Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine #3

[Midwestmom2019]

Nice selection! I always love your posts. As for the acorn squash, I cut them in half with-wise, scoop them out, baste inside with oil and bake cut side down til soft. Maybe 45 mts at 350. Turn them over, fill with butter or whatever you use and some brown sugar. Put back in the oven until it all melts inside.
ETA sometimes you need to make a little foil cup to hold it up after you put in the brown sugar and butter.

Maybe try a sprinkle of orange juice and/or grated orange peel in it once flipped over. Or cinnamon. It’s really like pumpkin.
I wonder if you can dry the seeds and eat them like pumpkin seeds? I do know they are so easy to plant and grow. Great for little gardeners because the plants are very visible when they break out from the little hills that you plant them in.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I used to love grapefruit juice but the acid isn't friendly to me any more In fact, there seem to be many foods/beverages that don't agree with me lately: spicy foods, coffee, even my beloved red wine. I had the worst night of heartburn ever after the pan nachos that we had on Wednesday I'm really going to have to be careful with food/drink choices from now on.

Tums of course, but I think you can take a half teaspoon of baking soda in some warm water and it will neutralize the acid that is churning in your stomach. Sip it slowly. Mother Nature always has a way around an issue.

 

[SugarQueen]

You can freeze chopped garlic in ziplock bags. Make the bags flat and you can just break off what you want as needed.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Well my food prep is quite tasty. The acorn squash was flavorful. I scooped all the insides out and put in a dish to eat on this week.

I took all the yellow squash and 2 zucchinis and roasted them with the same Rosemary infused olive oil, Maine Sea Salt, Onion, Garlic and Pepper. I did not feel like chopping fresh garlic today. While they were roasting, I got out a jar of my homemade marinara. It is basically seasoned tomatoes because I did such a lousy job last summer. LOL! I eat it anyway.

I made some angel hair pasta, drained it, added the jar of tomatoes, added roasted zucchini and yellow squash. It was very good but I think it needed a little butter for richness. I did have olive oil in the pasta water.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Maybe try a sprinkle of orange juice and/or grated orange peel in it once flipped over. Or cinnamon. It’s really like pumpkin.
I wonder if you can dry the seeds and eat them like pumpkin seeds? I do know they are so easy to plant and grow. Great for little gardeners because the plants are very visible when they break out from the little hills that you plant them in.

The recipes I was looking at mentioned saving the seeds and roasting them. I didn't because I don't particularly care for those type snacks. It seems you would need a lot of seeds to make it worthwhile to do all that work anyway.

I'm thinking about gardening but I don't know that it gets cold enough here for winter squashes. Our growing season is reversed in SWFL. Oct to May depending on what you're growing.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

DH and I love acorn squash and have it 2 or 3 times a week during the fall when it's plentiful in Michigan. We prefer savory preparation with butter, salt, pepper, and freshly ground nutmeg, but we also enjoy a "sweet" presentation with butter and maple syrup on occasion. I've shared this recipe previously on the food & recipe thread for a main course dish with acorn squash. Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushrooms and Rice Recipe | Martha Stewart

 

[kalvis]

Good morning everyone!

It is a bitter 3 degrees this morning. Brrrr.
Thought I would share my dinner plans.
Someone here shared their carribean jerk pork recipe here last April. I have made it 3 times now. Twice on the outside grill and once in the oven. It is so delish!
We will have the jerk pork with a green salad and baked potatoes.
The Ultimate Jerk Pork Recipe.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Tums of course, but I think you can take a half teaspoon of baking soda in some warm water and it will neutralize the acid that is churning in your stomach. Sip it slowly. Mother Nature always has a way around an issue.

Tums send me running to the bathroom My parents used to take Alka Seltzer - "Plop, plop. Fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is!" I think baking soda is its primary ingredient, and I always have that in the pantry. I do a 14-day regimen of Omeprazole 3 or 4 times a year which seems to keep the heartburn under control, but I really have to watch carefully what I eat/drink because it's coming back more frequently.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Oh! I need to check that out!
I liked watching Katie Lee Beach Bites on TV.

