(Old) It's snacktime in the MMP!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

We have “conditional approval” on our home loan. This is a big burden off my psyche. Also, because my brain is a bastard, triggered a “we’re so close, so if it all falls apart it will be that much more disappointing” intrusive thought. Sigh.

I just spent an hour cleaning all of the leaves out of the back (outside, to the basement) stairwell. I tend to let it go too long, so that the leaves have begun to compost and I have actual dirt down there. No different this time. But no basement stairwell at the new place!

42

Because I saw it today, I’ll answer last week’s question, but I haven’t read.

I think when we moved here (more than 20 years ago), marshmallows were only available by mail order, or at specialty shops which sold American foods. Now I can get them at two different grocery stores, and they are actually two different brands, but I think they are both out of the Netherlands, which has a lot of snack food.

Two weeks ago I bought Cheetos at the grocery store that’s 5 minutes walk from home. Cheetos. I’ve never seen them outside of a specialty shop in Switzerland. I’ve seen them in Spain and Italy at the train station equivalent of a 7-11. But never in Switzerland.

And Saturday they even had two different types of Cheetos.

I’ve also seen After Eight chocolate thins and Easter eggs. But they’re owned by Nestle.

Okay, went and got the bag of Cheetos. They are Sweet Chili flavored and are from Frito Lay in Poland. The website only shows the Cheetos Cheese ones.

Okay, now I need to start reading from the top. See you again later in the week, when I manage to catch up.

43

I make a thing I call “people kibble”. Cashews, almonds, pistachios, and either Wilber buds, or jellybeans. All of the nuts are roasted, one will be salted.

Other than that, chocolate or cheese and crackers.

44

I mentioned the other day that Mrs. L.A.'s battery in her RAV4 is dying. She went to go to the local NAPA, and came back inside a couple of minutes later. Her battery was completely dead.

Last year (well, December 2022) the battery in my Jeep died. AAA came out with a portable battery booster and I was able to get to NAPA for a new battery. At the same time, I ordered a portable battery booster… Although it’s been sitting in a car for over a year, and hasn’t been recharged since I bought it, Mrs. L.A.'s RAV4 fired up as if it had a new battery in it. This thing really works!

I only have two complaints: First, I don’t like things that don’t have an a/c charging option. (This unit uses a USB cord… one of which, ironically, plugs into your cars cigarette lighter/power port.) The other is that the instructions are microscopic. Rather than try to read them, I just clamped red to positive and black to negative and pushed the power button. I remembered that a white light was supposed to come on, and it did.

45

Love you guys, but my life is so insufferably boring that I only drop in here once in a while. But since this is about snacks, and I’m currently a-snackin’ like there’s no tomorrow, thought I’d share a recent discovery. It’s the wonders of miniature pita breads slathered with bruschetta, and specifically a really good garlicky bruschetta. The pitas are just the right size to be warmed in an ordinary pop-up toaster. Makes a great snack and might possibly even be moderately healthy!

But that’s OK, I’ll counter that with the most unhealthy stuff in the world: Cheez Whiz! I haven’t had it since I was a kid, but some odd distant memory prompted me to pick up a jar today, probably for the first time in some 40 years or more. It’s basically some kind of artificial goop coloured orange to look like cheese, and probably suitable for drywall repair, but it’s tasty and easily spreadable on crackers. The label says “made with real cheese” but this is obviously a lie – as Dave Barry once said, no product that misspells “cheese” in the name has ever come anywhere close to actual cheese! :wink:

Also snackin’ on roast beef subs. My experiment the other day with nuking one was so successful that I’m doing it again. Separate the two halves and nuke until the white cheddar has melted and roast beef is warmed up, then slather with Dijon mustard, reassemble, and enjoy!

46

Back already. Damn, accountants do NOT work for free … or cheap … :money_mouth_face:

In summary, I owe an absolute whopper on federal; get a nice refund on state - not enough to cover ^^ but at least it’s enough to smooth the worst of the rough edges; plus some smaller amount of nonsense I owe on one of the two local municipalities, I already forget which. :roll_eyes: After so many years only dealing with federal, down in TX, imma just say: Western Mitten State taxes be weird, man.

Also, my withholdings seem to be borked, so imma hafta deal with that bit of adulting.
Later.

In far better news, Arby’s still has the brown sugar BLT (for stoopit $ but it’s so worth it) so I’m soothing myself with yummy solid food AND listening to my laundry swish, cuz getting this at least preliminary financial pain outta the way freed up enough mental energy to address the bare basics of life.

So you have a terraced planter … ? Ready for flowers!

Polish. Sweet. Chili. Cheetos.

My brain just exploded. What a time to be alive!

I like the sweet chili Doritos, but the Cheeto version has gotta be a whole nuther beast … and if someone has zero experience with junk food, that ^^ sentence was pure gibberish.

47

Do you make your own?

(Is there a premade version for us lazy/tored folk? I know how to make it, I just don’t wanna at the moment.)

48

Deli can’t deliver today, dammit. But supper is ordered and we’ll just pick it up.

49

To quote that great sage Bugs Bunny, “you don’t know me very well, do ya?” :smiley:

If you did, you’d know that I’m really big on ready-made stuff and only very occasionally make anything from scratch. The last time was probably the crispy potato flake pickerel recipe that @swampspruce posted in the “What’s for dinner tonight?” thread which turned out really well and that I’ve made several times.

