A few days ago I cooked up a bunch of chicken thighs in the oven, using the recipe on the back of a famous pancake/biscuit mix. It comes out tasting great, and it is better for you than deep fat fried. It tastes like fried chicken, but has much less fat in it. And chicken thighs are a good value; you get a lot of meat and very little bone. I like to cook up extra chicken and put the leftovers in the refrigerator and then later on for a lunch (when I’m in a hurry) eat it cold. It reminds me of when I was younger and my folks used to go on “old fashioned Southern picnics” where we would have cold fried chicken, potato salad, cheese and crackers, some grapes, maybe some potato chips and maybe some devilled eggs.
I’m always surprised when I meet people who say they’ve never heard of eating cold fried chicken and think the whole idea is “gross.” I think it is yummy!

It has been a very busy week at work, been putting in a lot of overtime.  So I was just too tired to cook supper tonight.  So we went out to eat dinner at a local all-you-can-eat restaurant so I wouldn’t have to bother with cooking supper or washing dishes.  I like this restaurant a lot - you order your main course of meat (or pasta) and then you help yourself to their buffet style bars full of veggies, salads, fruits, desserts, breads, etc.  The price is reasonable, and the food is always good.  And I get to eat without having to do any of the work!

I heard that the state is holding a tax holiday this weekend on school supplies and clothes under $100!  That’s good news for families who need to buy those things for their kids to get ready for back to school!  It’s hard to even think of back to school at this point - it seems to me that summer has just begun, and we are thinking about back to school sales already!  I guess it really is true that the older you get the faster time seems to fly right by!

I was reading the Newsweek website, checking out what interesting news might have come up recently, and saw an article about an eleven year old boy that was playing in his uncle’s back yard in a town in Brazil when a pit bull attacked him, biting him in the arm.  The boy, in his own defense, grabbed the dog and bit the dog in the neck!  Before the dog could resume his attack some stonemasons that were working nearby chased the dog off.  The boy lost a tooth (one of his canine teeth, ironically enough!) in the scuffle.  The boy was taken to the hospital for stitches, and the dog was taken to the local pound, where the dog may be killed.

I think it is miraculous that the boy counter-attacked, and lived to tell the tale!  Pit bull attacks are usually very vicious and I am really glad that the boy was not hurt worse. 

I was pleased to hear that Phil Gramm, John McCain’s advisor that was taped saying that the US has turned into a “Nation of whiners” has resigned from John McCain’s campaign.  As soon as I heard the news showing the tape of him saying that I thought “that’s something the Democrats are going to have a real field day with!”  I also thought that if John McCain is surrounding himself with advisors that think that way, and he is elected to the Presidency that we will be in a world of trouble!  So, I was very glad to hear that he resigned!

Tonight we’re going to my favorite all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet restaurant.  I love Chinese food - I could eat it every day!  My favorites are sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and lo mein noodles.  And the meat filled dumplings - some places call them pot stickers.  But I really enjoy the buffets because I can have a little bit of everything - I like all sorts of chicken and shrimp dishes!  I am not a big fan of sushi, though, but the sushi bar looks beautiful - the sushi chef makes it all look like candy!  What a rude awakening to my mouth to put something in that looks like candy but tastes like fish and seaweed!

I am so glad about the news that I’ve been watching about the successful rescue operation of those Columbian hostages! That seems to be the big headlines for the week, and for good reason! I was amazed to learn that some of those people have been hostages for YEARS! I didn’t realize that hostages ever lived that long; I thought that hostages were killed off pretty quickly!
What a great covert mission that rescue was, I am so happy for the hostages that were freed, and for their families! Great causes for celebrations, for sure!

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Where does the time fly? The turning of the calendar page from June to July was a shock to me this morning; I barely even noticed June was happening! And now the dog days of July are upon us. I don’t like the excessive heat and humidity that July brings upon us; it is the summer month that I try to hide inside as much as possible, trying to stay in air conditioned comfort as much as possible. The weatherman says that the next couple of days will be unusually cool for July, and I’m glad to hear that.
One of the things that I dislike so much about July is that it is impossible to dress appropriately. It is so hot out that you want to wear short sleeves and short pants, but if you go into an office building or store or movie theater the air conditioning is cranked up so high that you need to wear long pants, long sleeves AND a sweater! So I end up wearing long pants, long sleeves and carrying a sweater and I feel like a real dufus doing it. With the big focus on the cost of fuel and the economy it seems to me that the offices, stores, and movie theaters would set their thermostats just a little bit warmer! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want them set at 78 or 80, but 76 would be nice!

Last week there was a cease fire started between Gaza strip militants and Israel.  When I read about the truce, I thought “that’s not going to last very long!”  Well, it sure seems that I was right, according to the news that truce was broken yesterday.  I have to give credit to the world leaders that they keep trying to broker a peace in that area (this time it was Egypt) but I really feel that there are just too many fanatics out there to allow a peace to happen for very long.  It really is a terrible shame that so many people are so invested in having the violence continue.

I’ve noticed over the years that just eating a bowl of cereal in the morning does NOT keep me “satisfied” until lunch.  Even though the cereal that I eat is the healthiest cereal that I can find that actual tastes good (I like the General Mills Multi-Grain Cheerios!) About ninety minutes later I am “starving” again.  So I try to eat something with protein in it too, if I can.  Unfortunately, most protein-rich breakfast foods upset my stomach, so it can be a toughie for me in the mornings! 

I was reading an article on the Internet that eating a big breakfast can help you lose weight.  That article basically was saying what I’ve known for years now, that if you eat a large breakfast that is heavy on the protein, you won’t be really hungry soon after and reach for those fattening snacks like donuts and muffins!