dfish

Good morning, everyone! We got about an inch of snow overnight. We have a chance of maybe 3-4 more inches today into tomorrow depending on the temperature. It could stay all snow, or it could go back and forth between snow and rain. Sue is disappointed as there isn't enough to get The Beast out and use it. We may go mall walk this morning. It all depends on what is happening weather wise at that time. Safe travels this morning to Terri @Cruzin Terri. @StLouisCruisers Sandi and @ottahand7 Nancy, I was thrilled with the outcome of the game last night. Go Blue! @Crazy For Cats Jake, again my condolences to you and Juan. Sue sends hers as well. She's still mourning the loss of Critter, so knows what you are going through. @rafinmd Roy, I hope all is well today after your treatment yesterday. Some of you may have a feeling of deja vu as we just had Minestrone Soup on December 28th. But, today is a good day for it if any day is. Minestrone is a thick soup of Italian origin made with meats, vegetables, and pasta. Ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, leaf vegetables, stock, parmesan cheese and tomatoes. There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it can usually be made out of whatever meat and vegetables are at one's disposal. We'll start with Cookie and Kate's "Classic Minestrone" soup. There are a lot of suggestions here for substitutions you can make. https://cookieandkate.com/classic-minestrone-soup-recipe/ This is the Olive Garden version of Minestrone Soup. One of their suggestions for variation is to include our all time favorite, butternut squash! I included this recipe just for @kochleffel Paul. https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/olive-garden-minestrone-soup/ Just to change things up a bit, here is a Minestrone Stew. It is a bit thicker and has ground beef in it. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/minestrone-stew/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I'm so sorry! I'm sure you'll find some somewhere tomorrow. Jake, I am so sorry to hear of Amelia's passing. I am glad the rest of the family is sticking close by to help you through this difficult time. They also need the comfort of being close to you.

It seems that you will forever be plagued by butternut squash. Enjoy it!

Good morning, everyone! The winter storm is supposed to hit us overnight tonight and all day tomorrow. Sue is going to get to use The Beast snow blower. It was my dad's and she had it serviced. The guy who did it said it was a beast and should be able to get through anything. And that is a good thing because this weekend we are supposed to get 6-9 inches of fluffy stuff. That may impact our ability to have River for the weekend. It is an hour and a half to pick her up and an hour and a half back home. I'm thinking we might not want to do that in a major storm. Today's meal sounds interesting. It kind of reminds me of all the ways we had to prepare lasagna - soup, roll ups, etc. We had everyway except the air fryer I think. Skinnytaste offers us a low calorie/low fat version with turkey meatballs. It is easy to make and pretty quick! https://www.skinnytaste.com/meatball-and-spaghetti-soup-5-ww-pts/ This next one has a tomato based broth and beef meatballs. It would be a more traditional spaghetti flavor. It is super easy because it uses frozen meatballs from the super market along with a jar of marinara sauce. Pick the one you like best. https://letsdishrecipes.com/spaghetti-and-meatball-soup/ This next recipe uses Italian sausage for the meatballs and makes the soup in the slow cooker so flavors have time to blend. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/spaghetti-meatball-soup/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

My dad always said if someone leaves an opening, take it. I'd do the same thing.

Wishing them all a wonderful cruise.

Are we looking for anyone?

Checking in

I'm thinking not!!

I'm sure we could add some to our slow cooker mashed potatoes! Add a few pecans and some maple syrup and we're good to go.

Good one, Paul! I did notice on the menu that @richwmn posted for the Grand Australia/New Zealand that they are offering Butternut Squash Soup as a starter in the MDR.

