Updates Galore

Well, I’m in a blogging mood. And, I finally unloaded images off my camera and it looks like I overlooked quite a few random significant things!

Firstly, I updated this post and this one as well.

Eyesore no more

In case you were wondering what ever happened to our Styrofoam front window, I give you The Before:

and The After:

Of course, that was back in April (what, you thought this blog was up to date? No, not so much. That is the purpose of this post. Moving on.).

A week after the Styrofoam came down, it snowed again. That’s life!

Shoe News

Some of you (mainly the surprising number of our neighbors who happened to walk by during the course of The Cleaning) may have heard the sad tale of Scott’s shoe.

We both treated ourselves to brand-new, nice running shoes with the onset of Spring. We had worn out our old ones and our joints were crying out for shoes with new support.

After just two successful runs together in our blindingly white shoes, mine were getting a bit gray. That’s ok with me, shoes get a bit dirty and that means I don’t have to worry about scuffing them.

Scott, on the other hand, is very careful not to mark up his shoes in any way. His keen eyes scan ahead as we run, so that he smoothly averts any possible obstacles in his path (thus avoiding a scuff).

Well, the poor man decided to go on a run on his own on the third day after purchasing the shoes. A rogue Spring sink hole spoiled it all.

When I saw the dejected look on his face, I would have gladly swapped shoes with him in an instant. But when I proffered my already graying decidedly-un-Scott-sized left shoe to him as a consolation price, a spark came back into his eyes.

He decided that he would restore his shoe to its original glory with a healthy dose of TLC. Now, our next-door neighbor is a bit of a neat-freak (in a good way, obviously) and she came out and started talking strategy and bleach pens. Scott ended up taking a conservative toothbrush, hose, and soft towel approach followed up with a blow dryer and a day out in the sun to “set” the whiteness.

All this story just to tell you the update: One month later, his shoe is white and I can’t tell it ever went through such a muddy, traumatic event. Of course, Scott (and our next-door neighbor) still think his left shoe looks a bit askance. Hehehe… I’m SO not that kind of person and it’s refreshing to be reminded how different Scott and I are sometimes.

Food, in review

This past month has been a great one for us, food-wise. I made two ideal loaves of whole wheat bread:

And then, promptly followed up that stellar performance with a series of mediocre loaves. I decide that for consistency’s sake, I would try making at least the dough part in the bread machine. Unfortunately, our bread machine was a bit too intimidated by the loaves I was turning out by hand and it started smoking during the first rise.

We did NOT have a second bread machine in our kitchen appliance stash, and we sprung for the same one my mom has. She makes fabulous, consistent, vegan whole wheat bread these days and I am really hoping I can get the same results with her recipe. I will, of course, keep you posted.

We went to a really cool Ethiopian restaurant in Columbus called The Blue Nile with some friends. You sop up your curries with a big, spongy piece of sourdough flatbread called injera. It was so delicious, Scott and I went back again the next week!

I tried Chipotle for the first time and really loved loading up my burrito bowl with veggies and black beans and every kind of salsa they had. If they would only offer brown rice, I’d be a very happy camper there.

I decided to try my hand at an Asian stir fry, so Scott went to the local Asian grocery store and came back with 7 different veggies to throw in. Combined with our standard broccoli, snow pea and carrot mix, it made a fantastic meal. The tofu even turned out quite flavorful.

We served it with brown rice, so I couldn’t complain about THAT!

The last food item that comes to mind is Scott’s Signature Fresh Strawberry Shortcake:

Luckily for me, that last one comes to mind because I’m eating it right now.

May Day, May Day! *Updated*

The microwave is down. I repeat, the microwave is down.

Scott was warming up some curry for an 11 pm snack and we heard a “pop”. Upon further inspection, it appears our microwave has been cooked, literally.

Based on the standard “fix-it” times we’ve seen at our apartment complex, it could be fixed by the time I finish this blog post. On the other hand, it could take much, much longer.

Just in case, I’m planning on warming up leftovers by vigorously rubbing the outside of the bowl for years to come.

UPDATE: My newest blog reader was eager for an update (thanks Jess!) so here it is:

The clock came back on an hour after the meltdown. So, naturally, we assumed it worked. Then, 5 days later, we tried to actually use it and it doesn’t work at all.

Fortunately, in our hidden treasure trove of kitchen appliances in our basement, we had OUR microwave that we schlepped out here from Utah. So now, it is occupying a place of honor on our kitchen table. I really hope our apartment management comes through and replaces the built-in microwave soon!

Hey Anne, whatever happened to… ? *Updated*

Did you have to ask? I’ve been avoiding the subject because it is a painful one.

It’s also an un-finished saga, though, which makes it excellent blog fodder. For your reading pleasure, I’ve organized it into chapters.

CHAPTER ONE: Promising Beginnings

The story technically starts here. I put those glorious seedlings outside into the well-turned, rich, weed-less, rock-less, yummy soil we have in our backyard.

CHAPTER TWO: False Start

Then I left Scott in charge of nurturing the sprouties while I went to CA on a business trip to see my family.* While Scott was in charge, it snowed and the plants died. Did I mention Scott** was in charge?

Of course, it wasn’t his fault… but it still left me with the thought that if I was in town to watch over them, we’d have success on our next attempt.

CHAPTER THREE: Turning Over a New Leaf

When the weather returned to warm spring and assured me that it wouldn’t snow again, I planted 8 zucchini and crook-neck squash seeds in a row in our backyard.

I was shocked when only two sprouted, but those two seemed to be doing extremely well. Immediately, the leaves were much bigger and thicker than the (by comparison) scrawny seedlings we had grown inside. I concluded that the zucchini had taken it upon themselves to conquer our whole backyard.

