tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25676766568715788272024-02-20T21:20:23.632-06:00Pondering HappinessAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-53819346023531115972015-11-01T10:10:00.002-06:002015-11-01T10:10:33.964-06:00Back To Running?I haven't posted about running in a really long time and there's a good reason for that: I really haven't been running! After accomplishing my goal of a 5K a few years ago, I added variety back into my workouts and only run when I feel like it. I still really like running but I have been much more casual about it. For example, last week I ran/walked twice. Once for one mile and once for a mile and half. <br />
But then one of our friends posted online about a 4 mile run/2 mile walk on November 28th. This caught my eye because Kayleigh will be home for Thanksgiving. I sent it to her and Bill to see if they would be interested. I was thinking of the walk, A 4 mile run would have been out of my league 3 years ago, let alone now! But Bill sent me a text immediately saying we should do the run. When I pointed out to him I actually had to train several months to just do 3 miles, he said, "You have a month. You can do it." Really?!?<br />
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I wrote him off as being insane but the idea set in my head for a couple days. This morning I decided to get on the treadmill and just see what 4 miles feels like. I did a combination of running and walking (much more walking than running) and kept my speeds as high as I could. My best run ever was at the 5K where I ran the whole thing and my time was 33:40 (I think). Today with plenty of walking, I did 4 miles in 54:20. That's about 14 miles per hour which actually isn't too bad for me. When I was running all the time, I would go between 11 and 12 miles an hour with my best being 10. <br />
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Am I actually considering doing this? We'll see. I'd also like to point out that I don't run in bad weather and the Chicago area<br />
at the end of November isn't really ideal! But if I survived the humidity of August a few years ago, maybe (I said maybe!) I can handle November's cold. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-89989564723574576102015-10-12T18:10:00.002-05:002015-10-12T18:10:28.816-05:00Applesauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago, Bill and I went to a local orchard and picked our own apples. We felt a little guilty about doing this when Kayleigh was away at college but quickly got over it and picked apples like our lives depended on it. We go through a lot of apples in the fall. We make apple crisp, apple pie, apple fritters, apple cake, etc. But we might have got a little too excited about picking apples. We ended up with almost 40 pounds! We can only eat so many desserts and raw apples so I had to come up with another use. I decided to try to make applesauce. I knew the basic idea was just to cook the apples until they fall apart so I decided to take the main flavors from an apple pie and turn it into applesauce. I knew I succeeded when my mom called me and said that it tastes just like pie!<div>
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<h3>
Applesauce</h3>
<div>
4 pounds apples, peeled and cut into large chunks</div>
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1 lemon</div>
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1 cinnamon stick</div>
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1/4 cup brown sugar</div>
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1/4 cup white sugar</div>
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1 cup water</div>
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Combine all ingredients in a large pot. For the lemon, juice it into the pot then throw in the lemon peels. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir every now and then to make sure the apples are breaking down. Remove the lemon and cinnamon stick. Mash the apples using a potato masher. Store in the fridge or freeze.</div>
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I know there are certain apples that are best for eating vs baking vs making applesauce but we really just like honey crisp so that is what we used.<br />
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Here we are at <a href="http://appleupick.com/" target="_blank">Garwood Orchards</a> in LaPorte Indiana picking way too many apples. Thank goodness it was cold or who knows how many we would have came home with!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-83008873242280091772015-09-15T20:08:00.000-05:002015-09-15T20:08:00.424-05:00SadnessI'm not much of a crier. Really I'm not. I've even been called cold-hearted on more than one occasion. But I'm so very sad tonight. <br />
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On August 22nd we left Kayleigh at college, 4 hours away. It was a long silent trip home but along with my sadness, I was also excited for the journey she is starting on. It was really strange for the next few days because I would be perfectly fine but then, out of the blue, something very normal and everyday would make me cry. For example, for Kayleigh's entire life, she has gone grocery shopping with me every single weekend. There are probably less than 10 weeks in her whole 18 years that I went without her. So the day after we dropped her off, I waited for Bill to come back from his bike ride and then we went together. I made it through the whole process fine until we were leaving the store. I started crying as we walked to the car and didn't stop for about an hour. Really, grocery shopping is what I'm going to cry about?!! Ok.<br />
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Over the next few weeks, there have been some strange moments but overall it hasn't been too bad. Texting helps tremendously!<br />
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Today we had to put our beautiful Dottie to sleep. After never showing any signs of illness, she quit eating a few days ago. We took her to the vet yesterday and they ran blood tests which all came back fine. Today, the doctor suggested trying an antibiotic. Bill went at lunch to pick it up and as he was giving her some, she went limp and her mouth was hanging open. I called our vet only to be told that the doctors were out for the rest of the day. They sent us to a neighboring town but when we arrived, we saw that they weren't open. I called our vet back and they sent us in the opposite direction to another hospital. During this trip, Dot cuddled in Bill's arms looking very calm. They took an x-ray and found that although all her tests were fine, she had fluid around her heart and lungs and some kind of growth in her abdomen. The doctor couldn't believe that she looked so healthy on the outside with all that going on inside. We didn't want to put her through the misery of an operation and feeding tube so we said our goodbyes. <br />
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I was holding it together really well considering until 7 PM. That's when we feed the cats their wet food. I got up and fixed one bowl for Tiger. When the cats hear their bowls, they both always come running and meow at us incessantly until we put the food down. Tonight Tiger looked a little confused as he stood alone in our kitchen. <br />
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When anyone asks Bill how we are handling it without Kayleigh, he says "It's our new normal". Looks like we have another new normal to get used too.<br />
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Oh, and just to fill in the gap between Kayleigh leaving and loosing Dot, my dad decided to spend 2 weeks in the hospital and our basement flooded. I think that is enough for now, don't you?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-87476183825482907322015-05-25T19:37:00.001-05:002015-05-25T19:37:05.699-05:00Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen - Cookbook ReviewOur lives are a whirlwind of graduation, award ceremonies, resident hall registration with Kayleigh and planning for Bill's return to Tour of America's Dairyland. On top of all this, we still have to work, do laundry, go to the dentist, etc. so I'm a little all over the place right now. I knew I wasn't going to be creating any new recipes and probably wouldn't have much time to think about anything really. So, when I received this book in the mail I thought a review was the best solution to a blog post as well as what we are eating for 2 weeks!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544379802/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0544379802&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=TRIBHGCAUYH23R7E%22%3EHealthy%20Happy%20Vegan%20Kitchen%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ponderhappin-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0544379802" target="_blank">Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen</a></div>
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I first heard of the author, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfP1-oxnuZZRa5YlWHGtspQ" target="_blank">Kathy Patalsky</a>, when she was in a You Tube video with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCosk66_4CzCMrNshkqZPAeA" target="_blank">Eco-Vegan Gal </a>last Christmas. I started following her channel and shortly after that, she came out with this book. <br />
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Before jumping into the details, I'll give my overall opinion. I tested a lot of recipes in this book and really liked pretty much everything we tried. I think we will get quite a bit of use out of it. Kathy's cooking style and taste seems similar to mine which is good but also means that I already created my own favorite versions of the meals included in this book. But you can always find something new and in this case, there are two recipes that we have already repeated because we liked them so much the first time. I've also replaced two of my old versions of recipes with hers as our new favorites. These alone make the book well worth the money! There is nothing fancy here but there is plenty of really tasty "normal" kinds of foods that anyone would like.<br />
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One of my favorite things from the start was that this book stays open, no matter what page you open it too. I hate having to prop cookbooks open. It is so frustrating!<br />
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The book starts with a three part introduction which includes some background information, suggestions for kitchen items (tools and ingredients), and 10 wellness tips. Nothing new here for me but I always enjoy reading these sections in books, if for nothing else, to be able to make sure I'm not missing out on anything new and exciting.<br />
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From there the book has 14 chapters of recipes and a final chapter of suggested menus. I made something from just about every section. Keep in mind that we are currently in late spring and the weather is finally warming up so that influenced which recipes we picked, Plus, for most of the meals, Kayleigh was doing the majority of the cooking. She had no problem following the recipes except for one night which was not the book's fault and I'll explain below. Also, it was very rare that we were all home at the same time and everything warmed up well later in the evening or the next day.<br />
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<b><u>Breakfast</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nh5oZZPS5sKbd3rUEYEwFPobnc9dyX31CeZr4JZq2HcreTZvHHRPYuCVK8YE4sGiP7Lg8uqziArX8SsMY1IiDocRdnmAgf3bOKMZuKAR7QMv98SvJYaTcG-k5mlvVTCa2Gk3WACsv4pv/s1600/IMG_4988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nh5oZZPS5sKbd3rUEYEwFPobnc9dyX31CeZr4JZq2HcreTZvHHRPYuCVK8YE4sGiP7Lg8uqziArX8SsMY1IiDocRdnmAgf3bOKMZuKAR7QMv98SvJYaTcG-k5mlvVTCa2Gk3WACsv4pv/s200/IMG_4988.JPG" width="200" /></a>Garden Veggie Frittata - I've seen a lot of recipes for vegan frittatas but never tried one before. We had this the night that we ordered Kayleigh's open house invitations. That process took 3 hours, no joke, so it was good that this was easy and could be eaten while sitting at a computer. It also warmed up well the next day at work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdINzEpVNgoXD6-I26PGeyoOw1l3LPRrGLI0IbMZoC5PmHyDIejIrQrOeJwPeNS-JkS7Z2LCQhT5mG73b-WfPWxDyi56yLhGXU6GZou4nOcN_wWBGYRJNz7JtSqeLpQj6K9WmxiuRHHfc7/s1600/IMG_4975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdINzEpVNgoXD6-I26PGeyoOw1l3LPRrGLI0IbMZoC5PmHyDIejIrQrOeJwPeNS-JkS7Z2LCQhT5mG73b-WfPWxDyi56yLhGXU6GZou4nOcN_wWBGYRJNz7JtSqeLpQj6K9WmxiuRHHfc7/s200/IMG_4975.JPG" width="200" /></a>Easy Cheezy Hash Browns - The morning I made these, I was absolutely starving. This was actually my third breakfast. I love hash browns and nutritional yeast and these were definitely easier than frying hash browns but the taste was just OK. Not bad, but not very memorable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT98dBxPp4Zr9ZgGflXR7Gyl8VzEIsU4hTIv06n8BKhMCX_2aRDzuv3MqI3THBRg5Tjc8k-fet4h-XxcbtPU-gMOiyHpKLZ7h9GDER-LOO8i_T_3BrLxC8VZxXa3nSu5MBBArFG-gF1FdJ/s1600/IMG_4971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT98dBxPp4Zr9ZgGflXR7Gyl8VzEIsU4hTIv06n8BKhMCX_2aRDzuv3MqI3THBRg5Tjc8k-fet4h-XxcbtPU-gMOiyHpKLZ7h9GDER-LOO8i_T_3BrLxC8VZxXa3nSu5MBBArFG-gF1FdJ/s200/IMG_4971.JPG" width="200" /></a>Pretty in Pink Lemonade Parfait - Really depends on your strawberries I think. It was good but I think it would be better later in the season. It's still a little too early for strawberries here. I only have a picture of the pudding ingredients in the blender for some reason.<br />
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"Save the Day" Toast - This was breakfast number two on that same day. Yum, yum, yum. I wasn't able to keep my banana in long slices but it was still delicious. Obviously, I made two!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe776FFkBT5kF4ItDVRdN62dFjualkA-6nvBi44gXZI_EA6UQkghgNhGPQru-VJuNFbJnd3prB8I_0LUcCSjepLDRlF911XqZZYWSQB8KOk3KK0fKuikL5qrRG8jetQrzsuYBTG0FMVl3z/s1600/IMG_4974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe776FFkBT5kF4ItDVRdN62dFjualkA-6nvBi44gXZI_EA6UQkghgNhGPQru-VJuNFbJnd3prB8I_0LUcCSjepLDRlF911XqZZYWSQB8KOk3KK0fKuikL5qrRG8jetQrzsuYBTG0FMVl3z/s200/IMG_4974.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Bakery</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90uH1FSkjeo7bkE8-IKog3igRzjpkgksdH-qrp_f9-2hUvv9UOKaSs9mahh1dc75KJ8Dvg1QtvXsSZYNb_3cyo_tcOySTpsoCleB6AijAMweP7TLno8Gn5LAmCQUhyphenhyphenT1-CJ2B-9V0POsP/s1600/IMG_5012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90uH1FSkjeo7bkE8-IKog3igRzjpkgksdH-qrp_f9-2hUvv9UOKaSs9mahh1dc75KJ8Dvg1QtvXsSZYNb_3cyo_tcOySTpsoCleB6AijAMweP7TLno8Gn5LAmCQUhyphenhyphenT1-CJ2B-9V0POsP/s200/IMG_5012.JPG" width="200" /></a>Maple Bar Baked Donuts - They are donuts and the picture in the book was so happy looking, we had to try these. We might make the frosting again but we didn't find the donuts to be too thrilling. Kayleigh tried adding sprinkles to hers to perk it up but she could taste the bananas too much. I was just kind of underwhelmed. <br />
