Archive for the 'General' Category

February 2nd, 2009 - Walking

I’ve been walking a lot more lately. I think it’s in large part due to the weight loss–it’s easier to walk when you are carrying even just 25# less. Another reason is because I walked through the Arctic cold with the -30F windchills and survived. If I could walk in that weather, I can walk in warmer weather, even if it’s still below freezing.

So last Wednesday, I walked downtown after work to get the REALBread. (The previous week, I’d walked down for an appointment and discovered Main Street isn’t as far as it seems from work by car. Weird. Most people think car rides make things seem closer. Don’t they?) That may have been a bit too much as I had some sciatic pain by the time I got home. It was the equivalent of walking to/from/to work all in a row without a break. Next time, I’ll plan to either sit down for a while or I’ll take the bus partway home.

And the last two weekends, I’ve taken walks both days. The weekend before last, I walked to the grocery store each day during Maggie’s nap. One of them, I brought home 10# of flour. That was a bit much–but I did it! This weekend was quite a bit warmer (low 30s!, but I don’t think it was above freezing as not much melted) so I went for walks with Emma. On Sunday, Maggie came, too. We did a longer walk that I thought she’d take, and by the end she was complaining a little bit. Luckily, we were only a block from home so she was quickly distracted by talk of the snack we’d have soon.

It’s been driving me nuts that she doesn’t like walking, but it’s our own fault. How will a kid like to walk for a mile if you never take them for shorter walks and build up to it? It’s been hard this winter, however, as it’s just been too darn cold for so long to take her out for more than a walk around the block. Till now! We’re hoping for 1 or 2 walks each week now. Assuming it stays “warmer.” Good for the dogs, too, since it’s been too cold to let them play in the yard (that is, they wouldn’t really play, just sit around, and then they get cold, plus they have such short fur they have to be running around to stay warm).

Since I’ve lost 25#, I put a 5# weight in my backpack that I wear to/from work. I could do it when the weight was in me, so let’s keep doing it to help burn more calories! (Did I mention I’m trying to lose 5 more pounds this spring?)

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January 14th, 2009 - Electric/gas bill

I gasped a bit at our bill for the past month. It’s the first in quite some time over $200 ($229 to more precise). I’m so glad they have a little spot on the bottom that compares this year to last year: It was 21% colder this year! And the bill is just about 20% bigger than last year’s for the same month. That’s pretty decent considering gas price increases. For unknown reasons, our electric usage is lower, which may have helped. I can’t view the older bill online so can’t compare the cost breakdown between gas and electricity, just the usage.

Since I was home for two weeks over the holidays and never turned the heat down–including keeping it up higher some nights–I wouldn’t have been surprised by an even higher bill. Nice to know that some of our work at controlling costs has helped.

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January 12th, 2009 - Taking the bus

We’re proud of being a one-car family, but I’ll admit we often drive more in order to share the car. But today, I’m not! I’m taking the bus! Wish it were a nice, sunny, spring or summer day however (then I’d ride my bike). I have a lunchtime appointment downtown. And right around then, the forecast is for snow to start. And the high today is about 22 (16 at noon). At least the -25 windchill won’t be until overnight.

I can catch a bus here on campus and transfer to one that will drop me off right where I need to go. And it’s free. It would cost me at least $2 to use the car–as I’d keep it here on campus afterwards, not to mention the gas to drive here, drive back home to drop off Eric and MJ, and then drive there. But it would be faster and warmer….

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January 9th, 2009 - I’m obviously having a slow start in 2009

I’m obviously haven’t trouble starting 2009 because here it is the 9th of January, and I haven’t even bought TurboTax much less already entered my estimated 2008 tax return. (Estimated because my pay stubs list SS and Medicare, or whatever the two things are, as one item instead of separate ones which your tax returns requires. I have to get my W2 to know it for sure.)

Sometimes I’ve done this before the previous year has even ended.

How will I ever catch up?

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January 8th, 2009 - Walked to work!

Due to over 2″ of snow yesterday (light snow ALL day long), I was able to walk to work this morning. It was lovely to get back to that and I only slipped once (no fall, thank goodness for YakTrax).

