Over the past few years, I’ve become quite comfortable spending time by myself. I found out, with all that time, I really do like me. I’m easy company. I don’t ask for much and don’t need a lot of attention. A good book, good movie, good music, some computer time,a warm house and full belly is all I needed to be comfortable. It was much different than my life as a husband and father.

Even in that time alone, I found I did miss the human contact. I missed having someone to share my life with. More than just the companionship of close friends, I missed someone I could share the many aspects of life. It is a comfort to know I can share my joys, tears and just about every little bit of fluff I encounter with someone again. I will never under estimate the importance of idle chit-chat with another person. That sort of thing makes the world a wonderful place to live.

Due to schedules, there are evenings I spend by myself. That ‘down time’ is something I found I need. I need to keep in touch with the person I am. Even if I am doing the same things I would do other evenings, this time for self is also important to my well being. I had that before, but I never really saw the worth of it. Time alone is a relaxing ‘tune up’ for my mind and heart. It makes me easier for me to get along with others.

This time also gives me a chance to think about where I will be going with this blog. As said, the original reason for the blog has been pushed to one of the safe places. With luck, it will be a place I don’t need to look for again. Life is good, and I am a comfortable, happy camper.

So anyway on a few of these evenings on my own, I will be putting my fingers to the keyboard again, and sharing part of what I’m doing with any readers I have.

One final note for this evening…

Quick evening meal

Boneless Chicken breasts
Vegetables
Chicken stock thickened

Rice or Noodles or Bread

I wanted a quick meal this evening, and threw the above ingredients together. I guess it would be about one medium chicken breast per person with about 1 and 1/2 cups of vegetables cut into bite size pieces. I browned the chicken while I was cutting the veggies. After the chicken had browned, I removed it to cut into bite size pieces while cooking the veggies in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup thickened chicken stock (I could have some cream soup, but I had the stock). The veggies I had were broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms, but it could be whatever you have on hand. I then added the cooked chicken and simmered for about 5 minutes. I served this over a slice of homemade bread.

Total cooking time 1/2 hour. 1 pan, one knife, one cutting board and one wooden spoon were used in preparation tonight. Minimal time, minimal mess … just what I want when I cook a meal.

My little girl in Florida (along with her husband of course) got me the most wonderful present. It could have been for Father’s Day or maybe my birthday. They hadn’t shipped it, and I was last there at Christmas and I didn’t get it then. But anyway, this present was a wonderful collection of hot sauces. All well up on the scale of things hot and spicy. My son-in-law had to sign a waiver to buy them, good stuff that. I think I will try them out in different foods to determine which one I like best….

Hot Sauce Death Pack

First one in the package was Dave’s Insanity Sauce. My little family knows about this sauce, I’ve had it before and it is quite potent. I add a drop or so to my bowl of chili, just to liven things up a bit. I will write more on that one later.

Today I tried “Smack my ass and call me Sally” hot sauce. The bottle comes with a warning label on it.

WARNINGThis sauce is extremely hot. Keep away from children. Do not use if you have heart or respiratory problems. Wash hands after use.

I tried this in Florida on a cracker or something like that. Just one drop and it is VERY hot. I added some to my quick dinner tonight and found it extremely pleasant (for something that could very well light my lips on fire 😉 ) One or two drops does not seem to affect the flavor of the dish all that much, but it does increase the fire power. I imagine I could use this sauce on anything I wanted a bit of a kick with. 3 drops in a cup of chicken soup is about my limit of enjoyable heat. I think I could take more, but even for me there comes a point when the heat just doesn’t add anything to the dish. I will admit that there is even a point when I go. DANG that is just too spicy. I haven’t hit that one often, but I think I could with this sauce.

I’m not sure if that is the name, but it is the name I give to this type of cooking. It is ideal for cooking for 1 and could be used to cook a variety of food for those fussy eaters. I’m not sure why I never used this much when my kids were young. I only remember doing it for fish. This is food wrapped in foil that gives you all you need for 1 meal. I guess you could put two meals in one packet, but much more than that makes it hard to turn.

Steam packet one
1 or 2 Turkey sausage (brat size) — Too much fat from a regular sausage for this.
1 small onion diced
1 small-medium potato diced
1 medium carrot sliced or diced
Salt/Pepper
2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa

wrap all ingredients in foil — Crimp edges well so it doesn’t leak too much.
cook in Frying pan over medium heat or on a grill at medium heat or in the oven at 325 degrees (on a cookie sheet). Cook for about 30 minutes. When using Grill or frying pan flip over at 15-20 minutes. Slice open packet, if sausage is not done just cook until it is.

More to come (or look back at the fish recipe) 🙂