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<b><u>Sandwiches</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-4EzN36-fTQ0_pjMVqw6Rul5yON4GybJtL8pif35I54KWUfzYsKv4nReqjhjwnJhXm_LcoSmGTzFOaftf88pHQpSQY1SGt5iYHTm3TtMhDRg-nDG9hziBZ1kBQHqxew6xgAEE6RU6zwD/s1600/IMG_5023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-4EzN36-fTQ0_pjMVqw6Rul5yON4GybJtL8pif35I54KWUfzYsKv4nReqjhjwnJhXm_LcoSmGTzFOaftf88pHQpSQY1SGt5iYHTm3TtMhDRg-nDG9hziBZ1kBQHqxew6xgAEE6RU6zwD/s200/IMG_5023.JPG" width="200" /></a>Chipotle Tofu Sandwich - We had this on a night that I wasn't expecting Bill to be home. Then it rained and he got to eat a big slab of tofu! In his defense, he tried it and managed to eat about half. That doesn't normally happen. Kayleigh and I love tofu and both liked this but thought we should marinate the tofu first next time to get more flavor in it.<br />
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<b><u>Burgers</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTB6jAXRONf9w_cM8-kIDXVkshkwcm1yY7q_l8QihmeKnHKiL-voq0hmE3BWQUywxsc7CsqY2ZIOrbAo2WPg54NfOwM8PHkOhCSlWje4WmWe_gdodHs6pzFVb1BpO5meeHEa4A8mAN-3Q0/s1600/IMG_5027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTB6jAXRONf9w_cM8-kIDXVkshkwcm1yY7q_l8QihmeKnHKiL-voq0hmE3BWQUywxsc7CsqY2ZIOrbAo2WPg54NfOwM8PHkOhCSlWje4WmWe_gdodHs6pzFVb1BpO5meeHEa4A8mAN-3Q0/s200/IMG_5027.JPG" width="200" /></a>Turmeric Hemp White Bean Burger Patties - Dinner this night was just me and Bill. We both liked this. The last thing we need are more burger recipes but we got one!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatqBCdCHII28LV5Ti8rzhg8dG5uYJZVKyaOQ8xCC_gIuHi7lPEDB4h0vM87q5uqlKeeCxb5rjVWoMoRbecfalu9rw3IVnEd0-YrMOEQkUIjoVgdgPUZYtN_yiZ0WxSCbEF3zsX9D-TW6y/s1600/IMG_5004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatqBCdCHII28LV5Ti8rzhg8dG5uYJZVKyaOQ8xCC_gIuHi7lPEDB4h0vM87q5uqlKeeCxb5rjVWoMoRbecfalu9rw3IVnEd0-YrMOEQkUIjoVgdgPUZYtN_yiZ0WxSCbEF3zsX9D-TW6y/s200/IMG_5004.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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BBQ Peanut Burgers - I loved this. I'm a big fan of BBQ anything so this made me happy. I ended up putting extra sauce on mine but Bill ate his plain.<br />
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<b><u>Veggie Sides</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQTUi_lo_Wlizzico-66tvU0Ix6NOvJCxHiOuma1k_VeVc2azmoHlCLMvCWA9AXguXbTApplPsp16U_Nlo4R7IIYOeeOupk6w5EbT4U6xFWLuFb6U63TrgRL3_vL0SrnKOk-jaS_eh5Co/s1600/IMG_5006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQTUi_lo_Wlizzico-66tvU0Ix6NOvJCxHiOuma1k_VeVc2azmoHlCLMvCWA9AXguXbTApplPsp16U_Nlo4R7IIYOeeOupk6w5EbT4U6xFWLuFb6U63TrgRL3_vL0SrnKOk-jaS_eh5Co/s200/IMG_5006.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Roasted Beets with Ginger and Citrus - Bill heard that beets help you recover after a bike ride so he keeps asking for them. Therefore, I jumped on this recipe because I was getting tired of plain roasted beets. These were pretty easy and a nice change.<br />
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<b><u>Cakes Balls and Fritters</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HJRqs7TpMXt_yTmiCTllbcin0mk1ZAmQTfPQkn4nqwsvjNUbbqoxTfWF2zIufqDM8yqVbrcPfxk8Git8fGQTmfMewKqgBlm0iKTzNUKurb2CA96iulgWDSX8IyLPSBVqd5ZCgQsxv-d_/s1600/IMG_5033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HJRqs7TpMXt_yTmiCTllbcin0mk1ZAmQTfPQkn4nqwsvjNUbbqoxTfWF2zIufqDM8yqVbrcPfxk8Git8fGQTmfMewKqgBlm0iKTzNUKurb2CA96iulgWDSX8IyLPSBVqd5ZCgQsxv-d_/s200/IMG_5033.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Green Island Fritters - Mine weren't really fritters because I baked them. Bill and I thought they were OK. These are Kayleigh's kind of thing but she had to work that night so I'll have to make these again sometime. They were really crumbly but not in a bad way. It mimicked the texture of fish fritters.<br />
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<b><u>Salads</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS19PQO1S5-da4R5DWFsgClpA5O3TfF4dwyajJf4t9N9ryv5BV5kzDaxnzU2AwTcPoLsGyLRBNhqDpGpRFW05Kmc8BYAlixgLI4jygOjCJjMeVRryFHxlLSOelrfGffsjmzDpwGoBa4LX/s1600/IMG_4993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS19PQO1S5-da4R5DWFsgClpA5O3TfF4dwyajJf4t9N9ryv5BV5kzDaxnzU2AwTcPoLsGyLRBNhqDpGpRFW05Kmc8BYAlixgLI4jygOjCJjMeVRryFHxlLSOelrfGffsjmzDpwGoBa4LX/s200/IMG_4993.JPG" width="200" /></a>Maple-Mustard Raw Chard Salad - Another recipe that only Bill and I tried. Bill was pleasantly surprised because he doesn't like chard. It was somewhat bitter but went well with the rest of our meal. I took the leftovers to work the next day and they were terrible. Definitely much better when fresh.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcvnYjqvs8SqFBvRNqyvGMmJ9MvYJcbqBtna2komMZM1aVttpvg8lej2m-tFuzLfQPp7SD5DhJwAXGMCA01b7RWOoKyuUckA8jhhVBfc51-vRiwSBcnMOoJkthPJhNae3JEpHWcz8oS7s/s1600/IMG_5026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcvnYjqvs8SqFBvRNqyvGMmJ9MvYJcbqBtna2komMZM1aVttpvg8lej2m-tFuzLfQPp7SD5DhJwAXGMCA01b7RWOoKyuUckA8jhhVBfc51-vRiwSBcnMOoJkthPJhNae3JEpHWcz8oS7s/s200/IMG_5026.JPG" width="200" /></a>Farmhouse Ranch Chickpea Peach Salad - I couldn't find any peaches so we used mangoes instead. None of us are big on salads but we all really liked this. Creamy dressing and chickpeas make a salad much better!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MqRaMVMgSEdmcQwoTwOj9SpUPuJ8f1AVJDSzarrllLHrDCZXWBU_nHI9vYwKna9OdInkDohk4VHmaIKSJUP5XAaedRJ5SEIuhScD7evo0s5MN14cmEtyVxmaL1S-g0oqlpohZzVCJDI3/s1600/IMG_5049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MqRaMVMgSEdmcQwoTwOj9SpUPuJ8f1AVJDSzarrllLHrDCZXWBU_nHI9vYwKna9OdInkDohk4VHmaIKSJUP5XAaedRJ5SEIuhScD7evo0s5MN14cmEtyVxmaL1S-g0oqlpohZzVCJDI3/s200/IMG_5049.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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Blueberry Farro Spinach Salad - As I was preparing this post today, I came across this recipe and decided to add it to our dinner. We were working in the yard and Kayleigh had a friend over so I was very distracted and completely forgot about the almonds. They sound delicious but it was still really good without them. <br />
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<b><u>Bowls</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQv1Sq8fd8KVVcQfm5emsn5Zx6goEBTrl11M7SIlH1ctvGC1rsrNamJSK6OCVd-if8Xtxqke6iZVNbKz0zcVF4cPMf92qjWElUR1J4r6O6lV5rx7XX4zH8m4aiv5v-OYCBGzBw9AbFuSV/s1600/IMG_4994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQv1Sq8fd8KVVcQfm5emsn5Zx6goEBTrl11M7SIlH1ctvGC1rsrNamJSK6OCVd-if8Xtxqke6iZVNbKz0zcVF4cPMf92qjWElUR1J4r6O6lV5rx7XX4zH8m4aiv5v-OYCBGzBw9AbFuSV/s320/IMG_4994.JPG" width="320" /></a>Cajun Tempeh Sweet Potato Bowl - Here is the big winner in this cookbook for us. This is also the recipe Kayleigh somewhat messed up just because she didn't read it all first. She didn't realize two sauces needed to be made before making this recipe. Luckily I got off work early and so we had time to get it all done and it ended up going faster than we thought. We both loved this recipe. Bill didn't eat until after 10 that night so he had the leftovers and really liked it as well. Actually he liked it so much, a few days later he asked to have it again. It was just as good the second time around. Kayleigh and I had it on couscous, Bill on rice.<br />
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<b><u>Appetizers, Sides, Snacks, and Party Platters</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94d6ppRQSng0FvMjomrZ7Qco5RRzD1bjbo9JSsbp4rlQDEph0UzP1sjWLzwYa1kKcs9CAf8OeBVC7gBNl8_iKj3L4v5tPLoWKyTJrQmjbKO8eBOIP4Dr0-6m649QrwtwjGBPEU1Wf-qdO/s1600/IMG_5032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94d6ppRQSng0FvMjomrZ7Qco5RRzD1bjbo9JSsbp4rlQDEph0UzP1sjWLzwYa1kKcs9CAf8OeBVC7gBNl8_iKj3L4v5tPLoWKyTJrQmjbKO8eBOIP4Dr0-6m649QrwtwjGBPEU1Wf-qdO/s200/IMG_5032.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Pink Beet Walnut Dip - More beets so I had to try it. I made pita chips to go with it and we liked it but I don't know that I'll make it again. The texture bugged me a little. By the way, we didn't think it tasted like beets or walnuts so that may be a plus for some people!<br />
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<b><u>Entrees</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq0flJNIMgEQk-FLdw-MAXABUuxx3CizCKXS5Z31FykWsy13BAVGQRiQ1UYbO3WUichMYX4kHOKz3EIQ6NHupk1V1MBi9kRkhdTf1zjchskXuk8pqpwvgoBQYYmQ-RWbgEa1sDV6jAiju/s1600/IMG_4992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq0flJNIMgEQk-FLdw-MAXABUuxx3CizCKXS5Z31FykWsy13BAVGQRiQ1UYbO3WUichMYX4kHOKz3EIQ6NHupk1V1MBi9kRkhdTf1zjchskXuk8pqpwvgoBQYYmQ-RWbgEa1sDV6jAiju/s200/IMG_4992.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Favorite Vegan Mac and Cheese - This recipe is well named because, after trying at least 10 million vegan mac and cheese recipes, this really is our favorite. It is super creamy and warms up well the next day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQSYengVPGNt2aNzMbHZebH25o0pJHz_kNaBKHfgBwRIny6gbXltiLQGJkrSQoNKkaiRuEpILIkvlaR9zzkzGwHbuxGe8oREFd_YkTIALZnfS5pUAir42xC0R2C7tCWuXACIXxagHS7Ll/s1600/IMG_4998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQSYengVPGNt2aNzMbHZebH25o0pJHz_kNaBKHfgBwRIny6gbXltiLQGJkrSQoNKkaiRuEpILIkvlaR9zzkzGwHbuxGe8oREFd_YkTIALZnfS5pUAir42xC0R2C7tCWuXACIXxagHS7Ll/s200/IMG_4998.JPG" width="200" /></a>Lemon-Pepper Fettuccine Alfredo - Vegan fettuccine Alfredo is another thing I've tried over and over and this is the first version that I've liked. Kayleigh also enjoyed it. I want to make this again for Bill to try. This warmed but surprisingly well at work. ( Yes, I forgot to take a picture until I was almost done with dinner!)<br />
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Spicy Peanut Soba Noodles with Veggies - Here's our big dud. Kayleigh and I have a great fondness for peanut sauces but something was off with this one. We ended up throwing it away and making something else. I don't know if we did something wrong or it just wasn't too our taste but this was a giant no for us. Plus I forgot to take a picture so it was a bad night all around.<br />
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<b><u>Soups</u></b><br />
Rainy Day Tomato Soup - I already had a favorite tomato soup. This one is better! I had a picture but it didn't look anything like in real life and, really, it is tomato soup. Everyone knows what that looks like!<br />
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<b><u>Desserts</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEika67G_GTFi0lbP1SK62I3M9V5idfgZZ5NH3A7lloDFvUbzafiV-vuNaqs1sBaLL5TYbM0nHo2PMm391g5ciDdL2EoJf2MJD3RUvDxl-l5q4D_3sTnHaISAjro66l0kI3ELXEV2uFDC1-h/s1600/IMG_4969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEika67G_GTFi0lbP1SK62I3M9V5idfgZZ5NH3A7lloDFvUbzafiV-vuNaqs1sBaLL5TYbM0nHo2PMm391g5ciDdL2EoJf2MJD3RUvDxl-l5q4D_3sTnHaISAjro66l0kI3ELXEV2uFDC1-h/s200/IMG_4969.JPG" width="200" /></a>Kathy's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies - These are now Kayleigh's favorite. This was the first thing I made and last night I revealed to her that I had froze a couple cookies. She was ridiculously happy! They didn't actually taste like chocolate chip cookies to me. I'm not sure how I would describe them but they were good.<br />
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Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies - Ginger and molasses? I have to try them! Very good, as expected.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf5yUHHBKm-EOjhCowaf8DEbSWEShZN8WcDFhozawLxAGtICE5CPDR7-I0oM4uqklcKuNprds61rGN2M-WtoEewDV7lpaY0wuQ1kVSIe5-OEwI-CeotuXNXtbx9h8nRjkj2jZ4Qn18XWv/s1600/IMG_4997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf5yUHHBKm-EOjhCowaf8DEbSWEShZN8WcDFhozawLxAGtICE5CPDR7-I0oM4uqklcKuNprds61rGN2M-WtoEewDV7lpaY0wuQ1kVSIe5-OEwI-CeotuXNXtbx9h8nRjkj2jZ4Qn18XWv/s200/IMG_4997.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8MX5Ywh1EGjh41yA8WwjorSNAUAgzRZHLOuu1KfvS6hWorD8LgnUvBcj08cwtk1SvxRRET1jqqbhMDaWh1r0HxXoe50x0Qw0GYpV-AtUoGMoOAfuJsijEsLPafjyi_6QDQk_Zoat2H6l/s1600/IMG_5008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8MX5Ywh1EGjh41yA8WwjorSNAUAgzRZHLOuu1KfvS6hWorD8LgnUvBcj08cwtk1SvxRRET1jqqbhMDaWh1r0HxXoe50x0Qw0GYpV-AtUoGMoOAfuJsijEsLPafjyi_6QDQk_Zoat2H6l/s200/IMG_5008.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Peanut Butter Brownies - I knew I had messed this up somehow when the recipe said to "pour" the batter into the pan but I had to press mine like a pie crust! I continued on though and they actually tasted good even though I don't think they were at all what they were supposed to be. Still haven't figured out where I went wrong.<br />
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<b><u>Drinks, Sips and Smoothies</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFTdGKCChtUZTHDhBC_tVaDuaee3b4a0XR2SXF_-ZQzQCQps7K00OhxhoStrPC5zLCNbqJ_UIvCxPdHHnFy5-jiG3MFT4ifEJjs54D_0NEg40lwhfYmk1bc_uxJkMtcrIJjYgXNMna7G3/s1600/IMG_4966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFTdGKCChtUZTHDhBC_tVaDuaee3b4a0XR2SXF_-ZQzQCQps7K00OhxhoStrPC5zLCNbqJ_UIvCxPdHHnFy5-jiG3MFT4ifEJjs54D_0NEg40lwhfYmk1bc_uxJkMtcrIJjYgXNMna7G3/s200/IMG_4966.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Watermelon Frosty - I remember watching one of Kathy's videos where she talks about putting frozen watermelon in a smoothie. My thought was "there is no way I'm buying a watermelon, chopping it up, and freezing it". Then Kayleigh's friend stayed the night and she likes watermelon so I ended up buying one. Since I had it, I figured I may as well freeze some of it and try this smoothie out. Seriously?!?! I've now bought two more watermelons and have had this almost every morning since. I can't even describe the taste other than to say it is delicious and perfect for the warm weather.<br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>For The Kids</u></b><br />
This is the only section we didn't try anything from. More evidence that my kid is now officially an adult. I feel old. Better go make more chocolate chip cookies to cheer me up!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-9104818067520881422015-05-06T19:12:00.004-05:002015-05-06T19:12:58.116-05:00Potato SaladA few weeks ago I came up with several ideas for blog posts so I put the ideas on little post it notes and scattered them through my calendar. Unfortunately, that did not motivate me to post. Instead I kept moving the stickers forward until pretty soon, my calendar looked like this:<br />
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Despite all those ideas, I decided to post something else today. Last week I had a terrible stomach thing which resulted in a day of resting and recuperating. I wanted some kind of potato which usually means baked fries (that's on one of those post it notes for a future post!) but this time I wanted something different. Maybe I should get sick more often because I threw this recipe together and I've been obsessed with it ever since. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznvPmgDrfW1Km2EGYtf1eXj34L5JBX1k1XtiESQ_sOHK32v1DrHtA5oXc9xpXr4l9I6Wjgk7RFhNbw0uGkFbajEWFIcDKwyz4RlfQzPabrRWaWo-aYhyphenhyphen_ehABhuSFrAbLZbgYvioICSY_/s1600/IMG_4952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznvPmgDrfW1Km2EGYtf1eXj34L5JBX1k1XtiESQ_sOHK32v1DrHtA5oXc9xpXr4l9I6Wjgk7RFhNbw0uGkFbajEWFIcDKwyz4RlfQzPabrRWaWo-aYhyphenhyphen_ehABhuSFrAbLZbgYvioICSY_/s1600/IMG_4952.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what one pound of potatoes looks like.</td></tr>
