Roll Call: Monday, April 19th

[jezzie]

. . . vegetable/berry salad - before adding whole grain blend /mini-shell macaroni

Good Morning ..... and a Happy Monday to all.

41* at 7am ... it went down to 34* ... flirting with that freezing mark. lol.

Monday, April 19
Partly cloudy. High 63F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Evening: Mainly clear.
Scattered frost possible. Low 35F.

[jezzie]

. . . . . My great oatmeal debate - debating with myself.

In the left corner my favorite cereal of many years.
In the right corner the healthier costlier alternative.

So yesterday I made a five serving portion of steel-cut in the crockpot.
First impression - I much prefer my 'old fashioned slow cooked' type for taste.

Steel cut is healthier, even slower, and costs 32.5 cents per serving.
Old fashioned is convenient, tastes better and costs 10 cents per serving

Yep, I definitely have too much time on my hands.
.

[birdlady]

Don't really care for oatmeal,never had the steel cut.
Jezzie it's great to have that time,I even hate to read someone post about having to hurry to do this or that.At our age didn't we earn the right to not hurry.My plans are to do what I want and to just have fun for the next x amount of years.Yes that is working for me.lol
DH is off doing his crawfish thing,it's coming to an end as the prices are dropping,but the bait prices never drop.He leaves it up to his guy to decide when to drain the ponds and let the crawfish go to ground.
BBL

[Loretta V]

Don't care for cooked oatmeal either, but do like some in my cookies.
Funny how we become so cost conscious as we age. ME too. I am always looking for a way to save even it it is a few cents. My DS had to walk back to the car yesterday after we were in Home Depot for a .90 coupon he had forgotten and his DD was chiding about it, but I agree with the savings myself.

Some items I hate spending the $ on. But you pay for what you get too and I seem to have a problem with that lesson.

Had enjoyable Sunday with DS and his family. The 4 year old is just too much though when you are not used to all of that activity. They never seem to tire out.

[Norfolk Mermaid]

Wellcome home to our travelers.
Still cool weather but rain is coming Wednesday so I got to finish up all my planting and I want yard clean-up bags at the curb for Thursdays pick up, Rain means I get to work some more on the inside of the house but may do some laundry before then. I need a Rx run this morning for the higher dosage of thyroid... I have been doubling the old Rx which is a little higher than the new Rx but I wanted to start the higher dose right away and boy there is a LOT of difference- I feel great and symptoms are long gone. Whew, that is good.
I read on the internet that all the artificial sweetners are very bad for you and I had been trying to use up a giant bag of splenda so that went into the donation bag and I am back on my Stevia.

bbl
Elaine

[tatehouse]

Good morning all. I overslept this morning and my dd got here with the baby before I drug myself out of bed. But it worked out ok now...got to get back in the swing of things. The downside to vacations...recovery!!!

Jezzie, imho, I think to enjoy the difference in the health benefits between one or the other of the oatmeal you would have to eat a lot more than one serving a day. I think you should eat what you enjoy and know it is "good enough" for you. The benefits of health might not offset the cost or enjoyment. If you see what I mean. If you REALLY enjoyed the steel cut 10x more than the other then it would be worth it. That is my opinion. I love oatmeal. My mother has on her shocked face in Heaven because I fought her tooth and nail all my growing up years. But now I truly enjoy it.

The new avatar is 1/3 of the stairs going down to the lake from the cabin. I had a panic attack about 1/2 way up and it was only the hand of God (and my two girlfriends) that got me to the top without falling or fainting. Never had a panic attack in my life until my sweet husband died...then only on escalators...truly odd...but this long staircase added a new demention to this problem. Hopefully, one day I will be able to do escalators again. But I won't be doing THIS stairway again...ever!

Have a great Monday everyone. Sure miss those crawfish you were talking about Gladys.

Anne

[jezzie]

Originally Posted by Loretta V

Don't care for cooked oatmeal either, but do like some in my cookies.

Loretta: Wayne said the best thing you can do to oatmeal is to turn it into a cookie.
He has been dutifully eating a bowl every weekday morning. Weekends he has his
much loved bacon and eggs.

I'm so proud of him. He had it much tougher than I. He ate so many sugary things.
Even his pecans had sugar on them. lol. And Pepsi, sweet tea, etc. - He added something
called steen syrup to things I would have never thought to add sugar to.

But then again I didn't use sugar in my coffee, cereal etc.
I loved the cereal Crispix - with a bit of cream and no sugar.

I'm on a no-choice austere budget for about a year. No more books or impulse purchases.

Gladys: Wayne made me crawfish one of the times he came here. Seems like
not enough return on investment for the work it took me to open them.
Wayne loves them. Eats most of the parts it looked like. Me - just the tail.

[jezzie]

Originally Posted by tatehouse

Never had a panic attack in my life until my sweet husband died...
then only on escalators...truly odd...but this long staircase added
a new demention to this problem.

