10 Essential Rules for the Home Cook

12 Apr


Food blogs, food blogs everywhere, but no cooking instruction to ponder! They always make everything looks so fancy, and don’t get me started on cookbooks and cooking shows. I’m obsessed with them, but I the things I learned over the past few years in the kitchen really haven’t been mentioned by any of the food media I consume (pun semi-intended). I started off as what a hardcore gamer would call a “newb” in this tasty world, fresh out of college and eager to get my hands on this cooking thing. Eating out after awhile gets tiring and expensive and my can-do attitude led me to think “I could probably make that”. It’s true, and you can “make that” and whatever your little tummy desires as a home cook. You may never be a superstar chef, but if you follow these essential rules, there’s no way you won’t succeed in the kitchen with a little bit of hard work and a lot of taste tests.

  1. Work with what you have. When I was just a baby cook (2 years was a long time ago) I was so overwhelmed by all the things I did not have as a growing home cook. Pots, pans, specialty items (like the Zoku popsicle maker I bought myself, its amazing), waffle makers, mandolines, woks, etc. Lets face it, not many just-out-of-college young adults own much more than a small pot for mac ‘n cheese, a big pot for pasta and a few cookie sheets for making frozen pizza and store-bought cookie dough. The truth of the matter is, while sometimes a recipe may call for something to use the mandoline with a good knife might also get the job done. Then there’s the times you thought you had some ingredient called for in your recipe and the pantry shelves stare back at you bare and defiant. You hit your head against the cabinet in disgust and turn to go get your shoes. Stop! Don’t run to the store if you can help it, work with what you have. Sour Cream? Use greek yogurt or plain yogurt. Bananas make a great base for ice cream. Don’t have pasta sauce? Make it! Be creative, this is the time when you can take chances, be adventurous, possibly mess up and laugh about it.
  2. Don’t be afraid to splurge, sometimes. Any Food Network chef will tell you at least once in their show that the best ingredients really do make all the difference. Frugal me didn’t believe this at first, but the now seasoned cook in me says get the pancetta, leave the cannolis. If you’re cooking it at home, especially on special occasions, go ahead and smartly splurge on items such as fresh vegetables, good spices and the right cut of meat. It really will make the difference in your food, I promise.
  3. No one is perfect. When I started to get adventurous in the kitchen I had a chef-like high. I could do no wrong, that is, until one or two times when I sat down to eat my masterpiece and it was a total FLOP. I was so embarrassed, and thankfully the husband was the only witness. It wasn’t until I talked to the at home cook I look up the most to, my brother who is 6 years my senior and a home cook extraordinaire that he omitted that he too has flops, and (shocker!) everyone does. Sigh of relief. When it’s a flop, try to fix it and then move on, this does not weigh against your rep as a savvy cook, its just a part of the game. As much as you may read food blogs and admire perfectly photographed food, you need to realize that not everything is blog-worthy or impress-the-parents worthy. Repeat to self.
  4. Color outside the lines. I’m not sure how it happens or why, but sometimes Dr.Love, my kitchen muse, is in the kitchen. (Please don’t ask me how I came to that name, it just happened after a long day and exorbitant amounts of chocolate). When Dr. Love is in the kitchen, things start to happen, spices jump off the spice rack, last minute additions are added and before I know it I’ve created a masterpiece meal (and can’t quite remember the recipe  ex. Moroccan chickpeas with couscous).  Now, you rule-followers out there, know this: coloring outside the lines in cooking is ok. Take chances, be creative, the whole kitchen is yours to conquer!  (Note: baking, on the other hand is a science, as I remind my husband each time, therefore don’t color outside the lines unless you want to alter the chemistry and overall outcome of your baked goods).
  5. Don’t forget the basics. Remember all those casseroles mom used to make? Don’t forget about those. There are so many blogs and shows out there today that go out of their way to play with flavors and food- that’s great. But when you never repeat a recipe for a year, you may have a problem. Don’t feel pressured to cook complicated things. Tuna noodle casserole is still great (and will always be).For as many original culinary masterpieces (a handful) that have happened in this kitchen from multiple ingredients, there have been way more successes with simple, basic flavors melding together in an easy recipe. Take for example lemon shrimp kabobs: lemon marinated in EVOO, cilantro and grilled with lemon wedges over rice. Best. Meal. Ever. Simple flavors often create wonderful meals. So, remember: don’t forget your go-to recipes as you’re adventuring out into the cooking abyss.
  6. Work within a budget. My culinary hobby has gotten me into some $100 grocery bills I like to refer to as the Wegmans curse. The real curse, though is the fact that I had not yet learned how to stick to a budget and with so many options I went crazy in our favorite grocery store. Repeat after me: I will work within a budget. Today we’re doing much better around $60-$75 and still eating like Kings. Splurge for date night, budget and stretch your buck on other nights. Plan ahead and try making it a game: what recipes can I use to keep the grocery bill within budget this week.
  7. The SECRET Ingredient. This one comes to you complimentary from my brother. He and his wife have a Costco card, the cutest baby in the world and a budget. So each week they go armed into the store and find the Secret Ingredient. Because portions are so large at retailers like Costco (think 4 lbs. of peppers) they make it their mission to use the ingredient in each dinner every day that week in a different way. It forces you to be creative, use what you have and get outside the box.
  8. To everything there is a season… Strawberries, kale, squash, crab, you name it, it has a season. That means that it will be cheap at some points of the year and exorbitantly expensive at others. Try to enjoy your fresh foods in season to get the best taste, quality and price. Your  local farmers market is a great place to go to stock up (and its usually cheaper!).
  9. Know Your Strengths/Give yourself credit: ok so this is really 2 very important tidbits of advice. If you’re not a good baker, don’t put all your time into making the cupcakes, layer cakes, cookies and cobblers you see on Cake Boss or Pinterest. Know what you’re good at and have go-to recipes for when you entertain. That being said, also make sure you give yourself credit. Do you produce great-tasting food? Give yourself a pat on the back. Not many people can do what you do, they instead go out to eat something that probably tastes mediocre (unless its a really great local place).
  10. Read the recipe FIRST. This is a note to myself. How many times have I gotten in trouble for not completely reading the recipe and 30-minute meals turn into eating dinner at 9 PM. It’s ok to color outside the lines of the recipe, but you should know what the recipe creator has to say first about it.

