Actually, both my grandmothers provided me with great healthy genes. Both were considered to be catches of beauty. Both are in their mid-80s. Granny just retired this year from working at J.C. Penny's. Wha?!?!? Nana still works. She keeps her house, her yard, her rental properties. They are pretty much amazing. Nana takes a baby aspirin just for fun. Granny is almost the same way. Visiting Nana has always been one of my favorite things to do, but with three little dudes and a house that I can never seem to keep caught up, I neglected to go see her as often as I wanted. Some months ago I decided that I would rather I and my boys have Nana memories than a better kept house. I decided that we would visit her at least once a week without making it a law. It works out great because we attend the Monterey Library Reading Program and then go and eat lunch with Nana. She loves to cook for us, and we love to eat it. It is especially a big treat for Jack. It is really nice that I don't have to plan a lunch meal that day. The boys pack up a literal truckload of toys to play with. They build tracks and play cars and watch daytime television and eat chicken nuggets and ice cream. I get to eat things like Queen Burger and visit with Nana. (Queen Burger was the hamburger sandwich they sold when Nana and Pa started the Monterey Dairy Queen.) The midweek hour and a half to two hours is a much-needed restoration for all of us it seems. Yesterday was no exception, except that Nana was especially in rare form. I laughed so much I think my stomach muscles grew some mitochondria.
Nana told me lots of stories about her experience and Pa Noonie's experience in the depression. She lived on a nice farm, so they always had plenty to eat. It is crazy awesome to hear her describe what they had to eat on the farm. It's probably more variety than even we can get at the grocery store. She's a big believer in good food. Pa's experience wasn't that way. He was hungry. It really makes you think about our/my lifestyle. Why would I ever feel lack and be a food hoarder, when really it has always been a time of feast for me instead of famine? She lived in Walker Hollar. FDR's WPA crew was sent to build a road through the hollow. To keep the labor force working longer, they dug the road by hand instead of using the machines. But they ran out of money before they finished the road. To this day it is still unfinished. Nana's dad called it, "W.P.A. We Piddle Around." Ha Ha Ha
Nana loves to do sweeps stakes, but only in the mail. She despises thinking about learning computers and quite frequently shares her obstinate opinions about the laptop she got for Christmas. She complains that the sweepstakes are not as good anymore because most things you must enter on-line which she refuses to do. I really enjoy hearing her fuss about it. I usually get her going by accident. Yesterday it was over facebook. She said, "I never had any friends, and I don't want any friends. My only friend was Collie. I'm perfectly happy to have just a bunch of acquaintances." She told me a story about how she went to the post office where according to her, "Everyone knows everybody's business." While the Postal worker counted out her postcards, she explained to him about her most enjoyable hobby of sweepstakes. She told him seriously, "I guess it's not worth it for me to spend all this money on stamps. It had been years since I won anything, but this summer I won two bags of dog food and I don't even have a dog." She said he got so tickled even though she didn't mean to be funny that he had to recount the post cards all over again. She was laughing as she told me what she said. Nana doesn't have a dog, but she is definitely a dog lover. After she cooks thanksgiving, she takes the turkey scraps and cooks homemade dog food for the "grand-dogs," I guess you would call them. She is very frugal and I've learned a lot from her about this. Everybody, even the dogs, like to eat at Nana's house. My parent's dogs go visit her and she scrambles them an egg.
While she was fixing our lunch, I noticed in her refrigerator she had a container of bee pollen. I said, "Is that Bee Pollen?" She got this funny grin on her face and said in a funny manner, "Well I guess so. It was Collie's. He just left it here. His Bible is still up on his nightstand where it always sat, and he just left it here too. But I don't have a chair that nobody is allowed to sit in because he sat in it." It really was funny.
He died in 2004. They tried lots of nutritional substances instead of opting for chemo. They both decided they would rather die than feel like they had the flu for the rest of their life.
Nana is a big believer in being thin for more appearance sake than health. I really love that about her. Her shallow statements are filled with good intent, and it always draws a chuckle out of me. I've heard her make comments about ladies' weight. Once she said about a young woman who gained a lot of weight after she married, "Her husband must really be a nice guy." (I'm laughing as I type that because she really is not trying to be mean.)
