The Swing of the Axe: Tanktimus Sticks to What Works

[Mr_Willes]

7 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Dinner was pedestrian,

 

Never heard of this, first thing i thought is you are having some form of roadkill dinner...

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

4 hours ago, iatetheyeti said:

 

Always a bonus, no matter who or what you're spending the day with!

 

Good to hear your eye exam went well and that you're keeping on top of the preventative care. I could really do with taking a leaf out of your book on that one...

 

Thanks. Preventative care is awesome, and so few people do it.

3 hours ago, Mr_Willes said:

 

Never heard of this, first thing i thought is you are having some form of roadkill dinner...

 

It's an erudite way of saying uninspiring.

[Scaly Freak]

13 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

My glasses are only a year old, but with the High Blood Pressure and pre-diabetes I'm all in on preventative care now, so I'll be getting an eye exam every year regardless of glasses status.

 

If you are like me, you are going to discover that living with high blood pressure is easier and less stressful when you can tell yourself honestly that you are doing everything you can and are supposed to do to manage it effectively.  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

8 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

If you are like me, you are going to discover that living with high blood pressure is easier and less stressful when you can tell yourself honestly that you are doing everything you can and are supposed to do to manage it effectively.  

Actually, you normalized it for me when I first got diagnosed and I haven't really been fussed over it since. I mention the BP with preventative care because it's relevant.

 

Today is a good day. I spent it with my daughter! We watched less TV (on purpose) but did finish the new Netflix version of She-Ra. I'm ready for season six. I'm old enough to have seen the original. I never really saw He-Man; it wasn't shown in my market, but She-Ra was and I enjoyed the show then and now. I hope they go to Eternia in season six and discover Castle GreySkull. I'm not worried about whether or not He-Man will be there. Lunch was good, the fish I didn't care for last night was far better today, and the flavors in the sauce melded together. In the afternoon I ACTUALLY DID THE KB WORKOUT! This is great because I haven't really been working out on Wed-Thu. I want this to become a habit. In more good news, I did two full rounds of the KB workout. 

 

Dinner was incredible. The side was a simple spinach salad with sliced apples (one fuji and one honeycrisp, the honeycrisp was particularly nice) and dried cranberries dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. Because salad doesn't work well as leftovers I took some of the spinach and wilted it with some extra butternut squash I had and that was the side for the leftovers.

 

The main dish was porkchops, which I cooked in a skillet with avocado oil, salt, and pepper. I kept it warm in a 200 degree oven while I cooked some chopped bacon in the same pan. That went into a bowl that had an 8 oz brick of cream cheese, a packet of ranch dressing mix, and a cup of shredded cheddar cheese, which I mixed and used to top the pork chops. It was incredible. I realized that the topping was basically the same ingredients as a Cheeseball, hence this dish will be known from this day forward as Cheeseball Pork Chops. Gonna pick up groceries later tonight.

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Actually, you normalized it for me when I first got diagnosed and I haven't really been fussed over it since. I mention the BP with preventative care because it's relevant.

 

Very glad I could help. And yes, it is, and important.  

 

The cheese ball pork chops sound incredible.

[Snarkyfishguts]

Cheeseball porkchops are going into the meal plan. My dad would love that.

[Snarkyfishguts]

13 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

ACTUALLY DID THE KB WORKOUT!

Yes!! You are a rock star!

[Elastigirl]

Woot for the kettlebell circuit!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

15 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Very glad I could help. And yes, it is, and important.  

 

The cheese ball pork chops sound incredible.

They were, and they were again today for lunch.

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Cheeseball porkchops are going into the meal plan. My dad would love that.

He for sure will.

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Yes!! You are a rock star!

Why thank you.

1 hour ago, Elastigirl said:

Woot for the kettlebell circuit!

For sure!

[deftona]

Yay Tank for doing the thing!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

3 hours ago, deftona said:

Yay Tank for doing the thing!

Aww, shucks. Thanks.

 

Today is a good day. I woke up about a half hour before my alarm with my head hurting, knowing I had a migraine brewing and neck pain. I took my migraine meds and some aleve, then tried to sleep. I did a little, but not much. I sat in a hot tub till it was time to get up, by which time all the meds had kicked in. I wasn't feeling good at that point, but the meds knocked the headache down to about 5% of it's power so I could function normally. The headache gradually went away throughout the morning, and I felt way better after lunch and a nap. Because of this, I did not cook lunch, but had the leftovers from yesterday. The Cheeseball Pork Chops were even better than yesterday. At work now and I feel fine. I did some minimal stretching between the nap and showering to get ready for work. The nice thing about counting the bare minimum is that I get WAY more days where I do a forward fold and frog pose than otherwise. I really feel the results of all that frog pose time when doing the goblet squats on the KB workout.

