Red Beans, Sausage & Rice . . . and a few ramblings

I love to cook!  I also love to feed people.  It's a great combination.

While I was mowing today, I was considering that I should make a couple of separate pages for this blog; maybe one for health & fitness, another one for recipes, etc., etc.

That's not something that is going to be done today . . . nor probably any day this week, but I do beleive that mutliple pages for Swirlings is in the near future.

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But for right here and right now . . .

. . . Many of my recipes have never even been written down; it's only been recently, perhaps in the last few years, that I have endeavored to created a written record of what I cook.  One of the main reasons for this deplorable lack of scribed cuisine collection is that most of the time (not always, but often) I don't measure things.  The caveat to that is when I'm baking; I'm pretty precise with my measurements when baking.

But other methods of cooking . . . I cook by sight and by taste.  And then some more taste.  And maybe a bit more taste just to be sure.  Quality-control, doncha know.  :)

Also, rarely does a recipe that isn't mine not get tweaked by me.  I'm a tweaker.  I add some of this, leave out some of that - and come up with what works for me.

Oh.  And I'm not sure where I learned to cook for an army (especially considering that my father was in the Navy - heehee), but I did.  I've always cooked large quantities of food.  I think it has something to do with my passion for feeding people.  And it's served me well; Tex loves eating food as much as I love cooking it!  What a great team we make!

I'm also a "from-scratch" cook. I try to use as few packaged and processed foods as possible . . . for taste and for health. I'm also an ingredient-label reader . . . and many of the ingredients I read on various food labels are really not that healthy for human consumption. There ya go. 

But, before I find myself blogging for hours on-end about the importance of scrutinizing what one feeds their body, along with the ick and yuck regarding exactly what is in processed food, I should probably segue into the actual topic of this particular blog post.

Y'all are welcomed.
:)

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The other day, I mentioned red beans & rice in one of my Facebook posts, and was later asked to share my recipe.

So, Erin, this is especially for you.  I hope you like it!

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Red Beans, Sausage & Rice

Ingredients are listed in order that they will be used.

Ingredients
1 lb. dried red beans
1 lb. smoked sausage (sliced in half lengthwise, and then each half sliced in pieces)
1 tablespoon canola oil (or butter, or bacon grease)
3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
6 cups of chicken stock or water (more, if needed)
3-4 stalks of celery (finely chopped)
1-2 green bell peppers (finely chopped, with the core removed)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
1/2 - 1 tablespoon onion powder
Cayenne pepper (based on heat preference)
4 cups cooked rice
1/2 - 1 cup of sliced scallions or chopped onions or (raw)

Directions
Sort through dry beans and remove whatever doesn't belong (weird beans, pebbles, etc.) 
Rinse beans well to remove any dirt.
Soak the beans in cold water for at least 8 hours.
Drain and rinse.

In a large stock pot, heat the fat (canola oil, butter or bacon grease) and slightly brown the sausage.
Add the garlic and simmer for a few minutes.

Add chicken stock, celery, bell peppers, salt, pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper.
Stir, and cook until gently boiling.

Add drained and soaked red beans.

Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 - 2.5 hours, stirring as needed.  If additional liquid is required, add more chicken stock or water, 1/2 cup at a time.  Cook beans longer, if necessary, always making sure there's enough liquid in the pot.

Serve over cooked rice and top with sliced raw scallions or  chopped raw onion.

Enjoy!


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Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed,
Sharmie

Sister Friends

I love this photo!

It was taken a couple of weeks ago at Am1's going-away party, held at Am2's house.
It's actually a crop of a group family shot.

The "session" was lasting a bit long and goofyness set in.

This is one of the reactions that the girls had to such hilarity.

Am2 is on the left; Am1 is on the right.

Aren't they beautiful?!

I love our daughters.  Absolutely love them.


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Day 8:  Master Bath Project

Tex came home from work a couple of hours early yesterday to do some more tiling.  I think we'll have the floor all completely laid by the end of today.  He thinks that we can probably start grouting it on Saturday.

It's taken a bit longer than either one of us had planned; but, at the start of this, we didn't know that we would be ordering a new vanity and new cabinets; a two-day process, in and of itself.  Plus, softball, puppy girls and various other aspects of The Tex and Sharmie Show interspersed in and amongst tiling time has made this a bit of an extended project.

We did get our cabinets and vanity ordered.  We ordered the cabinets from Lowes.  There's a 4-week delivery on them, and a 2-week delivery on the vanity; so we should be able to have our bathroom completely put back together by the end of this month, or perhaps the beginning of September.  We decided to go with a mom-and-pop company for our vanity.  The cost of the vanity was almost half of what Lowes quoted us; the mom-and-pop pours their vanities on-site, while Lowes contracts that aspect out to various not-very-local businesses (hence the main reason for the significant price difference).

