The First Week of School 2.0

It is amazing how little time it takes to completely lose one's stamina when the daily routine goes on vacation.

We just had our first week back to school, and it felt as if it was the first week of school all over again! My body wasn't used to all the work after two weeks off, and I couldn't sleep well because I had so much stuff to catch up on/do which is of course the thing I needed most was sleep.

Unfortunately, next week looks just as nutty, but my body seems to be re-adapting again. I failed to mention in last week's posts that I'm additionally hindered right now with a calf muscle strain that requires me to baby it, not exert myself too much (which as a teacher is kind of impossible), and wear a walking boot for support - which slows me down and DRIVES ME NUTS, UGH. My uninjured leg is suffering from the additional work it has to do, too. Needless to say, today was mostly resting it, but with the fun of babysitting our adorable goddaughter Emily with The Hubs. Luckily, for being just over 1 year old, she's remarkably easy to watch! We didn't have to chase her too much, and she was a breeze - all giggles and smiles!

In regards to the mini-goals for Jan.-March I posted about, I was better about my internet time, but cooking dinner at home pretty much didn't happen thanks to how hectic last week was. I was honestly not home earlier than 6pm any day last week! This week should be better, though, and I am planning on going grocery shopping Sunday, and pre-prepping my meals as much as I can after the grocery store so all I have to do is (hopefully) heat it in the oven, or mix the ingredients for 5 minutes before throwing it in the oven/saucepan. (Also, because I'm not busy enough, I'm also making a meal to take to a coworker who's out for health issues right now - but it's a recipe that I can easily double and make one for us at the same time!)

What am I making, you ask?

Spinach Tortellini Soup - it's delicious! I'm going to add turkey Italian sausage "meatballs" (where I squeezed the sausage filling out of the casing and rolled them into balls).

Enchilada casserole (This is the one I'm making two of - one for me, one for the coworker)

Chicken Broccoli casserole to serve over brown rice

Baked pork chops with Stove Top stuffing and veggies (this one I won't prep ahead, 'cuz pork chops don't take that long).

I plan to prep ahead by making the enchilada casserole ahead, then cooking the proteins ahead of time (except the pork chops). I only did four meals because Fridays are usually nights we eat out anyway - I'm just trying to make it the ONLY night we eat out this week. Fingers crossed!

2014: Goals for the Year, January-March

While I am nowhere near an expert at making goals, I have learned from teaching students how to set academic goals that they have to be reasonable, they have to be measurable, and they have to be ACCOMPLISH-ABLE. If you set a goal beyond the time frame available, then you're setting yourself up to fail. (For example, there's no way I could lose 50 lbs in 3 months, at least not without doing it in a very unhealthy manner.)

I also think setting goals for an entire year is a bit too much; stuff happens, and we can't always control what happens to us, just how we react to it. So it makes more sense to set a goal for a few months, and then re-assess at that point. If it's going well, keep going; if it's not working, try to figure out what the problem is and figure out a fix. So my 2014 goals will be for the overall year, with measurable steps along the way.

So what do I want out of 2014?

To be happy,

and

To be healthy.

So how do you measure happiness in a way to achieve a goal? By taking steps to fix the things that make me unhappy.

So as to not overwhelm myself, I have two mini-goals to help me achieve the two overarching goals of 2014, one for each.

Happiness: Break my internet habit. (Don't think I don't see the irony in blogging about this.) Seriously, though, when I come home, I zone out with my computer and iPhone. Some people use the TV, I use the internet. So much time is wasted where I could be doing something much more fulfilling, like crafting, or reading, or stuff around the house that needs to get done. I mean, we're hoping to move in the next 2 months, so I'll need to use at least a couple of evenings for packing, for example. Not to mention I just feel like I'm wasting my life away on the internet when I could be doing something more interesting or personally fulfilling.

So how will I stay off my favorite time-killer? 

• Make plans on the weekends. Can't be on the computer if I'm out of the house. Luckily, I usually have plans on the weekend, so this won't be that much of a stretch. I'll just need to find ways to get out of the house during the day, esp. if The Hubs isn't interested in joining me. 
• I want to stay off the internet at least 3 nights a week for now. Mondays and Fridays will be long days at work due to tutoring after school, so I think it's only fair to decompress with my internet crutch on those days, but I'll aim to stay off the internet Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'll give myself an hour on a timer after dinner, and once that timer goes off, the computer is shut down. 
• Of course, as we are house-hunting (renting, not buying) at the moment, I might have to go on if The Hubs needs me to check something out related to that. 
• No using the internet on the phone if I've shut the computer down for the night. Leave my wifi off. NOTHING is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow. 
• Playing games on my phone doesn't count as "more fulfilling activities". I can play on the phone a little before bed as long as it's not internet and it doesn't keep me up later than I need to be. (If it does, then it'll get limited. To be fair, though, I do read books on my iPhone.)

Health: Only eat out 4 times a week (including weekends). We have gotten into a NASTY take-out addiction. Part of it is my fault; my main household chore is cooking, and I haven't been doing it. Part of the problem was that I injured my calf, which has required me to be off of my feet for most of November, but it was a problem before that (which we blamed my coaching schedule for). The point is that I was working myself overtime, and using it as an excuse to not cook at home. Which means bad food, more money than we need to spend, and actually more time and effort than if I'd just cooked at home half the time. Seriously. We also tend to not cook on the weekends, which meant we were eating out a LOT. We're both tired of it, we're both frustrated that it wastes money, and honestly most convenient fast food doesn't taste that great. And since I'm the main cook, guess whose responsibility it is to fix this problem? That's right, THIS GAL.

So how will I ensure this happens?

