Things To Do During Covid19 Crisis and a Chef’s Salad Recipe

Sitting here in my backyard watching my husband take a quick break to have lunch with me is a new reality. It’s nice to have a lunch buddy even if only for a short time. We have been in lock down for 6 or 7 weeks now since the Covid 19 breakout. My husband has been working from home in the spare bedroom taking conference calls from early in the morning until at least 5 or 6 Pm every weekday. I’m sure he has gained a bit of weight since I’m making him healthy lunches and dinners daily. We’ve only ordered out a few times: Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chipotle and Round Table Pizza were the few restaurants we chose to indulge in. 

My husband Ken and our Kitty while working from home

Normally I would write my blog at the club I belong to so I can focus and not be interrupted. But that luxury has been taken away since the quarantine. Instead I get to look at my beautiful garden, the squirrels that munch on the  birdseed and the scrub jay that snacks on the peanuts I provide. They are constant company and happy little friends who are grateful for my presence and heavy hand with the snacks.

 

The days begin and end in much the same way as before, except I read and watch more news to keep informed on the latest on the virus. I haven’t worn make up much or gotten dressed up since we aren’t going anywhere. I really should do something about that.  We’ve been social distancing by staying home, not entertaining and only going out for walks or bike rides, and an occasional trip to the market. 

Side view of back yard currently.

I have been spending time weeding, planting seeds and playing tug of war with the gophers. They made their way into my backyard raised bed a few weeks ago and my husband and I had to dig everything up, transplant all of my vegetables into temporary buckets, containers and my front raised bed. As soon as we accomplished this enormous task, the f@%^&*$king gophers got into my front yard raised bed! Now I’m hurrying to save those plants until the bed can be gopher proofed. It’s a huge chore and not easy, but I’ve been making the best of it.

Raised garden bed in back that has had to be replanted because of gopher damage.

This year I’m growing lettuce, kale, collards, spinach, sweet peas, green beans, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, onions, tomatoes, Swiss chard, rainbow chard, cucumber, pumpkins and squash. I love walking into my garden and  gathering fresh greens to make salads with.

Lettuce and kale picked fresh from our home garden

Today I made a chef’s salad with leftover ham from Easter. My husband loves ranch dressing, so I made a fresh batch of that to dress our salad. Here’s the recipe in case you want to have a yummy healthy salad.

Chefs Salad for two with fresh greens and herbs from the garden

Teri’s Chef’s Salad

 

Ingredients:

¾ head of Lettuce washed then torn to pieces

¼ C fresh organic Kale washed and sliced thin

2 pieces of bacon cooked crispy

2 hard boiled eggs

1 whole tomato seeded and cut up into bite sized pieces

2 slices of cheddar cheese cut into small chunks

2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese cut into small chunks

1 green onion sliced thin

1 T fresh Italian parsley chopped finely

Avocado (If you have one. We didn’t)

 

¼ C sour cream

¼ C mayonnaise

3 T Milk

1 T Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

 

Instructions:

In a large bowl, tear washed lettuce into bite size pieces. Add thinly sliced washed kale. Add chopped parsley and green onion. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, milk and ranch dip mix. 

Pour dressing into the sides of the bowl around lettuce. Toss with your hands and divide between two pasta size bowls. Add ham, cheeses, sliced avocado, hard boiled eggs cut in half and seasoned with salt and pepper, tomato and a touch more salt and pepper.  Serve immediately. 

I’ve also started sewing again. It seems masks are essential and short of supply, so yesterday I took to making them myself. Here’s the pattern I found on YouTube. My first attempt didn’t turn out all that great since I misjudged the pattern and they came out way too small. It’s okay because I was able to share them with a family that has little ones. My girlfriend Marie is using this pattern

Pediatric size masks hand made with love for some little ones

I will adapt the pattern and make it larger so these masks will fit adults.

Earth day was three days ago. Late to acknowledge but wanted to give a link to a recent post about cannabis when in Santa Cruz last year.

As you can see I’m keeping busy sewing, gardening and cooking for the ones I love. I’m in total awe of the nurses, doctors and first responders that are sacrificing their own lives to help the sick. I’m grateful for all the I have including my good health and hope everyone stays well.

Thank you for reading my blog and follow me if you aren’t already. Especially grateful for my WordPress family of readers and writers. What have you been doing while staying home? Would love to hear in the comment section below. Stay safe everyone.