Lowes is a great company; that's not questionable at all.

But, as I'm sure some of y'all already know this about me, I big supporter of mom-and-pop small businesses; they helped build this country and I like to try to support them whenever possible.

In the meantime, we no longer have a master bedroom.  We have a work area with a bed in the middle of it.  Tools, buckets, rags and boxes of tile is the decorating theme.

We also no longer have a guest bedroom.  Instead, we have a clothes pile room.

It's amazing how one room . . . our master bathroom (that also has our closet in it) . . . can affect almost the entire house.

The living room table behind our sofa now proudly displays our bathroom towels (because there wasn't any room for them in the guest bathroom).  The guest bedroom is now home for all of our clothes (ironically, most of them are Tex's) - clothes hanging in the closet  . . . and a  M O U N D  of clothes, still on their hangers, laying on the bed.  Some of our bathroom stuff is in the guest bathroom; some of it is in the guest bedroom.

Oh.  My.  Word!

How in the world did a minimalist like me come to be surrounded by so much stuff?  Ha!
I blame Tex.  Yep, that's the ticket.
:)

Hmmm.  Maybe not.  As I look to my left, while sitting in my studio, I see the closet (that intentionally doesn't have any doors because I've put wall-mounted shelving in the closet).  Inside the closet I notice some of my skirts hanging on the rod (in an itty-bitty area that I left unshelved).  And, if I look behind me while sitting at my desk, I can see various non-studio items temporarily residing on my drafting table while waiting to be reunited with their proper places within our bedroom or bathroom; some of them are my things, some are Tex's; some of the things are both of ours.  Now.  if I can only come up with some creative project for that container of waterbed valves and similar paraphernalia . . .

So, uhm, I guess I can't blame it all on Tex, now , can I?
Fiddle.  I was so hoping to appear completely innocent in this matter.


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It's a beautiful day here in Dallas, today!  Right now, it's 77(F).  It's expected to climb up to around 103 later on.  My desktop widget tells me that it's currently 37 in Jackson Hole.  Yep.  I've got a weather widget for my local home and one for my heart home.  You Jacksonites . . . I'm watching y'all!

Wherever y'all are today in this great big world, I hope you have an awesome and blessed day.

Thanks for reading!
Sharmie

Répondez s'il vous plaît

. . . a French phrase, meaning, in English, "Please respond" (or variations, thereof).

Shortening it to the more-common acronym, most people are familiar with this expression simply as: RSVP.


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I've had this blog post swirling around for several months now; in fact, it's been swirling longer than Swirlings has even been in existence.

There ya go.


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Tex and I will be hosting a party in a few weeks; I guess that's why this topic has wandered out of my grey matter's recesses and has, once again, brought itself to the forefront of my thoughts.

. . . Especially since, so far, I would estimate that only about 5%  of the invitations we sent have produced actual RSVP responses (whether yes or no).

So!

Let's talk about RSVP protocol, shall we?
:)


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I grew up with the understanding that any invitation bearing "RSVP" required a response from the invitees; whether such response was a "no" or a "yes".  Additionally, the response was to be prompt.

To me, it's simply good manners.  Taking that even further, I also perceive it as a gesture of caring and friendship.  (Admittedly, this particular paragraph is a bit difficult for me to write - I am reminded of how often I show poor manners regarding how long it takes me to answer personal emails . . . but, oddly enough, I do always make sure that my RSVPs are made in a timely manner.  Go figure.)

Whether it's a formal affair or a casual get-together, taking the time to acknowledge an invitation tells the host that you care about them . . . and also that you care about the planning details involved.

And, that's what it's all about.   Caring and friendship aside, hosting a party requires planning.  If there's food involved, there's even more planning involved.  I'm not talking about pot luck type of events where everyone brings a dish to share; I'm speaking of parties where all of the refreshments are provided by the host.

Knowing how many people plan on coming to a party significantly helps the host to determine how much food to prepare.  It wouldn't be the best to prepare food for 50 people if only 10 show up.  It would be even worse to have food for 10 people and then have 50 people ring your doorbell.

See the value in RSVPing to your invites?


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I'd like to hear your views on RSVPs.

Do you always respond to RSVP-bearing invitations; regardless as to whether or not you plan on attending?

Do you only respond if your answer is yes?

Do you not respond if your answer is "no" and expect the host to properly translate your silence?

