Lead in Cinnamon

Lead in Cinnamon 

I am appalled. Now, the three bottles of McCormick's cinnamon go back to the store. 

Friday, we went to Sam's, found no electric carts. As Saturday dribbled away, I became angry and we left. We bought lots of school supplies for organizing. Tommy has learned to use these plastic organizer envelopes with plastic flap and snap. Plus, he bought an expandable file. I bought several things myself. We bought two coats to donate this Christmas. I found a sequined knit hat, hot pink with black gloves to go with the pink puffy coat I chose. I picked out a gray coat that was waterproof with fleece inside for a boy. 

My lemon and lime trees died, so got the money back for one. I have no idea why they cannot find the sale in the computer. No, I did not keep those receipts like I should have. I did get Amdro fireant bait and some weed killer that won't kill St Augustine grass, just weeds in it. 

I had eaten breakfast late, so thirty minutes later, I ate a chunk of meat to tide me over. Tommy did the same. We bought nothing to eat that trip. 

The day was a failure because I wanted glasses! But, we got some things done. 

For dinner, I had a salad, then a small plate of baked zucchini and Brussels sprouts. Tommy had a large plate of something. Forgot

I am going to use olive oil I flavor myself instead of bought dressing with all the stuff in it that I don't want. I put olive oil in a bowl and put half a dozen or more spices in it. Then, I put my shredded chicken in the bowl, stirred, and dumped on bed of greens. I need to make up a bottle of this. I shredded cheddar cheese over the top of the salad. 

Friday night at 12:00, I awoke, startled by the TV. I wondered if I had slept all night in my recliner. Tommy had to remind me. I went to sleep in the recliner about 9 pm. I thought it was noon when I saw the clock on 12:00. Never mind it was dark out! I went to bed without flossing or brushing my teeth. When I remembered, I got up and hung wet nightgowns and panties. 

Friday was not a great day for my goals. But, on Saturday, we will try for glasses again. Plus, I still have a list to finish. Nothing went right in any of the stores, and it was a frustrating day all around. 

I ordered a cherry red rain jacket that is long. I am excited. 

Thankfully, Saturday will be nice weather. 

Have you ever had a disappointing day with annoying employees that maybe still was salvaged? 

Do you make your own salad dressing? 

Plans

 Tommy saw two small birds swoop in and sit together on one end of the porch. One bird flew away from the house. The other bird flew to the direction of the birds in the flowerpot. He said she had food in her mouth. So, the little birdies are still there and doing well. I will get a bird house before next spring that will suit her for more babies. 

We left this noon to go and get the ads. It only sprinkled a bit, but we did not shop, just came back home. Tommy immediately looked over the ads and made a list. 

I have been using a bottle of Italian Dressing, Kraft, I believe. It has been too tangy for me, so it has been eaten slowly. Yesterday, it was almost empty. Today, I poured olive oil in it to break the tanginess that chokes me. It was still too tangy. I think the time has come to make my own dressing! Maybe tomorrow. 

I have felt well today, not shaky, getting my own food, and making plans instead of just sitting and trying to exist. Last night, I went to bed around 9:30, woke at about 2 am, went back to bed at 4am, and woke aat 9:30 am. It is amazing what a good night's sleep will do for mind and body. 

Tonight, I made a salad of the rest of the bagged salad, put a bit of grated cheese, and olive oil on it, plus a little bit of turkey, and a whole tomato. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I also have strawberries to eat afterwards. I suppose what I cannot consume will the a snack later. 

I finally contacted the cleaner. She has not answered the phone. Well, she had surgery on her thumb. She had a trigger thumb. She might be here Saturday. I promised her light work and she can just not do anything that will bother her. I need her to dust and not pick things up, just dust around things I would normally have her pick up to dust underneath, get something down from tall cabinet. She is 5'11". 

Install my printer, show me how to send picture from phone and my camera to computer. Put a thing under the bulb by the door so it comes on automatically at night. Remember, she is tall. Straighten top of my dresser. There is two hours of stuff to do here that will not hurt her hand, hopefully. Oh, stuff needs to be moved from table in dining room so that electrician can get to the light fixture. 

