Recently, I read somewhere that you should eat the following five foods every day:
Salmon
Avocado
Tomatoes
Yogurt
Dark leafy greens
With that thought in mind, I made this salad:
This salad is amazing. I mashed up one large avocado, gave it a generous squirt of lemon juice, and a dash of sea salt, coarse black pepper, and Mrs. Dash Tomato, Basil and Garlic seasoning. Then, I added sliced grape tomatoes (about 10), a bit of chopped onion, and a small amount of shredded cabbage. I mixed in a 5 oz package of salmon. It was delicious and healthy, and it included four of the five foods we should eat every day, according to the unknown article I read.
The entire salad – which is a lot – is 11 Weight Watchers points if you eat it all.
When I make steel-cut oats in the Instant Pot, I always end up throwing a lot away since I’m the only one eating it. I ordered these little 6 ounce jars from Amazon.
One cup of oats cooked with three cups of water fills four of these little jars. I ate the fourth one. Now I have breakfast to go.
This weekend, I’m going to make sugar-free pear compote in the Instant Pot. The only ingredients are pears, water, cinnamon and ginger. I can have this with the oats. One of these jars of oats is 3 Weight Watchers points, and 1/4 cup of the compote is 0 points.
I’m also going to make Instant Pot Yogurt this weekend. I’m going to use skim milk since my doctor told me only to have fat-free dairy for now.
Recently, I did the Ancestry.com DNA test. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to work up enough spit to fill that little tube. The first half was easy, but then I had to wait about 15 minutes to work up the rest. Who knew?
I’ve always been interested in genealogy. It’s fascinating to see what kind of results I might get. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about people thinking they were one nationality and turning out to be something else entirely.
My two sisters are both Rh negative, and I’m not. I’ve heard that Rh negative blood types could be from an alien species. I’m not going to rule that out because I swear I’m the normal one…and both of them are freakishly smart.
My daughter is considering getting her DNA done as well. It would be interesting to learn more about her dad’s side of the family.
I mailed mine in last Tuesday, so I guess I still have awhile to wait. Some people get the results as early as three weeks, but Ancestry.com says to allow 6-8 weeks, or even longer. I’m excited about it. I might not learn much new, but it will be fun anyway.
After a weekend of pure laziness, I’m out of most of the food I normally eat. I found a new container of steel cut oats, so I’m going to try making that in the Instant Pot for the first time. I used Kroger steel cut oats because I have no idea if oats are oats are oats.
Oh, and I must insert here that today I’ve lost 41 pounds. Yay!
I’m going to put one cup of oats and three cups of water into the Instant Pot and enter three minutes manually. I think some people add salt and maybe even butter, but I’m on a low-sodium, low-fat diet per my doctor’s instructions, so I’m leaving that out.
One lesson I just learned the hard way is to let the steam release naturally or it will make a horrific mess.
I layered 1/2 cup steel cut oats and fat-free strawberry-flavored Greek yogurt in a wine glass and topped with one tablespoon of slivered almonds. I used Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt. I don’t drink alcohol anymore, so I might as well use those wine glasses for something.
If you’re doing Weight Watchers, this is 6 points.
It’s funny how a dinner idea can grow. Yesterday, I decided to cook Instant Pot “baked” potatoes. I made some a couple of weeks ago, and they were fabulous. I thought some chicken tenders would go nicely with that. The girl (my daughter) came in and mentioned tomatoes, which grew to onions, garlic, bell pepper, and Mrs. Dash. And a meal was born. I’m going to share it with all the recipeople here.
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes:
4 Potatoes, whatever kind you like
Chicken stock, 1 cup
Put trivet in Instant Pot and pour in chicken stock. I use Kitchen Basics no-added sodium. Put the lid on the Instant Pot, and make sure it’s set to Steam. Set to Manual and High Pressure – 12 minutes for small potatoes or 18 minutes for large potatoes. Quick Release steam.
Asparagus:
This is easy. Stick a bag of Green Giant, Bird’s Eye, or your other favorite steamable asparagus in the microwave.
Chicken Stuff: (It has no name)
Chicken tenders – 2 lbs
Onion – 1/2 cup
Garlic cloves – 4 large
Green bell pepper – 1/2 cup
Mrs. Dash Tomato, Basil, and Garlic seasoning, 2 Tbsp
Diced tomatoes, 15’ish oz can
Olive oil – 2 Tbsp
Salt – to taste. (I don’t use any because I’m on a low-salt diet.)
Chicken stock – 1 cup
Sautee onion, garlic cloves, bell pepper, and chicken in olive oil until the chicken is nearly done. Add Mrs. Dash, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, and salt. Cover and cook with a lid until the chicken is completely done.
Serve:
I put the chicken and juice over my “baked” potato.
Last weekend, I experienced my first Sweet Adelines regional competition. I’ve never been accused of being able to walk and chew gum, so imagine my entry into the world of singing four-part harmony while dancing…on risers…
While signing in, I was given a pink First-Timer ribbon. That must have been a big deal because people in the elevators and throughout the hotel applauded each time my ribbon was noticed.
One of the best things about singing with Sweet Adelines is the makeup, sparkly outfits, and bling, although it did look like we were attending a hooker convention. Note the mother/daughter T-shirts. They say, “Barbershop is a Team Sport.”
The fun began with a flag parade. Each chorus in the region had a flag. The little white flag on the end is ours.
We also had a craft. Two people from each chorus created a poster and then paraded them around the ballroom. They were later displayed in the hotel atrium for everyone to see. My daughter was one of the two from our chorus who created the poster.
Here she is again entertaining the masses backstage. There is no telling what she was saying, but you can bet it was something funny.
The lady on the far right was celebrating her 83rd birthday that day. Our ladies range from 29 to 83 years old.
These cute young ladies were all 14 and 15 years old, and they sang barbershop like pros. They all had beautiful voices. They’re the Belle Tones from Austin, Texas.
This is actually the Belle Tones performing You Are My Sunshine at our flag ceremony.
The only downer is that our hotel was in Greenspoint (locally known as Gunspoint). I’m told it’s the most unsafe part of Houston. You shouldn’t go outside at night, so we were confined to the hotel. I’m surprised we had all four tires still on our vehicle at the end of the weekend, but all was uneventful in that regard.
We didn’t win anything at competition, but we did score 29 points higher than last year and rose two position in the ranks. I came back much more motivated and am ready to work hard for next year.