• When I'm cooking the current dinner, take out the meat from the freezer for the next meal and put it in the fridge. I tend to use this as an excuse for not cooking, because if I forgot (or "forgot") to defrost the meat, and I'm tired when I get home, then I don't want to wait for the meat to defrost in order to eat, right? GUESS I SHOULD ORDER OUT. So no more, darn it! Take out the food for tomorrow while cooking this evening's meal. Simple!
• Get back to meal planning. It's not even that hard, and I have about a GAZILLION recipes saved to Pinterest - I even have an Excel spreadsheet AND a Google calendar set up for meal planning! So not only do I need to meal plan, but when I'm picking out the food from the freezer to defrost, I'll choose which meal to cook from the plan. 
• Buy a frozen meal or two for "emergencies" (like something comes up that keeps me late, or I just am TOO DANG TIRED). Even buying a pre-made frozen meal is still cheaper than buying a fast-food meal. 

Fairly simple and attainable, and I've still left myself some squidge room to help me transition to these better behaviors. I feel confident going into these because they're not totally overwhelming, they feel manageable, and they're measurable. Even if I end up buying 5 meals out one week, but we've been doing better before then, I'll still feel successful.

I can't guarantee that I'll update regularly with my success, but I'll try. Baby steps into blogging regularly. ;D

What Works for Me: Healthy Habits Checklist (Free Printable!)

  Download link: JPG  PDF

So not only am I doing all that healthy eating junk, but I'm ALSO getting my teeth health junk in order, too! Nothing serious, but my dentist would like me to brush my teeth twice a day (I'm a mornings-only brusher) and floss at least once a day (Yup, I'm REALLY bad). I'm naturally blessed with good quality teeth; I'll be 32 this year, and I still have only had one official cavity! My gums aren't great, though, and I went through a deep root planing 2 years ago and I will be DARNED if I have to go through THAT again, ugh. (I'm sure it's nowhere near as bad as a root canal, but it was bad enough to make me want to be better about my teeth!)

I've been pretty good the last week or so, but it's not a habit yet, so I thought it might help to put a little checklist near my bathroom mirror so I can check it off. I wanted it to be reusable, and then I decided I wanted it to be cute, too! So my solution: Make a cute graphic (like the one above - yup, I made that!), and use one of my favorite teacher tricks for cheap whiteboards: Put it in a document protector and use wet/dry erase markers for the writing and checking!

Use the wet-erase marker for the habits you want to work on, and the dry-erase marker for the check marks. This way, you can erase your check marks without having to re-write your goals every day. (Of course, you could always use PicMonkey to "write" it on the image itself.)

I haven't had a chance to take a picture of it in action, but it's nothing fancy, just in the clear sheet protector. :)

Hopefully this checklist helps you keep track of your daily goals! You can do it!

What Works For Me: Healthy Changes

As I've mentioned before, I have health issues that I'm treating. One of the best ways to treat these issues is eating healthy and exercise - you know, the two things that were, like, ZERO fun for me. ;)

I'm a firm believer that people only change when they're ready, regardless of how necessary those changes may be. I notice when I'm open to the change, and I try to seize the moment. As such, I've been slowly working my way towards eating better and exercise over the last year... VERY slowly on the exercise front. Now things are starting to come together, and I'm starting to feel really great about my progress!

Don't worry, this is NOT turning into a health-based blog. (There are way better ones out there!) It's been my focus of late, though, so I needed to "blog it out". All these changes don't make me an expert, but I like to share what works for me because it might work for someone else, too! Here are the unofficial "rules" I live by which are helping me succeed at the moment:

• Start small, and find compromises when you can! This was the best advice I've read, and I wish I'd saved the blog where I found it! Specifically, the advice was to just focus on giving up something you know is bad for you for now, and as you become accustomed, try giving up another bad thing. It was easy to switch my chemical-laden coffee creamer to all-natural half-and-half (as the entry suggested), but I knew diet soda was going to be harder and I'd have to find a happy medium. My endocrinologist says stevia is ok for my dietary needs - so I've switched to Zevia-brand soda, which is the only one I've found made with stevia. I make sure to have no more than 2 a day, usually as a "treat" with my lunch and dinner. It keeps me sane, it's better for me, and I've noticed that it doesn't dehydrate me as much as other artificial sweeteners did!  
• Make the end goal reasonable. A specific measurable goal that's reasonable is good: right now my goal is to lose 5% of my body weight overall. The number on the scale is just a measurement tool, though, and it doesn't decide my overall success, especially considering my PCOS makes weight loss veeeeeery slow-going, so I don't want to make the scale my main measurement. My overall goal in this is to improve my overall health; if I only lose 2 pounds, but my endocrinologist sees an overall improvement in my numbers, I'm going to feel successful! Losing 5% of my current weight might make a marginal change in my appearance, but it will improve my overall health a LOT.
• Find the easiest way to do it. Veggies was the hardest thing to add to my diet when it hasn't been a regular part of it. So I found the easiest ways to incorporate them! Aside from the recipes I linked, I buy a big box of mixed greens and spinach for easy salads, and frozen broccoli or cauliflower that I steam in the microwave for a quick dinner side (I'll dress them with a sprinkle of salt and garlic powder). Those are veggies that I like and don't feel annoyed to eat, and that take mere minutes to prepare. I eat a big salad typically with lunch, and then veggies with dinner (If I'm feeling esp. sassy, I'll have a salad AND frozen veg with dinner!) Do the same with your health bugaboo - find the easiest way to incorporate or address it. 
• Give in to a craving - within reason. You've probably seen this before, but it's really true; if you are legitimately craving something to the point of distraction, give in and get it out of your system. BUT do it in moderation! Here are my rules for myself when it comes to cravings: I have to have thought about it for at least 3 days in a row, I don't substitute it with something that won't quell the craving, and I have to buy the smallest 1 serving amount of it that I can (and that's ALL I buy).  I love nacho cheese Doritos, but I know I can eat a whole bag in one sitting - so I keep them out of the house. If a craving hits, I'll buy the smallest 1 serving bag I can find, and I'll enjoy it. It gets the craving out of my system, I don't feel like I've deprived myself, and there's no more in the house because I only bought the 1 serving.
• When eating out, pick one indulgence.  The point of eating out, in my opinion, is to indulge. When you're trying to eat better, though, eating out often is NOT going to help. So I'm trying to eat better when I do eat out by sacrificing something or including something I might not normally. If it's a burger place, I will usually get the burger I want and sacrifice the fries for veggies instead. Yes, I'm still eating a not-great food, but I'm only eating one "naughty" element as opposed to an entire "naughty" meal, and I'm also getting my veggies in with it and the tastes that made me want to eat out in the first place.
• Don't beat yourself up over a bad day. This is the hardest truth, but it's the most important one. We're human and we're going to make mistakes. I am extremely susceptible to the "Well, I screwed up, might as well just give up entirely" attitude. So far, I've managed to get over myself and just start fresh with the next meal. For example, I'd been craving beef broccoli with fried rice from my fave local Chinese place for a week, so I indulged the other day. It was waaaay too much food, and I felt STUFFED and regretted a little. BUT I recognized that it got the craving out of my system, and I had a very reasonable dinner to make up for it. I moved on from my mistake instead of drowning in it.
• Figure out what works for YOU - you may have to switch it up until you find your best method! These are all tips that work for me: gradual small changes that add up to good health. Some people, though, can just completely turn a 180 from old habits and thrive! If that works for you, then keep on keepin' on! When something's not working, try something else. My eating changes are all manageable for me, and I can feel the change (and see it - my clothes are a little loose and friends are asking if I've lost weight). This first week of incorporating exercise is working well for me because I know what works for me and my attitudes, and I also know to not push myself, lest I hurt myself and have to stop, which will make me lose momentum; I figure as long as I break a sweat and am slightly out of breath by the end, I did my job for now. As it gets easier, I'll push myself harder. Consider your habits and your natural inclinations, and work with them, not against them.

