CW Moment, again?

This is a revival of a post from back in 2016.  I was exploring and pulled it up to remind myself what a CW Moment was.  This post explains it fairly well, but I have not done this... probably since 2016. No, I do not do Bullet Journals anymore, that also probably ended in 2016.  I have been trying to figure out if it is worth trying at least the CW part again.  It's a good read, if nothing else.

OK, CW can be a variety of tasks or accomplishments.  Clean What, Cook What or better... Culinary Wonder, Create What, Call Who, Charity (help) Who.  I know there are other Cs that could go with Who, What, When, Where, and Why, but I will come up with them as they are encountered.

Now this CW thing came about when I was trying to figure a new way to inspire my daily journal.  This journal has become more important as a reference to know when I last did something.  Age does have a way of getting in the way of a good memory.  A written journal is good, but things can get buried and hard to find when I am looking back to see when I had my last haircut, or took the cat to the vet, among so many other things.  This led me to look into what a bullet journal is... lots of info out there. There are good things that can be accomplished using a bullet journal... way over the top for what I was looking for, but I have started my own version of a bullet journal.  I have adapted some of the techniques, but mainly I have included ways to focus on the highlights of each day to make it easier to spot when something has been accomplished.

My version of a "bullet journal" includes what time I got up, my weight, what bible verses I read, the weather and temp high and low, what I ate and then the list of tasks I know I have to do, and I add new ones as they occur. Appointments and events too. I have not come up with any hard and fast rules... I am still in the creation stage... coming up with new ideas as I go.  My latest add-on is to be sure that I have at least one CW moment every day. I can envision a day having several CW moments, but I want to be sure I can include at least one.

So my challenge to you is... How many CW moments can you come up with today? What new CWs can you add to my list?  Now I am not asking you to share what the task or accomplishment actually was... unless you want to, but rather if you came up with any new Cs to go with the 5 Ws.

Diet Modifications

I am wandering down a new path regarding my time in the kitchen.  Not that I don't try to make all of my culinary creations healthy and nutritious, but I now have a new focus.  My husband is now on a restricted diet and I have to learn a whole new way of cooking and baking.  Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, No Processed Meat, No Peanuts or Cashews.  I have to find a way to make things tasty.

I found this really easy recipe in one of my searches for Low Sodium Chicken Bake with cubes of chicken, bell peppers, zucchini, red onion and garlic.  The secret to its tastiness is the spices.  After everything is chopped up, toss them in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and then sprinkle & toss with the seasoning.  

It is baked on a parchment lined baking sheet with sides at 400º for 20-25 minutes.  Be sure to squeeze half a lemon over the finished pan before serving.

It has been a challenge to ramp up the tastiness of my new creations, and I know this recipe is supposed to be low sodium...  but so far I have not been told he cannot have any salt... that is one of the add-ons that I have been allowing him to use, and in this case Soy Sauce was his finishing touch.

I got a thumbs up👍 on this one from Ron.  It is hard for me to judge sometimes because I typically use very little salt, and rarely salt food on my plate.  Things that taste good to me he often brushes off and tells me, it is okay, but please don't do that again.  This past week I made one of those.  I thought it was a very good and tasty Chickpea Soup.  His comment when done with lunch was, "who would want to eat chickpeas???"  I had no idea that he did not like chickpeas.  Goes to show, no matter how long you have been married, you can always learn something new about your significant other.

The original recipe says it serves 4.  Of course our normal portions may not be as much as many others, but after lunch was done, I had used probably only 1/4 of the sheet pan.  So even if I put a little more on our plates, it could easily serve 6 or maybe even 8, definitely 8 if you were to add quinoa or rice on the side.  I will be finding out how this freezes, because I have 3 meals left.

Thanks for taking the time to scroll through my post.

Gardening in August

It's already mid-August... time does seem to fly when you get past a certain point when some might call you... well, old.  This is what keeps me somewhat active, and feeling young.  I can always find something in my garden to keep me busy.

I found lots of empty pots that needed to be filled.  I think I have a good start.  I even got our A/C guy to help me move a big molasses tub that was filled with dirt from the other side to sit in the back.  It now has a Pride of Barbados in it... it could get to be quite big.  

I replaced the big wooden gate at the entrance with an ornate arbor a couple weeks ago, and I have been tinkering with the rest of the garden to get it to be just right, a quiet place to just sit and listen to something on my phone or computer, and sip a cup of tea... or I can just sit and plan out what I am going to do next.  Best part is I don't have to be careful when I open the gate that I got splinters in my hand so often from the 2x4 that kept the gate closed and secure from the wind.  When we first moved here we needed a gate that would conceal the boat we had inside... we no longer have a boat.

Now this tomato plant has a history.  I planted it in the big bin between two of my raised beds before I started any of the other new changes, and this Sweet 100 has just taken off.  It is way higher than the fence.  Of course I put a tomato support at its base, and I guided and tied it up as it grew, but it just seems to keep on giving me awesome little cherry tomatoes, which has made many batches of sauce for pasta.  This Sweet 100's history part is... a year ago my dear friend Louise left a Sweet 100 on my back patio and instructed me to get it in the ground... now! It also grew to be quite massive and gave me lots of little tomatoes.  Well, in honor of Louise this year, when I saw a Sweet 100 at HEB I knew Louise would have wanted me to buy it and put it in my garden.  Everything else is succumbing to the heat, but this one just keeps giving me little gems.

