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Citrus Marinade

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
  • 1 medium Valencia orange, juiced
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • Salt and pepper

For Father’s Day I had to fire up the grill but I didn’t want to repeat the Iki Marinade which we use more than frequently.  I got online and started searching “Lime Marinade”.  Use this search term if you want to get instantly overwhelmed by the number and variety of lime juice based marinades. So I gave up and made my own.  I’m sure if you search far and wide enough I’ve probably “stolen” most, if not all, of the ingredient list from some other food blogger trying to make a living stealing recipes from other food websites, changing one ingredient, and calling it an original.  So if you feel this marinade is your property I apologize up front.  Any resemblance to your recipe is a pure coincidence.

I marinated some petite sirloins and boneless chicken thighs.  I think this marinade works better with chicken.

The propane tank ran dry before I finished cooking the meats.

TIP:

If you have a propane gas grill, keep a stove top grill or griddle around.  You can always finish the grilling indoors which is what I had to do.  Try fresh cilantro.  I used dry because I didn’t have any fresh on hand.  If you like your marinade a little sweeter, add another tablespoon of brown sugar.

 

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The Tomato Plant 06.17.14

Tomato Plant 06.17.14

My little green tomato has a new little buddy. The leaves and stalks eaten by the flea beetles have wilted and died off the vine. Our friends from across the street have experience with garden tomatoes. I was warned about squirrels and birds.

Huh???

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Johns Hopkins Health Alert – Updated Guidelines for Knee OA

Updated Guidelines for Knee Osteoarthritis

Many nonsurgical treatments are touted as being able to ease the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, but which ones really work? Last year, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) issued revised recommendations, updating its 2009 guidelines. The group made two important changes that may affect the way you manage knee osteoarthritis.

  • First, if you use acetaminophen (Tylenol) for osteoarthritis pain relief, take no more than 3,000 mg per day. The AAOS formerly advised not exceeding 4,000 mg daily. The change was made to reflect the Food and Drug Administration’s current guidelines for safe use of acetaminophen.
  • Second, the AAOS found insufficient evidence that intra-articular hyaluronic acid provides significant symptom relief for knee osteoarthritis so the organization no longer recommends the therapy.

The AAOS continues to give a thumbs-up to some familiar commonsense strategies, such as exercising and a minimum 5 percent weight loss for people whose body mass index (BMI) is greater than 25.

Other highlights: The AAOS is unable to recommend for or against the use of bracing, growth factor injections and/or platelet-rich plasma knee osteoarthritis. In addition, although acupuncture continues to grow in popularity, there is not sufficient scientific evidence to support its use in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Published online in Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee. Evidence-Based Guideline, 2nd Edition, May 18, 2013

CRAP… posted to the wrong blog!

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Happy Father’s Day 2014

Someone gave my wife and several of her coworkers tomato plants.  While some folks didn’t want to have anything to do with a tomato plant, the tiny, green six inch tall plant came home one night.  It was re-gifted to me.  I decided to stick it in a pot and see if I could grow tomatoes.  The tomato plant got big real quick.  Which brings me to Father’s Day.  I never thought I would be out on Father’s Day buying a tomato cage and something to dissuade flea beetles from eating my plant.

Nothing in life is free.  The bug stuff and cage cost over $15.00.

I have a classic case of the brown thumb and can kill any plant assigned to me for care.  I hope I get some tomatoes out of this.

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Pinto Beans with Turkey Kielbasa

Before I moved to Texas I didn’t know what a pinto bean was.  I haven’t lived in Texas for some time but I still have to have my pinto beans.  The other day I was in the grocery store meandering as I normally do and found turkey kielbasa on sale for 99 cents.  After checking the last sale date (still good) I tossed the sausage into my cart.

A couple of weeks pass and the kielbasa is still in the fridge.  I needed to do something with my bargain but what?  There was a lively discussion recently about the differences between Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, New Mexico-Mex, AZ-Mex, and the unfortunate stuff we have where I live…Okie-Mex.  I recalled the best bean soup ever from a restaurant in the DFW area.  The soup came complimentary with your meal.  So I figured I’d just make a pot of beans.  I always leave the spicy hot peppers out because some people don’t like their food too spicy.  But this pot of beans just needs a lot of jalapenos and Tabasco sauce.

 

  • 1 pound dried pinto beans
  • 3 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 pound turkey kielbasa, diced
  • 1 medium sweet onion, diced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6-8 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Rinse and sort the beans. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover and soak the beans for one hour. Drain and rinse the beans. Set aside. Rinse the pot and return to the stovetop.

