I am horrified to see that the last update was back in February of this year. A lot went on in my life and none was pleasant. After beating bladder cancer and just checking out the rest of my health since I am a paraplegic. In an area where I had a past wound we discovered to my horror again that I had developed skin cancer in the scar tissue, due to the area being injured over and over again over the years. I did not even know it was possible to get skin cancer that way. I went in for some surgery to remove some or all of it. Well they did not get it all and during that stay something went terribly wrong. I still am not 100% sure as I was also having a drug reaction that would make me forget periods of time and in essence have a different personality. Well apparently my kidneys failed, no idea why they were healthy when I went down there. I also apparently did not have 1 surgery, I had 4 much to my surprise after being filled in months latter.  Yes months latter. See it is hard for relatives and even your wife to fill you in on everything that happens when well to be honest you have almost full amnesia over. I was there one day, then someone else for a week and then back again. In my mind only the night had passed. I am still trying to figure it all out, reading my hospital records and asking questions. To make matters even worse, that other personality was the 100% opposite of me. It was mean, abusive, and well it hurts to think about it and what I may have said. People around me know it was the drug but still, it came out of me.

I am still dealing with the issues of all of this. I still have a large wound that needs another surgery to remove whats left of the cancer, unless they decide on chemo. So far though it sounds like it will be surgery. After that I hopefully can work on healing or getting the wound closed up for good. Then I can think longer down the line to eventually getting my legs amputated. Yes I do mean cut off. They are of zero use to me, they make it harder for me to get around, they could honestly kill me by throwing a clot, and honestly I am not one of those that will ever benefit from all of the new technology such as stem cells.

I have been stuck in bed for some time. I actually spent a lot of the year in either the hospital and then a rehab hospital. I did not even get out until August of this year. It still really hurts to sit up in my chair and the doctor has limited the time I should do it. I do however plan on buying another wheelchair that fully reclines so that I can get up and around yet still stay somewhat laying down. That should get me out of my room more often and restore some sanity and well give more help to my ever patient wife who has put up with all of this.

I do love cooking and I have really discovered that I am pretty damn good at teaching people how to do it as well, even over the phone. To be honest my wife never was much of a cook and she just had a few dishes she knew. So over the past few months I would walk her through dishes over the phone. Now she can whip up even new dishes with very little input and they are pretty damn good. There are misses, but the last couple months I must say her hits have been shining and I can barely remember a bad dish. She even got about a 90% on how I like my potato salad (another post), with next to no direction. Did I mention I am so picky about potato salad that I rarely eat anyone else’s?

Back to the blog. I do plan on keeping up with it now assuming I can. I also will be posting some or possibly many of my wives dishes on here. Honestly she barely even knows about this site and is a bit shy, so I may just keep it hush hush for awhile. They are good though. I just wanted to apologize for not being present for the last 8 months. Very few things on the web irritate me as much as an abandoned site that just stays there with nothing happening on it at all. I also really am starting to hate how this blog looks. So do not be surprised if you do see some changes in how it looks. Lastly some of you should comment, I do not bite and I know your visiting, I do see the stats after all.

Figured I would begin to share my “planned” menu plans on my blog. May as well allow them to leave my way to fussy self made calendar done up in Excel. I will admit though that before I started to plan out my little Excel menu this year, the wife and I had way to many conversations and semi arguments about what is for dinner – typically like an hour before we should be eating. This also wrecked havoc on trying to do our shopping since we really never knew what we wanted. I mean of course we could and will adjust assorted vegetables and such to the seasons – the base dishes really could still be laid out (of course with some wiggle room if something special or on sale popped up).

So far my menu only includes dinner items. I am taking it slow and easing into the whole thing. Plus I often just eat leftovers or a sandwich for lunch anyways and honestly my idea of breakfast is usually a cup of tea and maybe a piece of toast (yeah I need to work on that).

One last little note. This article may change a bit as things get updated or switched around (that’s life). I will also try to link any given dishes that I managed to photograph and write out the recipe to share here. That way they are easier to find.

