Y'all, This Popcorn Popper...

Snacking is problematic for most of us. I found my safety snack: Popcorn.

Popcorn is something I can have as much of as I want. Thank Jesus. I can even have a little bit of sea salt or some popcorn seasoning with it. When I want (but can't have) chips, crackers, etc., I substitute popcorn.

Eating popcorn is not the issue now. Making it though...

I was using the Ninja for a while. I can cook just about anything in that magical appliance. However, popcorn takes a long time and it tends to scorch the pot. I needed some other way to fix my snack - an easy and quick way. I found the solution with this 10-dollar thinga-ma-jig.

The concept is that you put in some kernels, put on the cover, and pop this into the microwave for a few minutes to get what you see in that picture above.

Well, that didn't happen because that picture is a promotional, eye-teasing lie. My popper did not fill up to knock the lid off. The lid is made to sort of suction down and trap heat. That's kind of how it helps the kernels pop so fast. So, yeah-nah, that photo is for seller purposes only, apparently.

What I do get is a nice bowl of popcorn in about 6 minutes.

Trust me, that is more than enough popcorn for 2 or 3 people on Netflix night. I will make up a bowl and set it next to me while I pay bills or return emails. It keeps me from reaching for another, less-healthy snack.

By the way, I tried using this popper oil-free and that was a total bust. Almost half the kernels were left unpopped and the ones that did pop were bland as cardboard. I did see reviews on Amazon that said the popcorn turned out great without any oil so I guess it depends on what you like.

I always use either about a quarter tablespoon of salt-free butter or a couple teaspoons of olive oil. If I use butter, I put it in first and then sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of kernels on top. Using oil, I put the kernels in first, then the oil. I stir it all around to make sure the oil coats the kernels. I always add my salt or butter seasoning last. Sometimes, I don't add any seasoning.

You have to figure out how much time your microwave needs to work with this. My microwave is about 1000watts and it takes about 4 1/2   to 5 minutes to pop 3 tablespoons with butter or oil. Keep your eye on this while popping though. I walked away once to answer the house phone and let the microwave go over by a few minutes. I singed the popcorn badly.

Once I learned to use this contraption, I was in love. I have popcorn almost every day now. Some days, all I eat is popcorn. I like this thing so much that I am going to be buying more for Christmas presents this year. Kids love popcorn and this way they can have a snack that is a lot healthier than what they will get pre-made.

Oh, and this is a cheap way to snack. I can get a large bag of popcorn at the local market for about a dollar. Those packaged pouches of buttered or otherwise flavored (and not as healthy) popcorn can run a 50 cents to a dollar per pouch - even for the store brands. So this popper has paid for itself a couple of times.

If you like popcorn, look at getting this or something like it. There are various sellers online. The one I have is the Korcci Microwaveable Silicone Popcorn Popper and it cost just under 10 dollars when I got it. I'm sure that there will be some on sale during the holidays.

I'll go ahead and pop out now. Hahaha

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** SOL Cheirosa ’62 Eau de Parfum (from Sol de Janeiro)

It's my birthday month so I am going to be getting spoiled. I already got myself 2 things I've been wanting for a while - both are fragrances. The first one is this SOL Cheirosa ’62 Eau de Parfum that I got from Sephora.

This is the $26 8ml bottle

I started wanting this ever since I tried a body mist from the brand. Then I read about it over on Fragrantica and really had to have some. This graphic about the scent from Fragrantica is as if ripped out of my dreams of the perfect fragrance.

My 2 faves right at the top!

Here are the notes found in the fragrance. Now that I think of it, apparently, I only ever pay attention to the base notes of a fragrance...

Anyway.

You might think you have never heard of the Sol de Janeiro brand but you probably have at least heard of their famous Bum Bum Cream. I'm pretty sure that any female having a "hot girl summer" has heard of this cream. 

It's been many years since I was even interested in having a hot girl summer. About 5 years ago, my post-menopausal body ensured I was having very unpleasant hot girl winters though... I just got past that stage of life but I do still love to smell great. And this perfume loves my body chemistry.

I've never tried Bum Bum Cream but I've been told that it smells a lot like this perfume. I was also told third-hand that the perfume came about because of the popularity of the cream's scent. 

However it came to be, I'm glad for it. This perfume gives off tropical-sugary-powdery vibes with a caramel lift. It's a versatile scent and can be worn for a day out or for a date night. I wear perfumes almost solely for my own pleasure so I wear this any time I need a mood lift. It makes me feel like I've been out in the sunshine even when I've really been holed up inside avoiding people.

I already have been using the Cheirosa '71 Hair & Body Fragrance Mist that I got from Amazon a while back. I love, love, love that fragrance. I like the scent of it even more than I do this '62 Eau de Parfum. The '71 is more caramel and honey-like than this one. They are both of the sun-kissed tropi-floral type but... the '71 is just sweeter and more brown-sugar-y in my opinion.

This perfume lasts longer than the mist. That sounds like a no-brainer but not all perfumes have staying power and not all body mists are weak. Usually, my skin acts like baking soda because it tends to soak up and neutralize fragrances no matter what concentration. I've griped about that before and I thought I was going to be stuck using only oils like those from Kuumba Made. Those are nice but they are very one-dimensional.

In addition to the longevity of this, I like that it's noticeable without being 'loud'. It starts off being strong enough for someone about 3 feet away to smell but it calms down fast. I think it took about 10 minutes for it to go from really sweet and fruity to a nice delicate caramel-vanilla fragrance with some faint powder. You'd have to be standing next to me to notice it. I love that. 

I like this enough that I would love to get the larger bottle one day. Maybe next year? Right now, I can tell that this little 8ml size is going to last a while. It truly only takes the smallest of a spritz to get a nice effect. I did a small spritz on my wrist this morning to test it out and about an hour later, dabbed my throat am bosom with a touch of it. That was about 6 hours ago. I can still get a whiff when I bring my wrist near my nose. I suppose I could always spray my blouse if I want it to stay above a whisper.

