a few photos

 

goat out in the fenced in yard on a very cold morning

she is peeking out from behind the tree 

two dogs out there, too - but you can't see them laying down in the sun in the leaves

an elephant flower pot Mark made on his 3D printer, but he wasn't sure it would hold up to soil and water.  I'm not sure what else to use it for, but it is cute.  That is a tote bag I am crocheting in the background in the box

seared pork with lots of spices on it, and some zucchini added at the end, if I use a sharp knife and cut the meat up into shreds, I can eat it.  The zucchini wasn't quite done enough to mash, but I was able to eat some of it.

 

another picture of the same little goat from about a month ago, she is totally blind in one eye and can see some light in the other, she wasn't supposed to live past a few months old - they didn't think she could get past weaning onto solid food etc.. but she is over four years old now
 

Our unconventional Christmas tree, because when we had the hvac installed this summer the stand went missing and we cannot find it.  Didn't let it stop us - Mark and Esme both said 'Australian Christmas' without hearing the other one say it.  This is the same little tree and ornaments we have had forever, and it is on a switch so I can turn it off at night.

 

entras intrarea

 Cold, working through the anxiety and the dentures still hurt here and there.  I'm making sure to cook things I can eat - but so often I just want to get dinner done so I can take the teeth out, huddle in warm, and sleep for the rest of the night.  I am eating a good variety of vegetables, and making cake/loaf like mixtures to make sure there is something easy to bring with me to work.  I made a batch of peanut butter cookies, as well, which bears repeating.  I actually do have to work at having enough calories during the day.

 Took Grandma's little dog to the vet and got it spayed - and held it for a few days, to make sure healing was doing good.  Esme went to her college orientation session, and she had to do a few more things before next month.  She is trying hard to keep her math grade up because that is what her graduation hinges on.  

 Last week I had pulled my shoulder out badly somehow on the postal route - probably actually know the mailbox that did it - one of those that is too low and on the edge of a large ditch, so there is no doing it except pulling close and then leaning out the window awkwardly.  I did exercises but was still quite annoyed by it for two days - then one morning it just went 'click' again like a bungee cord being drug over another one, and it felt much better. I was worried it would be injured further by getting our propane cylinders, which we have to refill every few days and are very heavy and awkward.  So far, I haven't done anything worse to it taking those in and out of the car, but I'm aware of it.

 Doing Romanian lessons on both systems, somehow segued to that and I've kept at it.  We haven't went Christmas shopping yet, and I haven't put up the tree yet.  I did buy a few things for Esme last week that I need to wrap up - bought the roll of wrapping paper today.  It is going to be severe cold tonight - so we had put some insulation on Grandma's hydrant and ran the little car around a bit to make sure it has had a good charge.  I have hardly even been running it around the block much, because there is just too much going on and there are only so many hours in the day.  I ran it a good distance tonight.  Now dinner is in the oven, and I have a little language lesson to do, some budget figures to put in, and again, crawl into bed as soon as I think isn't too early.

 

The 'what is this, falafel?' chickpea loaf I made and brought to work with me four days in a row

although this was a very similar process to the black bean meatloaf - it did not act at all the same when stirred up - the rice flour is a very different texture than the whole wheat flour, and the chickpeas had a thick flavored sauce with them instead of the black bean aqua faba 

 

1/2 can of seasoned chickpeas, ground up

about 5 tablespoons of cooked carrot, ground up - this is less than what was in the black bean loaf

more of the orange beef seasoning packet

1 egg

1/2 package of saltine crackers, crumbled and smashed

a few tablespoons to a 1/4 cup of brown rice flour

about a tablespoon of bacon grease heated in the bottom of the pan before spreading the mixture in it

cooked at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, uncovered in a glass pan and then brought it down to 350, when the top of the crust started to get brown, I removed it from the oven and covered it with aluminum foil for a while until I could cut it up and put it in another container.   I wondered if I should have put another egg in it, but then it firmed up really well after it cooled.

