Radish Tacos and a Walk

I'm starting this post a little different. The following Radish Taco recipe is healthy, tasty, economical, and easy. Even most small groceries will have what you need to make it. Although the green onions I was able to buy at the Port Orford grocery store were a bit sad, the big beautiful radishes were great.

 For Tacos: 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can black beans
• 6-10 radishes
• 1 bunch green onions
  
• corn tortillas.
  

For Crema: 

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp lime juice
  
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
  

You will also need a food processor and a frying pan.

Put all the ingredients for the Crema into a food processor and pulse to combine. Set aside. 

Rinse and drain the black beans, wash and dice the radishes, and slice the green onions.

Heat olive oil in fry pan over medium heat, and sauté green onions for a short while. Add radishes and continue to cook until they are tender and start to lose color.  Add beans and stir often until they are warmed through. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Clean pan, add a tiny amount of oil and warm tortillas a few at a time as required.

 

To serve, put some bean/radish mixture onto a warm tortilla, top with avocado crema, fold and eat. We find this recipe yields about 8 tacos. Enough to satisfy us without any additions or leftovers.

I know this recipe was not from my childhood; Craig says it came as a Allrecipes email. Actually we didn't eat Tacos in my parents' house, and tortillas were not available in a regular grocery store. I'm glad times have changed.

The Walk:

On Tuesday, we woke to bright sunshine peeking through the slats of the blinds. Sure enough, the slight breeze overnight had blown away the smoke and fog. I knew just where to go for a nice walk, back to Humbug Mountain State Park to try out another of its trails. This time it was the "Fern Trail".

 

It was another beautiful walk.  

Uphill to the same place as our last hike,  but easy because most of it was on the pavement of old US 101, and the altitude gain was spread over a mile instead of a quarter mile.

I guess it is called the Fern Trail because there are a lot of ferns growing there. The road cut gives them just enough light to flourish.

Instead of turning around and walking back down the 101 grade, we came down on the Amphitheater Trail, which we were on last week. A bit hard on the old knees, but so pretty it was worth it.

The trailhead parking lot is on the side of the busy highway 101, but the trail goes under through a culvert tunnel. It was so nice to get out again after so many days of hiding from the wildfire smoke.

In memory of our friend Judy Bell:

The End

 

Alive and very well at Jojoba Hills

Our days have been passing quite quickly here at Jojoba Hills. We have not really "done" much, but I at least have not been bored for a moment.

Almost every morning I have gone over to the Friendship Hall where the big beautiful pool is, and first walked for a mile or two on one of the treadmills in the exercise room, while watching the morning news, then joined a half dozen or so others in the pool to do 40 minutes of easy water exercises. 



They play a recorded routine. The exercises are suitable for older bodies, but give a great relaxing stretch and a complete series of joint movements. After the pool time, we gather in the hot tub for a bit. Then I use the showers and dress for the day.

I get back to the rig about 10:45, by which time Craig has finished his breakfast and morning routines. On a couple of days I have found him just getting up, and on a couple of others he was outside washing windows. This has been a very easy-going time!

Temecula is about 14 miles away, and we have gone there several times to shop. We also went to an afternoon movie one day, and out for an excellent gourmet pizza on another. 

One of the things I brought along on this adventure was my sewing machine. Just about the only thing I sew is pajamas for Craig. It is hard to believe it has been three years since I made him three new pair while he was working on repairs and painting the high, dangerous places outside our dining room windows. I set up my machine on the table so I could keep an eye on him.  

Well, it is time to make him some more. He went with me to the fabric store and picked out three lengths of nice 100% cotton. Of course they are quite colorful! 









I have taken advantage of the huge sewing room open to all here at Jojoba Hills. 

Room for all, they made space for me to work too!

My back no longer is happy about standing over a work table for hours on end, so I have gone over on three different days, cutting out one pair each time. The ladies who have their machines there and were working on a variety of projects were very welcoming and friendly. There is a sewing machine that anyone can use, or if I had wanted to bring in my own,  there was a space for it. I have been doing the sewing in the Alfa. I find it quite easy to set up, and put away, so I can work for a few hours whenever I wish.

