CBBC reminder & Cool Bloggers Summer Salad Challenge

Just a quick reminder that next Monday (August 5 already!) we will be starting our next round of Cool Bloggers Book Club by reading the first six chapters of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. More details can be found in this post. 

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Tobia created the Summer Salad Challenge and I'm here to join in.

I tweaked the version of the green bean salad here. No red onions for me and I added some garlic scapes to the dressing because I could get them at the Farmers Market. 

I kept the dressing separate from the beans so the salad would last longer and took this bad boy salad to me for lunch at work four times last week. I bought some more cherry tomatoes and green beans at the Farmers Market on Saturday, so I suspect I will also bring it to work with me a few times this week! Maybe I'll add some cucumbers to jazz it up. 

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What's your salad game right now?

Kitchen Odds and Ends

Hello, all. I'm writing with some odds and ends from the kitchen. Some are hot takes and some are me asking for advice. Let's dive in.

1. Hot take #1: I don't think garlic adds to anything. We have been having a hard time finding garlic cloves that aren't sprouting and for about a week and a half, I just didn't have any and I didn't add it to the recipes that call for it and the recipes tasted the same. *shrug* It's such a pain to chop and, well, I'm not sure that I really need it my life. Am I wrong?

2. Advice needed: I am looking for a post-workout protein shake. We bought some protein powder (vanilla). A few caveats. I find pineapple and bananas disgusting. I also sort of don't like chocolate in my beverages.  What should I be doing?

3. More advice needed: I like a good crispy chickpea. We sometimes make a traybake that's just chickpeas, carrots, and a green (asparagus, usually, but sometimes broccoli), some cheese, and a delicious sauce. But the reason we only *sometimes* make it is that peeling the chickpeas so they are crispy takes like eleventy billion years. We rub the chickpeas between some towels, but we still have to go through each one individually.  I'd like to eat more chickpeas (particularly when I'm home from lunch and I could make some roasted veggies with chickpeas), but this process is a boring time vortex. How are you all peeling your chickpeas efficiently?

4. Opinions requested: What's too much tea to drink? During the week, I drink a 20 ounce tea with breakfast and 20 ounces at work. But when we're home, my husband just constantly puts the kettle on and makes it and I think I drank like 100 ounces of tea yesterday. LOL. I'm drinking herbal teas that are sweetened with a little bit of honey, so it's not terrible, but it's also probably not as good as drinking water. 

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Thank you for all your advice!

9.30 Depression - Tempest

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the thirtieth day of the month is "Depression."

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I had quite a plan in place for Saturday morning. There was a free yoga class being offered at the Farmer's Market, so I was going to do that, go to the market, and then go to a local orchard to pick blueberries (they have a limited season and you can only pick on Saturdays and Wednesdays).  But I didn't actually get to do any of that. 

Friday night we had quite a storm come through town. We were without electricity for about fourteen hours, trees all over the neighborhood came down, and the energy company was dealing with downed wires and getting us our electricity back was not a high priority. 

Hannah and I saw a lot of crazy things on our walk Saturday morning.

This tree missed the house! Very fortunate, although I think there's going to have to be some work done on the gutters and shingles and possibly the roof.

The people with the poor pitbulls lost their trampoline. 

This tree took down some lines and blocked the street. 

And look what it did to the sidewalk!

So I spent the morning in the yard trying to clean up the big things. Dr. BB headed out to try to find a grocery store that was open because everything in the fridge was a total loss. Four hours! Four hours is how long you get before it all falls apart with refrigeration. We had just been to the store on Wednesday night, so it was depressing to see all of our fresh produce and dairy go straight into the bin, but it is what it is.

But we're alive and safe and while there is a tree leaning dangerously toward our house, hopefully the roots will hang on until we can get a tree removal service out here. If we have another big storm between now and then, I place even money on the tree destroying our house. 

Did you actually get do something fun on Saturday morning?  Tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you.

9.22 Safety - Pie Day!

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-first day of the month is "Safety."

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Yesterday the community center where I volunteer had a big fundraiser. As part of the event, there was a pie auction. I said I'd bake a blueberry pie to donate.  

So Thursday I spent a gazillion hours making dough, chilling dough, rolling dough, chilling dough again, and you get the idea.  The end result wasn't pretty (I mean, have you all ever made gluten-free dough?), but it seemed good enough.

I did a brief poll of my mother and sister and they said that the leakage just showed that it was truly homemade, so that was that. I left it to cool, wrapped it in foil to bring over to the community center the following morning, and went to bed.

But when we woke up yesterday morning, SOMEONE had undone the foil, nibbled the edge of the crust, and left a paw-sized whole in the middle of the pie where she had stepped on it.  I don't want to out this culprit, but she might resemble this:

Because it seemed unsafe to donate a pie that had been molested by a creature that buries its own feces, I went to the local farm stand, bought a blueberry pie, and donated that one. 

What's the latest frustration in your house?

8.27 Priority - Salad Explosions and French Braiding

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write about a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-seventh day of the month is "Priority."

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Last Saturday, we drove down to my FIL's house for dinner. Everyone was there except my SIL who was doing something with her *other* family. All my husband's sibs, their spouses, and the kids. It was quite a deal. Super fun.