Speaking of YakTrax, Maggie is big on noting things that we adults do and stating that when she gets bigger she will do the same thing. When she sees me put on my YakTrak, she announces, “When I get bigger, I’m going to have YakTrak just like you. Princess YakTrax!” Unfortunately for her, they only come in adult sizes, and only in black. (I’m pretty sure she believes princess stuff only is pink or purple.)

Another good one: Yesterday, she was talking to me about how she’ll go to work when she gets bigger. She wondered where she would work, and I said it all depended on where she found a job. So she let me know that her Dad and I would help her find her way to her job when she was an adult. She has such confidence in us…and that she’ll still be living with us when she’s an adult. LOL

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January 7th, 2009 - I know, I’m such a lame blogger.

Okay, so I was under the weather for most of the last three weeks but still….. Yeah, well, you know, when you don’t write for weeks you feel like you have to write about everything that happened which is overwhelming since you are so behind on everything else as well so it just doesn’t happen. So, I’m committing to a quick summary:

Surgery went fine. I’m horrible at coming out of anesthesia however, and was still asleep several hours after the outpatient ward closed. IE, I spend the night in the hospital. So glad this was covered by insurance–what would we have done if it wasn’t? Probably have come home earlier than was safe.

I didn’t bounce back as quickly as they claimed I would. Still doing partial days at work despite them saying I’d be fine full time in one week. Yeah, right!

I’m happy I had the surgery but I hope I never have to have surgery again. I’m not good at being sick (something I’ve known for a long time, but I’d never actually had surgery before so couldn’t say it would be like being sick). It hasn’t helped that our weather has been icky–tons of ice due to melting during the day and freezing at night. So Eric and Maggie have been getting up early to bring me to work. I’m glad I haven’t had to even walk to/from the bus–it’s that bad!

I’ve gained two pounds due to eating and no exercise. Trying to get back in the saddle again, but it’s tough with all the holiday treats still around and recovering from surgery making me hungry every 2 hours. Trying to make appropriate choices and not just eat cookies at this point. Gradually getting back to exercise; doing cardio this week and increasing each of 3 machines by a minute a day, getting back to 10 on each by the end of the week. Then, will focus on getting back up to the same intensity. May start some, very low weights next week depending on how I feel. I want to lose these two pounds and then 5 more.

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December 16th, 2008 - Weight loss update

Yesterday was the end of the diet. My final weigh-in: 135.2#. That means I made my goal of 135! When I made that goal, I wasn’t using a scale with decimals, so as far as I’m concerned, anything under .5 counts.

The only problem is that I’ve way overeaten yesterday and today. Mostly intentionally, but it’s very weird. Today I ate almost three cookies that weren’t even very flavorful, just because I had them here and though I wanted to. But they didn’t taste good! Why didn’t I get rid of them right away and eat something better, like my pumpkin seeds? Very weird….a week ago, I wouldn’t have even touched these cookies.

I’m paying less attention this week to calories, but what I really need to do now is understand what about 1800 calories a day would be like and working on that. I also have a couple weeks to decide whether I will try to lose another 5# next spring.

By the way, I don’t believe I ever said why Sunday was the goal day. I’m having surgery on Dec 22. This whole thing got started because I said I had to lose 10# before even considering the surgery. Then when that went fairly well, I moved the goal down to a more appropriate level. And I needed to lose it before the surgery–a week before as I did not want to be on a diet right up to that day. I want to be sure I’m in great shape for being out of it for a few days. I should be laid out Monday and maybe Tuesday. I should be able to return to work the following week. Just in case, I’ve taken both weeks off work (I can always go back early). (Don’t bother asking; I’ve only told a couple people the nature of the surgery and I’m not telling you guys either. Sorry, just prefer the privacy. Heck, I haven’t even told more than two people here at work that I’m even having surgery. I’m just taking my first winter holiday vacation since coming here. [Not counting maternity leave.])