$78 for 50ml

So, yeah. I am happy with this fragrance. I like it enough that I will always have it on a list to get more. As I said, it was one of 2 birthday gifts from myself. The other was a bottle of ~wait for it, wait for it~

Fantasy Intimate Edition from Britney Spears. Yes, chile. Leave Britney alone!

Before you turn that snooty nose up, let me tell you: Brit Brit slapped her name on a nice fragrance. I will be reviewing that tomorrow.

Peace

--Free

Life Is Only As You Make It

 Don't think that I am trying to say that life is easy or that every problem is manageable. I'm not talking about the horribly and hugely awful things that can happen. Trust me. I have had some horrible and hugely awful things happen in my life and dealing with them has not been easy. There are times when I really relate to Mahalia and I do wonder how I got over it all.

What I'm talking about are the small hills that I can make into mountains. When it comes to that, I am practically a structural engineer. 

Yesterday, I was mad because I was craving pizza. A while back, I would have just called up Azzolina's or Casey's - even a take-and-bake from Aldi's was making me drool. 

But.

I can't just indulge my pizza (or burger or taco or Chinese or fill-in-the-fast-food blank) cravings like I used to. Because of my sarcoidosis and my age and my complaining kidneys, I have to watch the phosphates, potassium, sodium, oxalates, and blah-blah-blah... It's a wonder I am allowed to eat anything!

If you have never seen John Pinette go off about having to give up gluten, do your funny bone a favor and go check that out. John felt about giving up gluten the way I feel about giving up what I call pho-pot-so-xalates.

Unlike the late and wonderful Mr. Pinette, I can have gluten. As long as it's not in whole wheat form. I now make entire meals from toasted French bread with olive oil, garlic, and a little parmesan cheese. That's actually all I had for lunch yesterday and it was so glorious I had no need to eat dinner. If John could see me, he'd be so jealous because not one gram of my bread is low-carb, praise the Lord.

Now, this is how first-world selfish I am at times. Scrounging my fridge and pantry, I was in mid-gripe about not being able to just have a few slices of pizza when I realized how blessed my life is. My pantry was so full that I was having to move things around just to see what all was in it. And my fridge? That thing is so loaded that I can't clean it because I don't want to unpack all the goodies in there.

I had to stop and chastise myself. Then I went back into the pantry and found some of those little mini pizza crusts from the Mama Cozzi line. I had some of the meal-prepped pre-measured packs of ground beef and cheese and seasonings all ready to go. 

It took maybe 18 minutes to brown the meat and throw together a little pizza to bake up in the Foodi.

Stop.

Think about the last couple of sentences and ask just how selfish and ungrateful I can be. Let's see: 

• I have enough food to prep meals a week at a time;
• I have ground beef - 85% lean, no less! - when meat prices are crazy;
• I found some pizza crusts in that overly-stocked pantry;
• I have cheese and oil and...
• ... a freaking appliance that does all kinds of amazing things.

Let's get even more basic and note that I have a roof over my head, a kitchen with water and electricity, and...

What was I griping about? I forgot because I was too busy counting all those blessings.

Anyway.

I ended up with a tasty little pizza that satisfied my cravings without throwing my nutrition scores out of whack.

I even had some olives for this treat

So I guess what I'm saying is that life can be as ~ fill in the blank ~ as I make it. I can be sad about what I don't have or rejoice in what I do have. I can give more of my time and attention to negative feelings or I can think about how I've gotten over so much already.

Losing loved ones didn't take keep me down. Losing my health - and my glorious figure 🤣- didn't take keep me down. Losing a husband didn't take keep me down. Losing my best friend didn't take keep me down. All these hurtful things knocked me down but just for a moment. 

Tomorrow is another day but it's not mine to claim. I can only live as if I have this moment because, well, that is all I do have. I choose at this moment to be thankful. And, now I am going to go make up another delicious bread plate.

Peace

--Free

Just Something Beautiful

 Saw this on Reddit. So beautiful. I could look at this all day. 

I have a niece and nephew who are twins. I've heard them say things like, "it's a twin thing". Now I totally get it.

Peace

--Free

**CROSS POST** That Sparkling Juice From Aldi’s…

(I posted this in my blog on CKD but... I know that a lot of people would enjoy this sparkling juice so I will share it here. The only person I've met that doesn't like this is one of my SILs. I think she has twisted tastebuds or something!) 

I know I have issues when something as simple as a beverage can cheer me up. Tonight, I ordered groceries from Aldi's just so I could get this deliciousness. 

Aldis Nature's Nectar
Sparkling Juices

I love this stuff so much that I want to dedicate this song to it.

Doesn't take much at all to make me happy. 

I tried this sparkling juice just once before and it was so yummy. The problem is, everyone else loves it as much as I do so it tends to sell out about 2 minutes after it hits the shelves. It's been on Instacart a few times since that first time but by the time I see it, every can is absolute ghost.

Tonight, I was in luck. I saw the juice while browsing Instacart for some pasta sauce and a few other groceries that I was only thinking about buying. Hah. I immediately threw together an order with that juice at the top of the list. When one of my favorite Instacart shoppers texted to say Aldis not only had that flavor but a bunch of variations, I told him to just grab what he could. 

The best thing about this juice is that it is not too CKD-unfriendly. As long as you don't go overboard... According to Cronometer, when I checked the minerals for one can...

(minerals) Nature's Nectar

Because the drinks are sweet, I find that I can drink half of one and save the rest for later. My sweet tooth has abated a lot in the past few years. Sometimes, I will empty the second half of the can into a glass of San Pellegrino - my other favorite drink when I'm craving bubbles and fizz.

(minerals) San Pellegrino plain

One can every four or five days is plenty. I haven't had soda pop in years and don't know how I ever drank so much Dr. Pepper and Coke. There are times though when I want something flavorful and bubbly. This juice hits the spot. It's sweet but not sickenly so. It's bubbly without having that irritating burn of some carbonated drinks.

Ever since my last thrilling doctor's appointment, I have had no trouble sticking to this eating regimen. It's keeping me healthy but, as the doctor reminded me, I can lighten up every now and then. She approved of my coffee drinks with the macadamia milk and she loves the Cronometer app that helps keep me on track.

