Is it even done....?

Well, here is my latest Crockpot Creation. I had to let this run on Low for 20! hours because the cubed potato wasn't done after 10 hours & even THEN the garbanzo peas never really got a cooked softness to match. It's still edible, has a nice flavor, & I can't complain. The chick beans are just texture for this but at least soft enough to eat.

Dried Garbanzos, underwear, cat hangout

Today I finally set up the crock pot with a dried Garbanzo Bean recipe calling for 1 pound bag dried garbanzos, 3 pounds cubed red potatoes (I used Idaho), 2 pounds (? Recipe said Packages) smoked sausage, sliced & quartered (I used a 2 pound Italian Chicken Sausage pack someone left downstairs - cooked it yesterday in hot water in the Dutch oven & cooled it immediately after) & Spanish Vigo seasoning which I was not able to find so I used 1 packet of Goya Spanish Yellow Rice. I'm hoping the seasoning is unique enough to give a distinct flavor in place of the saffron I should have been able to get. I added a chopped onion because why not.

Judging by the date on the bag, those Garbanzo beans are at least 5 years old. I don't know how long they keep while dried, so they could be older. Recipe said to use Chorizo for authentic flavor & to thicken the soup to remove some chick peas & mash & return to the crock pot 1 hour before serving. I think the rice will do that anyway.

Changes next time I would make:

After soaking the garbanzos overnight, I would reserve 2 cups of the soaking water so when the 4 cups of chicken broth / stock got added it wouldn't be necessary to remove some liquid before adding the cut up sausage & putting the lid on. I have it to add should it cook down. And I would use only 2 pounds of potatoes.

8 to 10 hours on low. Supper will be late tonight.

Also finally tried the underwear from Big Dude Clothing in the UK. I think I finally got something which isn't going to rip out in 3 months & nothing will "fall out." All the cheap DXL Harbor Bay product I was using all had the same odd ripout wearout pattern on the right side (as worn) while the left side was basically intact.

Also Poofball had odd behavior last night after I finished with some Computer Stuff I was doing by hanging out next to the bathroom wall next to the toilet. No explanation; he was just there. He wasn't sick, hadn't thrown up, or crapped on the floor.

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.

BBQ Potato, Bacon, & Corn Salad

This is something my Mom had written down.

1/3 cup ranch dressing (or Duke's Mayo if you hate ranch)

1/3 cup BBQ sauce

2 tbsp Dijon mustard (or Stadium mustard)

3 pounds small red potatoes, cooked, quartered & cubed

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

6 slices bacon (any kind), crispy cooked & crumbled

Mix dressing, BBQ sauce, & mustard in a large bowl.

Add all remaining ingredients except bacon & mix lightly until coated.

Sprinkle bacon on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I would like to hear Vaughn Meader's JFK Christmas single

At around 3:26 a.m. my bed frame decided to break again, this time completely shearing off the welded U shaped clip of metal holding a bed frame rib in place. I found the poorly welded bit of metal on the floor. Without support for one end, the other simply refused to bear my entire weight. This meant getting off my bed if the mattress collapse didn't suck me in & prevent it, go across the room, & turn on the overhead light.

Adrenaline fueled my proceedings from that point forward. Pulling everything off the bed & tossing it on the floor or flipping stuff over the head, removing the mattress but somehow figuring out how much & where on the remaining frame I could still sit, I assessed the problem.

I didn't have a suitably strong bolt to install by drilling or a strong sheet of plywood to eventually wear out & splinter. With neither of these solutions at hand, what I did have was a 3 feet long flat piece of iron I had been using in the kitchen as a pointer of sorts, button presser at other times, & object fetcher. This was left over from a failed plan of bending it to fix my previous bed frame. Since that had long been tossed along with the mattress, it could now be used for this one.

So now this flat piece of iron sits on top of my frame & other ribs with the errant end of the loose rib on top of it & Gorilla taped in place to keep it in. The other end also got taped in place since its U shaped clip still remains welded. This taping waa not easy as I had to place my right leg into the frame & for me that's difficult. Extremely difficult but as I said, Adrenaline was fueling my actions. Acetaminophen had long since worn off. My cane helped.

My big problem was extricating my right foot from the frame as I turned around to retreat from the scene. Every time I lifted my foot a certain height, something snagged my sock or something. I was rapidly running out of Adrenaline & I simply was not going to put up with this nonsense any further, so I pulled up a neighboring rib & barged out in a sense, suitably scraping my toes on my right foot in the process. But I was out.

These toes began to bleed. So off came the sock (eventually) so I could inspect the problem. The pain wasn't so bad with the smaller toes so much as the big toe was doing all of the bleeding. Spraying with a sterilizing bit of 91% Rubbing Alcohol proved to be negatively painful, but hey, that's what it does. I cut a 3x4 stickie in half & wrapped it around my big toe.

Then my toe proceeded to remind me until now as I type it is damaged & send up stinging sensations every few minutes. In spite of the fact of being in bed, I got very little sleep. I intend to check the dressing & use some Triple Antibiotic ointment after giving the toes a good clean.

I have more cleaning to do after revealing more of my dusty floor where my storage tubs used to sit, previously approved by Beckton but not approved by Mdme Umbridge.

This was after enjoying Maika's stream last night where her singing reminded me of "Me & Julio Down By the Schoolyard" by Paul Simon - John Madden appears at the end - which led to Caliendo on Letterman doing his John Madden impression.. Which lead to Vaughn Meader who had a brief stint of success spoofing JFK with his impression... a career immediately cut short when JFK was shot. Meader oddly enough released a Christmas single spoofing JFK days before - and as he saw his comedy career die along with the President, all his records were removed from stores. Trashed or destroyed - making his Christmas 45 an extremely rare record - but it does exist & Rob Martinez at NPR station WBOI in Indiana has 1 copy. He hosts a radio program (as a volunteer) called The Nights Before Christmas & in July & December produces a special program featuring his collection of Christmas music. Anywho.

