July, 2021 ~ Star Spangled Meals in our Kitchens!

Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate it.

Country style pork ribs are not actually ribs. They come from the back part of the shoulder.

Tonight was (leftover) Steak Salad night.

I'm suppose to try to lose some weight, to get my fasting glucose number down from 107.

My doc told me "You have diabetes." I disagreed with her. She said she is required to go by the American Diabetes Association guidelines. So I asked what the difference was between their 'pre-diabetes' numbers of 101 - 125 and the 'diabetes' numbers of over 125. She didn't seem to like my question, I don't know why.....

Let's just say I don't think I'm her favorite patient these days......

Anyway, when I had asked a couple years ago about a referral to a nutritionist / dietitian she 'pooh-poohed' my idea telling me that 'women of a certain age do better with a bit of extra weight'. Well, I didn't lose the weight on my own so now I'm going to try a bit harder. Not so much for the 107 glucose number but because I'm tired of being FAT. I'm more concerned with the weight on my hips & knees that hurt when I'm on my feet for long periods. And I have to face it, I ain't no spring chicken any more.

But even if I wasn't wanting to up my veg intake and cut back on carbs, this is still a favorite meal when we have leftover steak.




And I certainly won't deprive myself of special stuff.

Lyn just got back from a road trip to Ohio & Michigan. They stopped at a peach orchard in Georgia and brought me a peck of Georgia Gold! There will definitely be a couple peach pies in my near future ~ one for us and one for Tommy & Joann next door.

bethk wrote:Tonight was (leftover) Steak Salad night.

I'm suppose to try to lose some weight, to get my fasting glucose number down from 107.

My doc told me "You have diabetes."  I disagreed with her.  She said she is required to go by the American Diabetes Association guidelines.  So I asked what the difference was between their 'pre-diabetes' numbers of 101 - 125 and the 'diabetes' numbers of over 125.  She didn't seem to like my question, I don't know why.....

Let's just say I don't think I'm her favorite patient these days......

Anyway, when I had asked a couple years ago about a referral to a nutritionist / dietitian she 'pooh-poohed' my idea telling me that 'women of a certain age do better with a bit of extra weight'.  Well, I didn't lose the weight on my own so now I'm going to try a bit harder.  Not so much for the 107 glucose number but because I'm tired of being FAT.  I'm more concerned with the weight on my hips & knees that hurt when I'm on my feet for long periods.  And I have to face it, I ain't no spring chicken any more.

But even if I wasn't wanting to up my veg intake and cut back on carbs, this is still a favorite meal when we have leftover steak.




And I certainly won't deprive myself of special stuff.  

Lyn just got back from a road trip to Ohio & Michigan.  They stopped at a peach orchard in Georgia and brought me a peck of Georgia Gold!  There will definitely be a couple peach pies in my near future ~ one for us and one for Tommy & Joann next door.

OH Dear to the diabetes, but yeay for the steak salad and peaches!

I also need to get going on watching my weight. No problems with sugar (yet) but somehow it seems that my clothes have shrunk in the closet! LOL

Some other countries accept 130 as a safe diabetic number.
As far as the US goes, the pill manufacturers would love to have everybody on
medication for diabetes.

Anyway, today will be cavatelli with a broccoli and garlic sauce.

My first Black Swallowtail Butterfly hatched this morning. I'm not sure where the little thing hatched from as I didn't find the chrysalis' but it was still 'wet' and had to open & close it's wings to 'dry' out before it took flight and checked out the neighborhood.

Just a little while ago we had a 'new' monarch ~ you can tell they're newly hatched because they're feeding heavily on the plants and don't 'flit' from one to another. I don't know how long they stay around before they take off to migrate up north.

But it's fun to have plants to attract them to observe.

Lyn & Bill stopped at his brother's home and then his sister's home on their trip back from Ohio. Apparently his sister has a large 'organic' garden and Lyn shared some of the bounty they were gifted from Tennessee. There were yellow wax beans & green pole beans. I cooked them together (for quite a while since they're NOT my home-grown Blue Lake Green Beans) and added some cooked bacon as flavoring. I wasn't too sure about the wax beans because they had a lot of 'rust' that comes from having a lot of moisture sit on the growing beans ~ but the majority of it cooked off and they taste just fine.

I've got some pork shoulder steaks braising with a half a chopped onion and I also have some sweet potato rounds roasting in the toaster oven, simply seasoned with olive oil and s&p.

I had originally planned to do a 'slow' BBQ on the gas grill for the pork but didn't want to chance it as we don't know when (or IF) Tropical Storm Elsa will come close to us. There's usually a couple rain storms that get pushed over us ahead of any Tropical storm.

So, I opted for the 'low & slow' braise for my pork, much like Ms. Tina does with her potatoes & onions ~ which ALWAYS get my yummy glands on alert when I see pictures Jimmy posts. The first time I made potatoes like that was one of those 'Why-Didn't-I-Think-of-This-25-Years-Ago' moments. So simple, yet soul soothing!

The beans got tender (finally) and I'm glad I added the bit of smoky cooked bacon to the simmering pot. Because they had to simmer for quite a while they really were fairly 'bland' tasting so the smoky pork was a nice addition to the normal Penzey seasonings.




We're not really concerned about Tropical Storm Elsa ~ ~ Except for the FREEZING FRONT that might happen as it passes Walt Disney World in Orlando about 50 miles south of us.

