Monday, August 8, 2022

Episode #135: Dad's Stomach Is A-Growlin'


Not even remotely sure where I'd originally dug this up from all those years ago, but hey, maybe it's a new version of Don Quixote.

So Dad, or perhaps I should start calling myself Old Grandad, eh (note, to go further on the website, you have to verify your age), is feeling a bit peckish at the moment.

Before we delve any further in today's beefy topic, we must give a minor writing update on Hot Mess. Currently we're in the process of writing chapter 19, which I'm deducing is possibly the midway point of the novel. The present word count stands at 69.7k words, so I'm quite happy about that. At my current pace it looks like I should finish either slightly south of 100k or slightly north of 100k. I'm personally guessing slightly north, judging by the amount of words written so far.

Now, with the update out of the way, today's beefy topic is lunch. I had originally visited this topic, along with breakfast and dinner, in November 2012 (yeah, I've been blogging that long), and I strongly suggest you clink on the link for some good old fashioned humor about the that particular meal of the day.

Lunch has radically changed for me in the preceding 10 years, in that what I eat is a little more healthier and a lot more routine. Being retired going on two years has allowed me, for better or worse, to badly tweak my lunch routine.

One thing that has remained disgustingly the same is that I go in long stretches of eating the same thing Mon thru Fri. Seriously. Because a lot of what I eat is directly tied to my diabetes, there is a tendency to stick with the same thing repeatedly.

To whit: we did PB&J (natural and sugar free respectively); when we got tired of that, we switched to tuna salad sandwiches, complete with a plethora of hot sauces; then we changed to chicken salad sandwiches; after getting tired of sandwiches, we switched to lunchables (both Oscar Meyer and Armout).

Then to start saving some money, we started doing our own version of lunchables, using tuna salad, then switching to PB&J, then to buying packages of bite sized salami and bar cheese, and finally, we're now using the Armour version of Spam called Treet., along with hot sauce and salsa.

Keep in mind that these were like month-long stretches in eating each particular type. And of course, you can't forget the other parts of lunch. Like pickles, which we started with gherkins, then switched to spears, then to hamburger dill chips, then finally bread and butter (not sugar-free which is gross) chips. 

Then we switch over to chips. First we went with the snack size of Lay's chips varieties, then we switched to store brand corn chips (saving money here), then we switched to Capp Fries, and finally, oyster crackers (again, saving money).

Can't forget about the liquid refreshments. For an extended period we did Cape Cod soda cans, then switched to teas, crystal light drinks, then finally bottled water. Btw, water is bland, so at one point we used those single serve powder mixers, but switched off due to chemical warfare, so bland water it is.

Finally, we get to dessert. Almost 97% of the time, it's been fruit. Plums, nectarines, apples (red, golden, granny) and bananas. The other 3% were things like sugar free cookies.

On the weekends it changes only slightly, in that about 97% of the time, we do Banquet chicken nugget dinners for lunch. Yes, very cheap and it fills a necessary need. The only 3% is covered by fast food, usually dictated by abnormal events of the given day.

So, that is the annoying sameness that is my Sunday thru Saturday lunch. The joys of having a long term medical issue dictates what you eat for lunch is just so....peachy keen fine wonderful goodness. As SpongeBob would say, "JOY!!!!"

There is no joy in Hooterville today, for Arnold The Pig has become beefy pork chops and picked pig knuckles for the community picnic.

{c} 2022 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

6 comments:

  1. Since I am still going to work, my lunches are mostly the same every day. The one variable is that my wife tries to make enough dinner I get leftovers, so the main dish is usually different. No chips but plenty of fruit for lunch. And yeah, love the flavor packets for water, but starting to seriously question the amount of unnatural ingredients on the label...

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    1. Dinners are about the only thing that I do change up on a regular basis. Currently doing baked chicken, but I do have seasoning (modern version of Shake & Bake) that helps things along.

      The main reason why I stopped using flavor packets, is that they use the same kind of sweetener as a lot of those "zero sugar" soda/tea products use (e.g Pepsi One, Coke Zero), and my body reacts rather badly to them. So cutting them out has done wonders for my health.

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  2. Do you like egg salad sandwiches? Eggs are great protein sources and tasty too.

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    1. Absolutely, but they're such a pain in the butt (it takes me about two hours) to make that it's more like a one off instead of something consistent. I usually make them like I do my deviled eggs.

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  3. Hmmm I have been eating berries, and watermelon for breakfast, sometimes with either a rice cake, or cauliflower stalks (vegan , kinda tastes like Bugles). Lunch, 1/2 sugarfree sandwich (made with tapioka gluten free bread)
    Either pbj, or baloney with mustard , because carbs are too high on 2 slices. Desert is a half keto bar. Choc or pb.
    This summer I have been pigging out on halo low carb ice cream pops.
    The secret to my diet is keeping carbs under 50 g net per day. Minus for fibre, and Allulose (alternative sugar that does not raise glucose).
    - SnaggleTooth/ Ev

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    1. Sounds good. I'm not into the Keto food though, as it tastes too bland for me. But whatever works for you, by all means keep doing it.

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Lay it on me, because unlike others, I can handle it.