Aches, pains, need for sleep.

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Rough.  And, yet, not?  Down at 8:30, up right at 20:00.  It got cooler, out there.  Still, very nice for spring, mostly.  A bit darker?  Cooler for certain.  As well, health issues just linger.  Will try to get things arranged, tonight.  Clean up the kitchen, or at least start.  Get a shower.  Figure out some food or other.

The hope is that sometime this week I will be ready to cook again.  Then, will get to the store.  I must admit, roasts, in the crockpot, really work well.  Though, rather than cooking during the day, now that I have an idea of how long it takes, and how to cut root veggies so that they don't turn to mush, I may set up the crockpot at night, put it on a timer to start a few hours into my sleep, so that by morning it is done, or a few hours after waking.

Very good.

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I was wrong, in my assumption.  The bone-in roast took less time to cook.  Odd, in the oven, if memory serves, it works just the opposite?  Or... did I just make a mistake in comparing via memory?  Who knows.  Then again, maybe I just lost track of time tonight?

It isn't mush, still pretty good.  But definitely done.  So I added everything back into the pool, and will eat in a half hour.  Well, the twenty minutes left of an half hour warming.  Uhm, hungry.  Quite looking forward to  a nice slab of pork roast, a potato or both, some rutabaga, carrots, and onion.  Well, and some of the juice.  I should make gravy but... I won't.  Or... maybe?  Do I have a small saucepan?  I do... a bit of cream, thickener, and butter would get that done well, quickly.  Maybe?  No... I'll do it for my next meal, though.  Just... a bit tired, from this long cook, and else, through the night.  Bleh.  Next time.  I'll even add sweet peas.  Yes I will, to the gravy.

A bit of a headache.

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I did stay up excessively long, a few times in a row.  That right side of my body, falling asleep from time to time, pins and needles, really had me worried.  Though I found, after pushing through a bit later last night, that pushing things doesn't help either.  It was starting to twitch again.  So I pushed to close up shop, getting on to bed.

My mother called today.  Got through!  I wasn't sure I wanted to bother answering.  I have been answering, but she just sticks on the phone, doesn't talk.  It worries me so.  But, okay.  I... answered, anyway.  This time she talked.  She said she is using their (the nursing home's) phone.  But that can't be.  I have my phone on "do not disturb", which means a call from a phone number not in my list won't ring through.  She's just gaming, I think.  Or she is old and ill enough that... she... isn't always... aware.  I'd say it's a fifty fifty thing.  She's a gamer from her childhood... that kind of girl... no woman.

When did I go down?

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Not too awfully long after the last post.  I got my shoes and socks off?  Shoes off.  Was going to take my socks off.  Got one of my shirts off.  Was trying to figure out how to get more off.  Though it would be easier upstairs, if I didn't think I could sleep.  Got up there, got my trousers off.

Then, sat, to get my socks off.  A group, both a compression sock under, and a knee high thick wool hunting sock over.  Added compression, and some warmth.  What a struggle.  Got those off, finally, after serious work.  My legs are swollen, badly, though just in the lower areas, not up above the knee.

Dinner.

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Finally.  It just took much longer to cook than I had thought.  Having sliced the rutabaga, and broken the cauliflower down, I thought an half hour would do.  No?  An hour then, surely?  Nope.  Two hours.  And, really, closing on three, to get it edibly soft.  And I like a bit of bite in my veggies, so this wasn't taking them to even soft.  Just softened.

I won't complain.  The meal was very good.  I finished off the roast.  There is juice and veggies remaining.  I'll put that back in the bowl, cover it, and doing something with it tomorrow.  I am quite pleased with it.  I might grab another chuck roast, stick it in, add more cauliflower, tomorrow?  Maybe.  I was quite happy with that, and I'm not strictly a pot roast sort of guy.  It was the searing, and then watching the cooking closely.  Plus the right veggies.

A new brew?

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Not really a brew.  A bit more beef froth, half of one of the cauliflower heads broken down to somewhat larger bites, and the rutabaga sliced as apples... and sampled.  Turnips are good, fresh.  Rutabaga are just a bit sweeter.  One is closer to a neutral potato taste, without that dusty flavor.  The other is closer to an apple, just not quite as sweet.  Even with a bit of that crunch I miss.

Set to go, on high, in the crockpot, with the liquid from the previous 'brew' cooking poured in as well.  I'm giving it two hours.  Then will test. If things seem reasonable, I'll add the meat and any other veggies back into the pool.  I am hoping that the cauliflower will make a solid potato replacement.  Cauliflower can be a bit solid, in my gut.  But I have been mostly eating it raw, or just slightly cooked.... blanched really.  I'd like to see what a longer cook time will do.  Mash and butter, have with beef, or pork, or else.

Chislic?

