Sunday Dinner, September 14, 2008 & Other Stuff

This has been a long busy week, but it's now time to make my Sunday Dinner decisions, and this week I've already got my game plan in order and in progress as I type this.

I have a huge beef roast thawing in the microwave to start roasting later. I'll use my recipe for DIANE'S BEEF ROAST, POTATOES & GRAVY of course, which you can find by clicking HERE. That link will take you to MY RECIPE BLOG.

I'll cook the roast until almost fork tender, then take it out to cool before refrigerating it overnight. I do not like reheated potatoes, so I'll peel, quarter and add the potatoes after I get home from church tomorrow afternoon.

A good friend and neighbor just gave us some new crop sweet potatoes from their garden and for a change, I think I'll peel a couple of sweet potatoes to add in with my russets. If we don't like them I won't do it again, but I think they'll make a nice change and add some color and flavor to the meal. Can't be much different from carrots, right? And I don't have any carrots right now.

Also, Emmy loves sweet potatoes so I know I'll have at least one satisfied diner, assuming she and her Mama and Daddy are here for Sunday Dinner.

When the roast and potatoes are done I'll make my gravy. I may make a pan of MY MAMA'S HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS, which you can also find HERE on MY RECIPE BLOG. I just posted that recipe this afternoon so it's a new one.

I'm also going to make another APPLE CRISP which can be found HERE on MY RECIPE BLOG. I made the apple crisp last Saturday and it was GREAT! I highly recommend this recipe.

My menu: Beef roast, roast russet and sweet potatoes, gravy, possibly homemade buttermilk biscuits and apple crisp for dessert.

Now, what are your plans for Sunday Dinner? If you're cooking, share your menu in the comments. If you're eating out or going to Grandma's, feel free to share your plans/menu as well.After posting my menu last week and getting everything ready to cook, we ended up going out to eat Mexican food at a local Tex/Mex chain called Ta*Molly's. It's my favorite Mexican place in Jonesboro and it was really good.

As I said earlier, I did make the apple crisp and it really was good, but I felt like such a fraud after posting my menu then ending up changing plans and eating out. The meatloaf and green beans that I didn't serve are in the freezer for another meal later on, probably another Sunday Dinner somewhere down the road.

I think my dislike of most leftovers and reheated food is probably well documented here on the blog, but tonight I'm breaking my own rule. I made some soup Wednesday night that was delicious! So much so that I'm going to reheat it again for our supper tonight.

I know! I'm such a rebel. I live on the edge, don't you think? And I feel so devil-may-care-ish!

But the real issue here is that I'm already going to be cooking a pot roast so I don't really want to be cooking 2 meals tonight.

Also, did I mention that the soup, it was really good?

I started out with some pinto beans, added some leftover white beans (Great Northern beans to the uninitiated) some chopped onion, red and green bell peppers, sliced okra, cabbage, some cubed sweet potato, and finally, some sliced polska kielbasa sausage.

I based my soup very loosely on THIS RECIPE FOR PORTUGUESE BEAN SOUP, but I added several more things as you can see. I'll definitely make this soup again. Assuming I can remember what I put in it, that is.Now, news regarding my diabetes.

I've officially been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes after my last 3 hour fasting glucose test.

This past Monday, September 8th I got the call from my drs. office that my test came back with elevated blood sugar levels and that my insurance had been informed of my diagnosis. My doctor's nurse told me that a prescription for a glucose meter, test strips and lancets had been faxed to my pharmacy, which is Wal*mart pharmacy in Jonesboro.

My instructions were to test my blood sugar 2 hours after dinner and supper every day for 2 weeks, then I have an appointment with my dietician/diabetic counselor on September 26th, when she will assess my blood sugar levels and prescribe medication. Whether I'm on oral meds and/or insulin will depend on my diabetes counselor's assessment after the next 2 weeks.

By the time I got the phone call it was late in the afternoon and we'd already had a full day, which is a post I'll write for next week, complete with photos. But on Tuesday Jessica took me to Wal*mart and I went to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions.

When I arrived at the pharmacy, they informed me that they didn't accept my insurance for diabetes supplies at their pharmacy. I asked about other pharmacies in the city that DID accept my insurance for diabetes supplies and was told very few did, to their knowledge. They faxed my prescription to another pharmacy and Jessica took me over there, but that pharmacy wouldn't fill my prescriptions because I'm not a regular customer.

Have you ever heard of such a mess?

I ended up going to Wal*green's Wednesday morning on the senior citizen's van to get my prescriptions.

But wait - the pharmacy fiasco isn't over yet!

After I got to Wal*green's, they informed me that they had only received a prescription for the glucose meter, no scrips for the test strips or lancets. The meter kit had 10 test strips and lancets included with it, but that would only last 5 days, testing twice a day.

It's just a teensy bit difficult to test your blood sugar without test strips and lancets. As my sister asked, did my doctor expect me to hack into my finger with a butcher knife or what???

I called my dr's office and talked to the receptionist who said she would leave an urgent message for my nurse but not to expect too much.

She was right.

I waited at Wal*green's for the dr's office to call back, but after an hour I had to leave without the test strips and lancets.

Thirty minutes after I arrived back home on the senior citizen's van (naturally!) my nurse called back and apologized for not faxing the prescriptions for the test strips and lancets along with the scrip for the meter. She said that Wal*green's pharmacy had the correct scrips and I could pick them up anytime.

Only problem was, I had no way to pick them up.

Jessica took me to get them on Friday and lo and behold, I finally got my strips and lancets!

Now I test my blood sugar twice a day and try to watch my carbs. In a couple of weeks I should know what meds I'll start with, knowing that they'll have to be adjusted and possibly changed as we search to see what works for me.Uppermost in our minds for most of us in the South and Midwest is Hurricane Ike. I'm very concerned about some of my blogging buddies who live in Houston, Corpus Christie and in other areas in the path of the storm.

Here in Arkansas we're under a high wind advisory and a tornado watch. There have already been several tornado warnings in central Arkansas around Hot Springs and Little Rock just in the last hour and the warnings are getting closer all the time. The torrential rains are already affecting some Arkansas cities and it's starting to rain here as I type this at 7 pm local time.

I hope and pray that all my friends are safe from the storm, and that all of us will continue to be safe as the remnants from Hurricane Ike head inland. My heart goes out to all those who have lost homes and possessions in the storm, have evacuated to shelters and motels with no idea of when they may be able to return to assess the damages, and especially to the families of those who have lost their lives. The death toll will surely rise as the days go on.I still need to make an apple crisp, so I'll wind this up and get it posted.

May God richly bless you all, and may you have enough to share is my prayer for all my dear friends and family, and for any who may be visiting for the first time. I hope it's not your last visit here to my homey little corner of the world wide web.