Peanut butter & jelly oatmeal--food of the gods!

5 things:

1.  Make a bowlful of old-fashioned oats:  maybe 1/2 cup of oats, and a generous cup of water....I don't measure oatmeal anymore.  The real recipe for two cups of cooked oatmeal is 1 cup of oats and 2 cups of water, so one bowlful is half of that.

2.  I put the oats into a saucepan, add cold water (it turns out creamier), then bring it to a boil,  simmering and stirring until it looks done.  Turn off the heat.

3.  Stir in 1 tablespoon of peanut butter--for me, this is always organic and creamy, not crunchy, but to each her own.

4.  Add 1 teaspoon of jelly--and here's the chance for me to use up the jelly that's hardly enough to serve on the table for guests but too good to throw out, so it sits in the fridge.  This morning i used
the last spoonful of gooseberry jelly from El's Kitchen in Winterport, ME.  Yowzah!!

5.  I wish I had made a full recipe, but maybe this is built-in portion control.  So....from the oatmeal part I get 3 grams of fat, .05g of which is saturated; NO SODIUM!!; 5 grams of dietary fiber; and 6 grams of protein.  From the peanut butter part, I got 4 grams of saturated fat, 62.5mg of sodium; 0g cholesterol; 1g sugar; and 4g of protein.  Not so bad, particularly compared with my usual breakfast these days of 2 fried eggs on toast with lots of butter. 

Loafing: June 4, 2013

5 Things:

1.  I'm glad I quit my freelance job.  I got one more file back for the final once-over, and it's so full of crap--missing or additional apostrophes, that kind of nonsense.  Some writers never make the changes I suggest, or when they rewrite it, they use the same old tired syntax.  Bleah.

2.  I was going to walk two miles today, but I didn't.  Didn't feel like it once I got out there.

3.  One of my friends is working way too hard and doing far too much to take care of her grandchildren.  She's having bouts of a-fib, and she's had a pacemaker for 12 years or so.  She is a precious, talented, wonderful person, and I'd like to think she'll be around for a long time. 

4.  I hardly ever dream, now that I'm retired.  But I had a good one last night.  Was so disappointed when I woke up to realize it was just that--a dream.

5.  I went to Whole Foods and passed up the pork chops and the steak.  Just can't bring myself to eat anything but vegetables or eggs.  One of my vegan friends has a t-shirt that says "I'm not vegetarian because I love animals.  I'm vegetarian because I hate vegetables!!"  Well....

Happy birthday, Mama!

5 things:

1.  Today would be my mother's 116th birthday.  She was born in Altengeseke, Westphalen, Germany, on this day in 1897.  Her mother died almost 3 years later.  She came to this country at age 6 with her father and six siblings:  Joseph, Anna, Anton, Teresia, Henry, and Adam.  The family settled in Cherokee, Iowa.  (Well, the farm actually was in Meriden, Iowa, which is like 7 miles from Cherokee, the "big" county seat.) 

2.  I have been meditating twice a day for about a month or even two.  And I have learned that my mind has its own Fox News commentary on everything. 

3.  Transcending means to separate oneself from these thoughts and live in the present moment.

4.  At this stage in my life, I have almost 80 years of commentary to deal with.

5.  Thanks be, I am still breathing and experiencing my life.  Thank you for giving me life, Mom.