This struck a cord with me Anne. For some unknown reason I have suddenly become
panicky on long 'down' escalators that are very 'open'.
There is one in Barnes & Noble that I had gone on many times in the past.
About five years ago I could not get myself to do it. Had to ask if there was a stairway
or elevator.

That is some staircase!

I totally agree with what you said about the oatmeal. My plan is a strong proponent of
the steel-cut and Wayne gets it ... but as Gladys also so wisely reminded me
I've earned the right to ...........

[mykneesareback]

Yep on the oatmeal, lots of folks in the world are stuck eating the plain, old fashioned stuff because they simply can't afford or go to places to find the stuff written about by food faddists.

It's gonna turn to snow for us tomorrow, and of course we have to drive down to the doctor in Sacramento and then on several hours more to Stockton to have the car checked out, lol. Murphy's Law!!! Will at least see son and DIL there though, shop some while waiting and eat supper with them. Today is cool but ok still.

Lainey, be careful of Stevia, dh was told his use of Truvia contributed to his brain bleed last year...........you just never know anymore. We are keeping our Splenda though. Hope you get the gardening done, it seems to take longer for us to get stuff done too, but we can't plant the zucchini until after Memorial Day anyway.

Gotta hurry off of here and get something DONE, for heaven's sakes.



Doris

[Liblady]

Just got back from town. Needed bird seed, cat food, fruit and veggies and mouse traps.
(We had a visitor or two or three, etc. while we were gone.) Hmmmm.

DH is "doing" a funeral today. He belongs to the VFW and is shooting off the gun at a military funeral.

Any of you all have the plant, Bleeding Heart? Mine are up with flowers starting. I love it, my grandmother always had that plant.

Going out later after DH gets home to practice some music with friends. The friends wife always has loads of bad snacks set out........chips, chex mix, cookies, etc. In order to stay away from that stuff I should eat a meal before going. Not sure if I'll get that done or not. I have a REAL hard time saying NO to chips.

Jezzie, we have a friend near us here in Iowa that puts sugar in everything she cooks. When I lived in VA, I knew some women that did that, anyway she swears it makes everything taste to much better.

Doris, so sorry to hear about your weather. When does it finally warm up for you guys?
Ginny

[birdlady]

Steen is pure cane syrup,this is what Dh use to use to mix his peanut butter,on pancakes,now he prefers grape jelly.
Doris,there you go hurrying,slow down.lol
DH had to go get cat food we were out,I never run out but since I was not feeling good it got away from me.The store is only a few blocks away.
We didn't eat at the casino,sometimes I get tired of their food.
I'll keep my splenda also but don't use much as I don't drink coffee.What I try all the time is to cut down on d.coke but fail.
Jezzie,you would enjoy a crawfish dish where someone else peeled them.lol
BBL

[Joplin38]

Anne, I will never forget a few years back when we visited my daughter in the Azores. We visited a cave which I thought would be cool and interesting. Well, it was but we immediately went down what seemed to be hundreds of steps into the cave, down, down, down. The whole time I kept thinking, I must be crazy because, soon, I will have to go up, up, up. I am here now so you know that I made it back up but it was one tough climb.

Had a wonderful time at my class reunion at KU and my visit in Kansas City. It has been a nice birthday.

[mykneesareback]

How fun to have a Birthday and reunion all together Janie! I know about steps too, my family used to love to go places with steps, drove me nuts, I had reached a point where I simply could not go anymore in fact, had to stay home and go and sit down and HOLD THE COATS !!!!! Several years of that before I finally "got the hint" that if I wanted to live longer, I had better get rid of the flab. An AHA moment if you will. Missed out on going to professional baseball and football games with dh and our sons because I simply could not go up and down the stairs to get to the seats. And just think if you had to use the John during the middle of one of those, and walk the stairs again???

Ginny, we had Bleeding Hearts, several kinds, but the deer ate them up, I'd like to get some more but dh would have to put chicken wire around them too. Love those old fashioned flowers, up here they don't bloom till the end of May though. Can you bring your own treats to that gathering, so you won't have to look at all the unhealthy foods?? Can you "mention" how unhealthy the food choices are and that you are under a doctor's care or something to that affect?? Most people are reasonable about it, and perhaps some of the other guests also would appreciate hearing that too. It's hard not to be tempted these days, Boy Howdy!!!!!

Those comments about the sweet stuff in the south, dh has to watch if he orders iced Tea on this trip to be sure to say UNSWEET, or he will get a huge glassfull of sugared drink, lol. It's happened to us last time, sitting in a Cracker Barrel and just ordering away.....................and their biscuits, well, at some point on our journey, on the way BACK though, , I intend to have one of those large, fresh, baked biscuits, I don't care how many calories and how long I have to ride my bike when I get home.......

dh is meeting with an Endo on May 18, so we have to be a bit more choosy about what we eat while we are gone too.


Pleasant evening to you all!!


Old Doris from not so sunny California

[mykneesareback]

Wondering if you got the frost tonight Jezzie??? I won't be back until late tomorrow evening.



D