I have installed every printer I have ever had, but this is in a location where I cannot stand and bend to do so. I do need a stool on wheels with a lock for the wheels. 

This tomato is delicious. Tommy cannot stand the seeds and the membrane around them. To me, that is the best part! That is why I like home-canned tomatoes.

He stays in the kitchen four or five hours a day. Tonight, I missed him and asked what he was doing. He was checking to see if some dark rolls were out of date. They were frozen. I took them, smelled to see if they smelled fresh--no moldy smell. Then, I checked each roll for signs of mold. He is cooking them. Then, I will put most of them in freezer bags. When I buy a loaf of bread. I put two slices in freezer bags. It is good to have frozen buns or rolls, or slices of bread. It saves a trip to the store. The Aldi rolls were delicious!

Someone in a comment asked me how much cheese I eat in a week. I finally know. I ate three pounds in eight weeks. I ate 6 ounces each week. Is that a lot? I just finished the three pounds, and just in time, the regular pack is on sale. We may shop tomorrow. I eat more cheese when I make pimiento and cheese. 

I forgot to make squash casserole or freeze squash!  Maybe tomorrow. I will slice one to put in the leftover salad I finally put in the refrigerator. I like raw squash in a salad.

Dogs are still here. Tomorrow, I will call humane society. The city is only removing them to mow the grass. I am afraid they will just put them back.

Maybe we will have a BLT tomorrow. Right now, I need to make a list from the three stores' ads.

Do you like raw squash in a salad? 

Do you like the seeds and squishy membrane around the seeds? 

Is six ounces of cheese too much to eat in one week?

Rubber Chicken Was Here

Written Christmas Eve

 I got no cooking done until Christmas Eve on top of things I wanted to do or have Tommy do. The menu was going to be Turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, green bean casserole and some sort of potatoes. I ended up adding zucchini in olive oil and garlic in the oven and sweet potato pie. We have both been working on this. 

Turkey is done, and off bone in refrigerator and freezer. Eggs boiled to chop in gravy. Sweet potatoes are baked and out of skin, and spices are out to make it all into a pie. Stovetop Stuffing is sifted through colander to get the salt out. We may eat late on Christmas. The pie and green bean casserole and zucchini will all be cooked on Christmas Day. 

The count of Ziploc needed to be done. I will buy them reduced the day after Christmas, so I don't want to duplicate thing bought in 2022 and not used. While I was getting the bag from back bedroom, I bent over and saw an Easter tote bag under the sewing machine cabinet. Cleaner who was so good and moved away put it there. The Easter tote held 14 cans of tuna with date of 2025. Thankfully, it was not old date. Good news all around there. There were 6 gallon-storage and 5 quart-freezer. Now I know what to buy. 

Today, I bought two more large jars of peanut butter bogo and two almost quarts of Miracle Whip since the ad was not going to be good when Publix opens the day after Christmas. Well, had bogo rain check on MW, so not urgent like the pb. Tommy complained loudly when I bought two large jars of pb. Today, he said nothing. 

Since I have never seen You've Got Mail, I am watching that right now. Fun! Tonight, we watched Home Alone, again, maybe fifth time this season. 

I have heard nothing from crazy cleaner. I did see the woman who referred her. She is still apologizing to me. Tommy locked his car for the first time ever. He checked my deer to see if they were okay on morning after threats. 

Sunday, I sprayed my bluebird again. I still cannot find the cardinal! There were a few Christmas decorating items I kept muttering about wondering where they could be. Sunday, Tommy told me there was one more long box like the wrapping box in the bedroom. WHAT? I suspect all the items I have been missing are in there. However, it is late Christmas Eve right now, so they won't come out. Maybe I will just go look to see what is in there. I never found the stockings, either. Oh well! Too late. 

Tommy is doing things in the kitchen, like taking turkey breast off the bone, getting rid of bones, saving broth. He is a gem. It hurts by back so to stand. 

The tree is lit, gifts are under the tree, led candle are on as are the pillars. The poinsettia has lights on it. Candy dishes are full of ornaments...lol. Reindeer lights just went off. It's raining. House is warm and smells like good food.