Do you even care?

Should the RSVP notation on the invitations be written as "Regrets Only" (meaning that the hostess is signifying that she will  interpret all non-responses as "yes")?

What say you on this matter?  I'm genuinely interested.

You can either respond here, in the blog comments . . . -or- if you and I are Facebook friends, you can respond there.  I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed,
Sharmie

Baby Steps

My little Bruiser Charmer Boy is learning to walk!

These photos were taken last week at his house.  He actually never took a step during the photo-shoot (he's a shy model, doncha know), but I did get to see him take 2 full steps on his own when there wasn't a camera in his face.

Oh my word; he's growing up so fast.  I'm not sure if I'm ready for this.

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Master Bathroom Project - Day 5

Today, when Tex gets home from work, we are going to Lowes to choose our vanity and cabinets.
"Choose our vanity" . . . sounds like some kind of weird counseling assignment for narcissistics.

The actual tiling is going slower than Tex first anticipated . . .  cooking dinner for and hanging out with friends, rental saws not working properly, puppy girls' beauty appointments taking much longer than normal and just living life in the moment as it comes - all have had the unmitigated audacity to interfere with laying ceramic tile on a concrete floor (but I most definitely wouldn't have it any other way).

BUT!  Progress is definitely being made.  It's going to be so pretty!

Tex and I both really like the tile we chose.  We both really liked it at first glance, too.  When we were walking up and down the tile aisles, trying to decide which one to adopt and bring into our home, I wasn't wild about some of the ones he suggested and he wasn't wild about some of my suggestions.  Then, there were a few that we both liked, but in an iffy sort of way.  However, when we saw "our" tile sample, we knew that it was The One.

So very cool how that worked.


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It's going to be another hot day today - temps are expected to reach 106.  And, I still have my triking to do - better get going while it's still reasonably cool.

Y'all have blessed days today; thanks for reading!
Sharmie

Delaware-Bound

DelawareBoy

Am1

Mr. Handsome

Our oldest daughter, Am1, and her family is moving back to Delaware this weekend.

Fiddle. AND Faddle.
I was quite very happy having everyone nearby; both daughters and their families were about a 2-hour drive from Tex's and my abode.  Delaware is definitely not within 2 hours from here; it's much, much further than that.

But.  They have told us that they feel this is the best decision for them; and so, we trust that.  AND, we trust Our Lord to cover and protect and to keep them in His Care.

For my friends who believe in prayer, I ask that you please pray for their safe travels this weekend, and that the move and transition goes smoothly.  Thanks so much for that!


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On a different topic, the bathroom retiling project continues.
Day 2.


Except now, it's a quasi-complete makeover.  The garden tub and the shower stay; the vanity and cabinets are going to be replaced.  There's a long and somewhat amusing story attached to the reasons for such makeover (and, in actuality, also partly attributable to our decision to tile the floor at this specific point in time); but nutshelling it, recently, there was, uhm, just a bit of water damage to the cabinets. Just a bit, doncha know. OK, more than just a bit. Let's call it a significant amount.


Yesterday was prep work day.
Today, we start laying the tile.
Hopefully, the floor will be completed and walkable by the end of this weekend.

The vanity and cabinets will need to be ordered; so installing them is going to be our next project, in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime (and for the next couple or so weeks), we will be utilizing our guest bathroom - since our master bath is, for the most part, currently a big empty room.

I was thanking Our Lord yesterday for the wonderful blessing of having an extra bathroom.

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Which brings me to one final thought here, today.

I encourage you to ask Our Lord to show you the Blessings that He is giving you in your own life.
In fact, I'd love to hear about such blessings!  Feel free to talk about them in the comment section.

Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed!
Sharmie

Family Photo

Our daughters, sons-in-law, grandkidlettes and Tex & me - July 4, 2012

And, now, I bid y'all good days today; I'm off to go help Tex tile our master bathroom.

I get to run the wet saw!!!   (And before last night, I didn't even know what a wet saw was; fiddle, I hadn't even heard of a wet saw till last night).  

This should be interesting . . . and fun!

Y'all be blessed.

Thanks for reading,

Sharmie 

83 Days - Different Number, Different Goal

83 Days.

As of bedtime last night, that's how many consecutive days I have been seizure-free.  By bedtime tonight I will, hopefully, be able to add another day to the count.

I had 4 seizures last year, in 2011.  I also had 4 seizures in 2010. Going back even previous years, I've had even more seizures.

