Grilled Veggies

When we grill, it is always veggies as I am a vegetarian, so even if I have a burger it is a veggie burger.  I have a sauce that I mix up for grilling that adds just the right touch of flavor to the veggies.  I also use this sauce when I make a veggie stir fry and when I bake the veggies. It is my favorite and tastes great with them all.

We grill all kinds of veggies, though our favorites include:
orange, yellow, and red peppers zucchini, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, asparagus, broccoli,
cauliflower, and of course corn. We also grill pumpkin, butternut squash, yellow squash, jalapeños, and even pineapple.

We have a couple different grilling sauces we use, but our favorite is the following:

1/4 c Braggs Amminos or Soy Sauce if you prefer
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 or more Tbsp Agave (to your taste)
1+ tsp grated ginger or ginger powder (to taste)
1+ tsp finely diced garlic or garlic powder (to taste)
Hot Shot or Black Pepper to taste

Mix it really well and brush on veggies as they are grilling. It adds just the right amount of spice and sweetness.

Balancing the Scales of Justice

I had a phone call from one of those drama queen liberals today trying to convince me that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed. 

She wanted me to call my representatives in Congress and tell them not to confirm him. She could not give me one single fact to support her belief that appointing Kavanaugh will cause the sky to fall. Her reasoning was it was on the news, but I have not heard any solid facts to prove the world will end if he is appointed. She told me to watch the news but not FOXNews because it’s full of lies. 

According to the drama queen  having Kavanaugh as the ninth judge on the Supreme Court will cause all kinds of horrible things to be fall us. 

I’ve heard lots of opinions and theories but I’ve see no cold hard facts. What I have seen shows me that he’s a conservative and has strong religious beliefs, which will balance out the liberals and lead to us having a more balanced and reasonable Supreme Court. 

If we don’t have balance we swing too far left or right and that throws everything out of whack. I personally feel the balance is much better for everyone in our country.

Spoons

This is a great way to explain things and how some days are for me when I over do or have too much on my plate and have to slow down. Though my heart is good and they fixed it I still have times when because I over did I have to count my spoons and pick and choose what I will do. I have gotten much better at it as time has gone on. 

Last summer I used way more spoons than I had and it took me a long time to get back to having one spoon in reserve.

The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino

This theory applies to anyone who has an illness that is hidden like heart disease, arthritis, cancer, depression, multiple sclerosis, and many more. It is one that I think will help others understand and be able to comprehend what it feels like to walk in our shoes.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

I throw it all in my crockpot and let cook overnight, but you can simmer it for a few hours on the stove also.

Chop up 2 to 4 onions and saute, or microwave. (no oil either way)

Add 2 to 6 peppers I use red, yellow, and orange, chopped

1 1/2 - 2 cups of soaked and cooked black beans or 1 - 2can of low sodium black beans, rinsed.

Blend one can of low sodium diced tomatoes
With 2-4 cloves of garlic and add to the pot.

1 - 32 ounce carton of vegetable broth

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

Ancho Chili Powder to taste
1/2-1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Hotshot or regular pepper to taste
Onion powder and garlic powder to taste


Serve with avocado, shredded cheese, or tortilla chips.

My Thoughts on the Inauguration and the New President

Yesterday our new president was inaugurated and for many the world turned upside down. I personally thing it is was it is and we have to give the man a chance. He was not my choice for the office, but neither was his primary opponent. I did note like either of them, so it is what it is.

I am willing to give the man a chance. I do know there are somethings on his agenda that I agree with, there are others I do not. I also know that as president he deserves my respect and a chance to prove himself.

I gave that much to the last one, for awhile, but he was not one I continued to respect and he in my opinion did things that were the worst possible things he could do for our country. I do not feel that he made the best choices for us as a whole and did not like the outcome of his health care bill. It stole things from my plan and he lied when he said things would not change.

One thing I did not do was riot and vandalize things when I did not agree with him and his actions. Many people who do not support our current president are doing just that. They are committing crimes in anger because they did not get their way. They are acting like two year olds and setting a horrid example for the children of this country.

I say like it or not, it is what it is, and we have to give our current president a chance. Now if the rest of the country would just take a deep breath and give the man a chance to prove himself, or …, rather than making harsh judgements without giving him a chance to either succeed or fail.

His choices of Retired U.S. Marine Corps General James Mattis to head the Department of Defense and Retired Marine Corps General John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security are excellent. I think he made the right selection for both positions and to me that says he is thinking things through. I may not agree with his pick for the Department of Education, but when it comes to our countries security I cannot think of two better men to head these departments.