Tonight, I am going to break my nothing-but-water-after-7 rule and have one of these drinks. I might even have a piece of cheese toast to go with it.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: By the way, when I couldn't find this particular juice a long while back, I looked for alternatives. I made the HUGE mistake of trying that over-hyped WTRMLN drink. All I can say about that is that it's great but only if you like the taste of rank watermelon rind water.

**UPDATE** Meal Prep Is Not for Sissies

See bottom of post for the update photos...

I'm not playing when I tell you that meal prepping nearly broke my soul. Talk about being a meal prep dropout. I didn't even make it past cooking more than one part of a meal...

This was my first time seriously attempting to put together 5 days' worth of meals. People, I did not make it. I just couldn't. I did manage to set up 5 separate servings of pasta and get the seasonings for each meal measured out. And that wore me out.

Not my kitchen, but...

This kitchen looks CLEAN compared to my own!

What I intended to do was put together a pasta meal for every night of the week. Sounds good, right? How hard could it be? That's what I thought.

Five minutes after I'd finished measuring and weighing the pasta and bagging the seasonings, I scrapped that plan. My next idea was to just do the pasta, the seasonings, and a protein for each night. Then the idea of weighing and cooking and sealing 5 separate proteins started to depress me.

In the end, I kept the 5 separate bowls of pasta and bags of seasonings and wrote out a menu plan for the rest - I'm not sure I should call it a "menu. It looks like this:  

• Day 1 pasta bowl with sauce + (circle one): chicken, beef, pork, tofu + (circle one): cheese bread, garlic bread, buttered bread, other.
• Day 2 pasta bowl with (circle one): fettuccine sauce, marinara sauce, red sauce with garlic and onions.
• Day 3 pasta bowl with (circle one): fettuccine sauce and broccoli.
• Day 4 See Day 1
• Day 5 pasta bowl drizzled with warmed garlic-seasoned olive oil + (circle one) cheese bread, garlic bread, buttered bread, other.

I also worked out my sodium, potassium, and phosphorus totals for each of those meals. That way I could decide how to work in (or not) any desserts, snacks, or beverages without going over.

So, basically, I cooked and separated some pasta and seasonings, then wrote up everything I didn't prep. Oh, and I looked at funny memes about meal prepping.

This looks good to me...

My niece is a meal-prep pro. Every Sunday, she sets out all her meals for the next week. Complete meals. This is a screenshot from my phone of her actual meal prep from a couple of weeks ago.

I have no idea how she does it but she even manages to hold conversations over the phone with me most of the time. She warned me that it takes practice and stamina, and maybe a glass or two of wine. Maybe I need to start drinking wine then?

The worst thing is that my kitchen looks like a disaster area. You'd think I had prepped meals for a unit of soldiers or a boarding school cafeteria. How did that happen? I didn't actually prep any of the sauces or proteins. I didn't even separate and label the bread. 

In my defense... Unlike my niece, I can't just prep the meals and call it good. I have to enter everything into my Cronometer app. I love that thing but they need to do something to help my ignorant behind deal with the metric-to-imperial measurements. 

(Side note: I need prayer. I have a HUGE crush on this Christian astrophysicist. I get a serious headache trying to follow most of his seminars but, Lord help me, he looks so handsome. There is something about being that smart and Christian that is so, so attractive...)

Anyway.

Why didn't I ever learn the metric system? Why? It's one of those things I swore I'd never have to use (I didn't cook when I lived in England so...) but now I am dealing with recipes and nutrition labels.

And why are some nutrition labels so funky? I will see something in ml or grams when I was raised to measure by ounces. I dang near had to do college-level research when I was trying to figure out the grams for 2/3 cup of a pasta sauce. I had to work way too hard to get that right. Because, of course, 2/3 cup (or any amount) can depend on the type of ingredient being measured.

Good mercy.

I was joking to my SIL that I've gotten so good in the past few weeks at eye-balling measurements in grams and ounces that I'd make a great drug dealer. (I'm lying. I would get killed because I mismeasured something!)

So, yeah. I now have 5 partially prepped meals for next week but my kitchen is so wrecked I don't want to be in there. I will have to let you guys know how it goes next Sunday when I try this "one more again".

Peace

--Free

I think I'm getting the hang of this...

Not only did I weigh and measure every single thing but I also put all of it in the Cronometer app. All I will need to do to track meals - for 5 days anyway - is select the item and hit the time stamp. Oh, and I will have to add any bread or desserts. I'm pleased to have gotten this done without totally destroying my kitchen. Now I'm too tired to chew so I'm going to take a nap.

**CROSS POST** The Renal Diet is Working

***Nothing is really happening in my life right now except me taking care of my health. This is a shared post from my blog about CKD.***

 If I could say anything to anyone starting out with CKD issues, it would be this: "Be your own advocate. Do your own research. Ask questions until you understand the answers."

Even knowing about my CKD for a while, I didn't understand the full impact of diet and exercise until the past several months. My original nephrologist didn't tell me that eating a "healthy" diet wasn't the best thing for someone with CKD. He never explained lab results in layman's terms. And I didn't push for answers.

I had my latest appointment with my new nephrologist yesterday. Actually, she is my new nephrologist because my other one is out of the country for now. I will be seeing this lady from now on because the other one works with more critical patients and...

... I am currently doing great!

I had an ultrasound and new labs done last week and the results were outstanding. My filtration numbers are the best they've been in several months and I am at only 20% less function than a healthy person in my age range. My kidneys are a good size, shape, and texture. My urine is clear and protein-free. There is calcification, masses, or obstruction. (I'm reading from the results now and have no idea what most of this means except that it is all positive stuff!)

I discussed my diet with the doctor and she agreed that there is not enough information about the differences in a healthy diet for a "normal" person vs one with CKD. She loved the Cronometer app that I am using. She will be looking into it to see if it will be of use to others.

I went into this appointment absolutely terrified. The ultrasound is the first I have had since I was diagnosed. My biggest fear was that the results would show previously unknown damage.

