I've been sick for a couple days, haven't eaten much at all.

Yesterday my stomach started hurting, but I thought it was just because I ate too much. My son gave me a big bowl of grapenuts when I woke up and everything went downhill from there. I've done nothing today except wish it would stop. I had a smoothie and my coffee, then I had an avocado on saltines. And this evening I had a couple pieces of cold cuts and cheese just to make sure I ate something.

My stomach doesn't hurt as bad as it did, but it still ain't great. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow and I'll be able to eat real food again.

I have found that digestive enzymes like papaya enzyme chewables work on a stomach ache where things don’t appear to be moving. They work even after you’ve eaten something hours before. Most heath food stores carry them for under $10. They’re small pills that taste like papaya. For something stronger I use something I got as free samples called Bye Bye Bloat from Love Wellness in capsule form. It has some stronger natural enzymes in it and works pretty fast on stomach pain. There are a lot of companies coming out with debloat supplements which seems to be the craze but the chewables have sugar and taste gross. I’ve tried samples of a few others and they don’t really work. The one from LW can help balance the gut microflora if used regularly.

Pre and post biotics together in pill form can help with improving gut microflora for more persistent indigestion. They are expensive but only need to be taken for about a month. Natures Bounty has a very good one with about 20 different strains of pre and post biotics, and the measure is 15 billion I believe. It’s worth the few extra dollars. This combined with a ton of water or kombucha should have more lasting effects. If I’m not eating as well as I should it helps to reset my digestion. Not having enough digestive enzymes can be overlooked where people instead resort to antacids which may only fix the problem temporarily.

taco salad

Spanakopita
A slice of unleavened bread
Hot and sour soup
A pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade
2 bite size Easter edition pink twizzlers
(I won’t say where I got those)
(Let’s just say they were marked down by a dollar)

I bought some ham steaks yesterday on my Brookshire's job. I will be grilling these with some turkey sausage tonight. On the side, I got some broccoli crunch salad from Brookshire's as well. Never had grilled ham, but gotta try it once.

O'scugnizzo pizza
beer
vodka with lemonade

I am apparently done eating for the day.. the lights are off in the kitchen and all of the dogs have been fed.

Today, all day:
coffee
2 pieces of banana bread that my son made last night.
leftover wings from BWW last week,
a slice of apple pie he baked (frozen Marie Calendar's)

curry
rice
salad
iced coffee

There’s a stomach flu making the rounds. Had guests from out of town over the weekend, who became ill after arriving, thinking it was food poisoning from what they ate before they arrived.
We’ve got it, so it wasn’t food poisoning. It is miserable, but will pass in 2-3 days.
Papaya enzyme and others are great if you can stomach them.
Hope you feel better soon.

It's 23:20 and the lights are off in the kitchen again. So apparently my dinner was a little southwest salad kit and sliced cheddar cheese with a glass of blueberry lemonade.

salad on pizza
blueberry pilsner beer
large iced tea
sliced mango

MLZ, you don't prep food for yourself?

Big pot of Pasta e Fagioli, baked Italian bread rubbed with garlic ala Chez Mama, stuffed peppers, Bundtini cupcakes, Green tea.

@Madetoshop wrote:

MLZ, you don't prep food for yourself?

I would if I could find a single thing in my kitchen.. My son has taken over. The food isn't in the cabinets, the only thing I can find in the refrigerator is nut milks and bags of salad. The hunks of cheese and avocados vanish when they come in the door. So I quit. He cooks, or he moves out.

I had chunks of cheese go missing for a period of time. Turns out a mouse was getting into the desk drawers.

hummus, pita
baba ganoush
zucchini sticks
iced tea

hummus, pita
baba ganoush
zucchini sticks
iced tea

baba ga-WHAT?!? I’m headed to MTS’s house for some REAL food…

I just had the best soda of my lifetime - an Olipop Shirley Temple flavored soda on ice. Boy was that good. It’s supposed to be one of those healthy sodas but there’s definitely a good sugar flavor to it. It harkens me back to when I was a kid. Shirley Temples were my favorite drink. We had a bar in our walk out basement (very 60s) that we used when guests came over. I would sit at the bar drinking my Shirley Temple from a straw, thinking I was a mature VIP having a cocktail. I guess when I think about it - not much has changed.

Yuca potatoes, shrimp alfredo with fettuccine, roasted Brussels Sprouts. Sfogliatella created by Mom - so yummy, decaf organic Matcha tea (much prefer straight Matcha).

