Senior Golden Sneakers - December 2010

Gayla enjoy being with your family this weekend. Make the cornbread half and half

We got to that one farmer's market still existing and picked up a couple of ears of yummy bi-color corn; tasted like I had cooked it in sugar instead of just steaming it! Also some cute mini cucumbers from Israel, so I added tomatoes, scallions and radishes and have been scouring the internet for Israeli chopped salad! Found a fascinating spice store online and ordered ground sumac to make a mid-eastern spice mixture called Za'atar (! ) which contains the sumac, toasted ground sesame seeds, and other herbs for a very exotic dressing for the vegetables. I learned about so many things I'd never heard of before. It should spice up my food preparation, as I've been tired of the same old, same old! :indifferent: And one of the sites mentioned the whole secret to the salad is chopping everything in tiny pieces, and she uses her onion cutter...or dicer... to make it easier. It was fun reading all the different recipes, too! So tomorrow I'll chop away all day, as I don't think I own an onion dicer!

Marie, your soups sound so creative, and I love anything made with beans. And it's soup weather right now .

Gayla, your planned meal makes me want to come join you all. Just love prime ribs and everything that goes with it. My poor DH hasn't his own teeth, and eating meat bothers him, so we mainly have chicken or turkey til it comes out of our kazoo!

Barbie, are you anywhere near Port Townsend? The whole area sound so wonderful.

Gigi, Cancun sounds like a great destination. Is your whole family joining you on the cruise? I can't imagine mine all getting together for such a nice holiday. Lucky you! I'll picture you frolicking in the tropics...:bigsmile:

Pam, so glad you had no after effects from the fall. Your community sounds like such a social place to live. Nice :flowerforyou:

Sandy,how are the back and leg doing? And did the reading go well? I know of a nice talent scout if you.....?

So , Connie, how'd the first day home go? Was it as bad as you feared, or were you pleasantly surprised? :flowerforyou: Remember, it won't be permanent!!! :laugh:

Marilyn, sounds like tough going, but you seem determined to make the most of your life. Here's wishing you success at trying for that new position; some of us have been through truly tough times, and I'm sure we're all rooting for you. :flowerforyou: And it's hard enough to diet at any time, but more so when you have so much at stake! The time will come again. Keep your chin up!

Happy Sunday everyone.

Buzz, Barbie, Pam, Sandy and all the gang...

Thank you for your encouragement and permission to vent. Sometimes it's easier to talk to relative strangers than relatives!

Our first day/night went well. I find myself, once again, in "push" mode - something I've had to do all our married life. I am a "doer" - he is a "wait and see-er". So I'm pushing him to walk his 200 feet six times a day, to do his breathing exercises six times a day, to finish his meals (nutrition and healing are so closely linked) even though he's not hungry, and so on.

I've taken and recorded blood pressure and heart rate with the help of a little machine. And I congratulated him when he got on the scale this morning. He's lost 21 pounds since we started counting calories with the help of MFP back in mid-October. Open heart surgery is a wieght loss method I do not recommend, however.

We're being visited by the home health care nurse as I speak.

Sandy....what beautiful dogs.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: I do hope you all had a lovely Sunday. We did . My daughter did not make it out She had to work yesterday and her husband is not feeling good.

We made plans to go with them today for a trip to So Texas To see this lovely little german town and all their Christmas lights. Weill spen to nights down there that is if the weather is nice and we are all well. We will go Christmas week. Should be fun. And eat German foods They have a bunch of little shops too.

The weather here today was a little cooler than we have been having So my black eye pea soup and cornbread hit the spot.

Gayla I have not found out to much about WW new Plus points yet. Not much on the web yet either. I did find all the foods that is alowe It is about what I am doing.

Here is that web site She has some good recipes and said that you just choose from this list and quit eating before you get too full.

http://www.kitchenparade.com/2010/12/weight-watchers-pointsplus-power-foods.html

Marie:flowerforyou:

Yes Connie. we Have resivation at Fredrickburgs My Husband was in the Air Force and we are going to see all the war musems. Or the guys are Alice and I will go ahopping. Wish the Bluebonnets was bloomiing But I will send a picture of them I think that is snow down there Didn't know it snow that far I wonder what year that was?? This is a photobucket pictures.Marie

:flowerforyou: Buzz, we live about 25 miles from Port Townsend....we get over there a few times a year.....it is a charming town but off the beaten path

:flowerforyou: Sandy, the pictures of Daisy are awesome :bigsmile: there's an old English sheepdog that comes to the dog park often when we're there and she's beautiful and sweet but not nearly as beautiful as Daisy

:flowerforyou: Marie, my father grew up in Texas.....he left home at age 18 but his mother and sister lived there all their lives.....the last place my grandma lived in Texas was Fredericksburg----after that she moved to northern California to live with my dad and mom.

:flowerforyou: this has been a lazy day for us but I managed to spend 50 minutes at the dog park so the girls could play with two poodles, a collie, a Jack Russell terrier, and two golden doodles.

:flowerforyou: we watched two funny movies today "Evan Almighty" and "The Producers" It gave me a lot of time to work on my knitting. and do laundry.