February Menu Plan:

1. Thai style chicken skewer, peanut sauce, cucumber salad, and rice.
2. Roast beef, mixed vegetables, and twice baked potatoes.
3. Roast beef sandwiches served open face with gravy, and a salad.
4. Spinach salad, lamb meatballs, saffron couscous, and almond cookies ~ adapted from Sunset magazine.
5. Old fashioned homemade hamburgers.
6. White fish, steamed vegetables, and a baked potato.
7. Some sort of soy based slow cooked chicken thighs, rice, and carrot salad.
8. Chicken parmesan, vegetables, and garlic bread.
9. Porcupine meatballs, mashed potatoes, and salad.
10. Beef stroganoff my way over rice, and salad.
11. Gumbo, rice, and cornbread.
12. Shepherds pie ~ with a note to fry extra ground beef for taco’s.
13. Sweet and sour chicken over rice.
14. Valentines day dinner ~ more than likely will mail order lobster or crayfish.
15. Soft taco’s, re fried beans, fresh salsa and guacamole.
16. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans.
17. Baked spiral ham, glazed carrots, and roasted potatoes.
18. Ham and cheese omelets and a salad.
19. Steak, potato skins, and brussel sprouts.
20. Homemade macaroni and cheese, along with some ham. Will be bulk making the mac and cheese for extra freezer sides.
21. Soup and bread – not sure of what type, figure it will use ham bone.
22. Loaded burritos, fresh salsa, guacamole, beans, and rice.
23. Corned beef, cabbage, boiled vegetables.
24. Leftover corned beef and cabbage dinner.
25. Leftover stuffed peppers from the freezer when I made them in bulk, plus salad.
26. Homemade pizza.
27. Beef stew.
28. Leftover beef stew.

Well there you have it for now. We also will be trying to toss in a few desserts as well as some baked goods scattered throughout the month.

Blog is just about done. Been coming up with a game plan on how, what, and when to share. Like many of you I would assume, I just can not make every meal worthy of a post readable by the world. Lets face it, even I give into temptation and fall for convenience. My pantry has perhaps some of the same guilty cheats as many of you may have. Perhaps a few cans of ravioli to relive a small part of your childhood, sit on one of those shelves. Maybe you too can not help but get an odd craving for macaroni and cheese, yet not that wonderful, silken, oozing four cheese, with a crisp crust type- No you want, nae need that box of Kraft dinner (mac and cheese) in all of its day glow orange glory.

I at this point plan on making at least one meal a week that should include an entry. I have pulled out some of my photo gear that shall live in the kitchen. Also a notepad with a pen ready, so that any notes can be made. At this point many of my recipes and adaptations are in my head. I often did not measure out things that often, and even when I did start doing this recently- I never bothered to take pictures of the finished product. This naturally will need to change and that is where I will start.

Culinary speaking I am all over the map. I wish I had a niche area that I could focus on, I just do not. I like to try many different foods. Playing with each item until I have that one version that I love. There are however a few cuisines I have yet to really try, or at least try much and or not make on my own- not sure if what I am eating is even authentic or not.  Either way, there is no certainty what you may find here. I just assure you that I will not be using you as test subjects, that what I do post or write about is indeed something I do eat or do.

Well I finally bit the bullet after several online and offline friends and associates have encouraged me to build a site around my food, tips, ideas, and all things “home ec” I suppose. I am doing my best to whip this blog out without much help, which is actually highly humorous as an inside joke – I am a webmaster by trade so this should be very simple, though I can not even count the “issues” I have ran into. From weird glitches to boring technical stuff that would put you to sleep. Lets just say it has been a trying period to get this far and I have not even changed the basic template (design) yet which I know is a more difficult task if I do not wish to use an existing theme.

What is really scary is that I have not even begun to gather up my content yet. You know that stuff that is interesting to read and look at. I have played so many recipes by ear and so many tips or as some call them tricks are just ingrained into me. Not to say I do not make the same things twice, I do. Just to say I have not written down much over my years cooking, gardening, or other random tidbits around the house. I only recently have really started sharing stuff with others online in non associated forums when the topics have come up. Putting it all to print is a daunting task. At least I am looking forward to this.

I have struggled with a few other “issues” as well. I am not a professional writer. I never did well in English which is another story for another day as to why. I also was not sure to be myself or be a better more civil me. When push came to shove I just could not allow myself to make a weaker carbon copy of whom I am. I am human, I make mistakes, and I occasionally will use colorful language to boot. I will do my best to not let it get the best of me. Just be warned if you are easily offended by a choice word here or there on occasion, this blog may not be for you. I do assure you that everything should remain well in the realm of PG-13 at worst.

Well back to creation of this beast.