My Mobile Home Gourmet Blog
Wednesday 2025.9.10
Looking Up
Good news: My mood is improving. I like ribs, but all that meat doesn't do my mental health any good. Thankfully, I really like vegetables. They boost my frame of mind. Sunday's potluck was a factor.
Potluck
One neighbor loves to grill. So, there were sausages and buns. I brought a rack of Costco rotisserie ribs. Meat. Lots of meat. And there were potato chips, fruit, and a chocolate cake. Everything was good. I ate it. But I knew it wasn't the best choice for my diet. On Monday I returned to my routine of eating at least one large salad each day.
Pizza
One of my goals was to get my weight consistently below 200. For three weeks in a row the weekly average was low enough to celebrate. I bought a pepperoni pizza at Costco. It was delicious, but I was very thirsty afterward because of the salt. I drank a lot of water and my weight went up three pounds. It's water weight, which my body will shed quickly.
Ugh, NOT!
A caster on one of my sliding closet doors failed last week. I knew it was going to go. I could tell by the way the door moved. The little roller fell apart. And I thought it was going to be difficult to fix. The roller wasn't screwed to the base plate; it was peened into place. A screw would have been so much easier. But bending the metal is probably cheaper.
Thankfully, I have casters in my hardware box out in the shed. This wasn't the first time I had to replace one. The new casters come with a screw. Thank you for that.
With the help of my Dremel and parallel pliers, I was able to remove the old caster. Attaching the new one only required a Philips screwdriver. Job completed. Everything put away. Done and dusted. And all without uttering a single cuss word.
I felt good after the repair was finished, which helped my mood. I'm 74, but I'm not helpless yet.
Digital Clocks
I've blogged about it before. It's a minor obsession. I can deal with it. However, I do like digital clocks. But, finding the right ones is not easy. Thankfully, Vine offers them occasionally. I'm fussy about what I order. It must be LED, not LCD. It must hang on the wall. It must be easy to read from a distance. The best ones are for persons with dementia. The clocks display the time, day, and date in large easy-to-read numbers. So far, I have two of them.
This week I discarded one LCD clock I never liked — it was too dark — and a second one that stopped working. Neither of them met any of my requirements. The one that failed was purchased decades ago at Costco.
On Monday I saw another one offered on Vine. I requested it. That clock will replace an LED clock that is too difficult to read. The time is large and bright, but the day and date are in a format I don't like. And it's too bright at night. It was free from Vine; so, I don't mind discarding it when its replacement arrives. The new one will have automatic nighttime dimming.
And I think this latest clock will be the last one I order, unless I see one I can't resist.
Vine
And speaking of Amazon Vine, I'm looking for something new. I almost fell when riding my scooter a week ago. I caught myself in time, but a motorist slowed down to check on me. I was okay. I decided I am safer with a scooter that has a seat.
I put one on my Amazon Gift List, but I would be shocked if anyone spent $470 on me. Does Elon Musk read my blog? He just got a $1 trillion salary boost from Tesla; so, he can afford it.
I am thinking the scooter might be a good end-of-year gift to myself. First I will need to transfer some funds into my PayPal account to cover my hosting fee in December. The money will come from my YouTube revenue. If there is enough left over, I'll order the scooter for myself. Maybe there will be a good Black Friday deal.
And maybe worth mentioning: I risked ordering a scooter seat from Amazon (not Vine). It isn't designed for my specific model of scooter; however, I think I might be able to make it work. If not, I only risked about $80. I save more than that on Vine.
The Tomato Chronicles
As I mentioned last Wednesday, the plants are growing again. Lots of new leaves and flowers. I'm looking forward the rooting clippings later this year. I also harvested six ripe tomatoes to enjoy with my salads this week.
Sunday 2025.9.7
Alas
I hope I don't whine too much in today's blog. I'm feeling a bit depressed lately. I know one reason why. I went without salad for several days. Vegetables are really good for my mood. With that in mind, yesterday I cooked up a generous serving of frozen mixed vegetables to enjoy with my dinner. I also bought more ingredients for salads again.
The cause of the mood has been the lack of appreciation shown for this website. I've been wondering what to do. Should I start downsizing my site by deleting some unpopular recipes? I thought about it. I even removed one, Butternut Squash Risotto. Then I changed my mind. Downsizing is too much work. The best way to simplify is to do nothing. Just let things go. No updates. No improvements. No new recipes. And no new Featured Recipe of the Week.
I decided the best reason to preserve this website is to use it as my personal archive of recipes. With that in mind, I burned a full backup to a blank CD. I often look up something when I want to cook for a potluck, or just to make something for friends. It's convenient. If others want to visit my site, they're free to do so. Enjoy.
I'll continue to blog because I enjoy writing. I won't include any photos in my blogs because those are too much work. Who do they benefit? Text is good enough.
