Radically Retired

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  • Happiness Is …

    Happiness Is …

    It’s so hard to grasp that 1966 was 60 years ago.

    I was seven years old when Ray Conniff released the song that has lyrics true to this day.

    Happiness truly is “different things to different people”, as the iconic and familiar lyrics state.

    When we sold our condo and started renting a condo from a friend, I was dismayed that the oven in our rental was completely unpredictable in terms of temperature and sometimes was so far out, that I couldn’t risk using it. I was especially distressed because my fussy French macarons need predictable and accurate oven temps.

    Despite how much I insisted, hubs was against letting our friend/landlord know. He didn’t want us to be “those” tenants.

    Finally, last week, I decided to risk hubs’ ire for a day or two and called our landlord. I worded it that I thought he’d want to know because every year, things get more expensive to replace. He agreed 100% and said that from here on in, if anything at all stops working properly, he wants to know immediately.

    My new stove (feature photo) arrived the day before yesterday and everything works perfectly.

    After I made his fave oven-prepared dish for dinner, hubs was ok with the situation, and decided that maybe we need a new fridge too 🤦‍♀️.

  • 3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    One of my favourite cold weather comfort foods is chili con carne. People seldom use the full name anymore and have shortened it to chili.

    Although this dish was originally Tex Mex (from the border area of Texas and Mexico), I can recall my mom at home in Canada making her version of it when I was a child. Mom always called it by its full name.

    In researching chili for this post, I was surprised to learn that the dish was introduced to eastern Canada in the early 1900’s. I wondered, given the distance, how that could be? Further reading explained that a group from San Antonio introduced it at a chili stand at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. This explained a lot, because Chicago is much closer and Canadians were very well represented at that fair.

    There are many variations of this hearty meat stew, and I make it a bit differently each time.

    The one in my feature photo has carrots, red bell pepper, button mushrooms, onions, celery, and three bean varieties with the lean ground beef and diced tomatoes. I prepared it in my Instant Pot, as I do all of my soups and stews. Pressure cooking has a way of locking in and enhancing flavours, which is key in one-pot meals.

    We like our chili either over a baked potato, or with a side of toast. Sometimes I garnish it with shredded cheese and/or sour cream.

    If you eat this dish, what sides do you enjoy with it? I’m always looking for new ideas.

    I used the Touch Retouch App to clean up the bowl. As I did this, I recalled cooking competitions on TV, and how the chefs always wipe the edges of the dishes and bowls before serving.

    By doing this task digitally, I was able to finally realize why that’s done.

    Here’s the dish before cleanup.

    Much more appealing with the dishing up smears removed, I think. Do you agree?

  • Happiest Places

    Happiest Places

    After walking the same six streets over and over again in our south Texas park for the past six months, I’m loving being back to our walking/biking/hiking trails here at home in Sask, Canada.

    There’s just something about the trees getting ready to leaf out, the fresh air, the river, the variety of trails, and the familiarity of home that makes my morning walks here at home so peaceful, meaningful, enjoyable, and special.

    The winding trails are always inviting
    Bridges over the Souris River are plentiful and varied in design
    Our city does a great job of path management and maintenance
    The river views from the many bridges are always peaceful and grounding
    One of the many bridges on this trail – one day I’ll make a post about all of them
    You always wonder what’s around the next bend

    Do you have a place that’s your happiest?

  • Boxed Dinner

    Boxed Dinner

    This week, Healthy Choice gourmet frozen steamer bowls are on sale at our local Co-op supermarket.

    I recalled liking these many years ago, so decided to pick up a few today.

    Wiki says this about the brand:

    According to ConAgra’s official corporate history, Healthy Choice came into being after then-ConAgra CEO, Charles “Mike” Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985. Forced to dramatically alter his diet, he came up with the idea of a line of healthier frozen foods.

    Hubs is away at a poker tournament this afternoon, so I decided to make one of these for my dinner.

    I wasn’t disappointed. The meal was colourful, flavourful, and the exact right amount for the lighter evening meal that I prefer. The chicken was tender and juicy, and with a 4 minute microwave cook, the noodles were the exact al dente that I like.

    An added plus is that the WW Points for this meal weighs in at only six. That’s a small number of points for a satisfying meal.

    Yes, btw – I’m back to tracking my food again with the WW App. In 2018, I lost 40 lbs by following the WW smart points system. For a long time, I maintained the loss with a few minor ups and downs in weight, no tracking, and exercise only. I’ve recently regained a few lbs that have been more resistive to leaving me, so back I go to tracking.

  • Positives for the Win

    Positives for the Win

    Yesterday morning, I looked out my balcony door and saw that the snowfall from the previous day was completely gone. I donned my winter coat and enjoyed my first outdoor walk since we arrived back home.

    At just above freezing, it was a chilly morning. In spite of that, the air was clean and fresh, and after a couple of city blocks to get to the river boardwalk, I realized that I had bundled up a bit too warm. Now I know what to wear when I head out for my walk today.

    After walking up and down the same streets of a south Texas RV Park all winter, the riverside walk was most welcome, and even though the water will be muddy for a while yet, the ice is completely gone.

