Flyer's diary

so many new vocab words recently... time to write down a few.

ef·fi·ca·cy... the ability to produce a desired or intended result.

in·tran·si·gent... unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something.

pu·er·ile... childishly silly and trivial.

i wonder if i can work one into my every 3rd or 4th day, 30 sec. conversation with the grocery store checkout lady.
 
i wonder if i can work one into my every 3rd or 4th day, 30 sec. conversation with the grocery store checkout lady.
Wouldn't that be being puerile?
 
chili day... just using a package seasoning mix... at least it's "organic"... (?)

Chili - McCormick Organic.jpg

i'll both zest it and spike it up with some fresh diced tomatoes, onions, jalapenos & garlic.
black beans and kidney beans in cans (drained) and a little beef stock.
and not seen... i still had some Chile Chimayo powder from my Texas trip a few months ago.
... after all, it is Cinco de Mayo!!

chili ingredients.jpg

brown the beef, saute the onions, peppers and garlic and basically throw the rest together in a pot and simmer for a while...

chili bowl.jpg
going to be a hearty breakfast in a few hours... :)
 
Oh, yeah, I used to love weighing myself after playing hours of tennis. But I quickly learned that it was actually bad because I wasn't hydrating properly.
 
this may sound unconventional, but for this round of chili i ground up some chicken breast, substituted white Navy beans for the red kidneys and i've got to say... not bad.

chicken chili.jpg
 
just a tip on grinding up turkey or chicken... white meat is extremely low in fat so while it does ok in recipes where all you need is crumbly meat (like chili), it will turn out horribly if formed into meatballs or hamburgers. the first time i made turkey burgers out of exclusively turkey breast, the best i could describe the texture is what i could imagine biting into a hockey puck might be like.

through experimentation i discovered that if you take an entire bird, chicken or turkey, strip off all the white and dark meat you reasonably can and grind all that up together, it makes a good lean mixture for burgers. even better is to add an extra portion of thigh (dark, fattier) meat. big caution on whole turkeys.... never dissect a Butterball Brand turkey. the "butter" in Butterball literally refers to butter injected into the uncooked bird... and believe me... there is a LOT as i unfortunately discovered once.
 
i added a few more of these medium size Rubbermaid containers to my collection. a nice upgrade... they now have (some sizes) vented lids. i discovered they were microwave safe, but the lids (sealed) wouldn't allow steam to escape and sitting the lid loosely on top, though only rarely a problem, did not always contain everything. they will prove very useful freezing a few servings at a time as i rarely do not make less than 3 - 4 servings of anything that can be stored easily. i never take the time or energy to make less than 8-10 servings of soup when i make some. it will be ready for a side meal in minutes from the fridge and will last weeks longer if i freeze a container or two.

rubbermaid vented lid.jpg
 
morning coffee saga...

round 1... water in the pot, filter in the basket. returned in 10 minutes... forget to turn on the coffee maker. turn it on.

round 2... return in 10 minutes... nothing... forgot to actually pour the pot of water into the coffee maker. fill with water, turn it on again..

round 3... return in 10 minutes... discovered a pot of hot water... forgot to put coffee into the filter. add coffee, pour the water back in.

round 4... Mr. Coffee tip... DO NOT pour hot water into the coffee maker. apparently when you load the coffee maker with hot water, it doesn't take the needed time to heat up and literally pours the preheated hot water into the filter at warp speed. coffee now overflowing the filter basket. panic ensues.

round 5... throw everything into the sink, put a cup of water into the microwave ... make tea.
 
morning coffee saga...
conducting a postmortem ... a bigger problem may have been the pre-moistened filter (in round 4)... there is a good chance this collapsed with the onrush of hot water and contributed to the disaster.

putting a 24 hour quarantine on Mr. Coffee to give the innards a good shot at drying out completely.
 
i'm not inflexible... coffee in a mug this morning, ... thanks to finally unpacking a few of the boxes i brought back with some of my aunt's things.

care to take a guess at what she collected?
Agnes owls 01.jpg
 
many restocking-the-pantry items, but still a record high...

groceries 05.16.20.jpg

meat was cheaper (Tri-Tip @ $6.79/lb, chicken @ $1.79/lb(!) ... bigger chain market).

surprises of the day...
no butter....(huh ?)
BUT... multi-roll paper items. first time in months....!

food disaster of the month...
after using only 2/3 cup of a brand new ($12..!!) package of almond flour... ANTS...!!!
 
You probably choose quality over quantity these days. I am finding shopping online for my groceries surprisingly more rewarding & definitely less expensive. I think it will be my new norm. The only thing that bothers me is all the bags. Do you have an Asian supermarket nearby, Flyer? They usually have excellent mortar & pestles.
 
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