The older we get the more we start thinking about our health. At least I do. I never really cared that much when I was a young woman. Eating healthy? Ha! I scoff at the idea of having a proper diet. Exercising? Seriously? I’m plenty active, I don’t need to exercise. Vitamins? Really? Please, just stop already with the suggestions. I’m young. I’m healthy.
(more…)Archive for the ‘chocolate’ Category
It’s An Aging Thing
Posted in breakfast, chocolate, dessert, desserts, dieting, drinks, eating, Family, food, friends, goals, health, humor, Jansen Schmidt, motivation, resolutions, soup, writing, tagged aging, cholesterol, eating healthy, eating right, exercise, getting old, high cholesterol, long life, medications, old, old people, prescription medicine, prescriptions, vitamins, weight loss, young, youth on December 13, 2021| 11 Comments »
It’s Not What You Eat, It’s How You Eat It.
Posted in blogging, chocolate, dessert, desserts, drinks, Family, Fiction, food, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, writing, tagged condiments, corn on the cob, cutting meat, dining, dining etiquette, eating, eating habits, eggs, food, French fries, ice cream cones, ketchup, knife, meat, pancakes, pizza, syrup, weird eating on December 18, 2017| 10 Comments »
People have some strange eating habits. Well, some things are not so strange, but folks can’t seem to eat certain things unless those things are prepared or served a certain way. Example: ketchup. Some people can’t eat eggs or potatoes or whatever without ketchup. They won’t even try the food without the salty condiment. (more…)
Things Forgotten
Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, camera, chocolate, diamonds, drinks, Family, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, jewelry, romance, underwear, Vicksburg, words, writers, writing, tagged alcohol, books, boxer briefs, bureau drawer, clothing, diamond earrings, dirty underwear, forgetting stuff, ice chest, John Kellerman, lime green, medicine, missing clothes, pills, Snickers, sports bra, wine on May 9, 2016| 11 Comments »
So another week is upon us and I find myself wondering: what left behind items am I going to find today? Last week was epic for people forgetting stuff. We hit the Mother Lode of things forgotten. Every day we came upon some poor item left behind in one of the guest rooms.
Oh sure, we’ve found items before now, but nothing of significance. Quite a few times I find little pills on the floor or on the bathroom vanity or even in the bed. I’ve often wondered if I should call the departed guest to let them know that someone forgot to take their medicine (I’d hate for someone to have a heart attack because they failed to take their preventative pill). But then I follow that up with, “what if an extra pill just dropped out of the bottle and if I call them, they’ll panic and take an extra one and have a heart attack or something because I’ve frightened them?” It’s such a quandary.
A Pinch of This, A Dash of That, A Smidgeon of . . . What In the World?
Posted in April, beer, blogging, chocolate, crock pot, dessert, desserts, drinks, food, humor, Jansen Schmidt, soup, tagged bulls horn peppers, cheese, Cooking, cooking experiment, elderflower liqueur, Fleur De Sel, furikake, garam masala, Jaup, kitchen, recipes, sea salt, spices, sumac, supermarket, wattleseeds, weird spices on April 27, 2015| 16 Comments »
I enjoy cooking. I enjoy eating. I enjoy trying new dishes and recipes. I love reading and collecting recipes and flipping through cook books. I would love to take some cooking classes. I want to learn how to cook like a pro, flipping omelets with ease, flinging pizza dough over my head, frying up the perfect sunny side up egg. I’m excited just thinking about tying on a pristine white apron.
When I was growing up my mother prepared well-balanced, colorful meals, but painfully lacking in variety. Every week saw the same dishes set before us, spaghetti, meatloaf, tacos, the occasional casserole. These dishes were accompanied by over cooked vegetables or boring green salads with vinegar and oil for dressing. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my mother to pieces and she never failed to have those healthy meals on the table for us each evening, for which I am eternally grateful. But, she lacked imagination or innovation or creativity of any kind when it came to cooking. Her spices of choice were salt and pepper and when she did get a little crazy and add herbs they usually consisted of dehydrated chives for the baked potatoes.
