CLOSING OUT JUNE

Although June wasn't a busy as April and May, this month just seemed to fly by.  Joe had five doctor appointments this month.  That took a lot of time.  Especially driving in rush hour traffic.

The beginning of the month I got my hair cut rather shorter than usual for me.  At first I didn't like it but as it has grown out some it looks much better.  And it is cool for the hot weather we've been having.  Still, I don't think I will get it that short again.

We had a Men's Breakfast at church and I baked two loaves of Lemon Blueberry Bread for it.  I'm becoming an expert at making this bread.

I'm doing a lot of knitting.  I'm almost finished a summer top and about 1/3 of the way through a baby blanket.

Speaking of knitting, here is my temperature afghan.  I haven't put on today's row yet, but it will be a bright red.  The pink is 80*-89*F. (26*-31*C.) and the red is 90*-99*F. (32*-37*C.).   You can tell that we have had hot weather.  Just a little bit of 70*F. and 60*F. weather at the beginning of the month.

And here's the whole thing.  It's really interesting how it's turning out.  The only problem now is that it's so heavy and warm to be knitting on in the summer.

My Breathtaking Views calendar for June is...well...breathtaking.

 This is the Great Salt Lake Marina in Utah.

I haven't been as faithful taking sunset pictures as in previous months, but here is my June @ 9 p.m.

 June 8

 June 8

 June 8

Storm clouds gathering

 June 16

From the parking lot of Shop Rite

 June 24

From the Emergency Room parking lot of Aria Hospital.  Oh, that's another story for another day.

 June 25

 June 25

And that will do it for now.  Joe is filling the pulpit this Sunday, so I have to go type up his sermon.  I'll see you tomorrow -- in July!

Kathy

THANK YOU FLOWERS

Are you enjoying the summer as much as I am?  The weather has been wondrous.  It's warm but not hot and the humidity is low.  It's so nice outside.  But all of that is about to change in a few days.  Still, I'll take it while it's here.

On the Sunday after the Men's Breakfast we had a surprise at church.  One of the men in the church had bought flowers for the three of us who had worked on getting the breakfast together.  Dorothea the wonderful cook was one.  Carolyn, who helped wherever she was needed was another.  And I was the third.  We were all so surprised.

It was such a thoughtful thing for him to do.

I brought it home and put it on my coffee table.

They lasted most of the week but the hot weather really got to them and I don't think they did as well as they would have if it had been cooler.

It was totally appreciated.  (I love flowers!)

Kathy

MEN'S BREAKFAST

The Saturday before Father's Day was the Men's Breakfast at church.  Last year was the first annual and 6 men showed up.  This year there were 14 men present.  Such a good time they had (according to Joe).  I took a few pictures before leaving them to their meal.

 Dorothea made a delicious fruit salad.  She also made the breakfast -- eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, french toast, rice pudding.  She is a wonder.

 I made two loaves of lemon blueberry bread.  You can see some all sliced up in the background on the table.

I also took a short video of the men singing just before I left.

I am so glad this has become an annual thing.  Hopefully it will go on for a long time to come.

Kathy

MEAL OF THE WEEK -- OPEN-FACED FLOUNDER SANDWICH

Here's my second meal of the week for you.

OPEN-FACED FLOUNDER SANDWICH
Servings:  2
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  8 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into thin ribbons
1 tbs. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. light mayonnaise
1 tsp. chili sauce
2 (4-oz.) flounder fillets
2 tbs. flour
1 tbs. olive oil
2 thick slices sourdough bread, toasted
1 cup shredded lettuce

1.  In a medium bowl combine cucumber, vinegar, sugar, and pepper to tate, set aside.  In a small bowl combine mayonnaise and chili sauce, set aside.

2.  Season fillets with pepper to taste.  Coat fillets with flour, turning to coat.  Shake off excess.  In a large nonstick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.  Cook fillets 4 to 6 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

3.  For each sandwich, spread mayonnaise mixture onto toasted bread slice. Top with lettuce, and add fillet.  Top with marinated cucumber ribbons, and serve.