I like Katie Lee Biegel on Food Network's The Kitchen (Saturdays 11:00AM) and I enjoyed the seasons of Beach Bites on Cooking Channel. IIRC, Katie visited Mackinac Island, Michigan in the premiere episode. When DH and I made our annual autumn trek to Mackinac Island that year, we went to the little cafe that Katie had visited on the show. We met the proprietors and told them that we came because we had seen the coffee shop featured on Beach Bites. There was an autographed headshot of Katie Lee on display along with some photos of her and the owners. Unfortunately, despite the nod from Katie Lee, the cafe closed at the end of that season.

In that same episode, Katie also visited a seafood restaurant in Montauk, NY - Navy Beach. When we were planning our January, 2020 cruise, I was researching dining spots on St. Thomas where the ship would dock for 12 hours. We always like to try local eateries, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a new Navy Beach had recently opened near the cruise port. We could actually see the restaurant from our stateroom balcony as the ship was docking. We had a delightful late lunch and stopped in some of the shops along the route back to the ship. If not for Beach Bites, we might have missed this fabulous dining experience.

About Navy Beach | Navy Beach, St. Thomas USVI

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I do a 14-day regimen of Omeprazole 3 or 4 times a year

I do similarly when chronic reflux appears. If it's heartburn from one specific meal then Tums seems to work ok for me just for one night.

But in general it's my understanding that anything that suppresses stomach acid (including Tums as well as omeprazole) will eventually backfire because the resulting low acidity will just prompt the body to produce more -- since the stomach is SUPPOSED to be acidic, to do its job.

It's only when that acid wanders outside the stomach that it's a problem.

An herbalist friend of mine sells a powder made of slippery elm bark, with some ginger powder, which I prefer to the commercial products. A spoonful mixed into a glass of water, thickens a bit, not unlike Metamucil, though not as slimy. It tastes like cardboard, true, but the ginger helps.

As I understand it coats the stomach lining and reduces the irritation outside the stomach, without actually neutralizing the acid inside the stomach which is necessary for digestion.

And it's fine to take daily as a preventative, no problems, in my understanding.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

...An herbalist friend of mine sells a powder made of slippery elm bark, with some ginger powder, which I prefer to the commercial products. A spoonful mixed into a glass of water, thickens a bit, not unlike Metamucil, though not as slimy. It tastes like cardboard, true, but the ginger helps...

I prefer homeopathic remedies for my heartburn, as well. Ginger tea and crystallized ginger are helpful. My allergy/asthma specialist recommended the Omeprazole regimen because she felt that my chronic dry cough (mostly during the night) was often due to heartburn and not asthma. DH and I have both come to the conclusion that our digestive systems have become overly sensitive as we age. We both have to avoid foods and beverages that are too spicy, acidic, fatty, or greasy.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I prefer homeopathic remedies for my heartburn, as well. Ginger tea and crystallized ginger are helpful. My allergy/asthma specialist recommended the Omeprazole regimen because she felt that my chronic dry cough (mostly during the night) was often due to heartburn and not asthma. DH and I have both come to the conclusion that our digestive systems have become overly sensitive as we age. We both have to avoid foods and beverages that are too spicy, acidic, fatty, or greasy.

I too had an unexplained dry cough a few years ago. I even got a tb test and a chest xray to rule out tb and lung cancer. Eventually the doc suggested it might be a manifestation of my occasional reflux, and rx'd me the omeprazole, and the cough went away.

I keep a few 14-day courses of that at home just in case, and end up using one or two each year, but tend to opt for the slippery elm/ginger when something first appears, to see if it can be vanquished easily. FYI this is just a powder, not homeopathic specifically, but certainly "natural" and less artificially-created than the pharmaceuticals, which is what I presume you meant.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I too had an unexplained dry cough a few years ago. I even got a tb test and a chest xray to rule out tb and lung cancer. Eventually the doc suggested it might be a manifestation of my occasional reflux, and rx'd me the omeprazole, and the cough went away.

I keep a few 14-day courses of that at home just in case, and end up using one or two each year, but tend to opt for the slippery elm/ginger when something first appears, to see if it can be vanquished easily. FYI this is just a powder, not homeopathic specifically, but certainly "natural" and less artificially-created than the pharmaceuticals, which is what I presume you meant.

Natural cures intrigue me. And like you, it appears to work as well as if not better than medicine from a bottle. Thank you for some more info to add to an every growing list of natural cures.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I'm sure other places make it too but here is where I get it fyi.