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It is super easy so I've been able to give in to my obsession and have it almost every day! I even have time to make this in the morning before work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OuVmqrHrwaLgYsV3Opz3kNifp83bdSd3sw4MgTuOUV27W5rPNgkmPIrqD-BuUTB_m_5oFKHTJP9lY2mHVgF77PDpQ2Fa3Je8tjgSKRxuYTanXilzpFnZpSoyVImHD-xyKRyl-0Od5bk4/s1600/IMG_4959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OuVmqrHrwaLgYsV3Opz3kNifp83bdSd3sw4MgTuOUV27W5rPNgkmPIrqD-BuUTB_m_5oFKHTJP9lY2mHVgF77PDpQ2Fa3Je8tjgSKRxuYTanXilzpFnZpSoyVImHD-xyKRyl-0Od5bk4/s1600/IMG_4959.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tastes better than it looks. Not the most photogenic recipe!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I hate to call it potato salad because it is so much better than a normal potato salad but in the end, that is really the best name so I'm stuck with it. I found that I like this better at room temperature than straight out of the refrigerator but both ways are good. This serves one person if that person is me and it is lunch time!<br />
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<h3>
Potato Salad</h3>
<div>
1 pound small Yukon gold potatoes (or your favorite - a few days ago I used a combination of all the left over potatoes in the bottom of our drawer).</div>
<div>
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<div>
Boil until a fork easily pierces them. Usually about 20 minutes.</div>
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<div>
Mix together in a large bowl:</div>
<div>
2 T Dijon mustard (I've also used sweet and spicy mustard which was delicious)</div>
<div>
1 pickle spear, thinly sliced</div>
<div>
2 T pickle juice</div>
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<div>
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them and add to the mustard mixture. You want them to still be a little warm so they soak up the flavors better. Add salt and pepper to taste and then mix everything up. If it seems too dry, add more pickle juice. Let chill for at least 30 minutes. </div>
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If this is too vinegary for you, add about a tablespoon of vegan mayonnaise. Personally it is perfect for me without the mayo but I love mustard and pickles.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-80972970484800802792015-04-21T19:55:00.000-05:002015-04-21T19:55:39.719-05:00More Decluttering - People Actually Get Rid of Books?!?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Because I like decluttering my house and I live with people who like to keep me busy by cluttering up the previously decluttered, I spend a lot of time reading about organizing. Lately a lot of people online have been talking about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607747308/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1607747308&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=N6TDZTOBVXUREXG2" target="_blank">"The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up".</a> I was tempted to buy it but there is so much online about it, I don't feel like I really need to. <br />
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I followed along as people on You Tube purged their clothes. Easy - I do this on a regular basis anyway. I even went through my daughter's clothes (with her help, I didn't just get rid of her clothes on my own!). She was able to get rid of 75% of her pants! We condensed all her stuff from 2 closets down to one and emptied 2 dresser drawers.<br />
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Then everyone online started doing their make up and jewelry collections. I only have a couple pairs of earrings, 2 necklaces and one bracelet so that was unnecessary. I also have only one basket that holds all my make up but, for a laugh, I went through it and actually found some things to get rid of.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnCOaqSUs3qmwsa2dgKfGomNGsYeHau9ZhQzun64AGgm31ZOLHrB9mChTz6cPgFW8uyei6Ls2aVVaYKWbnF7bRzCWjgy1jcfmjoaYc9xrf6_Ieh0kCChpPZpiqLkWB0S76dkuMFwxUILr/s1600/IMG_4939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnCOaqSUs3qmwsa2dgKfGomNGsYeHau9ZhQzun64AGgm31ZOLHrB9mChTz6cPgFW8uyei6Ls2aVVaYKWbnF7bRzCWjgy1jcfmjoaYc9xrf6_Ieh0kCChpPZpiqLkWB0S76dkuMFwxUILr/s1600/IMG_4939.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure why I was digging around these items everyday to get to the things I actually use.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But then it came to books. I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to get rid of books, ever. Right? That has to be a rule somewhere. I love my books. I love reading them, I love holding them, I love looking at them. (I also talk about my love of books in<a href="http://ponderinghappiness.blogspot.com/2015/01/birthday-books.html" target="_blank"> my birthday post.</a>) We have bookcases in almost every room of our house. In the family room I keep my old hardback books which I use as decoration (I have actually read all of them). The other bookcases are hidden away in spare rooms and the basement. I ran out of space quite a while ago and slowly started filling the computer room closet, hall closet and my bedroom closet. I was considering buying more bookshelves but then I was forced to admit that I probably didn't need to keep all these books. <br />
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A couple weekends ago, I grabbed a bag and quickly looked through my books. I was shocked that I was able to relatively quickly and painlessly come up with 4 bags of books that I didn't think I'd ever look at again. Then I had my daughter go through her one bookcase and she came up with 4 more bags. Hers was a little easier because she is 18 but still had books in there for 3rd graders. <br />
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My husband is not a reader but when he saw what I was doing, he immediately protested. Turns out he likes having the books around, just to look at apparently! I promised him that the bookshelves would still look quite full and that I wasn't touching any of the old, hardback books in the family room.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQz1kEhFE5U_84Orf3KfL820SlkuAWSk9EWGQd6sGRQNeHWP7dPj8Gtvc8yuaMZPA2siykQBlDu6X2HwzogC9AgbXRjjPOMz2idHqRuaCUX6pSzjs5-gJIBOD-5c3L2o_I0dz9PFVJcgU9/s1600/IMG_4945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQz1kEhFE5U_84Orf3KfL820SlkuAWSk9EWGQd6sGRQNeHWP7dPj8Gtvc8yuaMZPA2siykQBlDu6X2HwzogC9AgbXRjjPOMz2idHqRuaCUX6pSzjs5-gJIBOD-5c3L2o_I0dz9PFVJcgU9/s1600/IMG_4945.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then the question was what to do with the books. We found a group called <a href="http://www.betterworldbooks.com/" target="_blank">Better World Books</a>. They resell what books they can and donate others to libraries, schools and hospitals. A portion of the money they raise goes to help various literacy programs. I did some research and felt pretty good about them so that is where our 8 bags of once loved but no longer needed books went. <br />
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So far it seems that I have survived although I do have an urge to buy more books!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-16962134682935579282015-04-18T18:04:00.002-05:002015-04-18T18:04:39.425-05:00Spicy Tempeh SandwichThis is going to be a quick and easy post for a quick and easy recipe. I came home to a completely stressed out Kayleigh and we literally threw this together. We all loved it and I've been craving it ever since!<br />
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<h4>
Spicy Tempeh Sandwich</h4>
1 tablespoon oil<br />
1 package of tempeh, sliced thin<br />
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips<br />
1/2 cup hot sauce similar to Frank's Red Hot (we used the Aldi version)<br />
2 tablespoons vegan margarine<br />
<br />
Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the tempeh until it is lightly browned. Add the peppers and cook another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the margarine and hot sauce and cook until the tempeh and peppers are coated and everything is heated through. Serve on hamburger buns.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-13092767674791011252015-04-09T17:17:00.001-05:002015-04-09T17:17:34.223-05:00Chickpea and Kale PiccataI'll start off by saying that I'm not sure if this is a piccata or not. I was calling it that but then I realized that anything with capers and lemon juice, I tend to label as piccata. I really should research what that actually means. Oh well, it was delicious, and I loved it, and that is the name I have in my head so I'm sticking with it!<br />
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The great thing about kale is it holds up well which makes the leftovers perfect for lunch the next day. It might turn a little olive green because of the lemon but it tastes just as good as the night before.<br />
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<h3>
Chickpea and Kale Piccata</h3>
<div>
4 tablespoons vegetable broth (for sauteing)</div>
<div>
1 cup sliced onions</div>
<div>
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped</div>
<div>
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth</div>
<div>
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme</div>
<div>
3 tablespoons capers</div>
<div>
2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed</div>
<div>
4 cups kale, chopped</div>
<div>
Salt and pepper to taste</div>
<div>
Juice of 1/2 a lemon</div>
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In a large skillet, saute the onions in broth until they are soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, salt, pepper and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, capers, and kale and cook until the kale is wilted, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and squeeze lemon over the top. Serve on mashed potatoes.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-773049869946135732015-04-06T19:46:00.000-05:002015-04-06T19:47:28.508-05:00Our Pantry is Empty! What We Learned From No Spend MarchWe survived a month of "no spending". Overall we spent about $150 in groceries and only paid our regular expenses. We didn't buy anything extra or spend any money on entertainment. Although we weren't able to keep our weekly groceries under $20, we did pretty good. Here are some of the things we learned through the month:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IotT2HnTXTPZ4q7q7UqLYyxoCiowEPwJuDT2Arw31lfy0B3JPxdUcmXjYTDP2nwoMNiNmp3tlCwxnU5-wV6UErY_4GgnNmm1wXsXx-_g_ZhwZn3tHsBX3c5oNNAFaA38ES1B4pETI5Qh/s1600/IMG_4909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IotT2HnTXTPZ4q7q7UqLYyxoCiowEPwJuDT2Arw31lfy0B3JPxdUcmXjYTDP2nwoMNiNmp3tlCwxnU5-wV6UErY_4GgnNmm1wXsXx-_g_ZhwZn3tHsBX3c5oNNAFaA38ES1B4pETI5Qh/s1600/IMG_4909.JPG" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Italian and Mexican shelves suffered the most!</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Things last a lot longer than we thought. The whole month I thought we were going to run out of ketchup and my facial cleanser but we never did. Turns out I was really bad at judging how much is left in the container.</li>
<li>Meals can be easy, quick, and cheap and still taste really good. We went back to our old favorite recipes and remembered why they used to be our favorites. We didn't get bored at all although by the end of the month, I was craving more fresh vegetables.</li>
<li>You can survive a month without peanut butter and all purpose flour but not tamari. We ran out of all of these the first week but the tamari is the only one we bought in March. </li>
<li>The world doesn't end when you pull the last non-dairy milk carton from the closet. I always have at least 4 or 5 cartons in the closet so that I never run out. By the last week, we were on the last soy milk but it lasted and I didn't even have to skip a smoothie.</li>
<li>Speaking of smoothies, it is fantastic having a month's worth of greens and bananas in the freezer. I'm going to buy those in month-long quantities from now on instead of every week.</li>
<li>Lemons and limes make your life happier. We ran out of both mid-month and our meals suffered. </li>
<li>There is something very satisfying about seeing the food in your pantry actually decrease. It made me just as happy as when I would see it fully stocked.</li>
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Overall it was a really good experience and worth the time and effort. We saved a lot of money and learned what to buy and what not to buy. There are a lot of pre-made sauce kind of things still sitting in the pantry which we obviously don't like so I am determined not to buy them ever again. Bill and Kayleigh were very supportive through the whole thing and very patiently waited for April to arrive! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-70125429574196733742015-03-26T20:09:00.000-05:002015-03-26T20:09:45.035-05:00Catch-All RoomDespite what feels like constant chaos in my house, I love decluttering and organizing the different areas whether it is a room, closet, or just a drawer. There are certain parts that I've done over and over but there is one room that I have put off because it was so overwhelming. I wish I had thought to take pictures before we cleared the room. It is truly impossible to even imagine how bad it was. But I guess that is why there aren't any pictures! I did find a couple to show that it was actually a functioning room at one time.<div>
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This room used to be my daughter's room (as you can see from the random Winnie the Pooh items). When she was about 8 years old we moved her down the hall to what was then a spare bedroom. That's when the disaster started. First, we took the water bed that was in the other room and put it in this room. The problem is that we didn't actually set it up as a bed so we started piling boxes and general junk into the big open bed frame. Finally, we came to terms with the fact that we weren't going to have (nor did we really need) a spare bedroom and got rid of the water bed. We decided to use the room as a "study room" for Kayleigh. We set up my parent's old kitchen table for her to do her homework. A couple months later, she got a sewing machine for her birthday so it became her sewing room. Then a few year's ago, she really got into baking so the table was used to store all her baking supplies. <div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_ERYMc8m3hM5Xm6cqKGF-bqyzTvp3ktNvyvSb15m5N2WszBRP7Sz2Wj3VLTwnuHYOreAu5jdKaBnsLzMDGz09RNpHr_fsxxPZ_rjd7TINh2lI4ZfOx3P33ixxkwQWNYv454bzet29ryv/s1600/sewing+project+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_ERYMc8m3hM5Xm6cqKGF-bqyzTvp3ktNvyvSb15m5N2WszBRP7Sz2Wj3VLTwnuHYOreAu5jdKaBnsLzMDGz09RNpHr_fsxxPZ_rjd7TINh2lI4ZfOx3P33ixxkwQWNYv454bzet29ryv/s1600/sewing+project+2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kayleigh sewing back when you could actually see the top of the table. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ZgmKrVGcMLpEKEyxCj46OGcq-3SB_t-GP-IjTL-9L0qiZ2L7xApjH1wJNbSEaYrzjo2Vicv7yYE1mgRFmdro133uUNIpUBzD9KXx5RJbIfgUk4mFuVngpTuZAdtWpiAfj9Uadhsz0Zxc/s1600/mothers+day+iron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ZgmKrVGcMLpEKEyxCj46OGcq-3SB_t-GP-IjTL-9L0qiZ2L7xApjH1wJNbSEaYrzjo2Vicv7yYE1mgRFmdro133uUNIpUBzD9KXx5RJbIfgUk4mFuVngpTuZAdtWpiAfj9Uadhsz0Zxc/s1600/mothers+day+iron.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was even enough room for the ironing board.</td></tr>
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<div>
