VEGAN SAUTEED ZUCCHINI WITH PINEAPPLE BBQ SAUCE

 I sauteed some zucchini and drizzled on some of the pineapple BBQ sauce and it was fantastic. The BBQ sauce is a bit sweet but the chipolte sauce is spicy so it has a kick. 

Today was an interesting day. I went to the cardiologist office to get a EKG and get checked out. I haven't really written too much about it but I have been having chest pains. Not a lot but enough that it is concerning. I went to my regular doctor and saw his nurse practitioner. She seemed to think it was nothing. I made an appointment with my cardiologist for a video appointment. That is when it started to spiral. My video appointment became an in person visit and the in person visit became "see me tomorrow." That was the appointment today. 

At the appointment today, the first thing that happened was my blood pressure was low. I mean really low. The machine was beeping low. Not just once but twice. Then the head nurse came in and did a manual blood pressure and it was still low but a bit higher. 80/66. Everyone was going in and out concerned. I felt fine. 

Once they got over the blood pressure issue, then they did the EKG and it was fine. I had a few chest pains while I was there. They decided I need a stress test (hey, hasn't the past two years been a stress test??)  and then maybe a heart monitor. 

I put my emergency plan into action in case I was put in the hospital but everything was fine and I was sent home. The emergency plan worked so that was good. It was like a fire drill. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE OF COOKING COURSE

 The landscaping project took a day off. The worker had a previous commitment today. It was horribly cold and windy today. At 9 am it 56 degrees. Hard to believe a week ago it was 100 degrees. 

I had time to cook since there was no backyard work being done. I made Vegan Nuggets and Pineapple BBQ sauce. I had a few little issues: the vegan medallions ended up being sort of "popcorn" sized. So I made vegan "popcorn" nuggets. They tasted really good and I ate about 18 of them. 

Then I accidentally pulled pineapple out of the freezer instead of mango. The BBQ sauce was supposed to be mango. I made due and made it with pineapple and chipotle and molasses. It tastes amazing. I bit spicy and sweet. 

That is about all today. I just worked.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN FRIENDLY SNEAKERS ARRIVED

I am so excited that my vegan friendly made for rheumatoid arthritis sneakers arrived today. Because of my rheumatoid arthritis I have all sorts of foot and ankle problems and need special sneakers. These are great. I took them out for their inaugural walk around the block and I felt like I was walking on pillows. My old sneakers are so old they could probably walk themselves. 

I am not thrilled about the color of the shoes but they didn't have the color I wanted presently. If I like them alot I will get another pair in white. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY SEVEN OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 Today was another day of the backyard. I was so happy I finally found a place to order my eco-fencing. I have gone around and around with a couple of places about whether they can order it or not. I finally called a distributor and the woman was so nice. It will be shipped in two weeks. 

Here is the latest on the backyard. 

As you can see in the first photo: the fence is gone and the area is cleared. He has been digging out the old posts but that has been a challenge.  Photo 2: He picked up the slate pieces and made them all flat and even. So Nice! He will clean them later in the project. Photo 3: He dug more dirt from under the deck and made a two tier area. The top tier holds my extra chairs and grill and the bottom tier will hold my table in the winter. He made a ramp to get the grill up and down. The extra dirt is filling in under my trees where the dirt has eroded. 

My yard looks so much bigger now. I just can't believe it. 

I made a vegan cheesy pasta with peas and chikun fingers for dinner. 

Well that is all today. I don't have much to say. I spent all day finding fencing. 

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY PRIDE 2022!

 Today is the Pride celebration. I did not attend but I watched some of it on TV.  Lucky got all dolled up for it. 

She wanted to walk the neighborhood and show her pride. She does not like people clothes or dog clothes so it is hard to get her to wear it. She is a dog's dog. Not a pocket dog if you know what I mean. She doesn't even really like being picked up except in crowds where she thinks she will be stepped on. 

I watched a bunch of shorts in the LGBT film fest on-demand. Some were good and others I fast forwarded through. One was really good: The Sixth Reel. It is about a group who have a friend that passes away and they think he might have a very old movie reel in his possession. This movie reel would be worth a fortune. There are some big named actors in the movie: Margret Cho and Tim Daly. Pretty big for an independent movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it could be a commercial hit. Two movies from last year's film fest made it to commercial semi-fame: Summerland and Stage Mother. I saw Stage Mother on Netflix and I heard a family member was watching Summerland on some on-demand channel. I hope The Sixth Reel goes the same way. It was good.

I have a number of other films to watch before Thursday when my subscription ends. I will report if any others are good.

