I’ve been in the kitchen all morning, preparing tonight’s dinner to bring to the family. (our place is too tiny for all seven of us). It’s one of our favorite all-in-one dinners: Low Carb Sausage, Mushroom, and Chicken Casserole. Now, it is in the refrigerator, ready to be baked at about 6:00 pm, and ready for the arrival of the fourth of Tom’s six sisters, Rita, who is flying in early this evening.
To go with it, I prepped a huge salad to toss with homemade dressing before serving. There will be enough for the seven of us tonight and plenty of leftovers for everyone for the next few days. Hopefully, they all like it. I feel pretty confident they will. In addition, I froze an uncooked extra pan for the two of us for another dinner that we’ll savor some time in our remaining 17 days until we head to California to see my sister Julie.
Amid my busy morning, I walked, hoping to get in all my daily scheduled steps and yoga exercises. Getting up and out of bed by 7:15, I had plenty of time to do everything, leaving ample time to do today’s post. Yesterday, I cooked and diced the Italian sausages and chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces to include in the dish.
Preparing the meat ahead was a time saver, making this morning’s prep considerably easier. Now, I’m waiting for the washed lettuce to drain in the strainer in the sink and will soon wrap it in a bath towel to dry further in the refrigerator before adding it to the other ingredients in the salad.
It’s funny how we all have little cooking routines, hoping to make the final dinnertime preparations at a minimum. I do not enjoy chopping, dicing, or preparing other ingredients just before dinner. Prepping all the ingredients well in advance makes the final preparation easy.
Once we decide we’re hungry and ready for dinner, the longest it ever takes is to cook a steak, burger, pork chop, or piece of fish and Tom’s white rice, which cooks for 20 minutes in a pot with a lid on the stovetop.
When we did the laundry a few days ago, we folded everything while in the laundry room rather than dumping it into the basket to become wrinkled. This way, we never have to iron, which I’ve rarely done in our travels. Besides, most of our clothes are “wash and wear,” but even those can become wrinkled if not appropriately handled after coming out of a dryer.
This morning on the Garage Logic podcast, Joe Soucheray mentioned how long we stay at new locations, saying, “Boy, when the Lymans come to visit, they sure stay a long time.”
So true. At this point, Joe and his staff have no idea what we’ve been doing in the US for so long due to my current medical issue and planning for the future. Daily, when Tom sends “This Year in Minnesota History,” Joe mentions the ‘traveling Lymans,'” our website, and where we are at any given time. It’s fun that he mentions Tom’s five-day-a-week contribution and our location daily. At some point in the next few months, we’ll explain why we are in the US for so long.
If you haven’t heard this mention of us, click this link, any day of the week, and scroll to the podcast’s last seven or eight minutes to hear Joe mention us. It’s been such fun for us when we listen each day.
That’s it for today, dear readers. Now, I’ll return to walking and soon do the yoga routine which changes daily for 28 days. It’s a good plan at BetterMe.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, April 13, 2014:
Oscar Mayer is looking for someone who would relish the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of America’s most iconic vehicles.
The processed meat giant has launched a nationwide search for its next crew of Hotdoggers — paid spokespeople who drive the brand’s famous hot dog-shaped Wienermobiles around the country.
The company is hiring 12 drivers to get behind the wheel of the 27-foot-long vehicle, which is equivalent in length to 54 wieners laid end to end.
The Hotdoggers’ main responsibility is to represent Oscar Mayer daily as they drive the 87-year-old Wienermobile around America between June 2024 and June 2025.
“It’s like they’re running a PR firm on wheels,” says Ed Roland, who runs the Wienermobile program. “They’re key content contributors to all of our social media channels. It’s some of the highest performing content for all of [parent company] Kraft Heinz.”
Oscar Mayer has a fleet of six Wienermobiles. Hotdoggers will travel in pairs and be expected to host over 200 pop-up events over the course of the year. They will be responsible for “pitching and appearing on local television, radio or newspaper media,” according to the job listing.
If you want the gig, be ready to present your driving record. The average driver travels 20,000 miles each year, Oscar Mayer says, visiting at least 40 cities.
“It’s a lot like an RV,” Roland says. ”[Applicants] do not need a CDL or any special driver’s license.”
The role will require Hotdoggers to work on major holidays and spend the majority of their year away from home.
The listing says that the one-year assignment will pay a base salary of $35,600, with an additional weekly allowance of $150 for meals and personal travel. Hotdoggers will receive health benefits and 18 days of paid time off, and their hotel expenses will be covered.
In a typical year, the Wienermobile program receives between 1,000 and 1,500 applications for the 12 open slots but has gotten as many as 7,000 in a single year.
Oscar Mayer will accept applications through the end of January and says that bilingual candidates, in particular, are encouraged to apply.
You can apply for the role here.”
This might be a fun experience for retirees who want to supplement their income, although the pay isn’t much, and see the US at the same time. However, it was quite a task to set everything up to cook the hotdogs, prepare the toppings at every stop, and clean up after the event ended, only to get back on the road again to the following location.
Enjoy our Weinermobile photos, which bring back memories from our youth.
Be well.