My 1st Blue Apron Meal

Hi there everyone. Sorry I have been a little "missing in action" lately. Last Sunday I came down with some stomach virus again. Guess the ulcer was bothering me again. 

Then Monday JP had his 4 teeth removed and was layed up for 2 days convalescing and taking care of his jaw. Which has been black and blue for a couple of days. He is finally eating today, solid foods and yes, he did eat today's meal I made from Blue Apron.

By Wednesday, he was able to take me to the clinic to get my first eye surgery. I was a little nervous to say the least and almost did not follow through with it as I was still dealing with stomach cramps. I finally decided to go through with it and now I am glad I did. I can see out of one eye clearly, the other is blurry. So typing this post is quite the challenge for me, cause I have to lean in to see the screen every now and then.....so far so good. Will be doing eye drops 4 x a day for the next several weeks....I can handle that if it means seeing better.



Thursday was my 1st Blue Apron delivery, which did not show up at my door step till almost 7:00 pm. It was delivered by a neighbor on the next block. The box sat on her porch for an hour.....(she said.) Gosh, I hope that does not happen again. The right address was on the box....but the delivery guy missed delivering it by one block. I shall have to let Blue Apron know.

By the time the box came, I opened it....was not supposed to lift anything, or bend down past the heart.....geez!!! Took everything out of the box and put what needed to go in the refrigerator and what could sit on the counter....that's where it sat.

So this is the first meal I made today. It was actually a lot of fun. I did add another pepper to the recipe. This recipe made quite a bit of rice and beef stuffing. Gosh, it was so very good. The recipe card comes with step by step directions....and I actually did follow the recipe pretty much to the Tee. The only thing that was spoiled was the tomato paste they put in a container. I will tell them about that also. I did have a tube of tomato paste in the fridge.

I learned an interesting thing, when sauteing the onions and garlic to the right consistency and browning the meat....the tomato paste and cumin is added to the onions....I never though to do that before....a must try again. Then mix the meat, rice, currents and pumpkin seeds together. Yes, this is a "must do again" meal.

So then in this picture is what it is supposed to look like.

In these two pictures is what my stuffed Poblano pepper looks like. I should have added a few cilantro leaves to it....but I mixed it all in the lime-crema sauce which really added something special to these peppers. And the peppers....were not as spicy as I thought....maybe I might buy them and make this dish again. JP really liked it and actually had a second helping....guess he is ready to eat solid foods now.

My next meal will be "Summer Soba Salad with Corn and Soy-Mirin Dressing" and the 3rd meal is "Vietnamese Chicken wings with Lemongrass Brown Rice" that should be fun, I will learn how to use a lemongrass for cooking, which I have always wondered about. I am not sure if I mentioned, all the food you need to make these delicious meals comes all packed in a box and ice...so it stays cool most of the day if you have a late delivery, like I did.

I have been wanting to go to the next level in cooking and making different things....this just might help me get there. Here is the Blue Apron Website if you would like to find out more. I may do this just for the summer....just to get some new ideas. There are a few other companies out there. If you are on Facebook and "like" Blue Apron....suddenly you have other companies that do the same. Some charge more though, so you have to be careful.

Thought I would add a picture of my newest hibiscus plant I just bought at Shopko. Hopefully I can nurse this one through the winter also. Need to transplant her before the first frost. (oh uge...did I just say that???)

Well hope you have a nice rest of the Sunday. Once it gets a little bit darker, I shall walk Kylie....too bright for my eye right now. Take care and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Short Update.....

Hi everyone. Hope you are all doing well on this beautiful sunny day. I am starting to feel a little bit better. Seems I am being treated for an ulcer. Yes....an ulcer. Tomorrow I have to go in for more blood tests. Last week I was dehydrated and my sodium was low....then the potassium was low....hopefully tomorrow everything will be normal. I think he will be checking my AC1 also because I have to fast for 12 hours. Oh I will be glad when I start feeling better.

This Saturday a contractor is coming in to tear down the kitchen ceiling.....so I have to get everything out of the kitchen cabinets because there will be lots of dust and junk.......uge, I think deep down this whole process has been bothering me. I will be glad when it is all over.

Next Saturday is the work day....there will be 25 people in and out of my house, doing painting, plumbing, electric work, landscaping.....I would like to run away for the day......Hope I make it through these next few weeks. Time will tell....if only I could just enjoy the ride. I never really liked rolly-coasters.

See you next month and hopefully things slow down a bit. I will try and remember to take some pictures so you can see the process.
Cheers ~ Louise

A Poem About Coffee

Hi there everyone....well, it's Wednesday... hump day!! I will make this short......very short. Not sure where I picked this picture up of the coffee cup and poem...might have been Pinterest, (I remembered...Diana's blog) it tickled my funny bone when I saw it and had to save it to my files for future use.

As I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about...first thought was to make this a "Wordless Wednesday" kinda blog. But...I guess that won't be happening because look at all the words I have typed so far...hahaha!!

I love coffee...but a good cup of tea is fine too. I usually have a cup of coffee every day...but I can go without for a couple of days...actually went 10 days recently, with no coffee, was feeling pretty good, then I gave in for a cup of Jo. I guess you can say, I am not addicted to it....and that is good. Years ago, back in the 80's I had a pot of coffee going all day long and would drink the whole pot and then brew another pot and drink that. Yeah....I was addicted to caffeine, then I would take asprin to counter act the aches and pains....gosh, I was a mess. Then I got a bleeding ulcer and lost a lot of blood....almost died. I was rushed to the hospital. A week later (October, 1981) JP ended up in the hospital with a nervous break-down. We were quite the pair, both of us in the hospital at the same time.  Crazy times.

