Lucy's Life of Heaven and Hell on Earth

Gluten Free Air Fryer Breaded Pork chops

2022-04-04T16:24:00.001-04:00

This post contains affiliate links

This gluten free air fryer breaded pork chops recipe is super yummy and easy to make! You can use any air fryer, I love my 8 qt Ninja Foodi. I use King Arthur gluten free flour, however you can use any all purpose flour, if you don’t have a gluten intolerance. I use 4c gluten free plain breadcrumbs because they are the best price for gluten free breadcrumbs. Again if you don’t have a gluten intolerance you can use regular seasoned breadcrumbs, just omit the dill weed and parsley. Hate the mess that comes along with with breading stuff? Check out this awesome kitchen counter hack I do.

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops (3/4ish inch
1 c gluten free breeadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 c powder ranch dressing powder
1 tsp dill weed
1 tsp parsley
1 egg
1 tsp water
1 c gluten free flour

Directions:

1. Preheat air fryer at 330 for at least 5 minutes.

2. Get out 3 cereal bowels, putting flour in a bowl, eggs & water in another (mix with a fork and parmesan 3. cheese, breadcrumbs, dill weed, parsley, garlic powder, salt and ranch powder in the remaining one (mixing with a fork)

4. Dredge each pork chop in the flour, then eggs and then breadcrumb mixture. Use one hand to hold the pork and the other hand to press the breadcrumbs into the pork. This is an important step so the breading doesn’t just fall off the pork when you try to transfer or flip it.

5. Air fry at 330 for 20 minutes, flipping them half way. If you do a double layer (2 in basket & 2 on rack in basket) you don’t have to switch which ones are on top.

Please let me know what you think of this recipe and I hope you will check out my other easy recipes.

Easy Pressure Cooker Gluten Free Loaded Potato Soup

2022-03-29T17:36:00.000-04:00

TThis post contains affiliate links.

This loaded potato soup recipe is easy to make in any pressure cooker. I make it in my 8 quart Ninja Foodi. To make it even easier I used my electric potato peeler, obviously for the potatoes. I also used my Hamilton Beach food processor to shred the cheese because I prefer freshly shredded cheese over pre-shredded.

If you don’t have a gluten intolerance you can use regular chicken broth instead of bone broth. When mashing the potatoes be sure to use a coated one like this nylon potato masher. Also, if you don’t feel like dealing with the bacon you can use 1 tsp pre-cooked bacon pieces per serving. It’s decent, just not as good.

Please let me know what you think of this gluten free loaded potato soup if/when you give it a try.

Ingredients:

5 lb Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 c frozen chopped onions (or 1 onion)
2 tsp jarred garlic (or 4 garlic gloves)
4ish slices of cooked bacon, chopped
6 c chicken bone broth
2 c milk (I use fat free lactose free)
1-2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Apx 2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp sour cream & 1 tsp chives per serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Add broth, onions, garlic and potatoes. Feel free to stir. Add pressure lid and make sure to set to seal.

2. Pressure cook for 10 minutes on high.

3. When pressure cooking is done, move valve to vent. When it’s finished releasing then open.

4. Add the milk and mash away. It will likely still be lumpy so use an emersion blender to smooth it out some. If you have a non stick pot, I suggest this emersion blender because it doesn’t scratch the pot.

5. Season with salt & pepper

6. Add cheese and either don’t mix it and broil for 5 minutes or mix the cheese in. I opt to mix in together.

6. When dished out add the sour cream, chives and bacon to each serving.

Nutrition Info:

10 servings of apx 3/25 ladles of soup. I store them in these microwavable containers.

335 calories, 17.2 g protein, 9.6 g fat, 968.5 mg sodium, 27.1 mg cholesterol

Want more food to make? Check out the other easy recipes I’ve posted.

Air Fryer Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan Recipe

2022-03-20T12:49:00.003-04:00

Note: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I potentially make a small commission from them.

I know the picture isn’t super attractive like most other people’s. Still this gluten free chicken parmesan is super yummy and fairly easy to make. You can use any decent sized air fryer. I use my 8 quart Ninja Foodi.

If you don’t have a gluten intolerance you can use regular flour and seasoned breadcrumbs instead. Just omit the dill weed & parsley.

You don’t have to cut the chicken breasts in half. I just do because it helps control my portion sizes. Check out my post about why I track my food and use portions.

Tip: use one hand to dunk the chicken in the stuff and use the other hand to press the breadcrumbs into the chicken. I learned if don’t do this the breadcrumbs will slide off when try to move the chicken.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut in half or 4 cutlets
3/4 c gluten free flour (1/2 might work)
1 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
3/4 c gluten free plain breadcrumbs (1/2 c might work)
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp dill weed
Apx 1/2 c spaghetti sauce - I use Franceso Rinaldi because it’s GF
Apx 1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat air fryer at 325 for at least 5 minutes.

2. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and stir. In another bowl, add eggs and water and wisk. In yet another bowl, add the bread crumbs, dill weed, parsley and parmesan cheese and mix them together.

3. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour. This means flop the chicken around in the flour to make sure it gets coated. Then do the same in the egg wash. Finally do it again with the breadcrumbs.

4. Coat your basket and/or rack with non stick spray. I use EVOO so it doesn’t mess up the non stick coating or gunk up.

5. Place chicken in your cooking device and air fry for 15 minutes.

6. Top with spaghetti sauce - as much or as little as your heart desires. Top that with the mozzarella cheese, again as much or as little as your heart desires.

7. Broil for give or take 3 minutes. Just check on it every so often to get the cheese texture that makes your soul happy.

8. Serve and eat.

Nutrition facts. 4 servings, 657 calories, 61 g protein, 26 g fat, 44 carbs, 6 g sugar

If you give this air fryer gluten free chicken parmesan recipe a try I would love it if let me know what you think of it.

Like this recipe? Check out the other easy Ninja Foodi recipes I’ve shared.

Hidden Abuse - My Story, Part 1

2022-03-16T16:46:00.009-04:00

I previously wrote about the family sexual abuse I experienced as a minor. Also At least with the first one I didn’t know it was abuse. I thought it was normal and accepted. Well the sexual abuse endured a little later, still as a minor I knew wasn’t normal. The abuse experienced as an adult is a different story. I knew it wasn’t right, well sometimes knew. Sometimes it was disguised as jokes. Even when I knew the sexual or verbal actions made me feel like shit I didn’t know what to do because when I didn’t tolerate it the abuse kept going on and on and on.

I would try to get to a safe place in our apartment and he would break down the door if it was locked. If I went outside he would lock me out, unless I took his dog with me. If I tried to go somewhere and he saw I had my keys he would follow me out of the apt.

Here’s a picture of Jasmine looking like she’s floating, to break up the heaviness.

The yelling - hours or even days of it - often times didn’t end until I allowed him to sexually abuse me. I knew it was sexual actions that I didn’t want to do, that often physically hurt me and I didn’t know it was abuse. I didn’t know it was abuse even when he had my head over the bed, throwing up because of his appendage being shoved down my throat and him getting turned on as I couldn’t breath because of the vomit as I was trying to push him off of me.

I’m a Black Belt in American Kickboxing and American Karate. I know how to and am physically able to defend myself, which I have in the past. There was no defense against this. I had nowhere else to go for a while, with the exception of living in my car. I wasn’t ready for that and I didn’t realize until much later just how much he was abusing me and even grooming me to take the abuse, to be his slave, without me realizing how much I had already become one to him. He took away my strength, sometimes secretly, sometimes not so much.

These types of people tear you down. They do all of it this when it’s hidden from other people. I would beg for quite a while for the psychological warfare to end. I use that term because that’s really what it was, not only abuse. I would explain I was close to my limit until I react and I needed a break. The break would never come. I would snap. I became the bad person because that’s the only part of the story that was seen or heard about. It wasn’t believed by some when my side was told.

I had to be secretive about working my way out because I just didn’t want to be homeless since could only get 30 days at Transitions of PA safe house & most housing assistance had a much longer wait list. So I went to a city where people don’t want to live because it’s a shitty place to live. Still it’s better than living in my car. Still, I was able to get out and despite it being on government assistance, I live on my own and no longer abused. I no longer live in fear of making a mistake or doing something he doesn’t like.

Despite having had a brain tumor twice and being disabled this is a much better life. I live for me. I live for the now. I have happiness and not that bullshit pretend happiness that an abuser provides. All of this here, it may seem like a lot. Like how could I not recognize that this was abuse? I was degraded and conditioned to stop seeing it. Others only knew the lie so others supported this conditioning.

When I was ready to get out I had to tread carefully to avoid ending up living in my car with only the clothes on my back and my purse and phone. Then when I did get out I had been so conditioned I gave him some more time being back together. Just not living together, I made sure I kept my out, an out other than suicide that is. It took a few more months and I was finally able to fully break free. If you are going through something similar, please find a safe way out. Don’t let them know you are thinking about leaving and even if they never got physical before, the night you try to leave they might. So please, make it a point to leave when they aren’t home.

Love to Hate Feelings Change in Seconds

2022-03-12T20:31:00.002-05:00

I was writing a post a bit ago how I do my food shit and I’m jamming out to music on my library from Amazon Music (affiliate link) and I would be jamming out to a song and then I will suddenly go to not be able to stand it to the point where I grab my phone and change the song.

So as I type this I realized just how pathetic that sounds. It’s the truth of my life though. I have such limited spoons (spoon theory) most days that it’s in my best interest to save them where I can for things I would rather do, sometimes things that can add to my spoons. When you get to the point where you only have enough in the tank to shower or eat you get really good at getting the most done with the least spoons, like I demonstrate with this post explaining how I get more done with less energy.