I'm in no great rush to get these finished, since although he picked out the fabric, the overall project is meant to be a Christmas present. 

Temecula, CA, the nearest town, has a number of large chain groceries, including Albertson's and Ralph's, plus a Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Fresh and Easy, and Walmart.

We were happy to be able to buy some end-of-season heirloom tomatoes this week for one last go at our favorite meal of just tomatoes, cheese, lots of very fresh basil, and warm baked french bread, with a balsamic-and-caper dressing. A laptop and a glass of white wine is all that is needed for a super supper.  :-)

Recently I saw a video about making perfect poached eggs by wrapping them in plastic before lowering them into boiling water:
1. drape plastic wrap like a liner in a cup or ramekin, 
2. put a little oil in the plastic wrap, 
3. crack egg into plastic, 
4. tie off, and
5. boil about five minutes.

I have wanted to try it, so when we had a lazy Sunday last week I did.

It worked great, far less stressful than trying to poach them in just water the way I had learned in the past.  I topped a toasted English muffin with some ham, chopped spinach, and Hollandaise sauce from a can, for a homemade Eggs Benedict.

Not exactly your typical camping breakfast!

Let's see.  What else have we been up to?

Craig helped our friend Judy put together a new picnic table. Emma watched, and I took pictures. She treated us to a hamburger cookout the next day.

We also drove down to Escondido to see our grandson Dylan play in a San Diego Youth Symphony concert. It was a treat to be able to do a "family" thing.

Other than that we've just been pretty lazy, reading and watching TV. There are tons of things to do here at Jojoba, but since we are just visitors at this time, I don't want to start anything. We are thinking about getting on the waiting list for a membership, and if we do I am sure to join many groups next time we are here.

I will end this post with a glimpse at a very nice sunset. 

Until next time!

Jim's Smokin' Que

[From Craig]  Barbecue fans from all over the country (at least those east of the Mississippi) should make a beeline for Jim's Smokin' Que south of Blairsville, GA.  It's about 2 or 3 miles south of Blairsville (94 miles NE of Atlanta) on US 19/129, locally a.k.a. Gainesville Hwy.

We've been looking at the place as we go past, for the last week or two.  Since they're only open Thursday through Saturday, it took us a while to get synchronized.  Now that we're retired full-timers, we have a tendency to forget what day it is.

I thought I'd never have as good a barbecue as we had at Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City.  Being retired full-timers :-) my memory makes it hard to make comparisons four months apart, but the food here at Jim's sure is great.  We got the big Ribs and More platter that you can see on the site, with pork back ribs, beef brisket, cole slaw and fries.  The idea was to have enough leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, but the stuff was so good that we may have supplement the leftovers!  

The ribs, french fries, and cole slaw were all world-class.  No one makes brisket as good as did my late friend John Nocher of Virginia Beach, Cape Canaveral, Milwaukee, and Fort Worth.  But if you put a good amount of Jim's excellent barbecue sauce on their brisket, it gets pretty good too!

We didn't bring our camera; the pictures wouldn't have been as good as the food anyway.  But I did catch a phone shot of their shirt.  A fold makes it hard to read their slogan "you can smell our butts for miles".

We even have 3 or 4 ribs left over.  I may dream about breakfast all night...



From Merikay:  I was thinking of making the leftovers for dinner, if I can hide them from Craig long enough.

Camp Driveway

We are in limbo as far as the house goes. There have been several open houses, a decent turnout of people and agents, a few possible interested couples, and the usual percentage of lookers who had valid reasons for why this house was not for them.  When I look back on our own home buying experiences, I remember how many houses we walked thru and how different each was. So many of them were "not for us" but were quit right for someone else.

Our house has been very "right" for us for over 25 years.  So far we have not had any feedback about anything we can change about the place. We have done all the work we planned on. When that right couple finds it, they will love it as much as we have.


