National Parfait Day!

Mood:

I love parfaits!Although, I don't like the ones that are popular in this region of the US that much. Layers of yogurt, semi-thawed fruit, granola that turns into chewy/soft lumps, etc. doesn't sound as appealing as some others. Other places use pudding instead of yogurt, ice cream, whipped cream, fresh fruit, cookies, etc. (I love those types of parfaits more.) There are a variety of different kinds. Apparently they're really popular in Japan, too. Yesterday was National Sardines Day. Sardines are really good, and relatively healthy. I like to cook canned ones in olive oil, capers, and garlic until they become super soft. Almost turn into a pate at that point. The bones dissolve, so you're just left with great flavor.It's good over pasta, on crackers, by itself, or in specific recipes. 

I wasn't going to bring this up, but this has been said in the past before. (So, I just need to get this off my chest...) On Monday, I went down at around 7:15am to make breakfast. Someone said: "I wouldn't be up this early if I didn't have to." They probably didn't mean any harm by it, but again, it's been said in the past. It feels like a strange thing to say. When's a healthy time, for you, to get up? When's a healthy time, for you, to go to bed? And lastly, are you me? We're all different. Something that might be healthy for you, might not be for me. And, vice versa. Also, it wasn't that early. Not like it was 5am or something. I've noticed if I go to bed late and get up late; I feel groggy, have a hard time concentrating, seem to lack energy, and yet can't fall asleep easily. (I had a hard time sleeping for a while.) When I go to bed early and get up early; I feel energized, focused, feel like I actually have a day, it's easier for me to fall asleep and stay asleep, etc. I'm actually tired of seeing 11pm or 12am before I go to sleep. Even 10pm's starting to bug me.If you go to bed before that, you're naturally (without an alarm) going to wake up early. (So, should I somehow force myself to sleep longer?) They say, on average, a normal amount of sleep is about 8-10 hours. I'm ok with 8 or 9. If this person's trying to discourage me, that's even more odd. Kind of like saying: "I wouldn't brush my teeth if I didn't have to." Or: "I wouldn't wash my hands if I didn't have to." Also, this sounds kind of like my health isn't important. When I'm trying to be as healthy as I can be, especially after being diagnosed with IBD, it's extremely important to me. It's more of a 'need' than a 'have to'. I'm trying to see what keeps me the most healthy.

We had some pretty wild weather yesterday.It was incredibly windy. It wasn't listed in the forecast, so it caught a lot of people by surprise. I think it was more windy than the storm we had a week or two ago. The one that they predicted. Half the time it felt like the house was going to be ripped away. The power went on and off about 3 times. Each of those times, it only lasted a minute or so. And then, around 2pm, it went out for the 4th and final time. It was out for a few hours. Felt like a lot longer, though. The internet was down as well, so we couldn't do much on our phones/devices. Also, I kept getting a 'no service' message in the upper left corner of my phone. (So, couldn't really call people either.) Most of the people in the county were without power. Rosie was going crazy during it. Running around the house, clawing at the cat tree, looking at us with big eyes, puffing up her tail, sitting in places she doesn't normally, etc. I think she somehow thought I could make it all better.

So, I tried to play my clarinet at first during it. It was really hard to see, so I kind of gave up. I have a book light that didn't really help. I colored in my adult coloring book for a while. I was able to see enough to do it. Then, I read for a bit. The power came back on by the time I was thinking of making dinner. 

Rosie was having trouble with throwing up again. Last Friday, I got tired of her dry heaving (sometimes it was just clear foamy liquid) in my bedroom, and closed the door for the night so she couldn't come back in. (Throwing up clear liquid in the area on my bed I tend to lean in while I sleep, was the last straw.) She kept scratching the door frantically. I felt so bad about it. But, I kept her out of my room until Monday. I didn't remember that her 'carrot' (a soft toy that's shaped like a carrot, has catnip inside, and the leaves are feathery), and her mouse toys were still in my room during that time. They're her favorite toys. That probably also felt horrible to her. My heart couldn't stand her scratching on my door and the meows any longer, so that's why I opened my room up for her on Monday.She still stayed away from it during the day. She managed to sleep with me, though. She's rediscovered those toys, too. She seems happier now. She's starting to come in more often, too. She hasn't thrown up since. So, maybe it's out of her system finally? I would think if it were a food allergy, she'd still be throwing up. So, I don't know.