Good morning, everyone. We have a dusting of snow on the ground this morning in mid-Michigan. I'm glad we delivered all our flyers yesterday. We may go mall walking today and then, we may not. It all depends. Nothing else is planned. @kochleffel Paul, have a wonderful cruise! @rafinmd I'm hoping all goes well with your treatment tomorrow. I agree with @StLouisCruisers Sandi that today's meal is kind of lacking something. Maybe this is to with the Hungarian goulash from a few days ago. And why make them in a slow cooker, as @rafinmd Roy asks? I have no clue except that you can. I suppose for someone who is going to be out all afternoon it is a good way to have them almost ready to go when you get home. These recipes have you using sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. You can also throw in a little cream cheese. Our first recipe is lightened up version of mashed potatoes. https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/best-creamy-garlic-slow-cooker-mashed-potatoes/ I don't know if I would bother lightening up mashed potatoes. I say go for it! And, if you choose, you don't have to peel them. The nutrients are all in the skin. This next recipe used baby red potatoes that were not peeled. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a56448/crock-pot-garlicky-mashed-potatoes-recipe/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Sharon, when I used to do daily injections, I filled out the form for a sharps container. Now, I only do one injection a week. I usually just take the used needles home and dispose of them here since there aren't that many to deal with. My PCC sent me the forms and sometimes the container is in the room and sometimes not. The room stewards will be happy to procure one for you.

My condolences to you and your family on the loss of your DM, Ruth. I am glad that the family was all able to be with her when she passed. @StLouisCruisers thinking of you and hugs on the anniversary of your DS Nancy's passing.

Maybe we should think of this dish as a flatbread instead of a pizza. Welcome to the Daily! I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Good morning, everyone! It is a cold, gloomy day so far here in mid-Michigan. According to the forecast we are supposed to get some snow, but it looks like not until tomorrow. Last night's Farkel party was a lot of fun. The Salisbury Steak Meatballs from Thursday got rave reviews. I used the first recipe and finished them in the slow cooker. Today I am going out with a neighbor to deliver the flyers for the neighborhood winter/holiday party. Sue and I are hosting the party this year. This is a neighborhood tradition that goes back to 1987. I look at it as a good way to get to know the neighbors better. Just when you thought it safe, butternut squash rears its head again. I would have thought that we exhausted all possible uses of butternut squash, but apparently not. I'll be passing on it due to the carb load, but some may enjoy it. Especially this first one with rosemary and bacon. Bacon makes everything good. You can also use pancetta. https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/rosemary-roasted-butternut-squash-pizza/ It does look pretty good, doesn't it? This next one sounds interesting with roasted garlic and goat cheese. I love garlic. https://www.theendlessmeal.com/butternut-squash-pizza/ Our last version uses "ribbons" of squash. It says it is easier because you don't have to cook the squash first. They don't mention that it will take 6 hours to peel all those ribbons off a hard squash. But, the caramelized onions, Swiss chard, and burrata make up for it! https://www.feastingathome.com/butternut-squash-pizza/ I hope this finds all our travelers well. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Come with us on the Oosterdam next year. We go from January 6-28.

Good morning, everyone! It is a cold start to the day here in mid-MIchigan with cloudy skies, making it cold and dreary. Today is Farkel Friday, so after we go mall walk I have to come up with something for dinner. I think I'm going to make the salisbury steak meatballs. @aliaschief Bon Voyage! I am enjoying reading about our dailyites who are on cruises right now. There are so many great cruises and they all look so wonderful! I'm enjoying the Hawaiian cruise through @Haljo1935 as we will be boarding in a few short weeks. I'm also enjoying the South America/Antarctica blogs as that is next year's cruise. Broiled fish oreganata is really very simple. The fish has a coating of bread crumbs, oregano, and garlic. It can be made with any type of white, flaky fish such as flounder, red snapper, or sole. Our first recipe comes from Skinnytaste and is very easy and quick to make. https://www.skinnytaste.com/broiled-tilapia-oregan-5-points/ You can bake it, as this recipe shows. The only problem is that the two sisters left out the oregano. Just add some in! They left it out because they found oregano to be too harsh in flavor, so substituted parsley. https://2sistersrecipes.com/baked-tilapia-oreganata/ The same type of preparation can be done with other fish varieties. Here is a lemon sole oreganata. https://leitesculinaria.com/222000/recipes-lemon-sole-oreganata.html I hope you get some ideas from these! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

I've had the ablation before and it has helped. I would prefer to do that rather than the epidurals. Sometimes those aggravate the situation more. We went mall walking today and I don't know if it is an effect of the surgery or what, but my thighs were burning with pain. Typical stenosis symptom. I had to stop quite often even using my cane. Usually I am good for a while with the cane.