In fact, except for the period from September 2007 - October 2008, I have had at least one grand mal seizure each year since 1985 (and sometimes many more than one).  Man, those 13 months of being seizure-free were awesome!  In fact, I was beginning to think that I was in the clear, seizure-wise.

What brought about that seizure in the 10th month of '08?
Great question; glad you asked!

Oddly enough, someone smashed one of my fingers in the hinges of a rebounder that I was giving to her.  To be fair to her, I know she didn't do it intentionally.  To be fair to me, I had tried to tell her to stop what she was doing at the moment to let me get my hand out of the way; but she was in a "brute force" frame of mind and didn't heed my request.  Ouch!  In fact, dizzying and piercing headache ouch, with a side of nausea thrown in for good measure (my apologies to any of y'all who are a bit squeamish).  A couple of hours later, I had a seizure.  Excessive bleeding is a seizure trigger; even internal bleeding as what I had experienced from the finger-smash.

Ah, well . . . life goes on, doesn't it?


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Since 2000, all of the seizures have been grand mal and during my waking hours; prior to that, they had all been nocturnal grand-mal seizures up until 1998, when, for a couple of years, I began having both waking and nocturnal seizures (mostly still nocturnal, though).  In fact, the very first grand mal seizure I ever experienced (1988) occurred while I was sleeping. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed!

Prior to 1988, I believe that I had petit mal seizures going back at least a decade.  That is a supposition and not a hard fact, though; prior to the first grand mal seizure, I had never even heard of seizures and had never seen a doctor for what I had been experiencing (this was due to my young age and the fact that I didn't share what was going on with dad).


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One year, circa 2004 and for about a six-month time period, I had grand mal seizures every 2 weeks.

Coming back to more current time, I have had 2 seizures in 2012; one in March and one in April.


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It was also in 1988 that I had decided that I needed to take better care of body and started researching healthy ways to lose weight.  I mention this in my blog post, "Let's Eat!"  This was prior to the first grand mal seizure; and it was that very seizure that led me to begin research on how to combat seizures via what I fed my body . . . and more specifically, what I didn't  feed my body.


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Throughout all those years and all the various information I had gathered and learned, I had never read anything regarding exercising being way to combat seizures.

On April 2nd of this year, after a year of on again / off again attempts to incorporate consistent exercise into my life, I finally "got it" and started intentionally exercising every day.

On April 19th . . . 18 days into my new lifestyle . . . I had a grand mal seizure.  Looking at my notes that I took regarding the previous days' activities, I believe there were several factors involved that brought about this seizure:  lack of sleep, inadvertently eating something containing soy and almost 4 hours of exercise in that one day,  OK, ok, I'll give y'all that - 4 hours of exercise in one day was probably a bit excessive.  But hey!  I'm still pretty pleased that I was able to do it.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.


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I didn't let the seizure deter me, though.  After taking the following day off (truth be known, as mandated from Tex), I began my fitness regime again on April 21st.

Sometime during the last couple of months, it occurred to me to research whether or not exercise can help combat seizures.

AND, guess what?!  It most certainly can!

It seems like a no-brainer right now; but all those years previous, it never occurred to me . . . and I never came upon any information suggesting the correlation.

But, yes!!!  Regular, daily exercise does, indeed, help keep seizures at bay (such exercise being done in  reasonable amounts and not like some crazed ironwoman who is high from adrenaline and endorphin rushes).

This is awesome, awesome news, y'all!!!


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So, these past 83 days of being seizure-free have been very cherished.  It feels good to be able to actively participate in combating seizures; by not only paying attention to what I feed my body, but also by ensuring that I make consistent daily exercise a part of my life.

I didn't reach my fitness minutes goal for June.  My goal was 3,000 minutes; my actual minutes were 2,364.  To be honest, I had wondered if 3,000 was too much of a reach; but I went ahead and made that my goal, anyway.  But, even though I didn't make my goal, I still got in almost 40 hours of exercises (39.40, to be exact - but whose counting) . . . and I'm happy with that.

My goals for July are to add another 2,500 fitness minutes to my yearly total . . . AND, of course, to complete another month of being seizure-free.  So far, I'm on track with both.


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There are some seizure triggers that are simply out of my control; i.e., fluorescent lighting, injuries with excessive bleeding, etc.  I can't worry about the what-ifs of those triggers; I can only do my best to avoid them and then make sure I do everything possible to take care of my health . . . and then go out and live life and enjoy it!

Isn't that what each of us should do, anyway . . . take care of our health to the best of our ability and truly live our life?  I sure think so.

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Above everything else, I give Praise to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, for HIS Covering and HIS Guidance.

Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed!
Sharmie