I also bought a pair of vegan friendly sneakers to see if they will help my foot problems. They didn't have my color but I didn't know when my color would come in so I got another color. If they are good, I will get my color when they are available. I wear sneakers all the time. I should have more than one pair. 

That was my whole day. Happy Pride 2022!

Until tomorrow...

HOMEMADE VEGAN ZUCCHINI PIZZA

Last night I watch the new Downton Abbey movie "A New Era".  I thought it was very good and kept the story going. All the characters were back and it had a good story. It was on Peacock for free for one night. 

This weekend I am watching a bunch of movies from the GLBT film festival. I bought the package so I can skip any movies I don't want to see and won't feel obligated to watch them because I paid for them.So far I have seen a couple of good ones. 

I made a homemade vegan zucchini pizza tonight. I had a pre-made dough so all I had to do was spread it on the pizza pan and put on the sauce, vegan cheese and zucchini. Then I popped it in the oven for 13 minutes and I had pizza. It tastes fantastic. 

My neighbor works at a tofu company and she came over today and gave me their new product to try. I am excited to give it a whirl. Their stuff is super expensive so I usually only get it when she gives it to me for free. LOL. 

That's it for me. 

Until tomorrow...

BLOOD TEST AND RESULTS

This is a sad day for women's rights.  I have fought for women's rights for more than 30 years and today made me cry.

This afternoon I went to get my blood drawn. It was step two from the virtual doctor visit yesterday. I went in the early afternoon and tried to have as little contact with people as possible. I had my blood drawn by my usual phlebotomist. 

By 5pm I had the test results from one of the vials. Two things came up out of normal range. One of them seem concerning so I called my friend who is a doctor of pharmacology. He assured me that although it was concerning, there is medication that can "fix" it if I do have something wrong. I won't know anything until Monday or Tuesday so there is no reason to get too worked up about it. 

Until tomorrow...

I HAD TO RUSH TO THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE

 Okay, don't get too excited. I had a virtual doctor's appointment today and while I was on the appointment with the physician's assistant I mentioned that I have white spots on the back of my throat. She got very concerned that I have strep throat. I guess it can be very serious in people who are immune compromised. So it was 4pm and I rushed over to their office. It was almost empty and I walked up the stairs and avoided all people. But I had to take my mask off twice to show my tonsils and to get the test done. The test came out negative so now they think I have oral thrush. I get oral thrush every now and then from antibiotics. It has never presented like this before. So, some oral rinse has been called in and I need to see if that takes care of it. 

But she also wants me to go tomorrow and get blood work done so it means going back to the same location. I think it is good to get the blood work done although I had it done in March in the emergency room. 

She was unable to find a solution for the original reason that I had set up the virtual call which is my feet so I am going to buy a new pair of sneakers and see if that helps. 

She also does not know why my lymph nodes are swollen on the left side of my neck. I am supposed to give it another few weeks and see if it subsides. 

That was my crazy afternoon. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED TWENTY OF COOKING COURSE

 I heated up a cheese burger on the grill and heated up some mac & cheese in the microwave. It was a great dinner. 

The backyard is moving along. There are more plans on how to make it more functional. A bunch of dirt was moved, a pole was almost dug out. No work until Monday.

My guy was very nice and ran an errand for me to take a fed ex to drop off. 

The weather was so much nicer today. The wind came in and made the temp drop. 

Oh, my doctor wrote the letter so I can not go to jury duty this summer. It would have been very hard with my not feeling up to par. I am really relieved. It was stressful thinking about it. 

I am tired and I am going to watch TV.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED NINETEEN OF COOKING COURSE

 HOT! HOTTER! HOTTEST!

It was in the high nineties today. I took two pictures of my thermostat today. 

Late morning The thermostat is on the side of the house in the sun. The top is inside, bottom is outside.

Late afternoon around 3:30 pm. It was HOT. 

 It was too hot to cook anything. In fact I barbecued my dinner. 

I made this yesterday but I am posting this today. Vegan Beer Mac& Cheese. It is really good and tasty. I had to ask someone to buy me a can of ale to make this. I needed 4 oz of ale. I over baked it a bit but it still tastes good. 

Poor Lucky is walking around panting. She hates this hot weather. 

Luckily the workers were not scheduled for today. I would have had to send them home. It was too hot to work.

I just want to stay downstairs where it is subterranean and cool. 

I forgot to mention that yesterday was Sunny the bird's 13th birthday!  I took him out of his cage for a little walk around and some how his injured his feather on his wing. All I could think about was "it is your birthday and I messed up your wing!" But he seems fine today. Poor guy already has an overbite and a broken toe. He is a trouper!  

 Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED EIGHTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

I will make this quick. I made vegan California burgers. They are really good. It was a two day process of making them, searing, soaking, frying. I made one with the burger bun and avocado mayo. It was a meal. 

The work on the backyard continued. I pressed the submit button and ordered the lattice for the fence. The backyard work today was flattening out the dirt under the deck, cleaning out the stuff under the deck, pressure washing a bunch of stuff, and continuing to working on the railway tie. 

I tried to relax in between everything. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED SEVENTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

I made Vegan Burger Buns today. It was an interesting process making my own burger buns. I can't say they came out perfect but I got them done. Yeast and I are not friends. Things always go wrong when I have to use yeast. 

I put some herbs in the buns so they taste herby. They will go well with my next project. 

Bedides the baking I wished some folks happy father's day. I also sat outside in the sunshine and read my book. 

Until tomorrow.. 

DAY TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

 I wanted to relax today but that didn't happen. First I tried driving to the post office to get my mail but I couldn't find a parking place anywhere near the post office. So, I drove home and got the dog and walked down. I had a paycheck waiting and I needed to pay some bills. 

Once we got home I decided to make the next recipe in the North American Vegan cooking course. I made vegan avocado mayonnaise. It is to put on another recipe that I will be making tomorrow.

I have been watching the HBO series The Flight Attendant. It is really good. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY FOUR LANDSCAPING PROJECT -THE FENCE IS GONE!

 Well, my chain link fence is gone. This puts a smile on my face. A big smile. The guys worked so hard today. Just hours of back breaking work. Pulling out ivy, breaking down the last bit of fence. Cutting a crazy tree/bush. Cutting a railroad tie. So much stuff. The backyard looks so much bigger. I have the final measurements so I can order the new fencing. I wanted them to measure again (which wasn't taken too well) but I wanted to be certain since I can't really measure by myself. It really takes two people to measure a backyard. Now that I am certain (Okay, I admit it. I stood and watched them measure.) I can order the necessary fencing. 

 I am exhausted. It is hard to project manage two guys. I have to get them ice cold water. Sometimes get them tools that they have forgotten. Provide a much needed entertainment break. I watch over the work and provide useful commentary and critique. Plus, I have to do my own work and deal with the animals. It is a lot. 

But I got a bonus today. My Pride flag was hung. Here is the saga. I used to have a flag pole that hung on the side of my house. 1.5 years ago the pole snapped when (I think) someone pulled the flag down.  This is the second time someone had done it. I tried to buy another flag pole but it was COVID and I don't need to say more. This week I decided to buy a flag pole and one arrived on Wednesday. My guy was going to hang the flag but when I pulled out my 2' flag it was the wrong size for this pole I bought. The pole had hooks at set spaces. The spaces were for a 2.5' flag and you couldn't move them. No pride flags come in 2.5' size, I checked. So, I bought a 3' flag and thought we could move the hooks. The flag arrived and I looked more closely at the hooks and realized they were held on with plastic rings. It is really windy here and plastic rings would not do. One of the guys was going to the hardware store and I asked him to get a new flag pole. He got another pole but it had no hooks and we had to drill holes and put in eye hooks. Once that was done we put on the flag at which time he went to hang it and the flag pole holder had no screw in it. The screw holds the pole tight in the base. We had to search through my bunch of screws (thanks Dad for teaching me to save random screws) and found one that fit. He put the pole up and the flag is flying. Saga over. 

I had a Vegan "Chickun" Caesar Salad. It was a delicious. I used vegan "chicken" nuggets for the salad. 

I see what every goes crazy for.

I think that is enough for today.

WHAT A DAY!

It is 9:49pm and I just finished working on a work project. So as much as I want to regale you with my fantastic stories, I am tired and I want to go to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow since the backyard guy is coming. On Wednesday he showed up 30 minutes early so I need to be on my toes tomorrow. 

Today I worked a bunch then I made something really fantastic that I will show you maybe tomorrow. But right now I am going to go lie down and put my feet up. 

Here is a cute photo of Lucky to keep you entertained. 

I am teaching Lucky to drive! She is almost old enough to get her learners permit.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED FIFTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

 First, there has been so much progress on the backyard. The person showed up early and feels better. He got right to work taking down the chain link fence. He really worked hard digging out the concrete posts and cutting down the ivy. In the afternoon he called a friend and they both worked to get almost all the fence dug up and taken down. The friend has a truck and they filled it with the fence and the ivy. It looks so great. There is so much more room in the backyard now. It is messy because they had to run to make it to the dump in time.  It will get cleaned up on Friday.

