Prior to my sudden health issues, I had been eating healthy all along. Since, the hospital stays and last surgery I have been eating even more healthy than beforehand. In short, I like my cooking! While I was out yesterday and the weather has been good, when I got up this morning, stratus cloud cover was a surprise and it didn't burn off until almost noon. So, while it wasn't cold out, it had not warmed up to where I enjoy being out in the environs. So, I got to thinking and that is always trouble... I started out to boil potatoes for homemade potato salad. Somehow, carrots got in the pot, then green beans and onion; before I knew it, I had opened a can of tomato paste and I even got a bag of beef cubes out of the freezer. Things just came together. When the smell of homemade beef stew filled the air, I could not wait to taste the mix. Added a table spoon of light brown sugar, then four or five strips of green peppers chopped and dang-- it was on!
When I ran a total calorie count, I came up with that magical number of 319. A Marie Callender Dinner is 550 calories now and I'll get two meals out of this, so that isn't bad. So, since I eat early anyway, sitting down to have a bowl of this latest venture at 2 o'clock was just what the Doctor ordered. The beef stew was perfect. Usually, I eat 5 small meals a day rather than three big ones. A snack follows my evening medication schedule. When I do eat at 2 rather than 3 or 3:30 usually I have something light. Tonight about 6 it was two sausage patties and three buttermilk pancakes. I'm still under my calorie count for the day of 2000. Close, but still under.
With the success of the beef stew, it now has been officially entered as a meal for cold or warm days. Last year, it was making home made chili. I put a lot of that in the freezer and ate chili as a quick meal when you want that warm meal in the tummy for the entire winter.
The past couple of years, I have stopped cooking a whole turkey. Those frozen turkey breast are much easier to cook and don't take as long as a full size turkey. In the past, I would alternate between a spiral ham and a turkey over the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Now, I might buy a ham slice and get two meals out of it--sometimes even three. Turkey breast will net about the same number of meals depending on what I put with it. Or, if I make turkey salad for hot sandwiches or chilled pasta.
I've lost 40 pounds watching what I eat. I have cut out most sugars, no pop, (drink tea instead) no bread, although I might get a small pack of hamburger buns for chicken tenders, and at that, there are more calories in one bun than there is in the 4 oz serving of chicken tenders.
Several years ago, I learned that even regular wheat bread at Kroger's would change calories from one shipment to another. Then I started noticing cereal, like Raisin Brand, where calories changed from each box that I bought. It's a wicked game the grocery people play. You have to watch the labels every time you make a purchase. While there are things that I like to eat regularly, new technology tries to make it easy for you to purchase an item... the only problem with that is that the food people know what you buy and they try to sneak something in that looks like you normally buy but with much higher calories or more sugar or more fat content. Sneaky little guys. Some of my knowledge here came from living next door to a guy who owned a food brokerage business. In other words, I got smart quick from listening to what he would tell me. Sure enough, even today, they still pull the same trap door plays. They call that marketing. I call it being a schmuck!
Very seldom do I do this.
I've got to much Scottish Blood in my veins to take that hook!
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