7 Quick Takes: Vol 11

1.
We have a house guest (again). I am trying to walk the fine line between being hospitable and enabling. This little voice tells me I should give without asking, always. Its friend reality is bogged down by one too many late nights watching Law & Order, skeptical of everyone's intentions, not ready to trust blindly. I'm vacillating (internally, of course, I'm not a total jerk) between being a gracious host and being irritated about schedule and routine interruption now that we finally seem to have made something work. Argh, human emotions! Why can't you be simpler? More graceful? Less selfish? I'm trying, I swear.

2.
I should change my name to Mendel, because somehow I have managed not one, but two different hybrid sweet pepper species. It would seem my little lovelies have been cross-polinating themselves (well, I'm sure the bees have something to do with it ...) like mad. We have yellow banana peppers, sweet green bell peppers, and now tiny yellow bell peppers and giant long green banana peppers. Ei yi yi. It's pure prolific pepper craziness out there.

3.
I am at the end of my first full week (there was also half a week before that, but then I skipped some ... ) of green smoothie drinking. Are you a fan? Have you jumped on the liquefied greens bandwagon? I'm not cool enough to be drinking just blended greens, but the addition of fruit is helping immensely (and the more I read online, the more I realize I am unintentionally ahead of the game as far as the greens outweighing the fruit goes). The first few mornings it was all I could do to talk my brain into letting that glass of slime anywhere near my mouth, but once I got past the, "Oh no! I'm about to drink a glass full of liquidy green stuff and that cannot possibly taste at all better than say ... pool algae or pond scum", I've been doing just fine. I'm starting to love them, honestly. Liquified spinach: A Great Way To Start The Day.

4.
I have an appointment with the dentist in an hour. I am far less than thrilled, knowing the cavity fairy has been here and I'm going to need fillings. Most people don't enjoy the drill or the potential for pain, but really I cannot stand the numb mouth feeling. I hate that big fat lip, cheek biting, drooling all over yourself craziness. Hate it. My anticipation anxiety is not liking it either. I'm also not a fan of that much unproductive time. Do you think I can get away with catching up on podcasts and reading email on my Blackberry while I get my teeth drilled?

5.
I have a birthday coming up (in 20 short, short days), and I am not coping well with it. Although I appreciate whomever suggested we 'age gracefully', I am much more inclined to tantrum my way begrudgingly instead. I do not like this birthday so much right now. The fact that I'm (for real) not eating gluten (again) kills the only anticipatory happiness there was ... about cake. If there weren't people coming over to celebrate, I may just lock myself in my room until the next week.

6.
There used to be something here ... honestly ... and now it's gone *poof*, bye bye. Blogger ate my 6th Quick Take, and my tired brain cannot remember what in the world it was in the first place. Booooo.

7.
I saw some really rockin' things happen at church last week. I want to write about them, but I'm still trying to figure out which venue is the right one. Oh, self, one day you will write freely and with joy regardless of content or location ... one day.



Simply,

Em.

ps, Check out more Quick Takes Fridays at Jen's blog.

Menu Plan Monday: 13-19 July

The garden is in bloom. The sun is shining. It's summer time in MI, and that means perpetual veggie tray time. Do you have one? We use one of those chip/dip containers that are often used for parties ... you know the ones with the outer ring of compartments and the little cup part in the middle? It has snowflakes on it, so it's not the most aesthetic or seasonally appropriate object we own. We fill all the sections with cut veggies, and every night it makes a dinner time appearance. The work is already done, the produce is grab and go, and everyone gets a little extra taste of summer at every meal. When something runs out, I just fill in the spot with something else. It's amazing to me how much more produce gets eaten when we use this method. No one likes to dig in the fridge for tiny containers of a million things, I suppose, and although it takes up a boat load of fridge space, I'm counting it as totally worth it if it means my family gets the veggies they're supposed to. As such, you'll see it appear almost constantly from now until the seasonal goodness runs out (we don't like to buy off season produce because of the impact it has on the environment) as a reminder to me to pull it out of the fridge.

13-19 July 2009

M: Inside Out Shepard's Pie, rolls, salads, veggie tray

T: Chicken stir-fry, salads, veggie tray

W: Beef hot dogs, oven fries, salads, veggie tray

R: Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, salads, veggie tray

F: Personal size pizzas with DIY fancy salad bar

S: Battered fish, yellow rice, veggies

U: Sausage egg sandwiches, fruit salad, veggie tray


Breakfasts
Cereal w/Silk x2
Eggs and toast
PBJs with fruit
Oatmeal with dried fruit x2
Sausage pancake puffs

Lunches
Pasta leftovers
PBJs with hummus and veggies x2
Stir fry leftovers
Hot dog mac
Veggie cheese wraps
Vegetable soup and rice


What's on your menu?