[deftona]

I'm really glad you managed to nip that migraine in the bud, it's horrible to hear how they make you suffer so much. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

22 hours ago, deftona said:

I'm really glad you managed to nip that migraine in the bud, it's horrible to hear how they make you suffer so much. 

Yeah, the bad ones are really bad. When they go away as easy as they did yesterday I'm very grateful.

 

Today is a good day. I got in my 3rd KB workout this week, something that hasn't happened in some time, and it was another 2 full rounds. I'm gonna stick with 2 rounds for a while before moving on to three. Got to hang with the family then I made lunch.

 

I started out by seasoning Beef Tenderloin steaks with Himalayan Pink Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper on Both sides. Meanwhile I cut some red potatoes in half and put them on a baking sheet with some frozen green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, shredded white cheddar, white wine vinegar, and some fresh thyme. It went into a 450 degree oven for quite a while, and the potatoes still weren't as cooked as I'd like, but they were good. Meanwhile I melted butter in my big cast iron skillet and cooked some mushrooms for 5 minutes, dressing them with salt and pepper once they were set aside. In that same skillet I cooked the steaks, flipping them then finishing the ones for the ladies in the oven while mine rested. After taking the skillet back out of the oven I turned the heat to low on the stove and melted more butter, putting a sprig of thyme in it, basting the steaks (including mine). I topped mine with mushrooms. It was heaven on a plate.

[Snarkyfishguts]

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Yeah, the bad ones are really bad. When they go away as easy as they did yesterday I'm very grateful.

 

Today is a good day. I got in my 3rd KB workout this week, something that hasn't happened in some time, and it was another 2 full rounds. I'm gonna stick with 2 rounds for a while before moving on to three. Got to hang with the family then I made lunch.

 

I started out by seasoning Beef Tenderloin steaks with Himalayan Pink Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper on Both sides. Meanwhile I cut some red potatoes in half and put them on a baking sheet with some frozen green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, shredded white cheddar, white wine vinegar, and some fresh thyme. It went into a 450 degree oven for quite a while, and the potatoes still weren't as cooked as I'd like, but they were good. Meanwhile I melted butter in my big cast iron skillet and cooked some mushrooms for 5 minutes, dressing them with salt and pepper once they were set aside. In that same skillet I cooked the steaks, flipping them then finishing the ones for the ladies in the oven while mine rested. After taking the skillet back out of the oven I turned the heat to low on the stove and melted more butter, putting a sprig of thyme in it, basting the steaks (including mine). I topped mine with mushrooms. It was heaven on a plate.

I love mushrooms and beef together. this sounds really delicious. 

 

Yay for another good day!

[Silkie]

Good on you for pushing through with the workouts and the yoga! *applause* 

[Xena]

Glad you were able to deal with the migrane, and I agree with you about the minimal workout...it's a great approach!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

23 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

I love mushrooms and beef together. this sounds really delicious. 

 

Yay for another good day!

It was amazing.

6 hours ago, Silkie said:

Good on you for pushing through with the workouts and the yoga! *applause* 

Thank you.

3 hours ago, Xena said:

Glad you were able to deal with the migrane, and I agree with you about the minimal workout...it's a great approach!

I stretched after my workout yesterday and was able to get deeper into frog pose with everything warmed up.

 

Today is a good day. Went to church again, which was again helpful and refreshing. We got lunch on the way home, then after we ate took Little Bit into the backyard so she could get properly dirty before her bath, which went well. Dinner was good again. 

 

I took some rainbow baby carrots [a package of carrots with more than one color of carrot, it would have been cool if each individual carrot was multicolored] and seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil and white wine vinegar. I put them in a 435 degree oven (the recipe called for 425 but I've learned to bump up the temp on my oven) for 25 minutes. 

 

I put salmon on a greased baking sheet and seasoned it with sea salt, then lime juice, then garlic powder, then dried parsley, then panko bread crumbs, then cashews I pulverized in my Magic Bullet. I pressed all that down. I put that into the oven ten minutes into the cook time of the carrots.

 

The meal plan called for wilting fresh spinach on the pan when the carrots come out. That sounded lame, so I bought frozen chopped spinach instead (in a bag and loose, not in the brick). I melted some butter in my cast iron pan I had just reseasoned and threw in the spinach, with some milk, some of the powdered cashews I didn't need for the salmon, and some white cheddar. I stirred as it cooked. It came out amazing, it was the highlight of the meal, even better than the salmon and the carrots.

