Bread, tomatoes, doctors and politics, lol

8/24/10
Yesterday I made Honey Wheat bread, one regular loaf and 3 small hoagie style rolls to use when I make my healthy version of Philly melts later this week. It had been a while since I made this particular recipe, partially because of being so exhausted from working full time and partially because my hands couldn’t take it after working all week. Since I’m not working any longer, I figured I’d give it a whirl. I started off by dragging the hubby to the Amish store for some unbleached bread flour and whole wheat flour on Saturday. It’s so much less expensive to purchase it from them. It worked out wonderfully. The regular loaf is light without a lot of air bubbles in it while retaining a nice whole wheat flavor and texture. I had a piece for breakfast, toasted with peanut butter and peach butter on it. Since it is so much less expensive to bake it at home, not to mention better for you because you know exactly what’s in it, that I would start making bread once a week. It actually works out quite well. It only takes a short amount of time to put the dough together using my Kitchen Aide mixer (thank you hubby for that Christmas present) and then an hour break while it rises. Then a short amount of work to roll it out and another break while it rises again, then let it bake. Not bad for a mornings work.
One afternoon I spent blanching tomatoes to prepare for canning. I purchased a 25lb box of ‘seconds’ tomatoes at the farmers market, blanched, peeled and then cored and quartered them. 1/3 went to straight up canning, 1/3 to making marinara sauce and 1/3 to making salsa. Today after I get done with my doctor’s appointment I am stopping by to pick up new lids and will work on the actual canning of the goods tomorrow. I know most people do it all in one day, but with my fingers/hands, etc. that is not an option for me. Thank goodness for modern refrigeration!
Today I go see a doctor that is closer to home and also does Prolo Therapy. I adore Dr. Haman, but the long drive to Kirksville was just too much. Especially to do it once a week for six weeks and with gas prices being what they are. So today I go see Dr. Bader in Columbia to see what he has to say. If he thinks that doing more Prolo Therapy will be feasible for my joints, which ones and on what schedule. It did help, when Dr. Haman did it, on my knees and shoulders, not so much on my hip. I guess the hip is just too large to have it be very effective. The biggest problem is that with EDS the tendons just eventually re-stretch making it necessary to have repeated sessions. This gets expensive too, because insurance only covers so much of it. Since I have no job, expensive is not a great option. I will wait to see what Dr. Bader has to say and then weigh my options. I hate to decline doing something that will be good for me but if I cannot afford it, I cannot afford it.
Got interrupted by a robo-call- I hate robo-calls. I wish they had an ‘opt out’ feature for those too, like they do telemarketing. I mean, seriously, why should we HAVE to be subjected to political phone calls? Do they really make anyone change their mind? If they do, that person must be fairly wishy-washy in the first place, to let something that irritating decided important issues for them. I was channel surfing our whole 9, air television, channels when I ran across PBS international playing RT- Russia Today- a daily news broadcast. They were interviewing a man who said that “Americans are the most ignorant people in the world, not for lack of education, but for lack of information. They do not realize that their television and radio sterilizes the information given to them, especially about how the rest of the world perceives them.” Seems to me I’ve been saying that for quite a while now, as have others. Listen to the BBC World today sometime, or RT or the “Afghan Report” news broadcast. The way we are told the world views us isn’t what you will hear on those shows. Even if you disagree with them, it’s best to listen and know all the angles than to burry your head in the sand!
Anyway, off to do a bit more before cleaning up and heading for the doctors. Laters!