This doctor also understood my concerns about the lack of diet information out there. She encourages me to keep doing what I am doing (except she says I can lighten up a bit on my food restrictions) and encouraged me to call with any questions or concerns.

I left this appointment almost floating. (With this Iowa humidity, I could have swum out the door.) I came home and immediately passed out into a nap. I haven't slept well since having the ultrasound and worrying about it. 

So this diet is working. And it's not difficult at all. I center my meals around a lot of pasta and chicken and white bread. Snacks are the cashew milk "ice cream" and popcorn (Boom Chicka is the best). I drink so much water that my bladder has gotten stronger. And my doctor has no problem with my 3 daily cups of instant espresso powder lattes. Of course, I use macadamia milk (which I've come to love) and I only add the smallest amount of chocolate.

Today was a good day. Today was an incredibly beautiful and blessed day. Now if only the humidity would go down... I am not playing when I say that the humidity is currently 90%. 

I left the house this morning with my hair looking fabulous. It was positively laid and slayed. By the time I went outside and ten steps to the car, I looked like I was wearing a chia pet for a hat. This Iowa weather does not come to play.

Right now, I am going to go have a coffee. I need it and I can have it.

Peace

--Free

Healing by Music

 Sometimes, when you are deep in your feelings - whatever those feelings are about, whether anger, love, pain - it's hard to find words to express those feelings. For a while, maybe a couple of weeks or so, I've been in a weird place. My mind gets stuck on thoughts about certain events in my past or loved ones I'm missing. When I get there, I can't unstick the gears and move out of that place. The other week, I was thinking about my best friend who recently died. I couldn't stop thinking of the five months I lived with her when I was going through a really bad time. My mind just got stuck in a bunch of memories about what was happening to me then.

When you're stuck in the quicksand of good thoughts, that's one thing. But there wasn't a lot good about my life during that five-month period - except for the fact that I had family and friends trying hard to keep me sane and whole. My best friend was so crucial to my sanity. She understood how badly my heart ached. She understood - maybe when no one else did - why I was having trouble walking away from a man who was not the right one for me.

So, recently, when thinking about my dearest friend, I somehow let my mind get stuck on the worst things about that time I lived with her. I almost could not get out of bed until the day before yesterday. I just cocooned myself in blankets and re-played bad memory after bad memory after bad memory. I've been stuck like that before but this time just ran me into a bout of depression that was dangerous.

I knew - or felt - that if I could just come out from under for a little bit of brightness, I might be okay. But I couldn't pull myself up. It didn't help at all that our weather has been grey and stormy. Damnit, Iowa.

During bad weather days, I have a habit of listening to music on YouTube. I will pick one song and then just let the algorithm select what follows. Here's what I was finally able to grab hold of and lift myself up.

The music was like air. I felt like I did when I was younger and my mother would hold me and just let me cry - about work, or over a loss, or in anger and frustration. I felt soothed.

Here's what's crazy: I am so ignorant about classical music that I didn't even understand the title of this piece. I had to Google the YouTube title to learn anything about where it comes from. (I can fake my way through a conversation about classical music by tossing out phrases like, "Beethoven's Sonata .... blah blah blah" and hope no one calls me on it. Other than that, music is, for me, like art: I only know what I like.)

So, after days of only leaving my bed to make trips to the bathroom and to get water, I was able to shake off my bedcovers and sit up. I put that song on repeat and listened to it for probably an hour. Then I got out of bed and took a shower (at 5 in the afternoon), washed and combed my nappy hair, and then had a little something to eat. I was up until after midnight, catching up on emails and text messages. When I went back to bed, I didn't just cover my head to keep out the world, but I actually slept and rested.

What is it about music? Why is it that this song was for me like David playing the harp for Saul? I think I figured it out. 

One reason I probably had never heard that particular piece before is that I tend to limit my dabblings in certain parts of art and culture. I'm great about reading any kind of book. When it comes to art, I refuse to consider anything that wanders too far from the likes of Georgia O'Keeffe, Ernie Barnes, or whoever did the Ohio Players album covers. I listen to all types of music - classical, jazz, blues, R&B, Rock, etc - but I get irritated by anything that doesn't immediately fit my ears' ideas of what that music should be. Basically, I'm kind of a cultural bumpkin.

One positive thing about me (I think) is that I can be introspective. I might be screwed up in a lot of ways but I like to understand how and why I am screwed up. So I started thinking about why I limit myself to certain kinds of art, literature, music, food, people, etc. That's a river too long and deep to swim this day but I did come up with why I don't appreciate more genres of music.

Here's the thing (and pardon me for getting poetic and flowery): Music is so diverse that you have to want to or have a reason to understand the different types. I don't have a good ear for good music. That's because I never developed an ear for it. When it comes to music (and some art), I am the Ugly American who only speaks English and wants everyone else to speak enough of it so that I can understand them. And music is a sort of language.

My father loved all kinds of music. ALL kinds. He tried to get me to appreciate the Blues and Jazz. I liked what I liked and pushed the rest under my napkin so I didn't even have to look at it. Yecch. 

It's me with failing at learning a spoken language all over again. I spent some of my early years around mostly Mexican neighbors. The only Spanish words and phrases I remember are ones that can't be spoken in church. Same thing with Welsh. In my early twenties, a friend taught me several phrases and I forgot all of them except how to tell someone to kiss my ass. I even forgot that several years back.

Again, music is like spoken language. It's about all the same emotions and yearnings and pain and sexual desires. Some are in the language of the Blues or in the poetry of Rap, or... You get what I mean.

My problem is, that I have limited myself to speaking and hearing only what I like. There's so much more out there.

That beautiful piece of music that lifted me up has been around since 1880. (And, yeah, my dumbass had to look that up.) That could have been a good thing in my life since I first ever wanted to hear any kind of music.

How sad that I have been missing something that I love, not because I was blind but because I refused to see.

Anyway.

I resolve not to limit myself. I want to at least know what it is I am missing.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: If you can't tell, this is not the best day for my sarc. It's acting up and I am having trouble expressing my thoughts in a coherent way. Thankfully, there is a new specialist at the local hospital and I won't have to drive a couple of counties away to be seen. I should be communicating more clearly soon.

