bunsofaluminum's journal

[bunsofaluminum]

I love soup! Soup is magic!

A half a head of cabbage, three lbs of red potatoes, two onions, a fistful of garlic, some seasonings, and six cups of water. At the beginning you look at the pot with these things in it and say "looks like water with veggies floating in it" and then you bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes and SHAZAM! Soup!

and it was DELICIOUS! Besides sweaters, my favorite thing about fall and winter, is SOUP!

[Silver]

I love soup too. What seasonings go in this soup? Any other good recipes, send 'em my way. I have a good one for Split Pea and others that I modify from Follow Your Hearts Soup Cookbook.

[nomikins]

I. LOVE. SOUP!

[bunsofaluminum]

Potato Cabbage Soup

2 medium or one large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic (more or less, to taste)
1/2 head of cabbage (prolly amounted to five cups?) I prefer slices to dice, for cabbage.

herbs: sage, thyme, tarragon

3 lbs or so of red potatoes, cut in 1' dice
3-4 carrots, peeled and bias cut

Chop the onion, garlic, and cabbage first, then saute in water in a large pot. Toss the seasonings in to simmer along. While they are saute'ing, scrub and cut up the potatoes; peel and slice the carrots. (I slice carrots on the bias, so the pieces don't roll around! ha!)

put potatoes and carrots in the pot with the saute'd stuff, then put water in the pot, so that things are floating, but not completely covered.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for as long as it takes things to get soft. Then, mash mildly. I used a pastry blender, and it was perfect...not a long enough handle, though. Hot!

At the very end, when I tasted it and it seemed bland, I stirred in 1/4 cup of nooch yeast and 2 TBSP of soy sauce. PERFECT!

[kirstykay]

Yummy Yum Yum Yummy!

[bunsofaluminum]

Awesome weekend! Absolutely wonderful. On Saturday, I got laundry done in the morning, then went shopping for Bridal Shower Stuff, and went to my co-worker's bridal shower. This was being held at IHOP, so I ate a big bowl of oatmeal and went in with a full stomach...it wasn't super pleasant sitting while everyone else ate, but it was VERY nice seeing a former co-worker who said "every time I see you, you're skinnier"...bless her heart, she was one of the people who motivated me a year or so ago, to start losing, because she was doing SO WELL. She sighed and said "I'm jealous" but she also ate a hearty, fattening IHOP plate of food, eh?

Afterwards, I was feeling so energetic, but also wanted to watch a movie, so I put one on and cleaned the TV except vacuuming, and was still feeling antsy, like I needed something to do...lo, and behold! Bill called. He needed help organizing and putting away three carts full of donated food...so I went down to the Mission and hung out with my FAVORITE PERSON while sorting stuff into crates. Then, since there were no volunteers, I stayed and helped with dinner. It turned into about five hours of working side by side with the man, which was WONDERFUL. Bill may be dealing with some issues, but the person he is, pretty much rocks me.

As a reward for my hard work, I got to bring home a trunk full of canned goods: black beans, pureed punkin, tomato products, green beans. Just when my pantry was VERY low, and I am flat broke due to a landlord/renter mixup. Now all I need to do is visit Carlos Produce and get a few fresh greens and veggies, and I'm set.

Then yesterday, I went to SLC early, to help Eagle Ranch Chuckwagon with their weekly Breakfast on the Street. I have been going down there on the second Sunday of each month, since the beginning of summer. They set up this amazing kitchen, with prep tables, cook stoves, simmering pots and sizzling griddles. They prepare eggs and pancakes, mashed potatoes, salad. There is usually some chopped fruit, pastries, breads. Always some sausage gravy, which I avoid...but I always have some mashed, some salad, and yesterday some pancakes PROCESSED! (the mashed really are McDougall friendly. just boiled potatoes and onions, salt, and smash em up.

It is actually awesome, so joyful and sweet. Truly, the best thing about it is...working side by side, hey? with people who are committed to serving. I chopped onions and jalapenos, and yes i did put my fingers in my mouth trying to get off the gloves they provided... Thank GOODNESS, I took off the gloves WITH MY HANDS, before doing anything else around my face!

then communion for the VA Chapel Service, then some praise and worship in the mental health unit at the VA...awesome! as always. One of the things that Bill has brought into my life is a renewed desire to improve at guitar. He is a gifted musician, and his energy awakened the part of me that wants to make music. So, I take my guitar down to SLC, and play for the vets.

THEN! We went to Applebee's. Bill and I. Hm. I ordered their grilled chicken portobello platter without the chicken. The server had them put on extra mushrooms, and I neglected to have them leave off the sauce. Well, I had to scrape the sauce AND MELTED CHEESE???? off the wee mound of grilled shrooms...I wonder if I asked, would they have put another half cup of potatoes? because, it was a pretty dinky portion. But it tasted good. And Bill and I had lots of fun. Good conversation, some laughter...

Then...that's right, the fun continued!...we did some music together. We're getting ready for open mic night, and decided on some songs...We're going to do Sweet Caroline as a duet, but the spotlight is on Bill. I can hardly wait! Friday night...yahoo!

Yup. Awesome weekend! I LOVE my life

[nomikins]

Bill and Buns, sittin' in a tree.....