No idea where I was going with that. So now I’ll say, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” came on and I’m jamming out. Jamming out sometimes makes me not notice that my feet feel cold, which I suddenly noticed after I lost my train of thought … WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE…. Oh, back to the post. Where was I? Oh I have no idea. I give up.

Oh, there it is. For anybody that is still reading. Did you follow that thought process? Or did you at least understand the non-linear thought?

If you didn’t read much and skipped to the end, this was a post that started off with one topic in mind and I let the thoughts flow to whatever I wanted to write about, instead of suffocating myself with what I think will be well received and understood. One thing I say about why I view myself as non-binary, since I understood what that is, is that I’m just me. I don’t look at myself as male or female or any other thing. I’M JUST ME!!!!!!

Picture of my cat Jazzy as a thank you for reading this. If anything resonated with you or if you have any questions I would love to hear what you have to say.

Why I Track My Food and Use Portions

2022-03-12T19:35:00.001-05:00

If you are new here, thank you for being here. Warning, my thoughts are not linear. I wrote things as I thought of them when I thought they were relevant. Also, this is me, this is how my mind works. The main focus here is why I track my food shit and what stuff I use that is cheaper, has good reviews and I have tried and liked. If it says affiliate link after it that means that if you click on that and buy something I’ll make a small amount off of it.

Now to the post at hand, after a picture of my cat Jasmine.

Since doing chemo in 2020 a lot of food has become undesirable to me. This resulted in me eating almost only Cheerios. There are other cereals I like, however I like less sugary ones and this is a better price than some for the weight you get. Anyway, most days I only eat cereal. Once I started to get frozen meals delivered to me through CSO I finally started getting some real food. It wasn’t much though.

One day I found out that high cholesterol runs in my family. So I mentioned this to my PCP, who then ordered a blood test and my blood test came back high. She referred me to a nutritionist. Then when I got tired of waiting for my appointment I searched for an app to use to help me in some way. I found Cronometer and I’ve liked it from the start. I like it so much that I thought about getting the premium level to support the company. However, I’m still putting my money towards other things and the free versions does everything that I know of that I want.

Results were that I was greatly lacking in calories consumed. So I started adding smoothies like this lactose and gluten free pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie so I could get healthy nutrients. I also started using this digital kitchen scale (affiliate link) to measure my serving sizes the rare time I made something (like mac & cheese tbh). That way I could truly know if I was getting enough calories.

Now I mostly use the scale for when I’m snacking on baby carrots or grapes or such. It was such a change only giving myself a certain amount that I weighed first. I WAS soooooo used to bringing a whole container of something out with me and just munching away. I feel much healthier now that I eat a reasonable, healthy amount of something. I know I can always go back and have more if I don’t truly feel satisfied. I always thought my sister was nuts and had so much patience and energy weighing her foods. Now, for me I have more energy because I weigh my food or portion it in these freezer and microwave safe containers (affiliate link) because I’m getting enough calories and less bad shit in my diet.

Now I almost never make prepared stuff because I realized how much sodium I was consuming. I really wanted to start feeling better so I dove deeper into the Ninja Foodi pressure cooker (affiliate link) world, after having had it for about a year. I checked out some Ninja Foodi Kindle cookbooks (affiliate link). I picked out recipes that looked easier and cheap enough for me to make. Check out the easy ninja foodi recipes I’ve made and liked enough to tweak share. Instead of putting my leftovers in the fridge as one batch, I split them up into containers. Saves me from weighing them and know I’m getting equal portions that aren’t too big or too small.

Then later it was suggested during my intuitive counseling session from Two Bear Healing Arts, that I have food intolerances. So I gave eliminating some stuff a try and realized that the discomfort in my belly wasn’t normal and was because I have a gluten intolerance. My belly feels amazing now, at least for me. I had a breast reduction Feb 11, 2022. I used to almost always be able to see my stomach past my boobs, even with a shirt on (center area then is filled in with the shirt). Now, like 3 cup sizes smaller, I usually can’t see my stomach when standing straight.

Back to the tracking food topic. Since I started getting enough healthy calories in I’ve felt so much better and I’ve slowly been losing weight. I saw under 200 pounds for the first time since my 1st brain surgery in 2018. Which is huge because my weight has never been easy to drop by controlling my diet - even when I went to Women’s National Golden Gloves when I was 17. I was supposed to shed just like 3 pounds with a good bit of warning and despite eating better (for me at least) I was in sweats and working out in Georgia in the summer to try to shed that last .3 pounds I believe it was. So yea, me losing weight from my diet it huge.

Back to weight topic. This change in weight is also amazing because I’ve only done a little more activity with the No BS Active program. I don’t do that near enough though. Have to be careful not to overdo it with my mind or body, as I’m disabled and literally have a damaged brain.

If you’ve read all of this, or even just some and then this last part, I would love to hear if any of this makes sense or resonates with you or if you have an questions.

