Soup Project

Over Christmas I spent time with my family in Upper Michigan ... due to road conditions that's about 8 hours from my home here.  Anyway, there were 16 of together in one house resulting in lots of food.  So when things came to a close there was also lots of leftovers, which I was fortunate to get plenty of.  Jackpot!  These were the good kind of leftovers too (not just pasta salad and jello).  Leftover Turkey, Broccoli Sprouts, Tortillas, and Ham Bone, with plenty of meat still attached.  I latched onto that last one, but I honestly haven't cooked it before.  I think I just saw it on a cooking show and new it would be a good idea to grab. It was.

Also, at some point in history I also receive the Firehouse #10 Hot Chili Bean Soup Mix, I am honestly not sure how, but fairly confident I did not purchase it outright.  If you are wondering how that's possible - well you can blame my ADD and the fact that sometimes my roommates leave stuff behind.  Also, a small plug, the Women's Bean Project seems like a great organization to support.

Anyway, this meals was entirely free for me (Thank you Grandparents and Random Ex-Roommate).

Soak Beans overnight

Combine Ingredients in Crock Pot - Ham bone, Beans, Green Bell Pepper Diced, Can of Tomatoes, Spice Packet, 2 Tbsp Garlic (or in my case more)

It's hard to tell in this photo, but the meat will basically fall off the bone.  It's not a bad idea to help it along though.

Serve

The verdict: the soup is delicious.  Also, I'm generally not a huge fan of Ham, but in this soup it tasted like

Y-U-M.  

The sticker price of $5.75 for the soup mix seems really pricey to me (Beans and Spices aren't that much), but it goes to a good cause, so in the name of charity I could see purchasing this once and a while.  Also, meat would be an unnecessary addition as beans have plenty of protein.

Christmas Cookies

When it comes to Christmas Cookies, I can be a little bit perfection orientated.  I like to make those additional calories count.  But don't worry - I'll share a couple tried and true recipes I've found over the years.

First recipe is so simple, but tastes like you worked all day. 

Oreo Cookie Truffles.  

Crush 1 standard package of Oreos - whichever method you choose is fine, but I like to use my food processor because it really grinds the cookies into teeny tiny bits.  Then blend cookie bits with one 8oz package of softened cream cheese.  Roll the cookie material into balls.  Place them on parchment paper and chill.  

  

Once chilled coat in milk chocolate (or any kind of chocolate you like)

Chill to harden the chocolate coating and then serve.  

The other cookies on this tray are called Peanut Butter Cup Cookies - also delicious and I've linked the recipe.  

Things to behold

I've been going through some major purging around here and managed to get rid of several unwanted, unused or unusable things around the house.  It's been a positive process and I would recommend the procedure for anyone.  Most interestingly, I offloaded 2 garbage size bags of clothes from my closets.  It's positively crazy that I had that much in there to begin with.  I honestly don't think that I shop that much.

Anyway, I attempted to write this nice post about how all of us Americans have too much stuff and we don't need it.  It was going to be very intellectual and introspective, but somewhere along the line I feel like it lost any energy and I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with it even if I support the initial sentiments.

So the other, perhaps the more cretin idea I've had in this process is that some things are nice to have.  Some things I will hold onto for quite some time.  The either make my life easier or simpler or just appeal to my sensibilities.

So here are my "Things"

This printer is really awesome, it's color, it's laser, it sync via the wifi network... Oh and yes the Cat owns it (but usually let me use it).

Matryoshka Doll - have been fascinated by these for quite sometime and found this set at a thrift store. (SCORE!) This one also happens to have blond hair and blue eyes just like me. Good ol' ethnocentric-ism.

This years Christmas gift was "The Complete Far Side" by Gary Larson.  My bf got it for me, because he said I deserved something non-practical.  I thought that was sweet and I loved the gift. 

I found this hutch on Craigslist, and it's totally cool and art deco-ey!   The middle shelf has an antique China set I got from my Grandma - it's also a favorite thing.  For those of you who might ask "yes, that is a roomba hiding under the hutch and yes, I paid $35 for it on Craigslist"

My last hair dryer was of the uber-cheap variety.  It died.  This one was is an "ionic wave", and it was originally $40, but I paid $14.  It's a dream in comparison to the old one and I didn't even pay that much more.