(There was much talk of grilling meat in the planning process and not a whole lot of discussion of other foods. Since I was not interested in the meat, I brought a giant salad along. Romaine (chopped), blueberries (whole), strawberries (diced), cherry tomatoes (quartered), carrots (grated), cucumbers (cubed), feta (crumbled), and a delicious homemade dressing that is made up of Dijon mustard, blueberries, sugar, balsamic vinegar, and vegetable oil (immersion blended). My FIL's wife was startled that I brought a salad. I was startled to think that she thought I would be able to eat anything else if I had not brought the salad.  

In truth, I added some potato salad to the blueberry salad to my plate. It was literally the only thing offered that I could eat. So, friends. Was it rude for me to bring a salad without checking with her ahead of time?  There was no salad left at the end of the meal - I was not the only one eating it!)

((OOOOOhhhhh...I took a picture of the "Jello fluff salad" that is mostly made of marshmallows that was right next to my "green salad" in the buffet line. This is true Midwestern living.))

Legit. Marshmallow jello salad in the wild.

The two nine-year-old girls, though, are at just such a great age. They are very entertained by one another and I spent some time with them doing the following:

1) Playing a game of can you identify the scent of this Lipsmacker if you smell it with your eyes closed?  (Answer: I cannot. I had successfully identified two at Christmastime and was declared the champion and I lost my crown to my husband's older sister. Damn it all.)

2) Giving them makeovers downstairs. I was great at the makeup part but was definitely subpar with the hair. This is the encouragement I need to practice French braiding, a la Stephany. The next time I see those girls, I will be able to French braid their hair. Somehow.

3) Discussing the symptoms of celiac disease and type I diabetes with them. Look, they hear us talking about these things and they ask questions and we answer. 

So that's how we prioritized spending time this weekend.

Did you do anything fun this weekend? Big special bonus points if you did French braid a little girl's hair.

4.27 Priority - Cool Soup Safely

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write about a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-seventh day of the month is "Priority."

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We have a friend who successfully underwent a surgery for his cancer a couple of weeks ago, after months of chemotherapy and radiation. I have been checking in with him via text, but other than that, we've been trying to let him recuperate and not worry about entertaining us. 

I checked in on Friday and asked him if it would be okay if we brought over some goodies and he said it would be, but that he and his caretakers have all tested positive for COVID. Since he is one of the main reasons we have been super cautious, I was a bit surprised (also, a bit nervous because he just had major abdominal surgery and if he was coughing a lot this could be bad)! I decided I would make him cookies and soup.

But my husband interfered. He's so worried about food safety and wanted to know how I was going to get the soup cooled safely in an appropriate amount of time because the last thing we want to do is get our COVID positive, healing from surgery friend sick with food poisoning. Next thing I know, he's off to the store to buy ice and now there's soup cooling in an ice bath in our sink.

No comments about our sink, please. We live in a river town with the hardest of hard water.

Pumkin Bean "Chili" (recipe from my SIL!)

3-4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can chickpeas

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 can pumpkin

Cheese to garnish (optional)

Pumpkinseed kernels or sunflower seeds to garnish (optional)

Heat butter over medium-low heat. 

Add onion and salt and sauté until lightly browned (15-20 minutes). 

Add the cumin and garlic and sauté for another minute. 

Add the tomatoes, black beans, and chickpeas and partially mash with an immersion blender (I mean, I guess you can use a real blender, but that's a lot of dishes, if you ask me.) Basically, I blend until there are no pieces of bean or chickpea that can be identified as such.

Add broth, white wine vinegar, pepper, and pumpkin. Cover and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with your choice of garnish.

This recipe seems so bizarre, or at least it does to me. Pumpkin, black beans, AND chickpeas? What is this? It's delicious is what it is. I think of it as a vegetarian chili recipe (although we use chicken broth, so it's not truly vegetarian) and think it's so great with a little cheddar sprinkled on top of it. 

What's your go-to winter soup recipe?

Hourly Report 11/11/2020

7am: Alarm goes off, walk Hannah the Dog, train Hannah, put flag out for Veterans Day, sit on the couch for five minutes until the cat starts meowing her head off to get pets. Pet the cat on "her rug" for a few minutes.

8am: Breakfast (yogurt with granola, raspberries, grapes, cranberry juice, and a handful of vitamins) and shower.

9am: Try to boot up my laptop. Have issues connecting with the network.  By 9:45am, I have troubleshooted/restarted my computer enough to realize I had been invited to a meeting at 10. Quickly RSVP and make sure I look presentable.

10am - 11:20am: Work meeting about outreach. This is the third marketing strategy we've had since I've been at this job in March. I'm exhausted just thinking about it and how much I don't like this part of my job.

11:20am - noon: Dr. BB comes down briefly to tell me the flag is caught on something, so we go out to fix it. This involves a hammer and a stepstool.  Hannah is thrilled that we are both downstairs in the middle of the day.  I sit on the couch, send a few emails, and generally loaf.