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Had to look that up.  Oh, yes, sounds very good.  I made a beef form of it, with the leftovers of my last steak.  My problem?  I chopped the dices too small.  So, they were a bit overdone.  Not horrible, but... just... not as good as it could have been.  Like?  Yes, yes I like.  Lamb, beef, pork... deep fried, or solidly seared, cubes, I'd say closer to half to full inch squares, or half by inch bits, I'll... be working on sizing, and how to fry it better.

I am burned out on steak, as whole cuts.  But could still eat it this way.  Lamb would be fine, too.  If that is pretty pricey.  Pork as well.  With beans?  In a soup?  With lettuce in keto tortillas?  Lots of ways you could do that.  A simple salad, with these added as the crunchy salty bits.  Oh, yes, I think so.  Sort of... excited.

On a scale of one to ten?

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I'd give that roast, the meat, a six.  Maybe a seven.  With a caveat.  Pot roasts can't be a ten.  Maybe a nine?  Maybe.  So... middling or a bit better?  The meat had texture.  It wasn't falling apart.  The flavor wad good enough.  I was satisfied with the effort.

The veggies?  Really surprised me.  The turnips, I thought, might well turn to absolute mush, being sliced into apple like wedges.  No, they held together well, but too weren't crispy.  Just... done.  The potatoes, being new potatoes, were done, and a bit too soft.  But... that is how new potatoes go.  I would count them as creamy, rather than mushy.  The mushrooms, carrots, and celery, were... good.  Solid without being crisp.  Soft without being mushy.  And they all took to butter well.

Sure takes a while.

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It smells like roast in here.  Of course.  At about two and a half hours in, I checked it.  I mean, it could be called done.  By how I usually do things, this would be called done.  Overdone, really.  And, yet, that isn't how pot roast is down.  My way, to date, has been to take a chuck and turn it into something between a prime rib and a ribeye steak.  It has a lot more bite to it, my way.

Do I even like pot roast?  I'll... find out.  Though I will go to the less done side of things?  Will see.  Hoping to have the pulled beef sort of texture, without it having no structure whatever.  I'm not sure if that is possible.  I really do want to have pulled beef, for tacos, taco salads, and such.  Burger is... just... off, lately.  I think they have started filling it with the bone slurry they pull from the carcass.  Or is it just that they store burger, or the meat they grind it into, too long, sometimes?  I just can't be sure.  Just that burger isn't very good lately.  It seems... off... too squishy.

A rough plan.

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The roast has been seared.  The mirepoix has been fried and put in, along with beef broth.  Set to high.  A timer has been set for three and a half hours.  Most likely, it will take four to five hours, maybe six, for the meat?  Will find out.  Depends on who you listen to, who to believe, the size of the meat (really, the volume of ingredients), altitude, and... just random reasons for sometimes no reason?  I think so.

Still, in it went, thawed, seared, with broth, and aromatics.  With the edible vegetables ready to go in, in a bit.  And an onion to be halved and added.  I'll probably add the veggies at the first alarm.  After pulling the meat, to set aside, then straining the juices.  Then adding it all back into the pool, save of course the aromatics for broth flavor.  Might nibble some of that, if it isn't total mush?  Will see.  Chef's treats.  Oh, I'll add a pack of mushrooms, too.  Oh yes I will, though probably closer to when it seems near done.  Mushrooms don't take long.

Well, will see.

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A bit of investigating.  But... I already know how to cook these things.

I pulled the veggies, peeled the turnips, portioned the carrots, loosely cut a few of the celery ends and a few stalks from the last of that pack.  I could slice the carrots.  They are baby, though, so not really worried.  Besides, I'll be checking the veggies, per.  So pulling them when they are roughly ready.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

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A really bumpy fast one?  Perhaps right after you have eaten too much, and of the wrong stuff?  Even if you don't get sick, you... really want to throw up, if nothing else in the hope that your stomach and body will settle for it?  Well, that's been what life has been like for the last few weeks.  Months?  A... while now.

I can still work.  Sometimes.  Eat, too.  Some things.  Sleeping more, lately.  Not sure that helps?  Though I think it does.  I sleep through the worst of it, rather than trying to push through.  A nap this morning, feeling slightly better.  Could have slept more, but Sassy started gagging, to wake me up.  Bleh.

A start.

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The dump trucks had not been by, so there is that.  Medicine taken, then some time later, bp checked.  It is 174/115 with a pulse of 78.  The waterpill, only one, carvedilol, potassium, minerals, super b vitamin, and daily vitamins, taken.  Not taken are losartan and an extra waterpill.  Though I am adding herbal tea blends which are supposed to act as diuretics.  I have three types, and one last one on the way.  So I can mix and match.  The problem with medicine?  Taking one medicine, that acts in one way, over and over, leads to problems.