I think my husband wishes I were a little more like my mother in that regard. He’d be happy to have hamburgers or pizza (or both) every night of the week without ever seeing a vegetable or anything he can’t pronounce on the table. And don’t even say the word “fish,” when he’s around.
My poor, poor husband. I’m afraid his destiny is to endure experimental meals; meals prepared with love from the caring hands of the woman he loves. At least that’s what I keep telling him.
After many years of experimental cooking, let me give you a tip, read everything before doing anything. The preparation instructions are just as important as the list of ingredients. On more than one occasion I have been whipping and stirring and folding in things only to discover that my delicacy must marinate or some other such process for several hours before moving on to the next step. There goes dinner for that night. And, how often have you been mixing like mad, adding dashes of this, and pinches of that, only to discover that the next ingredient is something you’re either out of, or have not idea what it is? Yes folks, that has happened to me. I’ve learned to read carefully before assembling products and gathering dishes and utensils.
While cooking is fun and eating is enjoyable, the preparation process can be tedious and downright frustrating. Here are some examples of ingredients I’ve come upon while preparing to serve an outrageously delicious meal: Amchur powder, garam masala, bulls horn peppers, ground sumac, elderflower liqueur, locatelli cheese, dry prosecco, Taleggio cheese, furikake, sharp pecorino, wattleseed, Fleur De Sel. That last one is just sea salt and why in God’s name the recipe doesn’t just say sea salt is beyond me, but what the what? I guess, “sprinkle liberally with Fleur De Sel” does sound better than “salt at will,” but really, do I need to go to the trouble of locating and purchasing glorified salt?
Well, if I’m anything, I’m persistent. Google is my best friend and the store manager at my local supermarket has learned to run and hide if he sees me in the store, because I have sent him on a wild goose chase on more than one occasion looking for that special ingredient for my dinner. After I discover what furikake or bulls horn peppers are, I will spend way longer than necessary trying to find them at the market. Or, special order them.
And then there’s this quandry: you locate the item, or a close equivalent if you’ve been lucky enough to find out what that substitute item might be, only to discover that it costs like $100 for a half an ounce. You only need an 1/8 of a teaspoon and you’ll probably never use it again, but should you buy it – just in case it makes or breaks the dish you’ve been longing to try? I mean will you even notice if the wattleseeds are not present?
Ah yes, the joys of cooking and experimenting with new recipes. I have an impressive collection of spices and quite an assortment of colored salts (they’re all the rage now apparently), but my pocketbook is also considerably lighter. Was it worth it? Don’t ask my husband.
How about you friends, do you enjoy experimenting in the kitchen with crazy new ingredients and recipes? What’s the most money you’ve spent on something for a recipe? What’s the weirdest ingredient you’ve come across in your cooking adventures? How often have you Googled an ingredient in a recipe? I’d love to know. Please share.
Word of the Day: Jaup
Fun Fact About Me: I sometimes try a recipe just because I like the name of it (can you say “Pasta Ponza?”)
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, April 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.
Fitbit, Jawbone, Gimmick – You Decide
Posted in beauty products, blogging, chocolate, dancing, dessert, desserts, dieting, drinks, Family, Fiction, food, friends, goals, humor, Jansen Schmidt, night time rituals, sports, words, writers, writing, tagged diets, exercise, Fitbit, fitness, free weights, gadgets, gym, Jawbone, jogging, new year weight loss, Rambo, refrigerator, sleeping habits, treadmill, trigonometry, walking, water, weight loss, zumba on January 19, 2015| 14 Comments »
So, the all-the-rage Christmas gift this past year was apparently the Fitbit or it’s cousin the Jawbone. If you’re unfamiliar with these little devices, they are designed to help you keep track of your healthy habits. Or so they tout. Personally, I don’t get it, but I’ve noticed a lot more people in my zumba class with these little babies strapped to their wrists.
Now, if you are a lover of these technological devices, and they are “working” for you, please don’t be offended by this post. I love that you’re working on getting or staying healthy. For me, they seem like a gimmick.
