Well, it’s been one of those somewhat busy days that you end up wondering where the time went. I did get the first turkey smoked, and made some really tasty lamb soup. I likely won’t put up the recipe, since it’s rare that I have lamb stock around, but the recipe came from here:

http://www.explorenepal.com/recipe/soups/?i=lamb_barley_soup

I changed it a little (ie. I don’t like spinach, so I used celery) and it needed way more liquid than it called for. This was good as I had more stock than that. I was also a little light on meat so I added a couple of smoked turkey/chicken sausages. For me, it was a small pot of soup, making 9 servings.

I also spent about 45 minutes outside shoveling snow. We didn’t have more, but it’s supposed to be a combination of snow/rain/freezing rain over the next couple of days. So I cleared snow away from the house, hoping that we don’t end up with a flood in the basement. I noticed while doing that today that I’m a collection of aches and pains as well. One hamstring is sore, my shoulders/neck area is still bugging me, and while tossing snow I felt a bit of a pinch in my side. Yikes, I feel like I’m falling apart. Although, last year I wouldn’t have even considered shoveling as much as I have so far this year, so I suppose that’s progress.

So, all the soup has been frozen, and tomorrow I’ll slice up the first turkey. The plan is to smoke the second turkey on Christmas day, and we’ll have some hot for dinner that night. Tomorrow I’ll also probably get a start on making some turkey stock, even though I’ll have more bones after doing the second turkey. I might also make another pot of soup (lentil) with some pork stock (the last of the stocks in the freezer). The catch is that there’s little to no meat in that stock, so I’ll probably cook and chop up a couple of chicken breasts to make it a heartier soup.

I also rearranged the freezers a bit, so I’ll have room to put all the stuff I’m making away. I don’t think that I’d thought that far ahead. The odd thing is that all this work has been on lunch items. I notice that the dinner stuff is kind of running low. I’ll likely be making some type of stewed beef and possibly some chili next week. I like having both of them handy as they are ‘last minute/no work’ dishes. At the moment what little is there all requires thawing the raw meat before cooking it.

Having said all that, I’m kind of tired, so it’s time for bed!

Food for today:

Total: 2010 (25% fat, 36% carbs, 33% protein)

Breakfast: two fried eggs, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (332)
AM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (78)
Lunch: whole wheat tortillas, mustard, smoked beef, apple (464)
PM Snack: protein shake, cookie (261)
Dinner: spicy meatloaf with roasted potatoes, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (625)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (250)

Anyway, I got busy last night and forgot to post my food and such for the day.  I ran back out to the stores in the afternoon for some cooking ingredients for me, and food for the cats.  I figure they might run out just about Christmas day, and that wouldn’t do.  It’s funny, but the little one needs a supplement so they get soft food twice a day (so I can mix it in).  Usually they get it around 5pm but last night I was working on something and it slipped my mind.  About 5:30 the other cat comes downstairs, jumps on the desk and gives me the biggest loudest mournful meow I’ve heard.  I’m surprised he waited that long, he seems to be pretty good at telling time.  Normally we get about a 5 minute grace period and then he’s bugging whoever is around.

I never did get on the treadmill yesterday, but did get out of the house a couple of times.  I also got the rest of the minestrone frozen, made another pot of soup (beef barley mushroom), and have some of it in the freezer already.  Total for the day from the HR monitor was 3293, and I didn’t actually take it off until 11pm (although since I’m doing 10-10 I’ll add that in to today’s totals).  Now I’m off to soak wood chips and smoke the first of two turkeys.  Yes, I’m nuts.  At least it’s not snowing… 

Food for yesterday:

Total: 1994 (25% fat, 37% carbs, 35% protein)

Breakfast: egg/egg white omelet, honey oatmeal bread, jam, clementines (340)
AM Snack: chocolate zucchini cake (78)
Lunch: beef mushroom barley soup, honey oatmeal bread, apple (539)
PM Snack: hummus, carrots (178)
Dinner: baked chicken with tomato/wine sauce, cheese, bean/carrot blend, butter, salad w/dressing (586)
Late Snack: protein shake, apple (272)