My Mobile Home Gourmet Blog
Wednesday 2025.11.12
Scammed, Almost
I received a notice in the mail informing me my catheter prescription needed to be renewed for 2026. I gave it to a nurse in my urologist's office. She said she'd take care of it. Then I received a notice from Coloplast, the makers of the catheters, saying an order was shipped. I thought it was a scam to steal money from the elderly. I'm 74. Rather than simply a prescription update, was it an order for catheters, which I did not need?
Two weeks ago I received a 90-day supply. My insurance pays for them, but they won't pay for two orders. If I had to pay for them, they would cost me nearly $2,000.
Thankfully, UPS notified me they were going to deliver an order from Coloplast on Monday. I rushed an email to customer service at Coloplast, telling them I would be refusing the delivery. I met the UPS driver. He's very nice. I gave his children a LEGO kit. He let me refuse the parcel.
Or was it a scam? Someone at Coloplast called me yesterday to see if I received my box of free samples. Uh-oh. I told her what I had done and she kindly said she would send another box. Actually, it worked out better. We talked about catheters and she mentioned some that might work better for me, but were not in the original sample box. The next box, which is scheduled to be delivered today, will have the additional samples.
Coffee
A few blog posts ago I wrote about buying Costco Kirkland Signature brand Columbian Supremo whole bean coffee rather than my favorite brand, José's, which the store didn't have. On Sunday I tasted the coffee for the first time. First, however, I examined the beans when I opened the bag. They looked a little dark roasted to me. Tasting the coffee, it was okay. It doesn't have the rich depth of flavor José's has. Instead, it tastes like coffee, but kind of flat. It even tastes a little burnt, which is the flavor I do not like in dark roasted coffee.
A little coffee digression: Dark roasting is a trick performed by coffee companies, such as the ones you see on almost every street corner in America. Burning the beans destroys the flavor. Therefore, to make a big profit, they buy the cheapest beans with the lousiest flavor and then dark roast them. Is it gourmet? Not at all. But the consumer who thinks s/he is drinking premium coffee doesn't know, because they are only tasting the burn, not the coffee. Eat burnt toast instead, if that's what you really like.
The next time I need to buy coffee, I'll look for José's. It's worth paying a little extra. In the meantime, the Costco product isn't bad. It will suffice. It's close enough.
Epiphany Moment
What is the best way to store whole bean coffee? One recommendation I learned online is to store it in sealed glass jars. I have those. Another suggestion is to vacuum seal the jars. Mine are "Ball" brand canning jars. I have a jar vacuum sealer, which works really well.
I was thinking it might also be a good idea to put a silica gel desiccant in the jar. You've seen those desiccant packets when you unbox something. They absorb moisture. I have a package of them I ordered back when I was into dehydrating and storing vegetables. At the time, I vacuum sealed them in a plastic pouch.
DUH! I have Ball canning jars; they're reusable. I moved my desiccants to a jar and vacuum sealed the lid in place. By the way, the desiccants are reusable too. Nuke in a microwave oven 7 to 10 minutes at the defrost setting.
As for the coffee, the jars are in the refrigerator.
A New Cooking Video
The last time I produced a cooking video was October, 2024. It has been more than a year. In Sunday's blog post I wrote about stir fries. I enjoy them so much, and they're so easy, I wanted to do a video about them. The element that makes them so easy is frozen mixed vegetables. I buy the big bags at Costco. The vegetables are already chopped and blanched (slightly cooked), eliminating the prep work.
Cook the meat and set aside. Dump a handful of frozen veggies in the wok, cover, and cook five to six minutes until crisp-tender. Add the cooked meat, flavor with some sauce, thicken the sauce with some cornstarch if desired, plate, and eat. It's quick, delicious, and healthy.
I shot the video Monday afternoon. I finished the editing during the evening. After having not done any video work in more than a year, I needed to learn the software again. It's tricky. The process is a little easier now because I don't need to create a recipe page for this website.
I chose to do chicken and vegetables first. The link is in the Recipe Archive.
I have pork and shrimp in the freezer. I did a shrimp and vegetables stir fry next, which I'll edit today. Beef broccoli is in my future, as is fish and veggies. I'd even like to try a stir-fry with cooked eggs — maybe scrambled and fried, then chopped up a little.
Meanwhile, I downloaded some e-books about stir fries. One has 215 recipes! That should keep me busy for a while. A goal of mine is to eventually assemble a playlist of stir fries on YouTube.