Noon - 1pm: I put vegetables in the oven to roast (carrots, potatoes, daikon radish) while I write a quick blog post about a book I just read. Eat lunch of vegetables, guacamole and pretzels, some almonds, a lime LaCroix, and a mini Kit Kat and mini peanut butter pumpkin leftover from Halloween candy. I also browsed reddit and read a bit of a book while I ate.

1pm - 2:45pm: I work a bit, sending emails and creating some documents that will be useful at some point, I hope.  I also deal with the mail at this time. We had gotten a delivery from Bob's Red Mill and I had to unpack some dry goods. The cat enjoyed the box.

2:45pm - 3:45pm: I walk with Hannah. We go to the park near our house where I let her roam around off-leash illegally for a while. Then we practice seeing people and dogs without lunging and/or barking.  We spend about six blocks focused only on loose leash walking.  When we get home, she passes out because it's hard work being a good girl.

Illegally off leash. But look how cute she is!

3:45pm - 4:15pm: I walk to the library to return some books and go to the Hallmark store where I buy birthday cards for the rest of the month a few Thanksgiving Day cards. I forgot my mask until I was about two blocks away from home and had to race back to get it.

4:15pm-4:25pm: Frantically try to change clothes, find my shoes, and get ready for my workout class.

4:25pm - 5:30pm: Workout class. Our local hospital has unlimited classes via Zoom for $20 a month. There are usually six to eight half-hour classes a week and I try to get to four or five a week. I did two classes back to back today.  It had been unseasonably warm for November, but a cold front came through yesterday. My bad leg is killing me and I had to start doing modified exercises in the last half of the second class, which I hate doing because it feels like defeat, but I guess it's better to do modified exercises than just sitting on the couch.  I also took the flag down in between classes because the sun had set. 

5:30pm - 6:00pm: Worked on this post and browsed reddit. Listen to the cat meow because she is simply starving.

6:00pm - 6:20pm: Fed Zelda the Cat. Did training with Hannah and gave her dinner. Dr. BB is teaching an evening class on campus, so I'm doing this chore on my own. It's generally easier if each of us takes one creature, but the girls are fed, even if I don't do it to Zelda's exacting specifications.

6:30pm - 7:15pm: Made dinner (butternut squash risotto in the InstantPot), collected trash and took the bin to the end of the driveway, and cleaned up as many of the dishes I used in making dinner as I could.

7:15-7:45pm: Ate dinner.

7:45pm - 8:15pm: Addressed all the greeting cards that I bought for the month at Hallmark earlier in the afternoon.  

8:15pm - 8:45pm: Took Hannah out for her evening walk.  She loves the cooler weather.

9:00pm - 9:45pm: Got ready for bed and put Hannah to bed in the mudroom.

9:45pm - 10:15pm; Read in bed for a bit (Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare - so far I'm pretty unimpressed) before I closed my Kindle and fell asleep within twenty seconds. 

2020 Yearly Goals, Quarter 3

Q1 here. Q2 here.

Area One: Health
1) Work out three times a week for 30 minutes or more: I'm mostly pumped that I kept track this quarter. I worked out 54 times in this quarter, which comes to 4.15 times a week. Yay! I did it. 

2) Work out an additional two times a week for at least 15 minutes: Obviously not. I'm just not a person who works out five times a week yet. I'll try to do better, but I'm less and less optimistic about this goal as the year goes on. 

3) At least two strength training workouts every week: Oof. 10 strength training workouts, which is less than one a week.  

In quarter four, I need to do better. More strength training and more short workouts, especially when I don't feel like working out. I can do 15 minutes and if it's not going well, then I can just call it a day. I need to do better. 

Area Two: Professional
1) Get my email under control and keep it there (try to keep the inbox to 15 emails or fewer at all times):  Ha ha ha! There are over 250 emails in my work inbox right now. I vow to clean out all my inboxes in the first two weeks of quarter four.

2) Volunteer position - I'm on the board for my local community center.  I'm head of the programming committee and I'd like to get a program started in 2020: Well, the pandemic has made this impossible.  I am helping with a fundraiser.  Blah.

Area Three: Communication 
1)  Post to Instagram once a day: 73/92 for a 79.3% completion rate. I actually don't think this is too bad since I never leave my house. Poor Hannah and Zelda are the only content I have these days.

2) Update blog at least twice a week: 14 times in July, 11 in August, and 10 in September. That averages to 2.7 times a week. Nailed it.

3)  Keep track of books read: I am so excited that I've been doing this!  Third quarter list here.

4) Send a postcard/note/letter to my mom, aunt, and uncle every month every month: Ugh. I did not do this in September, although I did in July and August. It's easy in the fourth quarter because I send a Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas card. I can't believe I bungled this in September.

Area Four: Personal Improvement Projects
1) Tackle one project around the house every week: Ha ha ha! I only notated something 7 times, which is about half a project a week. Hmmm...I'll have to do better.

2) Duolingo every day: Nailed it! My daily streak is at 189 days and I'm quite proud of it. 

3) Take at least three more classes with Hannah: Ha ha ha! We are learning new tricks, though. We're working on her winding through my legs, looking for kibble (hide and seek), finding kibble in a rolled up towel, and learning to touch things with her paw.  

