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spicesign

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Not Usually A Sucker For Internet "Cure-Alls", But There's a First Time For Everything...

Last night, I came across this article, on Facebook, I think.  It was by no means the first time I had heard of the warm lemon honey water cure, but for some reason it caught my interest more than it had in the past.  I read her article, and it sure sounds great.  I decided to do a little more cursory research on the topic and found this article.  Reading the list of benefits is like a roll call of good health measures, in my humble opinion.  But as I said, I don't usually fall for this kind of internet story.  Still, I had read this books and magazines as well, and from further reading have discovered it's a practice that has been around for a long, long time.  Another thing differentiating it from the general internet hullabaloo is that it's A) Cheap and B) Won't have risks/side effects.

I contemplated it for a bit before coming to the conclusion of "Why the hell not?"  No harm in trying it, and if it has even low levels of some of the benefits it's purported to have, it would be beyond worth it.  That just left me with the task of procuring the ingredients.  It's important that it be organic, raw honey, and I feared it might be tricky to find.  I got lucky and located it easily enough at Trader Joe's, though.  Then I headed to the produce section and picked up a couple lemons.  Now I'm all set and ready to give it a try tomorrow morning.  My plan is to do it every day for the month of March and see if I notice any benefits from it.


I haven't posted a blog in a couple days, but cooking has still been taking place.  Some great food these last couple days, actually.  First of all was Cacio e Pepe from the cookbook Date Night In by Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt.  I gotta say, this cookbook is a lot of fun.  In particular the stories she shares with each recipe.

So anyway, I found this recipe and decided I had to try it.  Hubby and I have been experimenting with different cheeses, and when I saw this called for Pecorino, I figured it was the perfect excuse to give it a go.  It was actually harder to find the Pecorino than I expected, but Whole Foods came through.  The recipe just calls for "pepper", but in the story accompanying the recipe, she mentions that she used European pepper from Penzeys.  That sounded like an excuse to go to Penzeys, which is always welcome.  The hardest part of the recipe was definitely sourcing the ingredients.  Once I set to making it, it was as easy as it could be, and absolutely delicious.


You probably notice in the photo that there is also chicken on the plate.  As I discussed in my last entry, I am diabetic.  And while pasta is not an "off limits" food, it's definitely a "limit it" food.  I knew I couldn't have just one big plate of pasta and call it dinner.  Initially I was just going to poach some chicken in broth and Italian spices.  Then I got this recipe for Baked Chicken With Tarragon and Dijon Mustard  in my email and it sounded both delicious and very easy to make.  It was a perfect score on both accounts.  Both these recipes are 5 out of 5 star recipes.

After the deliciousness of yesterday's food, I wasn't sure today's would measure up.  I had gotten word from some people who I consider laymen-expert-chefs {in other words, they have no actual credentials aside from really knowing tons about cooking} that the best way to fix a steak is to sear it in a cast iron skillet over very high heat, then stick it, skillet and all, in the oven to finish cooking.  It sounded too easy to be possible, but like I said... I consider these people to know their stuff, and if they say it is so, it must be so.  Therefore I tried it today.  I have to say, that was the best steak I've ever made at home.  I've had some better at restaurants, but never at home.  {And that was likely owing to the restaurant steaks having been better cuts of meat.}


This dinner was another 5 star dinner, though super simple.  I just seasoned the steak with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and that was it.  Just baked a potato and poured on some salsa and a bit of sour cream, and a salad on the side.  It took about 25 minutes total to make the entire meal.  And since the only straight up carb was the baked potato, which wasn't very large, it was fairly blood sugar friendly, too.

In other news, I went to the podiatrist yesterday about my Achilles Tendon, and this was me last night...


He told me the same brace I already had for Plantar Fasciitis would also help with the Achilles Tendon pain, so now my pajamas have a sexy new accessory.  {Made even sexier by the red sock.  It keeps the velcro from scratching my leg!}  He also told me to take anti-inflammatory level doses... otherwise known as 600 mg 4 times a day... of ibuprofen for a week.  I didn't want to take so much for so long, because I know I will end up with rebound headaches when I stop.  Dr says it's necessary, though, so I shall do it.  Sleeping in the brace for a week, taking ibuprofen for a week, and also lots of stretching every day.  Hopefully I will soon be good as new!

The best news from the doctor, though, was that if I can walk without pain, I'm free to walk.  The doctor I had spoken to over the phone had told me to stay off it as much as possible, but the specialist said if it doesn't hurt, do it.  It only hurts for the first minute or two after I stand up, and then I'm okay.  So if the snow, snow, snow, cold, cold and snow ever let up, I can get back to walking.

And now it is time to relax with my current book, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig.  Have a great Saturday night, folks

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