Something I ate Friday, the cup of Grape Nuts Fit for breakfast or Checkers (1600 kcal mostly from deep-fryer fat with a little protein, pepper and salt) for lunch, or an admittedly excessive low-fat/no-sugar-added ice cream splurge, or some combination of these, did NOT sit well in the wee hours of Saturday. Let's just say I wish my bathroom was soundproof, or at least not adjacent to another tenant's apartment. I'm leaning toward the ice cream (lactose) as the main culprit, as even with the heavy Checker's meal processing I still managed 4 miles on the treadmill a few hours later.

Napped exhausted most of the midday Saturday, so grocery run waited until after 5. The Big Pubilx wasn't too busy. Forgot Flatout lite tomato flatbread wraps, which are rarely in-stock at the near Pubilx. Got a glass measuring cup (Anchor Hocking, conventional- and microwave-oven safe, made in USA) to replace the plastic one which has started cracking and crazing after 6+ years, as some hard clear plastics do. Got ground pork for making chili, because it was only about 50 cents more per pound than Western Beef's previously-frozen ground turkey, and for two pounds of ground meat it was worth dodging a second shopping stop. Strawberries were subprime and past peak, cantaloupe was all imported (Guatemala and Honduras) and lloked underripe, so no fresh fruit for breakfast today. Lance cheese-and-cracker packs were on sale, two-for-one and 8 packages to a unit box for ~$3.

Gave Mom a call in the hospital. She was hoarse and short of breath so I didn't keep her on the phone long. Kim returned my earlier call for close to an hour's chat. Dinner was a LP pretzel bread-trky-bcn-chz and a couple slices of WW bread with peanut butter. Back to bed before midnight, feeling pretty much recovered today.

First order of business: 5-bean stew. Brunch was a couple turkey dogs and a slice of cheddar melted on WW bread while beans soaked. Noshed on bean stew while onions and ground pork browned. Also ran out for Flatout wraps, canned diced tomato and tomato sauce, XS cheddar slices and a half cantaloupe that looked reasonably ripe while stuff browned. Also didled with a lot of other stuff while I waited for the $%^&* browning to brown... low and slow... s l o w

Months ago I bought frozen pearl onions to experiment with, and they're OK - but consistency-wise, diced fresh onion is better in chili, so I'm running out what's left of the frozen pearls. Too bad if they're not quite a cup. Also, rethinking the chili/beans relationship - instead of adding some measured quantity of pre-cooked beans or stew to the chili before the final long cook stage, the plan is to finish the chili beanless to start, and combine with bean stew ad hoc on serving. This combo will probably end up getting served in bits variously over rice, WW fusilli, and Celentano tortellini in lieu of conventional pasta sauce.