Vegas Memories

Just a bit of a memory stroll today. 

I ran across this and thought of a fun December trip to Vegas a few years ago. 

What a show these guys put on! One of my older brothers and favorite SIL (Psst! They all are my favorites!) had such fun. 

This is what I remember from the day and night we were there: 

• My SIL (from Arizona) was wearing a freaking mini parka because she was cold (what?) in the 68-degree weather. My body was still Alaska-nized/Iowa-ized so I was wearing shorts and drinking anything that had ice in it. 
• I got drunk off 2 drinks) at the bar in Crush with the SIL.
• After Crush, my cheap drunk self thought I was hallucinating when we walked past the Jabba's store and the "mannequins" suddenly came alive for a moment.
• The SIL and I drank some more and drinking made me want to smoke again. I paid something like $15 for a single pack of cigarettes - because I bought them in the hotel instead of going to a convenience store outside down the street... I was more than happy to go back off the tobacco immediately after that trip but I smoked like a hooker's coochie for 2 days.
• The show we had bought tickets for was canceled while we were standing in line to board the flight to Vegas. We decided to go ahead and make the trip. Since we were staying at the Grand where the dancers were being featured, I chose to see the Jabbawockeez Jreamz show instead. We stopped at a street kiosk on the Strip to find another attraction, and...
• the 3 of us tried hard not to laugh out loud on the street as we watched a couple of 80-year-old women who'd been on our flight hilariously cuss out the artist who'd pulled the no-show.
• I (again, coming from Alaska - home of the best pot in the world - or so I've heard) got absolutely wasted just breathing the weed fumes while walking down the Strip. My brother practically had to hold me up. And it's Vegas so no one noticed. 
• I couldn't help myself and started crying (probably cos I was still unintentionally high) while watching the Fountains of Bellagio synced to "Oh, Holy Night".
• The Jreamz show was amazing. I got my hand kissed by a Jabba who came through the audience pre-show and I am to this day trying to understand what is so sexy about a man who can dance even when you have no idea what they look like.
• My brother tried not to show it but he liked the show as much as the SIL and I did - and we were dancing in our seats through the whole show.
• Even at my age, I love being with my family. Being with any of my brothers always makes me feel safe and loved. Being with my SILs makes me feel like part of an exclusive group of crazy-sexy-cool ladies.

This is not the first nor will it be the last time I say this: the best gift my parents ever gave me is my sister and brothers. We don't always like each other but we love each other always. Watching that newer video from the Jabbas brought back a lot of good memories. 

Peace

--Free

Caffeine (via Instant Espresso Powder) is Life Right Now

 Being on my new renal diet for the CKD is going well but only because I found a new way to get my caffeine fix. And let me just pause right now to thank the good Lord in heaven that I can still have my daily coffee. Without regular sex, cigarettes, and alcohol, coffee is life.

If you have checked my blog about this whole CKD thing, you know that I've struggled with adjusting my diet to keep this sarcoidosis (and the sarc meds) from killing my kidneys. So far, so good. I hope. The thing is, I've had to give up a lot of my favorite foods. Cutting back on the food has not bothered me as much as I expected. But the coffee thing...

When I make "regular" coffee - that is, coffee brewed in the machine - I tend to use too much sugar and dairy creamer. I have learned to substitute dairy products with nut and plant creamers. Rice milk and macadamia milk are the two I tolerate best. Still, they seem to weaken the flavor of the coffee. So I have switched over to having a couple of espresso-based drinks each day. And you know what? If I have a good mocha, I don't miss some of my food. Seriously. Not having my Greek yogurt or collard greens or pinto bean stew... Not good on a bad coffee day but, with decent coffee, I can deal.

Keep in mind that just late last year, I bought a new coffee maker. A freaking Ninja that is suddenly on sale - after I took a big chunk of my measly budget to buy one. The same machine is now about 30 bucks cheaper. To make matters worse, I find that I've hardly used the thing in the past three or four weeks. Because... espresso.

After one of my recent doctor's visits - where we had to dang near ride across the state to get to - my family and I stopped so I could treat us to a coffee at an actual shop. I treated myself extra and got a mocha. It was the most delicious thing I've had in a minute. And I realized that I was enjoying coffee for the first time in a while. 

The problem with coffee shop drinks is that they are pricey. And I'd have to actually leave my home to get one. You probably know that I don't like leaving my home. Outside and I are not friends. There are people out there. And germs. And stress. And anxiety. I leave my home for food (when I don't order in), medical care, and family. If a tornado ever touches down here, I will leave to take shelter at the church across the street. Maybe. It depends on how bad the tornado acts up.

Anyway. I was talking about coffee. And my renewed love for espresso.

So. I allow myself to have one espresso-based drink in the morning and another one around midday. If I'm really dragging ass, I will have a second midday drink. The only thing I'm careful about is adding the chocolate sauce. Chocolate is one of those delicious things I can only have in moderation these days. And that's fine. I can skip the chocolate and just have the... Latte? That's the mocha minus the chocolate, right?

The tough thing was finding a cheap way to make espresso. I looked at the various machines. I figured I could swap out the Ninja coffeemaker for a budget espresso maker. Ha! There is no such thing as a budget espresso maker. There are some affordable makers but most of them don't seem to get the best reviews from other users. Mostly though, what bothers me is that some machines look so complicated. I'm pretty sure I could blow myself up just using one. I went to Reddit for help. Some comments were informative but we are talking Reddit so...

Reddit and the coffee subs

When my family learned that I was looking for an espresso maker, they offered to get me one but I don't like them gifting me things outside of Christmas or my birthday. Besides, I'd probably blow up my kitchen trying to mess with an espresso maker. That's a thing, right? Of course, there are the Nespresso machines - and they aren't too, too expensive for the lower-end models but... I quickly realized that Nespresso - or De'Longhi or whoever - isn't making money on the machines. They are making the real bucks on the coffee. 

I got so excited when I found a Nespresso/De'Longhi machine that I could kinda-sorta-afford (only because of the flex plan on one of my credit cards and I have some Amazon credits), that I had it in my cart and ready to go. Thank God for an excellent credit rating, right?