Easy Make Ahead Frozen Fruit Parfait

2022-03-09T19:09:00.007-05:00

Starting off by saying I know how dirty my “counter” looks, that’s part of my kitchen counter hack to save energy and contain messes.

When you have limited energy and strength, getting calories and nutrition in your diet can be difficult. At least that’s what I discovered when I started tracking my nutrients and calories with the Cronometer app. These easy gluten free fruit parfaits are a way I make sure I get healthy calories in most days.

I was making smoothies like this lactose and gluten free smoothie. Then I decided to start making parfaits and then realized that they are slightly cheaper to make than my smoothies are. Then I got quickly got sick of cutting strawberries and having them and blueberries go bad and trying to wash all the crap. I wondered if frozen fruit could be used and the answer was/is yes!

I make mine 4-6 at a time because I eat 1-2 a day and I saw they last 3 days in the fridge. I haven’t had any last longer than that, so as of this post, I can’t speak to if longer is still good. I use this 36 count container set (affiliate link) to store mine in.

Wondering what’s on top? They are Better Body Foods chia seeds (affiliate link), which I use in smoothies because they are jammed packed full of healthy goodness. Since I’m rarely having smoothies I still want them in my diet, so I put them in these.

If you add them I suggest not putting them in first or dumping them in. Rather sprinkle them to cover more area and even better do that after the fruit layer so it has a little more area to spread out over and is easier to get spread around when stir it. A spoonful of chia seeds is far from the worst thing I’ve had and still it’s not preferable for me.

So alas here’s how to make an easy gluten free frozen fruit parfait. Plop all of the ingredients, except the granola in a container. Mix or don’t mix, it doesn’t matter. When you are ready to eat it add the granola. If you want to use a measuring cup instead of a spoon, do half of a quarter cup for the same amount. Again, stir or not, it’s up to you. I personally like to stir because I like the color it turns into it and I like the granola spread over more bites. The following amounts are per container

1/4 c frozen blueberries
1/4 c frozen strawberry slices
3/4 c vanilla yogurt, I use the light kind from Walmart
2 tbsp Udi’s Gluten Free Au Naturel Granola (affiliate link)
1/2 a scoop of Better Body Foods chia seeds (affiliate link) - optional and I think worthwhile because they aren’t a bad price for what you get from them.

First I measure out the fruit and then I add the yogurt. The yogurt gets a little color to it and I would rather have that than yogurt on my strawberries freezing and getting on other berries. When it’s time to eat one I add the granola and stir.

Nutrition Facts:

200 calories, 8.1 g protein, 26 net carbs, 5.2 g fat, 80 mg sodium. Idk what nutrients are normally put up. So please let me know if you want to know numbers for something else.

I wanted one within an hour of making them the day made this post. Had them in fridge and the fruit was barely frozen at that point.

If you try this and like it or have any suggestions on how to make it better I would love to hear them!

If you want other ideas on other things to eat, check out the other easy recipes I’ve shared. Now it’s time to check on the recipe I just made and accidentally let naturally release for over 15 minutes because I was writing this post. Oops! Hopefully it’s not ruined! Edit - it was not ruined & was quite tasty. Not sure when I’ll post that gluten free recipe, will at some point. How’s that for not committal?

How my mind works - info and a ramble

2022-02-19T21:26:00.005-05:00

The following is an accumulation of thoughts that started as a change I wanted to make to a recipe. It started with me writing on paper. I was listening to a hockey game on my tablet and got a thought about tweak I wanted to make to a recipe.

I have no idea the order all this happened in. Just know I started by writing on paper, sent a text of a screenshot, posted to my profile, did a c&p of text from that to a fb group and added thoughts to it, wrote what I wanted to say in blog post (in picture), texted it and posted it to my blog fb page. Then I said it was too good not to do a blog post with a picture of a written on page. This is how my brain works. I have ADHD, among other issues. I honor it and don’t try to change it.

So here ya finally go! The blog’s fb post with a picture when a caption in regards to something I wrote.

My way of getting more done with less pain

2022-02-13T21:14:00.006-05:00

Sometimes I just don’t have the spoons (spoon theory) to complete a task in one shot. Who am I kidding I almost never have the spoons for that and if I have enough of them I’m often lacking in attention span or desire to do something.

Background: I have confirmed ADHD, brain cancer, bad fibromyalgia and all signs point to being a high functioning autistic person. So yea, it can really make getting things done difficult.

So, I’ve recently noticed that when I just don’t want to do something I’ll say out loud “Not today satan” and walk away from that area and go do something else more palatable to me.

Anyway, I have a way that works perfectly to cause me less physical pain and get more done in a “dream sitting.” I frequently go at something with the intention to only do small portions of a task at that moment. In order to not cause too much pain and so it’s less daunting of a task.

Then a bird will fly to another spot and remind me of another thing I want/need to work on so I’ll do some of that. And so and so forth until I’ve had enough had enough of THAT SH!T, thank you very much!