So there you have it. Your list to live by in the kitchen. Do you have any other rules you’d add?  Post away below in the comment section.

The EPIC Spring Cleaning List

16 Mar

Happy Spring Break- lets get cleaning! That was basically what I told my husband the other day. Poor guy- he works so hard getting his masters degree, then comes home to a list-crazy wife who actually looks forward to spring cleaning. He’ll survive.

We’ve been working ALL week on a project-a-day cleaning schedule. Want to know the secret?

Clear the clutter. Then move from top-to-bottom. It makes more sense, although we didn’t completely do that because I was shiny-objecting around the house all week looking for projects. Anywho- today I’m giving you the EPIC spring cleaning list. Stick to the list and you’ll be great. For those of you who don’t hoard stuff like the rest of us, you can skip the part where we make mountainous piles of things to give away, sell on craigslist, and pitch.

We’ll be posting all week on how to EPIC-ly clean your home. So be sure to check back

Lets go!

Project 1- Clear the clutter
Project 2- Look up
Project 3- Look behind
Project 4- Joe-Schmo’s guide to regular spring cleaning for non-enthusiasts

EPIC Spring Cleaning Project 1: Clear the Clutter

16 Mar

Ok, you know by now that I have waaay to much stuff. But, don’t we all? Look around you. How much stuff do you have locked away in drawers, sequestered under beds, stuffed in closets and stowed in your basement. Now, how much of that stuff do you go through day-to-day life living without. If you’re like me, its a lot. Papers, mementos, collections of things I don’t really need (need I remind you of the bath and body works debacle).

So when I really started to look around, I started to get inspired, and when I get a whim to start pitching/donating/selling my collection of stuff, I have to move before it goes away.