@MLZ, usurp!!

@MLZ: I would love to know more about your son's perspective. We have the disparate perspectives, too... recently, I was the baddie because I checked the bread for freshness. It had the most beautiful mold pattern I have ever seen on a sturdy loaf! Before that, cheese disappeared because hubby ate it-- and blamed me. He believes that ripe avocados will last forever; they don't. This never ends, but it is survivable...

@Minime wrote:

baba ga-WHAT?!? I’m headed to MTS’s house for some REAL food…

I just had the best soda of my lifetime - an Olipop Shirley Temple flavored soda on ice. Boy was that good. It’s supposed to be one of those healthy sodas but there’s definitely a good sugar flavor to it. It harkens me back to when I was a kid. Shirley Temples were my favorite drink. We had a bar in our walk out basement (very 60s) that we used when guests came over. I would sit at the bar drinking my Shirley Temple from a straw, thinking I was a mature VIP having a cocktail. I guess when I think about it - not much has changed.

Babaganoush is a delicious middle eastern eggplant dish.

Shirley Temples:
They’re super easy to make yourself so you can sip like a VIP whenever you want ;-)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2026 05:59PM by SBP.

I made Sun-dried tomato basil chicken Alfredo (from scratch) with a fresh green salad, basil from the garden, rustic olive garlic loaf, and a glass of local Darcie Kent Cab Franc.

scrambled eggs
sourdough toast
bloody mary


SBP's meal sounds great!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2026 07:06PM by BarefootBliss.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

scrambled eggs
sourdough toast
bloody mary


SBP's meal sounds great!

Thanks!
That Bloody Mary sounds great!
Tabasco, horseradish, or both?

I have to agree with Bare.. It all sounds delicious. The wine sounds fancy (= expensive).

I haven't had much to talk about the last few days.. mostly salads and pop tarts (they were on sale). I got a burnt marked down baked chicken at Kroger and I ate about half, I'll have the other breast on a salad tomorrow or the next day.

We talked about doing a couple of those "order ahead" shops, there were 2 Whataburger dinner shops between the Kroger stores I went to. There was a Zaxby's dinner available too.. But it was already after 20:00 by the time he was done with his Site Experiences. I tried to go to BWW but today was a blackout day for the location. So I ate chicken that was supposed to be chunked up and frozen for other meals.

I love bloody marys with all the garnishes - horseradish, fresh lemon, tabasco, Chesapeake Bay seasoning
and lots of celery and olives - so much umami.
Where I used to live, I often shopped a restaurant that had a bloody mary bar on the weekends..a small cup of vodka per order, but all the fixings you could eat - was a great shop. One requirement was to take a photo of it - was often awkward.

@SBP wrote:

I made Sun-dried tomato basil chicken Alfredo (from scratch) with a fresh green salad, basil from the garden, rustic olive garlic loaf, and a glass of local Darcie Kent Cab Franc.

I used to have a job as a food critic. Or maybe that was in a past life, I don’t recall …
Anyway, I would be available for a future taste test of this meal, or something similar, at the next available offering, and provide a favorable written critique at no charge. Just throwing that out there. A framed edition would be extra though…

@SBP wrote:

@Minime wrote:

baba ga-WHAT?!? I’m headed to MTS’s house for some REAL food…

I just had the best soda of my lifetime - an Olipop Shirley Temple flavored soda on ice. Boy was that good. It’s supposed to be one of those healthy sodas but there’s definitely a good sugar flavor to it. It harkens me back to when I was a kid. Shirley Temples were my favorite drink. We had a bar in our walk out basement (very 60s) that we used when guests came over. I would sit at the bar drinking my Shirley Temple from a straw, thinking I was a mature VIP having a cocktail. I guess when I think about it - not much has changed.

Babaganoush is a delicious middle eastern eggplant dish.

Shirley Temples:
They’re super easy to make yourself so you can sip like a VIP whenever you want ;-)

I have tried this but it wasn’t the same. Maybe too much of a splash of grenadine, IDK. My father did make a mean one though, with a good presentation.

I like eggplant so I will consider ordering Barbara Ganouch at my next jaunt to a get middle eastern fare. So I know what I’m talking about - is it pronounced baba ga noosh, or baba ga nowsh?

I had a cheeseburger patty and sauteed bean sprouts. I bought them for my salads, but apparently there are cooking instructions on the package, so I was subjected to them cooked. We won't be doing that again.