In this process I’ve done more than than intended to. How do I feel then? Proud of myself for getting more, for me, done and happy that what it takes to finish each task is now less.

There will be times where I don’t lose interest and the pain isn’t too bad yet so I’ll keep going and sometimes even finish the task I didn’t set out to finish. Which you know what happens then? I feel proud celebrate the victory of what I was able to accomplish at that time.

How do I feel when I only do the small amount of one task that I set out to do? I still feel proud because I DID SOMETHING!!!!

If I go out with intention of getting a task done start to finish I frequently can’t finish or it’s not in my best interest to finish.

How do I feel when that happens? Disappointed because didn’t do as much as I wanted to. You know what else happens? I become overwhelmed at how much needs to be accomplished because not only did I do less than I wanted, I set myself back physically and don’t do any of the other stuff that that friendly bird was trying to remind me of.

What else happens? I become overwhelmed by all the stuff that then needs done and if I don’t fight it by doing little bits, it gets worse & worse.

Pressure Cooker Creamy Chicken Carbonara

2022-01-24T12:12:00.004-05:00

This pressure cooker creamy chicken carbonara recipe is really easy to make AND really yummy! I used my 8 quart Ninja Foodi (affiliate link). You can use any pressure cooker though.

The hardest part is cutting up the chicken and dicing the onion. However if you have a food processor (affiliate link) you can use that for the onion, making it even easier!

Ingredients:

- 5-6 strips bacon, chopped

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 1.5 lbs chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

- 6 garlic cloves (I used jarred minced garlic to make it easier)

- 2 c chicken stock

- 8 oz spaghetti, broken in half

- 2 c shredded Parmesan cheese - you can use grated (powdered) however shredded it soooooo much yummier

- 2 eggs

- sea salt (optional)

- black pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat foodi on sear/saute for 5 minutes.

2. Add bacon and cook, stirring frequently for about 6 minutes, until it’s crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate with a paper towel on it.

3. Add onion, chicken and garlic to pot and saute for about 2 minutes, until the onions are a bit translucent and the garlic smells yummy.

4. Add chicken stock an spaghetti noodles. Don’t just toss the pasta in there, spread it around like it’s that game pick up sticks.

5. Pressure cook on high for 6 minutes, being sure to set the knob to seal. Let natural release for 5 minutes and then move to vent to quick release.

6. Add the cheese and stir it in. Close crisping lid, with the unit off to keep the heat inside and allow the cheese to melt.

7. Whisk the eggs until fully beaten.

8. Open lid and turn on Sear/saute on Low. Don’t forget to push start/stop to begin.

9. Add the eggs and stir gently, being careful not to scramble the eggs. This is why it’s on low, rather than the normal high setting. If it gets too warm, turn the unit off.

10. Once you have your desired sauce consistency add the bacon back to the pot and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

11. Top with some more cheese if you would like. I did and mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

Want to see more easy stuff to cook? Check out the other easy recipes I’ve shared.

Lactose and Gluten Free Pineapple, Banana and Coconut Smoothie

2022-01-20T15:26:00.013-05:00

While I don’t think this is as good as the strawberry banana smoothie I make and still I think it’s really good, being dairy free making it even better. I love dairy, still I’m in the beginning stages of trying to cut it out to see if I have an intolerance to it. So today I decided to try out this dairy and gluten free pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie with chia seeds (affiliate link). I started adding chia seeds to my smoothies a couple months ago because of the great health benefits.

Use a full sized blender for this because it makes apx 40 oz. I make each serving about 10 ounces. I drink 1 serving and put the rest in 2 16 ounce ball jars (affiliate link). Then I put one in the fridge and the other in the freezer. Hmmmm like 2 months I just realized the numbers don’t work. Will fix it when i make this again.

Ingredients:

- 500 ml (16.9 oz) carton of coconut water (affiliate link)

- 1 tbsp (scoop) chia seeds (can be omitted)

- 2 c frozen pineapple chunks

- 2 c frozen sliced bananas

- 1 tbsp coconut oil (unrefined is best for you)

Directions:

1. Melt coconut oil on low. Heat just until melted, not until boiling.

2. While coconut oil is melting, blend everything, except the coconut oil in a full sized blender, using the smoothie setting.

3. When coconut oil is melted, add it to the blender (through the small hole in the lid, don’t take the lid off, while the blender is running (this prevents the coconut oil from solidifying again). Run the blender for about 2 minutes. Less time might work and I just prefer to make sure it’s all nice and blended.

If you use the chia seeds, I suggest putting them in the bottom. Also, put the banana and pineapple in the blender before adding the coconut water, as it will blend better.

You can also make popsicles with this smoothie mix. I use these silicone popsicle moulds and love them! Now that you made it through this post, hope you will check out the other easy recipes I’ve posted.

