Friday, February 08, 2008
Chicken Potato Veggie Soup for the Soul and Stomach (of my just a little under the weather friend)
[large picture] [super size] .
Have a bowl of my chicken potato and vegetable soup that I made for last Friday night. Above I had some leftover soup Saturday at noon along with a coke and my meds.
Half was for my just a little under the weather friend and the other half for Mrs. Jim and me.
It starts our with a basic Potato Veggie Soup and you can change yours from there. I'll show you how I made mine and what all I did to the basic recipe (not much).
The recipe and directions are a couple of pictures down.
[large picture] [super size]Here are the basic ingredients to the recipe except the chicken which I added.
Peal and chop carefully and you won't have big a mess in the kitchen.
Now for the recipe. Glance at it in large size, then go to a super size picture to get it ready for copying. Or you could just cook from it right here.
Although the recipe is for basic potato and vegetable soup, you can add whatever you wish. I added about a cup and a half of cooked chicken here.
I also bought some sausage to cook and add a little of it but Mrs. Jim thought it would be too robust for the under the weather person we were making it for.
[large picture] [super size]All set now. I boiled the potatoes separately with a little salt and started them a little later. I didn't want them to get mushy on me while waiting for the celery and carrots to cook.
Variations by Jim:
>> I used four large raw potatoes, peeled instead of frozen hash-browns (the five large carrots I had made plenty).
>> I added about a fourth teaspoon salt to the potato water, salt is not in the basic recipe.
>> No hot red pepper sauce. (Mrs. Jim doesn't do this anymore either, it doesn't add that much and probably wouldn't sit good on an under the weather person.)
>> Don't spare the nutmeg, Mrs. Jim says that brings out the flavor a whole lot.
>> I wouldn't buy any bacon just for the little this soup calls for. I did get the sausage but didn't put it in. With chicken I think the bacon is not needed anyway.
>> One and a half cups of cooked chicken made it hardier.
After the potatoes were finished, I drained and washed them. I know, I threw away a lot of vitamins, but I take a Kroger brand Century Senior equivalent every day so that isn't an issue with me.
Really, I drained and washed the potatoes because I am cutting out my starches. If you don't drain them, and still cook them separately, put half the liquids in with the potatoes and the other half in with the carrots, celery, and other stuff.
Originally it was in the Houston Chronicle Food Section on-line, but it isn't there anymore. At least I can't find it. Look around though, they have a lot of other good Texas recipes!
All work and no play makes Jim a dull boy. That's what I was watching while I worked.
I sure do like this guy a whole lot better than I did Bob Barker. I think the ladies liked Bob Barker better, but hey, he has a reputation for being a ladies' man.
Here you can see the chicken pieces floating on the top. The potatoes are added and it is ready for the cook's sample dish.
Ah! For the effort I put in, it really came out good. I can't wait till supper when will have this and a grilled cheese sandwich.
Half this soup we are taking to an under just a little the weather friend. Mrs. Jim generally makes the soup but today was Ladies Day and we needed to take it in the evening. So I made it. I love to cook, but just don't make anything very hard very often. This soup isn't hard to make.
Labels: Eating, Family, Food, Friends, Jim Bunch Eats, Jim Does, Procedure, Recipes
Thursday, November 08, 2007
It's Ok -- the New Cell Phone Etiquette in eating places
Brother-in-law Dan and wife, Winetta, and Mrs. Jim
Hey, what's this?
Oh, that's ok, Mrs. Jim is doing it too!
I do it too! So I thought I had better introduce you to the new rules of etiquette for using cell phones in restaurants. It used to be illegal in poor taste you know.
However, necessity and convenience breed change. Just accept it, change comes.
There does need to be some semblance of order in this matter, therefore I have developed the following New Revised Rules of Cell Phone Usage Etiquette in Restaurants. I do believe a few generalizations would make these rules applicable for cell phone use in most any public places.
NEW REVISED RULES OF CELL PHONE USAGE ETIQUETTE IN RESTAURANTS
1. Lay the phone on the table as soon as you sit down. This prevents so much annoyance to other patrons. Generally you can catch it on the first ring that way instead of fumbling through your pockets or purse to find the machine.
2. Talk no louder than you need. It is the loud cell phone talk that bothers other people. Besides loud talking disturbs others who are trying to use their cell phones.
3. Keep your conversation short.
4. Laugh quietly, not out loud! (LOL)
5. For an extended conversation or for more privacy go outside or to an unoccupied area.
6. Do not make unnecessary calls. A quick check on the kids, grandma, or your dog, and the like, is probably necessary now and then.
7. It is better to call while sitting in the restaurant than driving your car. This goes especially for text messaging (unless you have memorized the key placement and routine--like you did in touch typing).
(c. jimmiehov 2007)
NOTES AND LINKS:
1. This blog has been in the planning for quite some time (note the pictures are dated 1/20/2007, the day after my mother-in-law's funeral [link]).
2. Ken Hoffman probably will not like these rules, you may agree after reading his column in this Tuesday's paper (Houston Chronicle, link). BTW, his column did push my 'hurry and post button.'