4) Try a new recipe every week: Ha ha! No!  I tried ONE new recipe and it was gross.  This is why I don't try new things. 

I'm going to add brushing Hannah and Zelda's teeth to the fourth quarter list because I have not yet worked it into our schedules and they both need better mouth maintenance.  And that's a wrap. Not great, but not too shabby. 

2020 Yearly Goals, Quarter 2

My original post is here. First quarter update is here. 

Area One: Health
1) Work out three times a week for 30 minutes or more: Okay, I'm going to go ahead simplify these goals to just say work out three times a week because that's about all I can handle these days. I worked out 51 times during this quarter, which is about all the record-keeping I did, so while most of these were either half hour runs or hour long yoga classes, I can't tell you for sure.  So 56% of the days I worked out and that means 3.9 times a week. I'm pretty sure I met this goal, but I'm just going to simplify it from here on out.

2) Work out an additional two times a week for at least 15 minutes: I am not up to working out 5 times a week, so no on this one.

3) At least two strength training workouts every week: Nope. I have a thumb and shoulder injury and have been really babying them instead of lifting. Maybe I'll do better next quarter.

Not a stellar performance, but definitely not the worst. I really have to figure out a way to make my record-keeping more streamlined. 

Area Two: Professional
1) Get my email under control and keep it there (try to keep the inbox to 15 emails or fewer at all times):  Mostly done. I have to go through it all every couple of weeks to get it down, but I manage this pretty well, I think. 

2) Volunteer position:  I'm on the board for my local community center.  I'm head of the programming committee and I'd like to get a program started in 2020 - This is just not happening since we're not doing anything at the community center except holding board meetings and arguing ferociously over whether or not it's safe to reopen. 

I was going to start a movie night in our theater and the licensing fee has been greatly discounted, but I just don't know if it would be profitable at all for our facility if we can only have a handful of people in our building and we can't serve concessions.  Argh. I probably should hold a committee meeting, though.

Area Three: Communication 
1)  Post to Instagram once a day: I posted 59 times, which is 64.8%.  I'm not going to lie. It's hard when you never leave a four square block area and your dog is sick a bunch, but I'll strive to do better. I think 80% would be nice.

2) Update blog at least twice a week: I posted 11 times in April and May and 14 times in June, so that averages to 2.8 times a week. Yay! Nailed it.

3)  Keep track of books read: Yes, I do keep a list!

4) Send a postcard/note/letter to my mom, aunt, and uncle every month -  I did this in April and June, but May got away from me.  

Area Four: Personal Improvement Projects
1) Tackle one project around the house every week: Ha ha ha. I think I did this twice.

  
2) Duolingo every day: Yes!  I did this every day. You can see the "94" and that's my streak - I've done it every day for the last 94 days.  Woot!

Duolingo has a relatively new feature with stories and I can understand relatively simple stories in Spanish now.  Maybe a goal in 2021 will be to read the Harry Potter book I have in Spanish.

3) Take at least three more classes with Hannah: Hmmm...well, there are no in-person classes because of the pandemic, but we did do 5-10 minutes of training once a day until Hannah got sick. She's currently unable to do much of anything, much less training, but we'll pick that back up one she's feeling better.

4) Try a new recipe every week: Ha ha ha.  No. We did try two new recipes, both of which were flops.  

2020 CSA Basket #2

This week our basket was especially usable. I'm used to a lot of early spring baskets being mostly greens, which is great, but not always something that's easy for us to incorporate into our regular diets. This basket has a lot of crunchy vegetables in it and I'm always up for something I can just snack on all day long with no preparation beyond cleaning.

Fennel (2)

Collard greens

Radishes (plus greens)

Kohlrabi (2 small bulbs)

Potatoes (6)

Broccoli

Lettuce

This is entirely doable. We used the broccoli and two of the potatoes in a frittata last night.  I'll eat the radishes and kohlrabi as snacks. I'll use the lettuce in a couple of salads. I'll saute those greens and eat them as lunch.  I'm not sure exactly what we'll do with the fennel just yet. In the past we've done a slow cooker recipe with chicken thighs, fennel, and rice, but since we're trying to eat less meat, I don't know exactly what to do with it. Maybe this fennel chickpea stew?  

And that's it. A delightful basket we'll enjoy all week long.

CSA 2020 Basket #1

If you don't know what a CSA is, here's a post I wrote about it a few years ago.  The farm we bought our share from in the first few years we lived here has closed (Wisconsin leads the nation in farm bankruptcies and I find this to be a sad statistic), so a couple of years ago we switched to a different farm that's a bit further away, but still delivers our shares within walkable distance. I used to be really good about writing a post every week to show off our CSA, but I do not promise that this year. I'll just do an occasional update on what we're getting.  

Not much has really changed on our end with the CSA process because of the Covid crisis. Our farm sends regular updates about the changes the owners and employees are making on their end, but I have literally done nothing different.  I signed up for the CSA in December and sent in my check. We bought a small share (because there are only two of us) which cost us $425 for 20 weeks.  We also purchased an egg share which cost $55 that gets us a dozen eggs every other week.  