I figure I’ll easily lose another 5# next week, so either I’ll hit that spring goal ASAP or else I’ll lose what I gain this week. LOL I don’t expect to eat at all on Monday–can’t for 12 hours before the actual surgery and I suspect I’ll be knocked out through the night on pain killers. Maybe some turkey broth but who knows if I will even be awake enough for that. Figuring on liquids for at least Tuesday as well. Beyond that–cookies and Chex Mix!!!!

Prayers and good wishes appreciated. I’m highly …. leery? worried? freaked out?…. about anesthesia. I’ve only had it once before, for my wisdom teeth removal, and I tried to talk the dentist into just using Novocaine. I was in tears before I went under and I have little recollection of getting out of it and getting home (unlike, say, Eric, who went through the same procedure around the same time and was quite lucid and remembers everything afterward). And since learning how poorly I do with open wounds, I’m worried about how I’ll react to my own scars. I know, I won’t be seeing them open and I’ve already seen my thumb sliced wide open and was just fine (although probably in some shock at that time). Thank goodness for Eric who has promised to do all the wound care needed and says I can avoid seeing them completely if I can’t handle it. (And we’ll also see if I can take some sort of relaxant before the surgery to get me through the morning until I’m knocked out. And Eric will not leave my side until I’m completely under.)

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December 5th, 2008 - Turkey soup

Last night, I roasted veggies in the toaster oven (beet, potato, rutabaga, onion, carrot, garlic, with some sage and sea salt) that were just delightful. And wonderfully filling! I will definitely make them again. I simply diced everything (fairly small to make them cook faster), coated them with a tablespoon of canola oil (will use olive next time if I think of it, and I should have put some on the pan first), sprinkled a bit of salt, and crumbled two sage leaves. 425 toaster oven for 45 minutes. (Original recipe said an hour for 4# of veggies.) I stirred it every 15 minutes. Making a small batch–enough for two servings–made it a quicker prep than trying to do a big batch.

Tonight, I finally made turkey soup from the broth I canned last weekend. (I’ve been eating other leftovers before.) I used the broth (including meat), the leftover roasted veggies, and some kugelis. I added some more sage (didn’t have enough to taste it last night) and kosher salt. Something wasn’t quite right in it–I’m guessing the kugelis since it has eggs, but who knows. The beets made the broth a lovely, though strange, red.

And it took only about 15 minutes start to finish to make! Woohoo!

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December 3rd, 2008 - Quitting contacts

The past 10 days with an eye infection afforded me the opportunity to consider life without contacts. I’ve worn them since 9th grade, or about 22 years. I recently heard about a woman who gave up contacts as part of a less plastic life and it got me thinking.

Ever since I switched from annual contacts to disposables in grad school, I’ve felt guilty about the waste. The less chance of an infection, however, always outweighed that. (My cousin once got one that was exacerbated by contacts and it was pretty awful and he spent weeks if not months dealing with it.) But if someone else could do it, maybe I could, too.

Unfortunately, not during winter in Wisconsin. Wait, let me add another caveat: Not during winter in WI if you walk to/from work every day.

It was downright scary walking without glasses. Two major problems–one is the condition of the sidewalks. Was I walking on snow, ice or concrete? Was that a patch of ice up head or just more snow? Having spent quite a few winters with sprained ankles and wrists from falling on ice, this is a huge concern of mine and made the walk very slow and stressful. The other is cars: If a car had headlights on, I could see it over a block away. If not, I couldn’t. And that made me nervous that I might be missing a closer car. And in the middling light of morning or cloudy, snowy days, you can’t guarantee everyone will be smart enough to put on their headlights.

Yesterday morning there was also the barking, running dog who wasn’t leashed. I couldn’t tell where he was between the foggy glasses and the head coverings and that freaked me out. That he was 3 feet away when I finally did see him really scared me. (He didn’t come closer, thank goodness, but I was frozen in place and screaming at his owner until the dog finally left a couple minutes later.) I forgot each morning to walk my normal route, where I’m pretty sure of the two unleashed dogs. One is so old he never runs and has never come near me. The other I cross the street before reaching.

So, could I do it during other seasons? Perhaps. In summer, the other problem is needing sunglasses, but you can get Rx sunglasses, or glasses with attachable shades. (But I ADORE my current glasses, and got lots of compliments on them.) I usually wear sunglasses all year ’round if there’s much sunlight, which means most days.