The machine and...

...the payment plan

...Then I went looking for coffee capsules that would work with the machine, and... Yeah, no, that's not going to happen.

I get 35-45 servings from a $12 jar of Nescafe

Anyway.

I now have about 6 machines and coffee packages sitting in my Saved For Later cart on Amazon. In the meantime, I looked around for another way to have espresso. And I found it.

And no worries about a machine

A good brand of instant coffee isn't as awful as most coffee snobs might say but it's not my go-to. The only instant coffees I like for my dalgona coffee are the Aldis Beaumont brand and the standard Nescafe. 

The Nescafe Gold that is imported from Canada (and why is everything Canadian always better than the American version???) is truly gold. 

My brother, who once owned a coffee shop years back, laughed at the idea of making an espresso from an instant powder. Then I made him a mocha. He's not laughing now. I gave him and my SIL a bottle of the Nescafe as a good old Southern "bless your heart". It's how we say "Told you so".

I use Torani chocolate sauce (in moderation) and the only complaint I have is that my drinks never stay as hot as long as the ones from the coffee shop. That's probably because I always serve them in my cute little cup and saucer for eye appeal. Who am I trying to impress? I'm going to try serving them in my short thermal mug from now on.

Now, I am not sure if all instant espresso is as good as this Nescafe. I can tell you that I got some Cafe Bustelo and it's good coffee, in general, but it does not even try to foam the way the Nescafe does. The Nescafe will start to make a crema (?) the minute I add a few drops of the water with no prompting. I stirred and rotated the hell out of the cup with the Bustelo and it was just... yeah.

Messy but you 
get my point

By the way, the Bustelo is chunky (like regular instant) where the Nescafe is truly a fine powder. 

I should mention that A few years ago, I was given a milk frother. I'm almost ashamed to say that I only used it once and that was to make hot chocolate. To be honest, I wasn't sure just how else to use the thing. Thankfully, I saved the manual. The frother has been amazing! (I checked and, sadly, this frother has disappeared from Amazon but someone did a video review of the exact machine I have.)

Here is the drink I made this morning.

So, yeah, I'm down with giving up brewed coffee for espresso. I'd rather get a big hit of caffeine once or twice a day rather than several bland cups of coffee throughout the day.

Best of all is that I can make my lattes and mochas using macadamia or soy milk. The macadamia froths up well (it's what's pictured) and I sometimes add a tablespoon of either half-and-half or some sweet coffee creamer for a boost of fat and sugar. When I'm med-sick and not eating anything during the day, I will add a tablespoon of half-and-half and a tablespoon of heavy cream. Don't judge me.

For those watching ingredients as I have to do, the only one listed on both the Nescafe and Bustelo is coffee.

Like I said, caffeine is life. With the instant espresso powder, I really don't see myself buying an espresso maker anytime soon. I'm not a connoisseur. I'm the same with espresso as I am with wine: if it's wet and tastes good, I'm down with it. And I sometimes slurp.

Peace

--Free

Words. Matter.

 If I ask any random adult on the street to tell me about something from their childhood that still strongly affects them to this day, most answers would probably have to do with something that was verbalized. Words or phrases that were encouraging or not. Names they were called. Nicknames they were given.

When I was about 7 or  8 years old, one of my older brothers joined the military. I answered the house phone the day he made his first call home. I was so excited and probably started babbling about missing him. He cut me off and told me to just go get mom to the phone. As an adult, I know that he wasn't being mean. He probably only had a few minutes to talk and I was wasting them with my girlish rambling. Still, that is the earliest memory I have of my feelings being deeply hurt by someone I loved.

Memories about my mother and the other women elders in my life have much to do with the things they said and how they said them. 

Someone in a Reddit comment or on a Twitter post once remarked that they always felt good whenever an "older black lady" calls them "baby". As in "Don't worry about it, baby". I can relate. I'm black and the sweetest thing a lover ever called me was "baby girl". And that has nothing to do with the daddy issues I actually have. It's just such a loving vocal affection, like calling someone "sweet thang".

Just like yesterday, and in all the yesteryears, today certain fad phrases and slang terms root themselves in our culture. Being older, I don't keep up with currents slang and sayings but I have a lot of nieces and nephews who do. I've heard them go through so many, the words are a blur. 

Bye Felicia. Girl, bye. That part. True dat. Being extra. Suspect or sus. Hooking up.

The younger people in my extended family listen to Rap of so many different styles I can't cope - nasty rap, mumble rap, gangster rap, East Coast and West Coast, and Country rap. Then there are the bands and artists obsessed with weird arrangements that include screaming, crying, and cursing the Lord. They are so overt with their intentions of having meaningless relationships or taking revenge on whoever they are "beefing" with. They don't bother with subtlety. At all.

I grew up listening to Motown, Rock, and Country so I won't talk about the terms we had in "my day" for sex, love, dancing, cheating, yearning, learning, etc. In those dinosaur days, we hinted at lurid sex and highlighted romantic sex (do people even use the term "making love" anymore?) There was a lot of reading between the lines to find the "good stuff". I think the last subtle song about making love was Sade's "Your Love Is King" where she crooned through the joys of climax.

I'm reading a book now that has me falling in love with words all over again - the way "Their Eyes Were Watching God" did years ago. In "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue", V.E. Schwab does with words what any great jazz or classical composer does with music. I'm more caught up in the way the story is told than I am with the story. Stephen King is like that. Not many of his fans care what story he is telling, they just like hearing him tell it.

Another book I am reading is Eric Metaxas' "Is Atheism Dead?" and I recently told an acquaintance (who is Athiest) that I think they would enjoy the work. I say that because this acquaintance is a person who likes to be challenged with ideas, even the ones that go against his beliefs. The book is not a haranguing, finger-wagging, I'm-right-and-you're-wrong set of arguments in the voice of a televangelist huckster. It's a conversation from someone who doesn't believe what they do just because they believe what they do.

