Category: Memoir

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Home Alone

This year marks the third year in a row I’m home alone after Christmas (not counting, just stating facts). I know some family members worry about The Old Man Home Alone so I thought I would post my thoughts to let everyone know I’m doing OK. As an old man who could have retired years ago but didn’t my days are filled with work. Real day job work. It’s the nights alone in a quiet house that the worriers worry about. So to ease everyone’s minds here are my activities and what I do Home Alone.

  • Invited a friend out for his birthday last night. He bought. Win win.
  • Bourbon.
  • Is there an OKC Thunder game on? If yes, I’m watching the game. If no, see number 2.
  • I like to cook and try new recipes when The Boss is gone. Successes go into the rotation. Failures go into the trash.
  • When I have a recipe failure, see number 2.
  • Listen to more Reckless Kelly. (I can’t listen to music with words while working because I start singing along and I lose focus)
  • I hate to waste food so… I make stuff up.
  • 3 pounds of chicken thighs bone-in, about a dozen corn tortillas, half a can of chopped green chilies, some leftover homemade enchilada sauce in the freezer, and always plenty of cheese in the fridge.
  • I braised the thighs in white wine, garlic and onion powders ( I love powdered veggies).
  • Chicken Enchilada Casserole!

Saturday and Sunday will be challenging. I might head to downtown OKC and hang at the Asian superstore. Might even find some strange vegetables to experiment with.

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Save Me From Myself

Kids these days got it made in the shade, but they got a lot of lessons to learn
So every once in a while let ’em play with fire so they can find out how to not get burned

Willy Braun

Merry Christmas y’all to those who celebrate.

You been good?

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Health Benefits of Winter Squash

Just another Electronic Sticky Note to remind myself to eat more winter squashes besides my favorite Butternut. The Health Benefits of Winter Squash (Plus, 7 Types to Try) – https://vegnews.com/health-benefits-winter-squash-types-to-try

And as a reminder about my previous Electronic Sticky Note 42 Vegetarian Butternut Squash Recipes- Vegetarian Times to try some different preparations besides a simple roast or Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole.

Lasagne? I’ve totally forgotten about Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagne.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

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The Best Replacements for Meat and Milk (no, it’s not plant milks, veggie burgers or tofu)

Beans and peas are the best meat and milk replacement from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives.

Our findings suggest that suitable alternatives to meat and milk exist and are available and affordable without necessarily requiring new technologies or product development. This contrasts with discussions in high-income countries on the needs to develop novel replacement foods, especially those that would completely mimic meat and dairy (18). Our nutritional, health, environmental, and cost analyses suggest that if one is prepared to consider foods for their properties instead of whether they are completely mimicking meat or dairy—and surveys suggest that consumers are (49)—then unprocessed legumes are, for the most part, superior to processed alternatives. This is also relevant for low and middle-income countries where legumes are readily available, but discussions on processed meat and milk alternatives are at an earlier stage, despite diets rapidly becoming similarly imbalanced as in high-income countries (1, 50). M. Springmann, A multicriteria analysis of meat and milk alternatives from nutritional, health, environmental, and cost perspectives, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (50) e2319010121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319010121 (2024).

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Photo by Digital Buggu on Pexels.com

Keep it simple.

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Trouble in Paradise 2024 (it’s Weight Gain Season again)

I’ve been posting this chart for several years around the Holiday Season. The source has been attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine. but I could never find the original source article.

Obesity prevalence among older Americans has increased at an alarming rate. In a single generation—between 1988-1994 and 2015-2018—the share of U.S. adults ages 65 and older with obesity nearly doubled, increasing from 22% to 40%.13 – Fact Sheet: Aging in the United States https://www.prb.org/resources/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/

At the beginning of every month I record my weight in my personal journal. I started November at 176.2. I managed to survive two birthdays, one homemade Eddie’s Carrot Sheet Cake, a few cupcakes, and the recurring annual threat of Halloween candy. Two more months to go.

My doctor says I worry too much about gaining weight. But she’s a hell of lot younger so what does she really know about my aging metabolism?

Remember this from two years ago? Well the bakers showed up again this Thanksgiving.

It was so good we did it again.

This year’s Thanksgiving was wonderful and memorable in a number of ways. The first blessing of the season was I didn’t have to drive. Let’s just say The Boss wouldn’t let me drive.

The next blessing was spending time with relatives we had not seen in several years. We shared stories, made fun of one another and had a great time. Thanksgiving was different this year; neither of our kids and their families were with us. So we had to borrow a Tiny Human for the occasion.

One Tiny Human, a lot more aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents.

The best blessing was I managed to gain just two pounds from this year’s Thanksgiving food binge.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Stay well. Stay slim.

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