 

When the salmon was done I turned on the broiler and put the salmon directly under it on the top rack for a few mintues to brown the crust.

 

When I was cleaning up the cast iron everything came off beautifully. It's really got a good non-stick seasoning going right now. 

[spezzy]

23 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

It was amazing.

Thank you.

I stretched after my workout yesterday and was able to get deeper into frog pose with everything warmed up.

 

Today is a good day. Went to church again, which was again helpful and refreshing. We got lunch on the way home, then after we ate took Little Bit into the backyard so she could get properly dirty before her bath, which went well. Dinner was good again. 

 

I took some rainbow baby carrots [a package of carrots with more than one color of carrot, it would have been cool if each individual carrot was multicolored] and seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil and white wine vinegar. I put them in a 435 degree oven (the recipe called for 425 but I've learned to bump up the temp on my oven) for 25 minutes. 

 

I put salmon on a greased baking sheet and seasoned it with sea salt, then lime juice, then garlic powder, then dried parsley, then panko bread crumbs, then cashews I pulverized in my Magic Bullet. I pressed all that down. I put that into the oven ten minutes into the cook time of the carrots.

 

The meal plan called for wilting fresh spinach on the pan when the carrots come out. That sounded lame, so I bought frozen chopped spinach instead (in a bag and loose, not in the brick). I melted some butter in my cast iron pan I had just reseasoned and threw in the spinach, with some milk, some of the powdered cashews I didn't need for the salmon, and some white cheddar. I stirred as it cooked. It came out amazing, it was the highlight of the meal, even better than the salmon and the carrots.

 

When the salmon was done I turned on the broiler and put the salmon directly under it on the top rack for a few mintues to brown the crust.

 

When I was cleaning up the cast iron everything came off beautifully. It's really got a good non-stick seasoning going right now. 

 

I just got rainbow matchstick carrots to try i my rice! Super excited to try them

 

Also your cooking posts always make me hungry!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

8 minutes ago, spezzy said:

 

I just got rainbow matchstick carrots to try i my rice! Super excited to try them

 

Also your cooking posts always make me hungry!

It's a good idea to eat before checking my thread.

 

Today is a good day. We didn't get a lot of sleep last night (Sra. Tanque having to lesson plan and the baby getting up early meant she got less sleep than I did, and I'm exhausted). I did manage to do some stretching before work. I normally don't want to cook on Mondays after getting home from work and today was no exception. However, I planned around that! Last night I prepped something in my instant pot and used the slow cooker function with delay timer.

 

Last night I combined two cans of coconut milk and one can of pumpkin Puree in the cooking portion of the instant pot. I then added a BUNCH of Garam Masala (two heaping, and I mean the pile was higher than the spoon was deep heaping, tablespoons) and some allspice. I stirred that and mixed it up. I then added a diced onion and some cubed butternut squash (about 4 cups worth) and three pounds of chopped chicken thighs ( @spezzy they were the good ones from HEB) and stirred it all up. I put some plastic wrap on it and stuck it in the fridge. This morning I put it in the pot at 6:15 and set the delay to three hours, and had it cook for 8 hours). It was amazing, though the onion wasn't cooked the way I liked. I think next time I'm gonna pre-cook the onion or something. I served it over some rice. It was nice to come home and have a cooked meal.

[Xena]

23 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

it would have been cool if each individual carrot was multicolored

 

There is a type that's purple on the outside and orange on the inside. But I don't think that would work for baby carrots.

[fearless 2.0]

*makes note to save for a slow cooker*

well done Tank!

[Terah]

On 9/28/2020 at 3:15 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

after we ate took Little Bit into the backyard so she could get properly dirty before her bath, which went well.

That sounds like the cutest thing ever

My boys just get dirty whether they're going to have a bath or not  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

11 hours ago, Xena said:

 

There is a type that's purple on the outside and orange on the inside. But I don't think that would work for baby carrots.

You could get the multi colored effect with slices, but not matchsticks. I supposed based on how you carved them into baby carrots (which are just regular carrots carved up) you could see the colors.

9 hours ago, fearless 2.0 said:

*makes note to save for a slow cooker*

well done Tank!

A worthy investment.

1 hour ago, Terah said:

That sounds like the cutest thing ever

My boys just get dirty whether they're going to have a bath or not  

It's easier to let her go play in the dirt knowing she'd get a bath wether she got dirty or not.

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

You could get the multi colored effect with slices, but not matchsticks.

 

Sure you can. Case in point:

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

18 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Sure you can. Case in point:

 

I stand corrected. I was speaking about getting more than one color in a single matchstick, but the slices at the top disprove that. Thanks.