It turns out the other neighbor's fence looks nice but it is not as sturdy as it looks. Now that my fence is down the neighbor's fence wobbles. 

I made vegan "beef" stock. It is carrots, celery, mushrooms, and lots of spices and other stuff. It will be used for a couple of recipes coming up. 

I had a client raise his voice to me yesterday and today I spoke to the supervisor. I did not complain but I explained. The supervisor was surprised but not shocked. The supervisor made it clear to me that I was to contact the supervisor if it happened again. The supervisor is not going to put up with it. I made it clear that I appreciated the support. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED FOURTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

 Okay here is the big reveal: Vegan Caesar Salad. I made my first caesar salad. It was so good. I put the vegan "bacon" bits that I made from TVP. The Parmesan cheese that I made from walnuts. Then the vegan croutons that I made by myself. Now I made vegan Caesar salad dressing. I put it all on a bunch of romaine lettuce. Oh, so good! 

I can't wait to make another one and eat it! 

I worked a lot today. I am very tired. People tire me out some days. 

Tonight is my first Orencia shot since probably January. Getting back on the Orencia merry-go-round. 

Until tomorrow....

DAY TWO HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF COOKING COURSE

 Today I worked on making another component that I will show later this week. It took hours to make. 

I am showing you another component for the dish: vegan croutons. I usually hate croutons. I find them too hard, dry, too spicy and too garlicky.  The croutons that I made are not too crispy, not too spicy and no garlic. Just a pinch of garlic powder. 

Tomorrow they all get put together. 

I got the color palette for the lattice options today. I have been trying to decide what to do. Do I go lighter or darker. The darker is very dark and the lighter is just a tad lighter. I think I am going to go lighter. The darker will make my backyard seem small. I need to go with my gut. 

 I called the doctor about my foot/ankle and I have an appointment with the nurse practitioner on video. I think they are going to send me to a specialist anyway so why go in? Meanwhile no walking. Lucky is not happy about that.

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED TWELVE OF COOKING COURSE

 I made vegan Parmesan cheese. It is super easy and tastes good. It is made from walnuts. 

I had a slow day. I am having a problem with my feet/ankle. My left foot/ankle is a little swollen and it burns. Last night I could barely sleep. I am going to call the doctor in the morning. I kept it elevated today. 

I did do one thing today: I removed the drain cover and removed a clump of hair. I have had a slow moving drain all week and I have been thinking of calling the plumber. Instead I thought I would be my own plumber and look down the drain myself. I saw a clump of hair (how could I have lost that much hair???) and I removed it. I hope my drain runs faster now. A few weeks ago I bought a drain cover to catch the hair. It works. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN OF COOKING COURSE

I can't believe I haven't cooked for the vegan cooking course since March 5, 2022. That is three months. Well, I am back in the saddle, as they say. Today I started with half a creation. I am rolling out the segments separately and then I will show the end product. Today I made vegan bacon bits. I know I heard you say "what?" I made bacon bits out of something called TVP (textured vegetable protein). Due to what I put in, it tastes smokey and then I basically fried it. 

I also took Lucky for two walks: one long and one short. Then I did a deep clean on the bird's cage. It hasn't been deep cleaned in two years. I have to take it outside and use the garden hose to get it really clean. It sparkles now. 

It was a full day. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY THREE OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 Today was hotter than yesterday. My poor landscaper was so hot outside in the sun. His dog was not happy being outside all day trying to find shade. I kept giving them ice water. But progress was made. It won't look like it in the photos but most of the chain link fence is gone and the remaining ivy is cut from the neighbors fence and is only hanging on from the roots. He put it back up for the weekend so I could enjoy the backyard but it was laying down earlier in the day. All of the poles are gone from the chain link fence and some of the supports. He is alternating between that and digging out the ivy roots. It is dirty and disgusting work especially in 90 degree heat. I do not envy him. It looks great! 

The piece of wood is holding up the ivy.

These are the pieces of the chain link fence. No ivy on the fence!

these are the pieces of the metal fence. all that ivy is just sitting not attached.

 I tried to work today in the heat. It was hard. I had three deliveries and a doctor's appointment by video. 

Then I had a client call me from her vacation in a panic. She had to get something in for a grant today by day's end. Could I do it? Of course. So I rushed to get it done for her. That pushed back my other project and why I am just finishing that project at 8:45pm on a Friday night. 

