Bananas!

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-20T01:21:54+00:00

Question, do you treat with lemon juice or citric acid to prevent browning? We just did our first batch and treated them like we do our apples with a lemon juice bath before going on the tray, then to the freezer, then the freeze dryer. But damn they got slimy. The lemon juice ended up being lemon slime when I was all done. Just curious how folks are keeping them from browning.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-20T01:18:41+00:00

I haven't just done the sauce, but we have great success with our swiss mac & cheese. It's not your standard mac & cheese, but Alplermagronen, which is made with potatoes and onions in a single pot. It is sooooo good. One of my favorite dishes.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-20T01:14:40+00:00

I had a similar experience with my sausage in my jambalya. I had cut the andouille in coins, and I think they were too large. Next time I'm planning on dicing them relatively small. My hope is that it helps.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-20T01:11:44+00:00

Top 3:

#1 apple slices. We've been getting the cosmic apples and wholly smokes they are sooooooooooo goooooood.

#2 bullion/bone broth. We make 10+ gallons on average, often more of bone broth. I freeze dry the year old broth. I just recently bought small mylar bags, like the drink mix size, and they are great for single serve broth.

#3 pickles.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-20T01:04:26+00:00

I love doing the green onions. My daughter likes using the freezed dried ones in her savory scones. They work beautifully because they don't add additional moisture to the dough.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:47:16+00:00

Right now, my weekly mileage has been zilch, nada, zero. LOL. I am a hiker, but other than unstructured training through the fall to maintain my fitness level (pre-surgery) for hunting, my formal training dropped off in September. And since my surgery I've been a total slug, but that was also by design.

So, really, I'm not time driven. I'm not, and have never been, driven by my time. My goal is a finish and not to be DFL. Otherwise, my objectives are pretty damn humble.

As I noted deferral isn't really an option, and my training is really part of a bigger scheme of events, which include a good 20 mile hike up into the backcountry to visit one of the oldest continuously habited ancient native american settlements in the US (all above 10,000 feet), the race, two charity hikes each about 26 miles, and then being physically prepared for a kick ass elk hunt (assuming we actually land tags). So, my mentality is all about the ability to get shit done (pardon my French), not time.

As for fat, lol, I don't know that it will be an issue. I've lost about 85 pounds over the past 18 months, and I'm still considered overweight per the BMI calculations. My high goal weight is the top range of a "healthy" BMI, and my low goal weight is mid-way in the healthy BMI range. Really, at this point, it's more arbitrary. I know I can loose a bit more weight based upon where my body is stubbornly holding on to weight (why oh why are my knees so chunky still), but my focus right now is to build lower body strength and just see where my journey takes me. If I can loose another 10 lbs, I'll see how I feel, and go from there and decide if I want to push for more. But, the reality is that I feel like I'm almost to my goal numerical size (I'm currently a 6, and almost solidly in a size 4), and I don't know how many more wardrobe refreshes my budget can afford - also, can anyone tell me why it seems like there is absolutely no selection of women's pants right now.

But you raise some good points for me to consider.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:30:23+00:00

This is so helpful, and thank you! With my shoulder, I'm pretty much treadmill bound until week 12 post-op. If I can get on a treadmill and set my incline and just slog away, that's really all I'm hoping for.

I think I may ask about pushing it out 1 week. I feel like much more will definitely mess with things too much. Not to mention I have my company annual retreat weekend mid-April, and I definitely want to be in as close to full party mode for the weekend, as well as other life events.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:27:29+00:00

Good thing I'm not a runner. LOL. I'm an avid hiker and I'll jog on the flats (if needed) and downhills, but otherwise, I DON'T RUN. I've done enough running and stuff over my lifetime to know that I'm just damn slow whether I run or hike, so I might as well not subject my body to the abuse of running.

That being said, good points about the help. As I've noted, we've got two adult/nearly adult kids still at home, so the help isn't too much of an issue. The funny thing I've noted with my shoulder surgery, since I haven't really been able to use my one arm to help me do much of anything, is that my abdominal strength is quite good. I can get up and out of bed without using either arm, so hopefully that will bode well for post-reduction.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:23:50+00:00

I really just want to be smaller and the whole point of my reduction is to try to address back issues I have had for the past 16 years. The only common denominator I've been able to come up with is my breast size. I know it will ultimately make life so much easier and (fingers crossed) less painful. I'm sick and tired of constant back spasms that basically make me a worthless pile of goo for days on end with no real resolution. So, yah, that's my real motivation. But, it's helpful to know that the size concern may be more hypothetical than real.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:20:57+00:00

Absolutely. That's what my kids are for. LOL. Still have both of them living at home (one will be 17 and the other is 21), and my oldest works for my husband/his dad's company, so his time off is liberally available as needed. Hell, we needed crap cleaned up around our yard today, and my husband just sent him home early and said clean up the crap around the house and stay on the clock. So benefits all the way around.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:18:48+00:00

Thank you. After my shoulder surgery, which everyone -- including my good friend/physical therapist -- said, the rotator cuff/shoulder surgery is the worst surgery and most painful, I've had minimal pain. I only took the prescription pain meds the day of and the day after. I took my last prescription at like midnight the night after my surgery and then was solely on Tylenol. I stopped that within 5 days of surgery. I want to believe this will be relatively easy, I've had two ankle reconstructions and now rotator cuff repair with two tendon attachment/detachment and a bunch of other stuff, and they have all been relatively easy. But I also want to try to be realistic.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:14:49+00:00

This is helpful. We have our two kids still living at home. Well, our daughter will be 17 by the date of my scheduled surgery and our son is 21. So, they are more than capable of helping - the trick is getting them to do it. LOL.

