Tag: In the kitchen

If It’s A Numbers Game, Do I Want To Be A Winner Or A Loser?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz31 Comments

Do you enjoy reading good news? I hope so, even if that good news solely pertains to ME. 

Do you recall back in November when I had my bloodwork tested, and my cholesterol numbers had shot up by 41 points? I can 100% blame the pandemic and my slacking because of said pandemic. Well, I vented about it to all of you and, you guys, being the best of the best, had some kind & encouraging words to say about it. 

Thank you, thank you and, thank you. 

I was terrified of going on statins. Honestly, I just can’t imagine being on medication daily. Listen, I know many people NEED to be on medication, and it’s not a big deal, but for me, it felt like a big deal. Therefore, I buckled down as I’ve never buckled down. 

Here are the things that I was ingesting either on the daily or several times a week that I gave up and how I adjusted, if you care to know:

  • Cheese-GONE (A few slices of cheese used to be a favorite afternoon snack)
  • Cottage cheese-GONE. (Oh, how I loved cottage cheese for breakfast)
  • Bacon-(Coach still prepares it 3-4 times a week, and I think I’ve had 4 pieces over the last 4 months)
  • Dairy creamer-GONE (I don’t even miss it. I love the vanilla Silk Oat creamer.)
  • Red meat & pork-GONE. 
  • Eggs with yolks-GONE. ( I DO prepare egg whites with veggies about 3-4x a week for breakfast)
  • Yogurt-GONE. (I loved greek yogurt.)
  • Butter-GONE. (I wasn’t a big butter user before, but now I ONLY use olive oil for cooking or this for spreading)

I also started eating more fruit, which I used to fear because of SUGAR. Fear no more. 

I’ve adjusted my meals so much, and at first, it felt weird, but now it’s the norm. Here’s one thing about me, and maybe you were this way too. For many, many years, I had a fear of carbs. Carbs are bad. Carbs come from satan himself. Now? I do have some carbs because I’m so limited elsewhere. I’ve added Raisin Cinnamon English muffins to most of my morning meals, and I freaking love them. Why was I so scared of bread? Pasta? Potatoes? Now, I don’t go overboard, but I do make a bit of pasta here and there, and we both enjoy a sweet potato (or rice) with dinner. It took some time to get rid of this fear of carbs, and I feel effing liberated. 

Can we go all Cher and turn back time for a minute? I meant to share this back in December when it occurred, but I didn’t. The Coach insisted I go and get a full-body scan. This is a proactive step and not ordered by my Dr. (we paid out of pocket, but it wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would cost). They checked me from my brain to my toes; with a CT scan of my heart. (Spoiler alert: it’s lovely) My heart shows NO calcium buildup, which is what usually occurs when people have high cholesterol. 

They also told me I have ovarian cysts & fibroids in my uterus. {BTW: NO PRIVACY with this scan even if I was FULLY dressed} This is not unusual for me, though. I’m continually growing all sorts of barnacles inside. I’ve since had a follow-up ultrasound, and all is well. This test also confirmed my suspicion that I HAVE A HERNIA; I didn’t really want to acknowledge this, but alas, it is there, and there it will stay. I’m sure it happened when the Coach made me carry something heavy. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

I had bloodwork done again last week, and then I visited my Dr. this week, and let me tell you, I was ANXIOUS. I kept telling Coach: If my numbers have not gone down after ALL the changes I’ve made, well, then I’m done like dinner. Give me an RX ’cause there is nothing else I can do. 

Guess what. 

Can you guess?

But it’s fun to guess!

My overall cholesterol number went from 259 to 225 in just over four months.

And my good cholesterol was excellent; I’m practically an overachiever at this point. 

That change with the fact that there is NO calcium around my pretty heart, well I can forge on, hope to improve even more and, NOT go on medication. 

Also, I did not gain weight with my dietary changes; I’m down about 5lbs. 

If you could see me now, I’m doing A Happy Dance. Well, I’m glad you can’t see me, though, because this bra I’m wearing is NOT made for happy dancing. 

WHY do I love that silly movie so much?

 

So. Are you happy for me enough to share some good news from your end?

If you need me, I’ll be out in the garden dancing like no one is watching because they aren’t.

