The Knee That Went Bad and Easy Black Bean Soup (A New-to-Me Recipe)

That Person With the Infected Knee Replacement has kept me super busy lately, so I've been semi-absent from this blog.  After several months of being hooked up to a wound vac, and the knee becoming more and more painful, the decision was made:  the replacement would have to come out.  So a couple of weeks ago, the surgeon removed the old prosthesis and put in a concrete spacer.

Yes, that's what I said - CONCRETE.

This spacer is impregnated with antimicrobial stuff to fight what's left of the "indolent" infection.  (Indolent:  sounds like lazy bacteria!)  It also has no joint, so it doesn't act like a "real" knee replacement.  It squeaks and creaks and pops (sometimes REALLY loud).  It's not cemented in, so it moves around some.  You should see the kneecap travel when it pops.  Eeeeeewww!

The spacer is painful, and That Person can't put much weight on it, so a full-leg brace and a walker are required for trips down the hall.  Going upstairs is doable, but coming back down is a real issue, so That Person sleeps, eats, and does exercises in the living room recliner.  I do a lot of fetch-and-carry work.

So I'm back into full-time caregiving mode.  Back to giving intravenous medicine again, this time twice a day instead of once, and it takes nearly two hours each time to administer instead of fifteen minutes.

But lucky you!  I'm back, yet AGAIN, and with another recipe.

I opened The Magic Box and found a package of chorizo sausage.  What to do with it?  In my copy of The America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook (the one with the orange cover) I found a recipe for Easy Black Bean Soup.  I make a lot of soups because I like them, they're easy to make, and the leftovers heat up well.  Remember, I'm all about leftovers - make once, eat twice (or more).  Good for the current meal prep trend, too.

Although I thought it was really good, I'm sorry to say this soup was NOT a hit with the rest of the household.  I'll admit it is not the prettiest dish to look at.  Not much color.  Well, black beans - duh!  Anyway, if you like beans and sausage, you'll probably like this one!

You can see there's not a lot of color
here, other than the red bell peppers.

EASY BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 T canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz cooked chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4" thick
4 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 15-oz cans chicken broth
1 T fresh minced oregano (or 1 t dried)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste
1/2 c minced fresh cilantro

In a 4-quart dutch oven, combine the oil, onion, bell peppers, garlic, and chorizo and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer 20-30 minutes.  Season to taste and serve.

Macaroni and Cheese (A Microwave Recipe)

When I helped them move into their first house and outfit the kitchen, That Girl's husband couldn't understand why anyone would want a large microwave oven.  "You don't cook in it; it's just for heating up food for the kids."

I beg to differ - I COOK in the microwave all the time!

This recipe is adapted from a book that came with my very first microwave (1984!).  The cheese sauce is cooked totally in the microwave.  The macaroni is cooked on the stovetop, the sauce is added, then it's all finished in the microwave.  It's a big favorite at our house, usually served with smoked sausage and a vegetable.


Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

1 pkg (14-16 oz) elbow macaroni
1/4 c butter
6 T flour
1 t salt
2 c milk
4 c (1 lb) shredded cheddar cheese (OR 1 lb Velveeta, cubed)

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions to just al dente.  You don't want the macaroni to cook to mush once it's added to the sauce.  Drain, then place in a 2-quart casserole dish.

While the pasta cooks, in a 1-qt microwave-safe bowl microwave the butter 30 seconds until melted.   Blend in flour and salt to make a paste.  Gradually stir in milk.  Microwave 4-6 minutes, stirring after each minute, until thick and creamy.  Stir in the cheese.  Add gradually to the drained macaroni, stirring to mix well.  Microwave at 50% power for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.


For an everyday meal, I use a 2-qt Pyrex glass measuring pitcher to make the sauce, then add the macaroni and do the final cooking in the pitcher.  One less thing to wash after dinner.  I'm all about making as little mess as possible.

VALUE (A Five-Minute Friday Post)

I have a big family dinner on Thanksgiving.  I start on Friday, buying the turkey and putting it into a big cooler with some ice to thaw.  It is a BIG cooler for the BIG turkey.  This year’s was typical - twenty-six pounds.

You’re supposed to buy a turkey of about one pound per expected person.  We had twenty people, and my choice was limited to the single twenty-six-pound bird and a flock of measly little fourteen-pounders.  My oven isn’t big enough to roast two turkeys, so…!

I use oven roasting bags because they make the turkey cook a little faster and you don’t have to worry about having a tall enough covered roaster.  The bags say they’ll hold a turkey up to twenty-four pounds, but I can make my monsters fit.

I bought the turkey on Friday.  I finished my grocery shopping on Saturday, put the leaf in the table and made cranberry gelatin salad and deviled eggs on Monday, roasted the turkey, got out all the serving pieces, and cleaned the house on Tuesday.  Wednesday, I carved the turkey, baked pies, and cleaned some more.  Thursday, I made the gravy, assembled and cooked the side dishes, baked the rolls, and got ready for the ravening hordes.

They came, they saw, they ate, and ate, and ATE.  As is the custom, by the end of it all, we were all blissfully miserable.

Why do we do this every year?  Because we value family - all of them!  The crazy and the annoying.  The one who volunteers to bring three things, brings eight, and burns the one thing you really, really counted on.  Oh well.  It is what it is, and what it is, is family.

Now THAT’S value!

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This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "VALUE."  For more information on Five-Minute Friday, click here.

My Favorite Christmas Present

After buying new living room furniture this fall, we sort of agreed to not buy each other Christmas presents, but I actually kind of got a late Christmas gift from That Man. 

I was getting dressed yesterday morning and making exasperated noises at the ceiling fan lights in the bedroom.  Now, please note that I have told him over and over that the sockets for the light bulbs in that fan are going bad (one doesn’t work at all, one makes the light flicker), plus one bulb just blew the night before.  So, out of 4 60-watt bulbs, one was working, and one was fitfully flickering on and off.  I was making the aforementioned noises, and That Man asked what was wrong.

I pointed at each dark bulb in turn and said, “That socket doesn’t work at all, that bulb is burned out, and that socket only works sometimes.”

“Would you like me to get some LED bulbs for it?”

“Well, that won’t do any good if the sockets are bad.”  (Snark.  Snark.)

When I got home last night and turned on the bedroom light, I was nearly BLINDED!  My word!  All four bulbs blazed forth in all their LED glory!  He had gone out and replaced all four bulb sockets, upgrading from Bakelite to porcelain, and replaced two of the bulbs with pricey LEDs.  WHOA.  The bedroom has stadium lights now.  I can SEE in there.  I hadn’t realized just how dark it was until it was fixed.

Now THAT’S my favorite Christmas present!!!