Pandemic Diary—Stir Fry recipe, Friendly Atheists, Abortion Support, Jimmy Carter

On my stir fry recipe: I boil ¼ cup of brown/wild rice. I also boil a small chicken thigh (I like dark meat). While the rice and chicken are doing its thing, for ten minutes, I chop up some veggies into a small to medium-sized bowl (reminder: menopausal moderation, which means don’t overeat no matter how good it is): fresh broccoli, fresh green onion & green pepper, fresh baby spinach, fresh red cabbage, fresh cilantro, frozen shelled edamame (I use Seapoint Farms), frozen peas & carrots (Food Lion store brand), and fresh kale; or whatever veggies I have on hand; I always try to have fresh broccoli, green onions, and red cabbage on hand. At ten minutes on the rice boiling, I coat the bottom of a deep skillet (my poor person’s wok) with olive oil and sesame oil—love sesame oil—and turn on the heat. The brand I use is La Tourangelle sesame oil. Love the stuff—the smell that permeates in the house while heating the skillet is heavenly. I take out the thigh and shred it adding it to the skillet. Five minutes till the rice is done, I throw the veggies into the skillet with the chicken and sprinkle some ginger, onion, and garlic powder then I sprinkle some fish sauce over it and stir. I’ve exchanged (garlic) salt for fish sauce because I’ve read it’s healthier. I use Thai Kitchen fish sauce because it was the only brand I could find around here and the thing about fish sauce is it never expires—yes, it has an expiry date but it doesn’t expire. I use it in all my dinners now including soup and it is so good. When the rice is done, I stir it into the skillet with the veggies then I pour a cap-full of San-J soy sauce and and squeeze some lime into the mixture and stir. I chop up one or two baby bella mushrooms and throw them into the mix and stir at the very last minute. I turn off the heat and cover the lid. A minute or two later, I pour it into a bowl steaming hot and pour some more San-J soy sauce over it and eat. It makes the perfect bowl-full.

On Atheist News: I recommend Friendly Atheist substack and author Hemant Mehta. His news keeps me up to date on the continued assault of christo-fascists on the separation of church and state and the lengths Christians will go to in this country to indoctrinate and subject their religion and amorality onto everyone, especially those of us who are not Christians. I also recommend subscribing (and, if you can, donating) to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. They email an update of their legal efforts to fight the christo-fascists each week and how christo-fascists continue to stir hate and bigotry and force their amorality onto the rest of us that share a more co-exist secular humanist compassion and view towards humanity. I urge you to stay abreast of their efforts and possibly donate if you can.

On Jimmy Carter: He’s the first president I remember fondly. I hope his journey is peaceful without pain and his destination everything he hopes it is, and I thank him very much for his service to our country and his honor and compassion to humanity in general.

On Nail Polish: I keep wanting to do a thorough nail polish website review, especially on my favorite brands, but every time I go to write about it, I’ve already wrambled on about everything else. Get it? w(writing)+rambled=wrambled? I’m adding that word to my dictionary, lovelies, right next to meview. Anywho, I’ll try and do one in the near future and I promise to show some of the photos I’ve taken of nail art I’ve created. I keep my nails short and my cuticles are not the greatest—regardless, I do it for me and not anyone else, and it’s fun and relaxing.

On NARAL and Abortion Support: Help continue the fight for bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and abortion support by debunking disinformation on social media here and donate to NARAL here.