Short Thought 201

There are people I have sympathy for who also irritate me. I think this feeling should be called empannoyance. Let’s use it in a sentence! “I feel bad that she’s sick but she’s being so demanding. She’s empannoying me.” Or: “They’re a small, struggling business that I’d like to help but it’s so empannoying that their customer service stinks.”

Mini pizzas

I make pizza for myself just about very week. I posted “Grandma’s pizza”, a new deep-dish one I tried, about two weeks ago. That was from a recipe but I was experimenting when I decided to try making these mni pizzas.

I make my own dough with a mix of whole wheat and white flours (slightly more whole wheat) and it is SO GOOD if I may say so. Maybe sometime I’ll try to post instructions but the thing is, I’ve made hundreds – no hyperbole – of pizza doughs and some of what I do might be lost in writing. But we’ll see! I sure wish there was a magic way to give you a sample to eat through the internet.

Anyway… I made my dough (you could buy dough if you don’t want to make it) and after it had risen I divided it into 6 portions on a cookie sheet. Note the spankin’  new, shiny, baking sheet; the other week I treated myself to this “Master Chef” brand sheet ($6 from Ross). So far I like it.

Using my fingers I spread each one out thinly.

Usually if I open a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes for something, in this case a big pot of beans, vegetables, and rice I made earlier in the week, I leave a little behind for a pizza. I never buy pizza sauce from the store; it’s too full of junk including salt and sugar. I prefer the flavor of straight tomatoes (ALSO I don’t get super thirsty since my pizza doesn’t have all that dehydrating salt the way restaurant and takeout pizza does).

To the doughs I added a bit of canned crushed tomatoes, a tiny bit more than one square slice of mozzarella cheese divided among the circles, (I add cheese conservatively and not that I’ve ever been to Italy but I understand they go easy on it there too) ,  a lot of dried Basil, and drizzles of olive oil.

I baked them around 12 minutes at around (the oven gauge doesn’t work right) 425°.

 

SO GOOD!!! Two of these & a bowl of soup or a big salad, you got a meal

 

NOTE: I’ve been posting a lot this past week because I’ve had unfettered internet access – in case you wondered. I’ve very much enjoyed it but this pace won’t last – in case you wondered again.

How this adult wears saddle shoes without looking like it’s a costume

This is a clothing post I’ve wanted to put up for awhile. Last year I bought a pair of saddle shoes from Amazon for less than $10. I saw them and was like oh yeah those are for me. They’re not particularly well-made so I’m not sure how long they’ll last but since I won’t likely be wearing them A LOT that will help their longevity. I bought them however, without thinking too much about how I might wear them.

The key, I quickly realized, is to make sure the rest of the outfit doesn’t scream “five year old wannabe”.  I am not trying to dress like a toddler nor would that particular look suit my personality or body type!

The shoes are paired with a charcoal, second hand Merona sweater (Target brand), and white New York & Co jeans bought new from Ross last year ($13 marked down).

The soft 3/4 sleeve sweater has lovely detail on top

 

The day I wore this I got a couple compliments on the shoes , including from a stranger who literally stopped her car in the middle of the road on seeing me walking. I promptly struck a pose for her benefit. I think I had an extra kick in my step shod in these!

Amazon has gotten it into their head that since I bought saddle shoes I must also want costume clothes since for awhile after my purchase they kept showing me poodle skirts and other 50′ style fare like you’d wear to a Halloween or retro party. Um, no. Just the shoes thanks.

Easy Vegetables with Rice Noodles

In January I tried a dairy-free week. I didn’t mention it then but I didn’t have high cholesterol or anything – tested in the fall at a health fair – but dairy was just something on my mind. (Somewhat after the fact I heard there was a “sugar-free month” afoot in January but honestly, I cut back on sugar long ago and that really wasn’t where I needed/wanted to focus.) As a result, I’ve since cut back noticeably on cheese, oh love of my life.

Another resultant, although not exactly predictable change was that I started eating MORE vegetables. I needed to tweak my thinking to embrace or at least accept the idea that you really can’t over eat vegetables. I was in no danger anyway. Mostly I think vegetables are too much trouble for the end result (HALF disappears on cooking for one point) so the easier they are to fix, the better the chance I’ll eat ’em.

This dish, made of ingredients on hand, was easy and very tasty. In the past I don’t think it would have occurred to me to combine fresh and frozen (or even CANNED) vegetables but now I think why not? I sauteed onions, fresh red pepper, frozen green beans, frozen diced green peppers, and a handful of unsalted peanuts in canola oil.

I need FLAVOR to entice me, not just plain vegetables. To season I added a splash of lime juice, a tad of sesame oil (a recent splurge cuz that ain’t cheap, Sally) and a little bit of Liquid Aminos. Liquid Aminos are a healthier alternative to soy sauce with less sodium and actual nutrients in the form of Amino Acids. Do I really know what amino acids are and how they’ll add to my life? No but who cares. The taste is similar not identical to soy sauce. Initially it takes a little getting used to, but I figure it’s worth it.

If I only ate vegetables, I’d be starving in no time. I need some carbs to round out a vegetable dish but in this kind of entree I try now to have at least as much vegetables as carbs. I LOVE noodles. Rice noodles, if you don’t know them, are just rice and water.

Here is the combined ingredients.

A couple thoughts as the Olympics wind down

On whole I have really enjoyed the 2018 Olympics.. I missed Bob Costas and Scott Hamilton and only saw one Mary Carillo piece. (Did I just miss them somehow?? Despite watching a lot of Olympics – not all – I learned almost nothing about South Korea. There seemed to be far fewer “human interest” pieces.)

One thing I find a little disconcerting throughout – the way a child often does on encountering adults dressed up in costumes with animal heads at amusement parks or other venues – is the visual effect of the uniforms now worn in the various sports. It makes everyone look like they are visitors from another planet or possibly from the future. Have you seen the headgear on the snowboarders? Only figure skaters wear no protective gear when performing – if they crack their head on the ice or their partner accidentally slices their skin with a skating blade, oh well. It’s the only sport that is fully about creating an illusion, safety be damned. (If you have any interest here’s a recent article with old photos on changes in US winter uniforms over the years; apparently the snowboarder/astronaut look is intentional!)

In both winter and summer Olympics the TV viewer is sometimes shown a projected visual “line” onscreen in sports like speed skating and swimming indicating where the current leader or record holder was in their race. Watching these moving lines, which are so cool, made me think that if the actual race participants could see them TOO, like a carrot on a stick, I bet they’d move faster.