But, I did not learn my lesson and in 1986 I ended up again in the hospital with another bleeding ulcer...same circumstances..drinking too much coffee, taking too many asprin and trying to do to many things, wearing too many hats....working in the flesh and not in the spirit. That was my biggest problem. The Doctors ended up operating and cut the nerves in my stomach accidently touching the spleen and that bled and they had to remove the spleen. I have a big scar on my stomach to remind me everyday of how careless I was at 40.

Why am I telling you this....I don't know. But I guess to tell you what coffee can do if you are not careful. Maybe some people can handle a lot of coffee....but I guess this girl cannot. "Others can, I can't"

Well I guess that is all for today....you all have a great day and keep looking up. Tomorrow is another day, or today is that is.
Cheers ~ Louise

Ode to my Little Coffee Maker - Part 2

So here is a little snap-shot of my Melitta Coffee maker. I bought it back in 1972 or so. Used it for quite awhile, then put it away, often thinking I should sell it in one of my garage sales. It actually did make it in a sale but there were no takers...(thank goodness for that...huh??)
So one day I brought it up from the basement and started using it after my regular coffee maker died and have used it ever since. That has been a couple of years now....maybe longer. I have found that I am better off with 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day, rather then a whole pot.

Years ago I over-dosed on too much coffee, aspirin and diet pills, a bleeding ulcer developed and I was rushed to the hospital, bleeding from both ends in 1981. Actually, I did not learn my lesson the first time and again drank too much coffee and aspirin minus the diet pills. This episode was in 1986 and resulted with an operation and cutting the nerves in my stomach and my spleen taken out. Guess I almost died from that one but did recover. To this day, I do watch the caffeine intake. For many years I did not touch coffee and drank only tea. I started drinking coffee again about 2001 when I started working for someone who loved coffee. One of my many jobs was to make coffee and every morning would give him a cup. I had to learn how to make that PERFECT cup of coffee. Well, that boss left and I inherited a "new boss" who was also a coffee drinker, so by then I was close to being a "professional coffee maker." Also, another one of the bosses in the office liked his coffee too....but much stronger. I was making his coffee also!! So you see, I was making LOTS of coffee and I think that is where my down-fall came, cause that coffee would smell so good, I started drinking it again.

So here I sit.....my little coffee maker has bit the dust so to speak. I don't want to go with a 10 or 12 cup coffee maker because the temptation would be there to drink it allllllllllllllll and that would be dangerous for this girl. So, I shall continue my quest to look for a new one-cup coffee maker. Until then, I shall use T-filter sacs and dunk them in hot water.....makes for a good cup and I can keep it down to 2 cups a day. Oh, I still drink tea, lots of water and at the moment coconut milk and vegie and fruit smoothies. Not a soda drinker, too much sugar in that substance. 

The above picture is one of JP's meals that I make him for his late night dinner. Stuffed pork chops and roasted vegies. Cabbage, red potatoes, onions and kale. There's a dab of butter on top with some Mediterranean seasoning. Parsley embellishes the dish. He also likes his fruit with a dollop of yogurt on top. I think he had soup with this lovely meal also.

Tonight's menu is fish, broccoli and potatoes, fruit with yogurt and toast. He eats pretty good, but we do have to watch that his "gout" does not flare up and erupt cause that can last 4-6 weeks at a time. So we keep things simple with chicken, fish, chicken and fish and pork, chicken and fish, chicken and fish, beef and back to chicken and fish. With LOTS of vegies and fruit. Oh and he likes a fruit smoothie every day for lunch along with his big lunches.

Smoothie of the day:
1 apple
2-3 florets of broccoli
1/2 banana
1/2 cup coconut milk
Mix together and enjoy!!!

You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh!! Cheers ~ Louise

It's a "Funny Picture" Day!!!!

Was looking through some funny pictures of dogs and cats last night. Trying to find a laugh or two. Although I am not much of a cat lover, I thought this was quite funny. How in the world did they get that cat to pose like that? Is he running.......I don't know, but it sure brought a chuckle to my spirit!!!!

I think I might have mentioned in a previous post that my liver levels were high. Well, today the nurse called to say that the doctor wants me to stop ALL medication for a week and have more blood drawn next Monday. ???????? Gosh, I am a little scared, cause that includes blood pressure meds also. Guess this is where I must depend on God to see me through???? Diabetes can sure rack havoc in one's body, can't it. The Doctor took me off cholesterol meds when he saw the liver count up, well now the count is still up and now I must stop with the diabetes and blood pressure meds. Vitamins also! That does not scare me as much, but the blood pressure meds, gosh, I have been taking that for 20 some years!!!! Now, to just all of a sudden STOP taking it????? Will I blow up like our friendly cat in the above picture???? I hate being a guinea pig!!!!

Well, I will let you all know what transpires this week, if I am still among the living by next week's blood test. But if not, there will not be an update. Gosh, this blog sounds alittle dreary. But then, that is where I am right now. Almost afraid to put anything in my mouth, for fear my liver cannot handle it. I know, I know,  you are saying, "lay off the booze!!!" Surprise, I don't drink, soooooo it must be something else, maybe this old body is just getting fatigued and worn out. Oh well, time will tell!!!

I left a message with the nurse to call me back. Just dawned on me in 1986 I had a bleeding ulcer and was operated on, the spleen was accidentally touched and began to bleed, so it was taken out. I guess the spleen filters alot of bad stuff. When it is gone then the liver takes over. maybe the liver has been overloaded and needs a rest from all the work it has done............hummmmmm wonder. The liver can restore itself, I heard, is that why we only have one liver???? Maybe I will have to google that one and get back with you.

Well, I think I will close this blog for today........see you in few days 'Lord willing' and remember look up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!
Cheers to you ~ Louise