A Camping We Will Go

Matt and I are packing to head camping this weekend. We're going to Lamoine and visiting Bar Harbor. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend and we are avoiding the crowds of the folk festival, so I'm happy.

I have been spending a TON of time working on my classroom, trying to get it ready for students in less than 2 weeks. It is starting to come together, but for everything I finish, it feels like I have 3 more things to do. I'm planning on working there tomorrow before packing up the car and heading to the coast.

We ate out tonight at Pepino's because we were both so exhausted after work. When I am tired, it is very hard to convince myself to prepare a healthy meal. I had a bean burrito and salad, so I didn't eat too unhealthily. Camping menu brings veggie burgers and granola bars for the sake of convenience. I stayed at my mom's house last weekend and had to bring two large bags filled with groceries. Camping shouldn't have to be that complicated. We already tote creature comforts such as an air mattress, folding chairs, and fire starters (since Matt doesn't do well with campfires), there's no need to add soy products to our already full car.

Enjoy the weekend and make your way outside to experience the lovely weather.

Cooking Up a Storm

Did not have any animal products today. Made coconut pie pancakes for breakfast. They were ok, but not great. Matt even tried them! I think that the texture will take some getting used to since I had to use bananas to replace eggs.

Matt and I went to the Orono Farmer's Market this morning. He was looking forward to getting some fresh tomatoes since ours aren't ripe yet. When we walked up to the first stall, he picked several out and was excited about buying them...until he looked at the next stall over and saw that their tomatoes were redder and better looking overall. I told him that the lesson here is to not buy the first thing you see, shop around! We also got some fresh basil, onions, green beans (my plants have stopped producing), and Matt got some chicken.

We then went to the Natural Living Center where I picked up some tofu and vegan pepperoni. Matt even said he would try the pepperoni on the pizzas we are planning to make this coming week! I am so proud of him for being open minded about new foods.

Matt and I are going to my mom's house to have a BBQ with my family, so I had to prepare some extra food for me since I will be staying with them until Tuesday. I made lentil and brown rice casserole for dinner and the following for the BBQ/next couple of days: lentil dip, pasta and bean salad, sweet potato cajun fries, potato and leek soup, sesame asparagus, and cinnamon donut holes. All the food I made is very healthy and vegan. YUM!

Matt tried to convince me to order out pizza from Pizza Hut tonight instead of eating my lentil and brown rice casserole, but I stood strong and we ate at home! That is a major accomplishment for us.

Too bad the dishes that come along with cooking at home are so overwhelming. I think between the two of us, we washed every dish we own three times today!

Back From the Dead

Hello there!

I was thinking about creating another blog in the attempts to get back into writing, but then I remembered that there was one here. In the spirit of trying not to waste what I already have, I decided to return to this blog I started more than three years ago.

I have been experimenting with food recently in an attempt to eat healthier. I decided to become a vegetarian after listening to a provocative podcast called "Vegetarian Food For Thought" which pushed me into action. The podcast mentioned several times that becoming vegetarian can be a freeing experience because you can finally feel like you are living your life to match the way you feel inside. That is exactly how I feel. I have loved animals since I was a kid and I always hated to think about where meat came from, but I continued to eat it. I briefly abstained from meat after watching the movie "Fast Food Nation" where they show cows being butchered. It was horrifying and it made me sick to think about. Eating meat was more convenient for me because my husband, Matt loves it. I eventually got over the images from the movie and went back to my old lifestyle. Looking back it feels like I was denying who I really am.

I recently purchased several books about Veganism which have been very interesting and enlightening. We recently returned from a vacation to Memphis, TN and upon my return, I made a trip to the local health food store and revamped our cupboards. Matt has been very supportive (which is hard since I flip flop my mind a lot when it comes to food). I have been trying new recipes and he has been trying them (a great feat for him).

Last night we had burritos (his with meat, mine without) and a yummy coconut and banana pudding that I made from scratch. Tonight I made eggplant parmesan with pasta and for dessert I made coconut and carob cookies. Matt liked the cookies a lot and even continued eating them after I told him that I had added flax seeds for added fiber! The eggplant parm was delicious and I even made the sauce from scratch! It is a lot of fun for me to make food that I know is healthy for me and Matt.

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this healthy lifestyle.

Read the Reviews

I have been cooking regularly now for about 3 years. I have some simple recipes mastered, but week after week, they become monotonous and I often turn to the internet to "spice things up" if you will.

I remember a cookie recipe I used from allrecipes.com (excellent site) and after the cookies were done my roommates were more than willing to test out my new treats. With one bite they all looked at each other and made a face that I have come to know quite well. It was the face of "this-is-disgusting-but-who-is-going-to-tell-the-cook." People make this face while deciding exactly that, while they try to choke down whatever the offending food is. Well, the recipe I used was mis-typed and called for 3 TABLESPOONS of vanilla. Being an inexperienced cook, I didn't really notice.