Until then we will be based at "Camp Driveway," here on the upper drive at our own personal National Park.  It is probably the best minimum-hookup site we will ever have!  If you don't count the expense of keeping the house, and the 20 amp connection, the space is free, peaceful, beautiful, and secure.

Putting a positive spin on the situation, I think this time is good for both of us.  We are getting the feel for just "living" in the Alfa.  Not traveling, not vacationing, not exploring new places.  Just living. 

If we wanted to move back to the house we could.  I know I don't.  Every time I go down I feel like I'm walking into a stranger's house. It does not feel like home.  

The Alfa feels like home. 

I am amazed at myself in that I really like the limited space. I know there will still be rearrangements, but I like the fact that everything should have a place and be put away when we are done with it. Clutter is not an option!

We have been eating really well!

Grilled lobster tails with fresh beans and steamed red potatoes

My first many-ingredient stir fry in the Alfa. I always get everything cut and ready before I start to cook.  I had no problem with the limited space. This was also the first time I used the electric fry pan. Note: We did not eat all those noodles!

Craig making pulled pork 

While we were in Sacramento, one of our jacks started to have problems.  Craig says it has been "balking" for some time.  It needs to be replaced and parts have been ordered.  So another trip up there will be required soon.  Hopefully it will be before the end of the month because I've made reservations at Zion National Park in Utah for the first week of October.  We've agreed that if the repair isn't done, we won't go. The repair guy said it will depend on how long it takes Atwood to send out the parts.  You would think most of a month would be long enough!

Keep us in your thoughts!  We want to be on the move.

Food, Fun, Friendship

 

No cold has developed. I'm very happy about that. I have never been one to suffer allergies, but I understand that there are things in the desert air that cause irritation.

I started the day with another nice walk around the park while we were waiting for the windshield crew to arrive. I was please to see they were there when I returned, and finished the installation without any problems in a timely way.

The wind had died down and the day quickly warmed up.

At about ten we drove over the Casa Grande National Monument. It was interesting, but it didn't take much time to view and appreciate it.

A very nice saguaro cactus outside the visitor's center

There are many cactus flowers blooming. 

We missed the noon-time ice cream social, but got back to the resort in time to attend a question and answer session with the Alfateers techs. It was interesting in that no one seemed to have any really big problems. One of the more unusual quetions was from a woman who had experienced some electrical outages and now her microwave readout was in Spanish and she couldn't get it to reset in English.

We are getting to feel like we belong to our chapter (club). The Alfa Owners group is divided into six chapters. Ours is one of the smallest. The chapters have informal happy hours every afternoon, and sit together at the dinners. We had another all-rally sit down dinner tonight, and tomorrow morning we are going out to Cracker Barral with our chapter for breakfast, and to a dinner show in the evening.

Food, fun, friendship.  Learning more about our coaches and connecting with vendors. A rally is what you make of it. So far we have learned some new things, and enjoyed the company of other Alfa owners.

I'm Keeping the weight off

So far, so good.  

I reached my weight loss goal of getting down to a normal BMI in September. 

I then went on to lose another five pounds in October and have ben flirting with one or two more since the beginning of November.

I am not doing anything "diet like."  I am trying to eat mindfully and think before I put something in my mouth.  I weigh myself every morning.

So far, so good.  

I think I established some better eating parameters over the last ten months, and do not find it difficult to stick with them. 

I am not a vegan, nor a vegetarian.  I avoid beef, most dairy, white flour, alcohol, processed foods, fast food restaurants, most pasta, and dishes with creamy sauces.  

I fry fish but do not eat deep fried fish. 

I have discovered baked sweet potatoes made with olive oil and lots of garlic is much better than french fries.

I have learned to eat  veggies in many low fat ways.

I never leave the table hungry.

So far, so good.

I was extra careful the week before Thanksgiving, and enjoyed all the goodies for three days. (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.)  I  had to be more than careful for the week after to lose the three or four pounds that I took on. I think they were just food in the "system,"  and a bit of bloating from salt, not gained fat.

