Good morning GUSdarlings. Looks like a monster storm is slamming our friends in the South. What a miserable winter for most of us but the Southern States appear to be particularly hard hit since that's where we Northerners are told to flee from the cold. Stay safe everyone. Check on the elderly, disabled or just folks living alone and trying to make it.
In the past, this is the type of weather that made me run out ahead of time, load up on cigarettes and wine and hunker down. I was working at home for the most part -- as I am actually doing this morning. Now, I'm more concerned about cat food. I have to make that baked falafel recipe I posted on Sunday since I have all the ingredients and the chick peas have been soaking and soaking.
No ciggies. No alcohol for 10 days. Down 14 pounds since January 1 -- coming off faster since I stopped putting a straw in the wine box and have switched to an all grain and veggie/fruit diet. 12.5 pounds to go to give myself a couple of pounds wiggle room for an occasional indulgent meal. I can't believe I just loaded on so many pounds with empty calories. It had nothing to do with not smoking since I've been off the demon sticks for 2 years. I'm one who can only eliminate one bad habit at a time.
What we need to have is faith in ourselves. Some days are crushing -- like yesterday for me. When we lack faith in ourselves, we look for those who still believe in our capabilities and fundamental goodness. The reason I love this little safe haven on DKos is because we are kind to one another even in our joshing.
Be careful, everyone and try to stay warm. We're getting something or other Thursday.
If you missed anodnhajo's wonderful GUS - Giving Up Smoking - Surgeon General's Report Offers 50 years of US Smoking Statistics check it out and bookmark it. Fascinating and I don't even like statistics.
GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us! We kindly ask that politics be left out.
You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts, or access the GUS Library at dKosopedia for a great list of stop-smoking links. Check it out! GUS library.
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Quit Keeper widget which is an outstanding aid for those beginning the difficult path to quitting. It lets you know how long you haven't smoked, how many cigs you haven't smoked, how much money you've saved.
Quit Smoking Counter h/tGDbot. For those of you who have had a problem with Quit Keeper or want a different counter!
I come from a family with five children. We were barely middle class and at times well below. My mother baked and cooked everything. We never had pizza until I was about 13 and then it was a homemade recipe she got from a neighbor. Sheet pan pizza. Not bad if you never had NYC or New Haven pizza. She had to make every dollar stretch so it was homemade jellies and jams, home baked bread, and home prepared meals. My favorite dinner was her one concession to full bore processed food -- rice with cream of chicken soup and boned chicken. The soup was Campbell's before they shrunk the can and raised the price; canned boned chicken; Uncle Ben's white rice. I can still taste it. I made it last over 20 years ago when I was in law school.
I decided that when I get to my next weight goal which is 5.5 pounds off -- I want to make this dish as a reward. Then I'll regret it the next day I get on the scale, but what the hank. I'm trying the least processed way I can think of and substituting quinoa and amaranth for the rice. I'm still calling the recipe rice and cream of chicken because basically, that's what it is.
So here's some cold weather comfort food recipes:
Rice with Cream of Chicken Soup
You can use white or brown rice -- brown is better. You can add a bit of wild rice but not all wild rice. You can use the wonder proteins quinoa and/or amaranth.
The soup recipe will give you a more soupy rather than bisque texture. It is up to you but I like the soup to be closer to a bisque. In the Campbell's soup recipe, it calls for 1/2 can of milk. I'm going to start with 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth and add more as needed so as not to make gloppo the consistency of wallpaper paste. Taste everything before serving. That is critical for everything you make on the stove top. Use a light hand because you can always add. Once something is in the oven, well, you hope for the best.
Cream of Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
2 stalks celery (with leaves), chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
7 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 3/4 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes more.
Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme, and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir in the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Whisk the heavy cream, sherry, and salt into the soup and season with pepper to taste. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Divide among soup bowls, sprinkle the top of each soup with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Next step
Spoon grain into a shallow bowl (a plate is fine) and ladel the soup on top. Serve with biscuits and lots of butter then get on the treadmill or bicycle or chase 50 cats and Dilly around the house for 2 hours.
My mom still makes these biscuits when any of us visit. My brother gets good scrapple from somewhere so we have biscuits, scrapple and scrambled eggs. Only my mother can make these perfectly. I continue to try and am getting somewhat better. I've never tasted a biscuit anyplace else that rivals this recipe -- or my mom's technique. On the Betty Crocker website, this recipe only received 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. My guess is, some reviewers overworked the dough -- like I've done.
Betty Crocker's Baking Powder Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur's Unbleached)
1 tablespoon sugar, if desired
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
Directions
1 Heat oven to 450°F. In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
2 On lightly floured surface, gently roll dough in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place biscuits about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides.
3 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm.
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Tue AM: gchaucer2
Tue PM: Open
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Fri PM: Open
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