My Process Before and After Breast Reduction

2022-01-18T14:59:00.003-05:00

Picture of me now, 2-3 cup sizes smaller. I know they are still big to some, for me though they are nice and small! And yes, I do have a lot of movies lol. 1 year ago I had even more and decided to sell a chun of them.

I’ve been having chronic, widespread pain since shortly after my first brain surgery, most noticeably in my back and neck. Plus I’ve just been tired of having them. So last year I started the process to have a reduction, hoping it would help with my chronic pain.

I could have had it sooner, however I kept thinking about if I wanted to risk having it when Covid was worse. By the time I decided I was ok with getting it when the pandemic was worse it started to get better. Then it took a handful of months to finally be approved by my insurance and then even more time until the day came, after scheduling it.

Of course by the time it happened Covid was getting worse. They wanted to keep me overnight because of my starting health. Then they changed it to outpatient so it wouldn’t be canceled for being inpatient. It was so nerve wracking leading up the the day, waiting to find out if Covid or weather would end up canceling it. It would have been horrible if it was canceled because my insurance changes March 1st, so I would have had to go through the process of being denied and fighting to get it approved again.

After the pain, the first thing I noticed was how light my chest felt! It’s an amazing feeling! I will say, the pain from breast surgery and the physical healing process is actually worse than brain surgery, which I’ve had twice. The doctor sure wasn’t kidding about it being a major surgery. Of course with the breast reduction there is no long term side effects/complications of the brain like with brain surgery.

In case you actually read this far and you’re interested, here’s a picture of my girls from about 3 years ago.

Quality of Friends, Over Quantity of Friends - a Ramble

2022-01-05T20:56:00.002-05:00

Got curious how many friends I have on here that have been here for me the whole time since my FedEx days and still interact with sometimes.

The number is 25-30 people (not counting family), most of which I’ve never met, that have been better friends to me than as good as the best/longest of real life friends, or better than that. I didn’t hide my mental instability/unhappiness very often and not when I briefly killed myself. Yet those 25-30 never showed judgement towards me for my mental healthy or physical ailments. Those people have supported me. You are my true friends and family.

This is why I don’t care about the number of friends I have on FB. I truly want quality over quantity of so call friends.

If anybody found this ramble to be insightful for helpful or any other positive word, I would LOVE to hear it. If you have something negative to say, Please don’t share that, as publicly sharing these thoughts isn’t mentally easy for me as it is. I share this way just on the off chance it’s what somebody needs to read. I’m grateful when that’s happened to me as a reader.

Pressure Cooker Garlic Chicken and Bacon Pasta Recipe

2022-01-02T15:58:00.010-05:00

I use my Ninja Foodi (affiliate link) for this pressure cooker garlic chicken and bacon recipe. However you could use any pressure cooker, as long as it has the sear/saute function.

This recipe isn’t as easy as some of the other Foodi recipes I’ve posted and it’s still easy enough that I could make it! Also yeasy and yummy enough that I will be making it again.

Ingredients:

- 4 strips bacon, cut into apx 1 inch pieces

- 1 chicken breast (apx .5 lb) cut into bite size pieces - or use 1 lb and a bit more seasonings.

- 1 tsp dried basil or parsley

- 1/4 tsp sea salt (omit if using salted butter)

- 1 tbsp unsalted butter

- 2 tsp minced garlic (3-4 cloves)

- 1 c chicken broth

- 1.5 c water

- 8 oz pasta - I used rotini

- 1/2 c half and half

- 1/2 c Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for serving, if you want

Directions:

1. Preheat foodi on high on sauté and then cook bacon for about 5 minutes, until crispy, stirring frequently. Then use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel covered plate.

2. Season the chicken with the spices (mixed together).

3. Add butter, chicken and garlic to your pot and sauté for 2 minutes or so, until the chicken starts to brown and the garlic smells yummier.

4. Add chicken broth, water and pasta. Push pasta down and don’t stir.

5. Pressure cook on high (set to seal) for 3 minutes. Allow to naturally release for 2 mintues and then quick release.

6. Add half and half, cheese and bacon. Stir constantly to thicken the sauce and melt the cheese.

7. Serve. I mean if you want to eat it from the pot that’s fine too, just don’t burn yourself! Top with more Parmesan cheese if you would like.

8. Don’t fight your cat if they want to enjoy some too.

Want more easy food to make? Check out the other easy Foodi recipes I’ve posted.

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti & Meatballs Recipe

2022-01-01T15:40:00.004-05:00

I love having my Ninja Foodi (affiliate link) so I can make spaghetti and meatballs with the pressure cooker. It’s so easy to make and only one pot to clean up! If you don’t have a Ninja Foodi, you can make this in any pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

- 10-12 oz italian style frozen meatballs (use 1 lb if you like what feels like too many meatballs, at least to me)

- 8 oz spaghetti noodles broken in half

- 1 c water

- 1 can beef broth

- 1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce

- parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions:

1. Place meatballs in pressure cooker.

2. Top meatballs with spaghetti, spreading them out well.

3. Pour water and broth in pot.

4. Top with spaghetti sauce, do NOT stir

5. Pressure cook on high for 9 minutes and then do a quick release.

6. Open device and stir. You may need to let it sit for a bit so the sauce thickens up.

7. Top with parmesan cheese, if you want.

Want more easy food to make? Check out the other easy Foodi recipes I’ve posted.

