Those last two weeks were so nice.

So for the last two weeks things were great. I felt totally untouched by our countries depression. I got a promotion to Collections Manager here at the Sports Hall which included a 6% raise which isn't to bad. Joe got hired at Yahoo! and he was making almost 2 times what he was making at Telelanguage. Then.. well.. we got bit. Yahoo! is to lay off 1500 workers. We expect the worse. I am mainly angry because they just just hired him. How did they not see this coming. Haven't they heard of a hiring freeze? So no more health insurance and back to worrying about randomly breaking a leg and hoping that all major injuries happen in the truck because at least that has insurance. We are hoping for at least two months severance pay. He will go on unemployment. I created a budget. Not my spend tracker as before. Now it is budget time. If we spend 2000 a month then we can live for about 1 year without dipping into our meager savings or adding to it (unfortunately). Which is pretty good I think. God willing we won't get sick (I am looking at you Alice! who cost us more in medical bills this past year then ourselves.. but you gotta love that kitty) When we first got here it took Joe 3 months to find a crappy job and the economy didn't suck as much then. So I expect it to take a while to find a decent job again. He doesn't want to settle for something as bad as telelanguage again. I agree. He is smart and has experience in many things. He deserves better, his dues have been paid. Perhaps Portland won't work out after all. I have been rolling this around in my head all day. We LOVE Portland. We want to stay here and buy a house, raise a family (although not in the public school system which has a totally crazy 43% dropout rate!) We want to walk around forest park and Mt. Tabor. We want to do things that aren't free.. really enjoy all that this progressive city has to offer. We want to finally make that trip to the ocean which never seems to be in our cards. But maybe we can't. Maybe we need to city search again. Seattle seems to expensive, big, urban.We could never buy a house in Seattle ( Art History and Labor Relations.. What the Hell were we thinking!) California.. maybe.. I don't want to go back east.Not even a little. We have not felt that terrible feeling of being trapped or stuck since we arrived on the left coast. What about west.. but not as west as here.. Colorado? It might turn blue (THANKS BARB AND RICH!!) Blue is part of my criteria for moving to a new state. I am now 100% anti-snow. I love a moderate climate more that I thought I would. We heat our house with wind and not oil! I don't see it not snowing or being very very cold in CO any time soon. Perhaps I could take up skiing (only after I get health insurance obviously) We shall see. Our lease is until Sept 1st. That is a long way away. Perhaps things will change before then. I currently don't have faith in that.

I wish... but prolly not.

I was reading Bitten a blog on the New York Times website. The entry I listed talks about spending only 20 dollars at the Farmers Market for a dinner for 4. I was a bit appalled that this person thought this was a bargain (he sited the failing economy as a influence in this choice) I wasn't the only one who felt this way as I read the comments. He also used lots of pantry items to make the meal.. making it far over 20 dollars. I was getting increasingly excited that I spend only 70's a week or less. This week we had dinner company twice to boot!. Then I saw this blog about a couple who live on 30 dollars a week on food. I was like holy cow! I thought I could do that!! but then I read a few entries.. and well they don't eat much and the food they buy is very inexpensive..14 cents a lime! That is crazy.. unless of course they are key limes.. in which case I totally get a better deal at .5o a piece.! It did make me want to join the food coop down the street though. Perhaps that will be my winter food volunteer thing. I already miss market. I feel like a waste by the time I get to church on Sunday because I haven't lifted heavy weights across a gravel lot or set up lots of tables and chairs and tents.. June isn't that far away right?...
Anyway about the 30 dollars. In one entry she sites that she misses buying lots of cheese. I never want to miss that. I also like all the fruit I buy and things like ice cream and butter.. can't forget butter!.... and joe eats 3 or four advacados a week.. not one. So well we eat more thats my point.. We are probally skinner ( thats my own personal take but I bet it's true.) I am still pretty jealous that they can do it for 30..
I am actually starting my own food project soon along the lines of the 30 dollars kinda.. Once the big market is over I am going to start taking the money I usually spend there and start stocking up on things over the winter. I want to have lots of canned tomatos.. pasta.. flour.. dried beans etc.... Then when markets start up again in the spring / fall.. I will spend the 70 a week only on local fruit/ veggies.. / milk / cheese etc... I am soo excited for next summer. but first for the saving.. and a long winter of grocery store produce.. blah.

Something we did last year... and this year!

Traditions can finally begin since we have been here a year!

Guilt

Today is a busy day for me. It is my first time riding my bike in the rain. It went a lot better than I thought. We shall see what happened when we add cold.

This afternoon I have to go to the post office to pick up a package that needs a signature. It is petmeds for Alice. Then I have to vacuum the house and apply the med.

The debate is on at 6 - 7:30

I have to stop at the library

I am buying a new food processor- I will pause here for my story. I have been using my grandmothers for the past 5 years. She has had it for as long as I can remember. It finally has broke. Well it still works but is unsafe. When you plug it in it just goes.. pretty scary. So Joe and I have been checking craigslist and I found one for $85. It is a Cuisinart like my old one and it is slightly bigger. and shinny and newish . They apparently only used it for a year and it has been in storage for about 2-3 years. I am pretty excited!!