Well as is probably obvious, this is not the complete list of things I will keep.  For good or for bad, I could probably have a whole list devoted to Kitchen items.  While I love the idea of simplicity, I think I will be okay to accept the idea of only relative simplicity where I have things like ionic wave hair dryers.

___________________________

Also note, my contribution to the blog Divorced before 30 is now up for your reading pleasure.      

Weekend Highlights

Friday night I celebrated the end of the Lego League season with my teams.  Yes, there were two.  Lego League is an organization that teaches kids to program and build robots using the Lego Mindstorms platform.  I've been coaching Lego League for the last three years and it's been a pretty rewarding experience.  

Here's the team competing

After that, I had a nice date with the boyfriend, and we went to see The Muppets movie.  It was terrific.  Really great feel good flick with just enough social commentary to not feel flimsy.

Saturday morning I got together with some friends and we shared brunch - I brought Mimosas, there was a great egg bake, monkey bread, and fruit.  It was also really good conversation and fun.  

This (sunday) morning, I met up with some friends to run.  As I was leaving for the run, I had a headache and wasn't really "feeling" it, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gone if I didn't have people weren't waiting for me (so... good thing they were).  I was worried about being cold, but it was super nice (20 degrees is super nice in MN) out and I totally didn't need to dress as warm as I did.  So far - winter running hasn't been too heinous, and I've been a bit confused as to why I was such a wimp last year.  

Also, I've been keeping up with #RWRunStreak for the most part.  I consciously missed one day due to concerns about shin pain and a difficult schedule.  So, even if I haven't been doing it "100% perfect"  I found it to be a really good challenge and a way to give me something to do without a "race" to train for. I even put in a total of 14 miles this week. 

Run Life Updates

Post-Marathon Lapse

After running in the marathon I STRUGGLED to do any sort of intentional physical activity.  I made it to the gym literally two times for teeny tiny runs, before getting sick.  Then I felt too sick even function on a general level.  It ended up being 29 days of a no-running streak.   Muh.

Winter Running?

I've been skeptical of the winter running bit for sometime now.  FYI - it doesn't get brisk in mn IT GETS COLD.  Slipping and falling on ice while you are a mile and a half from home sounds really un fun.  However, I met Sara, who is also a blogger in mn and we are going to commit to running outside together once-every-two-weeks.  Which sounds like enough to me.

Thanksgiving 5K

I got "happily" conned into running into the Charities Challenge Thanksgiving Day 5K, with some other people.  I've run these races before and they are really fun and casual.  They don't chip time, so the pressure to PR was off (not that I would've anyway).  Officially I crossed the finish line at almost exactly 38 mins.  Unofficially, I probably was a bit faster as I didn't cross the start at the gun.  I also spent a while talking to walker who had gotten a hip-replacement recently - it was a good story.  Totally worth whatever I lost in time.

#RWRunStreak

Ann at Twelve - in Twelve is encouraging people to join the Runner's World Run Streak.  You run at least 1 mile/day.  I don't usually run "just a mile" and I don't usually run everyday... so I think it should be interesting.  Very Interesting. (ok - jk)

Dippy

One way to burn through your food budget rather quickly is spending a lot of time in the dips and spreads deli area of your grocery store.  I was recently at the nearby chain grocer and found that a 6oz tub of sun-dried tomato spread/dip was $3.99 - ouch!  The thing about these is that they are relatively easy to make at home for less.  Also, you have the luxury of knowing what's actually being putting in to them.

I recently made a spread by blending Cottage Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, a dab of mayo, a splash of milk, and a sprinkle of shredded colby.  I made a ton it for way less than 4 bucks.  If were to make it again, I would probably trade out the mayo and milk and use more cottage cheese.  I would also add some Italian seasonings.  In my brief skim of several dip recipes online many suggested using cream cheese, but cottage cheese is healthier and I had it on hand.  I took the risk flavor wise, but it seemed to work fine.

I put this spread on wrap with Spinach and Black Olives

 It would be fine to eat this as is, but I prefer most things warm if possible.  So I grilled it on my George Foreman. 

I grilled it, because things taste better grilled

This method works well for Quesadillas too. 

All over the place.

When I created this blog I tried to a pick a theme that I could maintain and keep to somewhat successfully, knowing full well that I'm completely all over the place.  I figured since food was something I was pretty much planning on eating for a long time - a food theme would be a good choice.  That being said this post is even more random than I normally am.