But my projects are done for the week. I can relax a bit. I have a sleeping dog next to me and I am going to watch a movie in this heat. 

Until tomorrow...

IT WAS A HOT DAY

Today was a hot day. It would have been a wonderful day to spend in my backyard but all my tasks were inside. I did have to move the 12 bags of compost out to the curb for pick up tomorrow. I still have three more bags but the garbage people only take 10 plus the two in my compost bin. 

Then my water delivery came and the guy delivered the wrong kind of water. I dragged the bottles inside, called the company and they said drag them back outside for pickup tomorrow. They are going to switch them. 

I online food shopped for this weekend. I'm hoping to make some of the recipes from the next chapter of my cooking course. They are going to come out with another course soon. I think I have five courses left. 2 cheese courses, sourdough bread, North American cuisine, and the upcoming Foraging Herbs. 

My very nice neighbor gave me a few ounces of whiskey for one of the recipes. I figure it is a good trade. I ply him with pastries and he gives me small amounts of alcohol for cooking. 

Tonight I had a salad for dinner because it was so hot. I didn't want to cook anything. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 The person working on my backyard was kind enough to eat up all the lemon cookies from last week so I made more cookies today. I made vegan orange sugar cookies. I was going to throw some chocolate chips in them but I forgot. Probably just as well. These taste amazing. Like an orange in your mouth. 

The backyard renovation is coming along. It is day two and the fence along the left side is now cleared of all ivy and lattice. The neighbor's tree has been trimmed of all dead branches hanging in my yard (with the neighbor's permission). The branches were cut up for firewood in my outside fire pit. 

The person will be back on Friday for day three when we start on the right side fence. He and I have so many plans. I had to make a list to make sure it all gets done and nothing gets forgotten.

I have been researching fencing and other options to replace what is taken down. Different types, colors, styles, so much information. It has to be eco for me and a color that works with what I have already and a style I like. That is a large order. I think I found something but now I have to figure out how to get it here. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN CARROT-PARSNIP SOUP

 The weather has been so crazy. Last week it was 90 degrees today it was so windy it was freezing. Two days ago it was raining. I would not be surprised if tomorrow it started snowing. 

So I made soup tonight. I made vegan carrot-parsnip soup. It is really good. I didn't have any fresh ginger so I didn't add any. It tastes fine without it. 

I spent time today looking at websites for fencing and lattice. I need to make decisions quickly to get my backyard completed. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 Today I am so excited. My landscaper showed up and started working. I was a little unprepared for him to show up when he did and I was still in my PJs. He came with his sweet dog and we had a talk about my vision. He is up for the work. He started working right away. Here is what I want:

Right side fence - I want the ivy removed and the fence to be be saved as much as can be but take out all the rotted part. Mostly old lattice. Dig up the ivy and and remove the roots. Install new lattice.

Left side fence - remove metal fence dig up concrete posts if possible. Remove all ivy including roots. Install new fence. 

Clear out the whole backyard of all weeds. 

Power wash the slate.

Then we had a talk about the area underneath my deck and how that is unused space. He says he can level that earth and make the space usable. 

It is going to look like a whole new backyard. 

Today he made some progress. The weeds are gone. He started on the right side fence. He filled six bags of compost at least. It is like I am getting more real estate. 

Here is where the ivy has been removed from the fence.

I worked while he was doing this backyard work. Then I made some cashew butter. I need something to put on my morning muffin since my peanut butter has been recalled. It turned out really well. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN ZUCCHINI BOATS

 I made some zucchini boats tonight. I took zucchini and put tomato sauce and Italian bread crumbs on them and baked them. Then I put cheese on it and melted the cheese. They were delicious. I ate it with tofu and curry couscous. 

It rained here. It was such a surprise. Lucky didn't want to go outside. I had to push her outside. She thinks she is made out of brown sugar. 

I tried to get all my invoicing done today but I only got some of it done. I did spend some time last night deleting photos from my phone. I think I deleted 300. They were duplicates. When you do social media the photos get duplicated so I got rid of some of the duplicates. I need to delete more. 

I gave some of the Oreo cheesecake away. No reviews yet. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN OREO CHEESECAKE

 I had some Oreo cookies and some vegan cream cheese so what did I make? Vegan Oreo Cheesecake! It tastes so good. I put a chocolate ganache on top instead of whipped cream. Every bite has Oreos in it. 

Making this cheesecake took a bit of time today. I also took Lucky for two walks. I have been watching season 4 of Stranger Things on TV. I am hooked. 

Until tomorrow...