The Doctor Reports: You Walk Like a Cinnamon Girl!

Cue up the Neil Young.....
"I wanta walk like a Cinnamon Girl
I could be happy for the rest of my life as a Cinnamon Girl
...da da da duh.
A dreamer of pictures I walk in the night....
Dodging the pine cones,
Chasing the moonlight,
A Cinnamon Girl!!!

It's not too surprising that thought occurred to me since I have an entire album of Neil Young songs covered by girl artists on my walking playlist and both the cover and original versions of the song came on tonight.

First, though, I started with Supermodel, which is very energetic, but a bit ironic since I'm not really trying to look like a supermodel and certainly not anorexic, but I would like to loose the last bit of pudge lurking around my waist line.

But, back to the title...
Since I'm of an age and under medication for a couple conditions, I had a 6 month follow up visit with my doctor this morning. Over the last year in particular I've been doing a fair amount of walking and lost some weight and the results are good and bad.

My blood pressure which was pretty good before is better. So is my cholesterol. My resting heart rate is much better, and my A1C is pretty good. So, overall, great!

But, when I asked about what I thought was a persistent bruise on the inside of my left leg, I got a little bit of a comeuppance :(

I have varicose veins (like my mother) and one of them evidently spilt some blood into my leg. What looks like a blood is the iron left after my body disposed of the rest. So, I'm stuck with it :(

There's a smaller spot on the front of my right leg, as well.

So, no Betty Grable gams for me....

More to the point, though, is that working on your feet for long hours (which I do now and have for many years) as well as lots of walking tends to cause varicose veins which could cause more bruising, so I should start wearing support or compression stockings. No fun!

My hun, helpfully, found me a pair from a hospital stay a couple years ago.

Now I've got to start wearing them....

I guess for work they'll be OK. But, it'll be hot this summer. And I'll have to ditch them for serious walking.

Which brings me back to my evening stroll.

I've been working every day for over 3 weeks, mostly because we are short handed and to provide continuity getting our little operation going. And so, most nights I've gotten home too worn out to do more than scarf a little chow and sack on the bed.

Tonight for a change I had some energy after enjoying hun's pulled pork for a sandwich.

So, I decided to swap my Aria's for New Balance and head out to the park.

I took it easy, but still got in a good walk and earned my four apples for the evening.

Then I washed my shirts and myself, paused to celebrate with a scoop of ice cream, and shared comments with my friends.

Now it's off to cut some Z's.

All the Best!!!

Barbecued Pork and Beans

Barbecued Pork and Beans

I've been enjoying this dish for the last few days and thought I'd share it with you. It's fairly easy (although I do it the hard way by cooking my own beans and roasting my own pork) and surprisingly good.

I started with slow roasted pork. I rubbed 2 pounds of pork loin or boneless pork chops with KC dry rub. Then placed it in a pan in a 275F oven and baked it for about 1 1/2 hours.

Roasted Pork

I cut medium thickness slices for serving, but suggest you let it chill it in the refrigerator and then slice it very thin.

I rinsed one pound of pinto beans several times and soaked them overnight. Then I dumped the water and covered with fresh water. I added 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, powdered cumin, and powdered red chile. Then, I heated the beans to a boil, reduced heat to simmer and cooked for about 3 hours. This makes a lot of beans!!! You can just drain and rinse 1-2 15 ounce cans of pinto beans instead.

I chopped about half an onion, heated 1 Tbsp of oil in a pot and sautéed the onions for about 5 minutes.

Saute the onions for 5 minutes

Then, I added about 1 pound of sliced pork and heated it for about 5 minutes.

Heat the pork with the onions.

 

Then add 1 1/2 cups of the cooked beans.

Beans added to pork

 

And add 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce. I like Stubb's original because it has a lot less sugar than most commercial brands.

Stir the pork and beans together

 

Then, heat to a boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes. (1-2 hours is better.) If you cook it longer, the pork softens and becomes more tender.

 

Serve and enjoy!