Pes Anserine injury

I haven’t posted in a while because I started having knee pain. It came on suddenly; a lot of pain; trouble bending it and then trouble walking. The doctors did an xray and found nothing; injected steroid while waiting for an MRI. The MRI supposedly showed nothing. An appointment was made for 6 weeks later. In the meantime, I was becoming worse. The pain was so intense, my college son came home (from out of state) to stay with us and take care of me. He bought me crutches, which helped me move from room to room. I called the doctor and asked them to look at MRI again. They fit me in for the next week. He started pushing on the spot where I told him the pain was; he said well that’s the Pes Anserine, He said that’s a whole new area than where we originally thought it was. I said, “no, that is exactly the spot I showed you when I first came in 2 months ago” He injected something to help reduce the inflammation in the bag behind those tendons. It does not stop the pain of trying to bend the knee, the pain behind the knee, the discomfort when trying to walk, but hopefully it will help guide it to healing. In the meantime, while I was at that visit; I asked him to look at the MRI while I was there. Turns out, they didn’t look at it. They go by what the MRI technicians tell them. He said, the MRI Tech found nothing and noted that. While he was scanning the MRI, he found an obvious cyst growing in the Patella bone and the cartilage was obviously rubbing on it. He said it was very obvious on the MRI and confused by why the MRI tech did not mention this. I am now waiting on the next appointment (3 weeks from now) to decide what next. I’ve been tired due to lack of activity and also not sleeping well. I can only sleep on my back; any slight movement to my side – hurts. Pillows between knees do not help – still can’t bend the knee – walking on crutches is exhausting – My son is doing all my shopping and taking care of the house and property – He is great at making sure I have ice packs and water for drinking. I have had no sudden falls or injuries of any kind, so it’s all very confusing. It’s been 3 months now. I am curious what will be decided in 3 weeks.

I miss baking

Cinnamon Latte Syrup

Reasons to make your own syrup: Syrups are becoming harder to find due to availability, and postage is expensive, also, you are watching and hoping your package is not damaged or stolen, and the best reason is this is a much lower cost to you to make your own.

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

Add sugar and water to a pot.  Bring these to a boil and then add 2 cinnamon sticks.  Boil for 2-4  minutes; reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.  Set the pot on the back of the stove and let it cool down.  When cool enough; pour the syrup into a container. Include the sticks in the container, if you want to intensify the cinnamon flavor.

Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.   

If you like to do canning; you can add this to a canning jar, seal, and keep for 2 to 3 months.   

I will be making a chestnut praline syrup this fall when our Chestnut tree is producing.  I’ll share that recipe after I try two ideas.  The recipe will include pecans and chestnuts, and I’ll be playing with a couple of syrup ideas as well as sugars, to decide my favorite.

Plus, I’ll need to figure out storage ideas, and time frames.  We do not go through this that often, but it is so inexpensive to make, I don’t worry about what I will have to pour out after a month. 

You can cut this in half also.

You can make this with vanilla beans, cranberries, orange peels, almonds, etc.  This would be good on waffles, pancakes, muffins, ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, cold drinks, sparkling water, hot drinks, fruit salad, grapefruit wedge, hot and cold tea, etc.   

For the Cinnamon Latte coffee:

1 tsp of cinnamon syrup (your choice how much of this you prefer)

1 cup of coffee or espresso

Top with almond milk foam (or cream of your choice)   

I have a foamer I like to use for hot drinks.  

Stir together

Sprinkle cinnamon on top

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀

𝟜 ɪɴɢʀᴇᴅɪᴇɴᴛ𝕤 𝕊ɴᴀᴄᴋ – ᴏɴʟʏ 𝟝 ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ𝕤 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀

🥨

This is easy – and so fun – Jim and I ate all of it quickly – I’m glad I didn’t make a lot because we would have eaten them all. When we want a quick, fun ice cream snack – this is it – this is delicious! Once you have these items in the pantry, and you have a sweet tooth – just make a couple of these – only takes minutes.

🥨

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀

Microwave 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter with 1 tablespoon coconut oil for about 1 minute (I did 50 seconds). Set it to the side to cool – Top mini pretzel twists with a scoop of ice cream (I used a small cookie scoop); (your choice ice cream – I did vanilla); then drizzle the peanut butter mixture over, and sprinkle crushed pretzels. Let sit for a minute to harden and enjoy

This is from an older food network magazine. I’ve made it a few times over the years

Blueberry Banana Bread

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
½ cup chopped walnuts
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 cup blueberries (coat the berries in flour; about 1 tsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Add the
lemon juice and vanilla, mix well. Add the eggs. Combine the flour, baking soda,
baking powder and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Mix in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Stir in the blueberries. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the
center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before
removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chili with sweet potatoes

Homemade chili seasoning:

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp dried oregano (I grow oregano and this is out of my garden – love the smell of it),

1 Tbsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

1lb beef or chorizo – chop up half a large onion and sauté till tender, add a bit of garlic to that towards the end – also add a chopped poblano or jalapeno pepper towards the end (I play with the amount of garden peppers based on our tastes, and I grow these in my garden so I’m always combining).

