Taste Like Chicken Weekend 7/13-14

Linda, it may well have been the dark carpet and stool that you missed it. Never assume! I'm just glad you didn't trip over Micki, since he is also a dark color. I have found as I get older, I feel more comfortable with more lights being on. Sometimes in the bedroom I will have the shades up and both the overhead lights and lamp on, even during the day, for things like separating laundry.

Congrats on the loss, Becky. Switching programs has changed something for you. What is the difference between the 2 programs? I know Dr. Fuhrman and some others claim that the "normal' weight ranges, which I think WW is using, are too high. You've been on maintenance for a while, so maybe your body wasn't done losing yet.

Liz, did Zoe get to come home yesterday? If so, how was her first night? Did she react any to the anesthesia? I would think her main problem would be sitting. I hope your sweet girl will heal quickly. How are the hip and leg? Is this another walk/elevate weekend?

What did you find at the farmers' market, Chele? Does the carnivore have his allotment of animal products? How is he feeling? The Lady Vols didn't say what part of Dayton Coach Randall lived in but you're probably right with so much of the damage being concentrated there.

Kathy, did DN start growing a beard about as soon as he was able to? I can see how it wouldn't be a barrier to hiring in engineering. In a lot of fields, people with beards are seen as suspicious or trying to hide something. Never figured out why, but that's what studies have shown. Is this yet another day of rain for you? We had the very lightest sprinkle from a storm that moved around the lake and south yesterday. I was pretty disappointed so I'm watering garden plots yet again. We may get some Barry rain on Wednesday but I'll be watering until then I guess.

I'm down a lb from last week. That's 2 consecutive losses. Fingers crossed that something has started to click. As long as I continue downward, I'll be happy, even if it's slow. Busy day here. Doing eggs for Arya at the moment, then cranberry beans for me, followed by Chele's ratatouille recipe--all in the IP. Got to change the sheets and clean bathrooms. That should keep me busy for a while. Might stop back later. Enjoy your Saturday!

Karen, no I think DN had been shaving for awhile before growing the beard. A lot of his friends and classmates have them too, so I guess it's just the trend right now. It's overcast, but I don't think we're expecting much rain. There's always the chance of a popup thunderstorm though. UCF's QB woes continue. The backup that stepped up last year when Milton went out broke his ankle this week and will be out for the season. They have someone that transferred in from Notre Dame, so he will probably get the starting job. Hope he can stay healthy.

I don't think I've ever had ratatouille. Did Chele post the recipe recently? I must've missed it. Congrats on the loss! Thought you might enjoy this: Duran Duran at Kennedy Space Center

Chele, you did exceptionally well with the farmers. You are going to be eating good this week. LOL on the carnivore not being willing to go veg for a month. We know how good it would be for him, but apparently that's not the point. DFIL was a major meat and potatoes guy, so I understand how people sometimes aren't willing to give up their meat. Sorry you have reaggravated the sciatica. I hope the stretches have made it happy again. The ratatouille turned out well. I put in a bit more liquid that I should have but it didn't look like much in the IP. I was hoping it would thicken up as it cooled but not so far. I used fresh herbs (basil, oregano, and tarragon, plus a couple of bay leaves), but I may shake in a few dry spices before warming up future portions. I had it with cranberry beans and chickpea pasta shells over a bed of kale. Next time I will use about 1/2 cup of broth and may add more herbs. I also may do pot in a pot, so I wouldn't put any liquid directly with the veggies and just put water in the outer pot. I did in in the IP for 6 minutes on manual and NPR. Definitely easy.

Thanks for the DD link, Kathy. If I lived there, I would be in attendance.What a great way of commemorating Apollo 11! I think you're right on beards being a trend. Oh, NO! on UCF losing another QB. I would hope the ND transfer will become the first stringer, but the Stanford guy who grad transferred to UT last year got relegated to 2nd string and I think it was a mistake. Hope the UCF coach will be smarter. No, you didn't miss Chele posting a recipe. I thought I had everything I needed to make ratatouille, so I emailed her for the recipe. I'm sure she'll post it now that you asked. It's rather ironic that so much of the produce for the rest of the country is grown in your home state, but you have to get your produce at the grocery store.

Linda, sometimes it's good to be in hibernation mode. How's the knee from the fall? When you tripped over the stool, did you go down or were you able to catch yourself. I'll bet the birds are loving the fountain, given the temps you are having.