On Saturdays, we can log in to the farm website and view what vegetables are in our box that week. If there's something we don't like or need, we can swap it out for something else.  This week, for instance, I didn't want basil, so I swapped it out for some turnips.  On Wednesdays we can go pick up our shares at a house that's a few blocks from our home between the hours of 3 - 6:30pm.  Because of social distancing, we're supposed to make sure we wait for anyone already getting their vegetables to finish gathering all their stuff before we enter the "staging" area. It's rare that we see anyone, but it was a nice reminder from the farm.* I walk over there with the dog and a bag and then find the box with my name on it. I unpack the box, putting everything into my own bag, break down the box, and head off.  Easy peasy.

This week we got:

1 dozen eggs

Salad turnips

Kale

Mustard greens

Bibb lettuce

Choy som

Chard

Chives

I don't have a spectacularly good plan this week.

I'll eat the turnips raw. They're delicious.  

I'll saute the choy som and mustard greens with the chives for lunch sides.

We'll use either the kale or chard with the eggs (and some goat cheese and black olives) for a frittata.

I bought some ground beef at the farmers' market last week and we'll use the lettuce on burgers and probably some salads. *heavy sigh* I don't love a lettuce salad.

With whatever we don't use in the frittata (the chard or kale), I'll probably use as a base for a vegetable stock I'm going to make. I have been diligently saving my vegetable scraps in the freezer and intend on making some stock. Or I'll saute it up as a side. 

And this is the end of my endless prattling about vegetables. Yay for CSA season!!!

*The owners also sent an email that said if we were sick, we should NOT go to the pick-up site, but to call the farm and if we aren't able to find someone to get the basket for us, they would deliver it to our home. I almost cried when I read this. It was so sweet - these farmers make hardly any money and here they are, volunteering time and extra resources to help community help.  

$184.75 Might Last Ten Days

Quite some time ago, I detailed our grocery list. I'm here to do it again - Grocery Diaries COVID Edition!

At this point, we're mostly eating vegetarian, with the exception of lots of chicken stock and eggs.  Dr. BB requires gluten-free food, so consider that in your calculations of how on earth two people can spend so much money on food.  

Breakfast: Dr.  BB eats gluten-free (GF) granola and Fage Greek yogurt with green tea

I eat home-made granola with Dannon Greek yogurt, fruit, cranberry juice, and apple cinnamon tea

Lunch: Dr. BB eats hummus with NutThins crackers, almonds, cheese with a Pepsi

I eat vegetables, guacamole with pretzels, and cheese with a sparkling water (occasionally peanut butter on NutThins if I'm feeling particularly naughty)

Post-workout deals: Dr. BB drinks kefir and has a strange protein shake thing before bed

I drink a Gatorade and frequently consume a large number of almonds

Dinners: We have planned a potato and broccoli frittata (2 days), Indian butter chickpea curry thing (3 things), squash risotto (2 days), slow cooker black bean soup (3 days) for dinners

You'll note that this should take us through 10 days.  We already had some stuff, including guacamole and dried black beans (there weren't any dried black beans on the shelf anyway or I would have bought them), so here goes my list of what I bought at the grocery store last week. I shop at a warehouse grocery store called Woodman's because it has the largest and least expensive selection of gluten-free foods and the best produce around.

64 ounce Langer's cranberry juice: $1.79

4 boxes of Blue Diamond NutThins crackers (sea salt): @$2.69 = $10.76

6 ounce container of  Blue Diamond honey almonds: $2.99

2 cans of chickpeas: @$0.99 = $1.98

28 ounce can of Skippy peanut butter: $3.99

32 ounce can of Gatorade Zero fruit punch: $0.99 (I wanted to try a new flavor - I still think lemon-lime is the best)

28 ounce can of whole peeled plum tomatoes: $1.49

30 feet parchment paper: $2.49

32 ounces Kitchen Basics chicken stock: $2.89

6 pack Nature Valley granola bar: $2.89

40 count Bigelow green tea: $3.29

1 pound Blue Diamond lightly salted almonds: $7.69

1.7 ounces Spice Island coriander: $3.89

0.7 ounces Spice Island cinnamon sticks: $5.49

20 count Celestial Seasoning apple cinnamon spice tea: $2.39

8 pack Gatorade Zero lemon-lime: $4.99

12 pack Pepsi: $3.99

15 pack key lime LaCroix: $3.89

3 8.7 ounce Chex mix: $3.00 (absolutely unnecessary snack item I eat for dessert after dinner most days - they were on sale and it's a pandemic and I deserve a treat and LEAVE ME ALONE)

2.25 pounds red seedless grapes: $4.50

1 4 ounce container of blueberries: $2.99

1.63 pounds of cherries: $6.59

2 10 ounce containers of Sabra hummus: $5.00

1 pound bag of radishes: $1.29

0.14 pounds of fresh garlic: $0.56

8 ounces of sugar snap peas: $2.49

1 pound bag of mini sweet peppers: $3.69

1 green bell pepper: $0.50

0.58 pounds of broccoli: $0.46

2 pints of cherry tomatoes: $2.00

3.53 pounds of sweet potatoes: $2.44 (this is to make treats for the dog)