Through all this, the room served several other purposes as well including a place to feed the cats, store Bill's bowling and bike supplies, keep the paper recycling, and general junk collection place. We used to clear the table off every year for Christmas and use it as a second table for the food.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTW4EQJK0w-3RlA1UeZW6ucR-lnBtCYAOdMEik2Bc9EJnWpiN7wVC7ZEYSYfmk60WmhpF1876Z5YKUOYG0dVbUn78aYkFjRntVZ5aaUNzgxQCtzwZMJS-yLdxL8mgIGTlb1zLWu4kUvQ9o/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTW4EQJK0w-3RlA1UeZW6ucR-lnBtCYAOdMEik2Bc9EJnWpiN7wVC7ZEYSYfmk60WmhpF1876Z5YKUOYG0dVbUn78aYkFjRntVZ5aaUNzgxQCtzwZMJS-yLdxL8mgIGTlb1zLWu4kUvQ9o/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the best I could do for a disaster picture. I took this last year to show Kayleigh's cake decorating supplies organization. Yes, we tried to organize in the middle of a big mess. We were trying at least! You can barely even notice what we were trying to show because there is also a tower of scrapbooking paper, a bike wheel, a bowling bag, a random cup from when I was in college, and a tea pot. You'll have to just imagine what the other 90% of the room looked like!</td></tr>
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<div>
Eventually that became too much of a hassle so we just started shutting the door. When we were remodeling the family room and computer room, we started simply piling everything from those rooms into any open space in here. Then, as I decided not to move some of the stuff back into the original rooms, they started to collect dust. It was terrible. It was almost impossible to even find an open spot to feed the cats. The worst part is that you look straight into this room when you walk in the house. </div>
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One day about 2 months ago, I decided I'd had enough and started clearing everything out of the room. We took the table down and then looked around at the space. We decided that the bowling and biking stuff would get permanently removed and that the other items needed to be better contained. Kayleigh and I ran to Target for something completely different but stumbled across these shelving units that were on sale. Then we found the bins and everything came together. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1ZJTSM0fwKdF0A64GN3cG28brdnRh0jJJWg49XsYpywQLsMSwRxosddziyScmFJ90HQ3mCeSeFugl7_ZRc1nFiHOldn7KcK9wNHCIu0UFRvhdQw8WK2FyROYyX3-lzXLU06N4HcCWs-C/s1600/IMG_4850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1ZJTSM0fwKdF0A64GN3cG28brdnRh0jJJWg49XsYpywQLsMSwRxosddziyScmFJ90HQ3mCeSeFugl7_ZRc1nFiHOldn7KcK9wNHCIu0UFRvhdQw8WK2FyROYyX3-lzXLU06N4HcCWs-C/s1600/IMG_4850.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recycling is still there but hidden in that basket in the corner. This unit has several of our larger items that used to be under the table including a pressure cooker, serving dishes and Kayleigh's sewing machine, And, of course, there is always Dot!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCN9ZsSCM80Z5rZjTLPmf5VgAlIb4Eanjgu8Y-RaE9KTc2BapndpsV25YW1Mc9VOQIzjYIsNlr-b_Y7P6y5hMoQX8iqn7A1WQprL7AWm-FDACw8P7ihyphenhyphenNfwRVYiK-Kkt7LOZx0ofwdDee/s1600/IMG_4851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCN9ZsSCM80Z5rZjTLPmf5VgAlIb4Eanjgu8Y-RaE9KTc2BapndpsV25YW1Mc9VOQIzjYIsNlr-b_Y7P6y5hMoQX8iqn7A1WQprL7AWm-FDACw8P7ihyphenhyphenNfwRVYiK-Kkt7LOZx0ofwdDee/s1600/IMG_4851.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the other shelving unit. We managed to get tons of stuff hidden into those containers but it is still all very accessible. My scrapbooking supplies are to the left.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cuyKOKNCDD18US7eQv60LFIgHBvqCqn-_9p_IXa1f137I7ynHU7fYeQWnetU3_66ALoUFNQTDvp6AG2V1HC_mOSvLl-Su7sAGyYsD7YP8-O1Q0x6-8B74vEpF7aY6XglGXuKDbZHLyBi/s1600/IMG_4855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cuyKOKNCDD18US7eQv60LFIgHBvqCqn-_9p_IXa1f137I7ynHU7fYeQWnetU3_66ALoUFNQTDvp6AG2V1HC_mOSvLl-Su7sAGyYsD7YP8-O1Q0x6-8B74vEpF7aY6XglGXuKDbZHLyBi/s1600/IMG_4855.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of these is holding Bill's extra water bottles and the other is actually empty!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzv2CnVbT8kdq6aijZb-Guim0dbg2m7j3RPauE_Rtsr2CnFfH_Vumi-nNPLeZpsqfOC_kslXw41_ec5NzXKxn1LSoNu_dSJLW4GTx5kaSQ0nL3Av0yIfJG5yHT_nFxb_cHCvNwWZHta13/s1600/IMG_4856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzv2CnVbT8kdq6aijZb-Guim0dbg2m7j3RPauE_Rtsr2CnFfH_Vumi-nNPLeZpsqfOC_kslXw41_ec5NzXKxn1LSoNu_dSJLW4GTx5kaSQ0nL3Av0yIfJG5yHT_nFxb_cHCvNwWZHta13/s1600/IMG_4856.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are Kayleigh's baking supply drawers that we were trying to show off before.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NUMLPLhGmBMNzILL5-XB-9Y26C2EO1oJcagmHkTN39JjnmOs5r_SafHuMUmrXBiz_REeKOhMk4E8wqC9-2tTq0XQu4ysGKPqATXAUQcEx9JVxAjTRdzVYgQJ8gWKZm6LTdpJZ9Apm0uZ/s1600/IMG_4857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NUMLPLhGmBMNzILL5-XB-9Y26C2EO1oJcagmHkTN39JjnmOs5r_SafHuMUmrXBiz_REeKOhMk4E8wqC9-2tTq0XQu4ysGKPqATXAUQcEx9JVxAjTRdzVYgQJ8gWKZm6LTdpJZ9Apm0uZ/s1600/IMG_4857.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the other, larger, baking items are in these. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoPK1QBL04Oqlk7LUiHCXZwS4Vp7X5obd8kx-J-nA8gKcDZSrJIZe8DvIKKV8qSmTfv7GZInR4HmwkTzIC0sNF-UMkO_LaiA7D4Z1n5qKlUaa9OQm1YWUZ3jlWk72rRNdHM3rIh6qPXeU/s1600/IMG_4858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoPK1QBL04Oqlk7LUiHCXZwS4Vp7X5obd8kx-J-nA8gKcDZSrJIZe8DvIKKV8qSmTfv7GZInR4HmwkTzIC0sNF-UMkO_LaiA7D4Z1n5qKlUaa9OQm1YWUZ3jlWk72rRNdHM3rIh6qPXeU/s1600/IMG_4858.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's inside one. I couldn't believe everything fit so well.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfH9um5YMKj-wGiN8w5xISPAZMDnL_rKciod8vNy-RP9Pdl-nL0-rRrbh78Z3Bt4RjN6Su9up853b2uHJg5Og_1XwU1pUo8pLh4mgw5i5LyUEnbCqd-5kp8napbIQEFwp9lmDs__Uq6nln/s1600/IMG_4863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfH9um5YMKj-wGiN8w5xISPAZMDnL_rKciod8vNy-RP9Pdl-nL0-rRrbh78Z3Bt4RjN6Su9up853b2uHJg5Og_1XwU1pUo8pLh4mgw5i5LyUEnbCqd-5kp8napbIQEFwp9lmDs__Uq6nln/s1600/IMG_4863.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just for reference, that is the main door to our house as seen through the kitchen.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXH-ykvmHvjcW8OtqoO8lkfkcE57Agz2R64hWJUCp-UvsLXcykk-cZlWqZs2Zf7hgWKKZ6nJ_-bbidh0qnkkPsR-qWkReY57kOtDp4vy-do6W4gmReJ8yF03rijb9TFhVzJGHI9t76QLk/s1600/IMG_4865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXH-ykvmHvjcW8OtqoO8lkfkcE57Agz2R64hWJUCp-UvsLXcykk-cZlWqZs2Zf7hgWKKZ6nJ_-bbidh0qnkkPsR-qWkReY57kOtDp4vy-do6W4gmReJ8yF03rijb9TFhVzJGHI9t76QLk/s1600/IMG_4865.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this is what you see now from the kitchen. Much better. And there is Dot, again,.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The room still isn't perfect. You'll notice a huge piece of drywall still pushed against the wall (not sure what that was even bought for) but it is so much better. Every time I walk in this room or even just glance in from the kitchen, I feel so good. I wish I had done this years ago but better late than never! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3agmEgJA8pCIasPhFFKC5XXtHP56eyz8AQYO-Pse4TrcmTl33BfFw1kXDatx7dE8NrYWPFniDksYFJzwuxkE-vv8UwpcdY-hF_DGBbEnRwM0dhV3RXu31rGupSfFJbMZ1aT9nPL1ad_mG/s1600/IMG_4852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3agmEgJA8pCIasPhFFKC5XXtHP56eyz8AQYO-Pse4TrcmTl33BfFw1kXDatx7dE8NrYWPFniDksYFJzwuxkE-vv8UwpcdY-hF_DGBbEnRwM0dhV3RXu31rGupSfFJbMZ1aT9nPL1ad_mG/s1600/IMG_4852.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dry wall along with Dot. Can you tell it was almost dinner time when I took the pictures. She couldn't figure out why I was in there without her food bowl!</td></tr>
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<br />Please tell me I'm not the only one with a energy draining junk pile in their house. I guess all that is left now is to tackle the basement, or maybe the garage!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-72149007493553933682015-03-22T08:36:00.001-05:002015-03-22T08:45:11.752-05:00Potato Tacos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Tr0NihDw_kgnV0B2apMv5SiTWE0gcJNUbIQGulwcBNWujp7D6ocIW_oVje-_x-kL5TWdRjTRfrv4NneS5MD_5H06HO7JpoCSD5lPmmxudrD0_RtcP677S018AOt43m7wHQ_ZLTYOiomj/s1600/IMG_4609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Tr0NihDw_kgnV0B2apMv5SiTWE0gcJNUbIQGulwcBNWujp7D6ocIW_oVje-_x-kL5TWdRjTRfrv4NneS5MD_5H06HO7JpoCSD5lPmmxudrD0_RtcP677S018AOt43m7wHQ_ZLTYOiomj/s1600/IMG_4609.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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For some reason I thought I already posted this recipe. I'm assuming I had planned to back when my life was absorbed with studying and never got around to it. While looking through my posts to make sure it wasn't a repeat, I noticed we eat a lot of Mexican food. Not real Mexican food, but our strange version of it. It is so easy to turn vegan and it is generally inexpensive so that meets our main food criteria. Plus we really like it. So here's another one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pLI3E4yU8_lO34Vh1VyWm3IkahWsnhHDNtHFzK-MuKIfcsq6FLxmSH8Uv5VfcPPDVxIQorgzvz2hYRtWiT91ypO4gZPvK2e2pgQcn44u-v3loneiLNyqH8tewLIp9rTLS367X9Lp04AF/s1600/IMG_4605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pLI3E4yU8_lO34Vh1VyWm3IkahWsnhHDNtHFzK-MuKIfcsq6FLxmSH8Uv5VfcPPDVxIQorgzvz2hYRtWiT91ypO4gZPvK2e2pgQcn44u-v3loneiLNyqH8tewLIp9rTLS367X9Lp04AF/s1600/IMG_4605.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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This recipe comes with a free tip that I learned from the always useful Internet. Aldi's sells jalapenos in a bag of about 6-8. This always seems like a great deal to me and I can't help myself from buying the bag instead of the one jalapeno that I actually need. Then, of course, at the end of the week I'm left looking at a mostly full bag of jalapenos just waiting to go bad. My solution is to mince and freeze them. This is obviously a good idea but leads to terrible, burning hands caused by chopping way too many hot peppers at once. Usually I was my hands, wait a little bit, and I'm fine. The last time though, I was a mess. The pain was actually getting more and more intense. Out of desperation, I had Kayleigh type "how to stop hands burning from jalapenos" into Google and she came up with the crazy solution was washing your hands in cold water and mustard. This seemed very weird to say the least but I was desperate so I squirted some plain old mustard into my hands and washed them. I kid you not, the burning stopped immediately. Amazing. I also smelled like hot dogs all day!<br />
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I adapted a recipe from<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592334393/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1592334393&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=LT5DC3S4WRQJWNYJ" target="_blank"> "Color Me Vegan" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.</a> Several year's ago I received this as a birthday present and we spent weeks trying recipes from it. It got to the point where we'd be checking out at the grocery store and Bill would say something like "So I guess we are doing purple this week?"!<br />
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<h4>
Potato Tacos</h4>
<div>
2 cups sweet potatoes (1 inch dice)</div>
<div>
2 cups Yukon gold potatoes (1 inch dice)</div>
<div>
1 cup onion, diced</div>
<div>
2 red bell peppers, diced</div>
<div>
1 jalapeno, minced</div>
<div>
1 clove garlic</div>
<div>
2-4 tablespoons vegetable broth (or water)</div>
<div>
Salt & pepper</div>
<div>
Hard shell tortillas</div>
<div>
Toppings such as salsa, guacamole, cilantro, etc. (doesn't really need any toppings in my opinion)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Using a steamer, steam both kinds of potatoes until soft but still holding their shape (10=15 minutes). In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon broth and saute the onion and peppers until soft. Add additional broth as needed. This takes about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one additional minute. Add the potatoes to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all ingredients are well blended. Slightly mash the mixture so that it somewhat sticks together (to make an easier taco filling). Place into taco shells and top with your chosen toppings.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steamed</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sauteed</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mashed</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-56711455746534159472015-03-18T17:52:00.001-05:002015-03-18T17:52:17.731-05:00Tortilla Pizza (or what to eat when everything goes wrong)We've had to get creative several times this month as we attempt to limit our grocery shopping. One meal, in particular, really challenged us. I had planned pizza. Usually I make my own dough but I had a mix hiding in my pantry (I think it came in a subscription box but can't be sure). It was supposed to make two pizzas so we decided to give it a try. <br />
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I mixed it up first thing in the morning. It looked like a tiny puddle of nothing but I covered it as directed and waited. 3 hours later, nothing had happened. Maybe the yeast in the mix is old? We added a sprinkle of yeast and waited some more. By mid-afternoon it was obvious this was not going to turn into pizza. No problem, There's still time to make our regular pizza crust... Seriously, is this all the flour we have?? Great. Thank goodness for tortillas! <br />
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We have often made quick lunch-time pizzas using tortillas. The nice thing is that they are individual size so everyone gets their favorite toppings. For Bill and Kayleigh that is basically cheese. For me it is a variety of sauteed vegetables. This time I used mushrooms, onions, spinach, olives, and garlic. I meant to add artichokes but completely forgot. <br />
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But wait, we weren't in the clear yet. I heard my daughter say "where's the pizza sauce" and I wanted to scream. How can we be out of pizza sauce? Probably all those lunchtime tortilla pizzas! No problem. We grabbed anything that sounded like it would make pizza sauce and mixed it together. Shockingly, it worked! <br />
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What a ridiculously easy and yet exhausting meal!!<br />
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<h3>
Panic Pizza Sauce</h3>
<div>
1 can diced tomatoes with juice</div>
<div>
1 can tomato paste</div>
<div>
1 tsp oregano</div>
<div>
pinch of crushed red pepper</div>
<div>
1 clove garlic</div>
<div>
1/2 tsp onion powder</div>
<div>
Salt and pepper to taste</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mix it all together and mash the tomatoes a little. If you don't want any chunks (like Kayleigh) blend it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Tortilla Pizza</h3>
<div>
Flour tortilla - any size but smaller usually works better</div>
<div>
Pizza sauce</div>
<div>
Toppings of your choice</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Assemble the pizza on a pan or stone. Place in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until tortilla becomes slightly browned. Slice like a pizza and eat. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<div>