On Schedule
My digital calendar is a blessing. I schedule chores for myself, such as "Do laundry," and set them to automatically repeat weekly. I really appreciate having one chore to do at a time. In the past, I'd look at a pile of things to do and the task seemed so large and overwhelming, I couldn't find a way to begin. Now, one task at a time, and I check it off when done. Some items on Amazon Vine really are worth having.
Sunday 2025.11.9
Overwhelmed
I hope it's not an early sign of dementia. I'm trying to move my smoothie videos off of my SmoothieTube channel and onto my Mobile Home Gourmet channel. However, I'm having a difficult time getting organized. It seems too complicated.
I'm probably not approaching the task in the best way. I just finished moving more than 400 recipes off this website and onto YouTube. 45 smoothie videos shouldn't be difficult. One smoothie at a time. Nine are done, so far (I think).
What's a good way to get organized? I like a checklist. It took most of Thursday morning (that's how complicated the process can be), but I successfully created a checklist that should help me be organized. There are nearly 30 steps on the list. And all that is for just one video. That might explain why I am choosing not to do any new videos and instead simplify my life in retirement. Making videos really is complicated.
I'll test the new checklist later today. The next smoothie is Avocado Spinach Pear. Another green smoothie. I know of one fan who won't like that. At least it's a light green.
Gift
I received another gift this week. Duke sent me a bottle of "genuine mirin," a sweet rice seasoning that is popular in Oriental cooking. And not just any ol' bottle of mirin. No. He ordered the really good stuff — the Gucci of genuine mirins.
I never worked with it before, but it's actually very good. One taste made me think of flavoring sautéed vegetables.
I went out to the shed and brought my wok inside. I'll admit, I never used it. I hadn't even removed the labels. It was something I saw at Costco many years ago and I thought it might be useful in a cooking video. It's actually very useful. I like that it's made of steel rather than aluminum. It works on my induction cooker.
My first test was with some sautéed mixed vegetables. Delicious. I had some pork in the freezer for making sausages. I am currently not interested in sausages; so, in my next test I thawed the meat and made pork and vegetables. That came out delicious too. And I love using a wok.
Electric Scrubbing
I once ordered an electric scrubber to use when cleaning the bathroom. I stored it and forgot about it, but this week I remembered. The motor made cleaning the shower easy. There is a variety of brushes. The batteries inside provided plenty of power. Anything that makes an onerous task easy puts a smile on my face, like doing my laundry at home rather than lugging my clothes to the park's laundry room.
Christmas Present
With the arrival of November, I am beginning to consider my options for buying myself a Christmas present in December. I need a better vacuum sealer for foods. I have a compact FoodSaver, but it only accommodates 8-inch bags and rolls. I have some that are 11 inches.
There is a sealer on Amazon that I really like. I'll watch the Black Friday sales, or maybe post-Christmas sales, to see if the price comes down. It's expensive, but it's for Christmas. Why shouldn't I splurge for myself? Most of the year, I'm getting bargains on Amazon Vine.
Speaking of which, if I might be allowed a little digression. This morning I saw a set of drill bits on Vine. Last week I was looking for a couple bits, but I didn't have the perfect size in my small collection. The new set has 115 bits. I ordered it.
Another gift option is a carbon steel wok. It's another expensive item. As mentioned above, the wok stored out in the shed still had the labels on it. The pan was never used. Therefore, it has a pristine surface. It's a NordicWare wok I bought at Costco many years ago. It wasn't expensive. The nonstick coating will slowly degrade, even though I use non-metal utensils. The pan will eventually need to be replaced.
Finding a replacement will not be easy. Research wok reviews on YouTube. There are many of them. Which are the best ones? Why are some better than others? Or is selecting a wok merely a matter of personal preference? As one chef on YouTube said, the quality of the pan is important, but more important is your experience cooking with it. A pan you will really love to cook with is your best choice of cookware. I put a wok on my Amazon wish list.
After watching all those reviews, and feeling thoroughly confused, my current wok actually satisfies nearly all the best desired features. At about 4½ pounds, it isn't too heavy. The handle has a removable silicone sleeve, which stays cool. It works on my induction cooker. I enjoy using it. And, it's still new. Thankfully, I have plenty of time to procrastinate before I need to start searching for a replacement.
Advance Prep
I did not procrastinate on the food preparation task I planned for yesterday. I bought nearly eight pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs at Costco. Summer is over; so, outdoor grilling, although still possible here in SoCal (the temperature outside will be in the low to mid 80s today), my planned use for the chicken is for stir fries and stews.
With that goal in mind, I spent a lot of time cutting the meat into bite-sized tidbits. Then I portioned the meat into four-ounce vacuum-sealed pouches and stored them in the freezer. Thankfully, the Costco frozen vegetables I most like to use are already cut up and blanched, which makes stir-fries really easy — so easy, in fact, I'm thinking of doing a cooking video.