Add 3 Tbsps. tomato paste,

2 or 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in to cubes,

4 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (I play with these flavors as well),

2 can black beans (variety of beans work – we like black beans in chili),

1 can beef stock, or 2 cups homemade.

From there, play with spices and additions. Towards the end, I add pasta shells. I’ve added chopped carrots, zucchini, etc to chili – just whatever I have available.

Blueberry Peach Crisp

Jim brought in 2 pints of blueberries from our garden, and I needed to save the peaches as they were several days old. Peaches ae a great price right now.
This makes a lot of juice so it is perfect for topping the ice cream


Fᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ Fɪʟʟɪɴɢ:

2 pints blueberries

5 or 6 peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/4 c. cornstarch
🍑
Fᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ Tᴏᴘᴘɪɴɢ:


1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 tspns ground cinnamon

Kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tspn pure vanilla extract


Ice cream or whipped cream for serving


1. Preheat oven to 350


For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, combine the blueberries, peaches, gran sugar, lemon zest and cornstarch. Place the fruit mixture in a wide shallow baking dish (2 to 2 1/2 qurarts) or 8 1-cup ramekins. Set aside.


2. For the topping, in a food processor, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and pulse.


3. Add the butter and vanilla to the food processor and pulse, pulse, pulse, until the mixture looks dry and crumbly. Add 1 tablespoon water and pulse again until the mixture starts to come together (I did not need to do the water part)

Sprinkle the topping over the blueberry mixture.


4. Bake the crisp until the filling is hot and bubbly and the topping is crispy and nicely browned. 35-40 minutes. (I did 40 minutes here in Indiana)

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Nutty Irishman


Our favorite Irish Pub in Plainfield, IN closed because of COVID. I had this drink a year ago, before everything closed down. This drink was so delicious, and I’m glad I took a photo of the menu.

I decided to try 3 different drinks.

I made the hot coffee drink which requires (for my comfort level testing): 2/3 cup of coffee, 1/2 shot Bushmills Whiskey, 1/2 shot Frangelico liquor, 1/2 shot Bailey’s cream, cream to your liking and nutmeg. (this is pictured in the orange mug)

2nd: I also poured a shot which consisted of Frangelico and Irish Cream (1/2 shot each), nutmeg; (this is pictured in the shot glass – middle bottom of photo)


and 3rd: I made a cold drink which consisted of 1/2 cup coffee, 1 shot Frangelico, 1 shot Bailey’s, nutmeg, and ice cubes (pictured in the clear mug on the left side of photo)

The Frangelico is delicious!

I can see why it is so popular in the pubs. (I couldn’t finish the larger drink – tasted it – was satisfied and poured it in to a mason jar, which is in the fridge for tomorrow night)


The Frangelica bottle is so cute!

Turkey or Chicken and Tomatillo Chimichangas

I made this with leftover turkey last year after Thanksgiving. I froze the remaining filling. This freezes well. I just pulled a bag from the freezer for dinner tonight. I was thrilled there was no freezer burn taste. Jim ate 3 large chimichangas, and said it tasted like I just created it.

Keeper!

If you are using leftover turkey -skip the first step with the chicken in water – you can use a chipotle chile from a can if you don’t want to boil one. I used leftover turkey when I first created this. It is a bit of work the first time, but trust me, you can freeze the leftover filling (and it makes a lot) Once frozen, all you have to do is thaw, and add to fajita shells and fry real quick.

I’m so glad I froze this and didn’t toss or give away. Definitely using this recipe again this year, after Thanksgiving

This is a big, beautiful – oversized book. This is a fun book for us because the recipes are out of our normal creating range and we enjoy the change up.

There are a couple hot drinks I’ll be trying this year from this book.

Watermelon Cantaloupe Ice Pops

Blend 1 1/2 cups cubed seedless watermelon;

1/2 cup chopped strawberries, and

2 tablespoons each superfine sugar, and

lime juice in a blender.

Divide among ice pop molds (each 3/4 full), and insert sticks; freeze 1 hour.

Puree 1 cup cubed cantaloupe or honeydew melon, with

2 tablespoons each: superfine sugar and lime juice.

Divide among the ice pop molds, and freeze until firm.

Honeydew melon would be really good with this but I only had a cantaloupe

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