Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Have you had your leafy greens today?

Mmmmmmm.....kale.



Next time you're at the grocery store, grab a bundle of the squiggly-leafed, dark green super-food.

Bring it home, give it a quick rinse and a shake, strip it off the woody stem and chop it up...the whole bundle. Trust me.

Now put a little olive oil in a pan. Chop up a half a big onion and brown it. Chop a couple-three nice chicken breasts...bite sized pieces. Throw it in the pan. When the chickie is browned, grate in 3 or 4 nice big cloves of garlic...or to your own taste and season with some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now throw in the kale. All of it. Drizzle a little more EVOO over the top, put a lid on it and turn the heat down. Let it cook...oh...I dunno...10 minutes. Until all the kale wilts down.

While you're wilting the kale, throw on a big pot of water and cook up some whole wheat pasta of your choice. Personally, I like linguine or fettuccine.

Drain the pasta, reserving a ladle-full of the starchy water. Throw the starchy water into the pan of chicken and kale and add the pasta.

Toss all together and eat it up.

Friday, March 26, 2010

No news is good news

Or so they say.

Damn. I used to be a pretty prolific blather-er...uh...I mean blogger. I used to post fairly frequently. I used to write reasonably intelligent, sometimes funny posts. I used to feel like I had something to say.

Pffffffttttttt! It's kinda like this...

funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I could rant about the current political climate...but it just that...ranting. I'll keep quiet until November.

I could talk about work. But what's to say? I still love my job even though it's busier than ever.

I could bitch and whine about how getting older is a pain in the ass...and every where else. But like...who cares? Most of us boomers are in the same boat.
At least the ole knee is feeling better. That
  • Synvisc
  • stuff seems to be working like it's 'sposta.

    I could brag about how it's been over three months since I had my last cigarette...but in deference to da Zigster, I won't. Unfortunately, he's having a harder time kickin it than I am, bless him wittle heart.

    Oh...I got a new vacuum cleaner. I've been drooling over the Dyson's for a year or so...finally broke down and bought a
  • D 24 All Floors


  • And baby...does it ever suck. In a good way, I mean. And I got one helluva deal on it on Overstock.com...damn near a hundred bucks off! It makes it suck even bettah!

    Gawd. What the hell's happened to me? I'm singing the praises of a vacuum, fer gawd's sake. Kill me.

    In other shopping news, I got a new camera, too. On the recommendation of my neighbor, who's an awesome photog, I got a
  • Fujifilm Finepix s1800


  • I figure it'll take me six months to a year to figure the damn thing out. And even then, who the hell do I think I am? Ansel-fucking-Adams?

    So that's what's new with me.

    Absofuckinglutely nothing.

    Except a vacuum and a camera.

    Pitiful.

    Friday, March 19, 2010

    "Vote no but take the dough"

    Can't believe the local news didn't pick up on Boy Wonder Aaron Schock making NBC Nightly News' Fleecing of America segment last night.

    The vid is
  • here


  • On one hand it is the perfect example of political hypocrisy at it's finest. On the other had, I kinda see his point. If we're gonna hafta pay for it, we might as well benefit from it.

    And I'm pretty sure he'd have caught holy hell from most of his constituents if he hadn't tried to go after some of the money.

    Politics.

    Leaves a nasty taste in my mouth just sayin the word.

    Monday, March 15, 2010

    A knee in need

    Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

    Well, that hurt like a mofo.

    Saw the ortho doc today. For exactly 42 seconds. Just long enough for him to look at the x-ray and agree with his PA. The asshole didn't even shake my hand.

    Wonder just how much he charges for 42 seconds? Prick.

    His PA, on the other hand, was awesome.

    He agreed with me. My knee is fubar'd. But he also agreed that a new knee wasn't really an option, considering that they only last for about 10 years and I'm only 55.

    So I got a shot of
  • Synvisc

  • in my knee joint.

    I had my choice of 3 injections, several days apart or a one-time big one. I chose the big one. And it was a big dose of liquid with a consistency similar to corn syrup.

    Son. of. a. bitch. Felt like my knee exploded from the inside out.

    But it's supposed to last 6 months. It's a damned good thing...I don't know as I could stand to get 'em any more often.

    I wanted to stop at Menard's on the way outa town, so I headed out Allen Road. I happened to notice the car in front of me, a white Impala. Actually, I noticed the plate...PRD WHT...and a number.

    I hope it didn't mean what I assumed it to mean.

    But I think it probably did.

    They turned into WalMart.

    Monday, March 08, 2010

    Ya just can't get good help anymore

    I don't know what we did, pre-cat, when we had something to put together.

    Because obviously we just can't construct a damn thing without their help and support.

    Ahem.

    I've been looking for a new dining table for several months, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Until I stopped by Pier 1 on Saturday.



    I loved it, but it did require a little DIY construction. Thankfully, I happen to be lucky enough to have an honest-ta-gawd, real, live handyman at my beck and call.

    And a couple of cats.

    Simon supervises.


    "He's not doin it right!"


    Both da boys get in on the "helping" action.


    Simon makes sure that Ziggy stays on task by holding him down.


    Construction complete, Simon grabs a well-deserved snooze. Hey...supervising is hard work.


    In other news...I went to the doc this morning. The good news is that my blood pressure was 110/78 and my cholesterol was 158!

    The bad news is that I'm now "officially" a Type II diabetic and my left knee is truly and completely fucked. My doc thinks I need a knee replacement. I think I'm gonna put that little adventure off as long as I can. I have an appointment with an ortho next week, so we'll see what he thinks.

    Oh, and to add insult to injury, I've gained 8 pounds since I quit smoking. I suppose I should be thankful it was only 8. (sigh)

    But I can't figure out how I managed to lower my cholesterol and raise my blood sugar and gain weight...all while working like hell to eat healthy.

    I'm not kiddin...I've cut out damn near all carbs...no bread, potatoes, rolls, donuts, cake, cookies, pasta (sob!); no sugar, no fast foods, no junk foods...and I still gained weight.

    In the last month or so, I've even fixed a couple of recipes using
  • kale
  • , fer chrissake!

    Kale!