Kitchen Counter Hack - make cleanup easier

2021-12-31T20:53:00.003-05:00

For most people cleaning up their kitchen counter is a breeze. However for me and likely other disabled people it can be a real chore! As I struggled to keep my counter somewhat decent I figured out a solution.

I have a stash of reusable bed pads (affiliate link) from when I was having bladder problems. So I decided to try one on my counter. It’s so nice! Not only does it keep wet spills from spreading across the entire counter, it collects dry stuff like coffee grounds and can get away with not cleaning it up right away. Just when it’s dirty enough pick it up carefully and shake it over the sink and then it goes in the wash. They do make bigger ones, which I used before keeping my Ninja Foodi (affiliate link) on my counter. Now these reusable bed pads (affiliate link) work the best for me.

If you give it a try or have any other suggestions, please let me know!

Shrimp Alfredo Recipe

2021-12-31T20:16:00.006-05:00

You may be thinking how is the sauce Alfredo sauce when it isn’t white. I know I did when my grandma first told me what it was called. Whatever you want to call it, it is super yummy and PERFECT for those with a spice sensitivity that in turn don’t like regular cocktail sauce.

I’ve been eating this style shrimp for a long time. My grandma had this recipe for so long that my dad had even had it and of course he LOVED it, because it’s AWESOME!

For the shrimp I just season with old bay and steam it in my Ninja Foodi (affiliate link) for about 5 minutes. You can do it with water, however it’s even better if you use half a can of flat beer. Can’t steam it? Boil it in water in a pot.

For the sauce, the quantity depends on how much shrimp you have and how much you love condiments with your stuff :) For 1 lb of shrimp I use 1/4 c butter, 1/4 c ketchup, 1 tablespoon or more Worcestershire sauce - I use probably 3 or 4 tablespoons because I really like it. Also, it should be butter because margarine doesn’t turn out as well.

So, cut the butter into half tbsp portions and put it in a big pan on medium heat or slightly less. Once the butter melts, add the ketchup. At this point you will need to constantly stir it. I prefer to use a silicone scraper to stir. Gently stir it constantly so the ketchup and butter mix well. Once it’s thickened to the point where when you slide the scraper through, add the Worcestershire sauce in. Once it’s thickened again then it’s done and you can put it in your serving containers.

If you give it a try I would love for you to come back and tell me what you think of it.

Want more easy food to make? Check out the other easy recipes I’ve posted.

Air Fryer Personal Pizza

2021-12-27T17:05:00.004-05:00

I am LOVING that I can make a personal pizza in my Ninja Foodi with the air fryer feature.

I’m sure it can be done just by placing it on the reversible rack that it comes from. I used the pizza pan from this set (affiliate link) on the reversible rack and used it as a sling (affiliate link) because I don’t have a sling quite yet. Now that I’ve made it twice and realized what i thought was a pizza pan was actually the bottom of one of those springy pans and the pizza pan is too small. So I’m going to try this Foodi deluxe bake kit (affiliate link) soon.

To make this air fryer personal pizza I used Naan roasted garlic bread. Then topped it with some pizza sauce then cheese, oregano and half a small can of sliced mushrooms. I don’t know why, I like it better with the oregano put on before the cheese.

Don’t forget to preheat your air fryer for 5 min at 390. Then air fry your pizza for 6 minutes and then nom nom nom.

Want more easy food to make? Check out the other easy Foodi recipes I’ve posted.

Excited for Food FINALLY!

2021-12-26T22:52:00.006-05:00

Since sometime around my 1st brain tumor I became lactose intolerant. Somehow since then, I’ve become lactose tolerant. I recently was curious, so I made one of my smoothies with normal yogurt. I didn’t have a bad reaction.

So when I got the milk with my food delivery (for being poor and disabled) I decided to keep my milk & try it, instead of giving it to a neighbor. Shockingly I still didn’t have any bad side effects. This means that I can make a whole bunch more food in my Ninja Foodi (affiliate link) since I can now use light/heavy cream and half and half.

I also got a mandolin and a dear friend got me a good food processor, in order to make it possible for me to try even more meals. Wondering why I would NEED those things to make cooking possible? I’m disabled from brain tumors/cancer/treatment and really bad fibromyalgia. So it’s critical to reserve as many spoons (energy) as possible.

It just makes me so bloody excited because I have been very limited on what I could eat the past few years, especially the past year since doing chemo treatment because the chemo made some foods become repulsive to me and even cause my belly to get queasy if I tried to eat them.