 

also made some zucchini soup with two kinds of zucchini, kielbasa and bacon  

 

I found a new seasoning mix that says it has toasted onion and red bell pepper flakes in it, with chili pepper flakes - it is quite good.  I had to look at a couple of places in order to find it - after someone had brought some to work for a grill out. 

The other night I dreamt of blueberry pizza, with spinach, cheese and I drove a block away to a pizza shop to ask them for a cup of tomato sauce to put on it - as it had all blueberry sauce on it instead.  I poured it on right there at the counter and they told me the pizza box would be all soggy - so I started to eat it right there.  I have no idea what that is about except that I did buy blueberries that day after a long time of thinking about them.  In honor of this strange cooking dream, I opened spinach last night and had it with some blueberries and the last of the 'falafel' chickpea loaf. 

neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 I bought a bag of whole wheat flour last August - and have finally used it up and bought another.  I scored some pad thai sauce and another acorn type squash at the same time.  I've been eating a lot of acorn squash, as well.  I cook with what I have - and the leftovers of cans that I opened for one thing in the fridge get used to make the next recipe etc.  We've saved some bacon grease recently and I've used a bit of it here and there instead of butter or oil.

 

 Neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 

Simple Whole Wheat pancake / flatbread

1 cup whole wheat flour 

some salt and garlic parmesan seasoning mixed through the flour 

2 large eggs (we have chickens, so I use all the eggs I can)

a splash of milk to make the right consistency of pancake batter

 

butter and heat a small pan

cook in two to four portions to make flatbread pancakes.

simple - easy, when they begin to bubble up and the edges are firm, flip them over, and store them in a glass container for a few days to eat with soup and sauces.

 

The excellent encuacadora sauce : (full of peanuts) 

1 large guajillo chile, with seeds, stem discarded, torn up 

five spice powder (cinnamon, garlic, cloves, ginger, black pepper) 

bit balsamic vinegar

bit of brown sugar (optional)

bit plus a bit of olive oil 

honey roasted peanuts, a few tablespoons or so, ground up

frozen chopped onion, to equal peanuts, ground up 

1/2 small can of tomato paste

1/2 small can of tomato sauce

heat that all up together and mix through blender well at end

 

 black bean 'meatloaf'  I've been thinking about doing this for a good while, but I didn't want to fry it in oil - so I finally got my thoughts together today with the rest of my cooked carrot in the fridge and put it together - it was really good, and both of my dogs wanted me to give them the entire second half (which I didn't - I put it away for later) :) 

1/2 can of black beans - put in the grinder

a few tablespoons, 3 to 4, of cooked canned carrot

1/2 a stack of saltine crackers, crushed up

spices (I used al pastor seasoning and brown mustard and some orange/beef seasoning)

extra black pepper

1 large egg

whole wheat flour to make the proper consistency

1 tablespoon of bacon grease mixed throughout

spoon into a greased ceramic pan and make a smooth top  

cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes (I used our toaster oven) 

 

 

use a small brush to put olive oil on the orange parts of the squash

acorn squash and rice congee (this was SO good I couldn't believe it was easy)

roast, mash and store acorn squash (cut open, scrape out seeds, cut into pieces, brush them with olive oil and roast at 350 to 400 degrees until a fork goes in nicely, let cool a bit, scrape squash from rind with a spoon and store in a glass container)

add cooked rice to acorn squash in 1 to .5 quantities, add a raw egg, cook over medium heat or in a microwave stirring often until egg is completely cooked, add a bit of soy sauce and mayonnaise on either side of the dish to eat if you wish 

 

rutabaga and carrot soup with kielbasa, fresh garlic and onion

chopped and cut up a rutabaga  boiled with kielbasa and onions and some bland summer squash for body - blended that and it was still a bit thin and watery - then I read that carrots are an excellent addition to 'swede' rutabaga soup, so I used the second half of the batch with 2 cloves of fresh garlic and 1/2 a can of cooked carrot - brought that to a boil and then blended that together - and that was so much better!  Still not as good as the turnip soup the other day - but still pretty good.