We are each also entrusted with the care of our bodies. Most of us don't take that trust very seriously. We abuse our bodies by over-eating, under-watering, tobacco use or alcohol abuse, pot, or more serious drugs, or sex. We over-exercise or under-exercise. We get face lifts or other cosmetic surgery, use all kinds of chemicals to overcome the things we don't like about ourselves. Few of us truly take care of the body we've been entrusted with & we suffer now or later. I know a guy who's 47 who has used pot for years to handle life & now has decided to quit using chemical crutches. He now has to cope with going without his crutch & learn to handle feelings & life in a new manner. The longer we've been at it the harder it is to make the changes. I used to abuse over the counter ibuprofen & sodium naproxin. I'm not sure why I had so much back & knee pain, headaches, etc. This was while I was with the man I just divorced, so that may explain a lot. Eventually I read about CoQ10 & now take 100 mg twice a day (because when I read about it, I also read that it's better for absorption than taking 200 mg at once). Now my knees no longer hurt. It's a very healthy supplement - supplements generally supply something our bodies make but in lesser amounts as we get older, & without side effects. Anyway, I started to develop an ulcer from the pain killers, which also led to iron deficiency. They really do mean those warnings on the bottle. I quit using them & now seldom can even when I really need them, like when I get hurt. We often abuse ourselves with legal, easy to obtain things.
Anything we do to excess or neglect is going to cause problems at some point, because our bodies aren't equipped for long-term abuse & neglect. Right now I'm seeing signs of dehydration, which means I've again been neglecting my liquid intake over a period of time. Our bodies are 70% water & all functions of it need water to work smoothly. So today I'm taking the hint & stepping my intake back up. Too much liquid intake can also cause a problem, by the way. Most of us tend toward too little though.
What we need to do is truly love, honor, & care for our bodies. Most of us change the oil in our cars regularly, clean the kitchen, mow the lawn, etc. We give more regularly attention & care to the things we own than to our selves. We need to understand that our bodies are finely tuned instruments just like a grand piano, fine violin, race car engine, etc. Just as we listen when an instrument gets out of tune or the car sounds different, we need to listen to our bodies. Better yet, be proactive & take good care of all these instruments before they have to tell us something's wrong. I'm talking to myself here too. I'm getting better about it, but still have a long way to go. For example, I haven't had any alcohol since I wrote the tea party blog. So I see I'm truly not an alcoholic as writing about it made me wonder. I simply carry the genes, the tendency. I haven't sworn off alcohol entirely, by the way. I would have a few glasses of wine with a fine dinner on a date, or a drink with a friend. I'm simply not going to use alcohol again as an out or a way to get to sleep. Instead, I corrected the sleep problem, which is proper handling. I identified what was wrong - my bed & my room, & corrected them. I hadn't changed the room enough since I shared it with my ex. It was full of things from our life together, including our bed. I sold the bed & got exactly what I wanted, changed the furnishings & decorations, made it all mine. Now I sleep better than I have in many years. A final word on alcohol - cooking with it doesn't count, because the alcohol cooks off. Adding it in the end does, like pouring sherry into pea soup (a French or German custom). However, only those who are entirely intolerant of alcohol would need to worry about the small portion used at that point. Many things, from ice cream to alcohol, are ok in moderation & on occasion, unless you have a specific problem or health issue. Yet even diabetics can eat ice cream in moderation & on occasion.
Now to the recipe & story. I can't find the recipe so this is from years of experience, but not recent. I seldom eat red meat any more. For this you definitely need a splatter screen or you're going to have a lot of clean up afterwards. I coat the bottom of my largest non-stick skillet with melted butter (not margarine), then pan fry uncoated cube steaks on medium high heat. They cook pretty quickly, just a few minutes each side, & you might want to try half butter, half olive oil. I've been watching the cooking channel since I last made this. Use the splatter screen while cooking the meat. Once the meat is done, remove it to a platter & cover it with a lid to keep warm. While the meat is cooking, slice 1-2 bunches of spring onions, depending on taste & # of steaks. Once you remove the steaks, add the onions to the butter & pan drippings, adding more butter if needed. Saute until soft, then add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of sherry. I use the cheapest sweet or dry sherry the liquor store has - just don't use cream sherry. I don't use cooking sherry from the grocery because that has less flavor & a lot of sodium. If you use that, don't add salt. I use the sherry to deglaze the pan, & scrape up all the drippings in the pan. Add a little salt & pepper to taste & reduce the glaze. I use 2 bunches of onions & around 1/2 cup of sherry so that I have enough, after reduction, to pour over the top of all the steaks, as that's what has the real flavor. I serve this with rice pilaf & a vegetable. It's easy & quick, delicious, so I used to make it a lot when my kids were little. One day after serving it, my son was taught about alcohol being a drug in elementary school. So of course he told his teacher & the class that his mommy cooked him steak with drugs the night before! Then, of course he came home & told me about it at the dinner table. He trusted me, loves the dish, so to him it was kind of an amazement thing rather than being upset by it. I hadn't thought about it until then, had to explain that cooking took all the alcohol out of the sauce & just left the flavor. Still, the kids got a big kick out of "Mommy cooking with drugs" every time I made this afterwards. Fortunately, I never did hear from the school on that one! I was kind of surprised I didn't get a phone call, but I guess the teacher was more savvy than that, probably an inventive cook herself.
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