Oh, and that pizza dough mix didn't go to waste. I added tons of whole wheat flour to it until it kind of formed a ball and then made bread sticks. They were ridiculously salty so I guess it was a good thing we didn't use that for our crust. Further proof that homemade is always better.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-79205354392317792332015-03-15T13:10:00.000-05:002015-03-15T13:10:25.876-05:00March Grocery Challenge UpdateJust to recap, our goal for this month was to spend $100 the first week and then $20 each of the remaining weeks. Along with the groceries, we've tried to spend less on other things as well. I didn't realize how much impulse buying I was doing lately until we tried this experiment. So many times I've been tempted to run out and grab something but then I stop and think about if I really need it. So far, every time the answer has been no. There may be a few items that we end up buying next month but nowhere near what we would have bought if we weren't doing this. So that is good and hopefully we've all broke some bad shopping habits.<br />
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As far as the grocery part of the challenge is going, it hasn't been as good as I hoped but not too bad. On March 7th I sent my husband to the store with a very short list. He didn't pay any attention to what he was spending but came back with $23.16 worth of food. Even though that is over the budget, it isn't too bad. We would have been well under except we discovered the first day of the challenge that we were out of tamari and that wasn't going to work for a month so he got that. He also got 3 bags of cheddar cheese because it was on sale. That will keep in the freezer so that's OK. <br />
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The beets and beet greens provided 3 side dishes for the week and there are still two beets in the fridge. Nothing was thrown away this week so - Hurray!<br />
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On March 14th, my mom had asked us to run to a store in a neighboring town for her because that is the only place that carries the soy milk she likes. That's when I made the terrible decision to just buy all our food there. My list was so short that I thought it would be fine.<br />
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Well, all I can say is it's a good thing that list was so short (and that I forgot to get the salad dressing and Kayleigh had leftover rolls) or who knows what we would have paid! Also, they didn't have Kayleigh's yogurt so we still ended up going to Meijer. I'm having major buyer's remorse! Our total came to $27.22 (including $1.79 for Palmolive to clean my husband's bike). Hopefully we do a little better the rest of the month. <br />
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Here's the breakdown of our purchases:<br />
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<u>3/7 all from Meijer</u><br />
2 bunches of beets with greens $3.98<br />
Yogurt $2.69<br />
Mushrooms $3.99<br />
Ham $3.50<br />
Tamari $3.00 (on sale)<br />
3 bags of Cheddar $6.00 (on sale)<br />
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<u>3/14 from local grocery store except yogurt (Meijer)</u><br />
Palmolive $1.79<br />
1 bag iceburg salad $2.49<br />
2 bunches of broccoli $5.98<br />
2 heads of cauliflower $5.98<br />
Ham $3.00 (hmmm... surprisingly cheaper than Meijer)<br />
2 loaves pumpernickel bread $5.98<br />
Yogurt (Meijer) $2.00 (on sale)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-70421100615467875512015-03-14T18:16:00.001-05:002015-03-14T18:16:40.247-05:00Spanish GrainsWe are about half way through our March grocery challenge. The main focus of this month is to reduce our grocery bills but a side effect I was hoping for is that we'll use up some of the items that have been sitting around for way too long. Last week I was looking through some of my mom's cookbooks and I came across a recipe that uses quinoa, amaranth, and farro. I have all of those items and, while we use quinoa all the time, the other two just sit there on the shelf. I'm sure I had something in mind when I bought them but I have no idea what it was!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3rrsis2_3kiC900B-2GdZeQmTgyM8yOGYrCLJRiEBkGd6nwoTEeMkoEHVtDctZhyLiRTeS5LIIsbX-rthWrk7oLi4wSGNG8BMxU0CDFER4vZezZVGnewKzk6zshbnfhoFilzxEu2WbgH/s1600/IMG_4723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3rrsis2_3kiC900B-2GdZeQmTgyM8yOGYrCLJRiEBkGd6nwoTEeMkoEHVtDctZhyLiRTeS5LIIsbX-rthWrk7oLi4wSGNG8BMxU0CDFER4vZezZVGnewKzk6zshbnfhoFilzxEu2WbgH/s1600/IMG_4723.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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The recipe I found had a lot of steps and created a main dish. Tonight with dinner I was wanting something similar to Spanish rice but with other grains so I borrowed the cooking directions for the grains and then went from there. This turned out to be the perfect side dish to have with our enchiladas and I'll definitely be making this again.<br />
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<h3>
Spanish Grains</h3>
<div>
1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well (I had tri-color but regular quinoa cooks the same)</div>
<div>
1/4 cup amaranth</div>
<div>
1/4 cup farro</div>
<div>
2 cups vegetable broth</div>
<div>
1/2 tsp salt</div>
<div>
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Combine the broth, quinoa, amaranth, and farro in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then partially cover and boil for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the tomatoes with their juice. Continue to cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 10 - 15 minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed.</div>
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I wish I had thought to take a picture of it on my plate but I was too hungry so all I have is the picture of it cooking. The can of tomatoes was also from our pantry. We had bought it at Whole Foods and it was tomatoes with jalapenos and cilantro. A can of plain diced tomatoes with a can of diced chilies would work fine too. If it isn't spicy enough for you, you can add some chili powder when you add the tomatoes.</div>
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OK I didn't think the cooking picture did it justice so here is a picture of it in the leftover container. Not much better, but a little!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-82238048218408739062015-02-28T16:56:00.001-06:002015-02-28T16:56:38.913-06:00March Grocery ChallengeInstead of making New Year's resolutions like everyone else, I seem to always challenge myself in March instead. Last year I picked several items such as drinking a glass of water every morning and parking in the back of the parking lot at work to do every day for a month. This year I had already mapped out an exercise and food challenge but then I got a better idea.<br />
<br />
Now that I don't have to spend all my spare time studying, I seem to have a lot of extra time. Through February I used most of that time to declutter our house. When I first mentioned this, Bill and Kayleigh looked at me like I was crazy because they didn't think there was anything left I could get rid of. But there was!! I cleaned every room, closet, and drawer upstairs. The basement still hasn't been touched - maybe next year! But during this process I realized that we really have a crazy amount of food.<br />
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I have two big pantries in the kitchen and 3 other cabinets and a drawer that we keep food in. We also have the refrigerator/freezer as well as a separate freezer downstairs. All of these are packed full but somehow that wasn't enough space so I took over the closet in one of the spare bedrooms as well. Is this really necessary? <br />
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So, to help us get through some of this food as well as to save us some money (college is creeping up quicker than we'd like) I came up with the idea of not grocery shopping for a month, kind of. We are used to eating a lot of fresh vegetables and we each have specific foods we rely on that I didn't want to eliminate. It was meant to cut back our stash, not make us miserable and unhealthy. So I decided that we would have a $100 grocery trip to get enough of some items that we use all the time for the month. We weren't allowed to stock up on random things though. Although Bill and Kayleigh both readily agreed to this challenge, I didn't feel it was fair to make Kayleigh change her lunches. Every day she takes the same lunch (warning - it is pictured below and will make all vegans scream in horror - I've learned to just not think about it!). Plus we can't live without any fresh vegetables for a month. So each week we can spend up to $20 for her lunch items and 2-3 fresh produce items. If there is enough money we can also use this for bread items depending on what is planned for the week.<br />
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Earlier this week I planned out a month worth of meals and the grocery list for the beginning of the month. Today we went to Sam's Club, Aldi and Meijer. Here are our results:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB936wzWtzR2Lg5UyF_Ef_khtGvTSulRDddr0zrlsJimNInXGczWcAl0Hc8rs3lYQeNoKzIBiFAWH2gWnKKQsTfdOUk0qcNWQabOcyvSED9Kmq4hArbj6CS3jcEWXZLr_s2LlfGTcGXJos/s1600/IMG_4716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB936wzWtzR2Lg5UyF_Ef_khtGvTSulRDddr0zrlsJimNInXGczWcAl0Hc8rs3lYQeNoKzIBiFAWH2gWnKKQsTfdOUk0qcNWQabOcyvSED9Kmq4hArbj6CS3jcEWXZLr_s2LlfGTcGXJos/s1600/IMG_4716.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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5 bunches of bananas that will be frozen once they ripen for my breakfast smoothie, 2 bags of flour tortillas, 2 2-pound bags of carrots, 1 bag tostada shells, and a 5-pound bag of Cuties.<br />
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5 boxes of hard shell taco shells, 4 soy milks, 3 almond milks, lasagna noodles, jumbo pasta shells.<br />
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15 pounds of baking potatoes, 10 pounds onions, 5 oz baby arugula, 2 8-oz bags of baby spinach, 1 pound baby spinach, 1 pound kale medley (all greens are frozen for my smoothies), 1 head iceberg lettuce,<br />
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2 loaves wheat bread, 2 baguettes, 2 pounds garlic (there were 21 bulbs in there!).<br />
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For Bill - granola bars that he eats for breakfast and iceberg salad.<br />
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And here is Kayleigh's horror of a lunch:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINqIKx5DPN85W6BBPqPSn6nqK-ouZ1z483k6WjaiZjagS9lvhVFonbQjZ5yTA68-BJXsdplGXSme0Y_CbO0W9Ul29-A_OsAjk_lghgk5IbOzxEMAYYhhFWA9R2yY1HIDai32138ecgVNX/s1600/IMG_4709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINqIKx5DPN85W6BBPqPSn6nqK-ouZ1z483k6WjaiZjagS9lvhVFonbQjZ5yTA68-BJXsdplGXSme0Y_CbO0W9Ul29-A_OsAjk_lghgk5IbOzxEMAYYhhFWA9R2yY1HIDai32138ecgVNX/s1600/IMG_4709.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Brioche buns, yogurt (from a cow) and (yes, that is a deli bag) ham, What can you do? <br />
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Those are Kayleigh's favorite buns and they don't always have them so we bought one bag for this week and one bag to freeze. <br />
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Our total spent was:<br />
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Aldi $20.23<br />
Sam's Club $48.54<br />
Meijer $35.46<br />
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TOTAL $104.23<br />
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Not bad. If we hadn't got the second bag of buns we would have been good but that is money we will not have to spend another week. I was hoping Sam's would have big bags of greens but they didn't. They did have all that garlic, though, that wasn't on my original list.<br />
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So we are off to a good start. We'll see how this goes!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-24616552299576094812015-02-15T14:10:00.001-06:002015-04-21T19:32:06.270-05:00Spice OrganizationThis is a really simple idea but something that has saved us so much time and frustration. We use a lot of different spices and I've tried a million different ways to keep them organized. Ours are in this cabinet in our kitchen:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI1xfuybiPZRn26mk5Lfp9rg46jbzXfzFYHLTTnIyaB32Z6cNzM2MmcjewRdXcGE8bajUxE2r68FoZmJ3TQc_zeUJ0KIhvQ_KD2QZ8Ypyrw0_HWS5RfPVfPvIp5poB0V4F0uBtHBz8PECu/s1600/IMG_4682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI1xfuybiPZRn26mk5Lfp9rg46jbzXfzFYHLTTnIyaB32Z6cNzM2MmcjewRdXcGE8bajUxE2r68FoZmJ3TQc_zeUJ0KIhvQ_KD2QZ8Ypyrw0_HWS5RfPVfPvIp5poB0V4F0uBtHBz8PECu/s1600/IMG_4682.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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The problem is that you are looking down at the tops of the lids when you open the cabinet. That means we had to pick each bottle up and read the name, then put it back until we finally found what we were looking for.<br />
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I've tried organizing them by type of spice, size of jar, alphabetically. The problem was that they always get messed up after a few meals. A few years ago I brought a different brand of turmeric and were thrilled to see that they printed the name on the top of the lid. Each of us would often say "why can't they all be like this"? One day I was again rearranging the spices and decided to just go for it and label the tops of all the lids. Kayleigh soon came in to help. When Bill saw what we were doing, his reaction was "That is FANTASTIC"! I thinking looking for spices was his most hated part of cooking! We did this over a month ago and it still looks great and is working perfect.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjWNQL7ZhJkhXVroPZ0_8ymQ0P1MjGQdKYaml2QfH781WSTX3Xf7oJKDMt8y9mwV5Cp6BN1Kd_nnw7d3fvv8VADzU-rGM63yAIrDV9ud62QOO-r9nCgjEK43PIwNvakrw7Jv3vSNuLMY_/s1600/IMG_4592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjWNQL7ZhJkhXVroPZ0_8ymQ0P1MjGQdKYaml2QfH781WSTX3Xf7oJKDMt8y9mwV5Cp6BN1Kd_nnw7d3fvv8VADzU-rGM63yAIrDV9ud62QOO-r9nCgjEK43PIwNvakrw7Jv3vSNuLMY_/s1600/IMG_4592.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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We decided to keep the font large and abbreviate the name so that they were easier to see. When we run out of a spice, we either switch the lids, if it is the same brand, or move it to the old container. We could always make a new label but I'm hoping to avoid that when possible. <br />
