...bad food day

ever had "one of those days"... ?

I seem to be having one today...
as far as "food" goes, anyway...

I've been "hungry" lately...
[as opposed to "not hungry"...
which I was for a long time...]

so I've really hit a plateau...

I haven't gone up...
just haven't gone down...

for a couple of months...

I've been active...
but not enough, I guess...

so I've stepped up my walking regime...
made it longer...
and am trying to go twice each day...
but I have arthritic issues that seem to be at odds...
with my best intentions...
creating too much pain to follow through...

anyway... I suppose I'll figure out something...

so this morning...
I went to the 'fridge...
to have some carrot juice...
but it was 'way past the expiration date...

since it was unopened...
[I've been drinking coffee...]
I tried it...
"ding ding ding"...
sour, not good...
DO NOT USE...



I had already had one "food misadventure" today...
rinsing black beans that I had par-boiled before cooking...
spilling a bunch [about 3/4 C]in the sink...
before putting the rest on to cook...
with onion, garlic, S & P, in chicken broth...



I got busy, and after a while...
I began to "smell" something burning...
upon investigation, I discovered ...
that my beans had absorbed a qt of chicken stock...
and were now burning...

I rescued most of the beans...
filled the burned pot with water & left it to soak...
I added another qt of chicken stock to the beans....
TURNED the heat to LOW, covered them...
and left them to cook for about 1 1/2 hours...

on my way past a cantaloupe...
I decided to see how it was doing...
it was moldy on the stem end...
so I cut that off and opened it...
it smelled wonderful...

so I tasted it...



YUCK !
it had a fermented taste...
so... out it went...

determined to find something to eat...
I checked out the apples...



not only had they "gone south"...
but they took with them...
the oranges AND the avocado I just bought...
hard as a rock, too...

I took this moment, after ditching the bad fruit...
to check out my bread... gone...
milk... gone...
bananas... gone...
salad mix... gone...
tomatoes... gone...
[nice heirloom ones too...]
cucumber, grape tomatoes & blueberries...gone...

I guess that being hungrier may have caused me...
to buy more than I could use up...
add to that the summer heat...
[my kitchen has southeastern exposure...]
causing things to "ripen" too fast...
and the fact that I don't put fruit in the 'fridge...
and things go bad too fast...

I paused in my garbage collecting...
to add brown rice & another qt of chicken stock...
to my black beans...
re-covered it and left it on LOW...

about an hour later...
I lifted the lid & stirred...

some of the rice was sticking to the bottom...
but as I stirred it...
it absorbed more of the liquid...
not unlike a risotto...
and everything on the bottom came up...
forming a smooth sauce...
"risotto with black beans..."
[more or less]



it tastes good too... [like risotto with...]

my plan is to make it a "Spanish-style rice"...
by adding diced tomatoes, chopped onion, chili powder...
sliced black olives & CILANTRO...
smothering it with cheese [2% milk Mexican mix]...
and baking it as a casserole...
garnishing it with chopped green onions & cilantro...

I might add here...
that I've NOT made this before...
not "from scratch"...

I've made "box" Spanish Rice...
[from the "SF treat" people...]
and "jacked it up"...

but I wanted something "healthier"...

I'm glad this is working out...
'cause the "fall-back" plan is always this...