Yellow Wallpaper

Tonight I made some lentil soup for dinner, but I changed the recipe up a bit to give it more of an Indian curry vibe. I kept in the cumin, but instead of chili powder I added some curry powder, ginger, and a bit of smoked paprika. I also used about a cup of coconut milk and the juice of an entire lemon. The kids all rated it a 9/10 and would eat it again.  I've been thinking about going back to being more vegetarian in what we are eating, but the truth is that we actually don't eat meat very often as it is. I particularly find myself craving beef on a regular basis, especially in the winter. It probably would, however, be good to give up ham and sausage. Those are two of my favorite meats, despite knowing how bad they are for me. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to do that yet, but I do think we need to start eating more veggies and beans (I need to remind myself that vegetarian food isn't just cheese pizza.

1. I wanted to try NaBloPoMo again to see if I jump start my writing and creativity again. I've spent the last few years feeling increasingly uninspired and spending more time reading things on the internet rather than producing them. I have no idea if anyone is still reading this--I'm one of the few people I know who still uses a feed reader and actively reads blogs--and I think most of what I've posted so far has been drivel, but I'm going to keep trying. 2. Today was another busy day, all day long. Five or ten years ago I thought things would be easier when the kids were bigger. They are easier in some ways, since they can all feed and dress themselves. However, expectations are higher, problems are bigger, and they definitely all have personalities and priorities of their own. Plus we are just busier with more activities and homework and other things. The three kids are at three different schools (elementary, middle, and high school) for the next three years, and ...

I was at Costco last weekend and I happened to notice that they are now carrying organic steel-cut oats for a pretty reasonable price. I grabbed a bag because I've eaten them a few times before and I liked them. Then I remembered that I had seen this recipe just the day before so I decided to try it for Monday morning. It turned out quite well; even though I put them in the crockpot at 11 pm and woke up at 7, they were a bit overdone and crusty around the edges. However, most of them still had a great taste and texture and I think the overcooking issue was more a function of my crockpot than the recipe (I often have that problem because it's an oversize pot and more wide and shallow than most--the lid is also broken so I'm planning on replacing it). I also liked the recipe because the added brown sugar and maple syrup added just enough sweetness that I didn't need to add any more sugar to my bowl. The oats were tasty on Monday morning and it was great to wake up to o...

Apparently I have abandoned thoughtful, well-written posts in favor of random, scattered updates on my life. I have neglected writing this week because I have been disciplined about getting myself to bed on time. It feels good to get up early and get my day off to a good start, and it feels even better to do that after a decent night's sleep. There also hasn't been much to say this week, plus I have five more books that I need to read for a deadline at the end of the month so I've been focusing on that. As I mentioned, I've generally done well with getting myself to bed and getting up on time. This was the first week of class, and it is going well so far. Every semester seems to get easier and I am enjoying teaching. I have also had a very stable class roster this time around too, so that always helps. My schedule has given me more free time since I am now around when Little Dude is at school in the afternoon and P.Bibby is napping. It's been great; so has being ho...

This week flew by in a flash. When I try to remember things that happened a month ago, it seems like recalling the distant past. And yet, each day and each week seem to fly by much too quickly. Thankfully this week was a relatively calm one, with few 'extra' things on top of the craziness. Tuesday morning Little Dude had a field trip with his class, and since I wasn't already doing anything I decided to go help out. We went to a nearby theater to see a play that they were doing for kids. I was impressed by how well the kindergartners I was with paid attention, and I think Little Dude was happy that I could come. I dropped P.Bibby off at a friend's house and I felt awful when she clung to me and cried while I left. Thankfully when I came to pick her up she was smiling and my friend reported that she had enjoyed her visit after all. The weather has turned cold but we haven't had any snow or rain for a while. I'm glad that things will be clear for Halloween on Mon...

I always seem to hit the wall on Friday afternoons. I've been so busy all week that I just feel done. Right now the kids are watching cartoons and I don't care. We got a projector a few weeks ago and they still love the novelty of watching stuff on the wall. Their favorite game right now is 'movie theater' where they make tickets and pretend refreshments and invite us down to the basement to watch DVDs. It's fun for the whole family. This past week Mr. Fob and I have been re-watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy; it's fun to see them on the big screen (or wall, as it were). Now I'm anxiously waiting for someone to turn Return of the King in to the library so we can complete our experience. This week I feel like I've been doing a good job trying to stick with my motto of 'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without' when it comes to food. I thought I my budget was doing great until I realized that for some reason in Excel it wasn't ad...

I'm writing these posts because I've had a few friends ask me for meatless recipe ideas lately. Freezer meals are good because they eliminate preparation time, but they still need time to cook and require advance planning to make sure they are thawed in time. I thought I'd write up a few of the quick meals that we have on hand for days when I'm busy or when I don't really feel like cooking. Eggs Eggs are a wonderful, cheap source of protein that are easy to cook. If you aren't eating a lot of meat or other saturated fats, having eggs one or two times a week is usually not a health issue either. Eggs are a great food for little kids too. You can also replace some of the whole eggs with egg whites in order to make your recipes even healthier. Fried or scrambled eggs with toast are a great, simple dinner. Sometimes we will make omelettes , which are fun for kids because they can choose what they want to have inside (cheese, green onion, mushrooms, peppers, olives, ...