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This is the label machine we have if anyone is interested. It is really easy to use. Warning - it will make you want to label everything in your house!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWb4p_EDYH6X-OHomBnFY8edKmf-7U7xFqpCcWR_hK3s687l5xHlHYiIFD55wKrQAL1gKEzEPtFTK8ho1-oaAe5T_s9LejnBSMKs00DZ87KebM8TFCCCQfufeY6E3VuAG9F4DDiTmdyc1/s1600/IMG_4689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWb4p_EDYH6X-OHomBnFY8edKmf-7U7xFqpCcWR_hK3s687l5xHlHYiIFD55wKrQAL1gKEzEPtFTK8ho1-oaAe5T_s9LejnBSMKs00DZ87KebM8TFCCCQfufeY6E3VuAG9F4DDiTmdyc1/s1600/IMG_4689.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005J7Y6GS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005J7Y6GS&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=VO2LSF3MHZZL7ZLH" target="_blank">Label Maker</a></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1201445883"></span><span id="goog_1201445884"></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-9752174361276566742015-02-08T10:27:00.001-06:002015-02-08T10:27:46.074-06:00Weekly Meal PlanIn order to simplify things for Bill and Kayleigh, I've tried to pick recipes all from the same book or location each week. Last week we focused on this book:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762448849/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0762448849&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=KBCDZQRVJAAVFT7X">Vegan Casseroles: Pasta Bakes, Gratins, Pot Pies, and More</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ponderhappin-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0762448849" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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because my mom just bought it and was asking for good recipes to try. We made quite a few when I first got it a couple months ago but I tried to pick new recipes that we hadn't tried yet. We repeated Aloo Gobi, however, because Bill really likes that one. On Sunday, we had the two appetizers along with tacos. Other than that, all our meals for Monday through Friday are listed below. I took leftovers every day in my lunch and we all finished everything off between lunch and dinner on Saturday. So very little waste and no disasters. Not a bad week!<br />
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Unlike past weeks, I actually remembered to take pictures of a few of the meals this time.<br />
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<u><b>One-Dish Appetizers</b></u><br />
We had both of these on Superbowl Sunday. Bill is the only one who actually watched the game but it seemed like a good excuse to make some snacky-kind of things. <br />
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<b>Caramelized Onion Dip</b> - I found beet chips and kale/spinach chips to eat with this. It was thicker than regular onion dip but good and I ate it all week.<br />
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<b>Loaded Nacho Fries</b> - Although the recipe calls for frozen fries, I made my regular baked fries instead. I took a large portion of this to work on Monday for lunch and it warmed up surprisingly well. We had tomatoes, jalapenos, green onions, and cilantro as toppers.<br />
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<b><u>Dutch-Oven and Skillet Casseroles</u></b><br />
<b>Aloo Gobi</b> - We eat this on brown rice. Bill really likes it and it works well as leftovers.<br />
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<b>Jambalaya - </b>I included this one because it is the recipe that my mom specifically mentioned. I make my own Cajun spice mix and next time I will use a lot less because it was very, very spicy. It was good though. Kayleigh thought it would be better with some beans added in.<br />
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<b>Veggie and Dumplings - </b>My hands-down favorite of the week. Delicious. A word of warning - as with all recipes that include dumplings, make sure you use a large pot. My husband picked the wrong one resulting in a big mess. It still tasted good though!<br />
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<b><u>Old Favorites and New Twists</u></b><br />
<b>Bean and Rice Casserole - </b>Good and very easy. It would be really quick to pull together if you had leftover rice. Kayleigh was very happy that it didn't include onions!<br />
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<b>Taco Casserole - </b>Bill wasn't home the night we had this. I really liked it but Kayleigh didn't. It also warmed up well which surprised me because of the crushed tortilla chips.<br />
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<b><u>Dessert Casseroles</u></b><br />
<b>Baked Coconut Rice Pudding - </b>This is not sweet at all but we liked it. I added mini chocolate chips to my portion because dessert isn't dessert without chocolate!<br />
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<b><u>Sauces, Toppings, and Basics</u></b><br />
We used the <b>Nacho Cheesy Sauce </b>on the Loaded Nacho Fries and Taco Casserole. For the Bean and Rice Casserole, we used the <b>Cheesy Sauce.</b> We figured out that Kayleigh doesn't care for smoked paprika so next time we'll cut back.<br />
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Some other recipes that we didn't have this week but have made in the past and really liked are:<br />
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<b>Mujadara</b><br />
<b>Mediterranean Stuffed Cabbage Rolls</b><br />
<b>Nacho Tots Casserole</b><br />
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I thought maybe I had some older pictures of these from last year when I stopped blogging but I couldn't find anything.<br />
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Overall, this is a good cookbook. It seems a little heavy on nutritional yeast but we don't view that as a negative since we love it! That's really the only "unusual" kind of ingredient and the recipes are easy to follow and don't take very long. I've been really happy with how well everything warms up the next day. That makes lunches so much easier.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-9603814578843217272015-02-07T18:18:00.000-06:002015-02-07T18:18:12.946-06:00Drop Biscuits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEH6nBzrRsi-2nlJ_maeSyqI9lF4QD5WpjLitBq1wmZ1jRceXPKzZORYpnGr9WiP_iJGgvOFePESdbqo3B0AFsciWgUQVYT9a6CFZitkY0ACQz1MFRxYl-0irmg2T329skZE-ySwZ0F2I/s1600/2015-02-07+18.28.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEH6nBzrRsi-2nlJ_maeSyqI9lF4QD5WpjLitBq1wmZ1jRceXPKzZORYpnGr9WiP_iJGgvOFePESdbqo3B0AFsciWgUQVYT9a6CFZitkY0ACQz1MFRxYl-0irmg2T329skZE-ySwZ0F2I/s1600/2015-02-07+18.28.42.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Last week we were at my parents and, as usually happens, we started discussing recipes. Somehow we got on the topic of biscuits and my mom said she couldn't be bothered rolling out and cutting homemade biscuits. I make homemade rolls, biscuits, scones, muffins and breads on a pretty regular basis and I think, in general, they are a lot easier than some people tend to think. But to make it even easier (or more likely to prevent me from having to wash more dishes) I have a biscuit recipe that is just as good but doesn't require a rolling pin or biscuit cutter. <br />
<br />
These are very basic biscuits. If you wanted to add a little sweetness, you could easily sprinkle in a little sugar. We usually leave them as is and add the sweetness in the form of jam after they are baked. <br />
<br />
I was reminded today that I never gave my mom the promised recipe so I decided to make them for dinner tonight and post it here for everyone to enjoy. So enjoy!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Drop Biscuits</h3>
<div>
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:</div>
<div>
2 cups flour</div>
<div>
1 tablespoon baking powder</div>
<div>
pinch of salt</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Using a pastry cutter, cut in 1/4 cup shortening until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in 1 cup soy milk. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The mixture will be a little gummy. Drop heaping spoonfuls onto a lightly greased pan. They don't expand much so they can be somewhat close together.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Makes one dozen biscuits.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSg9BOUieR5JF4X3PPu_0GpDbfne8fjPm1mSrMFnOE3eMFUMDUO1HkQKQbw9IbHSmiFH6jUwNR1UfMu4E08t9DSmRvH28OIPwPodzjd88g_PYLiGQwUA5irBFd-B7M2yxgHtuZp92oVwc/s1600/2015-02-07+18.29.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSg9BOUieR5JF4X3PPu_0GpDbfne8fjPm1mSrMFnOE3eMFUMDUO1HkQKQbw9IbHSmiFH6jUwNR1UfMu4E08t9DSmRvH28OIPwPodzjd88g_PYLiGQwUA5irBFd-B7M2yxgHtuZp92oVwc/s1600/2015-02-07+18.29.07.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-12423050867108197152015-02-03T19:47:00.000-06:002015-02-03T19:47:21.049-06:00Be NiceI silence my phone at work and I'm terrible about remembering to turn the ringer back on when I get home. Most of the time I don't even pull it out of my bag. Ask anyone I work with. Many times they've sent me a text that I don't see until the next day at work.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tonight Kayleigh had to work, though, and it is snowing again so I had it sitting next to me on the couch. It rang and a number came up that I didn't recognize but I decided to answer it. The man on the phone quickly apologized and said he was trying to call his sister and dialed wrong. I told him it was OK and to have a nice night. I was about to hang up when he said, "Can I tell you something? I really appreciate you being so nice. I'm having trouble reading with my bad eyes and it is hard for me to dial the phone and I really appreciate you being so friendly." </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After I hung up, I was thinking about how I could have just as easily been irritated and hung up on him when I realized that it was a wrong number but it was just as easy to be understanding. It didn't cost me anything to say a few nice words and hopefully it made him feel a little better, too. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So many times, people seem so irritated by the smallest things. Especially online. Facebook often almost pushes me over the edge with everyone's neverending complaints. Seriously people, just be nice. It isn't hard and I promise it won't hurt you!</div>
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<br /></div>
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And just to help everyone relax, here is a beautiful sunrise (don't let the snow make you mad!)...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkflV5psb2Ve-cFkuriHEaFzgsqr8AFFXooNcyhCtM1xQR8tjRcASQnkkFI3ZfquTLVxmAfSuJCTIsBOfPrjdGBGE77TjzD8YFYuPIWkWOTiKcgYL4UAesh3v9HAYF4x0stmFlU8x-tM9/s1600/IMG_4596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkflV5psb2Ve-cFkuriHEaFzgsqr8AFFXooNcyhCtM1xQR8tjRcASQnkkFI3ZfquTLVxmAfSuJCTIsBOfPrjdGBGE77TjzD8YFYuPIWkWOTiKcgYL4UAesh3v9HAYF4x0stmFlU8x-tM9/s1600/IMG_4596.JPG" height="640" width="425" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-83955306384562672822015-01-29T19:32:00.000-06:002015-02-03T19:51:35.044-06:00Birthday Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7mdJ2cdnLjKDIf193U-JWxNXGbelOGSvPWsBkCHbre-yKSVBt2K5zQsL4LlYtwQUMpukiJ_Z6d6cWiyGanh9aaP_eRqzCdtkeZAffI6ImEA8tFU8MVvJWCBgSrCHvAE6V5fWKnrYPdX9/s1600/IMG_4621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7mdJ2cdnLjKDIf193U-JWxNXGbelOGSvPWsBkCHbre-yKSVBt2K5zQsL4LlYtwQUMpukiJ_Z6d6cWiyGanh9aaP_eRqzCdtkeZAffI6ImEA8tFU8MVvJWCBgSrCHvAE6V5fWKnrYPdX9/s1600/IMG_4621.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Look at this giant pile of books! That makes me incredibly happy. It also makes me want to take the next month off work and just read. <br />
<br />
Last week for my birthday, my parents gave me a check. My daughter is used to getting money for her birthday and then deciding what to buy with it. I've noticed that once you get older, that birthday money doesn't flow quite as freely as it used to. Normally I would try to be more sensible with my money but this year I decided to be a kid again and spend the whole amount on fun things for me. <br />
<br />
I've been on <a href="http://goodreads.com/">goodreads.com</a> for a couple years now and I'm always adding books to my "to read" section. Unfortunately that list just keeps growing because there are always more new books to read. This year I made it a goal to actually read some of the books that have been on that list way too long. So I took this chance to go to amazon and loaded as many of the books into my cart as I could with the money I had. Shockingly, not one of them is a cookbook!<br />
<br />
Just for something different (I'll eventually need a break from reading) I also ordered a new smoothie powder that I've been wanting to try and a movie. Really, I mostly only care about the books though! <br />
Here's the books I decided to get:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060780932/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060780932&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=Q53S3KV6VOYHK5ZP">"I Didn't Do It For You" by Michela Wrong</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061988375/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061988375&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=AFO5MZPDNPCP6ODL">"Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks"</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763676209/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0763676209&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=2PY6FXTBGKEBJDBJ">"More Than This" by Patrick Ness</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399160140/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0399160140&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=CP4SCHV4WOBGARPS">"Handwritten Recipes" by Michael Popek</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590560833/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1590560833&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=FGB5PO5VFSTOVXUF">"The World Peace Diet" by Will Tuttle</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140178406/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0140178406&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=3S2F7SZ7BGLTVDQY">"Aunt Dimity's Death" by Nancy Atherton</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250031613/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1250031613&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=5GXAAVTVFRUVGTGA">"The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap" by Wendy Welch</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307743586/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307743586&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=QGOJKPZZWAM5SG6U">"Bootstrapper" by Mardi Jo Link</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250015766/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1250015766&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=CZ4FU7ZXELU6CJ5U">"How We Do Harm" Otis Webb Brawley</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034901/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0143034901&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=GD2QPS63TKZTHOGP">"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1939529840/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1939529840&linkCode=as2&tag=ponderhappin-20&linkId=4TZMJFN3E4TI7H2E">"Whole" by T Colin Campbell</a><br />
<br />
I think my parents will be happy. My dad will be thrilled that I spent the money on books - that's where my love of reading comes from. My mom doesn't understand the attraction to books but she will be happy that I got something just for fun.<br />
<br />