My cat is awesome (and a Prima-donna) She climbed in the bowl herself

And she even wrote a book about being Awesome. (ok, I just spotted this at Barnes and Noble, but don't you agree that the resemblance is striking)

I like Spinach, Eggs, Grapes and lots of dairy - including Coffee Creamer, if you could even call that dairy.

I also like this: it's basically my secret shame.

I have a boyfriend, and he's pretty darn awesome.

We like Capresse Salad.  

 
So, there it is: I have cats, I eat weird, and I'm braggy about my bf. 

Food Stamp Challenge

The "Food Stamp Challenge" is a congressional effort where various non-typical food stamp users are encouraged to challenge themselves to eat on a budget similar to that of someone who only can use food stamps to buy food.  Basically, people who accept this challenge eat on less than $21/week/person (or something around this) - which is similar to the allotment given by food stamps.  Encouraging politicians and others to connect with reality of poverty is always something I would encourage, my problem is that this challenge probably doesn't do that.

For one, poverty when part of your daily life bears far more challenges than finding adequate food.  Proper shelter, adequate healthcare, basic transportation, and a way out are all things that come to mind.  You simply can not get an understanding for this in one week - no matter what you were doing. 

Additionally, the Food Stamp Challenge is more of a commentary on how ill equipped people are to eat on a budget in the first place than how difficult it might be.  Currently, Morty and I budget for $40/week (just shy of $42/week - which would be approximately our allotment).   We eat meat, we drink coffee, we have indulgences, and fresh produce is not out of sight.  We are laughably far away from running out of food and furthermore, my shopping trips do not resemble an episode of Extreme Couponing.  Granted, we are not always perfect, but for the most part we stay on track.  While we do budget for our eating out separately (as I see that as entertainment too), I'm not convinced that altering for this would throw my calculations off too wildly.

In the articles I have been reading related to this challenge; I've been trying to figure out what makes this so difficult for people.  They are often purchasing things like generic mac and cheese and tuna fish.  First off, yuck and yuck.  Second, kind of unimpressive health wise.  I've also seen hotdogs on some lists, which seems questionable too.  I would love to seem some good examples of people following this challenge, but from the articles I've read it appears people are favoring bland and unhealthy options that require little to no cooking.   

Rarely do they take advantage of filling, yet healthy resources such as lentils, rice, barley and beans.  All of these can be purchased economically and provide nutrition as well.  Also, limited effort seems to be made to stretch meals.  Often times things are being made per serving.  A large vat of chili or soup would be easy to create, affordable and stretch to several meals. 

As far as vegetables are concerned, a common complaint is the lack of budget for them.  However, a head of cabbage is usually less than a $1, same with a bag of carrots.  Frozen vegetables are often on sale for $1 per bag as well.  In contrast a bargain brand bag of chips is $2.50, a dollar more for the name brand.

On one persons list, an included item was chicken breasts, which were said to be on sale, but it is still a much more expensive way to purchase chicken than buying a whole chicken, which would make for several meals.   Also included was a frozen meal, I guess I would need to know more, but that sounds like an expensive item to me as well.

My point here (in this rambling post) is not to malign the actual SNAP program or anyone attempting to work within it's limits.  I, for one, am glad that assistance programs like this exist.  I just raise an eyebrow when people tell me that it's impossible to eat healthy on a lower budget.

Halloween Party

Morty (bf pseudonym) and I threw together a really fun Halloween party that included great games and great food... if I do say so myself.

I got some fun ideas off the internet to make some whimsical treats.

Spider Deviled Eggs

Apple Bites

Witch finger carrots

We also had a costume contest, with many worthwhile contenders

1st place: Zombie Steve Jobs

2nd place: Charlie Chaplin

and Spice the Cat even got a few votes... she maybe wore this for a full 5 minutes

 If you would like to see what I wore: click here!

Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs

 It's a bit of a running joke in my family, and perhaps extending to my friends that I can be counted on to bring the deviled eggs.  I like them because they are fun, suitable to a lot of occasions and cheap to make.  I estimate a batch of a dozen deviled eggs doesn't quite exceed $2.00 in ingredient costs.  Although each batch is it's own, I usually make some version of the classic recipe.  Mayo, mustard, salt, pepper and paprika.  Sometimes adding a unique flavor to mix it up. 

