Old Man Muscle is Im-press-ive and Kitchen Sink Spaghetti

"Good Man" from Devour the Day just keeps cycling through the Texas Hippie Coalition iHeart station playlist and I love the song, lyrics, theme and name of the band!

"Good Man"

I want to be a good man, I want to see God
I want to be faithful but I know that I’m not
I want to be a good man, I want to do right
I don’t wanna be a criminal for the rest of my life

Everything that I've done before
Has brought me back down to my knees
I’m crying out to you, Lord
It’s getting harder and harder to see
If there’s good left in me?
Is there any good left in..ME!!!

Is there any good left in me?
I want to be a good man
Is there any good left in me?

I want to be be a good man, I wanna be a saved
I want to be a free man but I feel like a slave
and I’m crying out to you, Lord
It’s getting harder and harder to see
If there’s good left in me?

Is there any good left in me?
I want to be a good man
Is there any good left in me?
I want to be a good man
Is there any good left in me?
I want to be a good man
Is there any good left?

Pull me from the darkness, lift me back into the light
Fill this empty vessel, fill this hole I have inside
Am I worth forgiveness, I can’t make myself believe
Show me that you’re listening and tear this devil out of me

I want to be a good man
Is there any good left in me?
I want to be a good man
I want to be a good man
Is there good left in me?
I want to be a good man
Is there any good left in me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70FI3c2ARKM

Don't really see much Good in Me.... I've achieved a state of solitary equilibrium where I do no harm by doing nothing.

Montaigne would be proud!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_de_Montaigne

His fame rests on the Essais, a collection of a large number of short subjective treatments of various topics published in 1580, inspired by his studies in the classics, especially by the works of Plutarch and Lucretius.^[31] Montaigne's stated goal is to describe humans, and especially himself, with utter frankness. Montaigne's writings are studied as literature and philosophy around the world.

Inspired by his consideration of the lives and ideals of the leading figures of his age, he finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features. He describes his own poor memory, his ability to solve problems and mediate conflicts without truly getting emotionally involved, his disdain for the human pursuit of lasting fame, and his attempts to detach himself from worldly things to prepare for his timely death. He writes about his disgust with the religious conflicts of his time. He believed that humans are not able to attain true certainty. The longest of his essays, Apology for Raymond Sebond, contains his famous motto, "What do I know?"

Montaigne considered marriage necessary for the raising of children, but disliked strong feelings of passionate love because he saw them as detrimental to freedom.

The first real snow of the year in Santa Fe and a view of the Rail Trail with a white veil.

There's just something about fresh snow that is so....

Cleansing!

And if you want something to wake up your senses and cleanse your musical palette....

Try some Alabama Thunderpussy on for size!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDRp6zyAnng

What ever happened to Ed Kowalczyk?

Simple meal for a Simple Man!

Chicken breast on toasted Pugliese bread with tomato, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper and kalamata olives.

Oh.... so you want to do some 1 arm presses - do ya?

Well... the knees may be shot and the squats may be light....

But if you wanna press, curl or chin-up.... this Old Man can press, curl or chin-up with the best of 'em!

70# push presses for 5 reps at 175# bodyweight.... Knowing what these other guys look like, I'd say that puts me at the top of the leader board on a # lifted / # walking basis!

Snow on the mountains.... looking down Agua Fria at St Francis.

Kitchen Sink Spaghetti? Why do you call it that Wills?

Cause it's got everything but the Kitchen Sink in it!

Starting with a pile of Sweet Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Poblano Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper and 5 stalks of Bok Choy!

Bok Choy in Spaghetti?

Hey - who's making this anyway?

Holy Shit! You weren't kidding - All of this goes in the pot in stages....

Squash, Zucchini, Carrots, Asparagus, Haricot Vert (Fancy French Green Beans), Mushrooms, Parsley, Bok Choy greens.

Yep - this is semi-homemade so 2 cans of diced basil, oregano, garlic tomatoes, 2 jars of Newman's Sockarooni, a cup of chicken broth and regular spaghetti and non-gluten spaghetti (a new component I'm trying for the first time).

Everything prep'd - Geez it looks like an Army of Veggies!

Into a 20 quart pot with the first round of veggies.

After 5 minutes of sauteing, add the first meat - about 8 oz of my "meat loaf" style ground turkey breast mix.

2nd meat is a 95% lean pork counterpart.

5 more minutes of cooking and add the squash, zucchini, fine diced ginger and garlic and a cup of chicken broth and a good glug glug of red wine. Yes.... I did say ginger.... but no Mary Ann!

Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 jars of spaghetti sauce

And maybe the most important component - 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. This seems to smooth out the acidity of the tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Meanwhile, back at Camp Spaghetti, the other half of the asparagus, green beans and some thin sliced squash and zucchini get a nice grill in a cast iron skillet while the 2 pastas do their 8 minute laps.

Let me tell you, I have never cooked the non-gluten pasta before and it did not turn out right. I treated it the same as regular spaghetti stirring frequently and it still clumped together and turned the boiling water milky white as you can see on the right.

Won't try this stuff again.... I'll just deal with the carbs in the regular pasta.

Last elements in the pasta is 8 oz of diced roasted chicken breast, a good helping of kale, the bok choy greens and a handful of julienned parsley and basil.

Once the pasta is drained, hit it with a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkling of julienned basil, salt and pepper.

I cast iron skillet grilled a few slices of rustic Pugliese loaf and some tomato-olive focaccia bread for some more carbs and threw in a few slices of crisped up Proscuitto as a spaghetti or bread topper.