Off to read, but how do I decide which one?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihViko6YApDyBmLXT3uZaysRctfX-n_tRuwlh7As_OV9CNDyqRwEdQuFLbHjmNrdYYHodRirrnaW1JOkvtlgZs31DHhM-18r0g-sSeKqP5lq2ne4RVfuDhlMYuI1pKoSmnN-j-1_XnhyrA/s1600/IMG_4615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihViko6YApDyBmLXT3uZaysRctfX-n_tRuwlh7As_OV9CNDyqRwEdQuFLbHjmNrdYYHodRirrnaW1JOkvtlgZs31DHhM-18r0g-sSeKqP5lq2ne4RVfuDhlMYuI1pKoSmnN-j-1_XnhyrA/s1600/IMG_4615.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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My cat was just as thrilled with a new box to sit on!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-62311237173929748472015-01-11T13:52:00.000-06:002015-01-11T13:52:15.286-06:00I'm here!!I just remembered that I used to post to my blog!! Actually, last summer I took a short vacation break from studying for my CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) to follow Bill around Wisconsin for his bike races. I had passed the first two parts before vacation so had only the one part left to go. It was much more involved and required a lot more studying than the first two parts. I decided early on that something was going to have to give if I was going to survive. <br />
<br />
After thinking about blogging but not having time and then feeling guilty about it, I finally decided to pause the blog until after my exam. My exam was originally scheduled for mid-November but at the end of October, I felt like I still wasn't ready so I postponed it. I was already studying almost daily but it was obvious that I still didn't have enough time so I gave up something much more serious that blogging - exercising. That sounds terrible, I know, and goes against everything we all know. Exercise should be scheduled into your day just like work and eating because it is so important. I often had pangs of guilt but unfortunately didn't have much time to think about it. Plus, right before my daughter's cross country season started, I fell and really messed up my ankle. It was impossible for me not to run at the meets so once they were over, I decided to let the ankle rest and see if it would heal. It feels much better now but I should point out, I haven't tried to run on it yet! <br />
<br />
So, back to the CIA, I took my exam yesterday and I passed! I am now officially a CIA. I was so shocked because even with all my studying, I still didn't feel prepared. The exam was 100 questions and by #70 I was ready to immediately e-mail the study guide company I was using and tell them how they didn't prepare me at all. But then I finished, found out I passed (thank goodness we get the results immediately) and seriously almost started crying in the lobby of the testing facility! I was horrified but so completely relieved and happy to been done with this process.<br />
<br />
So basically this is a big excuse about why my life came to a screeching halt last year but a promise that starting today I am going to:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Exercise</li>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>Be nice to my family (seriously, they have been at best ignored and at worst screamed at for a year!)</li>
</ol>
In addition I'm looking forward to spending my spare time doing just about anything other than studying auditing!!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-84478408386714878002014-07-21T20:26:00.000-05:002014-07-21T20:26:16.523-05:00Vacation - ExerciseWe knew that Bill would get his exercise in during vacation since it involved 10 days of bike racing! Kayleigh was missing the first week of Cross Country practice for our vacation, though, so I had all these ideas about how we would get our running in. We would get up early and go running near the hotel. We would drive to the lake in the town where we were staying and run there. We would run at some of Bill's races. So many ideas!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYDCopEHGTThSUEUmoVd58ISz5FTjy17vnIikYXP6QNmSsTrpuPa-W8mQ0RsIxkbgbxXw1_2vNiWYMNbF3PXpAIYTxSktGVKgLAmhTcdVlg6NKuy5XZhphRqwqGxo5pXKwRkOTXKzZ5zC/s1600/DSCN0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYDCopEHGTThSUEUmoVd58ISz5FTjy17vnIikYXP6QNmSsTrpuPa-W8mQ0RsIxkbgbxXw1_2vNiWYMNbF3PXpAIYTxSktGVKgLAmhTcdVlg6NKuy5XZhphRqwqGxo5pXKwRkOTXKzZ5zC/s1600/DSCN0148.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Although Kayleigh is sitting here, we actually did a lot of running around the various courses to get tons of pictures and videos of Bill.</span></div>
<br />
Well it didn't turn out quite like I thought! First of all, Thursday was spent driving so that day was out. Something I didn't mention in the last post was that when we finally rolled up to our hotel (which I had booked months in advance) late Thursday, we were told that they overbooked and we were being sent down the road for the night. So that meant Friday morning we had to head to the first race with our 10-days of stuff in the truck with us. By the time the race was over and we got moved into our actual hotel, we were in no mood to go run. Saturday is the day that we stayed later than expected at the race and then stopped at the vegetarian restaurant on the way back. One more day lost! The worst part about all this is the weather was really cold for the summer so it would have been perfect weather for me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ySDyaCpCH8qcSbLSUToDsePoS29T-f_vkCqUjRfTrya_-JJvdzkQIadUpvnAg2H0T4Y2LQEBFXUZvJYtPlt4z3006gty6AEXt83H02J4wtx2GdvkcV48ne9_PYXK4B5IYkhaNmvBgLfX/s1600/DSCN0486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ySDyaCpCH8qcSbLSUToDsePoS29T-f_vkCqUjRfTrya_-JJvdzkQIadUpvnAg2H0T4Y2LQEBFXUZvJYtPlt4z3006gty6AEXt83H02J4wtx2GdvkcV48ne9_PYXK4B5IYkhaNmvBgLfX/s1600/DSCN0486.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bill and Kayleigh in the great room of our hotel watching the World Cup while waiting for our food to cook on the outdoor grill and our laundry in the next room. We could have been working out, but we weren't.</span></div>
<br />
Sunday I was determined to get out and do some real exercise. Kayleigh and I got up early and went out for a run by the hotel. It is located on a big circular road that looks like it will eventually be developed but for now is pretty empty. We figured out how far we had to go for each mile. I had been really slacking with my running so I was pretty happy when I ran for 25 minutes straight. We think I got about 2.5 miles. I then walked until Kayleigh got in the rest of her run. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgCF0hNPI-ZUQsgvE5g08LjFY8XywPdORk7s8W6lhq80FEpQ-wz6QURdIPKpVzlxU1g-_pjYtoz_nblgFIvloOhs0ET4EKLjeyusIuAy_NIQcFIwz29aLo0ThmHSV6SK9euS3p9IZTiRN/s1600/DSCN0328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgCF0hNPI-ZUQsgvE5g08LjFY8XywPdORk7s8W6lhq80FEpQ-wz6QURdIPKpVzlxU1g-_pjYtoz_nblgFIvloOhs0ET4EKLjeyusIuAy_NIQcFIwz29aLo0ThmHSV6SK9euS3p9IZTiRN/s1600/DSCN0328.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We found the water in Wisconsin to be completely disgusting. We brought our Brita thinking just filtering the water would be fine but we were wrong. Once we had to start buying bottled water, we soon realized how much water we actually go through. It was crazy.</span></div>
<br />
At one point when Kayleigh and I were still together, we came upon two cranes or herons (we aren't sure which) running in front of us. It was so funny because they kept turning around and honking at us. They may have thought we were chasing them! I felt really good after the run but then at Bill's race I developed a terrible headache which we think was caused by dehydration. I made sure to drink a lot more after that but it made me nervous about running in the morning. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Riverwalk</span></div>
<br />
So, you know where this is going! I barely ran the rest of the vacation! Day 5 was at Schlitz Park in Milwaukee very close to the Riverwalk so Kayleigh and I wore our running clothes and went for a short run before the race. Kayleigh went out for 2 or 3 more runs from the hotel in the evenings. I think she did pretty good considering we had a chunk of our time already scheduled each day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPDcrpPUy7Cf-l_YIALZxh8sI38uMD6Y_qZ1O5w5QzsyYIYProChhya4mqHyocJzv1QfUJjCHV-biyRef4NdAdt0tUNLIEsIN9b5bSC4XUTTTeAX5m69jD-vFk1axXwLmvkoGoZZer41A/s1600/DSCN0711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPDcrpPUy7Cf-l_YIALZxh8sI38uMD6Y_qZ1O5w5QzsyYIYProChhya4mqHyocJzv1QfUJjCHV-biyRef4NdAdt0tUNLIEsIN9b5bSC4XUTTTeAX5m69jD-vFk1axXwLmvkoGoZZer41A/s1600/DSCN0711.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kayleigh taking more pictures. See how high up we are? Our truck is parked down there. Which means...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We had to walk up and down all these stairs several times. Not sure if you can tell in the picture but there were cool quotes on the steps. Didn't make the climb any easier though!</span></div>
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The hotel had a decent gym and it was next to the laundry room so we could have easily gone in there while doing laundry - but we didn't.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was absolutely freezing the day we were here but we still got a lot of exercise. First Kayleigh and I went the wrong way trying to get to an overpass and walked about 4 times further than we planned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Then Bill asked us to walk down this huge hill looking for bottles he threw at the end of the race. We got all the way down there only to find out someone had already got them so we turned around and went back up.</span> </div>
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My suggestion for getting exercise in while on vacation is simple. Plan an active vacation. Even though we didn't get the runs in that we wanted, Kayleigh and I figured out that we walked over 70 miles across the 10 days. Most of the bike race courses were about a mile around. We always walked the whole course at least once or twice before Bill's race, several times during it, and often another time after the race. And there were some decent hills thrown in there. Plus we had to walk back and forth to the car and sometimes down the road for lunch. To add to that, we also walked around downtown Oconomowoc (where we stayed), the mall, and a museum. All that walking along with the few days of running kept Kayleigh fit enough to slip right back into practice with her team when we got home.<br />
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So it wasn't what we planned but we all came home feeling fit and healthy.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the many pretty lakes in Wisconsin that we walked along. This one is in Fond Du Lac.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-12509690804757159212014-07-12T19:54:00.002-05:002014-07-12T19:54:27.677-05:00Vacation - FoodFrom June 19th through the 29th, we were in Wisconsin for the Tour of America's Dairyland. Bill has been racing for about 10 years now but he had never done more than a few races during a weekend. Last year he did 3 or 4 of these races but we thought it would be interesting for him to compete in the full 10-day series. <br />
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Personally I am not at all spontaneous and really prefer to stick to my routine. I've learned to deal with my stress by controlling everything I can! My main concern for this trip was our food. I really don't feel well when I eat restaurant food and you can never be too sure if there will be any vegan options other than a side salad. Bill added another issue to the food plan because, since he would be racing every day, we had to make sure he got enough calories and the right kind of foods to keep him going. Thank goodness Kayleigh has no issues when it comes to food - two troublemakers are more than enough for any family!<br />
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Bill ate lots of bananas.</div>
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Because of this we chose to stay in a hotel that offers full kitchens. Our particular suite had a 2-burner stove, microwave, full fridge/freezer and a dishwasher. There was also a community grill available. Although pots, pans, plates, silverware, etc. were provided, we brought along our own pasta pot because Bill eats A LOT of pasta when he is racing. It took a little maneuvering but we finally figured out how to get it to work in the very tight kitchen. We also brought along several other small appliances, some more useful than others. In the future, we can reduce the list quite a bit and save tons of space in the car.<br />
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<b>Rice cooker</b> - very helpful, especially since there were only 2 burners. That's a keeper.<br />
<b>Vitamix blender</b> - another must have. I used it every morning (probably to the horror of our neighbors) for my smoothies.<br />
<b>Food processor</b> - didn't use<br />
<b>Waffle maker</b> - didn't use. Turns out the hotel had a free breakfast. I had my smoothies for breakfast and Kayleigh can eat dairy so she just made waffles downstairs. I actually didn't notice what Bill ate except for potatoes but he also ate downstairs.<br />
<b>Stick blender </b>- Actually didn't use. If I wanted to be more considerate and not so noisy, I could have used this instead of the Vitamix, but for whatever reason, I didn't.<br />
<b>Popcorn popper </b>- Leave at home! Bill just got a new popper and the whole trip up there and back I was scared we were going to break it. It seemed to always be balanced so that it could easily fall out of the truck when we opened the back hatch. Somehow it didn't break but Bill only used it once. He admitted he really only used it because it was there. We thought he would snack more but he didn't.<br />
<b>Large skillet</b> - We ended up not using it because it didn't really fit on the stove.<br />
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So I guess next time we bring just the rice cooker, Vitamix, and pasta pot. That will help so much when packing the car! I can't really think of anything that we regretted not bringing.<br />
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I tried really hard not to bring too much food with us. We arrived late Thursday so I figured we needed stuff for breakfast and lunch the next day but then we could get to a grocery store after the first race (they were mostly at around 1 PM). We also brought a few things that I wasn't sure if we could get such as non-dairy milk, tofu, tempeh, etc. Plus we had our favorite energy bars and supplies for PB&Js, but we take that stuff even when we are only going to be gone for a few hours!<br />
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Bread, smoothie (vegan!), cookies (non-vegan), kale, beets with beautiful greens,</div>
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asparagus, broccoli, and parsley.</div>
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I had researched local farmer's markets. Saturday morning there was one in the town where our hotel was (Oconomowoc). It was fantastic! There was so much great produce that we barely needed anything from the grocery store. We had to get a little creative when cooking though. I never realized how much we put in the oven. Luckily we brought foil so we made little packets of the vegetables. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjU7c_KIgkahnmMfxLO4qrTKjQvtj36zwlzQVx0nqItvMi27b8XlIx73DEVy5pJNo0yTJ8P4D0cAaXFI9PgSUBywNZcdmwtYVG7TZKPnswj4IENpBoA9Et08f7E17yvAAHqSNY40DkaLJS/s1600/DSCN0481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjU7c_KIgkahnmMfxLO4qrTKjQvtj36zwlzQVx0nqItvMi27b8XlIx73DEVy5pJNo0yTJ8P4D0cAaXFI9PgSUBywNZcdmwtYVG7TZKPnswj4IENpBoA9Et08f7E17yvAAHqSNY40DkaLJS/s1600/DSCN0481.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>The only seasonings we had were salt, pepper, and lemon juice but it all turned out pretty good. During the trip Kayleigh discovered a love of grilled potatoes. Unfortunately we don't have a grill at home but she ate plenty during the trip. I also made a few sautees. One was just beet greens, my favorite, but without my hot sauce, it wasn't the same. <br />
