My superpower is planning!

I'm so psyched to share how super easy my life has gotten now that I've put a few things on "auto-pilot".

So, I've always been a real planner/organizer. It's my top resume and life skill - no doubt! I have all my bills auto-paid so I don't even look at them each month except to check my statements and see nothing went awry. I have my veggies delivered every week (D2D) so I don't have to shop around for decent grub. I have automatic withdrawals for health, savings and 401(k) set up and an automatic "pay down the mortgage faster" plan instituted.

So what was missing? As you know, my home life overwhelmed me. My biggest fear in life is of the vacuum. My eyes are blind to dust. Fixing food was an adventure and a really scary one sometimes! Every morning I do battle with my totally awesome closet and end up wearing one of the same 10 outfits I keep on rotation because all the mix and match/accessory decisions are too much before noon.

Not any more!! I've fully instituted, with the help of my handy dandy timer, a smooth sailing plan at home.

Every weekend I take an inventory of my D2D box (veggie delivery) that's coming and decide what meals I can pair up and what ingredients I'll need to finish off some simple meals. The shopping list and the coupons go in my bag and the list of meals on the fridge. (See, I already have a meal planner on the fridge, some day I'll institute that process better. For now, it's a good sticky note holder...because I don't have to be perfect)

While I do laundry on the weekend, I figure out 5 outfits for the next week and put that list in my planner. Then I know they are clean and ready to wear.

Ahhhmazing!

I have to give a lot of credit to FLY lady for inspiring me to make it a habit and giving me tons of brilliant tools. Now, I have a house maintenance schedule and a workout plan, in simple 15 minute or less increments a day. Emailed reminders every day so I don't forget or get distracted! LUV! Not to mention, permission to only vacuum in the middle of the floor most of the time and only move the furniture once in a while :0)

I feel like I've finally discovered my secret super power now. I don't freak out or procrastinate about routine stuff, I even have time to pumice my feet and read the ever-growing stack of books that I pick out to expand my mind.

I wish I could share this with other people and help them get control of their lives in the same way. Could you imagine a world where no one pays their bills late or feels embarrassed to let people in their home? I bet there would be less road rage too!

I'm going to make it one of my purposes in life to help others find some sanity, like I have. Any volunteers?

Review: Hormel Refridgerated Entrees

I've been eating one of these pretty much every week this month. I'm giving them about a 9 out of 10 for being a great food.

Pros:

cooks in 4 minutes in the microwave

don't have to open the package before cooking

totally tender and tasty without a bunch of (questionable) ingredients

goes with lots of side dishes

makes my life infinitely easier

Cons:

$7-8 for a pretty small hunk(s) of meat

pretty fatty sometimes

even after I tried to incinerate the leftovers, the package melted but the meat was still tender - this seems kind of wrong, but I ate it anyway!

So there you go, I'll continue to buy it because it is really awesome to pull out some veggies while the 4 minutes beef is in the nuker and have dinner and leftovers. I'm not afraid of the ingredients, the beef roast has 3 extra (water, salt corn starch and some preservative I can't spell).

Next, I'm going to try cooking it and then just stirring in some powdered potatoes to the au jus and see what happens :)

P.S. you can go here to see all the GF things Hormel offers. Makes my life easy! http://www.hormel.com/products/GlutenFreeProducts/default.aspx

Bon Appetit!

New favorite life tool - Kitchen timer!

I know the blog is sporadic...I've kind of run out of exciting food news lately since I'm moving into another improvement project. I have made a few discoveries and will share them soon though!

But, today I want to talk about a kitchen timer. My new improvement project is this: http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons.asp.

See, I've been feeling like I'm living a really unfocused life and it started to frustrate me. A long time ago, a girl friend that I admire a lot, told me about FLY lady. I kind of checked it out and decided it wasn't really for me. See, I don't have a husband and kids so keeping my house in order should be pretty straight forward and easy, right?

Then, a couple weeks ago I was looking around my house and realized that I had 2 piles of papers to shred, piles of papers to be filed, hadn't vacuumed in way too long and had a growing stash of dishes that needed to be hand washed (I won't even tell you for how long!). FLY lady memories drove me to her website and I signed up for everything, copied down all the baby steps and signed up for her cozi calendar and started in on it.

Hard for me right now because I want to do everything all at once - it's my nature to go fast and furious then quit. But, she's all about pacing yourself - so I'm pacing myself.

Back to the subject...I bought a kitchen timer. She has activities that are times, 5 - 10 - 15- 60 minutes even.

At first I used my eye on the clock - well let me tell you, that gets old fast. First it's, "what time did I start again?" Then it's checking the clock every couple minutes, which is totally distracting. So I tried the microwave timer, but that only works for the kitchen tasks and it just keeps beeping until you turn it off...so annoying!!

Alas, I went and dropped $4 on a kitchen timer and it has changed my life! It's totally the one in the picture above - it's cheap, light, and just counts down to a short ring, which I love.

I set it for 15 minutes of shredding every day this week and when it dinged - I quit. Brilliant! No clock watching, no running to the kitchen to turn it off... yay!

