Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

Remoulade is a french salad that is usually done with celeriac- grated and dressed with a mustardy vinaigrette. I didn't have any celery root once and tried it with some daikon radish and it was great!

I have my annual check up today. Got the results of the blood tests yesterday and my cholesterol levels are all good now; I'm going to talk with the doctor about getting off the statin prescription. I know I could just stop taking it, but I prefer to work with the doctor on it. Maybe try doing without for 6 months and then check how I'm doing. I do believe I can keep the cholesterol levels at a safe limit using herbs and diet, but the doc belongs to the "Pill of the Month Club" so we don't always see eye to eye. Unfortunately, she's the only doctor the VA has in my county right now, so I'm stuck with her.

There was something else I wanted to take care of while I was in town, but right now I can't remember what it was. Dontcha hate when that happens?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There was something else I wanted to take care of while I was in town, but right now I can't remember what it was. Dontcha hate when that happens?

And it happens way too often of late, lol!

Glad your numbers are looking better. We need to talk to DH's doc about getting him off statins too. He has so much pain in his legs and he's wondering if that's part of the reason...

 

[Britesea]

Well, my doctor agreed to my request to stop taking the statin drug. She wants to get a blood test in about 3 months to make sure that I'm still keeping the numbers down on my own. I think if I continue with my low carb diet and lose some weight, as well as continue with the supplements (fish oil, garlic, niacin) I can keep the numbers down. That leaves blood sugar and blood pressure to work on; and I think losing weight and more exercise will help with them as well.

@frustratedearthmother I know statins can cause pain in the joints because the first one they tried me with did that. This one I just got off of didn't cause the pain so much, but I wanted to get off of them anyway. Statins can also cause heart attacks and I don't want that!

I managed to remember what I needed to do in town yesterday before I came home (yay!) The Produce Connection has started up again for the summer. It's a program that the Food Bank and the Salvation Army are heading up which brings in excess produce from farmers and stores to be distributed for free. It's open to everyone, not just those with a Food Bank card; all they ask is that if you can't eat all the food they give you that you pass it on to someone else. It's designed to cut down on the food that gets dumped into landfills every day. On Friday (it's once a week) I came home with 45 pounds of free food: russet potatoes and fingerling potatoes, celery, carrots, bok choi, watermelon, frozen green beans, frozen cut corn, and frozen spinach. I've got a few menus made up to take advantage of the short-life items. I may dehydrate the russets and make up a bunch of kits for scalloped potatoes (just like the boxes from the store, only no preservatives etc).

Then yesterday was the Farmer's Market. We went in early and I was able to trade a couple dozen duck eggs for some chicken eggs so my son will be able to eat eggs (he's allergic to duck eggs, surprisingly). I also made arrangements to get a gallon a week of fresh Jersey milk (butter! cheese! yogurt!). Then we bought some strawberries and raspberries because ours aren't quite ready, a small box of blackberries and another of cherries just because they looked so good. I was hoping for some radishes since I'm between crops but the ones I saw looked tough. But I got some last-of-the-season asparagus, and some pea shoots for salads, a couple of greenhouse tomatoes, and some teensy baby beets. Add in the parsley and kale that is going like gangbusters in the garden and we are going to eat like royalty! I also got a connection to some pasture raised Berkshire pigs that will be ready next summer.

I was so tired from getting up extra early that I fell asleep before fixing dinner. I woke up a couple of hours later to find the men had just helped themselves to leftovers, so I made a small salad for myself and we ate the raspberries and called it Good.

We came home and I spent hours washing and prepping fruits and veggies from both days, as well as finding creative places to keep them all cool. I had to buy a block of ice for the ice chest finally to keep everything good. The eggs will have to stay at room temperature, but I cover them with a thin coat of coconut oil to keep them fresh longer- they are usually good for at least 3 weeks to a month.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like you made a great score!

DH has an appointment w/his cardiologist in a couple weeks. He'll talk to him then. Mostly he needs to lose weight (don't we all...ugh). His hips are hurting him, but also his muscles hurt too.

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Oooh, sounds good!
Glad to hear your numbers are down!! That's always awesome!!
I do t like when docs are pills of the monthers or the ones who instantly assume your body bigger (aka 'obese' in their words) that your problem stems from that. Especially when they don't take into consideration if you eat well, expertise and cut out things like sugar, salt and red meats almost 100% from your diet :'(

It's awesome you got to take away a pill!!