Well, and the whole reading glasses thing. I’d probably have to get bifocals and I so really don’t want them.

It sure would be cheaper to wear glasses. And overall simpler–my morning/night routines were so much faster!

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November 26th, 2008 - Feels like 3rd grade again

I’m still sick, with the additional of an eye infection as of Monday. I get to wear my glasses all day now, instead of contacts. Since winter finally hit–decent snowstorm Monday night–I get the joy of childhood back: fogged over glasses when outside. It was rather interesting this morning (my first time with more than a quick walk to the car outside since getting sick) as I waited for the bus. I tried to decide whether I could see better with the fogged glasses or without glasses at all. It was pretty much a toss up, except that there were a few teeny spots on the glasses that I could see clearly out of if I titled my head at just the right angle and looked with just one eye.

I guess this is living more simply, as my getting up and going to bed routines are a few minutes faster w/o the contacts. On the other hand, I have to put drops in my eyes 3x a day and avoid contact with MJ and Eric. It also meant spending $15 on birthday cupcakes as we were terrified of me giving pink eye to her classroom. (That is, if I had make the cupcakes. Which I had every intention of doing on Monday afternoon/evening. I even had the frosting ready!) ::sigh:: We’ve managed to bake a cake only once so far, every other time I’ve been sick. Well, I did bake cupcakes for her actual birthday this time. I just didn’t get the preschool ones done.

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November 20th, 2008 - Sick

I’ve been sick. Not much happening. Trying to get back to the swing of things.

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November 10th, 2008 - Weekend update

A few things from the long weekend. I took Friday off work because Eric was sick. That also meant I had three days in a row in charge of Maggie. That’s something I usually don’t like…but the older she gets the easier it is for me. We had a wonderful three days full of things getting done.

Inspired by another blogger, I moved some things downstairs from the kitchen. The narrow cabinet next to the stove has always been a thorn in my side, as it doesn’t fit the things we have it in very well. Or, it does, until you want to take something out. But most of what’s in it are things we rarely, rarely use, like pie plates. So I moved the pie plates, bread pan, and French onion soup bowls to the basement! There’s plenty of room down there and I can easily get a pie plate when I bake a pie. Now there’s room for the cutting boards, which makes a lot of sense since they will now be right below where they are used AND there’s plenty of room, unlike their original place on the other side of the stove. On Thursday, Eric also rearranged the pots and pans cupboard, leaving just one item to be moved. Which ended up fitting nicely on the little shelf at the back of the cupboard I rearranged. Delightful!

A week ago, I attempted to make strawberry jam. I started with a s’berry butter recipe. But the berries, from the freezer, had so much liquid with them I thought it was a shame to have to cook it all down. So I switched to jam. A microwave jam recipe. For which I didn’t really have a large enough dish. And it made me use part of my only box of pectin. And it totally didn’t work like the recipe said (1 minute cooking to jelling stage, and I spent at least 10 minutes–at 1-minute intervals–cooking it). Such a hassle. And then it made 50% more than I expected. So I had three jars of jam/ice cream topping in the fridge. Which will take forever to eat up, as I don’t want to eat solely s’berry jam for the rest of the winter.

So I canned it Sunday morning. Added the rest of the pectin, and put it in four smaller jars (keeping one pint in the fridge since I’d already dipped a knife into it). Later, I saw the recipe for re-doing jam that hasn’t set, but oh well. Even if it stays a bit soft, it did work as jam and would work as ice cream topping as well (next summer!).

On Friday, Maggie and I made granola. Put half in the freezer. I wish I could eat more of it; 1/2 cup serving with milk is over 300 calories which is what I aim to eat for breakfast. But it is so yummy I want to have twice as much!

Throughout the weekend, I made unleavened bread, wheat sourdough bread, and pumpkin bread–which smelled oh so very heavenly. I made it with a squash from the farmer. I can’t wait to make more; it’s been a long time since I made it with fresh squash instead of dried. I have at least 6 more squash, and each should be about 1.5 cups, and the bread takes 1 cup.