It's not supposed to work like that...

Saturday was interesting.

After living in a hot apartment for almost a week, I had lost about 10 pounds. My pants were plenty baggy around the waist. It may not be comfortable but it did wonders for that.

Friday previous I got 2 parcels. 1 was the Paris Olympics Phryge mascot keychain. The other was the replacement wheels for my shopping tote. I don't know how that 1 wheel got broken but after adjustment with my rotary tool, the new wheels went on just fine.

Anywho, went out & picked up the Xarelto. Headed over for books. Then went to Walfart. I see one row of parking spaces on the other side of the Pickup spaces are free to park in. Decently close to the doors. I will have to remember that.

Finally have Sofrito for making Arroz con Gandules. Got a $13 personal fan for the cooling situation. Instead of $5.18 for Coke (there was no caffeine free diet Coke in bottles), I got a $3 gallon of Hawaiian Punch Piña Colada flavor. And some other foodstuffs I really didn't mean to buy & stuff I probably shouldn't.

Go to pay & this is where it went weird.

My United Health Program Card is supposed to be FOOD ONLY. I had $26.86 of Taxable Non Food items. Program Card pays for $25 of APPROVED Foods like cereal, salad mix, milk, bread, lunch meat. No snacks, chips, cookies, pop, desserts. You get the idea, right? Imagine my shock when I get told to pay $10.39 cash. What???? I see $65 was taken off my EBT card. That should have been only $46.78!!!

I need to call the toll free on that Program Card & find out what the hell happened. It's for FOOD Only. Whatever it paid for removed 19 cents off the sales tax. That should NOT happen if it's paying for food.

If anyone already knows the answer, by all means offer your thoughts.

I get back & collapse. I manage to get the cold stuff put away. Before settling in to enjoy Maika streaming, I find out there's been a massive Ranma Remake leak. AND IT'S THE WHOLE CENSORED BUNCH. yarrrrr... I'm in pain but adrenalin let me be excited about that.

I paid for it Sunday.  so... Much... Pain...

Today, I got the fridge wiped where it was needed & have started mopping the floor... again... Maybe I'll get the bathroom done??? I got projects I need to do.

Life is a Series of Side Quests

As big as Tuesday was one huge Do, today's Do was a lot of little side quests. Before I even left I managed to clean the cat pan (again!) because I was going to be outside. Someone left a mattress propped up next to the dumpster which was trying to be in my way as I tossed my trash in...

Oh and my dashboard fan still does not work. Need some ideas on that. I should check the rear row climate control & see if that works on its own...

Make it over for my manga & do my order - & that was done with confidence with my new tire!!

Then I get over to Walfart... And I do not like nor approve of the changes they're doing with parking spaces near the entrances. If they're not reserving them for handicapped or pregnant moms nor law enforcement vehicles, they're now designating them as Pickup Parking. This means the one spot I really like to park because it's so close to a door is now one of those Pickup Parks. They're going to get a terse survey answer about that. Maybe I need to get parking tag... Designate Pickup spots but let them still be used by Persons of Diminished Mobility... As handy as getting groceries delivered is, I still want to try to enjoy in-person shopping mainly to see what else the store has. Like that time when they had those replica arcade mini games & I got the Fix It Felix game.

I was mainly doing a fill-in shopping run being in the middle of the month. Stuff I didn't get earlier & stuff I ran out of.

Side quest (ongoing) : Gather ingredients for Puerto Rican Rice. Somehow I have the pigeon peas already. Today I got closer to completion with the olives (though I got regular sliced black olives as I hate green olives & almost bought Manzanillia olives because Kalamata was not in stock), & Adobo, ham seasoning, & Achiote. Now to figure out what Sofrito is.

Oh yeah - Route 62 Walfart had only Puffs and A SH¡T TON OF Kleenex in stock!! Like what the hell! I had to settle for a tiny store brand cube waaay on the bottom.

Friskies cat food prices are starting to calm down but man, for some reason there wasn't much on the shelf. 9 Lives really needs to step it up. How come there aren't more competing brands of canned cat food? Am I shopping in the wrong place??

I bought no cookies, snack chips, or frozen treats. I can make cookies anyway.

Side Quest (98% completed) : Obtain Sailor Moon Hand Sanitizer at Gamestop

   This one has been a long time coming. Previously available ONLY AT TARGET..  at $5 a pop no less... I couldn't get Anyone to pop in our nearby Target with money & get me a set (minus Cape Boy) at the time... 😔 during the pandemic...

   And I never let it go. They'd show up on Evilbay for scalping prices. Ripoff prices & POSTAGE. Like frick off, scammer...

   So like last week, I did ANOTHER search for them... Evilbay again. Almost paid $15 for a lot which had 1 Jupiter. Until Google & Gamestop's website said the Alliance store had _8_ of them in. For $1.83 each. And Oh yeah - delivery would be $13 because they're not mailing them.

   This was the side quest which I was hoping to complete on the 3rd had my tire not taken a shit. Today I managed to get in, note the lack of benches, wait patiently for the guy to help someone pay on a game, & then proceed to find what they reportedly have.

The website was slightly inaccurate. They had _9_ in stock - AND THEY WERE RUNNING A SALE!!! BUY 1, GET 1.

   I was willing to pay almost $20 for the 8 I planned to buy but ended up paying under $10 instead!!! Now to make a deal with someone to get Mercury & Moon because I did NOT get those.

   So something which started out as a $5 Tarjzhay item I ended up paying 1/4 of that in the end.

Right now I do Not want another human to bother me as I lay in bed.