We've gotten a couple of substantial showers this afternoon and we are expecting more overnight, so I shouldn't have to water tomorrow. YAY!! Speaking of rain, DB/DSIL are currently experiencing Barry. Just wind and rain, but it's their first hurricane as Gulf Coast residents and they are on the east side of it.  Probably won't be their last. I think they are pretty well protected by their proximity to Mobile Bay, but they'll still get some inclement weather. But at least it won't be snow and ice.

Becky, I never thought the range was too high. Believe you me! 

Linda, witches melt, so you wouldn’t catch me going out in that heat. 

Karen, sometimes we add in some fresh chopped basil before serving the ratatouille. It really brightens it up. It sounds good with beans and pasta. We usually serve over rice.

Kathy, I don’t really have a strict recipe but Iggy and I figured out quantities and came up with this recipe.

Ratatouille

INGREDIENTS
* 1 onion, sliced thin
* 2-4 garlic cloves, minced (honestly, we like garlic so we probably use 4)
* 5 tablespoons olive oil or less to taste or use broth to sauté
* 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)*
* 2 small zucchini, scrubbed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into thin slices
* 1 bell pepper, chopped (red or green)
* ¾ to 1 pound fresh tomatoes, chopped coarse or canned chopped tomatoes (about 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups)
* ½ teaspoon dried oregano
* 1-2 bay leaves
* ⅛ to ½ teaspoon salt
* ⅛ teaspoon pepper
* ½ cup fresh shredded basil leaves, optional

*We put the eggplant and zucchini in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes, then pat dry. This keeps them from tasting waterlogged.

PREPARATION
* In a large skillet or Dutch oven, add 2 TB EVOO over medium low heat and cook the onion until translucent, add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and add the pepper and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 4minutes. Stir in the zucchini, eggplant and the tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for approx. 15 minutes. If it looks dry, add veggie broth or water. It should be a stew like consistency and the veggies should be soft.

Add ½ cup basil leaves before serving, if desired.

Good Morning Chicks and greetings from the land of sunshine and humidity today.


Linda - I would agree with the gals that a trip to the eye doctor would probably be best.  In saying that, I really need to do the same as I have noticed a greater change in my own vision over this past year.  Please be careful with the optical awareness; you definitely don't want or need to fall.  Zoe is doing well thanks and being a PITA (as Karen would say).  She only wants to eat this dry food topper right now which I went and bought more of yesterday.  This morning I had to crush her 2 medications into her food and she won't eat!!  I had her on the bed with me for a little while last night and she seemed to rest peacefully.  The oozing on the tail is starting to dry so that is a good sign.  Your temps are crazy with clouds!


Becky - congrats on the loss!  I'm sorry to hear that the knee is still bothering you so.  I empathize immensely as I actually took my cane out last night to use.  The left hip is causing a great deal of pain along with sciatica.  I'm feeling like a hot mess right about now so I tend to pull inward and hide from the world.  I was thinking about you and the rain, I am glad there's been no problems so far.  The folks in Louisiana seem to be getting pounded again.  I always felt that the WW ranges were low.  For my height and build, I would have looked like a skeleton even at the high range number.  I remember when I first joined this board having that chat with Karen as I was at my low and it was still about 15 lbs. above their range.

Kathy - sounds like you're dealing with the soupy stuff! My work phone went off last night with an alert although I had seen the news; there was a major power outage on the West Side of NYC last night.  That certainly made for some challenging situations and news.  It sounded like they were making progress getting things back on around 11:pm but they had to deal with getting folks who were stuck in elevators out, problems with no AC and the elderly who might be on oxygen.  What a night!!  And yes, beards for the younger crowd are indeed trending.  You see them all over the city but most are cut close and somewhat sculpted.

Chele - WOW on the nice haul from the farmer's!  I can relate to the tomato sandwich growing up in NJ the land of "Jersey Tomatoes".  We would vary them with a slice of cheese or sliced dill pickles and my SM would bread them and fry them as a side for dinner.  How is Iggy feeling?  On top of the joy of my body not cooperating with anything lately; we had Armageddon over my SM who has now signed herself into an assisted living center (that's a good thing) but my aunt and uncle decided to do this and just not tell me or my sister anything about it until my sister found out after the fact.  I'm going with $%%^&&**! Just tired of all of them and their hypocrisy.

