Do real men eat poached eggs?

While most men will shrug at eating fried, scrambled or hard boiled eggs, they might take pause at the word poached!

A poached egg is one that has been cooked suspended in simmering water. A technique that often requires some practice; something I haven't had much luck at. In addition, some guys might think this method to be a bit too 'girly'!

Another, and I feel better method, involves using a steamer such as the Excelsteel egg steamer I recently purchased at Amazon. This four cup poacher literally steams the egg(s) into submission. The end result is a soft egg with barely cooked white and a runny yolk.

So, why bother to poach an egg in the first place? The answer lies with how well the protein in the egg survives the cooking process. When you fry, scramble or hard boil an egg some of the protein is damaged and therefore not utilized fully by the body. Not so a poached egg. As a matter of fact, an egg made in this manner is pretty much entirely absorbed by the intestines leaving little is any 'residue' to be excreted later. (A fact that was exploited in the early Apollo Space Program when food scientists were looking for foods that would not have the astronauts needing to take a dump during the early week long flights). Good steak works in a similar manner and, in point of fact, steak and eggs were the meal of choice just prior to liftoff!

Well, I think that answers that! If a poached egg was good enough for our astronauts, then it's good enough for us males! Next time, I'll discuss coddled eggs for all you Democrats out there!

On pharmaceuticals and your doctor!

One afternoon, while sitting in my doctors office due to problems with anxiety, I was telling him about the drugs that I felt he needed to prescribe to me. Drugs I'd seen on TV.

“Doctor,” I intoned in my most knowledgeable voice, “I think my best bet would be for you to write me up a prescription for some Xanax”. I told the doctor this even before the examination had taken place. The doctor just looked at me and smiled. Then he asked, “what makes you think Xanax would work, Dan?”

“Well, gosh doc”, I answered now feeling a bit uncomfortable, “I just saw an ad on the TV, and uh, the drug company said it was very effective for all kinds of stuff like what I got!” I was now stammering a bit at that point.

The doctor smiled as he took my vitals, listened to my complaints and then asked, “OK, so let's say I write you a prescription for this drug. Have you any idea what it will cost?”

I shook my head in dumb fashion. “What? Maybe $20 or $40 bucks?” I hazarded a guess.

“Not really even close,” he answered in a quiet voice. “ Since you have no qualifying insurance, it would be closer to $100 for 30 tabs, and oh, did you know that stuff is pretty addictive?”

“No, I didn't”, I admitted with a frown. “ So, what do you think?”

My doctor was quiet for a moment and then laid this on me. “ Dan, one of the reasons I became a doctor was to help people like yourself. I worked long and hard for my certificate as an MD and have been in the business of helping people just like you for decades.” He paused for that to sink in. “ And, the reason you came to me is because of that knowledge – that is, knowing what might be the best drug or therapy for you to heal or get over a problem.” He sighed and then went on. “The thing is, too many of my patients watch the ads thrown on the TV by drug companies who have only one goal – for you to buy their stuff. And, they figure if you declare to a physician that you really want their junk, then said physician will be compliant and give it to you.”

The doctor then shook his head. “But that's a load of bunk! Remember son, I'm here to help you and that help also includes prescribing you the best, cheapest and most effective drug for a given situation.” He then stood up and asked, “ So, will you trust me and let me do my job?”

Feeling sheepish, I said yes and later left with a prescription for a drug called Buspirone that was; 1) non-addictive, 2) a long term treatment for general anxiety and 3) relatively cheap to boot!

The moral of this story – Ignore the 'crapola' you see on TV concerning drugs. Let your doctor do his job and get you the right stuff at the best price!

How lucky?

Lucky me, I got a flu shot, some weeks ago, and now I have caught the flu! Well, perhaps this bug will treat me in  a more kindly way as a result. All I know is that I feel terrible and can only wonder at how I might of felt without that damn shot!

How lucky for my little town. It's been colder than most of Alaska and soon everyone can look forward to ice skating on Swan Creek, as the arctic conditions look to be staying awhile longer!

How lucky for everyone in the US, that our President Obama-the-Man  is still on his throne! And, would you just look at all the progress he's made! In just half a decade, even while struggling with that mean old Republican Congress, he hasn't lost the faith! I feel your love oh Great One and, oh my goodness, we have three more years of your inspired rule yet to come!

Critique: Healthy Choice Chicken & Spinach Alfredo!

At $2.79, this 220 calorie offering from the the folks at Healthy Choice has a lot going for it! There's some chicken chunks, spinach and penne pasta – all three of which are up there in my 'like' department. Oh. and that Alfredo sauce isn't too shabby either!

Healthy Choice offers this TV style dinner as one of their line of seven 'Baked Taste' recipes that is actually prepared in your friendly (and fast) microwave. And, at just 241 grams in total wright, you aren't really getting all that much food, (which is another good reason to eat stuff like this if you are trying to diet). In addition, there is only 550 milligrams of sodium to deal with which makes it a low salt item as well. So, overall, I would give this meal high marks in terms of overall nutrition.

As to the preparation, that's also a breeze. It's a 'slit it and nuke it' affair on high for about 4 minutes. I like any TV dinner that has such few instructions. (If I see the words 'stir and reseal', I generally will give that item a pass). Not so with this meal deal or the other offerings of like venue. They're all easy to make. High marks, and smiles, all around.