For a million more great ideas, check out the Org. Junkie.

Simply,

Em.

Dirt Cheap: Garden Befores and Afters

Oh, how the rain and unbearable heat have done my little green friends well. For your viewing pleasure, gratuitous garden pictures for your enjoyment. I got a little *ahem* picture happy while we were on break from weeding.

The baby cucumber in a pot, 1 June.

That same cucumber, 28 June.

The strawberry plants, with its cute little half-eaten berry (darn birds!), 1 June.

The strawberry plants, 28 June.
There haven't been anymore berries. I don't know what exactly to think about that ... a strawberry plant that looks healthy and full, and yet, makes no fruit. Am I just impatient? Maybe.

The herb garden, 1 June.
(basil, lavender, rosemary, marjoram, parsley, sage, thyme, mint, oregano, and hore hound)

The herb garden, 28 June.
It was the part of the day when that side of the house is shaded, so forgive the less than stellar lighting.

Lonely baby snow peas, radishes, and carrots just pushing through, 1 June.

Those same babies, now giants.
The row closest to you is green beans, the next one is peas, after there are carrots and parsnips, then bushy radishes, and onions in the far corner.

The garden view in the other direction, peppers and tomatoes on 28 June.

Bell peppers, blossoming.

Banana peppers, coming on strong.

A nest of green cherry tomatoes.
If these things actually turn red, we'll be swimming in them. I hear the dehydrator calling my name already.

That was fun. I loooooove garden pictures just about as much as I love gardening. Are you growing anything? Take pictures! Blog them! Comment me with the links! I'd love to check them out (and possibly start using fewer exclamation points ... ).


Simply,

Em.

The Everything Post

Where have I been all this time?! My goodness how one day turns into 7 before you even know it. I've had all the things I wanted to post floating around in my head, but it's officially 937 degrees Fahrenheit here (ok, high 80s, probably low 90s today) and when it's that hot I want to do nothing but find a semi-reasonable place to sit (like the basement, in a corner, where it's 'cooler' ... by 2 or 3 degrees) and not move a muscle lest the Niagra Falls of sweat come forth from all parts of me at once. I hate being hot. Hate it. This is why we live in MI and not a warmer state. I would melt. It may happen this week, and I have the mop at the ready in case. Here we go, everything all together now ...

Some Quick Takes
1.
I already told you it's hot, but it begs repeating. I do not like sweat rolling down the sides of my face because I'm standing still washing dishes in less than completely sanitary tepid water because I may just die if it were any warmer. I would really like a breeze, any breeze, even a hot one, to cut the density in the air. We do not have air conditioning, lest you think I'm complaining about hot weather for fun. I know there are many of you that survive much hotter temperatures also without AC, but seriously ... I can't take it. We don't have AC for a number of reasons.

1. It's reaaaaaallllly expensive for my electric bill.
2. It's not so fantastic for the environment with all those AC units pumping out exhaust and such.
3. If we did, I would not be able to control myself and we'd likely have it set at 35 degrees from March until October, bringing us right back to point number 1. When AC is involved, my rational mind desolves to putty and I have no self-control. Total abstinence is out only sound option.

2.
I don't like to cook when it's hot, but this morning I convinced myself to get a roast into the crockpot since I was awake anyway and eventually we'd have to eat. I'm calling it a gold star day just for that. Haha.

3.
I had an unforutnate accident on Sunday that now requires a dentist's appointment and a lot of my conscious attention as to not show anyone the monstrosity when I speak. It doesn't hurt, but come Friday, at the dentist, it likely will. Thank heavens for dental insurance.

4.
The summer semester started yesterday. I promise I was not intentionally skipping class. I really honestly thought it was a T/R class, not a M/W one. Not until the email hit my phone from another girl asking where I had been did I go look at the course schedule. I've been convinced for months that it was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ooooops.

Some Shopping Round-Up
I went to Costco and Meijer on Friday. There weren't any super amazing deals I needed to get in on, we were just out of a couple things that I had been putting off picking up for ... more than a little while. I did manage to get one box of half-price minus $1 coupon Snickers ice cream bars, and a raincheck for 12 more. Now, to find coupons ... Em is hot and needs ice creams!