Last night, I tried it during meditation. I like to med before bed but I'm always checking the clock for some reason and it's not terribly effective and I've been pretty random about how long I sit - 5 minutes some times, maybe 15 before I'm so distracted I give up.

I get all warm and happy just thinking about this... last night I set it for 20 minutes and sat meditating. I was able to totally relax and concentrate because I could hear it ticking down and knew it wasn't going to let me go over and I knew that when it dinged I could still take a couple minutes if I needed them without having to jump up and turn it off. It was AWESOME!!

I'm thinking of all sorts of uses for it now... the natural planner in me can think of dozens of timing opportunities! LOL

Does anyone else use a timer like this?

Bonus, it's also let me figure out how to work a 15 minute workout in every night. It's all about mindset - I used to think I had to do 30 minutes and that seems like a long time, but when I gave myself permission for a 15 minute jaunt (ala FLY lady's recommendation to go for a 7 minute walk then turn around and come home to have a glass of water) it made all the difference!

My life is a series of dings now :)

Also, even though my house is only for 2, FLY lady has definitely been useful - I'd totally recommend it to anyone.

Roasting

One thing I like about winter is being able to use the oven, guilt free. See, in the summer I hate to heat it up, knowing I'm compensating with the A/C - what an energy waster! But, in the winter I know the oven is doing double duty. Warming the house while nourishing my body. Plus, it makes it bearable to be in the kitchen doing other chores (like washing dishes) while it's on. I'm toasty and I know something so yummy is going to come out of there by the time I'm done cleaning!

So, almost every week night when I get home and it's dark and cold, I hit "pre-heat" and prepare to be warmed.

Those little fingerling potatoes totally rock! I give them a little scrub in the sink and roast them. Once in a while, when I'm feeling sassy, I'll roll them around in a bowl of evoo and herbs like thyme or rosemary.
Yams are my favorite roasted, baked is ok too, but I'll never fix them smashed up or covered in marshmallows again. This way is just too perfect. They can be savory with some butter and salt or sweet with a little maple syrup to dunk them in...many other options, I'm sure.
Squash! You know I love squash...I eat them plain with no toppings or with evoo, or butter and salt or maple syrup or brown sugar caramelized on top. You don't have to do anything fancy to a squash, they speak for themselves ;)
I had a special guest at my house courtesy of D2D last week. Celery Root! I scoured recipe books and websites trying to figure out what to do with this baby. There were salads and soups and roasting recipes. I roasted mine, first. That didn't really make me love it so I put it in soup...and we had a winner! It added the perfect subtle taste to my veggie broth.

Will I get another one? Maybe some day...in the far off future. It was kind of a pain to peel and cut up, but if I ever get a hankering for celery root soup you know I'll dig one up.

So, what kind of things have you been roasting? Spring is here, but I'm sure next winter will bring many roasting opportunities!

What makes you happy?

Just a quick post for posterity today about things that are making me pretty happy right now...
Mini sweet peppers. These cuties are so yummy, colorful and don't hate me like full grown bell peppers do!
Amy's gf pizzas have been a favorite all winter. When I get home at night, it's dark and cold and about the only way I'm going to cook dinner is if it involves starting the oven, heading upstairs to get in some comfy sweats and slippers and then baking something while I hang out in the oh so toasty kitchen. I can only get the plain cheese around here so I usually throw something chopped from the fridge on top. This one happened to be onion. I've been known to dice up peppers & onions, slice mushrooms and even add a little meat of some sort. Good stuff.
Boxed wine - Franzia Chillable Red, to be specific. It reminds me of some really good times. My coolest friend ever used to stock her fridge with this and we had many a fun evening at her house drinking wine while our boyfriends played manly stuff before heading out for open mic nights or just general down town frivolity. I miss those days, nice that I can relive them once in a while just by putting a straw in my big ol' juice box.
Last, but not least, almond milk lattes. I make 'em decaf. No guilt - all pleasure. It's creamy, sweet and so good for me! Almond milk actually has as much calcium as cow's milk, more protein than skim and a richness that makes it feel really decadent. If I could get Starby's to carry almond milk, I'd probably spend half my paycheck there. Luckily, the best they'll do for me is put a couple shots in my own cup 'o milk. Forget that! If I have to go to all the trouble to find a cup and put some milk in it, I can find the other 2 minutes to warm it in the microwave and put my own shots in it. Much easier than the usual 15 minute wait at Starby's. Yeah, I like things simple. And cheap!

My happy theme seems to be cheap things. 5 liters of wine $15, Amy's Pizza $8, Almond latte $.50.

What are your pleasures?

Sushi

Yes kids, I decided to finally try my hand at sushi making since buying the basic ingredients sooo long ago. Why did I wait so long, you ask? Long story short - sushi at famous restaurant = food poisoning = never wanted to be that sick ever ever again= aversion to even the mention of sushi.

But, nothing in mine is raw and of course my kitchen is contamination free so, bravely I went today!

I started with sushi rice and instantly I knew why most people don't make sushi at home. First, you rinse the rice till the water runs clear. Second, let it soak in the cooking water for 30 minutes. Third bring it to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes, all the while praying it doesn't boil over...then let it cool and add the sushi vinegar.