If the meat is thawed, I can literally go from wok to plate in under ten minutes. How's that for a quick mid-week meal?
Last Clock?
I might have finally reached my saturation point on digital clocks. As I have mentioned too many times in these blogs, I've been on a quest to find the perfect clock. I've tried many. Some have an LCD display; I prefer LED. Some do not mount on the wall. Some are too difficult to read. A few have gone in the trash when replacements arrived. On Thursday, yet another clock was delivered. When you walk around the house with a push pin and a clock, looking for a place to mount it, that might be a good indicator of "enough already."
It's almost at a point in which I can't look at a wall without seeing a clock. Okay, a few walls are devoid of clocks, but every room has at least one — even the bathroom because I note how often I cath.
Weight
My numbers were fairly good this week, about 1½ pounds lost, but I'm stuck on a plateau around 195. I'm hoping my meals of stir-fried vegetables will help.
Wednesday 2025.11.5
Boys And Their Toys
I added two new toys to my collection of too much stuff.
There was a digital calendar tablet on Amazon Vine that really attracted me. I keep very few events on my calendar each month, but I really like the idea of a to-do list that automatically repeats itself every week. I sometimes procrastinate on chores too much, and then they overwhelm me. Something that should require an hour or two takes most of a day.
Speaking of taking most of a day, the digital calendar was not easy to set up. There is a User Manual and it explains the basics, in small print (I needed to use a magnifying glass). I wished it provided more details, but I had to rely on my intuition to figure out some things. I started at around 3:00 in the afternoon and by 11:00 that evening, eight hours later, I understood enough to set up the tablet and use it. I like it.
The calendar will likely be used more for chores than events. I can set some items to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, whatever, and check them off when completed. Yesterday's chore was laundry. That's done (and it took all day). And I continue to really enjoy using my compact washer and dryer.
The other toy is the wireless webcam I mentioned in an earlier blog. I bought this item; it wasn't available on Vine. The camera is powered by a USB cable and adapter, which plugs into a wall outlet. A dongle is inserted into a USB port on my computer. With everything connected, I clicked the "Camera" item on my Windows Start menu and the video from the camera appeared in a window on my computer screen. The image can be as large as I want it — full screen if that's what I really want. It works well. Supposedly, Windows 10 supports up to four cameras.
The camera overlooks my back deck where I have my lawn jockey statue. No one messes with it, but I like monitoring it. The camera also helps me to see when the UPS truck is coming. I tied a green ribbon to the porch railing to wave in the breeze. It assures me that camera hasn't frozen, which they sometimes do, and need to be reset.
I have two other cameras that have their own monitor. They don't use my computer. One overlooks my side yard and the other monitors the front of my home. When they fail (two previous ones did), I'll replace them with a wireless camera.
One neighbor hates my lawn jockey, and she's vocal about it. I think some people wear their cultural sensitivities more as a fashion statement than a personal principle. The statue was in another neighbor's front yard for many years, and I never heard a word about it. Now that I have it, and I restored it, and it's now worth hundreds of dollars, it is morally wrong to own it. Whatever.
In past blogs I've mentioned my Door Cam. That's a wired webcam that monitors my front door. Nothing has ever been stolen off my porch. However, if I hear a noise up front (I spend nearly all my time in my office, which is at the back of my home), a quick glance at my computer screen tells me if there is someone at my door or if the noise is from something like a crow on the roof. It's more for convenience than security.
Some Numbers
I am seeing the statistics I was hoping to see when I started moving all my recipes from this website to YouTube. The number of visitors is way down, from 1,400 to 600 in October. Now, the pages most viewed are my home page (432) and my blog page (236). I am surprised, and pleased, that so many people read my blog. Thank you. That's gratifying, and it encourages me to keep going.
Vine
This week I completed my latest six-month evaluation period on Amazon Vine. I met the requirements to remain in the Gold Tier, which allows me up to eight orders per day and items of any dollar amount.
I might have seen the most expensive item ever offered on Vine since I joined the program — a turntable record player housed in transparent acrylic. It's expensive, $1,167.79. I wished I had a genuine need for it. It's beautiful. Alas, I no longer own any vinyl LP records. Over time, I eventually replaced them with CDs.
The Tomato Chronicles
This might be the last Tomato Chronicle for a while. The season is done for the plants outdoors. Only a small sprig of green leaves remained on the end of one vine. I cut the vines nearly to the soil. They were green inside; so, they were still alive. As I've said in previous blog posts, I'll keep the soil moist. Maybe new vines will grow in the spring.