Some Simple Sunday
What's better on a Sunday, especially Father's Day, and most especially when it falls on the longest day of the year ... than a late evening trip to the lake? It was hot. We were melting. We piled in the car at 9pm and headed to the lake for a quick swim. A little chilly at first, sure, but once initially submerged, swimming was heaven. It was like magic. Not hot. No longer puddling into your shoes. Just cool and marvelous, plus the beginnings of a sunset while we were swimming made for an marvelously simply Sunday.

Some Menu Plan Monday
M: Sausages on the Grill, Chips

T: Crockpot Beef Roast, Potatoes, Greens & Spinach Salad

W: Hamburger Helper (which I don't like, fyi), Greens & Spinach Salad

R: Fried Chicken Salads, Cut Veggies

F: Survivor Night ... eat what you can find, or starve. I will likely be having milkshakes ... and pudding ... and other things that don't hurt one's already hurting post-dentist teeth.

S: Pork Chops, Noodle Side, Steamed Veggies, Green Salads

U: Zuppa Toscana

Some Gratituesday
For more Gratituesday, check out The Heavenly Homemakers.
Today, I'm grateful for ...

... warm weather that helps my garden grow, even if it makes me terribly uncomfortable.
... cool swims at dusk.
... ice cream.
... self-employment.
... the appreciation of the women I work with.
... crunching on ice cubes, even if it's horrible for my teeth.
... dental insurance.
... Be, who although I currently look funny, still loves me.
... the tiniest hints of a breeze.
... getting up early of my own volition.
... schedule switching.
... the AC in my car being functional.
... a cool basement to retreat to.
... the library, full of great books, for free!
... money in the bank, bills paid.
... a clean house, easier on the hot weather sanity than a dirty one.
... grace.
... every day, hot or not, that I get to live in this perfect world.


Wasn't that wacky? So long as I don't melt, regular posting will resume. If, instead, I turn into a giant puddle of crazy, I can make no guarantees.

Simply,

Em.

Dirt Cheap: Our Gardening Adventure ... Part 1

Memorial day weekend in Michigan means the threat of frost is gone (well, we hope ... ), and the time has come for ... gardening! I loooooove this time of year, and those cute little plants in the ground. I do generally forget how much work putting those adorable sprouts in the ground can be, but my calves and hamstrings do a fabulous job reminding me every week after Memorial day. Last year, we planted in a circle. Yea, really, what in the world were we thinking?! We had this vision for cute concentric circles, but the plants had other plans and did everything they could to turn the whole thing into a jungle. This year, we're back to a rectangle (and while we're at it ... why not expand a little ... teehee).

This is a shot of Be and my brother Abby putting up the perimeter stakes after the rototilling was finished. Great tip: Don't buy a rototiller, but instead find someone you know or who lives near by from whom you can borrow one for a few hours. Be's dad came down to do ours, and bingo bango we don't have to shovel by hand or lay out $600 for a rototiller. Share things! Buying new is both expensive and not always the best use of resources.

Now, since we have 2 large dogs who really like to be in the backyard, and whose footprints although adorable are not my favorite thing when they're trampling down baby tomatoes, we needed to figure out a fencing solution. Last year, we used a little metal wire fence. It was cute for a minute, but at only a foot and a few inches high, it was also entirely too easy for the dogs to simply step over. With a mind for just making do, we really did evaluate the option of using the metal fence again (of course, we saved it ...), but it honestly didn't survive being taken down last fall all that well. There are broken pieces all over (hooray for tetanus!?), not to mention the part where it's quite happy being bent in the shape of a circle.

Hmmm. What to do, what to do?

I begrudgingly agreed to browse the local Menard's in search of a fencing solution. They did have approximately knee high fencing on sale, but even the 36inch sections were upwards of $4 each. With 80 feet of garden perimeter to cover, the $100+ price tag was a little out of reach for us.

"So, what if we use this snow fence?"

Yes, indeed, snow fence. In the winter here, locals put up plastic fencing along the beaches to keep the sand and snow from getting out of control together. What's better? Menard's had 50 feet of glorious green (rather than the standard blaze orange) snow fence for $20. Instead of buying 2 rolls to cover the 80 feet, we simply cut one of them in half with the hacksaw, doubling the amount of coverage and making the fence just the right height.

See?! Fabulous green snow fence!