Words matter. As a lot of our parents taught us, it's not what we say but how we say it that matters most. The how part is the key to successful communication. How makes the difference between being rude and gracious; between telling and discussing. Being the daughter of Southerners, I know that there are two ways to hear the phrase "Bless your heart". There is mainly only one way to hear "Why, bless your heart". That "why"? It matters. And putting the accent on any of the words in the phrase... well, you can write a book on polite Southern put-downs and encouragements.

Not what you say but how you say it. 

When I was young, I was misbehaving in public and my mother threatened my life just with a look. No words were needed, but if they had been, trust me, she had an arsenal. 

Words matter. 

Peace

--Free

Milkadamia Macadamia Milk Is...

 (This is cross-posted from my blog about CKD)

 After trying cashew milk - and dang near going broke in doing so - I wanted to try yet another non-dairy milk. I found some macadamia milk from Milkadamia. They had some different flavor/blend choices on Amazon:

• Original
• Unsweetened
• Barista (sweetened)
• Barista (unsweetened)
• Vanilla
• Veggnog Macadamia

Since I hate regular eggnog, the macadamia version made me shudder just to think of it. The Original and Unsweetened were a bit confusing. I mean, is the Original sweet or not? Why don't they label the Original as sweetened or not?

My natural inclination was to go for the Vanilla. I know that the only soy milk I like is the vanilla kind. However, the Milkadamia Vanilla was pricier - running from the mid-30s to over 50 dollars. It might be cheaper to buy some unicorn milk...

I ended up choosing the sweetened Barista version. 

The unsweetened version has 
a red label

Notice that the label doesn't say this is "Sweetened"... I figured out that instead of saying "Sweetened" on their labels, Milkadamia will prominently label the unsweetened version and use a different label color. Child, just say it already!

Most of the reviews mentioned that the Barista is the best-tasting in coffee. And, let's face it, I'm looking for something to use mainly in coffee. I have got to replace the sugary-wonderful Sweet Italian creamer that I'm so in love with.

This stuff sure isn't cheap. I paid about 30 bucks for a pack of 6 32-ounce shelf-stable cartons. Actually, when I started to think about the per-ounce price (less than $0.15) and the more positive-than-dairy effects on my health, it was worth at least trying.

Okay. So. How does this stuff taste?

In coffee, it's not bad. It softens the coffee taste, which is nice, but there is zero sweetness. And I mean none. Dentists must hate this stuff. I really think I will have to find a single carton of the vanilla to see if it's better. 

By the way, there are pros and cons to this brand, depending on your own situation. Looking closer at the labels once I received the shipment, I realized that there are some additives that aren't great. But, again, it all depends on where you are in your health.

sounds good - so far

Until you look closer...

Not bad because I use this by the tablespoon.
Cup by cup though, watch out for those minerals

And these additives are not as prominently
displayed on most retail sites

Like all the other non-dairy options I've tried so far, macadamia milk doesn't have much of the whitening effect I like from a creamer. It's such a visual thing for me with coffee, I guess. I found the only white cups I have to show what a half cup of dark roast coffee looks like before and after adding a tablespoon of the macadamia milk.

Flat black

Tablespoon of macadamia

You can see how watery this product is.

I made a smoothie with the macadamia milk and, again, not bad but... so bland. It's as if there is no weight to this milk. Dairy milk has more of a "fullness" to it, whereas this milk is the same weight as water, in my opinion. Come to think of it, that was the same thing missing with the rice and cashew milk. I think that I will try adding a couple of tablespoons of Greek yogurt next time.

Pretty but... bland

Since I have 5 more cartons of this stuff and I can't afford to be wasteful, I will be cooking with the macadamia milk. I have already tried it in overnight oats and it was decent - watery but decent-tasting. I mean, oatmeal is already so bland. I did find that in using the macadamia milk, I didn't need to add any sugar. It was the same with the cashew milk so I guess there must be some sweetness to these nut milks (And because I have a filthy and somewhat sinful mind, just saying "nut milk" makes me crack up every time! I must be hearing a Chris Rock in my head.)

I have an idea that adding a little butter to macadamia and cashew milk mile give a boost to the flavor and texture. I know that I always loved using ghee in my coffee back when I was on the bullet-coffee train. Butter is another thing in the dairy family I have to limit but I won't need much to bump up the flavor and weight in a cup of coffee.

Anyway, that's how my experience is going so far with macadamia milk. If I had to  I'd rank macadamia, cashew, rice, and soy (vanilla), for overall taste, it would be:

1. Soy vanilla
2. Rice
3. Macadamia
4. Cashew

For use in my coffee:

1. Rice
2. Soy vanilla
3. Macadamia
4. Cashew

For use in smoothies:

1. Soy vanilla
2. Cashew
3. Macadamia

By the way, I probably will not ever drink cashew milk again. I think I mentioned in another post that it seemed to be irritating my skin. My face became itchy the first day and was trying to break out. I never have problems with my skin even though it's sensitive. I couldn't use any of my moisturizers and had to pat my face down with water and honey every few hours. Very weird. After I stopped drinking it, my skin started to calm down after about a day. I had about half of the one (almost-8-dollar) carton so I gave it to my neighbor. I warned her about what it did to my skin but she hasn't reported any problems.

I'm going to have to ask around about coconut milk creamers. ..

Peace

--Free

Cashew Milk Is...

(This is a cross-post from my blog about CKD.)

In trying to get away from cow milk and other creamers filled with the stuff I can't have too much of, I am going plant-based. (NOTE: This one has 145mg potassium - but that is for each 8-ounce glass. I use about 1.5 to 2.5 tablespoons at a time, depending on the amount of coffee I am drinking.)

I've been trying alternatives to milk-based creamers for my coffee and, after trying soy, almond, and oat, I landed on rice milk. Then I tried cashew milk.

Cashew milk might be my favorite plant-based option for using in coffee. I've still got to try the barista blend of macadamia milk but for now, cashew milk is a winner.