The farmers brought me two unripe pumpkins to scavenged seeds from. (I wish they’d brought more.) So yesterday I roasted them all up in the toaster over. With that many, it took way too long in the toaster over. Works okay for a small batch, but this took three large batches and each took at least 10 minutes, plus stirring time. But still worth it since roasted squash seeds are oh so very yummy!

I made, to my amazement for early November, a fresh salsa, including tomatoes, cilantro, and peppers. All fresh! Except, sadly, the tomatoes weren’t actually very flavorful, having ripened in the basement. I also put a lot of garlic in it and the whole fridge smells like it. LOL But I had an entire bag of tortilla chips from a month or more ago (the last time I made salsa, with outside ripened tomatoes), so I’m glad I made it. Also have added some beans and corn. And sour cream smooths out the taste, too. The rest of the tomatoes I’ll cook or make soup with as they ripen. No more salsa.

Also made beans, rice, and veggies for Eric. And stuffed peppers Thursday night. So lots of time in the kitchen!

On Saturday morning, Maggie and I also went to the holiday parade with Ruth and Sequoia. The weather was nasty–rain and wet snow for most of the morning. We dressed in many, many layers and stayed pretty warm until near the end. Maggie had fun watching everything, and getting candy (most of which has been given away here at work). She got bunches of candy canes, most of which were broken when thrown on the street. I’m thinking about making some kind of cookie or candy with them for the holidays. (We were right at the end of the route, and folks either had a ton of candy left–like the canes–or nothing at all.) Despite the weather, we had fun and already made a date for next year. Sequoia was in the parade with her Girl Scout troupe and likely will be next year as well. We were at the end of the route so that Ruth could pick her up–she was in the 5th group so she was with us for almost the whole parade. That was nice for Maggie because she really couldn’t get much candy and Sequoia helped her. (They split the candy at the end, making no distinction amongst who picked it up.) Sequoia also held her hand on the way back to the car. Maggie was thrilled to pieces about that and sharing the backseat with her. Not something she gets to do. It was really sweet. (Sequoia is about 8 and has a little sister who is 5.)

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November 4th, 2008 - How I can see you…

RoosterChick wondered how I found out she’d linked to my blog. I use WordPress and on the Dashboard you can see incoming links. It’s really quite cool and how I find every now and again a dear reader’s blog to start following.

Would probably be a lot more interesting if lots of people linked to me all the time, but I get about one link a week and half of them are spammers.

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November 4th, 2008 - Biking AGAIN

I biked to work this morning, after biking to vote (which is on the way to work and only 1 block from home). I could have biked yesterday, but I didn’t think of it until after I got here. Might be able to bike tomorrow, but rain’s forecasted the rest of the week so this might be the last time (again).

Eric and Maggie got up early–6:30am–so that we could vote as a family right at 7am. There was an actual line, but it moved pretty quickly and I was at work by 7:30. I always vote electronically, and this time I thought I would help speed things up since NO ONE ELSE was doing so. Instead, I held up the line because the one person who knew how to do it wasn’t at the table, and then when they got her over there, she had to show the other lady how to do it and it just took forever. Then she had to walk me over and tried to help, but I politely explained I knew exactly what to do (it’s not hard–you just put the card in the reader like an ATM machine).

Eric intends to go back and bring them some donuts. If you haven’t voted yet, be sure to at least say “Thank you!” to your poll workers and observers!

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October 29th, 2008 - Pumpkins

When I got home yesterday, we started in on carving pumpkins. That’s a link to Maggie’s blog, with pictures, including me in my two sweaters + flannel in 58 degree house. (And surprisingly, Maggie decided to wear a sweater yesterday. Maybe Eric insisted she wear it to preschool.) I gave Maggie the choice of three designs; no surprise that she chose the cat over the frog (actually a toad and a skull) or the bat.

We put them out on the porch, lit up with candles, last night. I ran outside to check that they were in a good spot. What a mistake! I already had on my slippers and it was far too cold to be outside in such thin protection. My feet didn’t warm up for hours. I went to bed with them cold, despite sitting for an hour with a hot pack on them.

