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Archive for February, 2025

Egg Alternative

February 5th, 2025 at 09:26 pm

Those of you who sometimes cook vegan dishes may already know this, but I thought I’d share for those who don’t.

For baked recipes like muffins, a ‘flax egg’ can be substituted for a chicken egg. A flax egg is made by combining 1 tablespoon of flax meal with 3 tablespoons of water. Set aside for several minutes. You’ll notice that the consistency becomes thicker and almost gel-like similar to an egg.

Some recipes call for plant milk to be combined with the flax instead of water. The result has good omega 3 fat too!

Here’s a sample recipe that uses this technique. It’s from The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution by Drs Dean & Ayesha Sherzai – two married neurologists.

Cornbread Muffins

1 T flax meal + 3 T water

2 t apple cider vinegar

1 c plant-based milk

1 c whole-wheat flour

1 c fine ground cornmeal

3 t baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 T applesauce

1 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 12-cup muffin pan with oil spray.

In a small bowl, make the flax egg. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the vinegar to the milk and let curdle for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, cornmeal. Baking powder, and salt. Add the plant milk, flax egg, applesauce, and olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to fold together. Don’t overmix.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and back 20-25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Great with chili.

I was able to buy eggs (despite an egg heist in my area reported just today!?!) and even expensive ones are a cheap source of protein when compared to meat in my mind. But if the price or availability of eggs prevents you from obtaining them, there are options.

 

2025 is Underway

February 1st, 2025 at 02:16 pm

I can’t believe we’re already a month into the year. January was eventful for us.

A good friend invited me some time ago to meet her and her husband at their time share in Los Cabos, Mexico for a week. On some years they have two units instead of one. January was the week. I took DS4 with me and it was fabulous. A luxurious place and though food cost just as much as home, since we weren’t paying for lodging, it was a great deal for us. We got massages, went whale watching, had probably too many meals in restaurants, and took picture after picture of the gorgeous sunsets.

While we sunned ourselves by one of the many pools, I talked to my friend about how timeshares work. It would not be for me for sure but the arrangement seems to work for her and her husband. They look forward to the trip all year and because they’ve been to the place so many times, they know all the best places – which boat for the whale watching, which seating area in which restaurant, etc.

 

I booked the trip through SFO with two roundtrip tickets so we could visit with DS2. That went well too and he is now engaged - he proposed to his GF after Christmas. He and his fiancée haven’t committed to any location or date for the wedding yet but they tell me that mid-2026 will likely be the earliest date. And on a side note: I learned that the word fiancé has 2 e’s at the end when it’s the woman and one e when it’s the man. Spelling/grammar is a strong suit for me and I did not know this!

 

My net worth had hit the next 100k milestone in November, then lost it in December. My calculation yesterday shows that it achieved it again by a smidge. I’ll take it.