So you’re here too, wanting to clear the clutter. Congrats! You’ve made it to the first step. When clearing clutter I always ask myself the following:

  • Do I need it?
  • Do I use it? (Have I used it in the past year?)
  • Why am I keeping it?
  • Do I want to haul this down 3 flights of stairs, into a moving van and possibly cross-country the next time I move?
  • In the case of clothes: Have I worn this in the past year?
Here’s what I need you to do first: Designate 4 piles.
  1. Go through pile- my husband hates this one. Its for things that shouldn’t be in the place you found them but need to be put away in an organized fashion. Just make sure you actually go through this pile at the end.
  2. Sell pile-  some things you can make a buck or two off of. Chris got 4 helicopters one year for Christmas because thats all he told people he wanted. One has been sitting in his “toy drawer” for over a year still in the box. This is a candidate for sale. Curtains, pillows, books, purses- all can be sold. Ebay them, sell them on craigslist, or do a garage sale.
  3. Trash pile- I have a problem throwing paper away. I’m a writer so every scrap has to be gone through to make sure I didn’t jot something profound down on it. Some odds and ends like batteries you don’t know are good or not, old birthday cards, broken things just need to be thrown away. If you need someone to hold your hand while you do it- I’ll be there virtually to do so. I promise it gets easier as you go on.
  4. Donate pile- here’s the pile that I love to put gently-used things into. I love giving things to people. One year when I first painfully went through my collection of sprays, lotions and beauty products I called over my friends and had them sift through. A part of me wanted to push the stuff on them, tell them to take it all. One of my best friends was kind enough to say she’d take the rest (I know she probably pawned it off on someone else or threw some of the stuff away, but I didn’t have to see it so it was ok). You may think I’m joking- but seriously, I’m not. Other things can go to your local Salvation Army or Goodwill. Some woman this year is getting a worn, but still nice coach purse, and another is going to have a nice pair of Ryka tennis shoes.

So where does clutter hide?  Everywhere in our house. We build shelves for clutter, put it in our basement in an ever-growing mountain of brown boxes of things we “have to keep” but never look at. Weird, huh? If you have no clue as to where to look I suggest looking in the following places:

Drawers- Junk drawers, clothing drawers, kitchen drawers, medicine drawers, EVERY DRAWER!

Lets talk clothing for a moment- I collect t-shirts. You may collect ratty jeans. The point is that 50 t-shirts from college (and high school) is too many tshirts for someone who only wears them to work out or sleep in. Go through your drawers, get rid of the clothes you no longer wear often. Do you really need 15 black t-shirts from your sorority? I’ll answer that for you: no. If it has a hole, if its worn or has a stain, pitch it or use it for rags (but actually use it). If its in good shape, put it in the donate pile.

Junk drawer(s)- we have many. One for Chris, one for me, one for the kitchen and another one in the guest room/office. Everything ends up in these drawers- receipts, 3-year old gum (seriously), keys to who-knows-what, batteries etc. so every once in awhile I go through them. If there’s stuff that needs to go somewhere else (paperclips, gift cards, tools, etc.), put it in the to-go-through pile.

That extra dresser- We have an extra dresser that sits in the entry way to our flat. It used to hold Chris’ overflow of clothes, mementos, etc. We’ve now downsized that into his “toy drawer” where he keeps his nerf guns, helicopters, legos etc. (Shaking my head and chuckling as I write). It does sound a little silly, but everyone has those recreational games, toys etc. Its ok to have an extra dresser, just make sure its not filled with clutter, but the things you actually use.

Closets- This one could take all day depending on the amount of stuff in your closets. Chris’ closet took him around an hour. Mine- 2 hours (with distractions). I keep more in my closet besides clothes since we are limited to 3 tiny closets in this 1930′s house and mine is the largest. I’ve got a craft drawer, boxes of family mementos, recreational things like frisbees, linens that didn’t fit in the linen drawer, etc. Not to mention a collection of shoes and clothes. I use the same tactic for clothes in the closet as I did above for the drawers. Lately I’ve been pretty good about organizing my clothes too by color with the dresses pushed off to one side.