Hopefully I will be able to enjoy Christmas with the same mindful eating.  Enjoy, but not over do. Smaller portions, not self denial.


I plan to weigh the same on January 9th as I do today. I'll post my progress again then.

... One small cup of Eggnog, not a half gallon!

I will not use the Holidays as an excuse to overindulge.  

Excellent Breakfast

The Alfa is tucked in on her pad for a while.  We may take a short run in November, but basically we will be working on house projects until our Christmas get away. 

It's probably a good thing we don't have a trip soon because California is having a fuel crisis.  Gas prices are skyrocketing. $5.00 gas is being reported in San Francisco, and some stations are closing temporarily rather than pay the high wholesale prices. COSTCO is one of them.  I paid $4.50 for regular yesterday!

So ... I can either put the blog on hold, unlikely, or write about other things in my life, like food.

I had an excellent breakfast this morning.  Leftover ratatouille with leftover spaghetti squash mixed in. 

So good!

Picture from the Web

I cooked the Ratatouille in the slow cooker on Tuesday.  

So easy.  

I really like the cooker I have because the ceramic inner pot is removable and fits into either my home refrigerator or the RV refrigerator, and I can do all the prep work the night before if I want, it is so much easier than doing all the chopping and making a mess in the morning.

I don't really follow a particular recipe. This is how I make it:

Cut the following vegetables into 1" - 1 1/2"  chunks and place into slow cooker, adding the seasonings as you go:
1 large onion
3 bell peppers, red, yellow and orange. 
1 green bell pepper (optional)
2 crook neck yellow squash 
2 or 3 zucchini 
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers
1 large or 2 small peeled eggplants

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes that have been peeled and seeded, or 2 cans chopped tomatoes that have been drained in a sieve to remove excess liquid.  

Seasonings:
Lots of chopped up garlic,  
2 or more tablespoons salt and pepper, 
a generous amount of Italian blend seasoning or your own mix of dried oregano and basil. Parsley is good too. I just shake it on as I add layers of veggies.

A generous splash of olive oil. 

I mix all of this together and top with 1 thin sliced smoked sausage. I use a turkey one from Hillshire Farms. 

Vegetarians can leave the sausage out.

In the morning, I start the slow cooker on high for a little while if possible and then turn it down to low for the rest of the day: 8 hours or so.  If it looks done before dinner time I switch it to warm.  

I do not add any extra liquid to the veggies, nor do I salt and rinse the eggplant. 

Ratatouille is a hearty vegetale stew that is wonderful on a cool autumn evening. I serve it in a soup bowl with both a spoon and a fork.  Sometimes I add a sprinkle of fresh basil or parsley on top if I have it.  

A nice slice of fresh homemade bread completes the meal. Bread is also great to sop up the juices.

The above recipe amount made eight servings.  We had it two nights for dinner, then Craig had it for lunch one day, and I ate the rest for breakfast today.

Yumm...

What is one of your favorite fall comfort foods?

An Answer

In her comment on my last post about the sausage-less sausage, Judy said: "I have wondered for a very long long time why people who don't eat meat want their food to look like meat anyway.  It  puzzles me."

Although I am a "meat eater" I think I have somewhat of an answer to the puzzle. 

For the same reason dog treats are shaped to look like bones: marketing. 

Vegans and vegetarians would probably buy the product just as readily, perhaps even more so, if it was shaped in cubes and called "Italian Seasoned Soy." 

By calling it "sausage-less sausage" and shaping it like sausages, it catches the eye of people who are looking for something different and possibly thinking about reducing their meat consumption.

For me it is the taste, shape and texture.  I really like Italian sausage, be it pork, chicken, or sausage-less! For the sake of my cholesterol levels and my arthritis, I am trying to eat less meat.  I will enjoy these on a bun or cut up along side a couple of eggs. 

I will never be a vegetarian, but I'm intrigued by a recipe I saw recently that was for Baked Shiitake Mushrooms that end up looking like and tasting like bacon bits.  BLTs may be back on my menu.