And then it happened.

CHAPTER FOUR: Coping with Loss

One morning, I went outside for my morning conversation with the plants and I found zucchini number 1 decapitated. Its poor leaves strewn on the concrete, already wilting in the early sun. All that remained was a stump of a stem still in the soil.

Swiftly, I roused Scott and we began brainstorming ideas. It wasn’t snow this time. Could it have been a stiff breeze? Columbus can get a bit gusty. We came up empty and took comfort in the fact that zucchini number two was still trucking along, growing bigger each day.

I took time that day to plant the remainder of our seeds, hoping that additional sprouts would take the place of the one I had lost.

CHAPTER FIVE: This is War

Just a few days later, Scott woke up earlier than me, had a chat with zucchini number two and then ate breakfast. I came downstairs just as he was finishing his cereal and went right out to check on our plant.

Tragedy had struck in the few minutes Scott had been munching on Shredded Spoonfuls. Another decapitated plant, deprived of any hope of survival, lay before me on the patio. This time, however, we examined the scene of the crime more carefully.

There appeared to be freshly dug holes where the seeds had previously been, and distinctive gnaw marks on the stem of the topless plant. A squirrel! A conniving, meddlesome, cute and fluffy, hoodlum of a woodland creature had been orchestrating an all-fronts attack on my vegetable garden.

CHAPTER SIX: What We’re Up Against

Lest you think I am referring to one of THESE squirrels:

Let me assure you, our foe is much more similar to THIS squirrel:

CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Will Win?

We will, duh.

Before I tell you the plan, you must promise not to let the squirrel in on it.

I suppose I have no choice to trust you. But if the squirrel DOES catch wind of this, we’ll know who to blame.

The current plan is to block our little garden off with chicken wire. If necessary, we’ll purchase some veggies as plants, rather than seeds, to give them a good head start.

The backup plan is to throw peanuts into our neighbors’ yards as decoys. If you are our neighbor and you are reading this, please know that we don’t mean YOUR yard, naturally.

Footnotes:
* I work for SmugMug, my family’s business. So, I mix business with pleasure every single day. My trips to CA are particularly fun, though, because I get to see my three brothers, their wives, my niece and nephew, my parents, and three dogs… while working, of course!

**To his infinite credit, Scott single-handedly has rescued one of our tomato seedlings from Chapter 1 and though it is still fragile, it just may live to bear fruit this summer. His wise judgment kept me from pre-maturely transferring the plant outside and giving up on it when it looked particularly wilty. In addition, I suspect he sings to it when I’m not looking. Why else would it look so chipper?

UPDATE: We have three new tomato plants growing more or less successfully in our backyard, and I planted our remaining two crook-neck squash seeds. I sprinkled them liberally with cayenne. The squirrel apparently likes his seeds spicy.

Next step? This handy invention.

RECAP: Healthy Mind and Bodies Group Meeting

Well, it was good!

And that was surprising, because I knew that quite a few of our loyal attendees and contributors were out-of-town or otherwise occupied Tuesday night.

I was thrilled to have 6 of us there, armed with ideas and questions and comments and anecdotes and it’s a miracle we made it out the door before Trader Joe’s closed for the night!

Here are a few of the things we discussed:

Cut veggies up right when you bring them home from the store. You can keep them in a ziploc bag and eat them soon, or tuck a damp paper towel in there to keep them fresh for longer. You can also cover carrots and celery in water and store in a tupperware. Anything that keeps them crisp, fresh, and handy. Try moving past just baby carrots to add snap peas, cauliflower, and broccoli.

-You can buy already cut-up frozen bell peppers an onions to make easy fajitas or to spice up any meal.

-Frozen Edamame (soy beans in the pod) can be purchased fully cooked and lightly salted. All you need to do is thaw and enjoy! Kids love to squirt the soybeans out of their pod and the flavor is fairly mild.

-Frozen peas are a great snack for hot summer days, and someone I know even brings some in a ziploc to church for a snack.

-Frozen raspberries are a great addition to a hot bowl of oatmeal

-Other snack ideas: soy nuts, dried mango and pineapple

-Clean out your fridge by getting creative with what you add to salads. Chickpeas, sprouts, edamame, fresh fruit… anything goes!

-Try slicing fresh tomato onto your toast in the morning

-Keep healthy snacks available so husbands and kids know where to find them and can grab a snack themselves. Ok, so husbands should be able to do that no matter what… but taking the guesswork out of it can’t hurt, right?

Ok that’s all I have on my notes from the meeting, though I know we discussed a lot more!

Here’s a bonus that just occurred to me as I wrote this post:
You can make your existing recipes and meals healthier without a recipe as well!

-Use whole wheat or whole corn tortillas instead of white flour tortillas for your burritos. -Use whole wheat pastas when you make spaghetti.
-Use whole grain bread for french toast.
-Top your pancakes, breakfast cereal, etc. with fresh fruit instead of sugar.
-Cut down on the butter/sour cream/cheese in your casseroles and toss in a can of diced tomatoes to add more color and flavor.

The field trip to Trader Joe’s was fun as well. I wasn’t as adventurous as I had planned to be, but I did enjoy seeing what everyone else was buying. It gave me lots of ideas for my next trip to TJ’s!

I believe our next two activities will be a meeting/tasting table on soy products and a field trip to a farmer’s market. We’ll talk about the hype about soy as well as the facts and taste Edamame, soy milk, and more! The farmer’s market will be particularly exciting to me because I’ve only been to one local market since moving to Columbus. I’m excited to see what else is available!

Thanks for a great meeting. Here’s to healthier eating and cool stores like Trader Joe’s!