Potluck
This afternoon there is another potluck for the neighbors. As planned, I bought a rack of rotisserie ribs at Costco. The days have been so warm lately, I really didn't feel like cooking anything. I hope people won't grab the leftovers. I want any remaining ribs because I like to flake off the meat, warm it in a pan with some BBQ sauce, and roll it in a tortilla with some shredded cheese. That's delicious. Maybe I'll make an announcement. "Please don't take my leftovers." They usually do, leaving me nothing to take home for myself.
Bladder Infection
I wish I could go into details, but it's really too much information. However, I feel really good about what I've done.
I had an infection recently. The urologist first prescribed Cephalexin, which I've used before. Two days later, after the specimen was analyzed by a lab, he switched me over to Sulfamethoxazole (AKA sulfa drug). It didn't work. After the full ten days the infection did not improve. However, during the first two days when I was taking the first med, I noticed some relief. So, after the sulfa drug was gone, I returned to the first prescription. It worked. I am seeing no symptoms of an infection.
Meanwhile, I think I might have figured out what caused the problem. I won't go into details. Again, too much information. I am doing things differently now. I'm hoping I won't have an infection again.
Vine
Nothing new to say about my participation in Amazon Vine. I continue to browse. I order only enough to keep up with my six-month quota. I'm on track to reach my goals before the end of October. All current orders have been received and reviewed.
Some Politics
I look forward to books that are written about Trump when he is no longer the president, assuming he and the Republicans don't tamper with the election laws too much and appoint Trump as the lifetime president. I have a title I'd like to see on a book — America's First Dictator. Bob Woodward, are you reading my blog?
Weight
My weight loss this week was satisfactory. The average for the week was 198.1. The average loss for the week was 1.3 pounds. Blood glucose and blood pressure numbers were mostly good. I haven't been in the mood for exercise; so, lets just call this a week of vacation.
However, I am noticing a trend upward. I need to be more disciplined. This week will be a disaster because I celebrated my weight loss with pizza and I drank a lot of water afterwards because the salt make me thirsty. My weight this morning was up by more than two pounds. It's all water.
And although I am no longer showing images of my weight database, I altered it again. I read online that a blood pressure reading of 130 or 80 is considered the upper limit of normal.
Wednesday 2025.9.3
Phew, Again
This week my wireless trackball for this computer stopped working. I tried changing the batteries. No luck. I tried the settings. Nothing helped. I went onto Amazon to see about buying a replacement, which costs about $60 with the tax. And then I thought to look under the ball. I was surprised by the amount of dust in there. I cleaned that out and the trackball is working normally again. Phew!
Statistics
The numbers are in. More than a month ago I blogged about signing up for Google Analytics. For a small website like mine, the stats are free. After collecting data for a month, here are a few numbers:
Active Users: 1,600
Page Views: 2,800
Countries: 59
Most Popular Recipe: Noodles Romanoff
Only one person, Duke, bought me items from my Amazon Gift List.
Some of the numbers aren't encouraging. Imagine, if every active user contributed $1 during August, I'd receive enough to support this site for a year. Is it in bad taste to grovel for support? If Wikipedia can do it, I can too.
Uh-Oh
I learned something new about my carbon steel skillet. Don't attempt to cook keto tortillas (see blow) in it. They stick and the residue does not come off, even with soaking.
Thankfully, I know how to restore a carbon steel or cast iron pan. Remove the problem with oven cleaner, right down to the bare metal, then begin the seasoning process again with flax oil. It's tedious, but when it's done the plan should be a gleaming black again, and nonstick if used properly. I wish I had taken before and after photographs.
Cast iron and carbon steel pans are sometimes called heirloom cookware because if properly cared for, they can be handed down from generation to generation. I love my carbon steel pan. Lately, I haven't been putting it away. I keep on top of my induction cooker, always ready to use.
Keto Tortillas
I added another recipe to the Archive this week — Keto Tortillas. I wasn't sure where to place it; so, I put it in Basics.
As for flavor, they are not as delicious as good flour and corn tortillas. However, these Keto Tortillas are lower in carbohydrates and they are gluten-free.
Some Politics
I have long believed the USA would eventually lose it's greatest-nation status, becoming just another country like France, Canada, and Spain. I didn't think Trump would be the one to cause the decline. The Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this week strengthened my belief. The USA was not invited to the SCO summit, which was hosted by China. I expect China, with its alliances with Russua and North Korea, will soon become the world's most powerful and richest nation.
The Tomato Chronicles
Oddly, my tomato plants are enjoying a resurgence of growth. New leaves and branches are developing. Flowers are appearing again. I wonder if June and July were too hot for them. The sun peaks in strength around June 21st.
This is good news for my future plans. Healthy new vines will hopefully give me good clippings to root and grow during the winter until I'm ready to plant again in the spring.