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Later in the week, I needed to use up the last of the produce so I sauteed tempeh, kale, and broccoli with some stir fry sauce we bought at the grocery store. <br />
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We ate out more than we wanted but tried to keep it healthy. On Saturday we stuck around at the race site longer than expected so we stopped at a vegetarian restaurant. It is called Cafe Manna and I've never been anywhere like it. We have vegetarian restaurants in Chicago (not many but some) but they mostly serve diner type food, just vegan. This was actual food. I had a curry with eggplant, zucchini, and squash served with quinoa and rice. <br />
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Bill and Kayleigh both got pretzel-coated tempeh with mashed potatoes and green beans. <br />
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The fork wasn't as long as it looks!</div>
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It was like the food I make at home! Kayleigh really liked hers. Bill was always hungry so everything tasted good to him! We also ate at PF Changs one day which was delicious as well. <br />
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We always took a packed lunch with us but a few times Kayleigh and I found restaurants to eat at or at least to add to our packed lunches. My favorite surprise was a bagel shop in the middle of the race course in Beloit. It had a vegan brownie. Brownies are my weakness. That thing was unbelievable and I made it last several days!<br />
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At another race, they had food trucks. As we walked past I saw one called Urban Caveman and I said to Kayleigh "doubt I can get anything there". <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0IlybTdgt4qmH6q9LnGQC6ZFrJGfA3711tunDCa6s-p-JI-fNiK4pCqH7z6tmhyphenhyphen1B7JIs-nGMtWYqkgVcBXCIN1use1YzBxVQqoIQl9nmi6Kefbp3ATmyvfPJWYecDkkEaDt6hD6ID8N/s1600/DSCN0645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0IlybTdgt4qmH6q9LnGQC6ZFrJGfA3711tunDCa6s-p-JI-fNiK4pCqH7z6tmhyphenhyphen1B7JIs-nGMtWYqkgVcBXCIN1use1YzBxVQqoIQl9nmi6Kefbp3ATmyvfPJWYecDkkEaDt6hD6ID8N/s1600/DSCN0645.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
Turns out, that was the only one with a vegan option! It was riced cauliflower with mushrooms and greens and some kind of sauce. It was so good I ate half of it before I could even get back to the car and take a picture!<br />
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At the Downers Avenue race in Milwaukee, Kayleigh and I found a restaurant on the race route that was so good for lunch that we took Bill back there for dinner. <br />
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View of the race from our table.</div>
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We ended up with the same waiter so that was pretty funny. They had vegan pizza as an option which I decided to wait until dinner for only to discover they ran out of vegan cheese. Dang! I still got a vegan pizza with lots of veggies and no cheese. I don't like vegan cheese much but I was still really excited about having that option in a restaurant.<br />
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My lunch was a wrap with tons of mushrooms and olives.</div>
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Overall I think we did really good. We balanced trying new places while we were out with regular home cooked meals. Bill kept his energy up through all 10 races and I didn't have any stomach issues. I wasn't sure if we could pull it off for so many days but it ended up not being too bad. The only thing I would change (besides not bringing so many appliances) is to bring some basic spices along with hot sauce and maybe soy sauce. But in the end, it worked pretty well.<br />
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Other pics:<br />
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Is that Bill eating tofu? Yep! Like I said, he was really hungry!<br />
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Kayleigh's favorite grilled potato. By the way, I took these pictures half way through dinner. They started with more food than that.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUvDAtnAA18MznI1IQLXk0pAbKfu2JV5Zdh1KVBVF1WszW2YBS2C-Ah2iLf4TAvnKkFNTi_vgXjWk2sL_vwMSqNAeP7iKalBq6eMMnELEXJuza5Gp7HAtgbrRq38TFjuXYfhx21Fb_8sz/s1600/DSCN0649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUvDAtnAA18MznI1IQLXk0pAbKfu2JV5Zdh1KVBVF1WszW2YBS2C-Ah2iLf4TAvnKkFNTi_vgXjWk2sL_vwMSqNAeP7iKalBq6eMMnELEXJuza5Gp7HAtgbrRq38TFjuXYfhx21Fb_8sz/s1600/DSCN0649.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>Bill eating another banana.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtMuCZSe8wK7mOQ7zRCk2alq4GjrtscESani7WE9wVwoTEtrg55TlqeFxQ0Oa0hJ4eqYMzuRyjghHVVnHQyA74tj6EpGnK5jSb0uaqr3aGClxf0CLFQUIi0jWsInQYX1LCPlMepuihBU4/s1600/IMG_3625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtMuCZSe8wK7mOQ7zRCk2alq4GjrtscESani7WE9wVwoTEtrg55TlqeFxQ0Oa0hJ4eqYMzuRyjghHVVnHQyA74tj6EpGnK5jSb0uaqr3aGClxf0CLFQUIi0jWsInQYX1LCPlMepuihBU4/s1600/IMG_3625.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>Our typical sack lunch (besides peanut butter and jelly). Cherries, rice and avocado, salads from the grocery store and, of course, more bananas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kKIikPiAdjwHhthgR2JFGLdwLjZkVqeTIuaz8MB0U_wv-VMT2lrhCA50ljbI5FmK0yuT0fAHFlmNY5VvzWPYhlXVREHrHeXHDjPfeDlxCTh7X12XFMKkCnR-4Xss9x9aWJI43is4ofUG/s1600/IMG_3626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kKIikPiAdjwHhthgR2JFGLdwLjZkVqeTIuaz8MB0U_wv-VMT2lrhCA50ljbI5FmK0yuT0fAHFlmNY5VvzWPYhlXVREHrHeXHDjPfeDlxCTh7X12XFMKkCnR-4Xss9x9aWJI43is4ofUG/s1600/IMG_3626.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>Here is what Kayleigh picks when I let her go down alone for breakfast - donuts and fruit loops. Really?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMfbRI114hm82LAb1hMLr5bmlyAuB1K8t25Hx9-07lLt37aWgbEGits2FZH_U0Rlb3zB_GCAT1bxKNx_G92y6GEQdOZcL3ywPqoote70PIVxZt1I9Tt3Wzv_C-MliFFMIpy35DVoQY2up/s1600/IMG_3937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMfbRI114hm82LAb1hMLr5bmlyAuB1K8t25Hx9-07lLt37aWgbEGits2FZH_U0Rlb3zB_GCAT1bxKNx_G92y6GEQdOZcL3ywPqoote70PIVxZt1I9Tt3Wzv_C-MliFFMIpy35DVoQY2up/s1600/IMG_3937.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>Yes, we are those crazy people down the hall from you at the hotel cooking sauerkraut!</div>
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<b>Links if you find yourself in Wisconsin:</b><br />
Cafe Manna: <a href="http://www.cafemanna.com/">http://www.cafemanna.com/</a><br />
Beloit Bagel Shop with the vegan brownie: <a href="http://www.bagelsandmore.net/">http://www.bagelsandmore.net/</a><br />
Juice bar with smoothies, juice, vegan chocolate pudding: <a href="http://www.freshecocafe.com/">http://www.freshecocafe.com/</a><br />
Oconomowoc farmer's market: <a href="http://www.oconomowoc.org/events/summer-farmers-market/">http://www.oconomowoc.org/events/summer-farmers-market/</a><br />
Via: <a href="http://viadowner.com/">http://viadowner.com/</a><br />
PF Changs, Wauwatosa: <a href="http://www.pfchangs.com/index.aspx">http://www.pfchangs.com/index.aspx</a><br />
Urban Caveman: <a href="http://urbancavemantruck.com/">http://urbancavemantruck.com/</a><br />
Fond du Lac restaurant with vegan option: <a href="http://www.bagelmeister.com/">http://www.bagelmeister.com/</a><br />
Staybridge Suites (hotel): <a href="http://www.staybridge.com/hotels/us/en/oconomowoc/">http://www.staybridge.com/hotels/us/en/oconomowoc/</a><br />
Pick N Save (grocery store): <a href="http://www.yellowpages.com/oconomowoc-wi/mip/pick-n-save-459619321?lid=459619321">http://www.yellowpages.com/oconomowoc-wi/mip/pick-n-save-459619321?lid=459619321</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-63860186900692106382014-07-06T10:06:00.000-05:002014-07-21T20:46:10.078-05:00Back to School UpdateHey, I just remembered I have a blog! Actually even though it has been 2 months since I posted anything, I have actually been writing posts in my head all the time. The problem was sitting down and actually writing them. My chaos that I couldn't talk about before is continuing but it is becoming more routine so that shouldn't interfere so much any more. Summer in general is kind of crazy which is funny because it is really only Kayleigh's schedule that changes but that seems to throw the whole household routine off. And the worst part is just as I start to adjust, she goes back to school!<br />
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So, the ongoing process of getting my Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation. I had planned to study about 6-8 weeks for the first part, take the exam, study for the second part, take that exam, etc. After studying about 5 weeks for the first part I was feeling pretty good about it so I decided to schedule the exam. I was hoping to take it within the next 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, they didn't have any openings for almost 2 months. I was horrified. After freaking out for a couple days, I decided to move on to studying for part 2. Now that I knew the time slots filled up fast, I went ahead and scheduled the second exam for 2 weeks after the first.<br />
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From the beginning I had mapped out my studying day-by-day to keep me on track and that became really important now that I was studying for two parts at once. I ended up completing my study units for part 2, two weeks before my part 1 exam. So at that point I switched back to reviewing part 1. My study materials said that only 57% of the people pass the individual parts on the first try so that bumped my nerves to a whole new level! I am happy to say that I passed part 1 on the first try. I was so nervous and then so relieved, only to be followed by being nervous about the next part! <br />
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After I passed the first part, my co-workers got me a fruit bouquet and balloons which was fantastic. I couldn't stop smiling for days. I quickly realized that I had part 2 coming up in less than 2 weeks though, so had to come back down to earth and continue studying. I passed part 2 on my first try as well. I really can't believe it because I did not feel very confident. I followed the study guide exactly how they suggested and I'm convinced that was the secret. Shortly after passing part 2, we went on vacation so I haven't started studying for the third and final part yet. I plan to start tomorrow. Part 3 contains a lot more material (20 chapters in the study guide as opposed to 7 in the previous) so I'm feeling a little intimidated. I'm sure I'll feel better once I jump into it though. <br />
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So I am living proof that you can do anything you put your mind to if you truly commit to it. I had plenty of moments of doubt through the process but even though I haven't had to study for the past 20 years or so, I was able to get back in that mindset and do what I needed to do.<br />
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In a similar fashion, my husband just did something much larger than anything he did in the past as well. We just got back from 10 days in Wisconsin where he competed in the Tour of America's Dairyland. <a href="http://www.tourofamericasdairyland.com/" target="_blank">You can go here for their website</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tourofamericasdairyland?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">here for the Facebook updates </a>if you are interested in more information. I have several posts planned about the competition in general and also what we did to plan for the trip, what we ate, and how Kayleigh and I fit in exercise around his races. I'll give you a sneak preview though and tell you that he got first place overall for the 45+ Masters Category 3/4. It was so exciting and, at least for me, completely unexpected. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bill with Greg Hayes and Ross Giese</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Masters 45+ Cat 3 & 4</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12330060089288539840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2567676656871578827.post-70277126332730936962014-04-26T08:25:00.000-05:002014-04-26T08:25:54.986-05:00Can I Have a Glass of Water?What is going on? Just when I thought McDonald's couldn't get much more ridiculous... First of all, I am completely against McDonald's. I don't think anyone should eat there because what they sell isn't actually food. There is no nutritional value there at all. I can't remember the last time I even stepped foot in one.<br />
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But yesterday my husband forgot to take his normal breakfast to work with him so he stopped to get some hot cakes. I guess you need some background. My husband has improved his diet dramatically since I first met him a very long time ago. The past few years he really stepped it up when he noticed the big effects diet had on his cycling. He had to do something to combat the inevitable aging! Now he is the one out there lecturing his friends about meat and dairy. <br />
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He still has a couple bad habits though. The worst is his pop. I quit drinking pop when I was 11 because I noticed it made me sick. Therefore my daughter never did drink it. Bill makes up for us though. He goes through one of these a day:<br />
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Yes, I was horrified when he bought this thing! Pop is his worst vice and overall he is pretty good but I guess everyone has something. I am seriously irritated that it they charge only about a dollar to fill this thing up. But that is a whole other rant.<br />
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So back to McDonald's. He stopped and got hot cakes, no sausage. Because he drinks so much pop during the day, he decided to get water with his breakfast. He asked for a glass for ice water and was handed this:<br />
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He thought the cashier had made a mistake but when he looked around, other people had the same little cup. This morning we measured. It is a little smaller than the Dixie cups we keep in our kitchen. You know, the little cups you use when you just need a sip of water to take a pill or whatever. <br />
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Why? Seriously, why. So we have people eating at a place with no healthy choices at all but they are trying to at least drink water and this is what you hand them? Does anyone else find this as irritating as me? It is as if they are making it as inconvenient as possible to make the most minor positive choice. I shouldn't be surprised, I know, but this really just blew my mind. <br />
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