So the guilt comes from not having time to cook dinner. I have been thinking about buying a frozen pizza.. which is against everything I stand for. Joe seemed excited that I would "let him eat something like that" So I am thinking about it to make my life slightly easier today.

sigh..

I should have planned this better but I have been soo tired all week. I think it may be that I am still used to how dark it gets in the morning here. Or maybe it is the bike riding?

How I split my day.

My job is kinda boring. There are only three of us in the office and I am the youngest person by 40 years. I am the only girl. I don't have much in common with my office mates. To keep it from being silent I have my computer speakers. I love them. They make my day seem not to go by so slow. In the morning when I arrive I listen to 620 KPOJ. First I listen to the local news show for an hour and then Thom Hartman's National Show where I get my national news (all progressive of course!)
That takes me right up til noon. Then I take a lunch break and either listen to ESPN and the fantasy football podcast.. or I watch the Colbert Report from the night before. That takes me to either 12:30 or 1 depending on the day and how I am feeling about working again. After that I listen to Pandora til 4. I am currently have a few new to me bands I like that I found through Pandora. The Postal Service, Au Revoir Simone, and The Blow. I have all their CD's borrowed from the library. I love the library. Today I had an idea and am going to take a Pandora break. I borrowed Blue Like Jazz from the library on CD. and will start listening to it after lunch. The whole title is : Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.
It talks about the Imago Dei Community, a church Joe and I went to for the first time this weekend. It is how Joe learned about it. So I want to be in the know. Maybe if I like listening to books on tape I will expand my horizons. I have less time to read now that I don't take the bus and miss it.
I started biking to work today. It will start raining at the end of the week. We shall see how it goes. On the upside.. I bought a new rain coat for the occasion.

Thrifty.

I am addicted to being thrifty. Addicted! I love it.  Moving to portland really helped with changing my lifestyle. Not that I was spending maniac in the Pitts but I wasn't saving anything either. I knew what bills I had to pay and the rest of the money always evaporated. Here though it is different. Joe and I keep a budget on an excel sheet.  I guess it is more of a tracking sheet than a budget. We don't set guidlines about what we can spend but can look at the sheet and say either "wow! we spent way to much money on X... time to lay off" or "Man, we haven't gone out to dinner at all this month lets treat ourselves!" We have done this for a year now. It is awesome to be able at a glance to see where our money goes. Our biggest expense last year was housing as most peoples is. Our second was misc. which covers things like plane tickets, doctors appointments, glasses, engagment rings.. ect. it goes down from there with categories from student loans to gas for the truck, ect..  Anyway. All of this tracking has had us saving money too! I think of all the small ways I save money and then think i should write articles for Readers Digest or better homes and Gardens or some such magazine. I have read all those articles about saving money from those magazines and what they forget to mention is the lifesyle change. It is easy to say "don't drink starbucks" For someone who buys a coffee every day that could save 1000 dollars a year.  but it is hard to change your morning schedule ..for that person to wake up earlier, make their own coffee, miss the small experiences of waiting in line seeing your barista. It' a tough transitition even if it seems trivial. I don't know that i have a solution for that lifestyle change other than support. I had Joe. it continues to make things easier.  This week our thrifty solution to saving 720 dollars a year was getting rid of our cell phones and getting Vonage. (let me know if you need the number) In other words. I was spending 80 bucks a month on the cell phones and now i am spending. 20.  60 extra dollars a month! Thats change i can believe in. Speaking of the economy.. I can't even log into my 403b. I would only assume there is no money left in there and Tiaa-cref doesn't want me to know. I should have kept it under my matress. or in our new checking account that as 5.1percent interest! Totally redicoulous. Bet you wished you lived in Multnomah County so you could join my credit union and get that rate. It is better than any savings account ever! and i have searched far and wide... any. with looming depression in our future. don't fret over fiancial woes. call me! on my new cheap phone (incoming calls are free! so really I don't mind) 

How it happened.