Make it a meal:  Serve with baked sweet potato fries and coleslaw.

I didn't have any sweet potatoes so I made steak fries.  It turned out so good!  Joe told me he'd like me to make it again next week.

 

Nutrition:  Calories 320, Total Fat 13g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 80mg, Sodium 630mg, Total Carbohydrate 31g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 6g, Protein 17g.

GOING TO DINNER

I hope all the fathers out there had a wonderful Father's Day.  I miss my dad so much.  But I know he now no longer has cancer and is not in pain so I could never wish him back.  Someday I will see him again.

Last week Joe had two doctor appointments at the V.A. Hospital.  The first one was at 2:00 p.m. but because of traffic I didn't get him there until 2:10.  So the doctor took the 2:30 appointment first.  Joe didn't get into the office until 2:51.  His next appointment was at 3:15.  At 3:20 p.m. we were still sitting in the office.  So I went three floors up and across the building to his next appointment to tell them what was going on.  They were not happy.  But...  the second doctor waited for Joe and he was able to get his appointment.

After all of that we were hungry.  Neither of us had eaten lunch.  So we ended up going to East Coast Wings.  Khris, our favorite waiter, was assigned to us.  What a pleasure.  He is really good.  We always give him a large tip and he always treats us like royalty.  Of course now that we know him somewhat we joke around with him too.

Joe insisted on getting pub pretzels for an appetizer.  I didn't mind.  They are so very good!

I had a mango iced tea.  I had been there on Sunday (this was Thursday) with some friends from church and the mango iced tea was incredible.  This was so-so.  I wished I had ordered the lemonade.
 

Joe was very hungry.  He got spare ribs.

I had boneless wings with honey garlic sauce and homemade potato chips.  The wings were on sale for 65 cents each. 

I was wearing white and fortunately didn't get barbecue sauce all over me.

It was so nice having a date with my husband.  We need to do this more often.

Where's the last place you ate out?

 

Kathy

MEAL OF THE WEEK -- TURKEY TACO BURGER

I am so enjoying the Shop Rite meal of the week.  I thought I would start sharing them with you since these are really good recipes.  Let me warn you that not all of them are easy, but they are all good.  There was only one I did not like and I threw that card away.  Here is the one I did last week.

TURKEY TACO BURGER
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
1 tbsp. low-sodium Mexican taco seasoning
2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large ripe tomato thinly sliced
4 cups mixed greens
Fresh pico de gallo salsa (optional)

1.  In a large bowl combine ground turkey, taco seasoning and cilantro; mix well.  Form mixture into 4 patties.

2.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add turkey patties; cook 5 to 6 minutes per side or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165*F.
 

Top each turkey burger with avocado tomato and mixed greens.  If desired, spoon with pico de gallo before serving.

Make it a meal:  Serve with black beans and grilled corn on the cob.

Per serving:  200 calories, 10g fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 35mg cholesterol, 190mg sodium, 7g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 1g total sugar, 0g added sugars, 22g protein

I did not use cilantro because I am allergic to it.  (Found that out the hard way.)  And the salsa was a bit hot for me, but still good.  I liked the burgers a lot!  I think next time I will make the burgers as burgers with a bun and put the toppings on it that way.  But this is a keeper and I will make it again.

Kathy
 

A LAZY DAY

Did you remember to fly your flag?  I almost forgot but Joe remembered.  It got up late, but it got up.

I think the heat has finally gotten to me.  It was such a lazy day.  What do you do on a lazy day?  Here's what I did.

I slept.
 

I watched TV.



I did jigsaw puzzles on the computer.

 

The only productive thing I did today was go to Bible study tonight.  I guess everyone deserves a lazy day now and then.  I just hope I'm more productive tomorrow.

Kathy