Smoked Paprika

 I follow the food blog Cafe Sucre Farine. Although her recipes and ideas seem to produce attractive food, I have made very few. Mostly, because she uses ingredients that are hard to find in my small town or that cost too much for just one recipe. However, after reading her tip to buy smoked paprika at Costco, I plan to try several of her recipes that use this ingredient.

I can buy over 8 ounces of smoked paprika at Costco for what it costs to buy 2-4 ounces in my local grocery stores. I have sprinkled some on grilled vegetables, grilled shrimp, and on chicken fajitas. None of those are from recipes, just me doing my own thing. Chris assures us that the spice stays flavorful for a long time; I can take my time experimenting with it.

Last night was the second time I have made a version of chicken fajitas using the paprika.

I used the leftover peppers from Saturday's vegetable/sausage skillet, some onion from the bulb I bought at the farmers' market, and towards the end I threw in a few small tomatoes. The frozen grilled chicken strips make this dish easy. The only seasoning I used was the smoked paprika. The chicken/pepper mixture was spooned into warmed flour tortillas and topped with some shredded cheese. We had Spanish rice along side. It all was very tasty.

The ad circular for my Kroger store featured a dozen roses for $6. I added a bunch to my online order which I picked up after my doctor's appointment this morning.

My x-rays showed no "gaps" between the vertebra replaced in December; the bone is maturing in the "cages" and the motion and instability is now gone after the posterior fusion done in May. My roses became celebration flowers.

 I have some low-level pain toward the top of my shoulder blades. When I mentioned it to the surgeon today, I didn't even have to point to the location. He knew exactly what I was talking about and instantly touched the spot. He said it is muscle pain and should continue to decrease. He offered to write a prescription for a muscle relaxant, but I told him I still have some tizanidine I use at bedtime. I would use it during the day if it wasn't so sedating, but the pain is tolerable enough during waking hours.

 We won't know for probably another 6 months if the healing/fusing of C4/5 and C5/6 is a complete success. It takes a long time for the body to generate new bone to fill in the spaces. I will go for another set of x-rays in one month, but so far things are progressing well. My neck feels tight when I move it different directions so I need to continue with range-of-motion and strengthening exercises at home. I had slacked off the past 10 days because I developed pain at the base of my right thumb from using the therabands.