How many pairs of shoes can one girl have? The masses are split on this. I love flats, but at one time I went through a high-heel phase (it didn’t last very long, I was meant to be this close to the ground). I ended up donating 6 pairs of shoes this year, and quite a few tops, pairs of pants, etc. There is only so much you can wear. It’s kind of….liberating to tell you the truth.

Don’t be afraid to go through everything or make an extra pile to think about. Chances are if you don’t use it now, you probably won’t later.

TV Stand- When short on space, we often have to display things, exhibit 1, our TV stand which is actually a shelf from Ikea. It held all of our games, tv equipment, and boxes full of random stuff. I got tired of looking at all that stuff, so we relocated our games, dusted everything off and rearranged to show our pictures and show pieces instead. Use your spring cleaning to switch up your “display areas”. It’s really refreshing.

Before we could even get to the rearranging we had to deal with the tangled web of cords. Use twisty ties or Velcro to tie all your cords together neatly, and bread clasps with the name of what the cord is are great for labeling cords so you’re not dealing with a puzzle later.

The Basement/Storage- cue dramatic music. There’s a mountain of boxes down there. Things we never use. An old coffee maker, microwave, snow tires, clothes that I’m “keeping” for now. Ugh, the terror just comes over me thinking about it. While we have yet to tackle this area, we do have a plan. Separate into designated piles and pitch anything that s not necessary. Its amazing what collects down there while you’re not looking- like a colony of mice that have gone out of control.

Office Storage- cords, cords and more cords! We use a cord bag to wrangle all of our extra cords. Then there’s the oh, 3-5 computer devices (not to mention the things we don’t even use anymore). We’re wiping clean and selling the old laptops for some $$, sorting through cords, old CDs, and office equipment. You would not believe how many pens we have (I don’t think we’ll have to buy any for the next lifetime). My advice is to stick to the essentials. You control what goes back into the desk and what doesn’t. Don’t feel like you need to keep anything (unless its important, like a backup disk for your computer).

Under the bed- There’s that sock! I’ve been looking for it for ages. We find all sorts of things under the bed. To risk sounding like a  broken record- organize it into the piles.

Medicine Cabinet- With just the 2 of us, we’ve collected lots of cold medicine, vapor rub, aspirin, etc. Use this time to go through the medicine cabinet and get rid of anything expired. Don’t mess around, the chemicals in those medicines can alter and won’t be as effective and could be hazardous after too long. Even sunscreen does expire, so don’t be like me and keep it for years because you’re too cheap to buy a new one.

The Kitchen- Use this time to also go through your fridge, pantry, cupboards etc. Clear out the expired things, the tupperware with no lid mates or vice versa. It’s amazing how many granola bars, bags with single croutons and different types of rice you may find hiding in the cupboards.

 

And there you have it- leave no drawer, no closet, or storage area untouched! Take no prisoners! And remember, if you’ve lived without it for this long, you probably won’t miss it.  Take a picture of your pile and put it somewhere special to remind yourself of all the stuff you collected, but didn’t need. And give yourself a pat on the back, you have now completed project 1 of your EPIC cleaning list.

The Forgotten Objects- A Spring Cleaning “Don’t Forget” List

16 Mar

I take a microscopic approach to spring cleaning, which is why you haven’t heard from me for a week. I’ve delved into some aspect of cleaning every day this week (which the husband isn’t too excited about). Along the way there were a few things not on the Epic Spring Cleaning List that I came across. After I find and conquer these areas I get a sense of satisfaction- the kind you get after finding hidden treasure. 

So, without further ado, here they are:

The Computer(s)- We’re tech junkies in this house, so we’ve got 4 computer/tablet devices that work and 2 college laptops that have sat around for-ev-er. Its a little ridiculous. Have you ever thought about how much you touch your keyboard and what could be on your hands? As plugged in as I am, I often live at my computers, so I know that there are tons of germs, crumbs and whatnot looming in and around the keyboards. Then there’s the smudges, you know, the ones you’ve trained yourself to look past. Computers deserve spring cleaning too. So the computers were cleaned smack-dab in the middle of a mid-morning, whole-house closet clean out mayhem. 

