Saturday, April 21, 2012

Teapot used by the Dali Llama?

I have two pewter teapots which I bought at the Tibetan Monastery's garage sale years ago.  I know that the serving of tea is an important part of the Tibetan Monks' daily life.  So it is possible, I suppose, that one of these teapots could have been used to serve tea to the Dali Llama. He has visited our town more than once.  Anyway I like to think so. It seems to make the tea very soothing!  One had the knob broken and Bill fixed it and added a lovely Mother of Pearl insert.  I am drinking my favorite tea, Lapsang Souchong along with my low carbohydrate lunch.  I have had so much trouble with this low carb diet that I am planning to go to a dietician.  More about that later.
I will say that I've begun to enjoy having my favorite low carb foods whenever I want to!  Look at this breakfast!
That is a hamburger next to the omelet.  Bill has a mini-bagel and I have avocado!  Yum!


I have been playing with my doll rooms more and more.  Now, as the rejects pile up, visitors laugh and view that pile as another display!


This is the Big Bad Wolf with a cup and a clock and a table and rug, all just set over here in favor of other clocks and other tables.  He is reclining against a magnifying glass in a fabric pouch, a gift from dear friends.  He looks very comfortable doesn't he?  Notice the toothy grin!

I have had to set my new budget at $70 a week and it's starting to work out.  I had to get it out of my head that many treats had to be stocked every week.  I feared not having something good to eat.  Perhaps I am a carbohydrate addict, a term I've found in my research.  I have had some lucky sales too, to help the budget.  Aldi's had a vegetable sale this week and for $15 I was able to buy enough veggies to last for about six weeks.  Broccoli, cauliflower, and red and yellow peppers  were all frozen as soon as we got home from the store.  I blanched the cauliflower and the broccoli, but not the peppers.  You know, boiled them a couple of minutes, then plunged them in cold water, shoved them in bags and froze them immediately.  The peppers were just sliced, put on a cookie sheet and frozen and then slid into a big bag to take out however many I need.  Even for on a fresh salad.  They thaw out by the time you've got the rest of the dinner fixed.

Then when I went to Kroger's, they had pork loin roasts on sale for $1.98 a pound, I think.  I got two roasts and cut them in half to freeze.  The first one I roasted that same day and it was so good I went back and bought two more today.  And still I haven't quite spent the $70.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Funny!

     Its a funny thing, the diet of the Depression, mostly cheap carbohydrates, became the diet of the rather affluent  Cholesterol Generation.  No eggs, no red meat, no butter, no fat! And diabetes and obesity now are at an all time high.  Now the newest diet for diabetics is low carbohydrate.  No bread, potatoes, corn, sugar, flour, rice, not even peas!  From one extreme to the other.  When we went to the Doctor in the 90's we were told "change, change, change your way of eating" as if it were a sin to eat a steak cooked in butter with a side of fried eggs.  I was enthusiastic at the time and found that a diet based on carbs was a cheap diet.  For some time we spent $50 a week for the two of us.  Those days are over.  For I am being initiated into the mysteries of the low Carb diet.  And it's attendant controversy as well.  I was not enthusiastic at first, and I've found there are side effects to this diet that are almost never mentioned by Doctors.  Nausea, loss of appetite, extreme mood swings.  But I am impressed by the results, both the touted results and my own results.  Though I have struggled with it and was not always compliant, my blood sugar is down and I have lost about 18 pounds.  And I know I can keep this up.  This is different from a "never" diet.  It has some really loved foods in it.  Real cream for my coffee.  Bacon.  Real butter.  Steak, chicken, fish and pork.  Sour cream.  Cheese.  And, as my Doctor styled it:  "Leaves and stems"!  Asparagus, lettuce, cabbage, green beans, brussels sprouts, spinach, all things I like.  So this week, I'll give you our menus:
Thursday, day before shopping day:  Steak, Fauxtatoes, (made from cauliflower) and lettuce wedges with Aoli.
Friday:  Chicken Piquant with sour cream gravy, Rice for Bill, Asian vegetables.
Saturday:  After a breakfast out late in the day, we had soup and sandwiches.  Bill had tomato soup and ham and Swiss cheese on rye.  I had a wonderful peanut soup out of Dana Carpender's big Low carb book, and Rye Krisp with cream cheese, olives and ham.
Sunday: Giant meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta for Bill.  Lavish salad with Feta cheese and avocado.  One small square very dark chocolate.
Monday:  Chicken stir fry, with rice for Bill.  Hot peanut sauce on mine.
Tuesday:  Ham steaks, cole slaw, Baked potato for Bill, avocado with mayo for me.
Wednesday:  Clam chowder, made without potatoes for me, Rye Krisp with toasted cheese sandwiches.  I'll be serving raw vegetables with sour cream dip to guests that evening.

     To distract myself from diet aggravation, I have been playing with my miniatures a lot.  Upstairs in the guest bedroom is a big table covered in all the miniatures I have that are not already in service, so I have plenty to select from.

 

This is my Miss Hickory Room.  Notice that she has a Baby Hickory.  Also a pet turtle which moves his tail and head eerily at the slightest vibration.

This is the third table I've tried and I think I like it best.  On the side of the white mug it says "Ana"  That Coleman lantern actually works, you know! .