Now if they could just come up with a substitution for a good baked potato with butter and sour cream I'd be all set!

Any added thoughts?

From Craig: one of these sausage-lesses showed up in our evening meal tonight, and it was very good!

Sausage-less - Sausage

I am not a vegan.

I am not a vegetarian.

I love sausage.  

I have just discovered one of the best sausages I have tasted for a long time.

Trader Joe's Italian Sausage-less sausages!

I have tried several foods that are substitutes for meat products. Most were so-so. If I had seen these in a regular store, I probably would have passed them up in favor of a pork Italian sausage.  But I trust Trader Joe's enough to give them a try and was "wowed" by how good they were.

I plan to start using them wherever I would have used meat sausages in the past.  On pizza, in spaghetti sauce, or just by itself for a tasty lunch or snack.

I'm sure my friends over at The Good Luck Duck know all about them, but it seems to me there are more and more of my blogger friends who are trying out plant-based diets, and I wanted to share this discovery with them.  

Tillamook Marionberry Pie

From Craig:

This is going to be hard to explain to non-ice-cream-lovers.

When we went on an RV adventure to the Pacific Northwest several years ago, after we crossed into Oregon along the Pacific coast we saw many signs advertising Marionberries. The only thing these brought to my mind was that many years ago, Washington DC had a mayor named Marion Barry who was convicted of being a crook.

Then we stopped at the Tillamook plant in central Oregon. Tillamook is one of the top cheese companies in the US, but at their plant we learned that they also make ice cream. In fact we bought two kinds of their ice cream at the plant, Caramel Butter Pecan and Marionberry Pie. Both were among the best ice cream I've ever had.

When we got home to the SF/Monterey Bay areas, I looked into buying their ice cream here. It seemed that the furthest south that Tillamook ice cream was delivered, was to a Tower Foods store in San Francisco, about 60 miles north. I called Tillamook and several of their distributors, but it seemed that this distribution pattern was written in stone!

I tried writing to several grocery chains with stores in our area, but never got any response. So it was with special anticipation that I looked forward to our trip up to Oregon, last June and July. Marionberry Pie was every bit as wonderful as I remembered.

Again we returned home with ice-cream-envy for people in Oregon. I've returned to working on the house while dreaming of road trips.  Recently we made a regular stop at our local Safeway store in Los Gatos. Without much enthusiasm I went through the frozen food aisle.

Guess what I found? A good selection of Tillamook ice cream, including Marionberry Pie! Of course I bought some, and it was even better than ever, probably because of the heat wave we've been having.

Which just goes to show you, if you want something, keep on promoting it. Maybe my email(s?) to Safeway helped this wonderful product appear at our local store.

From Merikay: I agree with Craig that Tillamook is great ice cream.  However my new eating protocol does not include ice cream!  It was one of the hardest thing to give up, and now that there is Tillamook in the freezer it is even harder.

Craig is getting skinny

Craig has been very supportive of my "healthy" food choices this Spring, and has been eating all of the same dinners as I have, with the addition of extra bread.  I may have one thin slice, he usually has several. The rest of the day he is on his own and has not really cut back on higher calorie foods.  


We each get our own breakfasts, I eat a high fiber cereal, and he usually has ham and rolls, or some  frozen packaged dish.  He likes Chile Rellenos from Trader Joe's. 


He usually snacks at night, but isn't buying things that would  tempt me.  We used to share ice cream and/or English Toffee on a regular basis, but not any more. 


As I look over at him right now, he is eating a bowl of one of his favorite sweets. Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. It's almost like liquid white chocolate!  I never could just eat it like he does, straight from the can. 

On a recent shopping trip he bought chocolates and cookies.








He also continues to drink a couple of glasses of wine almost every evening.  That IS a temptation for me, but it is my choice to not indulge.  (In the last couple of weeks I have slipped a few times.)   And just because I shouldn't have any doesn't mean he can't.