The cuttings indoors are still in water and growing roots. In a few weeks I might be ready to transplant them to cups of potting soil.
I'll use the two-cup method. The inner cup will be perforated at the bottom and filled with soil. The outer cup will hold water. A stone in the bottom of the outer cup will hold the inner cup up a little for better irrigation.
Most of the videos I saw have those red beer cups popular at college parties. I have clear cups. That gives me two advantages. I can see when the outer cup needs water, and I can see how the roots are developing in the inner cup. When the roots start to wrap around the soil inside and extend out of the holes in the bottom of the cup, it will be time to transplant them to larger pots. I have three 12-inch pots ready for them.
Meanwhile, I read online I can bury a tomato in the soil and the seeds inside will eventually germinate and grow new plants. This morning I buried four of the small tomatoes that were still on the vine. Supposedly, it takes a long time for the skin and pulp to decompose before the seeds will grow. Spring is four months away. That might be enough time.
Sunday 2025.11.02
Happy Standard Time
Today most of the USA shifted from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time.
I don't mind the time changes. Other than having to manually adjust a few clocks, the change doesn't affect me. I go to bed when I'm tired and wake up when I feel rested.
Most of my clocks set themselves. Only a few require manual setting, like the clock on the stove. It only took minutes to get them all working correctly again.
Interruption of Utilities
Friday's loss of electricity never happened. I kept everything off all day. The little computer work I did was on my laptop. I stayed off the internet because my home's modem would disconnect if the power went off. But, nothing happened.
I was told by a neighbor (who likes to let other's know he knows everything) the park has different circuits. The electricity can be cut from one circuit without affecting the others. The electrical work wasn't a repair; the workers were doing some additional work for a new coach. It seemed like they were installing a 220 volt line, besides the regular 110 volts we all have. Whatever.
Vine
Amazon Vine is a little different lately. For the past year or so, Amazon would add new items during the early hours of the morning. Now, they're adding them in the afternoon. For the best options, it's good to watch closely. When new items start showing up, I jump in and look for my wish list items.
I wrote a very negative review this week. It was for a baby cam. You probably know about them. You put the camera in one room and the monitor in another. You can keep an eye on the baby, or pet, or your doddering old grandparent, whatever. The setup is usually easy. You plug in both components, they automatically link, and voila. You have live video. Mine didn't have one setting I needed, even though it was explained in the Quick Start Guide. After a couple hours of frustration, I disconnected everything and threw it in the box. It will go to electronics recycling later.
One big disappointment with Vine is the China stuff. For example, I ordered a digital clock (you know my constant search for the perfect clock). It wouldn't be delivered for four to six weeks. I can wait. But then I saw an identical clock that would be delivered in a few days. I ordered that one and canceled the former one. It was shipped yesterday.
The first clock's brand name was FYXGZZH. Literally! What does that tell you? The vendor is some Chinese company and the brand name is fake, only for selling their inventory of clocks, and then disappearing. Most items ship from warehouses here in the USA, but occasionally something ships from China. Delivery takes weeks.
Photographs
Nancy, a regular reader of this blog, mentioned she would like to see me include photos again. I stopped that practice because I wanted to make this website easier to maintain. However, pictures don't add a lot of work. I'll remove the photos when I put the blog in the archives. So, here's one:
I assembled this LEGO-fake haunted house for Halloween. I probably don't need tell you the two minifigs in the lower-right corner are not part of the kit.
I glued this kit together because I had built it once before. Assembling and disassembling LEGO kits can loosen the connections, making things fall apart easily. These made-in-China POS kits don't hold together well anyway; so, glue solves a lot of problems. When I am tired of looking at the kit, I'll either give it away or toss it into the recycling bin after I remove the minifigs I want to keep.
I don't have any kits with a Thanksgiving theme, but I do have one or two Christmas kits out in the shed.
Water Weight
This was a week for bloating, then for shedding excess water. During the first half of the week my weight went up by more than 2½ pounds. The it dropped 6½ pounds during the latter half of the week. Overall loss was only 4/10 of a pound for the week; so, it wasn't a highly successful week. However, yesterday I recorded my lowest daily weight, 192.4.
Much of the weight loss was due to a temporary loss of appetite. I wasn't hungry all day Thursday. I ate a cheese omelet before going to bed because I knew I should eat something. On Friday I wasn't hungry until well into the evening. I made a bowl of popcorn to enjoy while watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show, my favorite movie to enjoy on Halloween.
Yesterday, things started to return to normal. Dinner was a delicious plate of pan-seared mixed vegetables followed by a filet of steelhead trout.