    On my way to the boardwalk, I ran into two gals from my hometown who I’ve known all of my life. Yes, it slowed my average power walk pace, but our 30+ minute visit catching up was fun and enjoyable.

    Each and every negative had a positive side that was stronger. Don’t you love it when that happens?

  • Shout Out Time

    Shout Out Time

    First off, my feature photo isn’t mine. It’s from the blogger I’m shouting out today.

    For some time, I’ve been following a recipe blog named “The Wholesome Spoon”

    Lex, the author is a young, midwest USA Mom who creates recipes that are easy to follow and have ingredients most of us have on hand or can easily access at our local supermarkets.

    I’ve tried many of Lex’s recipes and every one has been a hit with both hubs and me, as well as with our friends and family.

    I’d highly recommend that you check her blog out here . You won’t be sorry.

  • More Pros than Cons

    More Pros than Cons

    I said to hubs the other day, that although I love the winter weather in South Texas, pretty much everything else is better here at home.

    We got a little skiff of snow yesterday (feature photo), but temps are going to be above freezing from now until the end of the month, so it’ll all be melted in a couple of days.

    Things are easier here.

    I can walk across the street and through a parking lot to get to a familiar, large and newly renovated supermarket. It’s a Co-op store that I’ve shopped at since I was old enough to drive here from our home town (18 miles/28 km away).

    It’s a 2-block walk from our condo building to the downtown area, and I can be guaranteed that on any walk to the grocery store or the downtown area, I’ll run into someone I’ve known all of my life.

    Family is here. My mom lives less than two blocks away. I have two sisters who also live here, and another sister and my brother live in our home town (20 minute drive away). My dad’s youngest sister is more like a big sister than an aunt to me. She and her husband live across the street from us.

    Our walking trails are beckoning already. In Texas, my walking route is around our RV park … over and over again for 6 months.

    Here, I can walk on a different path every day for weeks on end and always see something new. In addition, many of the groomed trails are on the city outskirts (which I also walk to) and are beautiful nature trails among wildlife habitats.

    I like our Canadian bread, beef, eggs, flour, and poultry better. It’s all in what you get used to.

    We have many restaurants in walking distance and there’s a new movie theatre nearing completion two blocks from here.

    The ice hockey rink is nearby and the junior team hubs played with many years ago is in playoffs now. We’ll definitely be attending some games and he’ll no doubt touch base with friends from “back in the day”.

    There’s so much more, but I think by now, that you get the picture.

    As Dorothy Gale’s famous final line says, “There’s no place like home”.

  • A Cold Weather Feast

    A Cold Weather Feast

    For quite some time, I’ve been craving a good old pot roast meal.

    Hubs isn’t a fan of roast beef, so I seldom make it. In fact, I believe it’s over a year since I’ve made a roast beef dinner.

    Yesterday, I purchased a nicely marbled chuck roast (bottom blade in Canada) and cooked it in my Instant Pot. Tougher well-marbled cuts are the best for Instant Pot cooking.

    The preparation is a breeze, and except for the peas and the salad, it was a one-pot meal and most welcome on a cold Saskatchewan day.

    The meat was fork tender and hubs even commented that he liked it.

    Win-win!

  • Road Trip Home 2026 – Day 5

    Road Trip Home 2026 – Day 5

    Our hotel in Bismarck, ND was near the state Capitol. Once again, we’ve been to and through Bismarck many times and have never stopped by the Capitol building.

    It was a cold and windy day, but the stop was worthwhile.

    I was quite surprised to see that the building is modern.

    The main building
    To the left of the tall office building
    Statue of John Burke, 10th Governor of ND 1907-1913
    Plaque at base of statue
    I have a new bucket list idea
    Liberty Memorial Building and State Library
    Fire escape at back of Liberty Memorial building caught my eye
    The name plaques are underneath

    As we drove farther north, the snow dissipated until it was completely gone! This was a new, unexpected, and most welcome experience for us.

    Falkirk Coal Mine, Underwood, ND
    Near Gardiner Dam ND
    Lewis and Clark Interprative Center Washburn ND. We didn’t stop this time. This is an old photo of a previous stop
    Approaching the land border at Portal ND
    North Portal, Canada Border
    Our home province
    Southeast Sask is a part of the Bakken Play. Our area is home to the second largest oil field in Canada
    We made a quick stop to pick up my traditional Easter treat
    Estevan, Sk coal mining museum
    Lignite Louie is Estevan’s coal mining mascot
    The first drag line in the Estevan area – now retired and tiny compared to the massive lines that work now
    The old power plant, now a museum, welcomes us home to Weyburn, SK

    It was a good road trip home. I hope you enjoyed traveling with us via these posts.

    Now, a lot of this for a few days …

  • 2026 Road Trip Home – Last Leg

    2026 Road Trip Home – Last Leg

    Hubs and I had lots of fun in our hotel on Easter morning because there was an “unofficial and unannounced” Easter egg hunt.

    Kudos to the staff of La Quinta, Bismarck ND for the fun touches!

    As soon as we left our room to head down for breakfast, we saw a hint at the elevator.

    Hubs decided to ride the elevator to each floor to see if this was a “thing”.

    We had so much fun! We were kids again on an Easter morning egg hunt.