I decided to mix it up a bit and try something completely different.  Given that we actually had bacon in the house, and given that apparently "everyone loves bacon" I used that as my inspiration. 

Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:
6 eggs - hard boiled
1/4 - 1/2 cup ranch dressing (enough to make a smooth consistency)
2 to 3 tsp - Frank's hot sauce
1 strip bacon

After peeling, slice hard-boiled eggs in half and separate yolk from white.  Try your best to keep egg white in tact.  Add ranch dressing and hot sauce to yolk material and mix together.  I usually use a hand mixer with the whisk attachment to make sure it gets extra creamy.  I've experimented with food processors and blenders and it's too much extra effort for no real added value.  To put the mixture back inside the eggs, you can use a cake decorator bag or a simple Ziploc with a slit cut out at the bottom.  I use the Pamper Chef Food Press which works great, but isn't a necessary purchase.  Garnish with bacon.

I brought this tray to a party I recently attended and they were a big hit. 

Operation "How do I look?"

My blog, Foodalyst, is about many things really, but I like to think that one of those things is frugality.  While the advice varies, an oft cited method for saving money is disconnecting yourself from any concern about "keeping up with the Jones."  This applies to many aspects of life, but a natural inclusion is the cost of maintaining a closet of fashionable articles of clothing. 

Frugality or not - Keeping up with fashion trends and putting together an outfit, have never been items on my list of strengths.  People generally describe me with words like low maintainence, T-shirt and Jeans kind of girl, or has a natural look...true as this may be, I think I still manage to have "pretty good" style, even if I'm a little hazy on what that might mean.  When it comes to dressing myself I tend to wear comfortable favorites. And sometimes a little make-up and a little jewelry.  I repeat outfits frequently and have a tendency to stick to "what works", as opposed to try new things.  

In other news I have a closet chuck full of clothes, most of which I never wear. I really need to trim down because it's getting to the point of flat out unmanageable. 

So here's my "plan" in order to maximize my fashion sense and minimize my closet consumption- For the next 30 days, I'm going to post myself wearing a different outfit everyday and subject it to the harsh criticism of the internet.  And let me assure you I easily have 30 different outfits in my closet.  If I get a lot of nays the outfit goes, if yays the outfit stays,  if it's a bit of tie - then I make the final call.    

For those of you who might be concerned, No!, I don't give a bleep about keeping up with fleeting fashion trends I'll never understand anyway, but I do want to look my best (and I wouldn't mind freeing up some closet space). 

The mechanics - I'll post these to twitter with the simple phrase "How do I look?", and if you like it: reply, if you don't like it reply.  If you are not on twitter and you want to "vote" they will also be at my other largely stupid, largely dormant blog.

So thoughts?


Is this project inherently narcissistic?


Probably, but isn't that just the nature of a blog?  I'll assure you I am less vain in real life. (I think)


What if the world ends tomorrow?

Whelp, we will all have bigger things to worry about then. 

Goal #1 Complete - Marathon Race Recap

If your confused about my title here, I'm referring to my 27 for 27 goals. 

RACE RECAP

The morning of the race my stomach was doing flip-flops, and I was wondering if I had trained enough or correctly, but for the most part I felt steady.  Basically, I realized that there wasn't much worry was going to do a this point anyway.  While I was shivering in the corral, I randomly ran into a couple of my coworkers, and we gave each other mini-pep talks.

The whole marathon training thing has felt incredibly surreal, and somewhat crazy to the point that I haven't fully realized what I've been doing.  10 miles is the farthest race I've done previously, so more than doubly that distance is pretty significant.  For some reason, it wasn't until I reached the 5K mark of this race, that I realized - I'm really doing this.  I've really trained, I'm really going along on this marathon course.  And the first tears were shed.       

I started the race out feeling strong, and for the first 10 miles I felt hardly any fatigue and very little discernible pain.  Between mile 10 and 15 I started to slow down some, but only lost a little off my overall pace.  It really helped that I saw a lot of friendly faces at that interval so to keep strong.  Here's a picture of me captured by the boyfriend at mile 11:

Smiling!

Shortly before mile twelve - I saw my friend Lauren, and not too much longer down the line I saw an old friend from high-school who had shown up to see someone else run but recognized me on the course.  One of the best things about this course is the amount of crowd support.  This is my first marathon, but others have reiterated that Twin Cities really does have good crowd support.  There was loud music, live bands, great cheers and signs everywhere.  I was almost always within ear-shot of music, or a rousing round of "Go Runners!"

