This morning I worked out to an old exercise video...and I do mean old, since it's a VHS tape. It's Jazzercise: The Best Yet! LIVE © 1985. Remember the 80s exercise fashion? Tights and leotards accessorized with color-coordinated leg warmers and a belt around the waist. I never understood the belt around a leotard. What purpose does that serve? It's not like you need to hold up your britches!
I have more than thirty exercise videos, not counting the exercise albums and cassette tapes! Yet, this particular exercise video is one of my favorites. I have so much fun when I work out to this one, but I don't use it very often... I save it for days when I just can't seem to think of what exercise I feel like doing... those days when I feel a lack of motivation to get moving. I consider all my other options first, and if none of those get me excited, then I pull Jazzercise: The Best Yet! LIVE out of my arsenal. For some reason, that tape works magic for me.
I just ate a delicious meal, and I cannot share the recipe... there isn't one. I call it "Last Bites Mulligan Stew."
First, let me provide my definition of Mulligan Stew: a combination of whatever is on hand, stirred into one dish. For scout campouts, my husband used to have his scout troop bring a can of whatever they wanted to throw in the soup pot. One never knew what would show up... mushroom soup, pork and beans, corn. Whatever they brought, it was put in the kettle and cooked together. It always tasted good, no matter how bizarre it seemed.
So...I have my own little version of Mulligan Stew...Last Bites Mulligan Stew. For me, and my personality, this works. You see, I was raised in a "clean your plate" atmosphere. "Don't let perfectly good food go to waste!" This is a major downfall for me trying to stop when no longer hungry at mealtimes. My "full" meter might go off when there are only 2 or 4 bites left. It's a real struggle at times to stop eating. After all... will a couple more bites make a difference? Too often, I give in to that reasoning and clean my plate. But when I remember that I can make a mulligan stew out of it, then I don't feel wasteful and I stop eating.
I keep a container in the freezer--the right size for a meal for me--and when I have a few bites of food left (not enough to have for another meal), I put it in the container in the freezer. It might be a couple bites of spaghetti one night, and a few bites of stir-fried rice another night, and a little bit of dilled chicken fricassee, a portion of toast torn into bits, etc. When the container is full, I take it out and defrost it, mix the layers all together, heat it completely through, and wool-ah...Last Bites Mulligan Stew.
I know it probably sounds absolutely disgusting to some people, but I have never had a bad Mulligan yet. Ever. Serious. I have, however, had Last Bites Mulligan Stew so delicious I wished I could duplicate it!
The downside: If I get full when eating the defrosted meal, and there's only a few bites left, I cannot re-freeze it (not safe to refreeze), so I am back to square one...toss it, or eat it?
♩It's like the song that never ends... ♬
I enjoy vinegar and olive oil on my salad, and that's what I mainly use, but now and then I get a hankering for blue cheese dressing. So, I've experimented with some recipes and recently made a cooked salad dressing that is real close to "Miracle Whip" and then used that homemade salad dressing in a recipe for Blue Cheese Dressing.
The "Miracle Whip" type dressing was a big hit with my husband. He misses having Miracle Whip since we switched to healthier, more natural foods. The ingredients on the Miracle Whip jar revealed corn syrup AND sugar, as well as chemicals or ingredients that we had no idea how to pronounce. By making my own, I know what's in there! He thought the homemade stuff tastes great and looks forward to trying it on sandwiches. He even said it tastes good enough to just have on a salad by itself.
But I continued my quest for Blue Cheese Dressing. Awhile back I tried a recipe for blue cheese dressing and it was "okay" but not great, a little on the bland side. The latest recipe I used (incorporating the homemade "Miracle Whip") turned out a bit more successful. We like it better than the previous attempt, but it's still not quite what we want.
Does anyone have a good recipe for Blue Cheese Dressing?
