Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Welcome to my new blog...

As you can see, I've taken the leap to official blogdom. To get newcomers up to speed, I've copied my previous posts here. These were originally posted on Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes:


TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013
 
I don't really have anything to write about today but I wanted to mention something that I've been getting a lot of questions about since starting this blog. I'm getting requests for a way to post comments here. The trouble is that I'm not using regular blog software, which has that feature built in, and I don't have a clue how to add something like that manually to my site. I've kept my site very basic because I write the HTML code manually in Notepad. I do have a little concern about having a comments feature because I know that I'd have to deal with spammers if I had one. I suppose that there are ways of filtering out that stuff though before it gets posted. At this point, I'm not sure what to say other than that I will consider the idea and might implement that feature in the future if I can figure out how to go about it.


Spinach Lasagna
SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2013

Well, here I am. I thought I'd just go ahead and post something today and see how it goes, this blogging thing. I hope you won't find this boring, reading about my cooking and shopping lists and all the hum-drum of my day-to-day low carb life. I'm not sure if I'll post something every day but I will pop in whenever I've got something to write about.

I baked a ham and cheese quiche this morning. Even though my husband isn't really eating low carb, he likes having some kind of quiche for his breakfasts. Quiches are handy because for half an hour's work, you get a few days worth of breakfasts all ready to reheat in the morning. For the quiche I made today, I basically followed this recipe: Ham & Swiss Cheese Quiche. Walmart has lately had packages of about a pound and a half of honey-baked ham scraps for a very good price. I split the package into three portions and freeze them to use in this quiche. I add 8 ounces of cheddar cheese, or whatever cheese I have on hand, usually 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. For extra flavor, I add a squeeze of Dijon mustard. Jerry says this is his favorite quiche so I make it every couple of weeks.

I also cooked up a package of poblano cheddar sausage links that I found marked down at HEB (a local grocery chain). They'd been in the freezer for quite some time and it was about time to use them. The label said there were 3 carbs per link but they must be from the chiles and the cheese because there was no sugar added.

I've been enjoying the leftovers of the Italian Casserole that I made on Thursday. There are still two or three servings left and it's one of my favorites. I was planning to make Spinach Lasagna but realized that I'd forgotten to buy the spinach earlier in the week. Oops! In any case, both casseroles are favorites so I wasn't disappointed.
This morning I had an unexpected experience with a carton of heavy cream, also from HEB. The carton hadn't been opened yet and it's the kind that has a little pour spout on the side of it and you need to pull out a plastic plug before using it the first time. Imagine my surprise when I started to tug on the pull tab and the whole spout came out in my hand. First thing tomorrow morning I will call HEB and let them know about the problem. Luckily I still had the empty carton that I'd just finished off and poured the new cream into it. I couldn't very well store the cream in a carton with a gaping hole in the side of it.

Earlier today I compiled a quick list of food items, and a few other things, that I won't have to spend my grocery money on once our son moves out. Milk and cold cereal are probably my biggest expenses every week. I stock up on dry cereal whenever I see a good sale on it. Luckily, my son doesn't mind eating the store brands because those are often on sale for the best price. Some other things that I won't need to buy anymore are orange juice, ice cream, chips, bread, pasta, rice, soda, frozen pizzas, cookies, tortillas, flour and Bisquick. And, of course, our other food will go farther when we've only got the two of us to feed instead of three. Mind you, it's no hardship having our son living with us. He's a good kid. Besides paying us room and board, he's also been paying our cable TV bill all these years. I won't miss that much after he's gone but I think that Jerry will. I've got so many other things to do with my time that TV isn't a high priority for me.

Please let me know what you think of my new blog and also tell me if there's anything in particular that you'd like me to write about.


19 comments :

  1. Any way you can make the font bigger? Hard to read for this old guy.

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  2. I'm still trying to figure out how to tweak all of the settings. So far I haven't found a way to change the font size without adding too much space between the lines.

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  3. I found the place where I can change the font size but all it does is increase the space between the lines of text. The font size remains the same no matter what size I choose. Does anyone know how I can do this?

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    1. I think I've finally figured it out. The font size choices are very limited. I had to switch from Arial to Calibri or else it was too huge.

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  4. Glad to see you're doing a blog. I've followed your updates for a few years now, and I have tried many of your recipes with great success. . . As to an idea for a topic to write about, I would like to know how you adjust to cooking for two rather than three--recipes for two, shopping for two, etc. My daughter has left the nest, and it's now just my husband and me again.

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    1. I don't usually make any adjustments because I like having leftovers. I rarely make a recipe that will only feed us for one meal. I figure that if I'm going to the trouble of making something, it's no more work to make enough for two or three meals at the same time and I'll have less cooking to do in the course of the week. If for some reason I don't need any leftovers, I'd be inclined to freeze them rather than only make two servings. If I make something like roast chicken, I go ahead and roast eight or ten pieces. We can either eat the chicken as leftovers for the next couple of days or I can cut up the meat and freeze it to use in a casserole later.

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    2. Using Linda's site has been a huge help for me for exactly that reason. I am cooking for one, and it such a big advantage to have a recipe indicating whether or not it can be frozen. I deliberately look for her casserole recipes that are freezable and divide it up into servings and freeze, sometimes for many weeks.If I am going to use electricity and heat up my kitchen, I want to make it as worthwhile as possible. The freezing and nutrition information available on all her recipes puts her site way ahead of most low carb sites, IMHO.

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  5. Well, I'll be darned...........................
    Tried Firefox instead of Chrome or IE, and now I can comment!
    This is crazy.

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  6. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I have tried many of your recipes and have loved every one. Looking forward to following your blog.

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  7. I'm so glad that you're back! I kept checking your other site and nothing was happening for awhile. I was afraid that you had run out of recipes. lol I've used so many of the recipes that you post and haven't found one yet that we don't like. Thanks so much!

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    1. Thanks, Donna. I hope to add new recipes to my site soon. I haven't abandoned my main site so keep checking for updates.

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  8. I have just started low carb ving about 5 wks ago, and thanks to you and your site, I now have plenty of variety in my meals! Thank you! One question though, Ive been eating the Atkins bars, whats your advise on that?

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    1. Karen, I have used the Atkins bars in the past but don't any longer. They have their place but I don't think I'd rely on them as a meal replacement except in an emergency. I bought a box of them once when a hurricane was coming and I'm glad that I did. We were without power for a couple days and my food options were very limited once we'd emptied the fridge of leftovers re-heated outside on the grill. I suggest basing your diet on real, whole foods rather than products as much as possible and only use the bars occasionally if you must. Personally, the sugar alcohols and polydextrose, etc. bother me too much to indulge in them on a regular basis.

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    2. Another reason I avoid the Atkins bars is the cost. For the price of a box of bars I could make a nice meal for my whole family.

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  9. I do more of the treats than anything. Ive lost 20 lbs so far and will not go back to eating those bad carbs. I too am on a bigtime budget so yes I would read your blogs.

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  10. MUCH easier to read. Thanks a lot!

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  11. I'm thrilled to FINALLY have a way to comment and communicate with you on your great recipes! I love your recipes and you have helped me so much, its nice to be able to communicate that to you!

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    1. Hi Ingrid. You could always send me an email but I understand that this way there can be more interaction.

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  12. I will read anything you want to write about. I always learn a lot from you and you are a bargain hunter, like me. Alison

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