Must be something about my personality I really enjoyed the signs that incorporated a little bit of humor such as "Worst Parade Ever", "Running 26.2 miles, because 26.3 would just be crazy", "Great Job! Totally Random Stranger!" and "If this were easy, we'd do it!".  I saw that last one around mile 22ish, and it still got me to chuckle.  

At mile 15 I had maintained a 12:15 pace (approx), which is better than I've ever done for that distance.  After that I slowed down considerably, but I kept moving.  It helped that at mile 19 or so, I made a running friend, we'll call her Lena (not real name).  Here's a picture of me and Lena running:

Lena and me both had significant ankle pain at this point and time, so we used each other to keep pace, keep running when we could and finish with a medal.  Lena and I kept each other positive and strong and we stayed running much more than I might of alone.

Less than 1 mile to the finish, my sister and brother-in-law showed up and started running with me! which was the second big tear-jerker moment of the race.  Not too much later I saw my Dad and he started running with me too for a bit, but I could not hold his pace at almost 26 miles in.  I tried and was starting to get out of breath.  My dad is an annoyingly fast 50 yr old. 

What it means to finish
 
Not all, but almost all marathons have some sort of course time limit.  Twin Cities limit is 6 hours, technically the finish line stays open until 2:15pm, which 6 hours and 15 minutes after the gun time, but not everyone crosses the start line right away.  I was in the 3rd corral and crossed the finish line at about 11 minutes post gun time.  If you don't cross the finish line by the designated time, you do not get to be declared an "official" finisher, and you don't get a medal or a T-shirt. 

Now, while going a distance of 26.2 miles is phenomenal in and of itself, and something that anyone should be proud of no matter the pace, but believe you me - I wanted that medal and T-shirt!  

So - I did it 5:42:22, it wasn't exactly fast, and it wasn't necessarily pretty, but I became a marathon finisher!

 And I got a medal

Water never tasted so good...

Can you tell these meals a part?

 

In our new effort to become less fervent carnivores, Tony (the bf) and I set off to the Saint Paul Farmer's Market.  The first thing we spotted was some beautiful looking eggplants, then Tony mentioned something about parmesan and pretty soon we were plopping a ginormous and beautiful eggplant into our reusable grocery bag.  We set off with high hopes of vegetarian delights.

We basically conjured up Eggplant Parmesan the same way you might approach chicken Parmesan.  Battered, Fried and then cooked.   

For some reason, it wasn't until we tried putting it into our mouths that we realized... umm... we don't really like eggplant that much.  Or at least we knew it wasn't the cheese, sauce or noddlely part we had a problem with. True truth, we reverted to our omnivore roots and we made the same thing with chicken a couple weeks later and saw it to be a (huge) improvement.  Can you tell which one is which in the pictures above? 

To my knowledge, I've had eggplant three times total in life.  The first, I thought it was revolting, and the second I thought it was so-so, and the third in this parmesean was probably the best, but still not really that great. (Apparently those first two times escaped my memory when I saw the pretty eggplants at the Farmer's market.)


So, my one thought is: I still don't know if I'm just not an eggplant person, or if I just am consistently eating it wrong.  So here's the recipe (if you dare)... and let me know if you have any tips for improving my eggplant consumption

Eggplant Parmesan 

Ingredients:
-Whole Eggplant
-2 eggs
-bread crumbs
-spagetti noodles
-Any brand Pasta Sauce, or make your own. 
-mozarella cheese

Directions:
Slice eggplant about 1/2 inch thick width wise.  Batter with eggs, then bread crumbs.  Fry in pan with olive oil.

Prepare noodles and sauce.  Combine in baking dish.  Place Fried eggplants on top, and cover with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 mins or until cheese is golden brown.

Small Changes... are enough

"Less is Enough" is a blog that I read and even though it's received national fame, probably still isn't getting enough credit.  I recently read this article:  "Cause and Effect".  It addresses a very important topic, that of finances and health. 

In it, she states:

"The cause of the problem is not that food is too expensive, it’s that people don’t know how to shop for and cook healthy food."

So true.