Oh, I feel your pain! My greatest fear is having to replace something we can't live without before I get my nest egg built up again. I hope you don't have to cancel your cruise. I like Skinnytaste as well. Great ideas on how to trim some of the recipes to maintain flavor but eliminate excess calories and carbs. I'm not looking at surgery as an alternative. I would like the nerve ablation for the stenosis. She wants the MRI to diagnose the stenosis, but I already have a diagnosis of spinal stenosis. I have to do the PT for the nerve ablation because it has been more than 2 years since I had nerve ablation. I did not need an MRI for that in the past. We may do the epidural injections. We'll see.

Good morning, everyone! Thank you so much to @0106 Tina for being my substitute during my surgery and recuperation. It does feel good to be back in the saddle! Last night was decent. I got to sleep soon after I hit the pillow and was able to get back to sleep when I woke up, which wasn't often. I hope we are on that path going forward. Not much happened at my appointment at the Spine and Pain Clinic since I haven't been able to start the PT they ordered. They couldn't fit me in until next week and I had to cancel that due to the surgery. The PA said they have to have the PT done to get the MRI as she suspects there is spinal stenosis going on. I directed her to the last MRI I had as that one gave me that diagnosis. I'm not sure why I need another one for that. I don't go back until April, so slow going on that score. Today's meal sounds good and I think I might make it for tomorrow's Farkel Friday as it is my turn to cook. It sounds like something we'd all like. This first recipe has directions for the stove top, slow cooker, and instant pot. https://www.skinnytaste.com/salisbury-steak-meatballs-instant-pot-stove-top-slow-cooker/ This next one uses all beef. https://www.recipetineats.com/salisbury-steak-meatballs-with-mushroom-gravy/ This next one doesn't have mushrooms in the gravy, but I'm sure you could add them in if you like the seasoning combination. https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/salisbury-steak-meatballs-with-gravy-and-mashed-potatoes/ Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Good morning, everyone! Sleep was elusive again last night, but not as bad as the night before. I think I drifted off around 2:00 am and slept until 8:00 am. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I hope it resolves soon. The electricians are coming this morning to install some light fixtures outdoors and to fix the installation of our dining room fixture. I have an appointment at the spine and pain clinic this afternoon. I have to get the order for PT renewed as I had to cancel it due to my surgery. Speaking of surgery, @JazzyV Vanessa, you can take me off the list as I am about 80% there. The last little bit is soreness and it decreases greatly each day. I don't think the sleeplessness has anything to do with the surgery. That is its own malady. Wishing you all a wonderful day.

I've had a productive morning so far. I did a load of laundry and got the ornaments off the tree in the dining room. It is already to go downstairs and Sue will do that when she gets back. Or maybe tomorrow. Who knows? We are leaving the tree in living room up for the neighborhood party in 3 weeks. It is all in blue and white and can be a Winter themed tree, not just Christmas. We're taking a page out of @StLouisCruisers Sandi's DD's book. @smitty34877 Terry, I forgot to mention this morning that you are more than welcome to nag me about what I should and shouldn't be doing. The discharge nurse from post - op called this morning to check up on me and is pleased with what I told him. I do normally bounce back quickly. I do appreciate your advice. I can't remember the last time I was at a buffet outside of on a BHB. We usually do the dining room for breakfast, dining room for dinner or specialty dining. Lunch is generally late and we grab a salad or a Dive In burger. I find the buffet is an invitation to over eat. @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda, we'd be happy if River stayed permanently with her grandma, but we have no control over that. Her grandma would like that, too. We'll see what happens when her mother comes home. Right now there is a no contact order between the mother and her deadbeat husband, but she is calling and writing to him because she wants to get back with him when she gets out. She did sign over custody of the two little kids to his mother so they are at least being fed and bathed.