Later, once I had thrown away all my hard work and ingredients, I discovered something on the website meant to help people like me. They are called "reviews," and are posted by people who have used the recipe. It is like trying it out without having to do all the work. There, in plain black and white, were more than 30 people yelling to anyone who would listen, that the recipe required 3 TEASPOONS of vanilla. Had I read the reviews before attempting the recipe, I would have saved myself a lot of heartache and wasted time.

I have remembered that lesson well and every time I try a new recipe, I make sure to read the reviews for hints and tips from other cooks.

Tonight was an exception however, the recipe received rave reviews and apparently everyone loved it....but us. I made chicken curry and rice. I followed the recipe to a T and it looked pretty good. Well, long story short, Matt just returned with take-out Chinese food.

New lesson: read the reviews, but everyone has very different tastes.

The Curse of Perfectionism

Matt thinks I am a perfectionist. Sometimes I agree with him. We have come to the joint conclusion that everyone is a perfectionist in one way or another, some of us just have more ways.

Me? I want to be the best and most prepared teacher, the best and most prepared parent, and the best and most prepared wife. I have spent countless hours researching the field of education, preparing boxes of materials for my future classroom, and writing lesson plans for my future students. I cut articles out of parenting magazines on throwing the best birthday parties, I have baby names picked out, and I know exactly what to expect when I am expecting.

I obsess over things and want them to be perfect. I attempt to control everything, even the uncontrollable. I want it to be perfect.

I am currently in a cooking/baking stage. I am making everything from scratch, muffins, soups, breads...everything. It is fantastic and I am pleased with it so far. Matt on the other hand, worries that I am over-doing it. That I am stressing myself out for no reason. Don't you know that you can buy pre-made, already sliced bread at the grocery store? My own bread that I kneaded with my own hands tastes better to me. Is that so wrong?

This phase is new so I am still allowing for mistakes in my perfectionism. I threw out an entire batch of apple oatmeal muffins because, although they smelled delicious, it was noticeable that the cover to the nutmeg fell off and spilled in my batter. I was upset that I wasted all those ingredients, but I am allowing for a learning curve, and I will do better next time. Making mistakes gives me something to strive for.

Tonight, for instance, I made pumpkin muffins (my second attempt) and I made cream cheese frosting to put in them. The frosting I made last time left much to be desired so I tried a new recipe. This one was fantastic! But...I had way too much frosting left over. Instead of getting upset that I had an excess of leftovers, I am going to make a carrot cake tomorrow to bring to my in-laws. I am making the proverbial lemonade from my lemons.

Perfectionism or not, I am constantly striving to be better.

In the Know

I am reading a book titled "Mother's Milk" by Edward St. Aubyn. It is an interesting book and certainly more cerebral than the light summer reading I have been devouring for the past year. As I have been reading it, I have been marking pages with quotes that make me think. All of these quotes deserve a blog post so that I can really work though them, but who has the time. I went through the first half of the book I have read so far and I picked the quote that fits my life at this moment.

"I remember complaining to my doctor about the side effects of the Ribavirin he prescribed me. "Oh, yes, that's known," he said with a kind of tremendous infectious calm. Mind you, when I told him about a side effect that wasn't known, he dismissed it by saying, 'I've never heard of that before.'" (p.103)

Perhaps the quote is not as interesting when taken out of context, but nonetheless it speaks to me. It speaks to me about the known versus the unknown and how sometimes our brains help us to "unknow" the things we know to be true.

I had an attack of pelvic pain the other night. When Matt asked me how long it had been happening, I couldn't tell him because I didn't know exactly. I remember thinking the last time that it happened "I should probably call my doctor because this feels like the pain from my ovarian cyst." Did I call my doctor? No. I moved on and convinced myself that it was a one time thing and it would take care of itself. That was over 3 months ago and the pain keeps returning. I knew something was wrong, but my brain dismissed it and turned it into the unknown.

I called the doctor today and made an appointment to make the unknown known.

Water Country

Matt and I just got back from Water Country in NH. Matt had never been to a water park before so my parents decided it was time to break him in. The weather was overcast and calling for rain when we arrived but it cleared up over time. Matt and I made a point to liberally apply the sunscreen (SPF 60+) because we are so pale.

The day was really fun. We went on 5 water slides and spent a lot of time floating around in their lazy river. Despite my sunscreen application I burned my shoulders, back, and chest. Silly Matt burned the back of his hand (?) and the little spots on his head where his hair line is receding (don't tell him that I told you).

It amazes me how a day outside playing in the water can tire you out. Our plans for the night is to wear sweatpants and veg out with the cat.