The original title of this blog was "Five Dollar Day Blog"  The goal was to feed my then husband and I for less than $5 per day (and I mostly succeeded).   I wanted to do it by still eating largely healthy foods, and without extreme couponing (not that coupons are always a bad thing).  For the most part I succeeded, these days I keep a keep a grocery budget of around $160 per month for two people.  That's about $5.33 per day.  This however does not include eating out, but amazingly (and honestly) I've kept that somewhat minimal too.  

There was a point when I spent $20/day (or more) so it's taken me a while to figure out how to do this, and quite frankly I could still find room to improve.  The process has involved teaching myself to cook more things from scratch, learning how to shop, and most recently successful meal planning.  Also worth mentioning, I have someone who enjoys doing this with me.  As time goes on, I hope to incorporate other tactics: gardening perhaps?

Before I became budget conscious, I would regularly purchase coffee while out .  This usually rang around $2, but can be as much as $5  for a fancy latte.  When I began Five-Dollar-Days I invested in a to-go mug ($0.50 at a garage sale) and I started making coffee at home.  Because I use whole beans and flavored cream (as opposed to Folgers black) it's a little high, but I would comfortably estimate a mug (or 3 cups by volume) at home costing about $0.28.  Not only is this an economical decision, I've come to enjoy it more.  I'm often times even upset when I forget my at-home coffee and have to resort to other options (I'm an addict by the way), and not simply because of the expense, but because I truly miss the taste.  Also, because I re-use my at home mug, I am reducing my carbon footprint as well.   


I think changing our habits about food (or anything for that matter) is really about small changes.  The media gravitates to the shocking tales of 180 degree changes that make for good headlines, but rarely do the 5 degree changes along the way get discussed.  The "coffee story" illustrates a small change well, but I also like it because it was also not just a change of economical value but of taste and environmental value too. 

27 for 27

So I decided to completely steal this idea from a fellow blogger, Liz at Random thoughts of a Lutheran Geek.  Anyway, I turned 27 yesterday and figure this would be a good way to take stock in who I am now and what I want going forward.  I originally meant to turn this out on my b-day, but I guess I got carried away with birthday fun.  So here's 27 mini-goals to try to complete while 27.  Or simply stated 27 for 27.

1. Run a Marathon (yes, this was already a goal, but I think I can still include it) yes!
2. Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes (same here) so close! 31:30
3. Be so bold as to wear that little sports bra top when running (yes - the mid-drift baring one), this might require stronger adherence to the #plankaday plan.  I did run around at least once with my mid-drift exposed, but I'm pretty sure this was due to heat and not so much "pride!"
4. Do #plankaday plan  not really. *sigh* 
5. Do at least one quality recipe post per month Almost, I missed August... 
6. Post 4 times per month yes! (sometimes more!)
7. Increase blog subscribers to 100; I'm currently at (about) 54.  getting there hovers in the 80s
8. If Goal 7 is complete, create facebook fan page  getting there....
9. Not become a complete narcissist in doing 7 and 8.  I feel confident I still have my feet on the ground
10. Finally be able to play Canon in D on Piano straight through with minimal mistakes.  I'm great for about half-way, but I never put the time in to complete the piece.  ahh, no but I did bust out the music more often then the abysmal level of before.  
11. Re-Learn to listenable quality two flute pieces from the "classics" book  same as goal 10
12. Make use of my china tea set from my grandma with friends over for real tea  No tea. 
13. Make use of my other china set with friends over for "real" dinner party I had a fondue party, but I didn't use the China.. guess that makes it a "fake" dinner party.  lol
14. Fix whatever is going wrong with my disqus comment system thing  I deleted it! check!
15. Be able to solve a Rubik's Cube much much closer.  I get a full side and first couple rows consistently.
16. Finish Online math course to refresh math knowledge I "should" have learned  I completed this to my liking.  (It's a self paced course)
17. Find at least one sustainable farmer in which to purchase meat from Found several! We wish we could afford it more, but it's currently not being budgeted for on a regular basis.  
18. Research and try out a CSA Researched, but found it might be un-ideal for two people/
19. Make something with Quinoa yes, I now love quinoa!
20. Eat Kale (as I feel it's getting to be lame that I haven't yet tried this stuff to my knowledge) yes!
21. Bake a Pie with real crust nope! (I think this one failed in part to, sadly, not really liking pie that much.  
22. Host some sort of food competition (via the blog or a perhaps a casual cooking competition) No hosting, but I did attend a Chobani Recipe test kitchen party
23. Get this garage sale (round two) take care of. yes!
24. De-clutter my life (i.e. I have to much crap!) I'll put a check here, because I've gotten rid of a lot, but it's still a work in progress
25. Knit a gift yes, made coffee cozy's for Tony's mom and sister.
26. Read Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love, and Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations. Yes
27. Obtain a more stable job/school situation yes-ish! The ish is because I didn't really switch jobs, but I'm making important changes to make my current job more viable.   

