Coping: Not Quite “Miracle Soup” But Close…

Food:  The subject is near and dear to my heart… I look like I have never missed a meal in my life and may have eaten some other folk’s meals, as well.

But, I was reminded of vegetable soup again when my buddy Gaye put up the recipe for “Miracle Soup” this week.  (*Article is over here: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Cabbage Soup & a Healthy Diet.)

Gaye’s “Miracle Soup” is slightly different than mine.  Since my family has been making vegetable/meatball soup for centuries, a few tweaks on her recipe and you have the soup that has fed the Jensen side of the family as far back as can be remembered….

(Continues below)

 

Our family didn’t put a green pepper in.  We didn’t do that because some members of the family tended to get an over-acid stomach from green peppers…so that was left out.

Then there’s the matter of garlic.  As you know, one of the secrets to “Happy wife, happy Life” is remembering matching food means matching breath.

When I make up a huge pot of vegetable soup, that’s basically all I eat for three or four days.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The miracle part is that I don’t put on weight.

You see, I put in meatballs.

Just get the leanest ground meat you can and mix it up like you were going to make meatballs.  A little binder is needed.  I have used cornmeal (so-so), flour (meh), and here lately I’ve been using oatmeal which isn’t as bad as you’d think.

I have tried the Red (or was it Bob’s?) Mill oat flour, but that isn’t the same.  That tasted more like the filler they used in the ground beef “hamburgers” in school lunch programs back before hamburgers were more meat than extended.

Three other ingredients in the meatballs:  A whipped egg seems to work (mixed into the meatball mixing) along with a shake or two of Worcestershire sauce.

So far, it sounds like with these modest additions and tweaks, I ought to lose some weight.

But, Now Comes the Fried Cheese Sandwich

With something as simple as a fried cheese sandwich, you’d think that there would be some universal agreement on the basics.  You know, like “Here’s what’s in a FCS…

There are, after all, only two ingredients.  Yet, here we go:  Some people like a fried cheese on rye.  I like a fried cheese on thick-sliced French.  Or, since there’s not a good bakery close, I just use the Sunbeam jumbo Texas Toast which is almost an inch thick per slice.  We don’t do WonderWimp.

Elaine and I have our differences on cheese.

Cheese is very bad for you.  Clogs arteries, makes my doctor cranky, but there’s not a real clear link between dietary fat and cholesterol levels…or, at least there’s some discussion of the point.

Which is why we’re still doing the fried cheese sandwiches.  Elaine’s partial to Tillamook Cheddars (yellow or light).  I’m  more the stringy cheese sort which means provolone or mozzarella.

After a half-dozen meals of “soup and sandwich” I notice that friend cheese is getting boring so I might change up to a cheese quesadilla. No need for stringy cheese here:  I load up the tortillas with a 4 or 5-cheese “Mexican blend.”  Elaine’s off doing the artisan cheeses on hers.

As the healthy soup begins to run down, the creative juices start flowing in sandwich-making.

By the end of the huge pot of soup, the liquid is more like an appetizer to an industrial-strength sandwich.  We’re talking three slices of bread, sliced ham, sliced turkey, sliced provolone, dipped in an egg batter and pan-fried.

Websites like Macheesmo seem to believe that Gouda (a Dutch cheese) and mayo are somehow involved.  But don’t get suckered into that.

You just want a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich on the inside with the outside being more like French toast.

Yum.

With the passing of the full moon, eclipse, and all that, we’re reminded that the end of winter is coming sooner than later.

When we click back into warmer weather the menu change begins.

The BBQ will again be the center of cooking:  Whatever the meat is, a salad, and a couple of times a week a potato.  All this grand, glorious, and HOT comfort food will get shoved back into the recipe list until next year.

The Litmus Test

I picked up a roll of  ANZESER pH Indicator Litmus Test Paper Strip Roll, 0 – 14 For Water Urine And Saliva – 5 Meters a couple of weeks back and I’ve been happily peeing on it ever since.

