July Updates

July 27, Monday :

So, another 113 or so day today; we’ve had a break of a week or so from the “excessive heat warnings” but today the temp is up again. I’m surprised at the difference between 105 and 115 makes; I forget how better it is at the lower number there.

We got some rain last week overnight but that’s been it. We’ve had several near misses as storms seem to form in the early evenings but never quite made it to Central Phoenix or they just didn’t have any rain to dump on us.

So, what better way to use the heat and sun than to try a new solar oven recipe? Curried Lentils and veggies and rice in a separate pan.

I slept badly last night and this is a relatively easy way to be productive today.

Food storage reviewfor the past few weeks:

I actually ran out of oatmeal during my 6-8 weeks or not using my injured arm. (it is now 12 weeks) I thought I had enough for the Apocalypse and beyond but I was wrong! I think I want to keep more than I have had on hand from now on.

I need to use up my remaining brown rice before looking at any other rice I have including the Basmati, which I love.

I DON”T need any more pasta for a while. I’m pastad in plenty. Basta with Pasta! (For a while)

The lentil and dried beans supply is fine. Lentils and split peas are so easy to use; I use them in place of the dried beans a lot.

Picked up some organic canned green beans on sale.

Picked up 4 boxes of whole wheat pastas; didin’t realize until today that I have plenty of all kinds of pastas.

I need to pick up at Sprouts in the bulk section: white sugar, NO more whole wheat flour for a while, granola, steel cut oats/rolled oatmeal.

New cat likes staying in most of the time. I have to keep bedroom doors shut though to keep him and Mariah separate. Nubs needs to do adjusting for this and Mariah, too. We’ll see how it works out.

July 22, 2009:

Went to othopod for 11 wk check up on right arm. It’s almost completely healed. It aches less than it did a couple of weeks ago. Stretching quads every day has done away with almost all ofmy knee pains—who knew such a simple solution could do so much!

I’ll keep on taking the Arnica Montana internally for at least a few more weeks.

Pub pot of chicken breast with veggie in solar oven, the big solar oven. I put it out about 12:30. Put a container of couscous & water out with it—under it actually—towards the last hour or so of cooking time. I’m so hungry thinking about this food, I hope I’m not disappointed in the outcome of the dish. Update: This combination of food worked out just fine.

Mariah, tabby cat, is afraid of the way this oven looks when it’s put up. She doesn’t seem to mind the Tulsi oven when it’s out there at all.

July 14-19th:

Saw, Harry Potter movie; it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, it will be another 18 months before the first half of Deathly Hallows comes out!

More preparedness: Bash’s had Gold Bond skin things on sale about half of what I’d pay at –so I got 3-4 different kinds of their lotions. That should last a while. Often, my skin gets hot and itchy at this time of the year. If stress levels are up, this turns into hives which tends to freak me out.

Also, my favorite shoe store for the past 15-20 years has been the EJs branch at colonnade. They’ve been slowly dwindling away in customers and inventory the past year and now they have gone out of business. I couldn’t let that pass without locking and ended up with 2 pairs of shoes there. Next Sunday is their last day. There are two more stores in north Scottsdale. Yes, it would be worth a couple of trips a year to check them out. But not for several months.

Cheers,
shamba