Slippery Elm Ginger Powder

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

...I keep a few 14-day courses of that at home just in case, and end up using one or two each year, but tend to opt for the slippery elm/ginger when something first appears, to see if it can be vanquished easily. FYI this is just a powder, not homeopathic specifically, but certainly "natural" and less artificially-created than the pharmaceuticals, which is what I presume you meant.

Yes, that is what I meant. I met with a woman many years ago who practiced Chinese Traditional Medicine, homeopathy, herbalism, acupuncture. She prescribed constitutional, homeopathic, and natural remedies for my asthma, and I had a couple of acupuncture treatments, as well. I did not like having to take steroids to control my asthma and was searching for alternatives to Prednisone that had so many awful side effects. Over the years, I've used Bach Floral Remedies, homeopathic remedies, and specialty teas in an effort to avoid prescribed medications that tend to have negative side effects. She also recommended foods that have expectorant properties like black licorice, daikon, Asian pears, and sauteed onions.

I feel the same way about OTC products that aren't always better than some home remedies. No offense to Robitussin, but a hot cup of tea with lemon and honey works just as well to relieve congestion and a cough. At bedtime, a shot of warm brandy or cognac with lemon and honey can be very comforting - and helps get a good night's rest

 

[ButForFortune]

Speaking of squash - this is must try if you like savory/sweet. I usually don't care for sweet but do like this recipe and have made it several times. The topping is a little crunchy on top of the soft squash and oh-so-good!

Streusel-Topped Squash

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Snow, cold, pandemic can't keep customers from paczki (detroitnews.com)

Freezing temperatures? No problem. More than eight inches of snow? Michigan is used to it.

A viral pandemic? People wore masks and social distanced from each other.

Michiganians have proved that nothing can keep them from the filled pastry treats as many travel far and wide across the state for paczki on Fat Tuesday...

Happy Paczki Day! Having this sweet filled/fried pastry is a metro Detroit tradition. In years past, the fat Tuesday donuts were only available at neighborhood bakeries in the city - particularly in the Polish enclave of Hamtramck. In recent years, paczkis can be found in bakeries, supermarkets, specialty food stores, Costco, etc. Nino's has had them for weeks. DH got us each one to enjoy with our coffee this morning. Mine is cannoli-cream filled, his is raspberry. Neither of us is a regular donut fan, but we indulge ourselves with these calorie- and fat-laden delicacies once a year

 

[acutename]

Snow, cold, pandemic can't keep customers from paczki (detroitnews.com)

Freezing temperatures? No problem. More than eight inches of snow? Michigan is used to it.

A viral pandemic? People wore masks and social distanced from each other.

Michiganians have proved that nothing can keep them from the filled pastry treats as many travel far and wide across the state for paczki on Fat Tuesday...

Happy Paczki Day! Having this sweet filled/fried pastry is a metro Detroit tradition. In years past, the fat Tuesday donuts were only available at neighborhood bakeries in the city - particularly in the Polish enclave of Hamtramck. In recent years, paczkis can be found in bakeries, supermarkets, specialty food stores, Costco, etc. Nino's has had them for weeks. DH got us each one to enjoy with our coffee this morning. Mine is cannoli-cream filled, his is raspberry. Neither of us is a regular donut fan, but we indulge ourselves with these calorie- and fat-laden delicacies once a year

ug, here I go missing another "holiday" ... so easy during COVID... fat Tuesday oh well...

 

[JDG]

Did I shop at Walmart ever again??

Yes, I did and everything was fine other than they're short on the brand of cat food that our kitten enjoys.

Being the rebel I am, I still refused to pay their exorbitant price for filtered milk.

So, a long weekend and a snow storm brewing, I went to the convenience store to buy a bag of milk.

I know, I know, I said I wouldnt do it.....but whatcha going to do with a big storm coming?

Well, he was out of the 4L bags but had 2L cartons, I bought two.

What a smarty pants I was, total rebel!

Ended up paying a penny more than I would have paid Walmart to deliver it.

And I had to lug it home.

Lesson learned for the next time!

 

[JDG]

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!

What are you giving up for Lent?

Are you having pancakes for dinner tonight?

I'm giving up.....not sure yet and no pancakes for me.