Here’s the deal:

  • Use a computer screen cleaning spray and microfiber cloth. We use a kit we got for oh, 6 or 7 bucks way back in college.
  • Canned air is a wonderful thing- use it to get the crumbs and particles out of the keyboard
  • Look closely on the keyboard and you’ll be disgusted by the residue. Or, just go ahead and use a cloth slightly dampened with your basic household vinegar cleaner. Here’s some DIY cleaner recipes. 

Look up! It’s a bird, its a plane, no its just a HUGE dust bunny on top of your door/picture frame. If you’re 5’2″ like me, you often don’t look up at home because you’ve looked up at people all day. But there, resting above my door frames was a hidden lair of dust. Don’t be afraid to get on your hands and knees or on a step stool to find those nooks, crannies and hidden lairs where the dirt, cat toys and missing socks like to hide. 

Look behind. Did you ever wonder what was going on behind that dresser or tv stand? I did, once again in a shiny-object moment I was distracted by the tangled web of cords behind the tv. Low and behold, another lair of dust, my lost copy of You’ve Got Mail (!!!!), the obligatory cat toy and a long-forgotten about remote control. Out came the vacuum and we shortly said goodbye to the dust bunnies. An hour later, we had the whole TV console rearranged, dust bunnies exterminated and cords wrangled. 

Don’t forget the lights. Lampshades often collect dust so I take time to detail those, but sometimes I forget the light bulbs too. They collect dust just like the rest of the house and often look more dim when covered in the film. So, I use a slightly damp cloth and wipe them down – wait for them to dry and put them back in. I recommend doing this during the day so you can see. 

Above the fridge- this is another height thing. I can’t see above the fridge, so I don’t look. I guess the same thing could go for above the cabinets. They were pretty gross. I used soap and water on the top of the fridge and for a full-fridge wipe down. 

In the words of my husband, when asking him about things we’ve forgotten to include on the master list, “Its hard to remember something you have forgotten to do if you don’t even know to do it”. If you can think of anything else commonly forgotten to be cleaned during Spring  Cleaning, we’d greatly appreciate you adding it to the list. 

Domestic Spring Break

9 Mar

Standing in the middle of the room I look around and something feels…off. It’s almost springtime  and yesterday I had windows open to air out the house from all that wintry stuffiness (does that even work? I’m not sure, but I do it anyway). Then I remembered what it was that I was missing… Spring CLEANING (cue Oprah’s big announcement voice)!!

Each weekend we’ve done our weekly cleaning routine on the house, but some things just go unnoticed. I’ve been making mental notes to go back and do things like: wipe down the fridge door handle or remove the lair of fur off of the curtain where the cat peers through the window, and find my copy of You’ve Got Mail on DVD (I think someone hid it after we watched it too much), but then I move on with my busy little life and forget about it.

So, with the Mr. having spring break next week, it seems like the perfect time to whip out the pink vinyl gloves and get to work. But before that can happen, you know what I have to do… the very best part of Spring Cleaning/Domestic Spring Break is the planning aka list-o-mania. I’ll be back with a exhaustive (and exhausting) list later, but for now I’m using this post as a mental note that we need to do the following.

  • Wipe down the floorboards (with a dryer sheet so they repel dust and smell fresh)
  • Wipe down cabinets
  • De-fur the curtains and other cat-related haunts
  • Sweep out under the couch (who knows what the cats been stashing under there)

In other Spring-Break domestic plans I’ve been rather Pinterested in some projects on my pinterest board. So (to Chris’ chagrin) I’d like to:

  • Make a mid-century modern birdhouse
  • Make a side table for the chaise side of the couch so I can drink my coffee and recline at the same time
  • Go to the library and check out bunches of books on my book list
  • Unclog the bathroom sink that has been holding water for more days than my readers care to know. Seriously, I’ve been brushing my teeth out of the bathtub because he-who-shall-remain-nameless has not fixed it yet (in his defense, he’s super busy with projects). We get by :)
  • Plan the container garden for the year
  • Make homemade curtains for the guest room.

I’ve seriously been watching the Nate Berkus show too much (even though I don’t like half of the things on there) I’ve been surfing Craigslist for old furniture to revamp, looking for projects in every nook and cranny to give “visual interest” (design buzz word) to our rooms and getting very restless- it has to be springtime.

