Friday, October 4, 2013

Wheaties, Fawlty Towers, and a Goat Kind of Thing.

So I had Wheaties with sliced bananas, skim organic milk, and a sprinkling of sugar for supper. Yes, real live white processed sugar. And it was good. So there. We are made to feel so guilty about just about everything we eat, that I honestly felt like a teenager being rebellious as I sprinkled that spoonful of sugar on my cereal. I wasn't even taking any kind of medicine so Mary Poppins didn't need to sing that spoonful of sugar song. I just wanted my cereal sweeter. It was good and so worth it.

It's a funny thing. Ever since I retired in June, I have lost weight. I haven't consciously tried to lose weight. It has just happened. When I worked, I always meant to bring a healthy lunch...well, at least only a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a piece of fruit. I did it sometimes, but most times I wound up going somewhere to buy lunch...and yes, it was usually some kind of fast food. I tried to justify it by whatever means I could, but, let's face it. Eating a lot of fast food is not conducive to maintaining a healthy weight. So I recommend retirement. I eat a healthy breakfast and sometimes I just forget to eat lunch. We've been in the throws of renovation, so cooking is just so tiresome. I may make some chipped beef on toast for supper tomorrow night. I know. I have to cook it, but my husband and I love it. It's something that harkens us back to our childhood when our mamas fixed it. I think it came from WWII or the depression or something. Anyway, it's good. Wait...that's usually my Sunday night supper. We may just have Cherrios tomorrow night...with fresh blueberries.

Right now, we are watching "Fawlty Towers" on Netflix. This is a British comedy with John Cleese that was made in the 80s or 90s. It was on PBS and my husband and I used to watch it religiously. It is still an absolute hoot. I love British comedies anyway and this tops them all. This episode is about the whole staff  trying to hide a dead body. So funny. They put this poor guy in a basket and someone asked what the guy is doing in the basket. Basil, played by John Cleese says in this dry British tone, "Well, not much." I love that kind of humor.

Anyway, it's been that kind of day. A "not much" kind of day. I sometimes like days like this. In fact, I need these kinds of days. Tomorrow, my husband and I will feed my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's goats while they're out of town. That will make it a more eventful morning and evening, I bet. One is an ill-tempered billy goat. The rest are really quite precious animals. The thing is, goats smell bad. I think someone told me that male goats urinate on their beards to attract the opposite sex. Do you think that's how the Duck Dynasty guys got such attractive wives? Probably not. I think that act is just a goat kind of thing.

Good night all.


2 comments:

Sarah Gunning Moser said...

Colleen:

Wow! I hadn't thought of my mother's chipped beef in at least thirty years! Maybe it is a Depression-era/WWII thing; my folks were of that generation, too. (Born during WWI, though.) I actually like chipped beef.

Can you post your recipe? I don't think my mom ever taught me how to make it and I know my hubby loves it.

Have fun with the goats. I'll pass on the urine-on-the-beard thing, too! Ick.

Coleen Brooks said...

Sure thing, Sarah. I melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan or skillet. I tear up the chipped beef (it comes in small and larger jars. I use the smaller jars because it's just my husband and me. I saute' it a bit and then add around 3 tablespoons of flour. I get the flour all moist and then I add about 3 or 4 cups of milk and stir constantly until thickened. This isn't a precise recipe because I really kind of just dump the ingredients. Like I really use a little more than 3 tablespoons of flour and I use real butter, not margarine. It's like making a white sauce and adding the chipped beef to it.I hope this turns out for you. We love it.