For Foodie Friday, I'll share my eating and exercising changes, along with my favorite healthy meal ideas; this entry's long enough! Come back Wednesday for another helpful idea in making healthy habits stick!

Follow me on Twitter or Instagram to keep me accountable! I figure if I'm going to talk the talk, I better walk the walk, so I'll be posting picture collages of my meals for the day and logging my exercise! I won't spam your feeds, most likely 1-3 posts a day at the most.

Foodie Friday - 3 Fast Meal Ideas!

As I've mentioned before (multiple times), I am a lazy cook. If I can afford to go pick up the meal, I'm probably gonna go pick up the meal.

Of course, when one is trying to eat healthy, picking up a meal that's healthy-ish and cheap is a near-impossible feat! Good for you food fast tends to be more expensive; seriously, getting a meal-sized salad or adding a side of steamed veggies is more expensive than just eating the fries that come with most meals!Of course, when funds are limited, that's not an option, either. So what's left to do but order the cheap, bad-for-you option? Especially when cooking just takes sooooo long...

Not necessarily!

I've found that, for myself, the less time I have to spend prepping, the happier I am to cook from home. One thing that saves prep time is to buy cheap shortcuts, such as frozen veggies and frozen sides like rice; I try to avoid processed sides like Carb-A-Ronis because there's so much unknown crap in them! Even cheaper is to buy the stuff fresh and freeze it yourself, which I'll do when I can with things like rice or beans.

Here's three of my favorite quick meal ideas for when I want something fast, tasty, and don't want to eat from a fast food restaurant!

Foodie Friday - Fast, Cheap, and Easy: Breakfast Options!

So far, every job I've had since we moved here has required me to commute at least 30 minutes (if not more). I HAVE to eat breakfast, and as I value my sleep, I prefer it to be quick to make or reheat and something I can eat while driving. Even better if I can make/prep everything on Sunday night in as little amount of time as possible! Plus the easier and faster I can make a breakfast at home, the less tempting it is to spend money in a drive-thru!

There are a few options I have come up with that work really well for me; I need a healthy-ish carb, protein, and if I can squeeze in some veggies, all the better! I've sorted them between "ridiculously easy", "needs a little prep", and "needs a LOT of prep". Enjoy!

Ridiculously Easy

Pinteresting: Iced Coffee at Home!

Mmmm, iced coffee.

Look, I need my coffee fix, even in 100+ F degree heat. I have a legit caffeine addiction, which is kind of pathetic considering all I drink is 1 cup of coffee a day - but if I don't have that 1 cup every 36 hours or so, my head starts pounding. Most months of the year, hot coffee in the morning is lovely and soothing. In the Central Valley of Northern California, though, summer is typically a June-October affair, with week-long spans of over 100 degrees. We just finished another run - last Friday the temperature dropped to 90 F, and it was as if Spring had returned! It was HEAVEN.

So I needed to switch to iced coffee, and FAST. I had a coupon for Keurig pods, and I do loves me Keurig, so I bought some "iced coffee" pods. It's "iced coffee" because it brews hot coffee over a glass full of ice. So yes, the coffee gets cold, but it's also severely watered down. So it tastes nice, but it loses a lot of the coffee flavor that us coffee drinkers like.

LUCKILY, me of 6 months or so ago thought ahead and pinned a simple method of making your own iced coffee! I saw the Pioneer Woman's method, but her method makes enough for a party (which could come in handy one day) - I don't need THAT much coffee, as I'm the only one drinking it! Luckily, I stumbled upon Seeded at the Table's method, which was essentially the same as Pioneer Woman's, but on a much smaller scale.

So, the simple formula seems to be a ratio of 1:8 coffee to water.  Pictured below is 1 cup of coffee to 8 cups water. I decided to get all fancy and use filtered water from my Brita - next time I might just pay the $1 and get a gallon jug from the store, since I had to re-fill the Brita and wait for it to finish filtering in order to get my full 8 cups. Not fun when I'm impatient. The Seeded method recommended 6-8 hours, or overnight. I went with overnight 'cuz I was going for MAXIMUM LAZINESS. Plus I was using a light-roast brew, so I figured the longer sitting would result in a stronger brew. (It seemed pretty strong to me!)

Pour your coffee grinds in first, then the water, then give it a good stir. Cover it up and let it sit!

Despite the jug label, the coffee is not fruit-flavored.