In other news, tonight we’re deviating from our weekly menu and instead going Chinese with these 2 recipes from Iowa Girl Eats. She’s a Midwesterner, so I know you’ll love her and her super-yummy recipes. Here’s one for crab rangoon. And another for Chinese Chicken for 2.

I’m ALIVE! (and a weekly menu too)

6 Mar

Although I’m sequestered at home for 3/4 of my week, I somehow managed to pick up a flu virus last week. For the past 3 years I’ve had it, and yet, I still refuse to get the flu shot (anything to avoid a needle). Chris is now demanding that next year I get the shot- he doesn’t think its worth the week’s worth of an achy body, extreme exhaustion, etc. We’re still in debate on that…

It was finally yesterday that I finally was up to cooking and cleaning up the house, so I didn’t bother to bore you with last week’s weekly menu of chicken soup, more chicken soup and a side of peachy green tea.

We do have some nice things on the menu this week. I’m approaching it as a take-it-easy kind of week so no there won’t be a roasted chicken or overly high-maintenance recipes.

Here it is:

Tuna Noodle Casserole- That’s right, I’m jumping on the comfort food train for a while, this just looks so yummy and Chris mentioned last week how much he loves it. That was a surprise to me. I guess the creative cook in me gets so far out of the food-I-grew-up-with neighborhood that lots of times I’m having too much fun playing with good flavor combinations 2 blocks over while the friendly basics are right next door. I found a yummy recipe here. It’s easy and I doubled the recipe so we’ll have lots of leftovers.

Chicken Tikka Masala- If you’re adventurous in the food realm like us, you’ve tried Indian food. I’m a self-diagnosed Indian food junkie. I could eat curries and rice at least 2x a week, maybe 3. The layers of spices and flavors meld together and create fireworks on my palate. I LOVE this stuff! So naturally I try to recreate the recipes at home. I’ve tried the simmer sauce off the shelf stuff which promises quick and easy Indian food. While they are good, they are no match for the party-in-your-mouth flavors that our local Indian haunts dish up. So, back to the drawing board with a longer, but oh-so-worth-it recipe. This one’s from food and wine magazine, recipe here.

Chicken “Sticks” with potatoes, apples ‘n onions on the side- How did I come up with chicken sticks aka drumsticks? I think was from sheer tiredness as I was trying to explain what was for dinner last night. Lets just say I’m the one that pushes the boundaries, even when I’m sick, to try to get as much done as possible.  (Chris shakes his head as I tell him and fails to persuade me to sit down).

Anyway, its super easy, I use Denise’s rub (recipe here) and roll the drumsticks in it, Bake on 350 for 30 minutes. Then I take ‘em out and slather those little sticks in bbq sauce on all sides, and turn them. 15 minutes later I slather them again with more sauce, 15 later I turn em and slather with the juices from the pan. They usually take an hour at 350, but just to be safe, I keep them in until they register at 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Note: I strongly recommend getting a few damp paper towels to eat these with, they’re deliciously messy.

As for the potatoes, apples ‘n onions here’s the run down:

  • 4 potatoes (I prefer red skin), cut into fourths/chunks
  • 2 apples, cut into chunks
  • 1 onion cut into wedges
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced

I toss this with olive oil until its coated, and season with a pinch of thyme, rosemary, kosher salt to taste and red pepper and throw it in a casserole dish. Stick it in the oven with the drumsticks for the hour, making sure the onions don’t burn on the edges. If you need to, stick foil over the dish to prevent burning of the onions.

The apples add a nice sweet/tartness to the dish and it goes great with the chicken, especially when the bbq juices meld with the veggies. Yum!

What else are we having? To tell you the truth, this is all I’ve had time to think of, and like I said, we’re taking it easy this week. If you need a mental image because you like to imagine what’s on our plates each night, I’ll give you this: it’s probably cereal, salad or leftovers (all very good things!).

