Part 4…Suggestions from readers…Two days and counting…

This is the famous Radcliffe Camera Building at Oxford University, UK, one of the best-known buildings on the 38-campus site.

Continuing our posts from the past three days, our dear readers and long-time cruise friends Judy and Gary suggested topics for future posts. Yesterday, we covered the first, second, and third items on the list below. Today, we’re covering the fourth item, “best and worst meals we’ve cooked.”

Here are a few topics to consider;
Favorite cruise lines
Favorite ports
Best and worst cruise ship excursion you’ve taken
Best and worst meal you’ve cooked
Favorite and least favorite country you’ve visited
Favorite and least favorite city you’ve visited

Regarding the “best meals we’ve cooked,” there are countless favorites we’ve enjoyed over the years. To keep this post within a reasonable size, we’ll review the meals we’ve cooked since we’ve traveled the world for almost 12 years.

In many countries where we’ve stayed for months and cooked most of our meals, we’ve had the glorious opportunity to enjoy locally-grown produce, chicken, eggs, and meat. When we arrive at a new location, we often search for the best local foods to purchase to prepare our meals.

However, most of these ingredients are used to prepare recipes we already know we like. Although we often try new recipes, we find them online or stored in one of my clouds. Overall, I have about 3000 recipes to reference at any time. As a result, we can’t recall a meal we prepared that we didn’t like.

As for those meals we’ve especially enjoyed, the list is infinite. We had favorites of, course, all of which are suitable for my keto way of eating, which include:

  • Pizza with Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, sliced green olive, homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella and parmesan
  • Chicken Pot Pie made with an almond flour crust
  • Unwiches – similar to lettuce-wrapped unwiches at Jimmy John’s
  • Meatballs with homemade red sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese
  • Tuna patties
  • Chicken bakes (keto copycat from Costco)
  • Stir fry with chicken or beef
  • Steak, salad and veg
  • Chicken salad with a side salad
  • Taco salad (no shell, keto spices)

The above ten items are staples we frequently make with various changes to some ingredients that satisfy our taste buds and create a pleasant menu for a few evening meals. We often make enough of each dish for two to three meals. If we go out to dinner for several evenings, we can quickly freeze any of these dishes, except for the unwiches we make fresh each evening.

When we’re in a pinch and don’t have something delicious on hand, we can always make mushroom, bacon, and onion omelets with bacon on the side, all of which ingredients we tend to keep on hand.

I have undoubtedly written about these meals over and over again. But for our new readers, we decided to reiterate our choices, following along on the list suggested by friends/readers Judy and Gary, whom we thank one more time for providing us with these helpful ideas.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful day with lunch with my dear friend Karen, who happened to be in Minneapolis on business. Tom picked me and my wheelchair up at 5:30, and we headed to another restaurant in Hopkins to meet up with Tammy and Tracy for our final goodbyes. Again, we had a lovely dinner with the two of them. I had a small appetizer for lunch with Karen and a Caesar salad for dinner.

That’s it for today, folks. Soon, Tom will drive me to Hopkins to meet my dear friend Chere for our pedicures. She and her husband Gary returned from three weeks in Africa yesterday. I can’t wait to hear more about their adventures, although we connected via WhatsApp during their three-week vacation. She sent me photos almost every day!

After the pedicures, Tom will pick me up, and we’ll head to Billy’s Bar and Grill for our final visit with his siblings. We’ll get together with Greg and the three grandkids tomorrow afternoon for an early dinner and say goodbye.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, August 23, 2014:

At Oxford University, UK, there were a few streets where no cars were allowed to make getting through the crowds easier. For more photos, please click here.