During the last year or two we have increasingly described ourselves as 'vegetarian', but the truth is we are more like ' flexitarians '. I haven't bought meat for about a year now, but we still indulge in fast food from time to time and will often eat meat when others serve it to us. As I typed that sentence about not buying meat, I realized that I have been buying some fish, so it is probably simply hopeless to attempt to label ourselves and we should just go ahead and eat what we want. Lately we've decided that adding some beef back into our diets would probably be a good thing. We're scouting out sources of local, pasture-raised healthy beef so we can buy some for this winter. I know that many women can have healthy pregnancies with a vegetarian diet, but I've struggled with anemia in the past and my digestive issues make me wary of adding too much iron in supplement form. We will probably still eat meat only about once a week and will put some fish ...

I had a good day today, and I think it went well because I got up and went to the gym for the first time in a few weeks. I only walked on the treadmill because I was feeling out of shape, but it was still a good way to start the day. It was a little weird because the counselors in my bishopric were at the gym working out this morning too. That's the funny thing with being in a student ward; last quarter I had a class with my home teacher. This morning I had to go to the Verizon store to get a new battery for my phone. It was a surprisingly painless experience; I had worried that the salesperson would pressure me too much to upgrade, but he didn't at all. I do have to say that he has a job I would never want to have. There were five salespeople all sitting around this little store in a strip mall just waiting for someone to want to buy a phone. I think that would make me want to scream. I also went to Walmart this morning. I almost never shop there anymore; partly for philosophi...

Does anyone else think that beans are funny? Maybe it's because my dad always sang the "musical fruit" song whenever we'd eat them. As I've mentioned on here before, I like beans. We're transitioning to mostly meatless and have been eating more and more of them lately. Tonight I got to do an online survey all about bean consumption and for some reason it seemed really funny to me. I also laughed because apparently I cannot have eaten beans more than 150 times during the last twelve month period; they need to change their survey to accommodate the vegetarians out there. I liked the questions that asked things like "was your use of beans in this recipe spontaneous or planned in advance?" If you know me, you know I clicked on "planned in advance." Also, the eating more vegetables goal and the local produce delivery thing are working very well. Except that tonight Little Dude proclaimed authoritatively "toddlers don't eat chard."...

Yesterday afternoon I rode my bike down to campus and slipped my last paper of the quarter under my professor's door. It was a great feeling. I actually found all three of my final papers this quarter to be somewhat easy to write. I put a lot of time into research and planning (literally hours on my Shakespeare paper) and for once I had plenty to say for each one. I'm still afraid that my professors are just going to laugh when they read my essays and then fail me, but at this point I don't think that would be the worst thing that could happen to me. So now I have three weeks of freedom; I celebrated last night by making a pear streusel cake, and then ate most of it today. Seriously. I made a conscious decision to have no self-control and just enjoyed myself. This morning Little Dude and I also went to the produce stand and had a heyday. It was awesome: broccoli for .33 a pound. I also spent $1.50 on five pounds of sweet potatoes. And I love living in a place where fresh ma...

If you have a Safeway near you, you really need to go try the following foods: Pumpkin Pie yogurt--I've never seen this flavor before, but it is really tasty. It's a "limited edition." It's the Safeway brand (Lucerne). They also have pumpkin flavored cream cheese, but we haven't tried it yet. Gingerbread Cookie Ice Cream--Also Safeway brand. It's super tasty ice cream with soft little gingerbread cookies in it. I think I'm becoming addicted.

I meant to post a picture of our Thanksgiving feast, but I haven't had a chance to get it off the camera first. Plus the pictures are kind of boring because the food was kind of boring. It tasted good, but this year I went for traditional food over creative food. We had turkey, stuffing (from a box), mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with streusel topping, cranberry sauce (from a can), rolls, and spinach salad with orange-poppy seed dressing. And I made pumpkin cake for dessert. It was good, but don't believe the recipe when it says it makes 6-8 servings; it's more like 16 to 18. We've been enjoying it for a few days now. My parents got to town on Thursday afternoon right before dinner and we haven't stopped eating since. Friday morning we got up and went to a nearby Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree; they had free popcorn and cider. Then we went out for lunch at a very tasty burger place here in town. Thankfully we went for a little walk in the arboretum...

During the last week I seem to have been bitten by the baking bug. It's probably a way to avoid thinking about my homework and it's definitely influenced by the sale items at the grocery store. Last Friday we made pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing that were absolutely divine. Then tonight for FHE treat we had gingerbread, with eggnog to drink. Although both kids liked the gingerbread, they didn't like the eggnog. Little Dude was delighted by the snowman on the carton, but they both thought it was 'spicy'. The Thanksgiving menu is in place and my fridge is about ready to burst. Can't wait to cook that turkey and get it out of my fridge. Mr. Fob and I are also feeling the urge to make tasty appetizers like shrimp cocktail and cheese ball, but realize that this is foolish for a small family gathering. Then I had rememberd that my family tradition is to have a party for trimming the tree, so we'll probably do that on Saturday night. I'm already getting ex...