2 32 ounce containers of kefir @3.39 = $6.78

1 quart of whole milk: $1.59

3 4 packs of Dannon Green yogurt @3.39 = $10.17

2 35.3 ounce containers of Fage full fat Greek yogurt @5.39 = $10.78

10 count cheese stick (cheddar): $3.49

1 pound block of cheddar cheese: $4.79

1 pound block of Parmigiana cheese: $8.99

1 dozen eggs: $2.99

2 8 ounce bags of shredded cheddar@2.59 = $5.18 (normally I would shred from the block we purchased, but I've been buying shredded because of my stupid hurt thumb - don't get snippy with me)

2 pounds arborio rice: $4.99

2 pounds Jasmati rice: $4.49

13 ounce coconut milk: $2.99

2 12 ounce bags of Udi's GF granola: @4.49 = $8.98

2 count dishwasher wand refill pack: $1.99

Tax: $1.06

Total: $184.75

2020 Yearly Goals, Quarter 1

Oh, NGS of January 2020. You really didn't know anything, did you? Okay, here you go.  My original post is here.

Area One: Health
1) Work out three times a week for 30 minutes or more - I don't know.
2) Work out an additional two times a week for at least 15 minutes
3) At least two strength training workouts every week

These are great goals. I'd love to be able to tell you whether or not I did them, but I had some serious issues with depression early in the year and I was barely able to shower daily and brush my teeth, so keeping track of whether I actually worked out or not just didn't happen. I know that I bought a 15-class yoga pass for Jan/Feb and used every pass.  Beyond that, I just don't have the data. Sorry to let you down. I vow to do better data collection in quarter two and on.


Area Two: Professional
1) Get my email under control and keep it there (try to keep the inbox to 15 emails or fewer at all times)
I have mostly managed to do this. I took a couple of weeks and started to cull things very carefully before I just said fuck it all and deleted everything that was older than three months.  I have three inboxes (work #1, work #2, and personal/volunteer) and my work inboxes are definitely clean. I get a ton of junk email in my personal/volunteer inbox, so it sometimes does creep back up to 100 emails, but I just go in there and delete everything about once a week.  I feel much better about looking at my email now and if I can keep this inbox hygiene habit, I'll be happy.  I definitely don't feel dread at opening my inboxes anymore.

2) Volunteer position - I'm on the board for my local community center.  I'm head of the programming committee and I'd like to get a program started in 2020

I have no idea if the community center will exist at the end of this pandemic. We aren't holding regularly scheduled committee meetings and I'm not doing any work on it.  Eh.

3) Update my resume and cover letter
I actually did this when I was sort of surprised invited to a job interview that led to a job offer.  Yay!

4) Create a portfolio 
I did this, too. I don't know if you can see it or not, but I'll try to link to it here. I (verb tense is hard here) am/was teaching a class that is portfolio based and I wanted my students to see an example of a portfolio, but I didn't want to do an academic topic because I didn't want them to copy my structure/work. Anyway, I created a portfolio about Hannah the Dog. Done.


Area Three: Communication 
1)  Post to Instagram once a day  
I have posted 58 times since January 1.  That's a 63.7% completion rate. Not great. Not terrible. It's really hard now that I'm social distancing and  mostly staying home, but I'll try to be better about documenting the things that make me happy.


2) Update blog at least twice a week
I posted 11 times in January, 8 in February, 11 in March. That's an average of  2.3 times a week. Yay! Nailed it.


3)  Keep track of books read
Totally did this! Nailed it.

4) Send a postcard/note/letter to my two elderly aunts and one uncle every month
One of my aunts died in February, so I'm going to change this goal to my mom, aunt, and uncle.  I did manage to do this, although I'm not going to lie - I sent the March postcards on March 30.

Area Four: Personal Improvement Projects
1) Tackle one project around the house every week 
See depression comment above. I probably did this about 25% of the time, but I most certainly did not track it.
 
2) Duolingo every day
I lost my over year long streak at some point and just stopped doing it. I will restart in the next quarter.


3) Take at least three more classes with Hannah
We completed a class session! We were signed up to move up to the Intermediate class, but that was cancelled with the COVID-19 chaos. Hopefully we can get in another session in 2020, but in the meantime I've stepped up our at home training, buying a new book on tricks and some target sticks.  She will be mentally stimulated no matter what!

4) Try a new recipe every week
We started off strong, but I think we only tried five or six new recipes.  Still, that's better than nothing. I did not track this, either.

So the lesson here is that I need to have a better tracking method or at least one that's easier for me to do at night when I'm exhausted.  I'll have a think on this because I'll need better data for all of you in my next quarterly roundup. 

2020 Quarter One Goals

In 2017 and 2018, I had goals that I set up for myself at the beginning of the year and I did a good job with them. In 2019, things really fell off the wagon, so I'm going to back to the system that works for me.  Here are my goals for the first three months of the year.  I definitely reserve the right to tweak these goals throughout the year.