 So, that last one will be the killer, if I don't die during the marathon.  I made a pretty drastic career move almost two years ago, and it's come with some instability.  I would like to find myself in a position, in the not so distance future, where I am happy with my job, but feel comfortable with my finances too... don't we all?!  Well, at least I'm trying.

On turning 27, it feels about right.  This past year has been one of dramatic change, and renewed sanity.  I am hoping the next one is one of strength and stability. 

Random Running Thoughts

As I'm knee deep in marathon training, I've had a lot of miscellaneous thoughts about running, which I'll attempt to organize here.

Love me some Carbs

Just running alone is a great calorie burn, which even at a more modest rate allows me that eency bit of freedom to splurge on some of my favorite (but calorie laden) foods a little more often.  Now level that up to marathon training and you are literally encouraged to eat carbs!  yay! pasta! yay! bread.  Whole wheat is best of course, but still pretty sure that's an awesome perk. 

Running is Cheaper than Therapy

At the gym on the treadmill, I often listen to the iPod, just to keep from becoming too bored while staring at the wall.  Mostly though, I enjoy looking at the scenery and saying hi to other runners as I "glide" along sans soundtrack.  In both cases though, I often find myself lost in thought reminiscing about the day, my job, relationships, and yes, even running itself.  I prize having this thought time to process things and I truly think that running has helped me stay mentally healthy as well as physically. 

$$$$

As the date approaches, the cost of running this marathon is going up as well.  The cost of the race itself, the fuel belt, the new shoes, shot blocks, sports drinks, running clothes... not to mention the gym membership.   I thought running was a cheap sport?  YIKES! I'd argue it's still cheaper than a fancy yoga gym membership and that I managed to many of those items at reduced prices (i.e. shoes - clearanced, fuel belt - with a groupon), but this is not so price friendly as I would have originally believed. 

I'm a turtle. 

I still get pretty excited if I can sub 12 minute miles on shorter runs (3-5 miles), and for my longer runs (8+) - I'm nowhere close.  I'd like to get faster, and I will eventually I suppose.  However, I also worry about injury, over-heating, dehydration and the like.  In regards to the marathon, I just want to finish before the slow bus comes to sweep me up.  Which might sound pathetic to some, but whatever - honestly boo to them.  

 Free Advice

Ever since I started this marathon thing, I've gotten a pretty good chunk of free advice.  That is, when people aren't just rolling their eyes.  Anyway, everyone and their mother it seems has some sort of tidbit about how I can train better or worse... or whatever.  I'll say that a lot of times it's useful and I don't mind sharing about running, but sometimes I find it plain overwhelming.  At this point I'm quite certain that I've a million mistakes and depending on who I ask, depends on what mistakes I've made.  If I ever get that PhD in statistics I am going to scrobed the internet until I reach a consensus on all things marathon training... how does that sound?  Or maybe I should just find some reliable scientific research... anyone got anything? 

Ok... and the rambling is done, hopefully I haven't let my thoughts run away on me! (har-har)

Meatless Sometimes

A while back I was browsing at a favorite bookstore of mine called Common Good Books, which specializes in featuring local authors and "books with a cause." The Compassionate Carnivore is a book that caught my eye.  I read and enjoyed it, and quite frankly am long overdue to write about it.  


Unlike my cats, I actually call myself an omnivore (not a carnivore), but this does mean that I do eat meat.  In the book the author says that she uses the carnivore term to be more pointed.  Truth is, eating meat raises a lot of concerns on multiple levels (ethical, health and environmental just to start).  Many of those issues I have strong feelings about and as someone who desires to having their feelings and actions align (some might call this a desire for integrity)... I feel it's an issue that should not be left alone and this book does a great job facilitating that conversation.  The author says we need to pull our heads out of the ground.   