Once you wake up (or wait your allotted time), pour your mixture through a strainer lined with paper towels, coffee filters, or cheesecloth. I replaced the filter every time I let a good amount of coffee seep through. If you're using a cheap $1store strainer like I am, keep in mind that coffee is an oily liquid and you'll have to rinse off the strainer and dry the bottom every once in a while to let the coffee seep through again. Or get a better strainer. ;p This was the only part of the process that took time - the filtering (both in my Brita filter and out of the coffee grinds); I'd say it took maybe 15 minutes to filter the grinds out.

Ahhhh Black gold, Texas tea, concentrated caffeinated heaven!

 Once you've filtered all the liquid and tossed out those coffee grinds (if you garden, coffee grinds are great for soil!), pour yourself some over a glass full of ice cubes!

The test cup, mixed with stevia and organic half-and-half. BLIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. It's so refreshing while also giving me my morning caffeine dose!

The Kitchn also has links to other methods to try, if you'd like; I'll stick with this one for now, 'cuz it's the least time consuming for me. (Although the idea of vanilla ice cubes might be one I need to try!)



I may have linked up at: 

Six Sisters' Stuff

Foodie Friday: Fast, Easy, & Cheap - Steak dinner!

So if you follow me on Twitter, you might recognize the picture below from when I tweeted it/taunted my followers with its deliciousness.

You might also remember that I bragged the whole shebang took about 30 minutes.

Upon reflection, it's about 40 including marinade set-up and chopping/scrubbing the potatoes. Yes, those are oven-roasted potatoes. Still, 40 minutes isn't bad for a steak dinner, am I right?

So how did it take so little time? Constant movement and a microwave cheat.

1. The steak was a nice New York strip I got during Savemart's $25 for 5 meat sale (which they do about once a month now, and I loooove it because it I usually need to restock right around the time the next sale comes up); I rubbed it with a dry rub, marinaded in this excellent (and easy) marinade, and let it stew for most of the day.
2. The potatoes are oven-roasted, but here's the trick: They're softened in the microwave first. I got this tip from an old book my mom gave me when I got my first apartment in college; it's "30 Minutes or Less", a cookbook published by California Cookbook in the 90s, but I can't find it anywhere online. Anyway, the recipe is to chop up 5-6 medium-size red potatoes (not the minis), drizzle olive oil over them in a microwave-safe bowl, and nuke 'em for 5 minutes on high. Then throw some seasoning on them (in this case, S&P, garlic powder, and thyme), toss them in a baking pan, and roast 'em at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes.
3. WHILE the potatoes are microwaving, rinse, dry, and snap the asparagus (and take out the steak to let it rest at room temperature for a little while). Once you throw the potatoes in, lie the spears on a cookie sheet; drizzle olive oil on the spears, sprinkle with S&P, garlic powder, and grated parmesan cheese, and mix it all up so all the spears get nice and coated. Throw it in the oven with the potatoes for the last 12 minutes of cooking time. (If you want to roast it on its own, I prefer to roast it at 400 F for about 8-10 minutes; it lets the tips get crispy without the stalks getting soggy. With the potatoes, it stayed firm but not as crisp as I like it.)
4. Once the asparagus is in the oven, turn on your Foreman grill so it gets warm for the steak (I KNOW, sacrilege, but whatever, it works for me). Once it's hot enough, throw the steak on there, let it sizzle for about 5 minutes (if you want it medium rare-medium), then take it off the grill and let it sit until it's at your preferred doneness. Obviously, if you have a preferred method of steak-cooking, by all means. I'm still learning, and so far this method has worked OK for me. :)

My final touch was grating this tasty smoked gouda with bacon cheese that The Hubs had purchased onto the potatoes; it was good, not great. Needed a stronger cheese, I think (and crispy cooked bacon - the bacon in the cheese wasn't crispy). Still tasty, though!

So as you can see, it worked out that while one thing was cooking, the other stuff was prepped and then added to the cooking mix. So I was on my feet and moving for probably 20 minutes of the process, but it wasn't necessarily a rush to do. Plus it resulted in a tasty, filling dinner that was ready in about 30-40 minutes! Which is how I like to cook - fast, cheap, and easy. Yum!



I may have linked up at: 

Six Sisters' Stuff

Tip, Tip, Tipping slowly...

So you might have read my post about working towards the tipping point (but if you didn't, I don't blame you, I'm sure my personal posts are dull to everyone but myself).

It's a very slow climb up that mountain, BUT I'm still feeling pretty good about it!

The little changes I'm making are alternating drinking water and diet soda. Diet soda is a hard mistress to break up with. She keeps luring me back with her icy dark bubbles of deliciousness. It's not even a physical addiction, I think, more of a habit and habits are hard to break. The alternating is working; I have the last cup's worth of diet soda in a 2-liter in the fridge, which I'm saving until tomorrow because I had soda at lunch and water tastes better to me. Once it's gone, I'm going to try a variation on how The Hubs quit smoking. He tried to go cold turkey, but he always kept an "emergency" cigarette with him; doing so made him REALLY question whether he wanted it or if he thought there might be a better time for it. I'll buy a can of diet soda, leave it in the fridge, and try to ignore it because it's my last one (hopefully).

I'm also trying to stop eating late at night, which is actually going decently well. I've had a couple of late-night binges, but, again, it's fighting through the addiction to the late night habit more than anything. Same with eating bad carbs versus good carbs; I bought mostly "good carbs", and I'm trying to sparingly eat the few bad ones I bought. For example, I bought breaded fish fillets for lunches this week, which are a little carb-y, but I make myself veggies to eat with them! So it's bad but not as bad.

Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. A little movement forward at a time is my method; continuing forward motion when I take a step or two backwards is my goal.

BABY STEPS!

Pic from Darendoc.com

A Morning "Date Night"!

So we live in Northern California. This past Saturday the estimated high in our area was 108 degrees Fahrenheit.

108. 


