Less Hustle More Coffee

The coffee this morning is First Watch’s “Project Sunrise” that we bought at their restaurant Saturday. I normally buy beans so that “fillers” cannot be added, but was actually glad that we had some already ground as yesterday was just as busy as Saturday.

Yesterday, after the blog entry, I got up and worked on the laundry some, fixed myself breakfast, and then George and I went to the store for just a “couple of things” and some things that Mom needed. (I finally found her little Dr. Peppers.) We ended up with a buggy full of stuff. lol. Geez. One of the things we bought was a 24 pack of wine advent calendar box for the days leading up to Christmas. We had always wanted to do this but never could find one. Determining that the price per bottle was not that bad and that they were from France, Chile, Spain and other places, we figure it’s probably going to be pretty good (we shall see – maybe not). I’ll give you reviews. There is even numbered holes in the box where you stick you hand in and pull it out for that day. No pics yet. We left it in the basement, out of the way until Dec 1.

Once we were back, I rebooted the laundry, did the ironing for the week while talking and Facetiming Katy and River. He is pulling up on things already and crawling of course all over the house.

I fixed popcorn for a quick minute and watched a “Traveling Robert” show on YouTube. Then I set about to chopping up my veggies for the week (celery and peppers). And also I set about to making dinner which was Rotel Chicken Spaghetti.

I apologize ya’ll that I have not been taking many pics to share while doing things around the house. I normally do better than this. And take pics of everything but it seems whenever I want to take a pic my phone/camera is either charging or it’s on the opposite ends of the house and these days I’ve just said “forget it”.

But my kitchen endeavors yesterday turned out to be successes. And for the Rotel Chicken Spaghetti, after looking at several recipes and seeing possible ingredients, I decided to toss the recipes out and do my own version and it turned out to be a success. Matter of fact, I think you can use just about any ingredients and any sauces, to come up with a fairly successful version. So why not call it a pasta surprise, lol. No recipe here properly written but giving you the idea.

Pasta Surprise (Rotel Chicken Spaghetti)

I sautéed garlic, onion, and a nice looking fall orange bell pepper in olive oil until soft, and then added Rotel tomatoes (drained) to kinda breakdown the tomatoes a bit. Add any seasonings here – I added mainly salt, pepper, and pepper flakes.

I had already boiled the noodles, and it’s best to do them al dente since you will be cooking them again and don’t forget to rinse them with cold water in the strainer so they don’t continue to cook. I also use vermicelli. It cooks faster and it’s fun to eat the smaller version.

I got a big casserole dish out and sprayed with Pam (Olive Oil version) and put my noodles in, and then put the sautéed mixture on top, then put the diced chicken in (from my Rotisserie chicken we bought yesterday). I didn’t use all of it – it was a whole chicken but I used the rest for chicken salad.

After the layer of diced chicken I added about a half can of little green peas and then added the cream of chicken soup (not made, just the condensed version) and it took 2 cans and spread that out over the chicken, then add the cheese. I used Velveeta as recipes said to use it, but it’s changed somehow and it’s just too yucky for me. I think next time I will use regular cheddar for this dish. I think our tastes have also graduated above this processed cheese version.

That said it was still good but I scooted a lot of my Velveeta to the side. It had a hard time melting in the oven and I was thinking I didn’t want to put that stuff in my body and my arteries. So I’ll be changing that next time.

Everyone went back for seconds! I was happy. And here’s what I’ve been doing for a quick weekend breakfast that gives you energy and lasts long into the day so you can “get stuff done”…lol

Sonya’s Quick Breakfast Power Bowl for an All Day Feel Good Fix

I start by dicing a small potato and sautéing it – starting out with the oil on high or next to high setting to get the oil good and hot and sizzling, then quickly switch to medium or close to it. But the fun here is reaching into the freezer and throwing in either frozen (plain chopped spinach, not creamed) OR some of the frozen green and red peppers and onions mixture that I keep in the freezer. And then whisk up 2 eggs and pour in and scramble that along with the sautéed mixture til done and pour in a bowl. It makes a bowlful but that is your breakfast for the day! Add a piece of fruit and toast and you would be stuffed and probably not want to eat until dinner. If your spouse wants some, just throw in two more eggs and BAM it is expanded already. This is a very quick fix I’ve found. It takes hardly any time. And it is so filling. And healthy. Again no pics. I’m sorry!

Week Ahead

Looks like we have an eye appointment this week on Wednesday afternoon. They had to move it from Friday. So that is all the appointments that we are aware of anyway.

For the household, I did not get to vacuum and the floors need it so I will try to knock that out in the evenings.

After that I can focus on Christmas items and planning (what to get people) and also on getting through this list below which is hard to get to, but I always try. Plus I’ll be trying to find time to work on the next video.

The challenge is going well. I am making better decisions for myself when I eat alone and doing the best I can when I’m with others. It is hard when others don’t want to eat like you want to eat. lol But I knew this going in and that is why I had not planned for perfection but to just embrace it when I could without impacting others way of life.

The good news is that I went for a 20 minute walk yesterday in the neighborhood. It takes longer than 20 minutes usually as I stopped to talk to neighbors. lol. But I started all over so I could get my non-stop 20 minutes in!

Some of the habits are already sticking as far as drinking water – although I’m usually around 80’s instead of 90’s. I’m accepting that as ok as long as it’s at least over 75. And the not having a 2nd glass of wine unless I have had a glass of water works. When I finish the glass of water, I no longer want (or have time for) the 2nd glass of wine, lol. The difference b/w the 75 and 94 oz of water really boils down to how much water I drink after dinner and before bed. I try and I also have water at bedside and anything counts up to midnight. But I don’t push that last glass unless I really want it/need it.

So the habits are starting to stick. I do have to remember to get my fruit and greens in, so still having to look at my list some but even this is beginning to soak in. Now when I’m at the store I think of “greens and fruits”. Now on Sunday’s I think of “chopping” my veggies to fill up my three little containers for the week. Usually two veggies and a fruit.

So all is good. I find that I was already doing things for people on the “service to others” part of the portal. So I’ve not had to search hard to get that done. This time, I’ve given myself a break if I didn’t purposely set out to do something specific for that day. I just remember things like “oh I took out our bathroom trash this morning” as I have to do it every other day now instead of weekly. Or “I set out Mom’s hand towel for her”. I mean heck I fix coffee every morning so technically that could count for something, lol. But I do try to do some extra things for others. It might be refilling the coffee and silverware in the break room, reaching out to a friend, or simply thinking and looking for things that your Mom would like to eat for the next week and being her eyes at the grocery store. 😉

And that said, it’s time for me to get my hair and make up done and get out of the house and on the road. But that is all I know for now. I will see you all again on Wednesday, Lord Willing. Tomorrow is my early day to make up for the eye appointment afternoons once a month.

Hope you have a groovy week ahead. Wow, “groovy” – haven’t used that word in a long long time. lol