January 17 - 23, 2011

Monday Jan 17, 50 degrees, overcast but not windy. Li'lBit and I went to WalMart to pick up my prescriptions. Should not have gone up in the drizzle and dampness Saturday night for 'build-a-burger' -- even tho it was really good! I'm back to living on mucinex and a handful of other meds and sucking on the oxygen concentrator!

Tuesday I took a pass on going up to coffee in the morning. Air was heavy, damp, and I was already coughing. Need to ‘pick my battles!’ Too much going later in the week I want to do -- potluck on Thursday PM and lady's lunch on Friday

Tinga has learned a new word, "Helping." When I said, "What the devil are you doing" she replied "helping." It was fascinating to watch her (except I have to pick the stuff up!) She tips over the bottles, rolls them one by one to the end of the counter. As they hit the floor she looks down at them and says, "Good Girl, Step Up!" Crazy bird! But at least now I know she is HELPING!

I was surprised with a new flag pole big enough to fly a 3'x5' flag. I’ve seen the flag poles here in the park and asked who made them – guess I asked the right people! Gayle and Cleo built one for me.

Later in the day the sun came out - Li'lBit and I did about an hour at the picnic table. And then took a ride over the causeway up to Lamar to see if we could see the wayward manatee that has a been spotted in the canal and bay, but didn’t see it. It made for a fun day the Li’lBit and a nice ride. Hopefully the manatee has found its way to warmer waters.

I need to get back to Gatesville – hear there is a new restaurant there, Hogg Heaven.

Back to the doc to get some test results. They are still drawing lab. Since Doc is determined to label me “diabetic,” I've changed my eating - try to eat my big meal at noon instead of in the evening and have just been eating soups or cereal or a light sandwich at nite and it seems to be making the difference. There is a good vegetable stand right down the road from me so I can always get a good supply of fresh veggies for soups if I don't want to go to WalMart or HEB.

So, here I am in Rockport and find I'm falling apart! Guess VA is probably glad to have me out of the system! At least I won't be getting my meds and oxygen from them. And, I haven't gone to the VA eye doc since I started going to Wolfe Clinic in Iowa. Just wish this doc would do something about portable oxygen. At least I have the concentrator in the RV and I do have my portable concentrator in the truck -- I bought years ago when I first came out of the hospital on oxygen.

Up to 57 degrees and sunny on Wednesday. Supposed to cloud over later today. Made an early trip to the fish market to get some shrimp for the fried rice for Friendship Supper Thursday evening. Seems I cannot leave the fish market with just what I go in for - came out with $50 bag of fish! They had a nice selection of "just arrived" mahi mahi, tuna, salmon, and of course, I always get a couple pieces of cod when they have it. Saves me a trip to the meat market - don't have room for anything else in the freezer. Took a shoulder roast out of the freezer (to make room for the fish!), popped it in the crock pot with some onion/mushroom soup mix. Add a few vegetables and supper is ready.

The sunny warmer weather always brings out the grilling crowd. Can smell that smoky BBQ up and down the street.

Couldn’t put it off any longer, finally had to do laundry so I didn’t have to go naked. It’s not nearly as nice doing laundry here as it is in Marshalltown. I love the little tables in Marshalltown – so convenient for reading and coffee. But I sure can’t complain about the laundry room here – machines always clean and working!

Thursday the 20TH dense fog alert, woke to 58 degrees - heavy foggy air – made it all the way up to 65 degrees before it crashed back down into the 30’s. Must still be winter! Going to be a chilly walk up to the Friendship supper (Pot Luck). Made way too much shrimp fried rice. Guess what was on MY menu for the next couple of days.

Friday was ladies lunch day at the Beach House, one of my favorite lunch places - good sandwiches and huge salads. Ordered a Reuben and ice tea but with the AM temp at 31 degrees, I probably should have ordered HOT tea! Fortunately the wind died down considerably! Stopped by Deryl & Elke’s for an afternoon visit after leaving the Beach House.

Set my propane tank out before I left for lunch. Last evening after the pot luck, I decided to make some hot tea. Soon after I put the tea kettle on, the flame on the burner kept getting lower and lower -- time to switch propane tanks! Glad I found it out while I was still dressed and hadn't gone to bed. Could have been right chilly in here in AM if it had run out during the nite!

Saturday was an extremely quiet day – so quiet my sister made a trip out in the evening to go to school to email me to see if I was OK. She had tried several times through the day to call me and I wasn’t answering my phone. I do have spotty reception here in the park with my Verizon cell phone – seems to be OK when I’m in town, but the area here in the park is “iffy.”

Probably need to find some other provider, however, I will keep what I have right now since I also have my computer connection with the Verizon air card ….oh, just to make the thing more complicated, it’s really not Verizon. I’m one of those Alltel customers that was sold to Verizon!

Periodically, I look at my phone and see a message that I’m “leaving the service area.” Well, I’m not moving, but the signal just isn’t very good here. Will have to think on this situation for awhile. I don’t like the idea of getting started with another service or another plan. Hate to start paying all those new prices for the plans.

Li’l Bit and I enjoyed some sunny time out and about on Saturday. Sunday is another overcast day with drizzle on and off. Just the kind of day to set inside and watch some football games or read.

RECIPES

Shrimp Fried Rice
1 Cup rice (I use a mix of wild, brown and red)
4 T Butter
1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetable
4 Eggs, lightly beaten
6 slices of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook Rice according to package directions.

In a large skillet, melt 1 T butter; add eggs. Cook eggs thoroughly. Remove eggs from skillet.

Melt remaining butter in skillet, add rice, vegetables and shrimp. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally or until shrimp turns pink. Add eggs and season with salt and pepper; top with bacon.

Bacon Noodle Bake
12 slices Bacon
8 ounces Noodles
1 1/2 cups Cottage cheese, small curd
1 1/2 cups Sour cream
1 small Onions, chopped - I use the green onions and include the tops (If I don’t have green onions I will add some chives)
3 tablespoons Parsley, chopped
Fry bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels and crumble.

Cook noodles as directed and drain.

In a 2 quart baking dish, layer 1/4 of the noodles, 1/4 of the cottage cheese, 1/4 of the sour cream and 1/4 of the crumbled bacon. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the onion and parsley. Repeat layers 3 more times. Bake uncovered at 375° for 35-40 minutes.

BAKED COD
You can substitute mahi mahi, grouper, catfish, salmon, or tilapia for cod.
1 cup fine breadcrumbs (I use panko)
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
2 TSP grated lemon rind
1 TSP minced garlic
6 cod fillets
1 TSP salt
2 TBSP butter, melted

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl.
Place fillets on a lightly greased wire rack in a baking pan; sprinkle evenly with salt. Spoon breadcrumb mixture evenly onto fillets, pressing down gently. Drizzle evenly with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.
Bake at 400° for 17 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden and fish flakes with a fork.

QUICK QUICHE (This is so good and easy for using up left-over anything)
2 Cups leftover cooked meat, fish or vegetables – or a mixture of them.
1/2 Cup diced onion
1/2 TSP salt, optional
1 Cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 1/2 Cup milk
3/4 Cup biscuit mix
3 eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 degrees if using glass plate.) Lightly grease 10 inch pie plate. Sprinkle meat or vegetables, onions, cheese in plate.
Beat salt, milk, biscuit mix and eggs together. Pour mixture into plate until smooth.
Bake until golden brown and knife inserted into center halfway comes out clean (30 to 35 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before cutting. Refrigerate remaining pie.

Can be baked in individual muffin pans but will look like a popover when done.