So The Hubs and I wanted to do something over the weekend, but the heat made it look unlikely as we are delicate flowers who wilt easily in the heat. Then The Hubs mentioned that he'd been wanting to try going to a local bakery that specializes in fancy donuts, and suggested that maybe we check out our local farmer's market on Saturday. So we decided it would be nice to combine the two, and to do it early in the morning so we can avoid most of the heat wave!

So the date was to check out the bakery, then take our wares to Starbucks to get some cold coffee drinks and eat our purchases. Finally, we'd head over to our local farmer's market and buy some of the local goods!

It ended up being a GREAT idea! We were home by 10 a.m., but we still felt like we'd gotten a lot done and we had a nice morning together!

Our mini-box of donuts and an ice-cold coffee w/ milk!

Yes, that's BACON on the donut!

Our Farmer's Market spoils! Organic tri-tip, organic smoked Jersey Jack cheese, Ranier cherries, and pretty flowers!

We came home and enjoyed the A/C. I ended up doing some cooking (I made Asian Peanut Noodle Salad for my gaming group that night) and playing on the internet while The Hubs re-watched episodes of "The Wire". We're very exciting young marrieds, as you can see. But we still feel like we had nice day out, despite the early hour.

Linked up at: 

Six Sisters' Stuff

Apps I love: Organization Help

So while I'm not the cleanest housewife in the world, or the least cluttered (I'm not at "Hoarders" level yet, but I really need a bigger house first to reach that level), but I'm actually pretty good at organizing. I LIKE organizing. I can organize the crap out of stuff. It's the execution that isn't always so hot. ;D

That said, as I'm addicted to my iPhone (It's so vintage - it's a 3GS!), I have found a few apps that I really like and which help me organize myself quite nicely.

Cozi (Free and Paid app - I use the free version) - Cozi is pretty awesome because it can be shared amongst your family members. You all download the app, then log in and add information as it's needed. It has a calendar, shopping lists, and to-do lists you can use. The Hubs and I use the lists features the most, esp. for grocery shopping. This way he can add stuff to it as he thinks about it, and all I have to do is check it when I'm connected to our WiFi before I go grocery shopping. VERY Convenient that way. It's really easy to figure out and use, which is also nice for those who aren't tech-savvy.

The Main Menu

One of the shopping lists - you can make separate Header titles by adding a new item in ALL CAPS - it defaults to a new header automatically

 

The To-Do Lists menu (and yes, I have one just for the blog - it's a good way to jot down ideas for later posts when I'm away from home)

I swear I didn't add that to his list. ;D

 Any.Do (Free) - It's to-do lists made fun! SERIOUSLY. I know that sounds cheesy, but Any.do makes it kind of fun to make your list and update it. It's sole purpose is to plan your day/week/etc. Yes, iPhones come with a calendar and reminders, but this one's more flashy and fun, AND it's easier to re-arrange your tasks than in either of the standard iPhone apps I mentioned IMHO. What makes it so fun? It's cute and encouraging! Look at the screenshots I took with all their encouragement:

It compliments you when you cross multiple things off your to-do list!

This is the screen after you plan your day with the Any.Do Moment feature. How fun!

Plus its simple design is clean and pretty. To move tasks from today to tomorrow or "Upcoming" (it'll prompt you to pick when "upcoming" is), all you have to do is hover your finger on the words of the task, and it'll let you move it easily! I like how changing my list is LITERALLY at my fingertips. (Don't worry, there's a quick little tutorial the first time you use the app, it's super-easy and the visuals explain it better than I could.)

This is how it looks when you're editing it - the Red bell is your alert, the Post-It with the blue 1 is for additional notes

When you tilt the phone to the side, this it what it changes to!

iPhone Calendar - I know I just said I prefer Any.do for what I need to get done, and I do, but the standard Calendar has its uses as well, like the alerts you can set to remind you in events. I keep two calendars on there - my personal appointments and my meal plans (when I need to meal plan - I'm not as thorough a meal planner when I'm off work for vacations). It actually works pretty awesome - when I was working at a summer camp, it came in handy to link my Google calendar that helped me keep track of all the different days and my schedule for those days; I put it all in the Google calendar, then synced it with my phone using these instructions. It was the only way to do it and keep my meal planning calendar also. Plus I sometimes find it faster to update my meal planning calendar on my phone than on the computer - Google Calendars can be kind of a finicky jerk sometimes. Heh.

Hope you find these apps helpful, too! (By the way, I get no money for this. I just like sharing stuff that works for me because if it works for me, it might work for someone else.)

Linked up at:

Six Sisters' Stuff

Getting Out of the House, Week 1

So, I've been stuck in this situation before - the days of nothing while you hope a job application turns into an interview and then a job. It's the WORST, or at least it has been in the past. BUT I'm determined to not let that be the case this time.

From previous experience, I've noticed that having an appointment or something to do OUTSIDE of the house usually results in a more positive, productive day. Something about feeling like I have a reason to get off my butt is a big motivator for me. Last week I was lucky in that I had two days where I had friends who invited me to spend time with them - it helped delay the emotional regression a few days, and resulted in feeling decent on those days.

This week my plan is to get the f*** out of the house. Even if it's only for an hour, it still helps me. Maybe it's the fresh air, maybe it's the Vitamin D, maybe it's actually moving as opposed to sitting on my big butt, WHATEVER, it works. I mean, let's be honest - if I was at work, I'd be wishing I could be home doing other stuff. Now's the time to do the other stuff!

As a form of keeping myself accountable, I'm going to list my plans for the week AND I plan to update my instagram with a picture of each activity. I know no one else cares, but it matters to me. (If you want to follow me on Instagram, I'm at mantequilla81. (I don't update it often, so don't worry about being bombarded with photos of food.)

So what's on the agenda for this week?

• Buy fresh food at a local farmer's market.
• Take Daisy to a nearby park for a nice long walk.
• Walk around the Capitol lawn and building and enjoy a picnic lunch/stalk Gavin Newsom (YUM).
• Errand-running, 'cuz they can't all be fun. I have enough that I can split it between two days. :) One will be mall-based, one will be grocery/house needs based.