3. Mrs. Jim reminded me today of her rule # 107, never wash dish towels and cloths with bath towels and socks. That is NOT a good rule for bachelors or men who do their own washing.
4. Any suggested changes or comments on the new revised rules will not be appreciated. Perhaps you could suggest some pleasing ringtones or the like.
Cell Phone Cell Phone Etiquette Ringtone Ringtones technology Culture Humor Life Eminem IT'S OK
IT'S OK LYRICS
[from Sing365.com (link)]
Artist: Eminem f/ Eye-Kyu
Labels: Blogging, Celebrities, Eating, Family, Humor, Issues, Jim Bunch, Jim Does, Music, Places, Procedure, Routine, Songs
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
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What is
wrong
with
this
picture? (Check back for the answer tomorrow)
Hint: these are the booties given to me yesterday at 9:15 at St. Lukes hospital when I checked in for an outpatient heart catheterization.
Oh yes, the outcome. I had one more stent put in another major branch of my Left Anterior Descending Artery or LAD, for my second LAD stent. So I spent the night there laying flat on my back until 4:30 in the morning. Mrs. Jim was right there too, sleeping in a chair beside my bed.
One more crunchy bite for the cannibals when they eat me.
I got to watch the whole thing on TV monitors, to the right and the left side of my operating table. No anesthesia for Jim, which meant I got to see all the details in real time, the wire with a hook going up to fish around, the dye being released into the arteries, the stent being pushed up into my heart, and then a balloon pushed up inside the stent to expand it more.
Before the procedure, I had to have a 'bikini shave' on my right upper thigh (inside part). The young lady (??, at least she seemed young to me) RN was using an electric razor instead the usual plastic handled Gillette. She said the electric razor was less prone to causing an infection.
I asked the RN what would happen to all the loose hairs, as she was blowing them away from the shaved area. Not to worry, most of them would get picked up with the towel beneath me and tossed.
I asked her what would happen if a loose hair accidentally got into my artery along with the wires, dyes, stents, or balloons. Nobody had ever asked her that I guess. She thought it was a funny question and laughed a lot. I was thinking they needed a plan 'B.'
I'm ok now, Mrs. Jim drove me home after we got Adi from Karen and Billy's. Adi had missed me a lot and she told me that. Now she is sleeping beside me in the breakfast room.
Billy said Adi has more
Labels: Foot, Health, Humor, Jim Does, Procedure
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
There is more:
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n) I take three medicines and three vitamins/minerals every morning. Adi is my helper with this. We are in the kitchen beside the sink. o) Before taking the first medicine I get a glass of water and eat one rectangular piece of graham cracker. Adi eats a small piece from one end. p) She waits patiently while I take the rest. I have a small routine [programmers, would this be a subroutine?] doing this so that I don't take one medicine twice or skip one. My secret is to take out of my shoe box the three pill bottles. As I take a medicine, I put the bottle back in the box. Can't go wrong that way. q) After the last pill, which is a generic EyeCap, we eat the other rectangular piece of graham cracker, just as we did the first. r) Next for Adi is 'breakfast.' . .That for me is one half package of two (i.e. one piece) pieces of granola bar and coffee. . .Mrs. Jim eats the other piece/half package. Adi waits for the granola bar ritual. s) I pour coffee for Mrs. Jim, who is now reading the paper or getting e-mail. Adi waits for the granola bar ritual. t) I open the granola bar package. Adi is still waiting. u) I eat one third of my granola bar piece. Adi gets a corner, about the size of a large pencil eraser. v) Mrs. Jim sips her coffee and has a one third piece of her granola bar. Adi gets a corner, about the size of a large pencil eraser, from Mrs. Jim. w) We repeat this procedure four more time, two each for Mrs. Jim and me, with Adi and her piece, and the granola bar is gone. Adi has had a total of six bits. x) Adi goes to the utility room to get a drink of water. y) Adi tries to get me to play toss and take-away with her and her teddy bear. z) Adi gets tired from playing teddy bear with me. Or she gives up trying to get me to play. I'm old, you know. aa) Adi gets in her breakfast room bed for a long nap. bb) If the sun is shining I always fix a blind so there is a sunny spot on the carpet and she sleeps there instead. That is Adi's morning ritual. Every morning except Sundays. On Sundays, the paper goes into the back of the car on our way to church so we don't do the front yard part. So on Sunday, Adi does her thing out back while I'm putting my shoes on, sitting in a rocker on the porch. Then we do the medicine/vitamin bit. I'll let you figure out which steps from above are omitted. There are additional steps. Adi goes in the utility room and gets into her 'kennel' with a treat. She eats the treat while I put the baby gate up. Adi takes a nap until we return. Ah, life in the fast lane. That is her and my routine. I thought it might get close to being 26 steps. So I was surpised when the list got to 28 discrete items (four of the granola bit were lumped into one, at step 'w') Of course at 9:30 or ten, Mrs. Jim and I have a sweet snack with coffee. I take another pill. Adi gets into this act also. Are you in the fast lane?
Labels: Adi, Adi Can, Eating, Family, Health, Humor, Procedure, Routine