Being raised as an pretty average American diet eating meat was never a "decision" I questioned growing up.  It was just "normal" and delicious.  I understood it was a dead animal, but I didn't give much thought to how it got to my plate.  I probably continued largely in this mode until a few years ago when I saw Food Inc., and I began to understand the woes of factory farming.


If you are not on board with the opposition to factory farming, allow me to hum a few bars on that tune.  First of all, let's understand the practice.  Factory Farming is what happens when animals are raised for meat production on a large scale manner.  Animals are often confined, fed inappropriate diets and "live" short, disease ridden, terrible lives.  If animal welfare alone doesn't inspire you, then consider the negative environmental impact.  The toxins that are leeched into the ground and air are unsustainable when animals are housed that densely.  Besides all that, the "cheap meat" factory farms produces unfairly compete with local family farms who treat animals more humanely.


Food Inc. was a great movie for raising awareness and I'm glad it exists, but I feel that it leaves the "what to do now" part a little short.  What I often hear is that the only response to factory farming is sustaining a vegan diet and forgetting about the meat and dairy industry all together.  While I truly support those who come to choose this lifestyle, I see it as a tall order, so much so that it might turn many off before they even start.  Also, I don't agree that this is the only way to oppose factory farming and I want people to have many ways to get on board with this fight.    


The Compassion Carnivore does a great job of outlining other options.  You can limit the kinds of meat you eat to just those that are not factory farmed (such as elk).  You can purchase directly from the farmer (so you know how the meat came to be), which I would like to get into, but it takes time that I've yet to spend. 


The key thing that stuck out to me was this.  Factory Farms exist because of our high demand for "cheap meat".   I put the term "cheap meat" in quotes because the externalities created by this meat make it anything but.  We demand cheap meat because of how much we consume so much.  In the 1950's we consumed 138 pounds of meat per person per year, in the 1970's that number rose to 177 lbs, and in 2005 was at 200 lbs (Friend 44).  To me, that is a shocking trend, that contributes greatly to our factory farm problem.  Do we really need to be consuming that much meat?  (answer is no)


So, my tiny little part will be to take at-least one day a week where I prepare and eat a meatless dinner (Sort of like meatless monday).  I love fillet Mignon, hamburgers and so on... but I certainly don't need that all the time.  I can easily choose to skip it sometimes. 


I hope that this will also be yet another opportunity to be more creative in the kitchen and try new things, and yes, I'll be sure to keep you posted as interesting recipes come along.   

Crazy Corn Competition

Story: I met Lauren 8 unbelievable years ago, when she was randomly assigned as my freshmen year roommate.  At the time, I thought we couldn't be more different, but somehow we managed to stay friends all this time.  Turns out - we do have a few things in common too, for instance we both like (love?) to cook.  So when Lauren decided to do a "casual" Cooking Competition with "corn" as the special ingredient for her birthday - I WAS ALL IN!  and by the way there is no casual in competition for me. 

First of all, the setting was picture perfect:

 

And all the standard party guests were there:  

Salsa

Beer (This was home brewed - don't let the GC label confuse you)

Brats

This was a standout dish created by Chef Rachel - Fiesta Dip Tartlets

Before I quickly gobbled it up - My #1 Vote went here

Pasta Salad by Chef K

Corn Chip Dip by Chef Christina- delicious!

Chef Lauren with her Hearty but Summery - Sweet Corn and Burrata over Fettucini

 To ensure victory, I made two dishes: 

Vegan Veggie Soup

Which, as it turns out, works well as a Chip Dip too

"Not your Mama's" Creamy Corn by Chef Erin which is me: Ruby Leigh

 You might laugh, but a lot of positive commentary was given on the title for this last one.

Also, there was corn Ice Cream, which I thought was super creative and interesting.  Unfortunately, I forgot to snag a photo. 

To determine the "winner", guest were encouraged to vote for their favorite dishes.  My #1 went to Fiesta Dip Tartlets and #2 Corn Ice Cream (how creative!).

Drum-roll please....

Much to my delight, I took third for the Vegan Veggie Soup!  In second place, was Chef Christina with here Corn Dip, and in the undeniable first place was Chef Rachel with the Fiesta Dip Tartlets... eye catching and delish... only wished there were more.

The winner's circle!

 Our prize: a signature painted spoon to commemorate the occasion.  Perfect!