Wanda's Tuscan White Bean Soup

I tried a soup I found on line a few years back that was really bland. I cannot remember where I found the recipe as I just noted a few ingredients and that I wanted to play with the recipe to make it more flavorful.  I liked the main ingredients, beans, carrots, and squash, but it needed some real flavor and more to it to thicken it up for our clod Alaskan's winters. I have been working to come up with a version was richer and that had some real flavor, and was thick and filling for cold winter dinners. I think this version is it.  If I were to add anything to it it would be a sweet potato or two, which I may try the next time I make this soup.

Serves 4 - 5
 We usually have a nice bowl of soup each and put away two of the 16 ounce size Ziploc twist top bowls for our lunches, depending on how hungry we are a third serving goes in the Ziploc bowl or we split it and finish off the soup.

We do not eat bread generally, but I could see serving this with a nice thick crusted Ciabatta or Coppia Ferrarese bread.

RECIPE:
      Drain and rinse 2 - 3 cans of Canelli beans (white beans) and set aside for now. You can cook up 2 to 2 1/2 cups of dried beans and drain away the water preserving a about 1 cup of the liquid. If you choose to use dry beans you can soak them overnight and cook them all day in the crock pot or you can do the quick cook method, whatever works best for you.

     Chop and saute a nice big sweet onion, using just a tiny bit of olive oil. I do mine in the big pan I use for soup as it is also my crockpot pan.

     Shred 2 or 3 big carrots and toss them in with the sauteed onion in your soup pan.

      Chop 3-4 small baby white potatoes that you have scrubbed. (I leave the peels on, but that is optional) and add them to the sauteed onion and carrots mix.

    Cut a small to medium size butternut squash or sweet pumpkin, roughly 2 cups 3 cups, into 1" pieces, and add to the pot.

Put the following in the blender. I use my Vitamix.

    2   8-oz containers of vegetable broth, or if you prefer chicken broth.
    1 - 1 1/2 cans of beans, this thickens the broth.
    1 cup of water or the cup of liquid you reserved from cooking the dried beans.
    4+ cloves of garlic, peeled.
   1-3 tsps or more of each of the following spices: ( I cook by taste and some people like it milder than we do.)
          Italian Seasoning
          Rosemary
          Sage
          Oregano
          Basil
     Pepper to taste (I use Hot Shot, a red and black pepper mix.)
   
Blend well and add to the crockpot.

Add the beans that were set aside and let it cook overnight.

I usually put it together after dinner and let it cook all night and the next day until we are ready for dinner. It is a nice thick soup and very filling.

I used the Loss It App to figure out the following:

 344 calories
0.5 g Total Fat
106.1 mg Sodium
44 g Carbs
4.7 g Protein

Thoughts on Election 2016

I do not understand people who are reacting so violently to the election. I supported Gary Johnson and he lost, end of story. So what if Donald Trump won. It is what it is and we will deal with it. It is not the end of the world and no one died.

I for one am very grateful that Hillary did not win. I personally think that she would be worse for the country. She in my opinion was the worse of two evils and we would be going to hell in a hand basket faster with her in office than we have with Obama in office.

I did not have a mental breakdown and cry or march on the highway screaming he is not my president when Obama won. I personally was not at all happy the first time he won and even less happy the second time. He lied, he screwed up our insurance plans. You know the ones that WOULD NOT CHANGE; yet have had significant changes and loss of benefits. 

People need to accept that the public has spoken and the Electoral College has determined that Trump is our next president. They may not like it, but they have to live with it.

All these people who are over reacting and being all dramatic about leaving the country, and how it is the end of our country need to get over themselves. It is what it is and life goes on.  We do not always get our way, we do not all need a ribbon just because we participated, and we are going to have our feelings hurt on occasion, that's just life. GET OVER IT!

Life will go on, and people will adjust and may be, just maybe Trump will fix things.

I for one would love it if he got rid of welfare, or put strict limits of six months to one year and only twice in a lifetime on welfare.  Another limit should be that we will pay for up to two children, if you have more that is your problem, not ours. It is not the government's or my job to support you.  Also, states should work together to stop people from moving from state to state to keep collecting benefits when their benefits run out in one state.

I like Ben Carson's plan for insurance much better than Ovomit's garbage plan.  It puts responsibility back on the people where it belongs, not on the government. 

I think everyone just needs to grow up and put on his or her big girl panties and deal with it. The election is over and Trump won. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. It is a done deal and now you have to live with it. Get over yourself.