Tuesday night I decided to make 2 Yummly recipes. One was a garlic lemon chicken crockpot recipe, and the other was a chocolate cobbler recipe. The chicken also had rosemary, thyme, chicken broth, and a little salt and pepper. I used half the meat and half of the other ingredients. They said to have the crockpot set to high for 4 hours with it. Since I was using half the amount, I decided to have it at 2 hours on high, and 2 hours on low. It made the house smell amazing!It turned out just about right when I checked it at the end of those 4 hours. The chicken was tender and slightly falling apart. When I checked it, the chicken looked like a giant ball in the middle of the liquid. They said to cut it into strips before putting it in, and I did. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. It was like a flavor explosion with the first bite. I served it with stuffing, and peas. I was going to make mashed potatoes instead of stuffing, but we didn't have enough of the instant stuff. I was going to put some dill and olive oil in the peas, but was too tired at that point. Still ended up good. 

For the chocolate cobbler, I kind of messed up.They said to use a round 8-inch pan, and the only one I could see was the spring-form cake pan that's the same size. I thought if it was on tight enough, I wouldn't have a problem. So, I went about putting it together. The 'topping' seemed even bigger than the batter was. The topping only had brown sugar and cocoa powder. They tell you to pour a lot of water over it, and not to stir it. I did, and without putting anything under it, I put it in the oven. Then, I started to smell and hear something.The liquid started to seep out all over the inside of the oven. So, I immediately took it out and put the thing in the sink. Meanwhile, as I took it out and carried it, it made a trail of watery chocolate in its wake.So, I cleaned up as much as I could. Then, I thought I shouldn't waste it, found another pan (it was square instead of round, and I was already half thinking of using it at the beginning), and transferred what I could to it. Then, I threw it back into the oven. It basically looked like brownie batter, so if there's less liquid, I thought maybe it'll just be a big brownie instead of a chocolate cobbler. Well, the topping ended up on the bottom and made kind of a chewy layer. I forgot to spray the pan before I transferred it, so it's a bit more difficult to get that chewy part out. It did end up being like brownie other than that, though. It was pretty good. Just very rich and dense. I added some water to a piece last night, and heated it up to see if it'd be close to what it should be. I think I may have liked it more this way, but I might have added too much water. It's an interesting texture this way.

I still haven't responded back to my gastroenterologist's nurse. I'm thinking of sending out a new message all together today, and hopefully it'll go directly to my gastro. They did say she was in this week. I might say that I'm not entirely satisfied with the answer I got, ask about the next blood test, mention my symptoms, and tell her about what I'm doing with the azathioprine. I won't be able to order another batch until the 30th, so I'm kind of rationing them. I went from 3 a day down to 2. Even with this, I think I'll probably finish it right on the 30th. That leaves a couple of days without...(Since it takes a couple of days to get through the mail. It's cheaper by mail, by the way.) I probably should not go down to 1 a day, but I'll see what she has to say about it. Also, she still hasn't changed the prescription for that. I changed to having 3 a day about a couple of months ago. (It was her suggestion.) But, it still is set at 2 a day on the bottle. So, instead of lasting a month, it's only going for 20 days. That's a bit difficult. I have to order them more often, and they're more expensive this way.Unless she says she wants me to go back to 2...I don't know. 

Tomorrow we'll be going to that couple's place for Thanksgiving again. They've been family friends for most of my life. The same people who threw a party for their wedding anniversary and Halloween. Should be fun. I don't know how many people will be there. Some years it's just been us, and some years it's like a packed house. The husband usually smokes their turkey. It's pretty tasty. They usually do sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top (something I really don't like), make their own cranberry relish (I usually don't like this either. Too much orange rind in it. So, they usually have canned cranberry sauce for people who don't like it), stuffing (sometimes they make 2. One with chestnuts, and the other without. Sometimes they tell people to just pick the chestnuts out if they don't like them. I'm one of those people. It's good otherwise), they make their own pumpkin pie (it's pretty good), their own whipped cream (usually doesn't have enough sugar, but I give them props for effort), and a few other things. I do like a good amount of their food, though. Other guests bring some good things, too. A lot of the time it's good to just be there to talk and have fun with them. The food might be just a chunk of it. A good chunk, but it's not the main thing. (We don't have relatives in the area, so they're kind of like family.) They sometimes have pickled herring and crackers as an appetizer, too. There's usually sparkling apple cider. I think at least the wife doesn't drink alcohol, so she has that available for everyone who doesn't drink, too. I don't drink alcohol, so it's nice to know it's there. Usually we play Trivial Pursuit afterwards. If there's time, we might play other games. 

Youtube:
2 cool Kekkai Sensen (Bloodline Battlefront) amv's:


5 Gintama amv's (2 are funny. The rest are pretty serious, but are amazingly done. Some are centered around recent story arcs. The last one has one of my fave characters that rarely shows up in the anime, and therefore there aren't many amv's with him in it. But, he certainly leaves an impression every time he shows up, and is one of the main characters. I didn't find all these in one day. Just slowly over a month):