How Monday Actually Went Down | Tuesday, Too

Monday, The first thing I did was go with him to see what he should do about his retirement, social security, and disabilities. He gained knowledge and now knows in which direction he should go. While there, I was offered a drink and took Diet Mt. Dew...more on that later.

I took his pants back to Wm that I gave him for Christmas. Finally, I found a pair, new style they carry that obviously is the style to replace the kind he has worn.  It seems that took forever. He has dress pants and some ragged stained ones. This pair will be perfect for everyday.

Before lunch, we took Coke/aluminum cans to salvage place. We had garbage bags full in the back of his vehicle. He just backed up; they took them out; I went another building and collected money. I need to use my can crusher on these so three huge bags will only be a half bag. But, it hurts my arm and hand!

We ate lunch at DQ, using a six dollar coupon that covered two drinks, chicken fingers, fries, a slice   of toasted, buttered bread. I did not eat half the slice of bread and brought it home.

At Publix, I bought a half gallon of a2milk. I had had the last half cup Monday morning before we left my house.

I was exhausted when we got home and I still needed to bring things in from his car. Dinner was the herbed turkey breast, cole slaw, and butternut squash. I did not realize I bought the steamer kind until I read the cooking directions! grrr But, I microwaved the bag and dumped it in a bowl, a cereal bowl was sufficient because there was so little!  We both had a smallish serving, and I gave him the rest to take home, a regular serving

Not wanting to put butter or sugar on this, I put about two tablespoons of maple syrup. Much of the maple syrup was left in the bowl, so we had little of a sweetener. It barely had any flavor at all, barely enough. But, that's okay with both of us.  So, turkey breast, butternut squash, and slaw was dinner. He declared it very good and said that he had missed having squash. Hmmm, he has never mentioned that to me.

The carrots were never cooked as I planned, nor the potatoes. This week all that will happen. I will bake and freeze in portions for him.  The potatoes will be cooked and put in the bag with carrots. This will make him happy.

After he left, I went to Publix to return something and could not find the receipt. It was no problem, but I took a store card instead of cash. I meant to make the return when he drove me to buy milk. But it is done and I received full value.

Now, I am waiting for The Good Doctor on TV..

Tuesday
From mid-afternoon on Monday until now, Tuesday night, I have had the worst belching I have ever had. It is not polite, easily squelched, and sort of worries exbf because this is highly unusual for me. I have no idea why it started or how to stop it or treat it.

I did not take my pill for the acid reflux until about 6 pm yesterday, way too late.  I took another about 5 am this morning. I do not have the pain from yesterday, but the horrid belching continues. I have just had to rest today, at least not do anything worth writing home about.

Does anyone grow butternut squash? Since they can be stored, it seems like a good crop. But, I bet raccoons, squirrels, rats, and chipmunk like them, too!

My Food Day and How I Goofed: Four Times

free Oreos DoubleStuff, now-unstuffed Oreos

Goof #1

Did you ever have a day start off with good intentions as far as eating healthful food? How did I get off track and start eating Oreos. I hate Oreos. I should have given them away.  Actually, I hate the inside, the Crisco loaded with sugar. I don't use any or have any cute or precious twist and dunk action going on at this house. I take a knife and rudely scrape the white death out until I have all the pieces separated like I prefer them. Some people almost faint and declare I am desecrating the Oreos.

I won't even give that sweet stuff to the hens. I love my hens too much.

When I had them all like I wanted them on the plate above, I went to the kitchen for milk. I shrieked. Exbf was slightly concerned. He has come running too many times only to discover I saw an ant on the counter. Or, like today, I was out of milk. He went and bought me a gallon. Yes, I paid for it, but he would have if I had not had money.

When he arrived earlier, I announced I was going to scramble me two eggs for breakfast. Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and ripped-up Oreos, apparently.

Last evening, I had gotten a little bit of produce for the hens.

free tomato from hen's produce box

free peach from hen'sproduce  box

free mulberries from my neighbor's tree that overhangs my fence

free huge egg from Thelma; egg almost 3 inches long

For lunch we had free hot dogs on free hamburger buns and the above free peach and  a pile of carrots. I bought the carrots.