These won't be the ONLY things I do all day; as I mentioned last week, I have a daily checklist I aim to hit, and getting out of the house is one of the items on the checklist. :) I plan to attack the daily chore via a method from Unf*** Your Habitat (love that site): 20 minutes of work, 10 minute break until the chore is complete! (They call it "20/10s", or they also suggest 45/15s - it's a variation on the Pomodoro technique.)

I think it's a good start; of course, I have to figure out what else is available around here that's cheap and/or free to keep me occupied. Might be buying myself an iced coffee at Starbucks and reading for an hour, or reading magazines at the local library, etc. Gonna keep an eye out for local events too.

Anyone else have suggestions for cheap/free things to do that'll get me out of the house?

Looking on the Brighter Side

So my life at this moment is what it is, and I'm trying to find ways not to dwell. Which, admittedly, is really REALLY hard.

To get started, I'm going to set little goals for myself, little markers to hit every day and feel like I'm getting stuff done, even if it doesn't seem like that much to others. I have a tendency to sink into the mire of depression that is unemployment, and I don't want to do that yet again.

The daily checklist:

• Apply for one job a day. Revamping cover letter and everything, but take the time to really put my best application forward. One a day isn't so overwhelming and stressful. (Yes, applying for jobs right now is stressful - I'm still really raw from this recent turn of events and it's more stress-inducing than even I realized. The thought of applying for a teaching job right now hunches my shoulders and puts my stomach in knots; I'm giving myself until Monday to start this part of the daily check-off.)
• Take Miss Daisy out for a PROPER walk everyday. I've been really lazy with it, and as the primary dog walker now, she needs more exercise than I usually give her (relying on her dogwalker to do it during the week). No more 5-8 minute walks around the building - we'll do what we call "the loop".
• Get out of the apartment every day for a reason other than walking the dog. Even if it's to go to the library to read magazines, or to walk around Target and window shop, I need to get out and do SOMETHING. Being cooped up at home is no bueno para mi. Something tells me I'll be seeing a lot of $1 kid movies at the local theater this summer. ;)
• Cook dinner every night. No excuses now!
• Do at least one house chore. One a day will gradually get the place clean, right?

I know it's not much, and those of you who are super-awesome-and-responsible muthaf***in' ADULTS are probably rolling your eyes. I'll grant that the eye-roll is somewhat deserved on my end, but at the same time I'm coming out of a really messed up situation, and I have the luxury of letting myself heal a little bit at my own pace. 

What Works for Me: Curly Girl!

So as I mentioned before, I have been trying to figure out my hair for the last 10 years or so. My hair was never perfectly straight, and I noticed as I got older that it started to bend more and more. I never considered myself "curly", though, because as soon as I brushed it out the curl turned into bends so I assumed, well, must not be curly hair! Plus neither of my parents have curl in their hair.

As you can see, I should've caught on sooner.

In college, I had a roommate with curly hair who clued me in; she let me try some of her products and told me not to comb it out, and VOILA! Curls! Or at least definite waves. I started using products and working the curls, but they still seemed awfully unpredictable.

In the last few years, I managed to get my waves to a point where they looked ok and were fairly consistent, but I still wished they looked better and it still felt like guessing as to how to make them look good. I did some internet research, like the "no poo" method, but all the methods depend on the person, and frankly I still wasn't sure if I could count my hair as CURLY when they aren't tight curls. I got some help from naturallycurly.com, but not as much as I wanted.

LUCKILY, my girlfriend J has legitimately curly hair. She also struggled for years trying to get it manageable (not that you'd know as she's so naturally lovely ;D), and finally found a resource that helped her out, and passed it on to me - the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey. And thank GOD, because it was SO HELPFUL.

I've only been doing her methods for the last two weeks, and I'm still figuring things out, but it has been a crazy change (for the better). I even have photo evidence:

Before

Before

AFTER!

I don't know what is wrong with my face in the last picture, but look at those CURLS! That's after just one week!

Here's what I do differently, based on Curly Girl's advice:

• I've only washed my hair with shampoo three times in the last 2 weeks. Seriously. If it's looking a little greasy, I rub it gently under the shower's running water. 
• I condition every day, about a teaspoon's worth, and wash it out. 
• I no longer do the towel turban to dry my hair; I scrunch it gently with the towel and squeeze a little. I will confess I kind of hate it, because I hate that feeling of water dripping down my back, but I can't argue with the results. ;p
• Clear dollar-store gel is all I use to style it. Scrunch it in, and done. It air-dries in about an hour.
• I was using Garnier's Curl Calm Down cream (which I still highly recommend if you're not in my situation), but the conditioner I just started using (Trader Joe's NOURISH brand) is REALLY rich - seriously, the second ingredient is rosemary oil (yeah, it smells delish too). That + more moisturizing cream = flat curls again. They were soft as heck still, but it's too much for my hair, I think. I used just gel today and they're back to their glorious springy selves!

Even The Hubs has noticed a huge difference, and he loves how soft the curls are. I'm just happy because my dream has finally come true - low-maintenance hair that makes me feel gorgeous! It's a little more work, but it's still maybe 10 minutes total of my morning routine, and that's including the part that takes place in the shower.

This post isn't paid in any way (Pfft, I WISH I had enough readers to merit paid opinion posts). I wanted to post about it because while it's vain as hell, it's also exciting to finally have my hair look so good and I have to share it SOMEWHERE (The Hubs can only tolerate so much). Plus if I felt so much confusion, I figured it can't hurt to spread the word around about this great resource.

 

What Works For Me: The Buddy System

photo from thecampuscompanion.com - found via Google. Please don't sue.

The Hubs puts up with a LOT from me (disclaimer: in MY opinion he does, but he would probably dispute this). I'm a bit of a mental mess at times, as I'm sure I've mentioned before. The most dangerous combo is that I'm easily overwhelmed and I tend to be a perfectionist.