Focaccia

 Focaccia Bread was always something I thought I would like to make, but never got around to it until a couple days ago.  I stumbled on a new cook/recipe blogger that made it look interesting enough to give it a try.  I'm not opposed to trying any type of bread, this one just looked like a foo-foo kind of bread with all the fancy veggie artwork I typically see on top of the Focaccia Bread.  This recipe was only with rosemary on top, and I have lots of rosemary.  First step of the process is to combine the first 4 ingredients, cover it and put it in the fridge overnight.  I got my dough in the fridge and went outside and got a branch of rosemary to have ready for the morning when I would be starting the next step.  Before I had a chance to add the rosemary I talked to Z and she said she really liked Focaccia bread, but always picked the rosemary off.  That is when I decided I would use Everything Bagel seasoning on top of mine instead.  I love rosemary, but I guess it wasn't supposed to go on my Focaccia bread.

This is one of the easiest breads I have ever made.  Analysis of this bread when it was done... not sure what words could express just how good tasted.  Everything Bagel was perfect and the crumb/chew was right where I would want it to be. The best part is Ron likes it almost as much as I do, and that doesn't happen very often.

Fast forward a couple days and I have now made my first Focaccia video.  I have lots to learn about making a video.  I didn't do much editing on the video... it really did need some editing, but it wasn't all that bad.  It was only showing the first steps in the process, putting the ingredients together.  The dough is in the fridge and will be baked in the morning.  I think the only change I will do this time is to bake it in one pan.  The two pie pans worked beautifully, but I want to see how it would work in a square format.

Tuesday's Table Time

 

Sliders anyone? Back when I was first introduced to Sliders I was living in Ohio and I did not even know you could get a Slider with cheese on it. When... many years later, I saw Sliders in the frozen food section of a local store, they had cheese on them. Well first of all a frozen White Castle just didn't seem right, and with cheese was just wrong. We have been here 20 years now, so I guess I have softened my stance a bit... I have bought frozen White Castles, and they did have cheese, and they were not bad. A couple years ago I found a recipe online for Sliders. I tried the recipe and they actually turned out pretty good, and I even put cheese on them, which is just fine... but if I do get to go to a real White Castle back in Ohio, I am quite sure that I would not order my Sliders with cheese.

This was my choice for the Tuesday group this week.  I typically surprise them, but this was a repeat.  I think I did this for them the first week I had them here for lunch on Tuesday.  I made the rolls from scratch, which really isn't necessary, but I wanted these to be extra special.  They were good enough that they all wanted a to-go box when they left.  Oh, and I made some fig cookies for an added sweet touch.

Mid Week Fun

These are called Call Me bags made by a pattern company called ByAnnie.  I made one for myself, showed a friend, and after I made one for her it seemed for a bit to go viral.  Well maybe not viral, but I probably have made about 24 or so of these little bags that enable you to carry your cell phone and maybe an ID badge and a credit card or two.  A real handy little gem. 

The mesh on the side with the cell phone pocket allows you to see the screen of your phone, and the zipper pocket on the other side is a place to put something you might need to have a little more secure.  I love this little bag.

It doesn't look like much, and they aren't very big, but these guys were fun practice pieces for a step up from the beginner status.   These are called Clam Up bags.  I started making bags a few weeks ago already.  Actually I think it has been at least a couple months.  One of the things I discovered is, it is much easier to deal with multiple layers of fabric... if it isn't vinyl or leather.  My machine can handle a couple layers of the heavy stuff, but sometimes it gets a little iffy to get the needle to go through more layers.  I have dabbled with some vinyl and some leather, but cotton definitely has its advantages.

The beauty of the ByAnnie patterns is they are mostly made using cotton.  I have no desire to go into business, so keeping things fairly low-key is a good thing.  These little bags with the clip on one end are the smallest size for this pattern... it is about 4" long.  I think I might enjoy this bag more in one of the larger sizes though.  That is a nice feature for this pattern maker... there are multiple sizes available in one pattern

Tuesday's Table

Tuesday mornings are typically quite busy as we are up early to go to Breakfast with Friends, then it is home to prep the meal I will serve to the "lunch crew".  The menu is always... usually anyhow, a surprise.  The girls, and sometimes Austin, are not picky.  They just enjoy a good home cooked lunch with friends.  I keep it pretty informal and use paper plates.  I am not opposed to paper plates, but not my normal choice, especially to serve lunch to friends... but when lunch is for 6 or 7 sometimes, it makes me quite happy to only have glasses and silverware to wash when it is all done.  They are coming on their lunch break, they come all together, and no one wants to stay behind to help with the dishes and make everyone else wait to go back.  We always have a good time laughing and sharing stories.  My biggest stress point of the whole process is deciding what I will make for Tuesday's Table next time.

Of course you are not seeing the one who ties this whole group together, our Z.  Lots of great people around this table every week.

Today's lunch was Meatball Sub Casserole.  It is so simple... or it can or should be.  The recipe calls for frozen meatballs that you would typically buy at the store.  On Saturday I made my meatballs that I baked in the oven.  Those were pretty easy too, but if you use up two cooking sessions for one recipe, I think it might not classify quite as simple anymore...  What matters is that they enjoyed.

If anyone wants the recipe(s), let me know.