Area One: Health
1) Work out three times a week for 30 minutes or more - Because of a dumb overuse injury in my leg, I was not able to do substantial workouts in the first quarter of last year. And then I just...didn't pick it up again.  I need to get back to at it.
2) Work out an additional two times a week for at least 15 minutes - I have in my mind that a workout has to be at least 30 minutes to be doing something, but honestly a 15 minute core workout can be just as punishing as 60 minutes of cardio for me. Mindfully moving my body for five days a week seems like a good way to improve my physical and mental health.
3) At least two strength training workouts every week- I actually like lifting weights. Dr. BB got a new weight set, too, so I need to start doing a better job of incorporating strength training into my life.

I reserve the right to add food and/or water tracking on to this list. Unfortunately, I've tried that in the past and I've always failed to do so, so I'm not sure if this exactly a realistic goal for me. However, if my weight doesn't start to decrease, I might be forced to count calories again.

Area Two: Professional
1) Get my email under control and keep it there (try to keep the inbox to 15 emails or fewer at all times) - I had some mental health issues in 2019 that led me to avoid checking my work and personal email. Because of this, my email started stacking up. There are over 1000 emails in each of my accounts right now. Most of them can be deleted, but it is a definitely a priority for me in the first quarter of the year to get those inboxes under control. I'm not a zero-email inbox kind of girl, but I'd like to stop missing things because they sink to the bottom of my inbox.
2) Volunteer position - I'm on the board for my local community center.  I'm head of the programming committee and I'd like to get a program started in 2020 and, ideally, have that program be profitable. Also, I need to communicate with everyone promptly in that role.
3) Update my resume and cover letter - Things are not going smoothly for me at work. I'd like to take the free time I will have this semester to really think about what I want to do for work.  Anyone know how to create a business plan for a small business?  Or maybe I should just take a part-time job in non-profit training. Argh.
4) Create a portfolio - I have to do this for one of the classes I teach. Right now, I just have a fake portfolio with links that go nowhere. I actually want to create a portfolio of our progress with Hannah (I can actually use this for instructional purposes, I swear). This will involve me figuring out how to do video editing, though. Egads. It sounds hard. Oh, well. Let's say it's a "goal" and hope for the best.

Area Three: Communication
1)  Post to Instagram once a day - I did this in 2017 and it was good fun. I think I'll do my best again this year. It is sometimes hard to find something new to photograph, but if all else fails, I'll take a photo of my adorable mutt.
2) Update blog at least twice a week - I posted an average of 1.4 times a week last year without tracking it. I'm hoping that I can keep a good editorial calendar and do better. We'll see.
3)  Keep track of books read - Every year people ask me how many books I read and I honestly have no idea. I read a lot of trashy books that I get for free on my Kindle (sign up for BookBub, people!), but this year I'm going to have a dedicated place on my spreadsheet for what books I'm reading and when I finish them. I generally have two books going at once - one on my Kindle for bedtime reading and one book that I have gotten from the library that I read downstairs.  I will hold myself accountable by publishing a list every quarter.
4) Send a postcard/note/letter to my two elderly aunts and one uncle every month - I've done this in the past and it's fun and I like to do it.

Area Four: Personal Improvement Projects
1) Tackle one project around the house every week - By "project," I essentially mean "something I've been putting off." The first week in January it will be taking down the Christmas tree. I also need to organize my desk, the closets, deal with a bunch of Lego sets my mother gave me from childhood that have taken over the guest room, and figure out how to declutter our bookshelves. There's a lot to do, but I just tend to ignore it because it doesn't have to be done RIGHT. NOW.
2) Duolingo every day - I've done Duolingo for at least ten minutes a day for over 300 days as of today. I would like to keep this streak going. I can actually follow basic stories in Spanish at this point.
3) Take at least three more classes with Hannah - She's so smart and tries so hard and I want her to be happy. Also, I love videos of dogs doing fun tricks and I want Hannah to be the star of one of those videos.
4) Try a new recipe every week - For real. I'm so sick of eating the same five recipes.

2019 CSA Week 5

This might be the most usable basket we've ever gotten from any CSA.

Broccoli
Carrots
Garlic scapes
Kale
Lettuce
2 summer squash

You guys. So easy.
Dr. BB will grill up the squash and eat them with lunch.

The broccoli will go in a frittata with some potato and cheddar cheese. It's like a baked potato frittata and is about as delicious as it gets.

I have already eaten most of the carrots. They are not quite as flavorful as I would like them to be, but what can you do with early season carrots, I guess.

I'm not sure yet what to do with the kale, but I'll probably just saute it up with dinner one night. I'll use part of a scape for that, too.  Those scapes last a while in the fridge, so I'll just keep chipping away at using them. I love them so much more than onions or garlic.

The lettuce is so good. I am not much of a lettuce fan, but this head of lettuce is AMAZING. I'll be gobbling that up with some ranch at lunchtime.

For a variety of reasons, this is the first time I've been able to pick up the CSA this year (reasons: work) and we have a new CSA and a new pickup location and I was super nervous about going to do this (I always am nervous about new places) and when I got there, they were still unloading the truck, so I had to talk to the guy and apologize profusely and unnecessarily about how I was early (I was not) and how I was sorry to make him find my box before everyone else's.  I'm so socially awkward.  That is all.