Seriously, yesterday I finally wanted to prepare adobo pork chops that I had planned to prep when I bought them 6 days ago; I left them in the fridge thinking I would get to them soon. Every day I glanced at them, saw they were still pink and assumed they were good. Now, I had a pack of turkey sausages on top of them (which also still looked good), so I only saw the rim of the chops. Pull them out yesterday, saw that the meat had turned GREEN. GREEN. So my damn procrastination resulted in my wasting $9 worth of meat. I paid the joint account back from my own fun money, which The Hubs thought was more than fair, but I could not let it go the rest of the night. Hell, I'm STILL thinking about it, obviously, because I'm so mad that I let this happen. The Hubs was over it about 1 minute after I told him - he was more bummed because it meant we wouldn't be having the chops for dinner.

Anyway, the above is just an example of the head-space The Hubs has to deal with. As I mentioned many moons ago, I had several large projects I wanted to tackle once a week as one of my goals. I didn't get rolling until The Hubs suggested that if we did it first thing in the morning that Sunday, he'd be happy to help. I thought that was a great idea - we already share the chores of dishes and laundry (he washes, I put away for both), and it makes the chores less daunting and annoying to me. So that's how we finally got the Xmas stuff put away (on St. Patrick's Day *sigh*) - and it felt so good that we both decided to tackle one more chore on our own, and I later went grocery shopping because I felt so productive!

We've done it several times since then - we schedule a start time and choose one project or room to focus on, and work together to get it done. It's becoming an almost-weekly thing, and it's nice because sh** is getting done around the apartment and it's slowly becoming much more hospitable. Love it!

Obviously this system doesn't work on the reg if you don't have a live-in buddy, but it can still be a good idea; my friend JS helped her friend pack for moving by helping the friend organize with lists, and even going over to help pack as well (because JS is awesome at it - I totally plan on recruiting her when we eventually move). Someone to help you out when a task seems so big is a huge weight off the shoulders and allows for the task to actually get started. Everything's easier to tackle when there's a team, right? I'm especially grateful to have someone who is willing to tackle these big, scary tasks with me and be my cheerleader. I'm a very lucky woman, and hey, our home is getting a little bit better every week!

Today was the fridge/freezer - fridge had gross stuff, freezer was so packed with crap that we were in constant threat of a broken toe and it was driving The Hubs nuts. Took us 30 minutes, then Hubs washed out the salvageable containers while I menu-planned; I'm going to attack last week's chore of switching pantry for cabinets (I'm moving pots/pans, dishes, and tupperware [today's attack] into our massive pantry and the non-perishable food where  the dishes/pans were - much less room for wasting food, much more room to see all the pots/pans I have at a glance! I LOVE IT), then I'll run to the store for the week's food and a treat to enjoy my double-feature of "Game of Thrones"/"Mad Men"!

It feels so good to start my week off productively. Such an improvement from me of even two years ago!

What Works For Me: How I Self-Care

Not my creation, but wish it was!

So as I MAY have mentioned
, with my job situation taking a turn for the worse I've tried to make my life take a turn for the best instead. As such, I've been doing a lot of "self-care" - you know, all the things I was avoiding doing out of wanting to be the best employee ever and sacrificing myself for apparently no good reason. (NO I'M NOT BITTER, WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT)

As such, ever since mid-January I've actually been feeling a LOT more balance... and go figure, I'm still keeping up just fine at work with less hours. Work is still getting me down (see the last entry), but I've gotten much better about leaving it at work and enjoying my life outside of it.

The things I do for self-care:

• hot herbal tea before I go to bed
• painting my nails
• buying small, cheap bouquets of fresh flowers to set on my dining room table - bright, pretty flowers when I cook/prep in my kitchen make me smile
• crafting
• playing volleyball
• snuggling with my dog/The Hubs
• making myself look cute (hair, makeup, cute clothes)
• reading funny comics and the "humor" category of Pinterest
• watching my "junk food" movies that are just visually lovely
• spend time with my friends, esp. close friends who will listen to me vent
• treat myself to little treats, like nail polish or a cute cheap top 

I know this isn't rocket science. It's just what I do to make myself feel better, and so far it's working for me. Despite everything, I am happier more often than I'm not, and my overall attitude is much more positive -  for that I'm grateful, and it also shows me that these little tricks are WORKING, so I want to keep it up.

What do you do to take care of yourself?

Life inspiration (Blogs That Are Awesome)

So I'm a bit of an addict on the internet. Pinterest is one of my new favorites - all that awesome inspiration for life. DIYs, tasty-looking recipes, fashion... All in one place and lots of it!

Only problem is that I spend a ton of time being inspired, and very little time actually DOING stuff.

Also, in my self-protective-denial-of-reality-blame-throwing-reflexive-defense, where do people have the time to do stuff like the projects listed here at tatertots and jello? Don't get me wrong, the work featured is INCREDIBLE and I'm 100% jealous of the creativity on display. I'm also defensive because I could probably do that, too, but who the freak has the time?

You know who has the time?

People that MAKE the time.

Yeah, that's aimed at me more than you.

I seem to prefer to live vicariously through the internet's pursuits than live my own life. This feels like deja vu to even write this, so I'm pretty sure I've waxed rhapsodic about this before. As such, I'll assume you're tired of hearing about it and move on to the main point: 4 Simple Goals by 2013, as inspired by A Beautiful Mess.

image c/o A Beautiful Mess

So their suggested rules are fairly simple - simple goals that will make you feel richer and happier, focused on a practice NOT an end goal, and when you meet the goals before 2013 you should reward yourself. (More specifics at the link provided!)