Been a fair amount of “stuff” on the web I’ve been reading about how you don’t want your body to be overly acidic.

An article in Cure Today back in 2015 put it this way:

“Cancer cells thrive in acidity (low pH), but not in alkalinity (high pH), so a diet high in alkaline foods like fruits and vegetables that also limits acidic foods, such as those from animal products, will raise blood pH levels and create an environment in the body that discourages cancer growth.”

Worth your time to read the whole article over here.

There’s also an article on the Holistic Pharmacist website at this line where they discuss the idea that highly acidic people are more likely to catchg colds and flu.

Since the flu going around this year is killing people, seemed to me to be a useful PROCESS to:

  1. Figure out my earlier pH readings  (acidic, but I was feeling great!)
  2. Lower those to slightly basic/alkaline with more veggies and drinking a LOT more water.
  3. Also been taking both Turmeric as well as Optimized Saffron..which has helped the pH.

Of course, chemical prophylaxis is not enough.  So, when Elaine and I did some shopping Wednesday in town, we seriously got after the cart with alcohol wipes and we scrubbed when we got home.  No point taking chances.

I’ve got plans to do some personal testing next time I feel a cold coming on.  *(neither of us has had one in years)

That’s because while conventional medical wisdom is that zinc is useful to fight off colds and such, I also found in my research (places like here) that zinc is strongly alkaline.

Which really gets down to the personal research question:  When the med school people talk about the good zinc does for colds and such, how sure are they that it’s the zinc?

Because it occurs to me that maybe it’s just the strong alkaline operation of zinc.  And in which case, I could pop a couple of Tums and…well, you see the question.

This isn’t medical advice, but I do confess to asking questions without a license!

Write when you get rich,

George@ure.net

20 thoughts on “Coping: Not Quite “Miracle Soup” But Close…”

  1. Your book “Best Book EVER About Sales” provided to subscribers in the Peoplenomics letter yesterday is an easy read, gold mine for anyone in sales or thinking about a career in sales. I was in sales virtually all my life and sold everything including Hearing Aids, Real Estate, & Insurance. I settled on insurance since it was faster paying and more lucrative. When you sell on commission you need a steady cash flow. In my last 25 years as an insurance wholesaler, I attempted to teach all the insurance agents the importance of a script. Don’t wing it. Successful agents used a script and knew how to proceed to the close. Unsuccessful agents didn’t use a script and couldn’t close a door. Your book should be required reading for all salespersons no matter what industry they are selling in. It is an excellent read.

    • ‘Scripts’ are important in many businesses – when I was working in security (alarm monitoring) it was needed to assess the location of the alarm, without offending any customer who actually accidentally set off the alarm in question. Sound and be professional without being obnoxious; memories are fallible, but people appreciate being treated fairly. Scripts help the worker remember what needs to be done.

  2. Ultimate comfort food: tomato soup made with milk and a grilled cheese sandwich using Velveeta and mayonnaise.

    73s

  3. When I was a kid I read many Edgar Cayce books. When he was asked the best way to avoid cancer, his response was “Be Alkaline”

  4. A little closer to “Miracle Soup”:

    Chicken Foot Soup

    Several cultures have recipes. You can find chicken feet in many ethnic grocery stores.

    Most of the benefits derive from the collagen and mineral content.

    Great use for your crock pot.

    Many people are grossed out by the thought of chicken feet. Give it a fantasy name for the family to make it palatable to the kids, like ‘Dino Claw’, ‘Dragon Claw’, ‘Pterodactyl Claw’, or some such thing.

    I have a friend who does not cook who pays me $50 for half a gallon of this stuff when he gets sick with a cold or flu. I cook the chicken feet for hours with Pink Salt, a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, and lots of ginger (both for taste and digestion aid). Strain out chicken feet and add simple vegetables like carrots, celery, parsley, (or cilantro), potato, and green beans and lots of garlic.

    ** Ginger is not specifically for digestion of this particular soup — just a digestion aid in general and especially while sick.

    When chilled this soup becomes an aspic you can eat with a fork.