2019 CSA Week 4

This week is cabbage week!!

Snap peas
Cabbage (2 heads)
Zucchini
Scallions
Lemon basil

I made a slaw with the cabbage and some kohlrabi I bought at the Farmer's Market. I added some lemon basil in the slaw and frankly, I just don't love it. Oh, well. You never know until you try.

We'll use the scallions and zuke in a risotto and I've already eaten the snap peas raw, so that takes care of this basket, quite easily!

2019 CSA Week 3

This week brings us:
Snap peas
Kohlrabi (the tiniest little bulb!)
Parsley
Kale
Zucchini
Salad greens

I have already eaten the peas and kohlrabi.  We'll use the kale in a frittat.  We'll use that zuke in a risotto.  We'll eat those salad greens begrudgingly at lunchtime.

We'll use a tiny bit of the parsley as garnish for the risotto and then we'll end up tossing most of it because what exactly does one do with parsley?  No one knows.

2019 CSA Week #2

This week brings us:
Baby bok choy
Garlic scapes
Radishes (x2 bunches!)
Spinach
Garlic scapes
Salad greens
Eggs

We actually were also supposed to get frisee (a small bitter green), but I subbed it out (that's allowed in this CSA) for another bunch of radishes.

I did okay with the produce last week. I ate the turnips and radishes no problem. We still have a lot of greens and I think I'm going to need to deal with that soon.

Meanwhile, on to this week.

I don't know, honestly.  I'll make the baby bok choy by sauteing it with an onion and some balsamic vinegar and hoping for the best. The scapes are amazing and I'll use them in everything I think I can get away with, including sauteing some of those radish greens and spinach. Fingers crossed we don't fall too far behind in week two.

2019 CSA Week #1

Since our old farm shut down after last season, we're now using a different farm's CSA. I'm excited to see what new items we get and how quickly I fall behind. If you're not familiar with a CSA, here's a brief introduction I wrote about it.

This week finds us with some glorious early season goodies:
Salad mix
Radishes
Turnips
Fennel
Kale
Basil plant

We're supposed to repot that basil plant and use its leaves all summer.  I don't know if that will happen. We don't love basil in this house, although the idea of a caprese salad with giant chunks of mozzarella sure sounds great to me right now.

We already chopped that kale up and used it in a frittata with goat cheese and kalamata olives. It was delicious.

We'll probably use the fennel in a chicken and rice dish that we're fond of that uses the slow cooker. I took it out my mother-in-law's Real Simple years ago and it's truly a joy when we have fennel around.

Dr. BB said the turnip greens didn't look great, so he tossed those. He did save the radish greens, so I'll saute those and eat them for lunch sometime next week.

I'll eat the radishes and turnips raw for lunch. Those turnips are so delicious. If you, like me, have some messed up idea from your childhood that turnips are not good, you are so wrong.  These ones are mild and smooth and I adore them.

The salad mix is actually our biggest problem. This farm really likes its salad greens, but we don't love them. I'll probably attempt to eat them as side salads with dinners, but that's a big bag. I don't know. I'll get you an update next week.

Cage Match Revisited: More Diet Coke Flavors

Last year around this time, I did a cage match of the new Diet Coke flavors. It turns out that I was not able to get the OG Diet Cherry Coke after I hit "publish" on that post and I have been drinking plain Diet Coke since then. I did not fancy any of the 2018 new flavors enough to change my buying habits.

To recap:
Best: Zesty Blood Orange
Terrible: Feisty Cherry
I'd Drink to be Polite: Twisted Mango
Meh: Ginger Lime

There are two new competitors in the cage.  2019 brings us Strawberry Guava and Blueberry Acai.

Strawberry Guava: Over Easter, my sister-in-law asked if I'd tried these flavors. I had not and, admittedly, didn't even know they existed. We began the conversation attempting to figure out exactly what guava would taste like.  It turns out none of us knew (frankly, I don't even know what a guava looks like) and so began a huge family joke about what this flavor would be.

Here's the text I sent to the family:
This tastes like someone put a strawberry in a Diet Coke, but forgot to wash the berry. So I guess guava tastes like dirt.

This has sort of a musty flavor that I, for my part, did not enjoy.  Drinking how my unfinished attic smells is not an awesome experience.  I took a few sips and dumped the rest of the can down the drain.  I now have seven more cans of this crap.  I'll bring one to my SIL the next time I see her, but in the meantime, anyone in southeastern Wisconsin want to try this?

Blueberry Acai: This was perfectly acceptable. Upon cracking open the can, you definitely get a whiff of something fruity, but I'm not sure I'd identify it as blueberry so much as I would identify it as grape or citrus.  Anyway, it tasted mostly like Diet Coke, but with a brief flirtation at something fruity. I finished the can, but probably won't ever go back for more.

New Diet Coke rankings from best to worst.
1. Diet Coke
2. Zesty Blood Orange
3. Twisted Mango
4. Blueberry Acai
5. Ginger Lime
6. Strawberry Guava
7. Feisty Cherry

I don't think I'm young enough to enjoy these new flavors, so I'll be sticking with the OG Diet Coke for now.