Tag: dinner

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Ditching the Carbonated Beverages

My dentist has just told me that I need to quit drinking sodas or that I will start having serious problems with tooth decay. I’ve been drinking Pepsi my whole life and that is my beverage of choice in the morning to start my day – instead of coffee or tea.I am pretty bummed out right now.

I like my morning Pepsi so much that I am a complete grouch if someone drinks the last Pepsi and leaves me without one in the morning when I wake up. The last time that happened I went postal on the whole family and threw such a fit that I can pretty much guarantee that will never happen again. But, just in case, I keep a bottle of Pepsi in my nightstand drawer as a backup.

But now my dentist says that the sugary drinks that I’ve enjoyed my whole life have been eroding the enamel on my teeth. He says that I am facing root canals in every molar is I don’t start taking better care of my teeth and also change my diet. That is pretty scary – I had one root canal already and it was not fun. Plus, root canals cost a whole lot of money that I don’t want to spend on my teeth if I can help it.

So, regretfully, I am no longer ordering a carbonated beverage with my lunch or dinner. I will be drinking either tea, lemonade or just water. I can’t stand to drink milk, so that’s out. But I will not give up my morning Pepsi. I hope that dropping sodas from the rest of my days and nights will be enough sacrifice to put off dealing with root canals.

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Searching for Zucchini Recipes

My neighbor just brought me a basket full of yellow squash and zucchini from his garden. That was so thoughtful of him and I’m glad his garden is doing so well that he can share his overabundance of fresh vegetables. I do not normally buy squash at the grocery store and only have one memory of my mother cooking yellow squash for our family dinners.

During the summer months when yellow squash was so plentiful, my mother would cut a small piece off each end of the squash and then slice it in half longwise. Then she would drop both halves into a pot of boiling water and let them boil until tender – very much like you prepare boiled white potatoes. Then she would drain off the water and plate the squash. While it was still teaming hot, she would put a big dab of butter on it, then sprinkle each half with salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of granulated sugar.

As far as I can remember, my mother never bought or cooked zucchini. So I need some help with finding a recipe or two for preparing this green squash that looks a lot like a cucumber but tastes nothing like cucumbers. At the moment, the only thing I have seen is a lot of references to zucchini nut bread. But I want to serve it with dinner as a side vegetable, not nut bread.