I do dig the rice though, such cute little roundish grains and they are very sticky!

To stuff it, I sliced long strips of cucumber and avocado, thawed out some pre-cooked flash frozen shrimp and prepared to sushi...ahem.

If I ever attempt this again, I think it would be wise to invest in the little bamboo stick roller upper thingy. It was kind of hard without it. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, and tasted good. Bonus points for no food poisoning too!

Sadly, I just don't like the taste of the seaweed wrap. It's funky to me, maybe that's why people burn their nose hairs with wasbi on sushi? I'll try that next time because I have a bunch of leftover wrappers and rice...and sushi vinegar. Maybe I'll make a bunch and take it to work to feed the folks. How sweet would that be? :)

Here's a super zoom picture. Cute, no? I served it with pickled ginger and sweet red pepper slices. Refreshing.

Like I said - pretty proud of myself today! ;)

Ani Phyo's Donut holes

Here's another raw recipe I experimented with...

"donut holes"! I got the recipe from Ani Phyo's blog - check her out for a lot of other brilliant raw recipes. I dig it.

In case you can't find it though, here's the recipe - you have got to try them because they are the best thing I've had in a looooong time. Of course, they aren't like a cake - so don't expect that! Think chewy/sweet fruity snacks that are totally satisfying without the sugar rush/crash. I love them!

1 3/4 cups almonds (I used regular ones from a bag)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 vanilla bean, scraped

2 cups dried pineapple, chopped

2 cups pitted dates

1/3 cup + 1/4 cup shredded coconut

In the food processor place almonds salt and vanilla and process to a fine powder

slowly add pineapple and dates then coconut.

Use a scoop to make round "holes" and roll in shredded coconut.

Viola!! It takes like 10 minutes - tops.

You can tell I didn't roll all of mine in coconut and I used wet fingers to form the balls. Mostly because I don't really dig coconut and I hate washing dishes - fingers are lick-able!

So everyone I was willing to share these with loved them and ate 2-3 more, so if you make them be sure and stick a couple away just for you!

I have to say these are better than Larabars...and I love Larabars!

Mushroom gravy

I planned to make this mushroom gravy for weeks and weeks - finally did it last night! It was super fast, easy, vegan, gluten free, raw...NUMMY!!

It even looks like gravy, tastes a little better than the goopy, greasy stuff I remember though. Here's the recipe (I can't remember where I got it from! I wrote it down on a scrap of paper.):

1/3 cup olive oil

3/4 cup mushrooms

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

Put everything in the blender until smooth.

Love it!! Wish I'd have made it in time to eat all my baked potatoes...as it is though I put it on instant mashed ;0) That's a little sauteed broccolini next to it, something new to me!

I cannot express how thrilled I am to have this little recipe. Even if you're not trying out vegan or raw recipes - this would be great with any regular old meal. And there are general health benefits if you're watching fat, salt or flour intake. I'm definitely going to use it for holidays...it was that good.

Potatoes galore!

So weeks ago I was at the store and they had organic potatoes on sale BOGO in bags, of course I got 2! Then, last week I was cleaning things up and found the bag of them that I had shoved aside to put away later and opened it up and holy mole!! They had all sprouted - huge lots of intertwining sprouts!

I don't know what it is about me that makes potatoes so motivated, but this was ahhhmazing!

Anywhoo...I ripped all the sprouts off, scrubbed and foiled them for baking - some in the oven, some in the crockpot and then I wished I'd have thought ahead...

One little me and 10 pounds of baked potatoes. Online, the verdict was that you cannot freeze them if you wish to eat them later...so I ate a potato with every meal.

I had eggs with potatoes, and potatoes alone, with sandwiches and even with salads. It took over a week, but they are done!

Now, do you wonder will I ever eat another potato again?

The Foodie Call review

So one of my dearest friends forwarded me an email from her mommie's group about this food delivery/catering company called The Foodie Call. You can find them here:

http://www.thefoodiecall.com/

Every month they offer several different meals that are delivered cold and you can reheat/freeze them and have a heat and eat dinner ready any old time!

Most of the offerings (so far) are gluten free and they are super nice about questions and accommodating food allergies! So I would totally give them 2 happy gf thumbs up. If you're in the Denver area, give 'em a try!

The picture above is the Creole Seafood Stew from last month. It was to die for! Just a little spicy, with more spices on the side in case you want it hotter. I did - my eyeballs sweat and my tastebuds danced. Delicious. There were good chunks of fish and little shrimp stuck in with a lot of peppers and onions. We dug it.

I also heated up the Vegetable Beef soup so we could have a sampling of everything. It was really more stew-like than soupy. Lots of big chunks of meat and veggies - total Comfort Food!!

This month I'm sad to say I'm not ordering because I'm planning a Mardi Gras feast but, if you order let me know what you think! I can't wait to see what's coming in April.

Besides being really tasty, I think it's a pretty good value too. Quite a bit cheaper than going out to eat, lots fresher than frozen dinners & faster than picking something up. Of course, I'm a homebody so it's like a dream come true for me :)