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Working on it

24 Feb

I have a problem. It’s called work. No, I’m not employed (yet) beyond the means of these 4 walls, (the blogs, the ever-mentioned “Book” and my volunteer work and constant learning). Let me explain…

Way back before I was laid off, I was what you would consider a “worker bee”, you know the one that worked non-stop, and when I wasn’t working I was racking my brain with ideas on how to solve problems and streamline processes and make the world an all-around better place. Forget 9 to 5, I was a 9 to 5 to 12AM kind of worker. When the lay-offs started happening I began to see the things around me crumbling, so I worked even harder, picked up more slack, tried new ways to solve the lack of incoming work. Everything  was my responsibility, in my mind and the stress and pressure started piling on. Then it happened, I was laid off. And a funny thing happened, I left that day knowing I was going to be ok, but mourning the loss of “my baby”, all the work I had put in, the processes, ideas, materials, all of it was left there.

If there is anything I regret about that time, it’s not that I could of worked any harder to solve the great issues of economic downturn, it’s that I didn’t spend enough time on me and my ventures. It’s a hard lesson to learn, we are not our work. At the end of the day, we aren’t our job title, or the things we put into our occupation, we’re what we make ourselves to be.

I believe in working hard, because it’s been instilled in me since birth, we’re Nebraskans, after all. But I also believe in balance now. No matter what our “occupation” is, those of us who classify as “worker bees” always have to be on caution that we might be overdoing it at the expense of something else. How many of those hours spent monitoring other people’s social media accounts and pondering their strategies off the clock could I have spent working on my own, gaining my own following? How many hours could I have spent working on my own book instead of devising ways to streamline plans in the office?  Jobs come and go, and I believe we should do our absolute best at them, but we also need to work on ourselves, because we are not our jobs.

If you’re too much of a worker like me, take time to enjoy life, take time to grow and learn and relax. In whatever situation we’re in, it’s best to just stop and reflect. “Is what I’m doing accomplishing what I need it to, or do I need to redirect? Am I too over the top here or am I ok?”

Even in unemployment you can get stuck in a rut of working too much, trying to make the job happen, wallowing in self doubt and the circumstances of the situation. Just today as I was obsessively researching the places I wish to work and topics that surround their environment and I had to pull back. Doing your research on a position is one thing, but stacking the deck and worrying over it is another.

When the day is said and done, I’ve done quite a bit for being unemployed. The house always looks nice, meals are always on the table when Chris comes home (cue 1950′s music). But I have to remember to be careful not to put too much into it, to enjoy the freedom I have to get up at 8AM and work whenever I want and to walk the dog in the afternoon. Sure, I want to work on a team, change people’s lives and work on projects outside of my home, but at the same time, it’s nice to just step back and enjoy this season as it is.

So, moral of the story is: you aren’t your job. In fact jobs will come and go, you might even switch career paths (voluntarily or involuntarily) once , twice or even three times in your life, but you should always work on you and your purpose/ what you want to achieve in life.

 

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Weekly Menu: Homemade with love

23 Feb

Whoa! Where did the week go?  I forgot to post this, my apologies to those who were just dying to see what we were eating :)

This week I focused on making as much as I could from home. I’m no baker and life sometimes gets in the way, so Chris’ PBJ’s were handmade with love and store-bought ingredients. But, I did have some fun this week going out of the box with homemade ravioli and there is a frozen bird in our future as well.

  • Poppy Seed Dressing and salad- I think we’ve finally used the last bit of this dressing, which means its time to make a new batch, we love it that much.
  •  Butternut Squash Ravioli with Walnut Brown Butter- aka the meal in which I let all calories go to the wind and dined in excellence. Recipe here. Served with a side of guilt-free, oven roasted asparagus.
  • Roasted Tomato Soup- The star-child of this week. Yummy in my tummy, calorie conscious and budget friendly, its every one’s best friend. Recipe here.
  • Oven-Roasted Chicken- recipe here. 180 calories. Served with Pear and Red Onion Gratin- recipe here, 188 calories.
  • Light Chicken Enchiladas- recipe to come soon. We’ll see how this puppy turns out, but it includes reduced fat refried beans, green chiles, cheese and leftover chicken. What beats that?
  • Chocolate, Peanut Butter Banana “ice cream”- I’ll give you a hint:bananas, chocolate, peanut butter. recipe to follow soon

Hope you’re enjoying your week and will use this as an inspiration to plan your own weekly menu or steal some ideas from mine.