While medicine can get a standard reaction on a standard dose, it also wears out whatever system it is working on, action on, plus stresses other organs, like kidneys and the liver.  They really should mix things up from time to time.  Depending on the ability to tolerate.  My problem is I don't tolerate many medicines well.  So changing, for example, heart medicine... isn't doable.  Most of them nearly put me into a coma.  I will fall off them, if nothing else.  Even do, sometimes, with carvedilol.  But it's the one I can generally tolerate to some degree.  However, the waterpills, I think they should alter those.  Six months to a year on one, then on a different that might act differently.  Stronger?  Fewer.  Weaker?  More.  But... they don't think like that.  If you are dying, don't change it.  If it's killing you, stop it all?  Poor choices, but it seems how they do things.

Steak.

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Baked, at 350, for fifteen minutes.  Just to... get it up to temp.  Then, five minutes on medium high, to high... flipped and the heat turned to a medium low for three minutes... in a thicker pan that holds the heat.  Pulled it, set it for five minutes, then started in.  Very good.  Not as absolutely rare as I like it, but for pan frying, this is as good as I can cook a steak.  The limit being that it is a a new york strip, and the fat on some of them (including partially on this one) is off.  I was able to cut the outside eighth of an inch off, and the fat under that was good.  I... love the fat, save on new york strips.  At least I didn't have to cut it all off.  Rancid, or something.

I ate half of it.  The rest is for tomorrow.  Very good though.

As good the second time.

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Chicken is so particular.  You can't over, or under, cook it.  Or it really shows, tastes wrong.  It has to be pretty fresh, but also cleaned and processed very quickly, and frozen fast.  It is highly subject to freezer burn, and acquiring other, off, flavors in the refrigerator.

If you and your vender, and their vender, and the producers, all do their part?  You get good first run chicken.  Leftovers are just as tricky.  Heating it too much, too long, and the texture and/or flavor can be really off.  Not enough and it just isn't good.

Gonna have to get the griddle going.

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It's that time of the year.  The propane shouldn't freeze up.  I have to clear and clean the thing, and put a new tank in.  Eggs, corned beef hash, but this... this has been on my mind.

I wanted to make cheese steak phillies.  And may, from time to very rare time, or with the keto, or a, keto bread... homemade or otherwise, or just regular, sometimes.  But this?  I have found (if flour) keto tortillas that not only taste good, hold up, but also don't cause blood sugar spikes.  So... this one?  Yes.  It's more a matter of finding cheese with actual rennet.  I'd like to find cheddar, gouda, and a hot pepperjack or other hot spiced cheese.  But only with real rennet.

A few things.

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A shower.  Set up dishes to soak.  Roasted the chicken.

The chicken was really good, until it started getting cold.  A few cold bites absolutely destroyed my appetite.  Fine.  I'll part the rest of the bird, freeze the carcass, and put the parts in ziplocs.  It was good to have decent food.

In digging.

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I found my sous vide equipment.  Never did use it.  Thinking about it.  My only real problem?  I am not sure, at what temperature, plastic begins infusing the food.  Yes, it's... a concern.  Does it infuse food at any temperature?  Is it a time thing?  I just don't know.  But, yes, I do think about it.  With the dishwasher, I may go completely glass, for fridge containers and else.  Washing those things, to now, was simply too much.

Though, while pondering, and considering doing research regarding plastics, what is safer (honestly, if maybe they don't know or would simply lie), various notions about this and that, I found a video about how to optimize the use of the system.  And... an older video about why not.  Just... to add a few other opinions.

The steak is good.

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I opened the package.  Did a visual and odor checks.  Checked firmness.  Looked it over closely.  Looks good.  It's a ribeye, not prime but it will do.  So I salted it lightly, peppered it just a bit, wrapped it back up, then put it in the (cold) oven to brine for forty minutes.  Ah... the timer.

I'll go get the grill lit and going.  Then, in twenty minutes, if it is going well still, or then, I'll put the steak on.  As well, a salad.  If... the lettuce is still good.  Blood sugar is down to 122, a 29 point drop.  Will keep trying to stay with carnivore.  Though, I think, instead of trying to buy steaks in advance, and freezing them (or other meat)?  I'm going to get to town, try, at least weekly.  Getting fresh burger, fresh steak, fresh... whatever meat.  To be eaten in days.

Much better than anticipated?

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Though, I had two packs of brats.  One beef, one pork and jalapeno.  I went with the latter.  As well, I pulled the mustard and used that.  Very good.  Oh, yes, just the "cheap, yellow, kids' stuff" mustard.  But, it has no sugar, and the only thing dubious was "natural flavors".  Which... is probably anything but natural.  Still, for now, it was good enough.  And, really?  It was rather tasty.

I baked the brats for an half hour, starting from a cold oven.  Then added the beans and some water for another twenty, at 385 (at sea level I would have done that at about 350).  It worked, very well.  Some of the top beans became a bit dry, but the vast majority were fine.  As well, once stirred into the bean gravy, it all went back to moist.