I started telling Nana that I have changed my thinking on coconut milk. I told her why I used to think it was bad, but now I see how it is very beneficial. She let me talk a while about medium chain fatty acids and never commented, but she had this look on her face like she almost wanted to laugh. When it was her turn to speak as in we were having a conversation, she just responded with...
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree,
Discussing matters as they ought to be.
Said one to the others, "now listen, you two,
There's a certain rumor that can't be true;
That man descended from our noble race.
The very idea is a disgrace.
No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies and ruined her life.
And you've never known a mother monk
to leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to the other
'til they scarcely know who is their mother.
And another thing you'll never see-
A monkey build a fence around a coconut tree.
And let the coconuts go to waste,
to keep others monkeys from having a taste.
Why, if I put a fence around a tree,
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
And here's something else a monkey won't do-
Go out at night and get on a stew;
Or use a gun, a club or knife
To take some other monkey's life.
Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss-
BUT BROTHER, HE DIDN'T DESCEND FROM US !!!!!"
Her poem caught me a little off guard. I was not expecting that. She is really too much sometimes.
These are a couple of Cooking-Skinny Tips from Nana that she talks about a lot and mentioned yesterday:
1) When she makes mashed potatoes, she cooks them with just barely any salt. She warms her milk before adding it to keep the potatoes from cooling. She only puts in a tablespoon of butter for a whole pot.
2) She buys the leanest meat she can, and cooks it with a little bit of water. She drains the meat then adds ice cubes to the broth to separate out the fat. She removes the fat then adds the broth back to the meat. VERY TASTY AND BASICALLY FAT FREE. She uses this method to make gravy for her roast too. It is very yummy. She thickens the broth with corn starch, but it is basically fat free.
I actually used this fat separation method one night this week for supper. I made chili and used lean beef. I browned the beef the night before, and poured the broth into a ziploc bag and put it in the frig. Of course any fat in the broth rose to the top. When it was time to throw the chili together, I just cut a little slit in the bottom of the bag and allowed the broth to drain in the chili leaving the solid fat in the bag. Nana says the broth is where the flavor is. I knew I would need some extra flavor because I added half the meat from my recipe and three times more beans than the recipe called for. It. Was. Amazing. Very flavorful and fat free.
Today's Flog
Today I ate Kashi Treats I had leftover for breakfast....AND lunch (I couldn't resist.)Recipe below.
I drank two cups of coffee.
I drank lots of water.
For Supper I made sauteed spinach with bacon pieces, baked sweet potato, corn on the cob, and we had leftover baked beans (and chili for Jack.)
Everything was DELISH. The spinach was so amazing that after it was all gone and supper basically over, I sauteed me some more. I must have eaten half a pound of it. I baked more sweet potatoes than I knew I we would eat because tomorrow I'm so excited to make sweet potato pancakes!!!!! The boys have been wanting them all week. I would eat these healthful things for supper!
I was still getting everybody settled for supper when I heard Luke say, "Beans are my favorite food. Jack, How come you don't like these beans. They are good, but even they make you poot so they are funny." ....heart me some preschool boy conversations!
I also let the boys (for Jack's sake) help me make brownies so that all would seem right with the world. They were good boys today, but Jack got a little upset over some trouble he got in and needed a distraction. He snapped right back into right-mindedness when helped me make his brownies. I ate more brownies than I should, but not too many.
Nutritional Nugget: Kashi Treats
Okay...I know I make these with marshmallows (a processed food made with corn syrup, but oh my goodness they are dandy!) The longer they sit out, the better. I would at least make these the night before so they can tenderize a bit. I came up with these in school when I did a health fair to promote fiber. There is 64 grams of fiber in the batch. I cut mine in 16ths so each one had 4 grams of fiber and just as much protein. I've eaten at least one for breakfast everyday this week. Everyday they get better. Only one left for tomorrow. :( My boys loved these too. This would really be a great dessert. I am going to play around a bit with the recipe to see if I can keep them simple, but still more healthful.
1) Soften about 3/4 bag of marshmallows in the microwave.
2) Mix in a box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch. (There is about 4 cups of cereal in the box so adjust your bowl accordingly.)
3) Mash in a pan. (I greased my pan.)
That's it! But I accidentally put in too many marshmallows this time because it has been a while since I made them so I used granola with raisins to make up the difference. Mmmm, Mmmm Good! I think I will always add raisins from now on.
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