So here's mine, along with the reward that should come with it, and elaboration if needed:

• Keep up my healthy eating changes and taking my medicines - the reward here will be seeing results at my 3-month check-up. IF I get the results I want (I know, I know, it's not supposed to be an end-goal goal, but I'm cheating on this one), I think I'll allow myself to buy some new clothes - but not for me. (Being vague on purpose, sorry.)
• Host either a pumpkin-carving party or gingerbread-house-making party. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while, darn it. Throwing the party itself will be its own reward, I think.
• Join the next xoso social league for volleyball, or a volleyball MeetUp.com group - I've been playing again a little bit as part of coaching the middle school girls team, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I started practicing with them. The season ends in 3 weeks, and while part of me will be relieved (due to it taking up a LOT of time 4 days a week), I want to keep it up; the local social league might be the way to do that, or if I can find a volleyball group locally. 
• make something with my hands at least once a week. Unfortunately, with my schedule I haven't been crafting as much as I would like - and frankly, I don't know when I'll have the time again until after my coaching stops. BUT that doesn't mean I can't whip up a little craftiness one night a week. I like art journalling, and that will be my goal to make it more of a habit than a passing fancy, so I figure if I commit to making a new page per day, that's a reasonable goal. As for a reward... if I craft once a week starting today, only missing one week (like my birthday week, which is freakin' PACKED), I'm going to let myself buy new craft supplies, up to $50 worth!

A nice side effect of this little goal thingie - gives me something to blog about! LUCKY YOU. ;p

Side note about A Beautiful Mess - it's such a pretty blog to read, and the content is substantial without being blustery (unlike my own). I must confess that occasionally it comes off a leetle hipster-precious (which makes me role my eyes SO HARD - I'm just a hater), but even those hipster-precious posts are still worth viewing; just 'cuz it's not my taste doesn't mean it's not good stuff. Check them out! Drool-worthy and totally-doable recipes, great life inspiration, and a fun attitude towards life in general.

What Works For Me: Learning to Love My Veggies

Ok, so here's the thing.

As I've mentioned before, I have to change my eating habits for health reasons - mainly working on cutting out the unhealthy carbs, which are basically all the white (and DELICIOUS) ones. Ideally, I'm aiming to eat as few carbs as possible at dinner (so I'm eating the healthy carbs during the day, when I'm more likely to burn off energy), which means I need to sub those carb-y side dishes that I'm used to with vegetables.

The "problem" (because, let's be honest, if it ain't famine, homelessness, or warfare, it ain't really a problem) is that The Hubs and I are semi-finicky eaters and only like certain veggies. Actually, I am semi-finicky while The Hubs is FINICKY. I have reliable veggies that I like - salad greens and spinach, cucumbers, celery, carrots (raw only), broccoli, green beans,artichokes, cauliflower, and asparagus... that's about it. Some of those veggies The Hubs will eat, and even then he'll only eat them certain ways (like the carrots have to be cooked, and he only likes asparagus if it's roasted). I'll try veggies that I didn't like previously to see if my tastes have changed (because sometimes they have), but it's rare that they change, and The Hubs is even more resistant to changes. For the most part, though, I either steam them or eat a salad. I esp. enjoy lunch salads (I'm so trying the mason jar salads when work starts back up... Mmmm!)

That said, if we're going to eat veggies as our main side at dinner, I'd like to find some decent variations on them. Here's some methods I've tried so far, and recipes I've found that I'm planning to try!

Tried:

• Pureed - Works like a charm so far, but I've only tried it in stuff that's sauce-based. But, I mean, seriously, in the veggie meat sauce I made, the veggies are all so minute that I can eat vegetables in which I hate their texture - like peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes! I'm trying this trick next with a Jambalaya recipe that is otherwise delicious-looking except for the peppers and tomatoes that are only chopped - they will be pureed to be easier to "choke down" for Mr. and Mrs. Finicky.
  

  

  See? You can't even SEE all those veggies - and it is LOADED with them!

• Roasted - So far I've only tried this with veggies I already like, with one exception - my friends the P's had us over a few years ago for Xmas Eve dinner, and they made roasted brussel sprouts. I hesitated at first, because I'm not a huge cabbage fan, and the only way my folks made them was boiled (and they smelled AWFUL). But I tried them, and they were DELICIOUS. Of course, I haven't had them since, but I have a recipe "pinned" on Pinterest to try. Basically, I want them as crispy as possible. My favorite roasted veggie so far has been roasting broccoli - it tastes like broccoli tempura without all that pesky battering process. YUM. 
• Grated - if I can get away with grating a version of an "icky" veggie, I will. I tried a recipe for a Thai peanut-style chicken  in the slow-cooker, which was not that great. BUT it called for grated zucchini as part of the recipe, and I'll be darned, you can't taste it. I've also made zucchini pancakes, which was also highly enjoyable. 

Recipes I'm excited to try:

• Green Monster Spinach Smoothie - it's supposed to taste like a delicious smoothie, and I'm willing to give it a shot because I like spinach raw AND cooked, so I figure with it's mild taste I won't notice it and the texture isn't a problem in the first place. Plus I get a load of vitamins, protein, and fiber in one drink? Um, SOLD. I'll report on how it tastes! If it tastes good and whirs up fast, I'm thinking it'll be a great easy breakfast when I start teaching!
  

  

  It borders on disturbingly green, though.
• Crustless Spinach and feta pie - Hmmm, spinach and cheese. Gee, sounds like a tough choice. I'm thinking this will be great next to some grilled chicken. Mmm. 
• Vegetable "pasta" - I want to try this because I had a delightful meal at a really nice restaurant in NYC years ago (which I can't remember the name of, except that it was really long and old-sounding and I think it was in the East Village) that was basically the same type of veggie "pasta" with this great tomato sauce, shrimp, and parmesan cheese. I was skeptical that I'd like the veggies, but with the sauce they were great! I figure it's worth another shot. 
• Zucchini tots - I like this as an alternative to zucchini pancakes, which have a lot of breading. This seems like it'd get more zucchini, less carbs. What a fun side dish to go with burgers - hopefully it'll help me cut off the potatoes. 
• Mashed cauliflower "potatoes" - I haven't tried these before, but my friends who have say it's worth the effort. I love cauliflower, so I can't really seeing going wrong. Cheesy cauliflower pancakes are worth a shot as well. 

I'm actually excited to try all these new veggie recipes - esp. the smoothie and the "tots"! As you can see, I've got some options to make me eat more veggies, but I'm open to ideas! Please share your favorite ways to prepare veggies, I'm begging you. The simpler the better, 'cuz I'm a lazy cook. ;D