(Get it? The Disney movie, Frozen, with Elsa.....)


Hahahahahahaha

The 'Tropical Storm Elsa' came and went.......actually, for our location, was much less than normal daily rain storms. I'm not sure where it's tracking but it isn't near us!

I just put my peach pies in the oven. I forgot, in my haste to get them put in the oven, to take any pictures. But you've all seen it before ~ same pie, different year!

Peach pie is my favorite, probably because I only make one a year (well, one for us and one for the neighbors) ~ the peach season is so short you don't have a chance to make more than one. I seasoned/thickened it as Grandma did ~ I mix a bit of sugar with some flour and some tapioca and then a bit of cinnamon (a very small amount). The sugar helps distribute the flour, tapioca and cinnamon so it doesn't clump together. Then, when my peaches are blanched and peeled and sliced I add white sugar, brown sugar and the thickening/spice.

I bake them for 30 minutes at 425° to seal the bottom crust and then drop the temperature to 350° for about 45 minutes or until it's all golden and bubbly all the way to the middle.

The hardest part is waiting for them to cool before you can slice and eat!

(with some vanilla ice cream on the side......)

Pies are out of the oven!

Now the hard part comes ~ waiting 6 hours or so for them to cool! But I know I have vanilla ice cream in the freezer so that makes the wait a bit easier with the anticipation of what's to come.

Tommy's pie didn't come out the prettiest I've ever made but he doesn't know I have peaches so he'll just be thrilled to get a pie to dig into after supper.

That pie looks great to me, and I'm sure it will be delicious. I took some very large shrimp out of the freezer. Will marinate and put them on skewers to do on my grill. Found some leftover rice also, I'll spice that up and fry it up, then a salad.

Dane had to take neighbor Jim to the airport for a flight to visit his kids in Pittsburgh so, since I didn't know when he'd make it home, I told him we'd do carry-out tonight.

He decided on pizza.

So, the online order was placed and they're baking our pizza now.

It's especially easy when your kids send you gift cards for Christmas and you finally think to use them.

I made my shrimp on skewers, decided that instead of making fried rice, I turned it into a rice salad.  I had a half an avocado, a couple of radishes that had seen better days, some pea pods, parsley, red and yellow peppers, and think it turned out really great.  Oh, and feta.  

Also decided that my pictures look better on a white plate than the red I generally use!
Sending a picture, Beth!  Thanks.

The pizza hit the spot. Amazing how just making a couple pies can wear me out these days.

Used to be I could whip out a couple pies after a huge holiday meal for the family and never blink!

But, the pie is pretty tasty.

Cookin Lore wrote:I made my shrimp on skewers, decided that instead of making fried rice, I turned it into a rice salad.  I had a half an avocado, a couple of radishes that had seen better days, some pea pods, parsley, red and yellow peppers, and think it turned out really great.  Oh, and feta.  

Also decided that my pictures look better on a white plate than the red I generally use!
Sending a picture, Beth!  Thanks.

Your meal looks very tasty! Personally, I think the salad is a better side to the grilled shrimp than fried rice would have been. Nice!

Goli gummy bears with apple cider vinegar? Is that a torture food? Philly Cheese steak sounds great!

What are Goli gummy bears? I never heard of them.

Cookin Lore wrote:What are Goli gummy bears?  I never heard of them.

I found this when I googled Goli Gummies:


"Goli gummies are reported to support weight loss due to the positive benefits offered by apple cider vinegar. It does this by helping promote healthy digestion with essential probiotic bacteria."


One of our dear (departed) forum friends was Grandma Evelyn. She was one tough old bird (and I say that in the most loving of ways.....)!

She beat diabetes and cancer by taking charge of her own health care through her research and 'trial & error' using Apple Cider Vinegar and herbs and dried mushrooms, as well as other herbal treatments I cannot remember.

She had wonderful results reducing her A1c by drinking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (mixed with water or juice) before any meal that contained carbs.

Evelyn lived long past her 'estimated' life expectancy as diagnosed by her medical doctors.

Thanks. I won't be looking for them. LOL

Cookin Lore wrote:Thanks.  I won't be looking for them. LOL

Actually, I'll be waiting for Ms. Tina to report whether or not they helped in dropping some weight......I'm ready for a helpful supplement.

I had a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast thawed out ~ I was hoping to cook it on the grill. Unfortunately, we're in typical summer weather in Florida so the sun is shining and it's pouring down rain. I don't like to stand out in the rain to turn meat on the grill......

So, I started it in a cast iron skillet and finished it in the oven.

Chicken & Mushrooms with the bits of vegetables I had and wanted to use up. I used the last of the cucumber to make a cucumber & onion in sour cream to go along side as a salad.

For the last two days, I have had chili dogs for lunch. Beth reminded me of Jimmys chili dog chili and I made some. We tried some Wimmers hot dogs just by chance and like them a lot so I got a bunch for the freezer. To me they taste like hot dogs used to taste.

bethk wrote:

Cookin Lore wrote:Thanks.  I won't be looking for them. LOL

Actually, I'll be waiting for Ms. Tina to report whether or not they helped in dropping some weight......I'm ready for a helpful supplement.

Three years ago I went on a special diet. Easy, I weighed everything. Lost 20 pounds in three months. My problem has never been what's on my plate, it's more what's in my glass. Giving up wine and watching how much was on my plate worked like a charm. But it was tough. Giving up the wine, I mean. LOL