rest assured I have enough to make this again & I likely will. I even took the time to whip out my Sushi rolling mat & with a sheet of nori made a maki roll with this rice, & I have to say this made it even better. I didn't have to simmer for more than 20 minutes - something I worried about because of the directions to heap the rice in the center & then put aluminum foil over it & then the lid. ALSO REMEMBER THE ADOBO. Yeah, I forgot but still put it in while simmering.

And now I get to taste it cold tomorrow to see if the flavors come through better than when it's freshly hot.

Hacking the postal service is almost too good

So anywho, get Shinobu's package ready. And last Saturday was a no-go. So today I try again. This time with my Rollerator so I can sit. Oh and I need help with that fricking head liner. Like either rip it out or fricking stick it up with something because jamming the Rollerator in & out ripped more of that disgusting thing off & I'm about to take scissors to it.

So I get in the Spangler post office & it's a different guy. Cool. He might know how to send a parcel internationally.

I pause here to state I have Shinobu's address in Japanese postal style. Postal code at the top, sender's name at the bottom JAPAN in roman letters at the very bottom.

And in kanji. I've done this before in Minerva with No Problem.

Either this guy is a comedian or what but he gives me a hard time about the address being in kanji & he can't read it. He has "not enough info to work with." I say it'll work - Japan is the only thing they need to know. Give me a declaration form to fill out & it'll work. Once it gets to Japan, it'll be fine. So eventually he relents & gives me a form to fill out.

Gone are the simple green declaration stick on forms. This is a more involved form. And man do they have a huge list of stuff Japan does NOT want you to send there. No copyright infringing items? No knives, swords, cremated ashes unless properly documented & handled & sent to the proper place. The list is crazy. Oh - be sure to weigh the items you put in your parcel. They need to know that. Never mind the total weight with packaging.

Anywho, I have no problem filling it out. He serves a couple other customers while I do my form filling and when he's ready, I hand him the form. He keys in the stuff I wrote, double checks my bad hand writing & gets it done.

$33 to send it First Class International. Yikes. Have air mail post rates really gone up that much? How do senders from outside the U.S. charge so little?

Anywho, his printers print the stickers needed & a receipt. The customs form has a tracking number. After 8 years, it is sent.

Orzo Pasta

Made Orzo pasta tonight for the 1st time. It's like rice but in pasta form. I used the recipe / directions specified on the back as I had no plan at all for it.

Instead of olive oil, I used the last dregs of a nearly empty bottle of Canola. Recipe said to toast the orzo in a sauce pan for 2 mins & stir. I felt at least 5 minutes without burning would be sufficient for a decent color. Canola has a higher smoke point & won't add to the flavor, so for my 1st time that's okay. I do have olive oil so should I get another 98 cent box of orzo, I have the option.

32 ounces of chicken broth was asked for, but I used 3 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in 4 cups of near boiling water to cut the sodium. 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper is the seasoning but I might use more next time. The recipe even asked for an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt but I eschewed it.

Bring to a boil, set to low & simmer for 5 minutes. I let it simmer for 7 because pasta. Removed from heat, added 2 tablespoons margarine (unsalted), and let it sit for more than 5 minutes. Liquid absorbing time. Then stir in 3 tablespoons lemon juice.

It came out quite nice. I added the remainder of a open can of Diced Tomatoes & sprinkled a bit of grated Italian blend cheese over. 250 grams for a serving. Orzo this way is actually quite good. I think the diced tomato added some flavor.

I had no plan for supper & I bought this on a lark for no reason. And now I have the chance to taste this cold tomorrow.