Sooo happy for you that you are so happy! Great GREAT stuff.

[kirstykay]

Sounds delightful!! So happy for you, Buns! Thanks for sharing the joys with all of us! Everything is really coming together for you, and you deserve it!!!

[Silver]

Buns - Really loved hearing about your weekend! Let us know how open mic goes.

[Anna Green]

Buns, reading you is better than weed. I FEEL your happiness. So pleased for you.

[bunsofaluminum]

Open mic night! yahoooo! Bill, his daughter and grandson, my daughter, and I all piled into the suburban and went to town.

His little grandson, about two and a half, made friends with the drummer, and spent part of one set (someone else's set) sitting with the drummer and tapping the drums. DANG so cute! Almost as cute as the stinkin drummer, who has white hair to his shoulders, was wearing Dark Side of the Moon shorts over black leggings, two high top shoes (one black with dice on the side, the other red with a converse star on the side! LOL) and a Mannheim Steamroller Tshirt.

It's very interesting for his kids and my kids to meet Is it sort of like "taking him home to meet mom"? only, directed the other way, generationally?

He sang half a dozen oldies, and had the whole room singing along (no one else got the crowd going like that ) and we did a duet "Sweet Caroline" and also sang Midnight Special together. Yeah. LOADS of fun.

Did okay with the food ... I had a bite of chocolate cake. sheesh. "just a bite" blah, blah, blah. Other than that, it was a compliant day, and my weight is staying at 178 so...

The plan today is to pick up a food co-op order, and I MUST shop for a gift that is being mailed...and probably hit costco for a big bag of frozen berries. Also, making a big pot of butternut soup is mandatory, as I inherited 14 large butternut squash from the mission. enough to keep me through the winter, methinks.

Thank you, Lord, for this supply! the full cupboards, the basement full of winter squash, the stocked freezer, the fresh vegs and leftovers in the fridge. YES! You supply all my need. You even bring friends into my life who brighten me and draw me out and give me courage. Thank you for ALL OF IT, my Jesus! amen!

[kkrichar]

Wow, what an emotional lift I just got from reading your journal! It is not humanly possible to be in a bad mood after reading this. Thank you Buns! You're an inspiration.

[Silver]

Thanks for telling us about your day. It sounds like it was so much fun! I enjoy hearing about your developing relationship with Bill.

[bunsofaluminum]

well, I'm turning yellow. <<<as yellow as this guy. I went over November's food log, and except for a few days of butternut and black bean chili, I haven't been eating that much orange food. Gotta check the October food log, cuz I haven't been keeping track of my foods here.

I'm also thinking about what I'll do for Advent eating. Advent is a preparation season, similar to Lent though not as intensely focused on sin and repentance. Anyway, last year I simplified my eating tremendously, making three meals a day of rice over spinach. I usually put some sort of flavoring: soy sauce, chipotle raspberry sauce, tamarind concentrate, etc. I didn't lose any large amount of weight, but simplifying my eating so drastically gave me time for heart preparation: preparing to receive the Lord! Preparing to rejoice at His birth! Making ready the highways...preparing the way of the Lord!

One of the reasons I was able to do that was that there was a lot of spinach for .69 a bag at the discount store...not so, this time. At least, not so last night. I'll check again on Tuesday.

But maybe I'll do a mini, only for all of Advent not just for 10 days. With potatoes as my starch and romaine as my greens. Hm. And cut back on the orange vegs!

[bunsofaluminum]

First of December! a new month!

October was a wonderful month for this eating plan, as The Processed Foods Challenge was on, and I followed MWL to a T, and lost 10 lbs that month. Haven't lost anything since then, except going between 178 and 180 on a weekly basis.

Thanksgiving knocked my mental attitude away from adherence into the Pleasure Trap and I'm still trying to find my way out of THAT It's like I told Bill: My meals are all compliant, my snacks are all completely off plan. So, back to making sure I have lots of MWL snack foods (plain cold baked potatoes rock; same with sweet potatoes.) and no more tastes of this and "just a bites" of that.

So I tell myself.

Meanwhile, yesterday's weight was 178 so I'll post that to my diet ticker and begin posting my daily eating choices here again.

as for exercise, my job is fairly active and today is a Domino's day. I get to be outside walking around for two hours. Easy going, and certainly not an aerobic workout or anything, but it feels good, gets me out in fresh (and REALLY COLD) air, moving my body.

For today, this is the plan:

B: minestrone and two slices whole wheat bread, toasted
L: taco time vegetarian burrito (whole wheat wrap stuffed with refritos, rice lettuce, and salsa...I had them leave off the sour cream and cheese)
D: I have no idea! oooh, how about Brazilian Black Beans and Rice with marinated tomatoes I think Bill will like that.

I also have dishes to do, as my dishwasher is "locked"...I dunno what's up with that, but there's a button on my dishwasher with an icon of a little padlock next to it. It is lit up, and the dishwasher will not run, so I must assume that there is a lock sequence that I have to push, in order to get the thing working again. I have no idea what that might be...*sigh* "Why do we even HAVE that button?" to paraphrase Isme, the evil villain from Emperor's New Groove.

and now my day must begin. Time to shout at kids, get them up, to school, to work. yay.