So yea, I’m now super excited to try new to me foods, since there are now a crazy amount more of options! Want to see what I’ve made? Check out the recipes I’ve posted here. Anything I post will be easy to SUPER easy to make because I just don’t have the spoons to make anything that requires much effort.

Air Fried Pickle Spears

2021-12-26T14:17:00.007-05:00

My favorite thing used to be fried pickle spears from Rutter’s, which they sadly no longer sell. I’ve had spears and chips and the chips have always been soft or even soggy. I haven’t found the perfect match for Rutter’s fried pickles and still, this recipe is pretty good. I love my 8 qt Ninja Foodi (affiliate link). Any decent size air fryer would work. Just remember, the smaller the diameter, the less you can fit per layer.

Ingredients

- 1/2 c flour

- 1 c panko bread crumps

- 1 jar kosher dill pickle spears - more or less if you like. I only made 3 spears because that’s what I had

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1/4 tsp black pepper - I used 1/2 teaspoon and it was way too much for me. Saying that, I’m super sensitive to spices, even Tombstone pizza is too spicy for me.

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for at least 5 minutes.

2. In one bowl mix flour and all seasonings.

3. In another bowl beat egg.

4. In a 3rd bowl place bread cumbs.

5. With one hand roll a spear in the flour mixture, followed by the egg. Then coat spear with bread crumbs, using other hand to press the bread crumbs down.

6. Place spears in/on air fryer basket/rack - using an extra rack if you are making more than like 4 because you don’t want them to touch.

7. Air fry for 8 minutes or so.

Be sure to let them cool for a bit, before biting into a spear because they get crazy hot and stay hot for longer than I ever expected. I’ll update this post if I can make them more like Rutter’s fried pickles.

Want to see more easy food to make? Check out the other easy Ninja Foodi recipes I’ve posted.

Ramble about bed & vacuum/hack

2021-12-03T21:46:00.003-05:00

I keep trying to find ways to make my life easier. I have a cheap robot vacuum which I love. However it’s not no effort for my bedroom because I have a heated mattress pad (affiliate link) an adjustable bed so 3 cords that my vacuum likes to get stuck on. It was annoying enough with just the adjustable bed and when got the mattress pad I wasn’t feeling it for the robot vacuum anymore.

I already have a Shark cordless stick vacuum - that I bought for like $5 from the flea market a handful of years ago. I tested it and the stick vacuum fits under my bed and I can easily vacuum under the whole bed. Which is fantastic because I have a cat that chills under there sometimes.

I have the heated mattress pad (affiliate link) because I’m in a fb group for people with fibro and it was recommended more than a heated blanket. Depending on how I’m laying I can feel the small wires. Moving just a tiny bit makes it so can’t feel them. I can’t stand being hot when I sleep so I wasn’t sure about the heated pad and I love it and I didn’t even have to turn down the temp in my bedroom. It seems to help with my chronic pain. Of course it doesn’t make it go away, and at least it has decreased the pain, especially when I’m trying to fall asleep.

Christmas Tree Star Topper

2019-11-03T11:16:00.000-05:00

If you are in need of a Christmas tree topper this Christmas tree star topper is the best one I found for the best price. As of when I wrote this it was just $6.99. I personally ordered it & really like it!

If you want, check out the other products that I recommend.

~ Post contains affiliate links. ~

Cup Holder for Wheelchairs and more

2019-10-24T21:57:00.003-04:00

If you have a wheelchair, rollator, stroller or more this cupholder could be perfect for you. Know it's perfect for me! I tried another one & it wasn't good at all. At the time of writing this 1 cupholder is $6.99 or you can get 2 for $9.99.

If you want, check out the other products that I recommend.

~ Post contains affiliate links. ~

Multimedia Shelving Unit I Recommend ~ Perfect for DVDs

2019-10-03T18:44:00.000-04:00

I have a huge movie collection (over 1700 movies) and this multimedia shelving unit is what I use and love.

Of course all of my movies don't fit on one unit, they are on 4, plus 2 others of a different style. The awesome thing is that you can stack these on top of each other, as long as your ceiling is tall enough.

With dvds/blu-rays you will end up with an extra 2 shelves per unit.Of course if you use it for other things you may end up using all of the shelves.

I did a lot of searching to find the best bang for my buck when I got the first unit. Then when I got the second unit I investigated again and this multimedia shelving unit was still the best of the lot. It takes a little bit of time to put together, not much though and it's simple to follow the directions - even for my brain tumor/surgery damaged brain.

The list price of this multimedia shelving unit is $59.99. However as far as I can recall, every time I checked on the price it was priced cheaper. Plus with or without prime it ships free!

If you want, check out the other products that I recommend.

~ Post contains affiliate links. ~

Discovering My Brain Tumor

2019-10-03T18:14:00.001-04:00

Know I usually type out my videos in case people don't want to watch the video. However I'm just not feeling that motivated. So here's just the video talking about how I discovered my brain tumor.