After nuking this meal deal, I sat down and gave it the taste test. Hmm, the aroma was excellent and everything was hot and very tasty. Most importantly, the pasta was fairly close to al dente – something that the folks at Banquet have never seemed to get a handle on. I think we have a winner here! This meal got a score of 8 on a scale of 10 and yes, I will be trying the other varieties.

Random thoughts for Early February 2014!

Record cold temps in the Forsyth area!

That warming trend the NWS promised us would start on the 10^th of February? Well, that isn't going frigid temperatures that will be only somewhat modified by an occasional snowfall or ice storm every few days through the middle of the month. If that comes to pass, we might just set a new record for the coldest February. Right now (Wednesday, February 5th) we are ten degrees below normal for the month and we seem to have us a semi permanent snow pack to boot!

to happen as they now are forecasting more

As I gaze out my window, on an otherwise fine Wednesday morning, I can see snowflakes floating in the 18 degree air. Brrr! I also note that locales like Nome Alaska will hit 30F this day and somehow that all seems to fit my increasingly bleak outlook on life. I look out my front window and briefly wonder if the roads outside are as treacherous as they appear to be? A car goes by sideways, spinning little loop de loops. Think I'll just stay home.

Mediacom and their old stuff!

'How is Mediacom like an old man? They both have equipment that doesn't work very well!'

I had to send out a jab to Mediacom, bless their aging souls. They seem to be experiencing equipment difficulties on a fairly regular basis these days. Outages at my place are becoming a regular thing and it makes we wonder what's going on with them... does anyone remember how Obama was going to make the Internet better through the installation of more fiber optic cable all across the nation? He promised that early in his first campaign. So, how's the cable working where you live these days? Or do you still have DSL? Just what the hell did we get for that 17 trillion we blew on the economy?

Personally, I'd love to see a new cable company come into our area. Perhaps one with youthful thinking employees and loads of fiber optic cable at great rates. I'll continue to hold my breath on that happening...

That Bull Shoals bridge project!

I haven't heard anything yet about the Bull Shoals bridge project meeting that was scheduled for yesterday at 5PM at the Forsyth High School cafeteria. I did have a chance to talk with the folks at MoDOT prior to that get together and was told that there would be no real presentation or materials planned for the public to view. So, I'm guessing this was nothing more than a gripe session and I've had more than enough of those over the course of my existence.

Still, it would be interesting to hear if anything concrete was said or offered by either side. (I wanted to ask if there was going to be a walking or bike area on the new bridge). As I cross this bridge at least twice each day, I've gotten used to serving to avoid pedestrians who are trying to navigate the 6 inch ledge they are forced to use. The less athletic sometimes will misstep and suddenly stumble out into the roadway. A situation which can get pretty exciting at times. No ones gotten killed, so far at least.

I have heard that the Corps of Engineers may be unhappy about some of the aspects of the bridge as it may need to be relocated some ways up or down the river. I find that a little bit troubling as THEY WORK FOR US and not the other way around! What's going on with these guys anyways? (These are the same bunch of maroons that decided it would be a good idea to remove 14 of the canopies from campsites along the river. After two months they still litter the park area – and for what reason)? I've never heard of any reason that made even an iota of sense. So, forgive me if I'm a little bit leery with them having anything whatsoever to do with that new bridge project. Let em go build a pontoon bridge for the traffic to cross while MoDOT handles the bridge – that would keep them busy at any rate and out of everyone's hair.

Making pasta a part of any diet!

This pasta meal came in at only 487 calories!

If you're like many Americans, a good plate of hot pasta is a must have meal as it is considered a comfort food by most. The problem is you also have to be careful due to the calories. Not with the pasta! It's only four calories per gram – it's the pasta sauce that can hurt. Alfredo sauce, for instance, is practically a heart attack in a bite! A much better way to go is to make your own low calorie – low salt sauce and then make sure you stick with small portions!

Pictured above was a filling meal I consumed just this morning. It was comprised of 70 grams of pasta, 47 grams of a homemade sauce that contributed only about 130 calories. With a glass of 2% milk the total came to just 487 calories! I also kept the sodium levels low by substituting Ms. Dash for the real thing!

Bone chilling cold on tap for early February!

Last year we got over 60F on three occasions!

OK, so we got some snow with maybe more coming towards the second weekend of February. That I can live with. What really rankles me, however, is the persistent arctic air that keeps invading my little home down in southwest Missouri.

Yesterday, on Monday the 3^rd, the temperature got up to 34F. It's too bad that will be the last time we see such warmth between now and next Monday! After the snow stops falling in the early afternoon on Tuesday, we can expect some really cold air to help make our winter misery more complete. Daytime highs will struggle somewhere in the 20's while the night times will flirt with readings close to zero! (Even Nome Alaska is currently warmer than that)!

After paying back to back electric heating bills that were well over $200 for both December and January, I'm betting that February won't be much of an improvement. Already, this month, we are running a full ten degrees below average and I'm sure that the next five frigid days will not improve that trend very much! I've turned my home thermostat down as far as can be considered practical (66F daytime and 60F night time) while retreating to one room with a small space heater and a humidifier that goes 24/7. This arrangement has allows me to maintain a room temperature that varies from 72F to 74F depending on what's happening outdoors.

Thankfully, the weather service is pretty sure we will be in a warming trend starting sometime around the 10^th of the month. That sure would be n ice!