BUT, what urks me is he has lost weight!   He is getting skinny!  


It seems that if I lose one pound, he loses two. 


His doctor did tell him he should lose ten or so pounds, but he has dropped more than that. I think he is close to his weight when he was in his 20's!


 Why is it so easy for him and so hard for me?


He doesn't even exercise and I walk on the treadmill every day!


Not fair!    His hair isn't turning gray either!


I AM happy with my own progress.  I'm down 29 pounds, with a long term goal of losing 15 more to get to where the charts say is best for my height and age. If I don't, I'm OK. I feel very good right now.

Half Way

In January, according to the age and height weight charts, I was 44 pounds overweight. Thats well into the "obese" category!


  Losing 44 pounds seemed an impossible goal, so I just tried to improve my eating habits and hoped the weight would melt away. 


 It has! 

I've  lost
 22 pounds.


Half way there.  


 The first ten pounds just disappeared at the rate of three or four pounds a week.  


The next ten were harder, but I did manage to lose about two pounds a week.  


But it has taken three weeks to drop the last two pounds!


I think my body is telling me it is time to relax a bit and just maintain my current weight.  I have read that if you lose weight to fast your  metabolism resets to prevent starvation.


 For the next few weeks, the only thing that I will change are my expectations.  


  I intend to continue to count and log my calories and fiber grams. I will continue to try to stay around 1500 calories a day and aim for as much fiber as I can.  I will also still continue to exercise every day. I've been on the treadmill every morning. It feels good  and gets me going.  Now that it has stopped raining, I might get out for some real walks.


Of course, if I lose a few more pounds, I won't be unhappy!  But if I don't I won't beat myself up about it and get depressed.


 I miss a few things. Including wine, potatoes, cheddar cheese, hamburgers, and ice cream. On the other hand, the smell of fast food is almost noxious. 

I have discovered so many new recipes. Food that is not soaked in grease or butter, great vegetarian entrees, and new grains like bulgar. Love that tabouli.


 I have also started to think of the "meat" portion of a meal as small and secondary, instead of begin "what's for dinner." Often no meat is included in my meal plans, and that has become OK. 


 Fortunately, I do not need to go out and buy new clothes. Most of my wardrobe has always been stretchy, and still fits just fine. Actually my clothes are fitting the way they should fit,  instead of being to tight! 


 I know I am still "overweight" by 22 pounds, but if I don't lose another ounce in the near future it will be OK.  I have three weeks until I get new blood work.  I wonder what my blood sugar will look like.  I know I eat more fruit than might be recommended. We shall see.

 Healthy eating is the goal.  It is not second nature yet, but hopefully it will be someday!


I feel very lucky to have a healthy body.  I know I should cherish each day and make the most of my time.  I don't always do that.  But I've been trying.

Followers found ...

From Craig:


OK, it was my fault that Merikay couldn't see her followers' thumbnail images on her blog any more.  I downloaded a browser extension called "Do Not Track Plus" into our various browsers in the last day or two, and it interacts with Google's JavaScript code for displaying followers, so that their thumbnails disappear.  Turns out that it's easy to disable DNTP for particular sites, and I've done so for her blog under Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, so she can see her followers' thumbnails again.


Today we decided to drive up to our foodie heaven, Berkeley Bowl.  As an example of the wonderful things we found, they had a 2 pound tray of French green beans from Guatemala for about $3.40, which for non-math readers is $1.70 per pound.  French green beans are often offered up to $6 per pound in supermarkets in Central California.  We don't buy them at such prices, but obviously some folks do.


The best part was when Merikay stepped up to their deli case and bought two slices of their house meatloaf.  Sensible people don't get excited about things like this, but for dinner tonight it was the best meatloaf I've ever had!


These are good examples of why we like to go to Berkeley Bowl.  For about $140, we got more than a week's worth of wonderful vegetables, some decent meat[!], and a 1.5L bottle of white wine for old backsliding me.  How can we go gallivanting across the country and get thousands of miles from Berkeley Bowl?