Will be back later to report in. Love Marie

Easy recipe for Israeli Chopped salad

Gosh - thank you for the reminder. When in Israel - in the region around Galilee, we would often purchase a similar salad wrapped in a cone made from pita or flat bread and then in a paper wrapper. We'd walk along the streets with our lemonada (a mint lemonade) and our pitas. The same salad was often served at breakfast in the kibuttz along with hard boiled eggs and cheeses. Sometimes I would be brave and have Shakshooka at breakfast but it was (and is) too spicy for me to eat every day.

:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
OK...down the 2 pounds I thought would not stay lost! :happy: But my measurements haven't much changed except my turkey neck! Only I can now wear the jeans I thought I'd never wear again! Go figure :huh:
CONNIE, so glad it brought back memories! I recall eating the salad at breakfast along with yogurt that tasted so good, as it was very different from American yogurt! I don't recall Shakshuka, but I'll print the recipe below and I will not cook it with the hot peppers! My Dear Dad used to always make tomato and eggs, but I think his were different. There was no Israel when he was born in Jerusalem!
BARB, wow! and thanks a million for your link. I'll try pasting it here...

Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I was nervous and only used 2 Anaheims; I would go for 3 or 4 next time for a more moderate but still gentle kick) (Buzz is definitely NOT including these!)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste (Optional for sodium restricted diets:grumble: )
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.
:bigsmile: :ohwell:

And hi to all the rest of our group! Had a busy day, bought beautiful full hanging plants to finish off the front yard...and then heard a weather report that included 35 degree cold tonight! :noway: . So they are esconced in our garage, covered for tonight, but my gorgeous orchids will probably drop their blossoms, as they are rooted to our palm trees! And this year was the first year we've had such a huge display! :ohwell:

Hello sneakers:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
Say you gals are posting a lot of recipes. Good ones too I might add. We need a thread for our recipes Anyone game to start one? Could call it the cooking sneakers or something funny. Then we can go back and find them easy. I am going to try that tomatoes and eggs Can hardly wait for it. I might just have it for breakfast.in the morning. I can make my sauce tonight and add the eggs in the morning. Thanks for all the new inputs you new ones have given us. We love you all. Marie

[img]http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg159/nevetsdp21255/good_morning_coffee.gif[/[mg] Good morning Sneakers Poor Neil what a rotten blow to him. Hope the doctor have some good news today, I made that spicy tomaoes sauce las night and cook me an egg in it this morning, A nice power plus WW meal. Thanks Connie for your recipes. I sosrt of went by your recipe. I used a big can of Crushes tomatoes. About 2 cups of chop celery,onions and bell peppers Garlic. hot peppers and some salt and pepper I put a 1/2 cin a small skillet slid my egg on top put the lid on and pour it over toast this morning. What a nice breakfast. I think I will cook some whole wheat pasta for lunch and used some of it to pour overwith a small salad. Need to make some whole wheat bread today. Keep the recipes coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I want to make that chopped salad that Buzz posted I will have to go back and hunt for itFor I didn't save it. This is for our guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/img]

Hello sneakers:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
Say you gals are posting a lot of recipes. Good ones too I might add. We need a thread for our recipes Anyone game to start one? Could call it the cooking sneakers or something funny. Then we can go back and find them easy. I am going to try that tomatoes and eggs Can hardly wait for it. I might just have it for breakfast.in the morning. I can make my sauce tonight and add the eggs in the morning. Thanks for all the new inputs you new ones have given us. We love you all. Marie

Marie - keep in mind that the tomatoes we used in Israel were not the big beefsteak kind but more like the size of apricots - I see them in the store with five or six still on the vine - deep red, fleshy and firm. You want your sauce to be meaty.

If anyone sees a funny looking fruit called a Pamelo in your markets, give it a try. It is like a grapefruit but much larger, a yellow-green in color with a bumpy skin. Inside it has as many as 18 huge sections that have a very tough membrane. You kind of pull a thread (like a pea pod) and then eat the little droplets inside and throw the membrane away. It is both sweet and sour - I can't explain it but I loved them. On a hot dry day they were the perfect way to quench your thirst. We'd pull the segments out of the fruit and carry them around in a paper or wax bag. So good. Living in the north, I never EVER saw one in a store but you gals in Florida or Texas might run across them.

The ladies from the Pomona Christian Church had a holiday dinner today. We are not members but they invited us anyway. It is too early for hubby to be gadding about so one of the ladies brought dinner to us. The plates had turkey, sweet potatoes, a cranberry walnut salad, broccoli/cauliflower salad, sweet corn bread, mashed potatoes and green beans. There was a container with a mixed green salad, salad dressing, and gravy and another plate with pumpkin pie, angel food cake and freshly baked rolls. We ate most everything on our plates and still kept it under 500 calories. The pie, cake and rolls can wait for another day. Tonight we'll have a cup of soup and the green salad they sent.

My husband is sitting up in his recliner most of every day. He's been asking me to get this and get that and I finally told him to get things for himself. He's supposed to be walking 200 feet six times a day and it is not that far to the cupboard for a glass and the refrigerator for some juice or milk. He's also supposed to be using an inhaler (to keep his lungs clear) six times a day and he only does it once or twice. Really ticks me off. If I was in his shoes I'd be doing TWICE what I'd been told to do. Now when he asks for something special, I say not until you use your inhaler.

He was down another pound this morning (that 's 22 pounds for him) and I was too although I didn't record it. I'm suspicious of my scale. I think the battery is getting low.

I feel bad for not commenting on what everyone is doing or experiencing but at the moment I've got tunnel vision - just trying to keep moving forward. I read all your posts!