Monday, Stewing a Little...

I reluctantly got up on Monday morning, five minutes before the alarm was set to go off (and, you know how much I hate that!) I did my morning rituals and got dressed watching the news and weather (like always).

Looks like the next best chance to mulch the multitude of leaves on the ground will be Thursday (maybe).

I stopped at Meijer's at lunchtime to get some kitty litter (tomorrow is garbage day and I need to change it). I did make one impulse buy: a beautiful bunch of beets with the leaves still on. I am sure I must have mentioned it in the past, but my Mother's (and my) favorite leaf vegetable was beet greens. Boiled until tender, then splashed with white vinegar, they are superb!

Now, I'm not knocking spinach, mustard or collard greens (and I can cook a mean collard greens with a smoked ham hock) but I grew up on this stuff and I love it! Back home, I unloaded the trunk and wished I didn't have to go back to work. It's finally sunny and (eventually) got up to 61 degrees F. But, back to work I did go...

I had gotten a call from my doctor's office at 10:00 AM on Friday, asking me to call them back. Of course the office was closed by the time I got in about 5:20 PM and they don't have Saturday office hours, so I called them back this afternoon. They said they did get the report on the fasting blood glucose test and the results were excellent! A clean sweep for the old, fat, bald guy!!

I got home Monday afternoon from work and proceeded to wash up the various pots, pans and aluminum bowls I used for yesterday's Sunday supper. I had left everything soaking overnight because that damn baked, melted cheese was sticky!

I dug out three smallish russet potatoes, peeled them, cut them into chunks and boiled them in salted cold water. I want to use the leftover remaining sauerkraut and smoked sausage for tonight's dinner, you see.

Speaking of leftovers, I reluctantly threw away the remaining beef stew. I've done a lot of research on this (living alone, you always face the possibility of poisoning yourself) and stews should only be kept in the fridge for four days. It's now past that and I wish to hell I would have just frozen some of it. But, I didn't...

When the potatoes were "almost" fork-tender, I added the sauerkraut and smoked sausage to the pot. I put the lid on and let it steam. Why add the potatoes? I didn't really have enough leftover sauerkraut and smoked sausage to make a real meal.

I filled in the Blog to date and then checked on dinner. I tested a potato and a piece of the smoked sausage and decided it was time. So, I turned off the radio and turned on the TV at 7:00 PM, plated my dinner in a large bowl and went off to enjoy my leftovers...

I watched TV until bedtime, but, while I was brushing my teeth, I remembered the kitty litter! So, I swapped it out and got the garbage bag out to the garage for the morning. Finally, I could go to bed.