 

 

Roasted Tomato Soup

21 Feb

Tired of canned, unrealistically-red tomato soup filled with corn syrup and other questionable ingredients? Once you’ve tried this Roasted Tomato Soup, you won’t go back.

The husband isn’t a big tomato soup fan, he prefers things loaded with cheese and meat, but I have to indulge myself with this creamy, savory soup every once in a while. Afterall, who could resist a grilled cheese and some tomato soup?

So enough talking, here’s the recipe:

Roasted Tomato Soup

  • 3 lb tomatoes (a variety of heirloom, plum or others will do)
  • 7 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 3 small onions (preferably yellow onions)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and black pepper  for sprinkling over veggies
  • 1 quart chicken stock  (vegetarians could use vegetable stock)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves or 2 basil cubes (optional)
  • 4 tbsp. butter

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450F
  2. Wash, core and cut tomatoes into fourths (unless they’re tiny, then into halves)
  3. Peel garlic and cut onions into fourths
  4. Place tomatoes, garlic and onions onto a baking tray (preferably one with sides, like a jelly roll) and drizzle with the olive oil and season with kosher salt and black pepper
  5. Roast for 20 to 35 minutes until the veggies are caramelized
  6. When roasted, remove from oven and transfer the vegetables to a stock pot
  7. Add chicken stock, bay leaves and butter
  8. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes
  9. Remove the bay leaves! (Don’t forget this step)
  10. If using fresh basil, wash and dry the leaves then add to the pot, or if using a basil cube, just throw it in.
  11. Turn off the heat.
  12. If you are using an immersion blender, go ahead and puree the soup in the stock pot, if you have a regular blender transfer small batches of the liquid to the blender and puree being careful not to fill the blender too full because heat makes the soup expand when its blended. Read more about blending soups in a blender here.
  13. Return the soup to the stove and heat for a few minutes more until you reach a nice tomato-soup consistency. You can add the 1/4 cup of water if its too thick or reduce over low heat until the desired consistency is reached.

We’ve been watching our grocery budget lately, as you already know, so it would seem that a soup filled with out-of-season tomatoes in the middle of February would be an expensive undertaking. However, when you get tomatoes on sale at the farmers market or at your grocery store or if you plan ahead and make huge batches at the end of the summer, you’ll be suprised at how economical (and calorie-friendly) this soup can be. We gathered up 5 pounds of a variety of tomatoes at the farmers market for under a dollar a pound as opposed to our grocery store’s $1.65 for plum tomatoes. When added all up, you could make this soup for under 85 cents per serving. Now that’s what I like to hear!

That orange color you see in your bowl is what real tomato soup should look like, by the way. No dyes here! Oh, I also forgot to mention that this is around 272 calories per serving with 10 servings, not bad for homemade.

I’ll try to add the picture later. I’ve been reminding myself to snap one every time I go to eat, but then I just get way too excited and eat it all up.

 

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Weekly weigh-in: 3rd week is not a charm.

14 Feb

You may guess that by the all-too witty/sarcastic title of this post that I was not on the weightloss train last week.  However, I’m not disappointed or flabbergasted by my result of a 0 pound weight loss or weight gain. Maintaining is ok, although its not the results I’d like to see. I do know why I didn’t lose any weight last week, so that’s always a starting point.

I don’t have any excuses, mind you but I do want to explain. It was a recipe of a few distractions:

  • I attended a conference in the latter half of the week and throughout the weekend.
  • I stopped drinking water, which, surprise, surprise, left me severely dehydrated and feeling ill for most of the week until I realized what I was doing.
  • The inner foodie came out of me for some meals that weren’t so diet friendly but weren’t completely unhealthy either.
  • I only had 1 dedicated workout

So there you have it. The moral of the story is that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you have to be aware of your actions. I know what I have to do to maintain weight, and I know what I have to do to lose weight, so I’m moving on to the next week of moving in the right direction.

 

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