  5. 1) I recommend everybody famialarize themselves with effective selling methods so they cannot be used on you when you are the target of a salesperson.

    2) George, I recommend a simple, but not easy, strategy for improving health: stop eating grains, including corn, other than white or parboiled rice and keep that to a minimum. I am of Scandinavian descent and am O- blood type. I feel and function the best when I eat fish, poultry, veggies and low glycemic index fruit. The excess fat comes off easily and I feel great after the Herxheimer transition period of a few days.

  6. And, here is some medical advice. Keep a supply of sugar free elderberry syrup and Umcka on hand to rid yourself of flu or colds if they strike. Also, ColdCalm will relieve the stuffiness and sneezing. All of these are herbal and homeopathic remedies with zip side effects unless you personally are allergic to ingredients.

  7. Sooner than later? After the January warm-up, where the thermometer touched 50 (when I was a kid, it’d often flirt with 80 during this warm-up), I’m now looking at temps in the singles, and a forecast [of] two feet or so, of white stuff, over the next week.

    ‘Might be time to make some soup…

  8. I make that type of soup often with one additional
    secret ingrediant. A small dash of Five-spice powder. Gives the soup a great aroma and taste.
    Just don`t use to much.

  9. “Three other ingredients in the meatballs: A whipped egg seems to work (mixed into the meatball mixing) along with a shake or two of Worcestershire sauce.”

    I recall my mother used to do this some 100 years ago ;-), but I’m also reminded how different we all are, while reading reader’s comments. All I can comment on is (though I like tasty foods!) how little food a person really needs once he/she is grown up.

  10. Cheese does not clog your arteries. Arteries only get clogged when they are inflamed which is the real problem not cholesterol.Eating healthy fats are part of a healthy diet. Drs have had it wrong for years in case no one noticed the increase in heart disease, due to the promotion of vegetable fats which in turn caused inflammation which then cause more heart disease.The president of the heart association recently collapsed with a heart attack, while on stage promoting the heart associations low cholesterol myth and their idea of how to have a healthy heart. This is how to have a healthy heart. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/11/29/aha-president-suffers-heart-attack.aspx

  11. Tamiflu is expensive and might work but initial research they were forced to publish showed it worked as well as placebo/sugar pill.
    Influenza kills about 36,000 people Every year usually old or very young and those with immune defects from cancer or significant disease.
    Black elderberry extract has good info for treating Influenza type A in published studies. Find at Pub Med on line. Sambucol brand original formula, seems to work well. Comes as tablets or liquid. Stores well. BUT works well for Type A flu. Sold on line Amazon. I advise my patients about it and encourage them to try it.Just get tested for which type of flu you have Type A or Type B

    • My recipe to fight a cold.
      One shot of southern comfort
      One shot of vodka
      One shot of sloe gin
      Cup of orange juice
      Seven up or cranberry ginger ale
      Touch of grenadine ice.

      How affective is it.. if it doesn’t cure it you won’t really care either way..
      The sloe python slips down easy and then snap.
      I’ve done a great deal of reading about the bicarbonate of soda and molasses three times a day or the hydrogen peroxide therapy changes your ph balance even knew someone personally..

  12. So UI rate is WAY DOWN! And FOOD STAMP usage is WAY UP!

    Yeah, you qualify for food stamps if your part time work at Walmart doesn’t pay enough(taxpayers subsidize Walmart)

    http://www.trivisonno.com/food-stamps-charts

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/04/18/there-is-no-walmart-tax-every-tax-day-we-get-told-there-is-and-every-year-its-still-untrue/#68ec281241fe

    p.s. Walmart & the Military are the largest U.S. employers

    http://www.visualcapitalist.com/walmart-nation-mapping-largest-employers-u-s/

    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48126.htm

  13. I got a telephone solicitor who i thought was the idenity thief i was havings trouble with and said what i thought should be done to all insurance agents and turns out he cut my costs by 80 percent, so far only slightly creeping. Higher…rhymes with cot, hot, lot….

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