Aww that sounds like p.o.w.w.o.w in our are! Man I wish they were running in an easier to reach are near me still :'( sounds like you scored big-time on the goodies!!

 

[Mini Horses]

CONGRATS on the meds dropping. You can do this well, I am sure. A nice brisk walk each day will do more than you can think possible when you first start.

What a food score! Lots of work but, back to "more time than money", right?

Wish we had something like that here. Years ago we kept house in FL and was there at least once a month (checking on our business office there) and they would "open" their fields to everyone after the initial harvest. Fields of "left over" tomatoes, potatoes, squash, strawberries, etc. free for the labor of picking them up. Sometimes they would have things at the processors that were non-conforming and good to eat for hand processing/prepping.

So much food is left unused in this country for just such reasons.

Here we have a small organization that will go in glean fields from some local farms, then take produce to various food kitchens &/or food banks. Several small farms in close to the cities do veggies for sale in bulk, self-pick, food stands & have small orchards for same. Many of those participate. Outlying farms are more into the grain & feed crops -- wheat, corn, soybean, milo, cotton, etc. Our wild deer are VERY well fed. I live "outlying"

 

[hqueen13]

Wahoo for getting off the drugs!!
WOW! That is SO much food! I have the problem that I have the best intentions when I see it... then I get home and I just don't get to it. I don't know if any of the garlic scapes that I cut from my garlic are still good enough to be able to dehydrate :-/
Speaking of that, have you done hash brown style potatoes in the dehydrator?? What's the best way to use them?? I tried making mashed potatoes out of them and they just ended up gritty.

 

[Britesea]

I did make hash browns in the dehydrator- I had to guess on how long to blanch them first (I did 30 seconds). They make great hashbrowns; they keep their shape when you cook them up, and brown up beautifully.

I've heard of making mashed potatoes- cook up the potatoes and make a slurry with the cooking water, then dehydrate like you would fruit leather; then you whirl the dried stuff in the blender or a spice grinder until it's a powder. Is that what you did, @hqueen13 ?

I tried drying cubes of potatoes, to drop into soups and stews, but when they cook up I can't get them soft all the way through. Mostly I drying slices for scalloped potatoes or au gratins.

@Mini Horses the gleaners sound like a great idea too, but I'm happy that the Produce Connection is open to EVERYONE, not just those that are considered poor, as we always had just a little too much income to qualify for any programs while hubby was working. Now it's a different story of course, as he has no income at all until we can access his 403K. My inheritance came in the nick of time!

We have been eating like royalty with all this food that came in, plus I'm finally harvesting a little from the garden: the kale of course, but also lettuces and wild purslane and lambs-quarters for salads. We had a salad last night of greens with grilled sweet peppers, grilled marinated artichokes, and grilled chicken/apple sausages. Dessert was raspberries and cream. Heavenly! Tonight I'm thinking of either a Salad Nicoise, or a gazpacho pasta salad- haven't decided just yet.

We've been working on the irrigation for the garden every chance we get, but we've had some obstacles pop up. The part inside the beds is fine, but we were trying to hook them all together with some old garden hose and splitters; but it leaked really bad so we bought some hose clamps and will try if that will take care of the leaks. In the meantime, I'm also trying to mulch all the beds so they don't dry out so fast. It's been in the 90's every day and we can only manage to work out there during the very early hours of the morning, and in the evening. In the middle of the day, we stay inside or in the shade. So far, we've managed to NOT turn on the AC- getting by on opening and closing windows and using a fan.

Well, gotta go take care of things while it's still cool outside!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I do not know how you survive without AC.... Our heat index today is 111.

 

[Mini Horses]

Spring & Fall I can get by nicely by opening windows at night & closing during day, shades down on South side. But, July & Aug are often months when the temps at night are often 75-80, so no cool down for the 90+ degree days. A/C works PT then. Ceiling fans help all year.

Generally I am good with 75-78 inside, with fans going. Don't like it "cold".....that's why I dislike winter. We have a lot of humidity here in summer. Feels hotter. A/c running couple hrs AM & PM keeps that under control inside, so the temps feel better.