We’re delighted with the seeds–huge and plentiful. Even if we don’t carve the other two pumpkins, the $4 was worth it for the seeds. My seed recipe comes from Mom and is 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp salt, and water. I think this is for about 1 cup of seeds, or the amount from your average winter squash. The original recipe is for 1/2c of water, but I just put in enough to cover (be careful; seeds float so don’t put in too much). I like to put the salt on the seeds first and stir it up, then put the water in. If you dissolve the salts in the water first, the seeds don’t get as much flavor or salt as they don’t absorb that much of the water.

Bake in a 425? oven for I forget how long. I will update tonight. If you use a toaster oven, it will take less than 5 minutes. (To my great surprise this weekend. Burned half the seeds from the small winter squash I put in the roasted veggie stock.)

Roasted seeds are one of my favorite snacks. Maggie’s too!

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October 29th, 2008 - I won! I won! I won!

When I went to bed last night, Eric decided he couldn’t stand another 6 hours (he goes to bed at 2-3am or so; me ~8:30) at 58 degrees or lower. So he turned the heat on. I WON! For the first time in years, possibly ever, I WON THE HEAT CHALLENGE.

Must say it was much nicer to get up this morning in a 63 degree house. Have to figure out our new thermostat a bit better; it was 63 by the time I got downstairs, and I highly doubt it was 63 all night (but maybe) and it kicked in for the 7am 67 degrees by 6:20 (that is, it’s set for 67 degrees at 7am but by 6:30 it had already heated up the house to that temp). It has a feature (which I can turn off) where it will learn how long it takes to heat/cool the house to a given temperature and then turn on the right amount of time before the setting so that at the given time, it’s that warm. I’m not used to that and the times are set more for when we want the heat to kick in. Have to figure out what times will work–plus it’s learning how long the house takes to heat. (By the way, I use “house” loosely since the upstairs is usually at least 5 degrees cooler, maybe even more, since heat doesn’t circulate very well and half the upstairs has no vents.)

Speaking of which: Last winter, I learned we had the wrong thermostat–we have a 2-stage furnace but had a 1-stage thermostat. I finally got around to buying a new thermostat this past month. I ordered it the day before we had the heating folks come in for the annual furnace checkup. Eric mentioned it to him, thankfully. He looked at things and said that we’d need two wires run up to the thermostat. One for the dual stage part and one so that the battery was backup instead of constant (not necessary, but nice and cheaper probably). We *could* do that ourselves, except that’s totally not in our abilities.

Boy was I mad when Eric told me about this. I was already mad at the original installers for putting in the wrong thermostat, then to find out they didn’t even run the proper wires. And to top it off, the furnace guy took a look at some other things and found they also hadn’t changed the presets on the furnace blower, so our AC unit thought we had a 3000 sq ft house (it’s half that)! (Might effect the furnace as well, but it was put in terms of the AC so I don’t know.) For 6 years we’ve been running our furnace and AC wrong!

Here’s hoping the the new thermostat and changes to the furnace will keep our bills lower…or if not the bills, the therms used (since rates are higher than they used to be).

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October 28th, 2008 - Pumpkins Plus

Yesterday, we discovered a lovely little local place to buy pumpkins and straw bales. Unfortunately, the ripe pumpkins from our Farmer were eaten by their turkeys, so none from the CSA. For whatever reason, we didn’t buy one at the last farmer’s market, but at the time, we still had plenty of time to get some. We were going to get some at the apple orchard (that’s another post) last week but didn’t. So what to do?

I discovered a little ad in the Buyer’s Guide (one of those free papers that’s mostly classifieds and local ads) for Pumpkins Plus with corn shocks, straw bales, mums, and of course pumpkins. Self serve, open dawn to dusk, 3 miles west of the highway on 9th. I figured it was a little farmette at best and might be expensive. But it’s the weekend before Halloween and I’m not buying pumpkins at a grocery store!

