The more I use Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Googel's Gemini, the more I find them to be incredibly helpful with exploring and synthensizing massive amounts of information that would take days, and in some cases years, to compile. What's amazing to me is that not only does it perform, compile, and summarize this research in seconds, but it can also analyze it all and make recommendations.  Therefore, one of the transformational use cases for LLMs is to explore certain societal systems across the globe, weigh the pros and cons of each country's system, and help create an optimal system using the best ideas from each country.   I decided to test this theory by exploring the global healthcare system, and as you'll witness below,  the outcome is something astounding!  In this page is a summary of my query using Gemini. It's not the exact query because it took several prompts to craft the information and recommendations. For ease and flow of ...

Where I live, we had a severe string of cold days this winter which got me in the mood for chili. But for some reason, I didn't feel like my typical Vegan Chili with larger black or pinto beans. I was in the mood for something smother and easier to eat, which made me think of red lentils. They cook up so soft and silky. I figured it would make a great altnerative to bean chili, and boy was I right! This dish turned out fantastic. I also did something else different by roasting some potatoes in the oven and seving the chili on top of potatoes. It made an aweseome alternative to cornbread as a side to serve with chili. This meal is definitely now in my rotation, more so than even my vegan chili. Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil or cooking oil 3/4 cups diced onion (about 1/2 a large onion) 1/2 cup red bell pepper (about 1/2 a pepper) 1/2 cup green bell pepper (about 1/2 a pepper) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried garlic 1/2 tsp cumin  1/4 tsp pepper (or cayenne peper to m...

One evening, my wife ended up cooking leftover ground turkey and it sat in our fridge begging to get used. I finally got inspiration to use it to create a super simple white turkey chili. My goal was to be able to dump everything from a jar or can, heat it up on the stove, and serve. Sure enough, this recipe turned out amazing.  Ingredients 1 tbsp cooking oil 1/2 pound ground turkey 1 14oz can white navy beans 8oz of jarred salsa verde or green enchilada sauce (pick your favorite brand) 1 4oz can diced green chilies or 10oz can Rotel depending on if you want tomatoes or not 1 cup water 1/2 cup frozen or canned corn (125g) 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf Directions If starting with uncooked ground turkey meat, cook in the pot you are going to use with the oil. Don't worry about draining excess fat or moisture. That adds flavor.  Add all the other ingredients to the pot and heat until bubbling.  You can serve immediately or turn down the heat and let simmer fo...

One of favorite parts about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. However, keeping them in their Thanksgiving dinner form and just reheating them can be monotonous. The fun is figuring out how to transform the ingredients into new flavors and forms. One way is this recipe for chicken salad but using turkey meat instead. I like using the white breast meat the best for this but a little bit of dark meat mixed in would still be delicious. Ingredients 2 cups chopped turkey meat 1/3 cup mayo 1.5 tsp lemon juice 1/3 cup dried cranberries (declump or loosely dice) 1/3 cup sliced almonds 1/3 cup diced celery (about 1 large stalk) 1/6 cup diced green onions (1 large one) 1/8 tsp salt 1/8 black pepper Directions Mix the mayo, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl and stir to create a dressing. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl. Stir starting from the bottom up until all the dressing and ingredients are evenly incorporated. Inspiration https://jenniferbanz.com/cranberry-almond-chi...

This pasta salad features a plethora of veggies in a way that enhances the flavor of the pasta salad and creates a delicious side dish or meal. Plus the ingredients are easy to come by in the store and all freeze well in case you want to buy in bulk, use some in the salad, and freeze any remaining veggies for use in other recipes.  Ingredients 7-8oz dried rotini or farfalle pasta (1/2 package) cooked, drained, and cooled 1/2 cup green pepper chopped (about half a pepper) 1/2 cup canned artichokes diced (about 8 quarter segments) 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved or quartered 1/2 cup fresh spinach chopped 1/4 cup green onions diced (about one sprig) Dressing 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp Dijon or brown mustard 1 tsp sugar or honey 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or champagne vinegar 1 tbsp lemon juice 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) olive oil Directions Mix the pasta and veggie ingredients until evenly disbursed. Mix the dressing ingre...

Pancakes don't always have to be sweet breakfast food. The batter base can also go savory by mixing in different kinds of meats and vegetables. One of my favorite savory pancakes comes from Japan using cabbage and green onions. It is called Okonomiyaki. It originated during World War II when the Japanese had a shortage of rice and vegetables. They turned to what they had which was flour, water, cabbage, green onions, and eggs to create the dish. It became so well-liked in Japan that you can still find street vendors cooking up Okonomiyaki as a warm snack or meal when the weather outside turns cold.  It's really easy to make with even fewer ingredients than traditional pancakes, but the preparation and cooking method is nearly identical. You can top it with salt and pepper or mix a mayo based savory sauce like I've suggested below. Definitely give these a try as a weeknight dinner or weekend lunch or dinner. Tip: when I make sauerkraut, I be sure to get a head of cabbage sli...