Karen - How's the knee doing after the swim yesterday?  Did you get your cooking and Master Gardener items completed.  I broke down and am doing the 30 day free trial of Prime finally.  I am not sure if I actually will benefit from it overall but I do enjoy getting my items so quickly.  I'll do my Debbie Downer summary for today: left hip hurts, both knees hurt and the ankle has been acting up enough that I am going to call the vascular tomorrow to speak with her. It seems to be red and warm again around the wound.  Zoe continues to heal and rest.  I need to get to the grocery to pick up a few things that I wouldn't normally buy at Whole Foods where I stopped yesterday after the hair salon.  How are Dale and Arya doing?  I can't avoid the hip doctor anymore, I will have to call this coming week and start the process.  I hate feeling like one big walking pain!  I would normally be taking aleve and/or advil but can't really do that since I am on the blood thinner.  Oh well, I will be hiding out in the house today as it is supposed to be close to 90 and high humidity, definitely not my kind of weather.  

I am off to make the grocery list and get there early and then home gals.  I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Sunday!  Forgive me for being down, work has been incredibly busy and brutal which we don't normally expect for the summer and add in the home drama and pain and I'm just a poopy gal!  Warmest wishes to all; ciao for now~

Becky, I don't think WW weight tables are too high. In fact, I think some of the other tables, including Fuhrman are way too low. My WW range used to be 135-148, which I thought was good for me. It's now 112-148, and the 112 is "I'm at death's door" thin. I managed to get into the 150s twice and felt good there. WW has really expanded their ranges. 104 is defintely a lot lower than it used to be. It's not particularly attainable and most likely not sustainable, and you're right that you wouldn't feel very good at that weight. I think Fuhrman's "ideal" for a 5'4" woman (which I am), is 111. There is no way I could ever be that thin. I would be happy to get to 155, so I would be above the range but where I would feel my best, like Liz. If we could just lose the body fat, it would make things so much more realistic. But we also lose muscle and bone along with the fat and the older you get the worse that is. Has your steamy air subsided? Did you get more rain? We got about 1/2" overnight so I don't need to worry about watering. YAY!!

I may need to add some fresh basil to the ratatouille tonight, Chele. Also could use some pepper. The beans and pasta upped the protein and fiber, but the rice would be tasty. I have enough ratatouille left that I'll need to change it up for a little variety this week. Is Chef Iggy hard at work using all the veggies you found yesterday? What will you be doing while he's cooking? Is his PCP appointment tomorrow?

Kathy, I guess ratatouille isn't something you would want in FL at this time of year. I think you would like it and the hardest part is chopping up all the veggies. WW has changed the weight ranges over the years. It appears they kept the high number but really lowered the low number. I wonder if it's to appeal to a wider range of people.

Good to hear from you, Liz. Zoe seems to be on the mend, but I wish you were as well. Definitely call about that hip and get with the vascular doc tomorrow. You are between a rock and a hard place so far as pain management, aren't you? Ah, yes, the finicky pallet of the recuperating dog. Is she eating yet? Arya likes the pill pockets, but we've also used cheese or bread as treats to hide pills. I've also had to use the "shove it down her throat" method with all of them. Welcome to Prime! Be sure to download the WF special app on your phone so you can get discounts at WF through your Prime membership. How badly did the power outage affect the hospital? Amazing that DS also didn't know about SM. Who has control of SM's finances? Hopefully your aunt and uncle are honest people, but I have heard so much about people getting dumped in assisted living and unscrupulous people (often not even relatives) getting legal control of their assets and essentially leaving them penniless. Arya was really ticked at me a while ago for leaving her to go out on the kayak. Dale stayed with her while I was gone, but she was pouting anyway. Dale is out on the kayak now.

Linda, how's the knee? Anything going for you today or are you going to have another quiet day? How is the itching you and Micki have been enduring?

I'm about to go cook a little and thought I would check in first in case I don't get back this way. I got green beans and potatoes through the CSA and will be cooking them for Dale. I also have some okra I will bread and bake. He used to love his DM's fried okra, so I hope this will turn out well. She used to bread it with flour and corn meal and cook it in bacon grease in an iron skillet. Hope he doesn't miss the taste of that bacon fat. Workout clothes need washed but that may be about all on the agenda for today.

Karen, doggies can be so childish! :-) Hope your little pouter is happy again. I bet it was nice out on the lake. I hope you didn’t encounter any motor boats. I like a lot of pepper too, but when I give recipes I always lower the amount I actually put in, because people think my food is too peppery. Iggy made the baba ghanouj and stuffed zucchini last night and the gumbo this morning. We had the seafood gumbo with rice for lunch. Iggy sees the PCP in the morning and I have my glaucoma tests in the afternoon.