So Eric and Maggie went there yesterday morning while running other errands on the west side. Eric was so thrilled we went back after work! The pumpkins were $4 or less (we got $4 ones) and the straw was also $4. The owner drove up while they were there in the morning and showed Eric how to run the little train he’d made. It’s pulled by a lawn mower (the kind with a seat) and is made from 50 gallon barrels (on their side with half a side cut out and wheels beneath). Eric drove Maggie around the little path and she was THRILLED! We went back because at $4, we could get afford a couple more pumpkins. And some more straw. But it was too cold–it snowed a teeny bit more while we were there–so Maggie didn’t go for another ride.

We’ll be making Jack O’Lanterns tonight and I’ll be roasting a whole lot of seeds tomorrow!

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October 27th, 2008 - This is how much I love the first snow of the season

Eric called me about 5 minutes ago and simply said, “Get outside right now.” I said “Thanks!”, hung up the phone, walked out the door, around the corner of the hallway and then ran the rest of the way outside.

It was SNOWING!!!!!!!

I never run except in emergencies. Or the first snow of the year. It’s my annual tradition to go outside and (if no one is around) dance in the snow, or at least twirl around a bit enjoying it with a huge grin on my face. I don’t put on a coat. If it’s night time, I go out in my slippers (which never ever go outside otherwise).

We haven’t even had a hard frost yet, and it’s snowing!!!!

(I wonder if the heat will go on today. Eric said it’s only 60 in the house. And it’s not even 40 outside. Brrrr!)

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October 27th, 2008 - It’s time to stop biking

I decided to not try to bike through the end of the month, starting this morning. I didn’t even check the weather, I just knew it was blowing and colder. The expected high today is 40!!! With a chance of SNOW!!! (woohoo!!!!!!) Thursday it could warm up back in the 60s, just maybe I’ll bike then. But the rest of the week is the 40s. That’s too cold for my comfort, plus the wind would be dangerous (I’m not the best biker).

I wore the balaclava when walking, however, and was nice and toasty. Except for my feet. Time to pull out the boots. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get all-leather boots from Lands’ End like I did 5+ years ago. I’m not thrilled about wearing the new ones before it snows as they are obviously made for wet weather. However, they will protect my feet from the wind, unlike my extremely breathable running shoes.

I also broke out the corduroy pants.

But we haven’t turned on the heat yet. Still shooting for November, despite the 63 degrees it’s been inside for the past week. I had a tough time this weekend; Eric said that if it gets below 60, he’ll probably turn it on. With the low temps this week, that’s a possibility. If you aren’t a long time reader, Eric and I try to beat the other every single year to not be the first to turn the heat on. We also try to make it till November as well. Last year, for instance, I made it till Nov 4th. On the other hand, the first frost was only a few days before that as well. We’ve had frost already. Oh, and I usually lose. We think it’s because I’m at work where it’s warmer all day long. I’m also just a colder person in general; Eric radiates heat. So does Maggie–she chose to run around bare foot (inside) most of yesterday, and has refused to put on a sweater most days. I wear two!

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October 21st, 2008 - It’s been a long, long time

Sorry for the quiet. Feels like not much is happening on the simplicity front, but here are a few updates anyway:

Still biking to work, despite highs in the low 50s (meaning probably in the 30s or 40s when I ride at 6:40am). I’m just hoping for no rain since I don’t want to bike in that, especially at these temps. I started wearing my long johns, sock liners, and winter coat last week. I’m hoping to bike through the end of the week, which will have added an extra month to my normal biking season. Then, if I can get started in April next year, that will be an extra 2 months!

Still haven’t had frost advisories, except for the one a few weeks ago. However, there was definitely frost on the ground and the cars this morning. A bit nervous about my tomatoes and peppers now. Will bring them in today after work, instead of making soup stock. This probably means no more ground cherries–there are tons on the plants but I don’t think they ripen well indoors. But may try anyway–can’t hurt and maybe they’ll ripen just like tomatoes do.