Expensive but tasty

I heard so much good stuff about oat milk as a coffee creamer that I splurged on a single carton only to be moderately impressed. At first. Then I found it gross. At first, it added some of the creaminess that I miss with rice milk. It added weight to the coffee if that makes sense. Rice milk is good because it "softens" the coffee so that I can drink it without adding any additional sugar or cow milk creamer. But it is so thin that I got bored with the flavor. I could drink my morning coffee without the bitterness but I didn't look forward to it.

Elmhurst cashew milk is "clean"

Oat milk gave my coffee a nice feel in my mouth - at first - but then I noticed a weird texture that was slightly... slimy? Once I got that notion in my head I couldn't get rid of it. I gave the oat milk to a neighbor who loves it. Different strokes.

Almond milk is another one that people rave about. I do not see why. To me, it's bland but unpleasant. I never was crazy about almond milk when I first tried it a few years ago. I still don't like it and it does not one positive thing for coffee, in my opinion.

I have always liked soy milk - as long as it has a bit of vanilla and sweetener in it. It's been a favorite for smoothies and cereals. As a matter of fact, Silk's vanilla soy reminds me of the leftover milk from sweetened cereal. Drinking "cereal milk" was always the best part of some of my childhood breakfasts.

Plain soy is not a favorite.

Cashew milk is totally new for me. Also, I now know not to buy it in my local health food store if I don't want to take out a personal loan to do so. What a ripoff! Almost 8 bucks for a carton on our Main Street. Eight dollars. For a quart. Serves me right for shopping like a tourist. However, this brand is about the same price on Amazon. Must be worth it.

Anyway.

Not bad since I only use
a couple of tablespoons in my coffee

I tried a very "clean" brand called Elmhurst. Its ingredients are cashews and water. Period. Can't get any cleaner than that. I was surprised at how much I like it in my coffee. Of course, I had to add a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar. It lightened (or whitened) my coffee which is a big thing to me for some reason. It softened the flavor a lot. I really enjoyed the way it made my coffee less bitter without killing any of the actual coffee flavors the way a heavy and sweetened creamer can.

By the way, the taste of this right out of the glass is fairly bland. There is some minor kind of a back taste that I can't place - a soft nutty flavor, maybe? It's not bad and it reminds me much of low- or non-fat milk. Then again, I don't like plain cow milk out of the glass, so...

The one problem with Cashew milk is availability. Other than on Main Street, the only place I can find it around here is at Target. Apparently, it's a popular milk alternative because Target sells out of it quickly. While I was out for a doctor's appointment, I put a carton in my online cart to pick up but it was sold out before I could get to check out and pay for it. Wow.

Amazon has a ton of macadamia milk - sweetened, unsweetened, regular, or "barista blend" - but cashew milk is harder to find. 

"stains" a glass similar to cow milk

Okay.

Now I am going to give macadamia milk. The only problem with that is I have to find it in a single carton. Amazon sells it in multi-carton packs. At least, that is true for the barista blend that is said to be best for coffee. I will have to let you know what I think of it.

By the way, my kidneys are doing well. Well, not well but they are holding steady. This semi-renal diet I'm on is working well and I am even losing weight.

Peace

--Free

Coping With Life

 It's been a weird and wild few weeks. I finally know what stage I'm at with the CKD (3b); I found a new (and wonderful) rheumatologist since my last one transferred away; I am coping better with the loss of my best friend; I lost my cousin today.

Did I leave out anything? I don't think so.

Life comes at us so fast sometimes that we can't get a close enough look at the many things we pass through. I'm trying to be better about the whole "one day at a time" thing. I can't believe it's taken me so long to realize that I cannot change the past, can't always control the present, and cannot predict the future.

I was joking to one of my nieces earlier that the only thing good that happened in the past few days is that Walmart included my address in the grocery-delivery zone. Damn, that was a long-winded and awful sentence!

When I got the news about my kidneys, it was served up with a side order of "Oh, yeah, and as long as you are on these disease-controlling medicines, they won't get better".

I think I actually laughed when the doctor laid that one out for me. I think my new doctor might think I'm a little nutty.

I'm still upset that my very first nephrologist did not clearly explain dietary restrictions to me. At the time, I was still quite addle-brained from the sarcoidosis. I had so much trouble comprehending anything. Maybe he did say something? Whatever.

My kidney function has already improved since I researched and started eating the right foods. I miss my avocados, Greek yogurt, nuts, and all the green food but... My filtration numbers are so much better that I don't mind. These days, I'm eating many of the things I was avoiding because I didn't think they were as healthy. I still can't believe that my "healthy for the kidney" diet includes pasta, white rice, and white bread over all the whole wheat and green veggies. 

And while I'm talking about food and other ingestibles... Let me just say that oat milk is nasty in coffee. It's weird-tasting and has a slightly slimy texture. It ruins every good coffee I've ever loved. I'm now drinking my Kaladi Brother coffee with either rice milk or, on a good day, a tiny bit of half-and-half and brown sugar. Also, I'm so sick of tofu that I hate looking at those square packs of it. I've had it braised, baked, air-fried, and sauteed. I've fixed it as fake chicken, fake barbeque beef/pork/chicken, and I've even tried to make a stir-fry with it. 

I have discovered some tasty recipes and snacks. I am now in love with alfredo sauce. I like to make a chicken and pasta dish with it. And Boom Chicka popcorn is my everything. It's lighter and airier than my popcorn made in the Ninja. There is a dairy-free ice cream made with cashew milk that I will be erecting a shrine to at some point. 

So, yeah, there are some foods that don't completely disgust me. 

Maybe the best news this year has been the whole Walmart-delivers situation. I was able to order all my groceries and household goods in one go. However, my shopping trips have always been a treat because I get to hang out with my baby brother and lovely SIL. We still hang out. Especially since I now have to go almost an hour away to another town to see my rheumatologist. I'm not a person who loves long car rides. Also, I'm from Alaska where a long car ride is rare. I could get from Anchorage to halfway to the Alcan in the time that some of these Iowa trips take just to shop or get medical care. These people think nothing of driving 200 miles to do something. 

The only thing I don't really want to talk about today is my cousin. I can only say that she was much too sweet and sensitive for this crazy time we are living in. 

Anyway. That's been my life. That's why I have not been on here for a minute. 

Peace

--Free