Goof #2

My energy was going fast later in the afternoon. On Tuesday, I took out a 12-pound something that I suspected might be a turkey. Sometimes food banks give surprises. Sometimes they give Oreos and hotdogs and sometimes turkeys. This was a 12 lb boneless turkey!

I should have put it in the refrigerator compartment sooner than Tuesday night. I should have put it in the sink in water sooner than noon on Wednesday. I should have washed all the dishes in the sink last night.....ah me. what a goof.

Goof #3

I was cutting the plastic from the turkey very carefully and not making much progress. I did not want to have turkey juice all over, even though there was no food on the counter and no serving dishes. I had put away all the dishes that had been hand-washed. So, what did I do?

I cut a bit harder, pulling the knife upward and flicked turkey juice INTO my MOUTH. I had placed a bowl of soapy water to one side so I could wash my hands well and not touch faucets or the soap container. I washed my hands with my tongue out and then washed my tongue. Guess what? Dawn tastes terrible. Then, I spit into the other side of the sink where the turkey was not.

I have already taken 7 days of Cipro and just got 10 more days to take, so maybe all the antibiotics will kill the turkey germs. Ack!

When I got the tough white plastic off, there was a springy netting that had to be removed. Ack! What a job. I put it in a turkey cooking bag. It was so heavy that exbf stayed in the kitchen and insisted he put it in the oven. The turkey went into the barely warm oven and the time started at 5 pm. Exbf wants to leave around 5:30, no later than 6:30.

Can you see the problem? The 12 pound turkey is supposed to take from 3-3 1/2 hours. He got very upset, saying he would have left after his bath if he had know this. He started getting his things together at 6:30. I packed him his salad fixings: bagged greens, whole tomato, zucchini slices, carrots sticks. Then, I gave him his washed, pitted, and bagged peach, an apple, and two hot dogs. I had put the potatoes from my "garden" on to cook on top of the stove. Soooo, he had none to take home.

He left in a huff and a hurry. I went to bed after I turned the potatoes down low. At 8 pm, when he called to say he was home, I took the turkey out and turned up the potatoes. Now, his portion, the dark meat, is frozen in 4 1-qt bags. Each bag holds enough for 2-3  days, depending on how he eats it. My portion, the white meat,  in in a huge bowl, waiting for me to freeze most of it. Turkey skin is cut in pieces for hens. Broth is waiting to pour over the food hens like least. Turkey scraps are in a bowl.

My main gripe when he left? I had peeled new potatoes he had harvested. I peeled them only for him! He hates skin, no matter how many times I tell him potato skin is good for him. By the way, I weighed the potatoes--2 1/2 lbs of potatoes volunteered in my box.

Goof #4

This starts way back in the narrative. I was literally exhausted, knees buckling from pain in back. I did everything to the turkey bag except one thing--I did not poke the six holes. So, when I got up from my hour rest, the bag was bulging and parts of the bag with broth/juice were hanging outside the shallow broiler pan I use. I got it out and placed in on a burner, noticing that part of the baggy part looked black. I was just praying it would not burst all over the oven, the door, the drawer beneath, the floor and my feet. Nope it held on.

Then, I noticed the burner under the potatoes was way too close to the hanging bag edge. After I turned off the potato burner, the oven, and slit the bag,  collapsed in the den. In a few minutes, I returned to remove the turkey and divide it into all the places it needed to go.

The bag of broth was delicious. I pulled the bag sagging on the outside/back of the pan. It was all black and scorched. I ruined a lovely broth. It's only a bit scorched, but not good tasting, so the hens get it. Vidalia onion that I dehydrated, along with frozen celery, salt and pepper made it delicious!

Do you think my day got off to a bad start because I ate the devil-spawned Oreos?  Never mind, I am going to have more Oreos and milk right now.

Your turn

Do you ever just get caught on a wheel that never seems to turn straight? My bad timing and exhaustion were all the blame. But, please, I don't need so much cooking drama all at once. I guess raw turkey in the mouth was the worst part. It's almost midnight. I might turn into a pumpkin if I edit this.  Good night.