First of all, the only people I see wearing these things look like this:
If you look like this, you are already are a fit bit of feminie loveliness. You are already doing all of the right things and you don’t need a fancy schmancy device to let you know it. Just carry on you well-toned beautiful women. I love and hate you all.
The number one problem I see right off the bat with a device like this is – you have to remember to put the thing on. That’s going to mess up quite a few people.
Assuming you remember to strap it on, it’s my understanding that these thingeys tell you the amount of steps you’ve taken. I’m not sure why that’s important. I mean, let’s face it, if I’ve had my ass in a chair all day writing, or in the sofa watching TV or reading, I can pretty much guarantee you that I haven’t taken more than about 16 steps, and those were undoubtedly to the refrigerator for a snack. I really don’t need a device to keep track of that or to remind me of my lethargy. Likewise, if I’ve been working out or jogging I can say, with some certainty based on how much my muscles are screaming and the amount of sweat pouring off my weary body, that I have experienced a good work-out. I don’t really care how many steps I’ve taken; I feel good that I’ve worked out.
The next problem is that these devices don’t hold you accountable. I mean if you set a goal to take 5,000 steps every day, nothing happens if you fall short. If I wear the thing all day and then check my stats when I get home and I’ve only taken 1,100 steps and my goal was 5,000, am I going to go run 16 miles to make up the deficit? Hell no! I’m just going to say, “screw it, I’ll walk more tomorrow,” and go to bed.
Now, what would be really helpful is if those little wristbands thingeys had pre-recorded messages. What would be exceptionally motivating is for a really annoying voice, like Gilbert Godfry or someone equally nasally and whiny, to say something like, “get moving lard ass,” every time I sat in one place for more than about 10 minutes. Or, “you’re slowing down fatso,” when I switch the treadmill from jog to walk. That would be motivating. However, I do see a potential problem with this, especially if you’re working out at a gym or other public place. You would not want that thing going off and have somebody other than yourself thinking it was directed at them. No sirree, I would not want some Rambo over in free weights to come over and konk me on the head with a 200 pound barbell because my Fitbit offended him.
Although . . . if he looked like that guy . . . maybe a visit wouldn’t be so bad. Hmmmm.
But I digress. Maybe instead of a pre-recorded message, a squirt of pepper spray to the face every hour could be used. I mean nothing would get me moving faster than pepper spray in my face. Think of the amount of steps you’d take with that crap on your skin. You couldn’t run to the shower fast enough and you’d be dancing a jig the whole time you were in there. Or, every so often a shock treatment like a taser blast could go off to remind you to get up and drink some water. That would get me hopping out of my chair for sure.
That’s right, these puppies supposedly will keep track of how much water I’ve drank during the day. Hmmm. Is that necessary? If I fill my glass 4 times then I can pretty much rely on the fact that I’ve had 4 glasses of water that day. And, taking this one step farther, if I know that my glass is 20 ounces, and I fill it 4 times, then I’ve had – say it with me – 80 ounces of water that day. No device required. And how does that thing distinguish between water and gatorade, or soda, or . . . oh I don’t know . . . wine? ‘Cuz, if it measured wine in-take I’d pretty much meet my quota every single day.
And, supposedly, they keep track of your sleeping habits (again – if you remember to wear them). At the risk of sounding redundant, what is the point of this? If I wake up at 3:00 in the morning and lay there awake for 2 hours, my clock will give me the same information as that little plastic strap on my wrist. I don’t need a device to let me know that I was awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Contrarily, if I wake up refreshed, having slept straight through the night, I don’t need to check my wrist to see how I’ve slept. This “feature,” makes no sense to me.
I’m thinking a much better electronic device to invest in to ensure good health is one that requires you to solve a trigonometry problem before you can open the cookie jar. Or do 20 jumping jacks before the refrigerator door will open. I’m thinking that would successfully solve this problem:
How about your dear readers, do you have a Fitbit, Jawbone or similar device? Do you like it? What gadgets would be helpful in your life to keep you fit and healthy?
Fun fact about me: I am not really into fancy techy gadgets.
Word of the Day: Vugh (alternate spelling)
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.