It’s going slowly but surely on the weight loss front. I’m down below 145, but wasn’t feeling a strong urge to get a massage so I bought a 6-qt pressure cooker instead. Made soup in it last night–took longer than I expected, however so we ate late. LOL because pressure cookers are supposed to reduce the time to cook! It did, I just estimated much less time than necessary for preparing the food and for depressurizing. Next time, I’ll add 15 minutes for prep and I’ll quick-release (running cold water over the cooker) so that we can eat in about 45 minutes start to finish instead of 90 minutes. This definitely means we can have soup for supper (assuming I find some good recipes–I just don’t have much luck with seasoning soup) without me having to set it up before leaving for work in the morning. (I know, Eric could set up the crockpot during the day, but there are two problems. 1. Have to remember to start it at the right time. 2. The end time is so variable that we seem to always end up with it done too early or too late. Oh, and we have a really big crockpot and I always make too much soup then someone doesn’t like it. The pressure cooker is smaller!) Did I mention before my new goal is 135#?

I used the pressure canner for the first time on Sunday, canning 6 qts crushed tomatoes. The only problem is that you have to let it slowly depressurize, so I wouldn’t want to can more than one batch in a day as the process can take about 2 hours total (heating the jars, boiling the water, coming up to pressure, canning, depressurizing). But you can fit two stacks of jars in there, so I can can 14 qts at a time, even more pints. I’m hoping to find a good soup recipe to can this winter. May also can some of our beans for quick and easy use.

On Saturday, I made roasted red pepper spread for the first time. Took far longer than expected to roast the veggies in the toaster oven (about 45min instead of the 15 in the recipe). Came out quite yummy and I will definitely make it again. It’s a canning recipe, so next summer I can buy a whole bunch of peppers and make a large batch. Oh, you also need plum tomatoes, so maybe I’ll have to plant more of those, too. (I have some this year, but they are really small, just a bit larger than decent sized cherry tomatoes, so a hassle to work with on a large scale.) Twice, Maggie and I had grilled RRP and cheese sandwiches over the weekend.

Speaking of which, we also bought a cast iron skillet. We’ve both longed for one for ages, but had been told over and over they shouldn’t be used on glass top stoves (except the ceramic coated ones, which are lame as the entire surface is coated, including inside. What’s the point of a cast iron skillet if you don’t get the cast iron to cook on?). The last time I was at Fleet Farm, I saw a sign on their Lodge display that the company says you can use them on these stoves, with care (don’t drag and don’t drop, unlike on a computer). I used it three times in two days, also making fried rice (which didn’t work so well, as much of the egg stuck to the bottom, but it came off easily after soaking). Maggie almost burned herself, as she has been allowed to hold pot handles when we cook together. I didn’t think of telling her not to touch this one. Luckily, it was just warm when she did so. I totally understand the little “handle mitts” they sell right next to the skillets; I almost forgot to pull out the hot pad when cooking as well.

My biggest problem these days is that there aren’t enough meals in the day. There are all these good things I’m COOKING. FROM SCRATCH. WITH FRESH VEGGIES (and beans and rice). The fridge is crowded with leftovers and veggies, and there’s just not enough time to eat it all. Tonight I also need to get the broccoli and cauliflower (from the final farmer’s market of the year last Saturday) into the freezer. Maybe tomorrow–as long as it’s not raining, I’m taking the day off and we’re going up to the apple orchard.

Hmmm…I could have made at least seven posts over the last week if only I’d done updates daily instead of waiting. Sorry about that and I’ll try to do better.

Posted in General, Garden, Food | 4 Comments »

My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for the 'General' Category

February 2nd, 2009 - Walking

January 14th, 2009 - Electric/gas bill

January 12th, 2009 - Taking the bus

January 9th, 2009 - I’m obviously having a slow start in 2009

January 8th, 2009 - Walked to work!

January 7th, 2009 - I know, I’m such a lame blogger.

December 16th, 2008 - Weight loss update

December 5th, 2008 - Turkey soup

December 3rd, 2008 - Quitting contacts

November 26th, 2008 - Feels like 3rd grade again

November 20th, 2008 - Sick

November 10th, 2008 - Weekend update

November 4th, 2008 - How I can see you…

November 4th, 2008 - Biking AGAIN

October 29th, 2008 - Pumpkins

October 29th, 2008 - I won! I won! I won!

October 28th, 2008 - Pumpkins Plus

October 27th, 2008 - This is how much I love the first snow of the season

October 27th, 2008 - It’s time to stop biking

October 21st, 2008 - It’s been a long, long time

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