XOXO

Crispy Tender Fingers.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz17 Comments

Am I the only one who is bored of cooking dinner? I know I shouldn’t complain especially since I’m only cooking for two people and both of those people are pretty easy to feed, but still some days it feels daunting. In my next life I’m gonna be like Oprah and have a personal chef; where do I sign up for that?

But prepare meals I must; I had a pack of chicken tenderloins thawed out and decided to try and make some crispy tenders to place on top of a green salad. I’ve NEVER been successful in making crispy tenders without frying them and I’m NOT a fan of frying anything for a few reasons:

  • The smell
  • The mess
  • someone in this house has to manage her cholesterol. I won’t mention any names, but she writes a blog about nothing and can’t get over the fact that she has to worry about cholesterol. (But, please ask her about her bone health!)

Wait; do you call them chicken tenders or do you call them chicken fingers?

The recipe that I used will make you want to call them Damn Delicious crispy chicken.

The trick is to crisp up your Panko BEFORE putting it on the chicken. Also, she uses a simple dredging of flour, egg, mustard, mayo and salt/pepper. I added garlic because it keeps the vampires away.…stay away Barnubus Collins.

Super easy and super good; fifteen minutes in the oven and CRISPY AS ALL GET-OUT!

I was amazed they tasted so good because I MADE THEM. You know how food tastes better if someone else makes it; even a simple turkey sammy is better if I don’t use my paws to create it.

I had ONE damn delicious tender on top of a salad with some roasted spare-grass. ONE and I was full. Please explain to me why I can’t lose weight? Effing mental-pause.

The Coach declared that we should have these once a week, but possibly on Tuesday so we can call it Tender Tuesday. And then he suggested that Monday should be Meatloaf Monday. Since when did I let him make any decisions? Kidding, he gets to decide at least 22 things.

If I keep up with this ‘creating good food’, things could get out of hand and I don’t want my people to have high expectations when it comes to me and the kitchen. Next thing you know The Food Network will be banging at my door asking for me to have my own show and I think we all know how I’d be when fame went to my head. *un-frickin-bearable*

Did you make anything surprisingly good lately?

XO

Trying to be a happy camper in a time of sadness. Suz vlogs about rocks, naturally.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz26 Comments

Pollyanna might crack

In general, I am ever the Pollyanna. But even this Pollyanna is struggling.

My heart hurts so much.

All of it. terrible. bad. horrible. should.not.happen.

We are a family of law enforcement appreciating people.

Our oldest served. Our future son in law currently serves. Some of our very closest friends serve as LEO and Firefighters. They/we are all appalled at the actions of four uncaring individuals.

And the outcome of those four uncaring individuals has escalated into chaos, death and pain for many innocent people.

2020 can suck it.

Sunday morning I did a little stroll on the pool lanai after working on my rock project. Turns out it will be finished in 2020 and not 2022 as I’d thought.

Turns out laughter is medicine.

Linds came over last night to prepare and enjoy a meal with us; she made crack chicken soup because her dad requested it earlier in the week. It was delicious by the way, but seeing her was even more delicious.

The recipe called for 8 pieces of bacon. I suggested she use 10. She asked her dad how many he recommended; his advice was for 18 pieces. Are all men in love with bacon?

I made the two ingredient pretzel bites that Alli had shared recently; they were so good.

I made them into two different batches; one with just some butter and salt and then some with some ranch dressing powder.

The first batch I forgot to put parchment paper down and every little pretzel bite stuck to the pan, so there was a lot of cussing in the kitchen for the first batch.

My kitchen is actually accustomed to this type of behavior.

After dinner Linds and I laid in bed and face-timed her sister. We are weirdos with the same weird sense of humor; we giggled, guffawed and rolled at our own silliness.

You know the place where some people have abs? That place on me is sore.

THAT is the best kind of sore and I really appreciated the levity in such a heavy time.

I was going to post on Friday, but our internet went out Thursday afternoon when a lightning storm hit us. Did you even miss me?

We didn’t get it repaired until Saturday afternoon. Ya’ll, I’m a survivor.

I hope everyone is doing ok and finding some joy in the midst of all the heartache and anger.

XOXO