Regular squat with overhead press Front lunge with bicep curls Military squat with side arm raises (thumbs up) Back lunge with tricep curl Wide leg lunge with jump and front arm raise Side lunges with shoulder lift Single straight leg lean forward with butterflies (on way down) Single leg squat with arm plank hold Jumping jacks Cross country skiers

I've been perfecting my recipe, method, and kitchen tools for making homemade sauerkraut. Even though it seemed easy at first, the details really matter in making the preparation easier and the ultimate flavor and texture better. Follow these steps for the ultimate, repeatable homemade sauerkraut. Tools Large knife Large mixing bowl Kitchen scale ideally in grams Cuisinart with slicing disk Quart size wide mouth mason jar Mason jar funnel Silicone wide mouth mason jar seal (like these on Amazon ) Wide mouth mason jar lid (I prefer plastic ones like these which are cheaper at Target than Amazon) Potato masher Ingredients Minimum 2 1/4lb head of cabbage with goal of having 800g (1.75 lbs) clean, sliced cabbage 17g kosher salt (1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp) Directions Remove any dirty outer leaves from the cabbage and slice the cabbage in half and then each half in half to create quarters.  Wash the cabbage segments with the root end still intact to help keep the cabbage together and shake to dr...

Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 cup diced onion 1/2 cup diced celery (optional) 1/2 cup diced carrots (optional) 2 cups other veggies - diced zucchini, green beans, kale  2 cups pre-cooked pasta and beans - white or kidney beans, elbow or ditalini pasta, or all bean pasta 14oz can petite diced tomatoes 3 cups water  1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/4 tsp black pepper Directions I put everything in a pot and bring to a boil. Then I turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let sit for 20-30 minutes until it cools and everything cooks through. Depending on the size of the carrots you use, that may be the only item that needs more time to cook so either boil or microwave separately to soften or use grated carrot instead. Inspiration   https://www.loveandlemons.com/minestrone-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-61027

This is a working list of recipes for one of my family's favorite weekend meals - pancake breakfast. We like pancakes that use all natural and ideally organic ingredients with minimal dairy and and sweeteners. It may not be as decadent as a diner pancake but we prefer it that way. Feel free to substitute any of the oil with melted butter and any of the liquid with whole milk to make it taste closer to diner pancakes. Once you nail the basic recipe to your liking, feel free to experiment with the variations below. My inspiration comes from all the amazing coffee shop muffins and breads that I once loved but have found to be too rich and full of ingredients that don't agree with me. Doing it in pancake form allows me to recreate those flavors at home in an easier and healthier way. Base Pancake Batter 1/2 cup all purpose flour (80g) 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (70g) - ideally soft white wheat 1/4 cup powdered sugar (30g) 1 tsp baking powder (4g) 1/4 tsp salt (2g) 1 cup milk or wate...

Notes 3/2 - daffodils and walking onions popped up 3/30 - daffodils flowered, some weeds need pulling 4/6 - mowed lawn for the first time, dandelions started growing in the rock beds Garden Plan Bed #1 - Capsicums and Cucurbits Zucchini in middle - try from both 2023 seed packet and my 2023 harvest Start inside 5/1 (or 5/15) and outside 6/1 Early jalapeno on two corners - try from 2024 seed packet and my 2024 harvest Start inside 2/15 and outside 6/1 Big Jim on one corner - from 2024 seed packet Start inside 2/15 and outside 6/1 Green pepper - from 2023 store bought organic or just buy another one Start inside 2/15 and outside 6/1 Bed #2 - Roots Swiss chard two in middle - from 2024 seed packet Plant 4/15 or as soon as I see dandelions growing Carrots two long rows on each side - from 2023 and 2025 seed packets Plant 5/1 Watermelon radish follow carrots in late summer - from 2025 seed packet Plant 8/1 Bed #3 - Fruits Gem State tomato in first half of bed - try from both 2024 seed packe...

One of the things I pay close attention to is the valuation of whatever investment I am interested in buying. I like to know how it compares to other like investments and also how it compares to itself historically. When I say valuations, I don't mean the price. I mean the price relative to some production metric. That metric could be revenue, earnings, dividends, free cash flow, etc. You can do this for individual companies, industries, sectors, or even countries.  For comparing valuations, one of my go-to resources is Meb Faber's Idea Farm website. He has a section where he posts quarterly updates on how major countries with stock markets rank in terms of key valuation metrics. He uses cyclically adjusted valuation metrics which smooths the metric over a multi-year time-period, 10 years in his case. He does this for four valuation metrics: CAPE (price-to-earnings), CAPD (dividends), CAPCF (cash flow), and CAPB (book value). My personal two favorites are CAPE and CAPCF since t...