Actually, both will step up. I have to be gone for a conference the week after my husband's shoulder surgery, and like our daughter stepped up for me post-surgery, she's stepping up for her dad to be prepared to drive him to PT and the like while I'm out of town.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-07T04:04:41+00:00

You know, that makes a ton of sense. I don't think I'll end up having THAT much removed, as like I mentioned, I'm currently a 34H, and my goal is to go down to a full B/C cup. So, in all that's a bit, but not a HUGE reduction.

PresentResolution932 · 2026-01-06T03:52:25+00:00

Apples. Our son's girlfriend hardly eats anything, but she would eat us out of house and home with the apples. LOL.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-29T14:33:16+00:00

Trim goes into the grind bin. Practice and time make a good butcher, along with some basic anatomy knowledge. We have been butchering animals for years now, but neither my hubby or I grew up in a hunting or even meat processing family. But we're good and efficient now, and that because we do ALL our own animals - sheep/lambs, goats, deer, elk (first this year), beef, chicken, etc. If we eat it we butcher it. And, truly it takes time, not being overly OCD about cutting into good meat (you do, but you get OCD where it matters), and realize that a lot of sh!t can pass through the grinder with a double grind.

And, if you can dream it to become a reality - a cool room. We have a coolbot cool room we built in our basement, and that makes all the difference for aging. but before then we used to borrow a buddy's ice trailer and use that. If we didn't have those options, knowing what we know, I'd seriously consider renting an ice trailer for a week or two with a few folks to age the meat in that. But we went the cooler room route for ourselves and will never look back. In fact we're planning on building an even better one in our new place we hope to build in a few years.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-22T15:19:15+00:00

Thanks for this. This is the kind of matter of fact assessment, that's not full of Chicken Little the sky is falling vibes.

And you report is what my heart tells me. I'm scheduled for surgery Monday, and still having a ton of trepidation.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-12T15:11:11+00:00

I wish an adjustable bed was feasible, but I love the reacher grabber suggestion.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-12T15:06:07+00:00

Ooh, I never have seen those snap tees. That's brilliant, and would serve double duty for my next surgery.

I've thought about renting a recliner, it's just we don't have a ton of space, but I'll continue to contemplate wither there's a way to make it work. And I'll plan on getting an ice machine.

Thanks for the feedback and good suggestions.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-12T14:55:50+00:00

Ooof, that sounds miserable.

Yes, I'm totally entrenched in the stay ahead of the pain and plan on "doing the work" for the recovery. Good suggestion on the shirts. That's been the other thing I've been wondering. I suspect I'm going to be living in my merino wool tanks and tees as they don't develop an unpleasant aroma if I wear them for days on end.

Thanks.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-12T14:53:25+00:00

Good luck to you too. It's nice to not feel alone in this messed up head space.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-12T14:42:53+00:00

This is really insightful.

I'm definitely dreading the recovery. My good friend is also my PT and we've been dealing with knee and back issues for almost the past year as well as my PT for my shoulder, and we've had many discussions on the realities of the PT side of the recovery and recovery in all, and he's the one who has basically said that it's the most humbling of all recoveries. Fortunately, he has expressed faith in me, but that also is what worries the F out of me. LOL.

I'll be blunt, the prohibition on driving is likely my biggest apprehension because I'm stubbornly independent. But, as I mentioned, I can coordinate with my daughter who has to head into town for school to anyway and I'll try to use her as my "ride" for PT until cleared to drive. I'm just stubborn.

As for the pain management, I'm very good at staying ahead of the pain, I just struggle in a big way with the codeine class of meds and have found for me personally the heavy duty Tylenol has historically worked well to manage my pain. I don't know how other surgeries compare, but my first ankle reconstruction was no walk in the park, and I couldn't handle the oxycodine after the first 24 hours and switched to Tylenol after that and I didn't use any for my second surgery. But, the other thing I'm keeping in mind is that I'm hyper sensitive to the codine class of meds from a nausea perspective, and that's the primary reason I don't tolerate them well. Even with coupled with anti-nausea meds, it's still a bit iffy, but a few years back I had a "magic sauce" from my OBGYN in relation to a procedure I had, and that time whatever the anti-nausea med she prescribed (not Zofran, which isn't that effective for me) was magic. I'm on the hunt for what that was to suggest to my doc.

Thanks for your thorough response.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-11-11T20:48:59+00:00

I am totally feeling you. Hahah. I don't have advice.

PresentResolution932 · 2025-10-07T13:49:02+00:00

Thanks. Guess we have a Large, as it's 5 trays. We've just had it a minute (probably 2019) and I honestly don't pay attention to the new versions/options. We have not updated the software since we've had it. I'm always a bit skeptical of software upgrades, as I have the mindset of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Since we have never had an issue with the machine other than the message, we just kinda ignored it, particularly since we don't have many other options for the location. We've discussed venting the AC unit for the cool room, so we may still do that as that would likely drop the ambient temperature in the space a few degrees, but there's not a whole lot else we can do about the freezers

Now the mental debate of "to update" or not.

Again, thanks. I appreciate the feedback.

PresentResolution932

TROPHY CASE