The even cooler part, the perimeter poles that we are using this year are holdovers from last year when we used them to tie up tomato plants in vain attempts to remedy the jungle phenomenon that the circle garden created. The poles are generally used for running electrical fence, and we picked them up for $1 at the local Tractor Supply. Oh, it gets better! My love of this semi-recycled cobbled together snow fence does not end. Not only are the poles serving a borrowed role, they have these amazing little clips on them that serendipitously fit the fence height perfectly. We had a roll of plastic coated twist tie which we had planned to use to secure the fence, but lo and behold, totally unnecessary. Each section just slipped into the little clip and on we went to the next. I am fascinated with the way it all worked out.

Ooooooo, pretty snow fence!
And, the adorable Be, from an angle he will likely not appreciate me snapping a picture of.

Then of course, it was time to go plant shopping. There are more frugal ways to start gardens. You can buy seeds and start them indoors. You can even save the seeds from the produce you eat, dry them, and start those in cute little pots with hopes that they'll come up. I've done a fair share of seed starting in the past, and it never goes well. In the places where our house is full of sun, there's no awesome place for rows and rows of seed pots. In the places where there is space, there are no windows. Or, as we discovered last year, in the mud room where we created a space, and the windows abound, it is simply far too cold for seed starting. Ugh. This year, we purchased plants as we hadn't come up with a sweet seed starting solution in time to meet the garden timeline. Next year, I aspire to do better. Until then ... cute little plants in cute little pots.

This isn't even all of them. 36 tomato plants?! Am I crazy?

What follows the purchase of a million little green darlings for the garden? Ah yes, planting them. I always (and I do mean always) forget about this part. I have some bizarre mental block that always seems to make believe that once we get them home, they'll just plant themselves ... or maybe little elves will show up and do it for me in the night. Alas, no, gardening is work. A labor of love, sure, but my glutes doth protest regardless.

The adorable Be using the garden hoe to make rows. He dug the trenches, then mom and I filled them with compost (Oh, how I loooooove compost!), set the plants in, and covered each root base individually.
(Please note, Be really did start shaving his head bald ... he's crazy, I think.)

We ended up with 2 rows of tomatoes, plus 3 in pots and 2 planted experimentally (which I will tell you all about once I get pictures of them), 3 rows of peppers, 1 row each of green beans and peas, and 2 rows of root vegetables (parsnips, carrots, and radishes), plus an onion patch. There are also brussel sprouts, chinese cabbage, kale, strawberries, cucumbers, and blueberries which I haven't gotten pictures of yet. In addition to the regular garden, we have an herb garden up against the back of the house. This year's selection: rosemary, lavender, marjoram, oregano, horehound, sage, parsley, peppermint, thyme, and basil.

Oooooooh, pretty herb garden.

There it is, the beginning of our gardening adventure. I plan to update as the season progresses with new pictures and produce totals. Are you gardening this year? Tell me about it in the comments!

Simply,

Em.

7 Quick Takes: Volume 1

For more quick takes and other amazingly sweet content, please check out the Conversion Diary!

1.
I've never done a Quick Takes Friday before, but I'm a list maker at heart and a girl with a terrible addiction to bullet points, so I'm hoping to become a new regular. I've been reading Jennifer's blog for awhile, and it rocks. You should check it out. I'm compelled on occasion to talk about non-frugal life stuff (is there such a thing?!), so hopefully if we stick to quick takes I won't bore you to death with thesis research ideas or the politics of living in a house full of grown-ups (should that be in quotations? Perhaps.). Ha.

2.
Hoooray! Today was the last day of classes for the winter semester. I still have exams next week, and a weekend full of writing take home exams (by which I mean a weekend full of putting off writing take home exams until Monday ...), but for a solid hour after class let out this afternoon I felt like dancing (or popping the top off an Oberon ...). Hoooooooray no more classes ... until May 4th.

3.
My car is broken. Again. Boooooo. This afternoon, on the way home from school, we noticed an odd noise coming from the front passenger wheel well. This is another installment in a continuing saga in the recent past about my glorious '96 Chrysler Concorde and its steering/drive/wheel problems. Be thinks the "CV Joint" is shot. I think I don't want to know either what that is nor how much it costs. In the interm, until he fixes it (and thank goodness for not having to hire a mechanic!), no el Concordo driving for me.

