We've been waiting for news on our visas, but so far, we haven't heard anything. I emailed our immigration consultant, and she said that it is taking more like four weeks right now, instead of three. We're going to wait until it has been four weeks (next Tuesday), and then we'll email Portuguese consular services to check to make sure that we didn' ( Read more... )

Well. I got my blood tested, and both my insulin resistance and my cholesterol are a little high. I was already planning on seeing the endocrinologist and the cardiologist, so nothing changed on those fronts. However, I wasn't happy about the cholesterol, since I already eat a mostly vegetable and lean meat diet. After spending some time trying to ( Read more... )

I've been up and down for the last few days. Two days ago was mostly good. Yesterday was bad. Today was mostly good, although I ceased to function about 20 minutes ago. That's fine, though. Joel helped me with dinner, so I can eat and then go to bed. I'm assuming this is fallout from me forgetting to take vitamins one day (I took about half of what ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I realized that I could can vegetables to give myself more food options. I also asked a friend how his family preserves cabbage, since that is another option for me. It turns out that they make sauerkraut, as I had planned on doing. This morning, I came up with a list of all the things I can put in jars. Then, I got excited and ordered a ( Read more... )

As we approach the time when we may need to isolate ourselves from the infected (or if we end up being the infected), I've been thinking about what the hell I will eat if I can't go to the store for two weeks. I've come up with a plan that involved lots of pea soup and lentils, miso soup with dried mushrooms and seaweed, and some emergency foods, ( Read more... )

I'm doing okay with my higher calorie diet. Not great: still dizzy and my knees keep buckling, but at least I'm mostly okay. Joel is allergic to wheat, so he's trying to cut it out of his diet, although that is difficult and leaves him feeling less than perfect. So, yeah, food issues.

( Joel's Menu )

Just for reference: I've been eating a little more of my ground chicken giblets the last couple of days (for reference: 207 grams of meat), and it has resulted in a lot more functionality (as in, I want to do things outside the house, am more proactive about homework, and generally more productive). However, the first day was too much, and I ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I looked again at some of the spices on my shelf (who am I kidding, it's shelves plus boxes and bins) and realized that I needed to finally order some more. This morning, I filled up all the bottles from my bulk spice bags and then wrote down all the ones that I need more of. That part was great fun. Then, I ordered more spices. That ( Read more... )

As mentioned previously, we eat a lot of pancakes and waffles. However, the mixes we have tried just weren't doing it for us. So, I finally dragged out my stack of Cook's Illustrated magazines and found recipes for both buttermilk pancakes and waffles. In the past, my attempts at homemade pancakes have sucked. The reason appears to be that ( Read more... )

Just FYI, this recipe for meat covered with spicy peanut butter on a stick is delicious.