When the pot is dry, add the bacon and crisp up on medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and saute for several minutes until browned. Add the onion and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Pour in the water, deglaze the pot, and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen up the bits of goodness.

Return the beans to the pot and add water to cover. Stir in the cilantro, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, black pepper, and salt. Bring the pot to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and simmer partially covered for a minimum of 2 hours. Check the pot every now and then. Add more water if needed.

SAMSUNG

 

 

Update 06.13.14

Maybe it’s Friday the 13th or something, but I just tasted my beans.  Don’t get me wrong,  The beans are awesome tasty.  But it is not nearly close to Herrera’s out of this world bean soup!  Either I keep working on this recipe or just give up.  OK, I give up.

Dr. Lee, remember #13a double beans, no rice?  Go to Herrera’s.  Not even gonna attempt that one.

 

 

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Colony Loss 2013-2014 – Bee Informed Partnership

Colony Loss 2013-2014 | Bee Informed Partnership.

 

The Bee Informed Partnership (http://beeinformed.org), in collaboration with the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is releasing preliminary results for the eighth annual national survey of honey bee colony losses. For the 2013/2014 winter season, 7,183 beekeepers in the United States (U.S.) responded. Collectively, they managed 564,522 colonies in October 2013, 21.7%  of the country’s 2.6 million colonies.

For the winter of 2013/14, 23.2% of managed honey bee colonies in the U.S. died. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (65.4%) experienced winter colony loss rates greater than the average self-reported acceptable winter mortality rate of 18.9%. The 2013/14 winter colony loss rate of 23.2% is 7.3 points (or 23.9%) lower than the previous years’ (2012/13) estimate of 30.5% loss. (Figure 1) and is notably lower than the 8-year average total loss of 29.6% .

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Rocky Top Coleslaw – Food Network

I love coleslaw but most of the prepared slaw  in the markets are just OK.  One day I decided to make my own coleslaw and found Bobby Flay’s recipe on the Food Network site.  It didn’t take long for me to make my usual adjustments and now the recipe is my own version of Rocky Top.  It’s coleslaw so you have to keep it simple.  Use a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw from the market.  The quantities for the dressing are all reduced from the original recipe.  I’ve substituted garlic powder for fresh garlic and celery salt for celery seed and salt.  Who has champagne vinegar laying around?  I use apple cider vinegar.  All dressing quantities are estimated.  Let your taste buds be your guides.

via Rocky Top Cole Slaw Recipe : Food Network.

Cole Slaw Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
garlic powder (to taste)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 – 2 teaspoons celery salt
Pepper

Can you visualize a huge scoop of this coleslaw on top of a cold turkey meatloaf sandwich?  I thought so.

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Turkey Meatloaf

By now you know the story: I never ate meatloaf growing up and rarely, if ever, made meatloaf when the kids were kids.  Funny things happen to you when you work from home.  I’ve learned how to take short mini-breaks of about five minutes to do prep work for dinner.  It helps to give yourself brain breaks during the workday and you also get a head start on dinner.  You reduce eye strain and the risk for carpal tunnel syndrome.  And did I mention you get a head start on dinner?  So the other week I found myself staring at a package of ground turkey that I found on sale, wondering what to make for dinner.

Meatloaf!  I went with a recipe that I sort of recalled from watching too many Food Network shows and stuff I had in the fridge.  Mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery) formed the base of the flavor profile.  Thyme pairs well with turkey.  I was set to go.

Turkey Meatloaf

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 stalks celery diced

2 carrots diced
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons (about 3 cloves) chopped garlic
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs, Panko
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. Saute until just soft, remove to a large mixing bowl and cool.
  3. When the vegetables are cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together.
  4. Form the meat mixture into a brain shaped loaf in an oiled oven tray or baking dish.
  5. Bake for approximately 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Tips –

If you have the loaf in the fridge for any amount of time prior to baking, take the meatloaf out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking.  Bringing the meatloaf back to near room temperature reduces the possibility of under-cooking your dinner.  Do not use ground turkey breast.   There is not enough fat and your meatloaf will turn out dry.  Regular plain old ground turkey is a mixture of white and dark meat, skin, and fat.  Trust me, it tastes better.

Mashed potatoes is mandatory.  You can add a vegetable or salad and no one will care.  But mashed is mandatory.

This meatloaf makes great leftovers for sandwiches.

  

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