That's a phrase from this NY Times article about stupid things people do in an attempt to save money. I think we're actually both grocery wise and cable wise, especially since we just have the very basic cable package, but it really is difficult to make good money choices. The article brings up the example of grocery shopping, which really will tie your brain in knots if you let it. Take, for example, my recent turkey shopping expedition. We haven't bought meat for a few months and are trying to transition to a mostly vegetarian diet. Ideally we would like to put our money towards buying meat that has been raised in a humane, environmentally friendly way. However, I found out today that my subconscious only responds to monetary concerns, not my ethical ones. In shopping around I found a few turkey options. Our local groovy co-op grocery store has turkeys for sale that were raised on a farm 100 miles away from here. They've been allowed to range freely, eating a "ve...

One of the ways I've been avoiding my homework this week is investigating Thanksgiving recipes online. The big day is only two weeks away and I'm working on solidifying my menu. Apparently writing my ten-page essay for next Tuesday is not as important as deciding which side dishes to serve. Mr. Fob and I decided that we're willing to buy turkey and are exploring our options to see if we can find something that will be both environmentally friendly and not break our budget. Thankfully we don't need a very big bird for our little group (my parents are coming), especially since I'm not a huge fan of turkey. Even though I haven't bought meat for about two months now, we both agree that you just can't have tofurky or Quorn for Thanksgiving. We're more into eating meat sparingly than not at all. And even though I think it's weird to have so many starches with one meal, we'll still have the traditional stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and ro...

When we left for Portland on Friday afternoon I was having serious doubts about our decision to get away for a weekend. It was snowing, Little Dude spent most of the car ride picking off his band-aids and complaining about owie fingers, and what should have been a three hour trip turned into six thanks to a major traffic jam and a very slow waitress at Shari's . But our usage of a Shari's coupon paid off after we got to our friends' home and broke out our free marionberry pie. It gave us the fuel we needed to stay up until two thirty in the morning talking. Yes, four responsible adults who knew that there were six kids in the house all primed and ready to wake up at seven threw caution to the wind and stayed up insanely late. Then we spent all of Saturday in our pajamas ignoring the kids and talking some more. We even ate the rest of our pie while they were in the other room watching a movie. It was a blast. I'm glad we took this little break since I'm heading off t...

I really love to cook, and I especially love to cook for the holidays. For me one of the things that makes a day special is a tasty home-cooked meal spent with those you love. This year I really thought hard about what to eat for Easter. We both love ham, but we're trying to move away from commercially processed meat. ( Plus it was only us and the kids, so I didn't feel like making a ham just for four people and I just did ham for Christmas). But then I found a cool recipe in The Joy of Cooking for "baked stuffed eggs". Basically you just make a white sauce, make deviled eggs using a few spoonfuls of the white sauce in place of the mayonnaise, and then bake the eggs in a pan with the rest of the sauce poured over them. I thought it was pretty tasty, although I think next time I would like to add some fresh herbs and perhaps some sauteed onion to the sauce. We also had roasted asparagus, a fruity jello with strawberries and pineapple, and rolls (shaped like bunnies). ...

When I was about 12 or 13, I spent a lot of time at the library reading magazines. I would go to the library at least once a week, and my routine never varied. First I'd stop off at the young adult fiction shelf and grab four or five books. Then I'd look at the new books shelf to see if anything looked good. After that I'd browse my favorite areas of non-fiction: marine biology, art history, paranormal phenomena, or cookbooks. Finally I'd sit in the back and read a few magazines. For some reason one day I was reading a parenting magazine and there was an article about teenagers becoming vegetarians. I'm easily persuaded, so I decided to become a vegetarian. My desire only lasted a few weeks; I do remember checking this book out from the library and feeling really lost by all of the technical jargon. I've never really considering being a vegetarian since that point. I did grow up in a house where we ate meat somewhat sparingly and ate lots of fresh vegetables, w...

I stopped by Target this afternoon to pick up a few things. I started out shopping in my usual penny-pinching manner, picking up some Suave conditioner and some generic brand face scrub, even though I really do prefer the name brands. I was really trying not to spend very much money on my groceries, and then I ran into the frozen foods section. DiGiorno pizzas were on sale. They looked really, really good. We haven't had pizza for a while. I told myself that $4.50 was kind of a lot for one pizza, and I could just go home and mix up some dough, and grate some cheese, and then I'd just have to buy some olives and a green pepper.... And then I grabbed the pizza and threw it in my cart. So tonight we are having pizza for dinner. Over-priced, frozen pizza full of fat and additives and preservatives. And I have decided not to care or feel guilty about it.