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Written Christmas Day

I awoke 1 pm because, even though I went right to sleep, it was daylight before I went back to bed and slept more. 

We made dressing with more herbs and minus salty residue in box of SS removed with help of colander. Zucchini are in oven and ready to come out. Pie ingredients are out to assemble. Gravy and green bean casserole are not even started. He saved the turkey broth without me asking. So, that will go in gravy. 

We opened gifts. I am wearing the gold necklace from Jared's. He mildly was interested in the box labeled windchime. He laughed and liked the rubber chicken with Auburn attire that was wrapped in the windchime box. He unwrapped his huge Auburn flag, admired it and looked like he was going to put on his Auburn shirt. Great Christmas so far.

On the website the chicken is described as a dog toy. Tommy pointed out that a a dog could choke on the fabric shirt. It would be a very noisy dog toy.  

Tommy is funny. Considering he has no prior cooking experience or knowledge, I can understand his gaps. He often forgets things I tell him, too. He was getting out all ingredients for the pumpkin pie. He noted to me that even though the recipe called for Carnation evaporated milk, all he could find was Pet. I have told him that Pet is better, better quality, fewer ingredients, and the only evaporated milk I will use. I offhandedly told him the whole thing again, and that Pet was what I used. 

As It Turned Out

Finally, I decided the pie could wait until another day. I will also get gravy tomorrow. We had baked enough sweet potatoes for pies and eating for a few days. 

Christmas Dinner: turkey breast, dressing, sweet potatoes plain, green bean casserole, zucchini, jelled can of cranberry sauce. It was delicious. We each only had a moderate helping. And, I needed a long nap. We forgot the brown n serve rolls, but those can be used another day. 

Christmas was a great day, great success, happy day. I finally sent Amazon egift cards to grandchildren. I slept well, napped well. 

How was your Christmas? Lights? Food? Family? Fun? 

Now, I cannot comment on comments unless I sign in with Google. If you comment, I will reply, maybe on tomorrow's post. Right now, I have to nap.

My First Time...No not that

my first salad dressing

Since I have lost five pounds (6 lbs) in the last week...everyone clap... and needed salad dressing, I was careful but disappointed in the selections in the store. There was too much sodium in all the ones on the shelf that I would eat. I left the store without dressing.

The doctor has never told me not to eat sodium or lower my consumption of sodium, but it seems like the best route. When I was 12, I tried not to use much salt, leaving it off food my family salted. Of course, then or now, I will eat all the salt I want on chip or French fries. When I was 35, I renewed my efforts at low salt.

 

At last, I was going to make salad dressing.  This is something I have thought about for years. I planned to use oil and apple cider vinegar at the rate of 3 to 1. So, I set about and made it backwards--1 to 3. Now, I had to adjust it. It started out in a half pint jar. Then, I had to pour it in a larger jar. Wow, that mixing oil and vinegar in the right proportion was difficult...lol. You know how it is once you get off track.

 

Okay, I sprinkled some Italian Seasoning in the mixture, Exbf did not like it. He did not spit it (I took it out for him to taste), just let his tongue hang out of his mouth, making weird noises. I watched him slobber and left disgusted.  Back in the house, I put honey, and some yellow mustard and one packet of sugar. I forgot to put celery seed...ah.

 

For dinner he got something creamy from the refrigerator. My dressing, salad greens, and chicken on top were fine for me.

 

That is a very uncomplicated recipe using things I have right here. The only sodium was in the bit of mustard. I had two yellow mustards open, so did not open the Dijon or another.

 

Now that it has set for 24 hours, it is just a bit better, but I liked it all along. It has negligible sodium in each serving. I have over a cup of this stuff. I wonder if it has to be used up to keep from killing anyone. Probably not. Maybe I will put it over chicken for a marinade and then bake it. After 72 hours, it is even better.

Baby Kale Blend: red chard, cauliflower, red cabbage, baby kale, carrots, broccoli. This is a new Marketside product.

If I don't respond for the next couple of days, know I will be busy. You can listen to and watch this and know I am inspired. Click on bottom right. Lower the volume as there is loud jangly music to start.

 

Your turn

What do you use in salad dressing? I will not go buy anything right now, maybe never.