Thursday, October 10, 2013

Medical, Afternoon Visit, Meals on Wheels.

Having been out most of the day, I don’t have a lot to say. Matt and I both came through our diabetes clinic with flying colours. All our readings from the last test were excellent, only thing is, Matt’s good readings are achieved without medication. In fact as far as I can see he is NOT diabetic at all. As for my pain (see yesterday) I am being sent for an abdominal ultrasound and if that doesn’t show anything, I might have to have a ‘something’scopy, not sure what she said. Didn’t like the sound of it either. I am also a tad low on iron so have to take some pills, every other day is fine. One tip she gave us, take the iron pill with a little orange juice which helps increase its strength and lessen the effects of constipation which result from iron pills. Useful to know.

Afterwards we visited some friends and incredibly sat outside in the sun sipping wine and eating snacks. For this time of year it is wonderful to be able to sit out like that. Another friend came to join us and we had lots of great conversation and a delightful afternoon.

Had to get back as we had taken in our neighbour’s Meals on Wheels – I had told him I didn’t know what time we would be back, he too had a doc appointment this morning. When he asked us to take it in for him it made me wonder about it, I knew nothing about it, I looked it up and discovered you can get a full mash and gravymeal for $7.50 which doesn’t seem to bad. The sample menus appear to be pretty varied, however, I am not sure what they would taste like, for instance, neither Matt and I like our beef well done unless it’s in a stew or something and to me, mashed potatoes and gravy as I think it would arrive would be totally unpalatable. I am not a big fan of gravy or mash. I make gravy myself when doing a roast and I only eat a very little of that. To me, that picture looks most unappetising. One thing I did find, the same government office does housekeeping services for $14 an hour, I pay my cleaner $19. Matt’s comment was that they would probably bot be as good, I agree, this woman is one of the best I’ve ever had.

Said I had nothing to say didn’t I? Thursday is bowling again of course.

I love Gazpacho so this different take on it sounded pretty good. I found this at Cooking.com through their email.

Grilled Tomato Gazpacho


Source: © EatingWell Magazine
6 servings, 1 scant cup each

Grill the vegetables for this refreshing soup earlier in the day or even the night before. We sometimes serve the gazpacho in clear Spanish wine tumblers to show off the rich color.
Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Stir to recombine and garnish just before serving.Rec Image

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
1 small red bell pepper
1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded, divided
1/2 cup torn fresh or day-old country bread (crusts removed)
1 small clove garlic
2-3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon piment d’Espelette (see Ingredient Note) or hot Spanish paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredient Note: Piment d’Espelette is a sweet, mildly spicy pepper, from the French side of the Basque region, ground into powder.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat grill to medium-high.

Grill tomatoes and bell pepper, turning a few times, until they soften and the skins are blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pepper to a plastic bag and let it steam until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skin; cut the pepper in half and discard the stem and seeds. Place one half in a blender. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and roughly chop. Add the tomatoes, skins and all, to the blender.
Add half the cucumber to the blender along with bread, garlic, vinegar to taste, parsley, piment d’Espelette (or paprika or cayenne), salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Add oil and blend until well combined. Refrigerate until room temperature or chilled, at least 1 hour.

Before serving, finely dice the remaining cucumber and bell pepper; stir half of each into the gazpacho and garnish with the remaining cucumber and bell pepper.

Have a great day.
Jo_thumb[2]

8 comments:

  1. I guess if you're getting Meals on Wheels, you can't be too picky. I didn't realize it cost the person getting the meal money though.

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    1. Nor did I Alex. You can get assistance I gather if your income is below a certain level. You still have to pay something though.

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  2. Hi Jo .. they're alright .. but not really up to scratch. People who don't cook much probably appreciate them ... as they have little idea of what the food should be like. Still it was good of you to take your neighbour's in for him ..

    I'm just glad both your check-ups went ok ...

    My mother used to make meals on wheels for village elderly when she had her Care Home .. and three times a week our numbers went up to over 50 .. but I bet they enjoyed their meals .. my mother ensured the food was wholesome, tasty and fresh ..

    We have both sorts here .. the NHS ones and you can have paid ones - or get from a shop ... and they're still so so ...

    That Gazpacho looks delicious .. I do love that soup ...

    Cheers to you - enjoy the bowling .. Hilary

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  3. Interesting Hilary, thanks. It says they cook healthy food, of that I have no doubt, but whether it would be that enjoyable, that I don't know. For people like Matt and I who have been adventurous cooks all our lives, I imagine it would be pretty bad. As far as I know there are no freebies just assisted, but I haven't really looked into it.

    It does look good doesn't it. I love gazpacho, funnily enough, first time I ever had it was at the Hilton in Malta.

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  4. I hope you can avoid any-scopy. I've had them all. The 'scopy itself isn't bad, they knock you out unlike some of the other medical procedures I've had lately, but the PREP is sheer hell. So if you end up having to have one, feel free to whine to me and I can totally sympathize.
    I didn't know meals on wheels was in Canada, too. That's cool. I have several dear friends who are quite pleased with the service.
    As to cleaning personnel, I've been without mine for a MONTH because she's been tirelessly volunteering with her church cleaning flood damaged houses for free. I know I shouldn't complain, it's wonderful what she's doing but damn, I'm spoiled. She's $11 an hour, but only 15 years old, so that's a good wage for someone that age.
    Love gazpacho...will have to give it a try. I have a whole folder inside my recipes folder for recipes I've gotten from you!
    Tina @ Life is Good

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    1. Meals on Wheels is in a lot of countries Tina, the UK being another. It's an excellent service for those who need it.

      You've laid yourself open for trouble allowing me to whine at you if necessary, of course I sincerely hope it won't be.

      15 - that's incredible and, as you say, $11 is pretty good for a kid that age. Very enterprising youngster by the sound of it. I was never fond of housework at the best of times and have often had someone in to do the work, these days its more of a necessity unfortunately.

      Glad you think the recipes good enough to collect. Wonderful stuff gazpacho. A mistake we make though is blending it and chilling it. In Spain they would sieve it so the texture is rougher, and the most chilling it would have would be sitting in the shade. Well originally. These days they probably make it the way we do as well.

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  5. Don't get too worried about any kind of 'oscopy, Jo. If your specialist is up with the latest methods the prep isn't anywhere near as horrendous as it used to be. In fact for those I had last week I was more unhappy about not being able to eat solid food for two days than the clean out itself and, listening to the others in the waiting room as I waited to be taken in, they were all pleasantly surprised at how straight forward and lacking in discomfort it was.

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement Helen. I still hope I won't have to go that far though.

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