Monday, October 20

For the first time since early last spring, I could see my breath in the chilly air when I left for water aerobics this morning.

I was glad to see our regular aerobics leader back today. Her doctors still don't know what the cause of her anemia is, but she was told she could resume normal activities, if she felt like it. Today, she handed out announcements for a group get-together at the local Italian restaurant on Friday. We usually gather for a Dutch treat lunch three times a year, in the spring, in the fall, and at Christmas time.



When I got home, Hubbie and I ran errands. First we stopped at the store that has a sale every weekend, where I shopped for long-sleeved knit shirts. I found two, a brown one and a periwinkle blue one, that I got for under $5 when I used a $10 coupon I received in the mail last week. While I was doing that, Hubbie went to the nearby pharmacy to pick up prescriptions. From there, we went to the vet clinic, where Hubbie bought special vitamins and shampoo for our elderly Shih Tzu. Then we stopped at the bank, before going on to the WDCS for several items.



By the time we got back home, it was lunchtime, so we heated the leftover chili, and followed that with a bowl of mixed fresh fruits for dessert.



Mother came over after lunch and chopped veggies, which I used to make another big pot of chili to take with us to Branson next week to have as our traditional Halloween day meal. Along with that, we'll also have a fat-free pumpkin custard for dessert.

Once the chili (see recipe below) had simmered for a couple of hours, and then cooled for a while, we put it into two gallon size freezer bags and stored them, flat, in the freezer. Now when we put them into the small refrigerator freezer in the camper, they won't take up much room. Most of our meals for camping trips are prepared ahead and put in freezer bags to save storage space in the refrigerator.

This time, we've made low-salt chicken broth (the one thing we had to freeze in regular containers), which we'll thaw at camp and add noodles to for a lunch or supper meal. We'll also prepare a pork roast to slice for hot pork roast sandwiches (we'll take along cans of low-salt beef broth to make the gravy), and a large low-fat/ low-salt meatloaf to use in sandwiches for lunch, or with vegetables for supper. Any leftover meatloaf will be added to bottled spaghetti sauce for a quick meal. Microwavable potatoes, salt-free canned vegetables, and salads complete meals.

While the chili simmered, we sat down to watch a couple of episodes of a scrapbooking show, and then a 1948 black and white film version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," starring Orson Welles. The film, shot in 21 days on a small budget, was a critical failure in its day, according to Wikipedia. The background looked like a stage setting...very dark and eerie. This was not my favorite version of the play.

Here is the recipe for the chili. I found this recipe online, but have tweaked it quite a bit.

Low Sodium Chili

1 16-oz. can kidney beans
1 16-oz. can black beans
1 16-oz can white beans
1 lb. 96% fat free ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell peppers, chopped
4 medium banana peppers, chopped
2 14.5-oz. no salt added diced tomatoes
4 8-oz. cans no salt added tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon vinegar

Thoroughly rinse the canned beans to remove some of the sodium. Spray a large pan (Dutch oven) with non-stick cooking spray. Brown ground beef with the bell peppers, banana peppers, and onions. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and vinegar. Simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally, until the chili is desired consistency. Note: vinegar is a sodium replacement for enhancing food.