No, this was President’s Choice bruschetta, probably only available in the various Canadian supermarkets owned by the Loblaws chain. President’s Choice is kinda like the Costco store brands – a premium store brand that’s often better than national brands.

ETA: In fairness to me, I do make my own tuna salad, but only because I gots no choice. No place nearby has a reliable supply of good tuna salad and I loves me some tuna salad sandwiches.

50

For your edification or curiosity or possible inspiration, this is the ingredients list of that lovely bruschetta: Tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes, red peppers, pesto sauce (basil, canola oil), onion, zucchini, olive oil, canola oil, water, garlic puree, sea salt, concentrated lemon juice, brown sugar, citric acid, spices, smoke flavour, salt.

51

Speaking of snacks, does anyone have suggestions for correcting a ready-made hummus (Sabra brand) that’s overly vinegary?

52

Afternoon all. Went out to go swimming, but the heater at the pool was out this weekend, so the water was too chilly for sensitive people like me to go swimming, so I spent extra time in the whirlpool and sauna instead. Still have the weight coming down, 222.8 according to the scale, so the Wendy’s double won’t hurt to bad tonight. About an hour from now I leave to go coach soccer for 60-80 minutes to work on the appetite.

Nothing caught in the fancy mouse trap yet, may bait one of the cheaper ones (that has already worked twice) and deploy it too. Strange thing is that the catches have all been on my countertop, not the floor, and I am seeing now evidence (mouse scat) anywhere on the tile or carpet. So unless they are parachuting in from the roof…

Shoe, that’s a good deal on the popcorn, nice of you to share. And at least the taxes are done, even if it does cost some $$. And a surprise check is always a good thing.

FCM, kinda sorry FCD is having to sell his bike, but hopefully it’ll fetch a pretty good price.

Legend, just looked into those Tate’s Cookies and you resurrected Pavlov for me…(drool)

verwirry, sounds like things are going as planned. Will cross all appropriate appendages so the Demon Murphy doesn’t interfere.

Flyboy, given my ability to ignore battery life, I should look into one of those boosters.

Wolfie, Wal-Mart’s also carry President’s Choice products, but not the Bruschetta (at leat in my location).

OK, need to change to the soccer stuff and go practice with the kids. Take care all.

53

Batteries are the bane of my existence. My current iPhone seems to be holding up, but my last one and other phones before that wouldn’t keep a charge. Cordless landlines? I used to run out of power on longer conversations. It seemed to me that the conversations weren’t that long. My MGB. It was built with two 6-volt batteries. First, they wouldn’t last long; second, they’re expensive. I’ve since switched to a single 12-volt battery. The Jeep Cherokee’s battery was great. I did have it replaced with a Die Hard, and it lasted forever. I think I’m on my third battery since the Die Hard, and I think I finally got one that will last. At least, it starts the Jeep without complaining much after sitting for a long time.

I’m glad I bought the booster.

54

Which flavor did you get?

A super quick glance doesn’t show vinegar as an ingredient in any of the few I looked at … but knowing which you got might help steer towards a compatible counter-balance flavor.

55

Fascinating! I didn’t know that. Wikipedia has a long list of various US outlets for PC products over the years, none of them consistent. They don’t mention Walmart, but a Google search shows that Walmart does indeed offer some selection of PC products. In Canada, though, they’re only available through the original Loblaws and affiliated stores.

56

Ditto-rooni. I just have to share a new unexpected favorite snack. Even if you aren’t watching carb intake, these are bloody addictive!

Or more likely, I’m just the last person on the planet to discover them…

I’d kill for I’m fond of the dark chocolate with sea salt, thereby killing two birds with one stone: Chocolate and salt.

57

Tha party’s over, everybody has gone home, and the dishwasher is sloshing away. We had a t-storm come thru that dropped the temp by about 20°!

Like a dummy, I neglected to take any pics but Daughter did so I may steal one or two to share. Later. Chillage now.

58

Happy birthday RoxStar!

As for snacks, I like chips and microwave popcorn and chocolate. Though maybe I could eat more apples and carrots and celery for snacks instead, as I eat too many unhealthy foods.

59

A very Happy Birthday to the Roxstar!!! :birthday:

How are the rest of the procrastinators doing??? Did you make it to the post office on time to get your 4/15 postmark? I did with 15 minutes to spare. :slightly_smiling_face:

On my way to the west side of the Mitten State last week, I stopped to get a Big John’s steak & onion but aack when I got off the expressway at the Okemos exit, Big John’s steak & onion has disappeared. Oh well, there was an Arby’s around the corner and after some of you posted about the special BLT, I headed that way. But gosh darn it, the young lad manning the drive through said they discontinued them at that location the prior week. Oh man, I was so disappointed because as swampy says, after you all posted about the special BLT, I had a gnawing and a hunkering (well, maybe that’s not exactly what swampy says) for it. :purple_circle: :horse: :athletic_shoe: , I hope you get your BLT!

A friend texted asking me to walk tomorrow since it’s going to be a beautiful day but I have to take Hubs for an opthamologist appointment and then give him his infusion. Also he wants to go walk at Greenfield Village. So, I suggested that we try for Wednesday.

60

Mrs. L.A. just went to the corner market for potato chips. Looks like she’s making a sandwich out of her leftover rib-eye steak. I guess I’ll eat my leftover steak, but I haven’t decided if it will be in a sandwich or on a plate. Actually… I think I’ll make a sanger. I’ll heat mine up. I just had a slice of Monster Muenster cheese. Might have another one.