Due to the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement on Tuesday, November 16, my energy level has been way down and recovery is slow--doesn't help that I when I mentioned to my doctor that I had recovered a lot faster in 2008 when I had the whole aorta valve replaced he said, "Remember Martin you are 13 years older"!!--so I had to cancel a dinner invitation I got and accepted. I knew I would have to stay home a lot and figured the first week would be easy enough with it being Thanksgiving.


Six years ago I cooked the turkey in my crock-pot and was really impressed in how tender it was so I have been doing it that way every year. The only variations I have done is what kind of stuffing I made but this year I decided to do something completely different with this year no stuffing. I cut the 14 pound turkey in half and cooked it in two parts. Over the first half I emptied a package of Knorr chicken flavored rice and pasta and cooked it for two and a half hours and the next day I cooked the second half with a package of teriyaki chicken stir fry sauce also for two and a half hours.


Over the past 4 days I have tried both and was really surprised how tasty they were. I add a sweet potato and various vegetables to each serving plus a salad then finish the meal off a cup, or two, of Luigi's 'real' Italian ice.


I can survive this for another 3 days---if the turkey lasts that long!