From Merikay:
A slow cooker ratatouille, spring vegetable soup, tabouli, and several giant salads are all on the menu this week!  Meat?  Just a little chicken, some ground turkey for lettuce wraps, and a couple of smoked pork chops.  Aside from the meatloaf Craig mentioned for dinner tonight. (Only one slice each, with healthy sides!)

For the Good Luck Ducks, I found the boxed tofu.  I don't have my register slip but I think it was about $1.15 for a 12 oz. box. " Use by" date is July 2012, so it doesn't keep forever. It says "Airtight package requires no refrigeration until opened.  No Preseratives. No Irradiation." I bought a couple of boxes and will try them in the coming days.  It seems like a very convent product.  They also had "firm."

Speaking of tofu, it has a very interesting history.  Before WWII each village in Japan would make tofu as a community.  The duties rotating between families and the product shared.  After the war it was given over to the war widows as a way they could make a living.  I had a book about it years ago and remember this little factoid..

Happy Easter everyone, or happy whatever your Spring celebration may be in honor of.

May we all have a New Beginning in the sun.

It Looks Like Spring

But it's still pretty cold outside up here in the Mountains!  We are still enjoying evening fires and Craig says it has to get warmer before he is ready to start the "outside" work!


On the "inside" work, he has completed work on one of three bathrooms.  The other two will come after a long summer of outside jobs.  


Not much happening with the RV.  I did firm up our plans for the Crater lake trip, and made reservations at the Shingletown KOA for the week we will be down near Lassen National Park. 


 I first made a mistake in booking a one night stop over at the Burney Falls State park. I had looked at the reservation sight several times and was under the impression there were no sites big enough for the Alfa, but then I found one. Unfortunately it was a handicap site and I didn't notice that until after I had confirmed the reservation.  OOPS, I called right away, but still got stuck with a cancellation fee.  Lesson learned.  Look at everything twice when you find something to good to be true! 


 I guess we will just be driving up to Burney Falls one of the days we are at Shingletown.  We will have the Prius with us.


On the food front, I've slipped a couple of times.  I remind myself no one is perfect and building new habits that will be good for me for the rest of my life.
I just get so bummed when I hit a plateau like I have for the last week or so.


I am excited about a new dressing/dip recipe that I have been making.  I'm sure all my Vegan  friends know all about silken tofu, but it was new to me.  Silken tofu is sold in water packages next to the firm tofu in the cold case of the grocery stores. I see that it is also sold in "shelf stable" boxes which would be great to have along in the RV when you can't get to a grocery!


The following is a recipe for a very basic salad dressing.  I made half at a time because I don't like to keep things mixed in the refrigerator for very long. It is a "basic" recipe and you could easily add more or other spices or even add tomato and relish for a Thousand Island style dressing.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 6 ounces silken tofu (or soft tofu, drained) (comes in 
• a box)
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (I used dried)
• 
  
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Directions

1. Instructions:
2. Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend until well mixed.

The first time I made it we tried it as a veggie dip.  I guess we were hungry, because between Craig and I we did in a whole small head of fresh cauliflower! At that time I thought the dressing was a bit thin and would have been better as a salad dressing than as a dipping dressing.  I did save the little that was left over and used it on a salad a few days later and it was still good.

I made a second batch with the remaining tofu a few days later.  This time I added a Tablespoon of Chia seeds and put it in the refrigerator over night. The dressing became a nice thick dip!

I had never heard of Chia Seeds before last week, except for when they are spread over a funny sculpture to grow a "Cha- Cha -Cha- Chia pet!  


They are very high in fiber, 5 grams per tablespoon, and can be added to things like breads or smoothies.  If you mix them into a liquid, and let them stand for awhile, they expand into a jelly like substance with  little seeds inside.  This is what thickened the dressing.


By the way, do not mix Chia seeds, almond milk and blueberries in a blender and pour it into little cups, expecting to get a  nice "Chia pudding."  The resulting concoction is not visually pleasing. The blueberries turn gray.