4.
I really love peanut butter blossoms. In fact, I had one just.this.second. The 3 dozen is no longer 3 dozen for sure, and the family consensus of the Unintentional Baking Day extravaganza is that 1: I should be more regular and intentional about them and 2: I need a new Honey Wheat Bread recipe.

5.
My coupons are a mess. I have a veritable ton of inserts that haven't been cut yet and a huge stack of coupons that have somehow been cut but not yet filed. They're driving my internal perfectionist c-r-a-z-y. The upside, I cannot bring myself to go shopping without them all being in perfect order so I'm surely not out spending grocery budget money. The downside, I'm also paying less attention to the ads and as such have fewer GDAs (that's Great Deal Alerts if you're new here ...) for you fine folks. I hear there are free things to be had this week at both Meijer and Walgreens, but unless a magical elf comes and files my coupons or I get a flying carpet to replace the broken car, I'm not going anywhere. Shop for me, lovies, so I can live vicariously through your deal hunting.

6.
It's beginning to feel like spring time here. My car thermo told me it was 66F when I got out of class today. 66! In Michigan?! In April?! Praise be! Warm weather makes me want to grow things ... which makes me want to organize seedlings ... which makes me remember that we need Be's dad to come by with the rototiller (hidden frugal tip: always borrow what you can and save the cost of buying your own ... with in reason) so we can add compost and be ready to plant after the temps stop dropping into the 30s at night.

7.
Today is the last day to enter my very first blog giveaway. Have I mentioned how blasted excited I am about it? Seriously? Super elated to be able to 1: blog for you in the first place, 2: begin a second year at GSF, and 3: give you sweet streamlined cookbooks as a thank you. There's still time for entries until midnight EST, just check out the blog-iversary post for details.


Ooooh numbered lists, how I adore you. This has been fun!


Simply,

Em.

Goodbye, Garden.

We did indeed frantically pull the best of the remaining bell pepper plants with blossoms as I mentioned in my last post. They are potted and doing swimmingly. Hooray! Since then we have been covering the entire garden with bed sheets to keep the frost off the fruit and leaves in hopes of holding on just a little longer. It indeed got cold enough to harm, though, since the frost spots were evident on what remained of the herb garden (which we did not cover).

All weekend, we have been busy putting things up at record speed in an attempt to save the garden from the frost monster. The dehydrator has been working triple time drying the entire contents of our well stocked herb garden in shifts. We now have dried sage, rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano, greek oregano, marjoram, chives, mint, and basil. There is another batch of marjoram going right now, and then the last of the basil will go in once it's done. There are probably some more chives that could be cut and dried. We'll see how they survive the night, though. We also have an entire patchouli plant that I'm trying to decide what to do with. We used part of it to make herbed olive oil for winter candle making, but I cannot think of anything else we could possibly do with it if I save it by means of the dehydrator.

Today, we made the final decision to pick the mountain of still green tomatoes and pull the remaining plants for composting. The threat of frost and super cold nights is simply too great to warrant leaving them outside anymore, even with a circus tent of bed sheets to shield them. We pulled two tomato plants up whole, one red cherry and one yellow pear, and potted them in containers because they're still blossoming and I am somehow convinced that you can grow them inside with enough love and sunlight. The tomatoes themselves, from the remaining plants, are now in paper grocery bags, hibernating in the mud room, with hopes that they will ripen. We pulled the summer squash, which was dead once and then resurrected itself, and potted it in a hanging pot to add to the mildly gigantic indoor greenhouse we seem to be building. I won't lie, it was a little sad seeing our monsterous garden dismantled, but the stakes are out for the newer, larger, next year garden to be rototilled before the ground freezes. That helps, I think.

I pretty much love the idea of gardening. I love fresh produce in my backyard. I love eating food that we grew, that we know what went on and into, and that is not trucked in from who knows where after being harvested early so that it didn't rot on the way to the market. I love knowing that we don't contribute as heavily to the carbon output of the food industry because we can grow our own produce. I really enjoy supporting local agriculture ... even when the pumpkins don't grow, even when the box elder bugs ate all the cherry tomato blossoms, even when the only watermelon that survived was smaller than a baseball. Ok, I love it a lot.

Summer is over, the garden is now compost, and hopefully we have enough produce to make it through winter. I'll be getting orchard apples this week, squash from the farmers down the road, and pumpkins in two or three weeks. Keep your fingers crossed that the indoor (circus) greenhouse works out so that we have fresh tomatoes and bell peppers for the months to come. Goodbye, garden, we'll miss you.


Simply,

Em.