by wildgoose » Sat Apr 04, 2020 7:11 pm
It seems like I lost most of last week, here and over on the MWL board as well. Can’t believe it is April already.
Mark, thanks for the sweet potato link. I’ve heard those Okinawan sweet potatoes are really good. The ones I like are the Japanese — purple on the outside, creamy white on the inside — but I’m definitely willing to try other types, especially if I don’t have to go anywhere to get them!
Lindsey and Glenn, your garden plans sound great and make me feel like spring is coming. Great picture, Glenn! My neighbor and I share a long raised bed that runs the length of our front yards, on her side of the property line. We try different things every year, but we usually get an early and late crop of greens in, if the weather cooperates.
Erin, good grief, is it usual for you to have that much snow so late in the season? Hope it’s gone by now. We top off our raised bed every year, too, alternating soil with compost.
Sue, best of luck staying away from those treats. It’s tough to do, especially these days. Happy Birthday to your Mum, and hope the Zoom call went well.
Marsha, hope the back and hips are better. I had a lot of extra apples, too, some of which were getting a bit wrinkly. My favorite thing to do with them is core and peel them, slice them thin, put them in a saucepan with a ton of cinnamon and just a tiny bit of water, and cook them down till the turn into something that’s like apple pie filling. The apples are plenty sweet by themselves, and the juice thickens as everything cooks.
It was the Gander's birthday yesterday. He wanted spaghetti. We actually had a lot of fun with it. I’ve been getting better at a chunky tomato-basil marinara, and fortunately the grocery gremlins haven’t affected the supply of Roma tomatoes, so I made a really nice thick sauce. I used one of my boxes of Pomi crushed tomatoes, which, with the way things are in Italy, we may not see more of for a while. We decided on Tinkyada spiral pasta instead of spaghetti, and we decided we liked that better. Had some steamed veggies on the pasta along with the sauce, and a huge plate of raw veggies on the side.
Instead of cake, which I can’t have and he doesn’t really care about, we each had a quinoa-banana-oat muffin that I make from a recipe by Tami Kramer (from the blog Nutmeg Notebook). The muffins have oats, quinoa flakes, banana, flax meal, applesauce, and spices. I put in finely chopped apple as well. They have no flour, but I’m not sure they’d be totally MWL anyway. The good news is that they don’t trigger me, and they make a great compromise treat. They freeze well, so they’re not under my beak all the time, which is a good thing.
We're developing a routine for groceries. About every week and a half, I order a pickup at one of our better-stocked grocery stores. I reserve the time slot at least 5 days in advance (time slots fill up fast!) and keep building the order all week. I shop for myself and the Gander and for my garden-mate neighbor. At the same time, my neighbor builds an order for the 3 of us at a different store. Between the two stores, we're doing pretty well on most things. Paper products are still impossible to find — fortunately, we're well stocked there.
The Gander does not go out for groceries. I’ve put my foot down on that, and he hasn't protested much. He’s a tough old bird, but the fact remains that he’s an old bird — 78 now. My neighbor and I aren’t exactly hatchlings, but we're younger, so we do the limited excursions.
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Goose
I'm waiting for some interfacing to arrive and will then try my hand at making some.
I'm still holding steady, and following the MWL 10-Point Checklist, as usual.
