Evening Update

I started the bean soup tonight. I did the first step where I boil the beans for two minutes and then let it stand for an hour. I am about ½ way through the second step where I put the ham bone, garlic, and bay leaves in an simmer for two hours.

When it is done simmering it will be about 10:30 PM and time to go to bed, so I will put the covered pot in the garage overnight (too hot to go directly into the fridge), and then tomorrow night I will add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions and simmer for another hour.

It already smells great. The ham bone filled the kitchen with a good smoky sweet smell in a matter of minutes. The broth actually already has some pretty good taste too.

I made humus with the garbanzos I cooked over the weekend. We were going to get some pita bread to eat the humus with for dinner, but Dominick’s didn’t have any. We went looking down the cracker isle for something to dip with, but they were all on the high-fat side. Then I had a brilliant idea. We got a fresh baguette from the bakery. I sliced it pretty thin, maybe a ¼ inch, and then laid them on a pizza screen. I set the oven low, about 250º, and slid the screen into the oven. I checked them every now and then while I was making the humus, and just pulled them out when they were nice and crunchy. It was cheaper, tastier, and a lot less fat than a box of crackers.

Sheri also liked the looks of one of the soups at the deli salad bar, so we got a pint of that. It was a chicken tortilla soup. We stopped every couple of isles and had a few bites each, and finished it off at home.

I also got a mango. It was delicious. I always have trouble peeling them, so I hopped on the internet and did a search on "how to peel a mango". The trick is to use a vegetable peeler! It worked perfectly. I always thought the skin was supposed to peel off easily like an avocado.

I bought a couple of bags of soybeans, and ate those as I cooked. One was barbecue, and the other I just had to try. It was apple flavored. Very good with just a slight sweetness and a little bit of cinnamon.

We also each had a soy burger on light bread with a slice of fat free American cheese and a little mustard. I have always like these, and Sheri has just discovered them and made them one of her new favorites. We like the Morningstar Farms Grillers. They are mostly soy and have almost no carbohydrates other than fiber. I microwave one for about 45 seconds and them flip it over and cook it for another 45 seconds.

So all of the above was our dinner.

I also bought a package of Hurst's Hambeen Brand 15 Bean Soup kit. I actually heard a radio advertisement a day or two ago and thought it was an odd thing to advertise on the radio, but I probably wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't heard the add. I will wait awhile after this current batch of bean soup before I make the Hambeen soup.

I just saw a headline that Johnny Paycheck died today. He is best know for his 1977 hit, "Take This Job and Shove It". He was 64.

My back has been hurting a lot again lately. Mostly in the morning, and at the end of the day. I think it might be about time to get serious about getting that Tempur-Pedic mattress. Maybe this weekend, and have it delivered while Sheri is recuperating (if they can't deliver it on a weekend, that is.)