Of course I have to write about the engagement! It was such a surprise. My last Friday started out ok. I had an ok day at work (Jerome Kersey - an old Trail Blazer stopped by the office.) I got excepted into an all chick fantasy football league set up by ESPN's Mathew Berry. Then I headed home early to wait for comcast. It was the third time comcast had come to try to set up our internet. They sent someone who knew what they were doing and all the sudden we were up and running! I then set up our new wireless router (now called The Network of Justice). After that I looked up recipes for 7 different meals to cover the week. Then I headed to the G-Stores to get my weekly shopping done. I came home a little past 5:30. Joe wasn't home yet.. usually he is. I was happy because I had accidentally left the screen door open and he would have been 'mad' for lack of a better word and then asked me a million times everyday if I did it again just because I had done it once.. I really thought I had dodged a bullet. Joe came in and asked if I wanted to go for a walk up Mount Tabor. It was a beautiful night and dinner was all made and cooking away in the crock pot so I said sure why not. He took a quick shower while I put away the food and filled my water bottle. We got into the truck and became "those" people who have to drive to the park (when we lived in the neighborhood we would scoff at them) Joe mentioned that we used to have such nice times at the park. "I said aren't we going to have a good time tonight?": He thought I knew at this point. I did not. He took the road instead of the stairs and made it easily to the top. We sat on a bench over looking the city and chatted for a while. He then when there was a pause got down on one knee asked me to marry him and whipped out the ring. I had no idea what was going on. I don't know if I saw the ring at first. I asked if he was joking. I then saw the ring and was still in shock. I could only see him and the ring. everything else was blurry. I guess just to be sure I asked if he was joking again. I then said yes. Seized the ring and showered him with kisses. I was then so nervous. I could barely eat dinner after we got home. (Although it was soo good. I made a "farm stand chili" hmmm yummy.. I guess this is neither hear nor there)
I am not nervous now. I now spend my time staring at my hand and walking into different lights to see how the diamond sparkles... how did I ever live without one? I also enjoy calling Joe my fiancé and reminding him that he is really stuck with me now. I also enjoy hearing about how he picked out the style of the ring.. it's one of a kind! He loves talking about things that excite him (he is an instant gratification kind of guy - like when I get the phone call 2 minutes after he leaves the house to tell me about something going on a block away ) I can't believe he kept engagment idea so secret. Excuseme. I have to go stare at my hand and smile for a while.

Yay!

Guess what I did this weekend!

Moved!

I hate moving! It is costly, distracting and annoying. This move considering my hatred went pretty well.  Between Joe , me and the truck it took about 3 days and 8 trips. Joe loves unpacking which is nice because it gets done right away.. (i have previously waited months to unpack some things) So. We are all moved in. I am ajusting to my much smaller kitchen.  I might have more counter space now but a lot less room for all appliances. otherwise our new apartment is fantastic!  Two floors is very nice!.

We are preparing for a busy rest of the year. My parents are coming in just a couple weeks and then Laura and Kati in November  and of course we are planning our trip back to the Berkshires. 

I keep waiting for my work to get more exciting or busy or something. We are 23 days away from our Induction Ceremony. I thought that I would have a lot to do. But so far I created a spreadsheet for table sales.. oooolala. how difficult! I was looking forward to really doing what I want to be doing. but I had to put it off because of an inventory book. The museum hired some professionals to inventory and pack the collection.  They created a book with all the information. But it is hand written and has no key. So I have been spending some time transfering the information into an excel document so it is at least searchable. Then I am going to start accessioning and rehouseing woo! 

Leaving the Hood.

It has almost been one year since Joe and I moved to Portland. We started our new home with a pickem-up truck full of things. It is now greatly expanded as you find out when you pack to move. We has moved into our current apartment mainly because it had the only landlord that would allow us to move in without having met us or having us meet the apartment. We lucked into a great neighborhood. Yesterday was the perfect example of that. We woke up and by 1 pm we were on the side of Mount Tabor. It is an old volcano and a pretty big hill. Here we and thousands of others drank beer and watched an Adult Soap Box Derby.


The fast cars zoomed down at about 40 mph. He slow cars were still going fast but has themes. One was a picnic table with a couple people eating as it raced down. Another was s tage complete with a rock band. All in all it was really fun. A mix of families and hipsters attended the event in typical Portland style. Making the people watching totally awesome. People would walk the track til announcers would tell them to clear the way for the race. People would sprint to the side and then the cars would come down.
After that we headed home for some lunch and a nap. It was about 100 out yesterday. So mixed with beer we needed to. We watched a Red Sox game and then a Bears game before we went out for dinner. We walked about a block to a cute wine bar. It was air conditioned and we were happy. We had a cheese plate and sampled some Pinot Noirs and Cabs from Oregon and Washington and Joe had a local Port to close out the evening. While I was sipping my wine I lamented that we are moving from the hood in less than a week. our new apartment (although bigger, nicer and cheaper) is in not a fancy a neighborhood. I am sure that I will love it once we are moved in and get to explore. For now I will lament Montavilla as we move to Creston - Kenilworth.

Another Exciting Friday.

It is currently 6:30 pm and this is the scene behind me. I know ..what more could a girl ask for. All and all a pretty good week. My first ever museum exhibit is opening on Thursday at the Oregon Historical Museum. It is called "Great Athletes, Great Oregonians" It is what it is. I only had a few weeks to put it together. So my life has been busy writing mini bios about people, cataloging some of their objects, setting up cases. It is not the most thought provoking exhibit but it is what it is. I am surprised that I was able to pull anything together in that amount of time. I got to pull in some Massachusetts with some Red Sox and Celtics. It is featuring Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky for baseball, and Mel Counts and Danny Ainge for basketball.

I decided that I wanted to work in museums when I realized that I got to A. touch things B. write on them. For example not only has someone picked up the Mona Lisa but also wrote a very tiny number on it.
Mostly I want to be a Registrar. I don't want to do exhibits. I just want to organize things and make sure they are staying safe from light and people and acidic environments ect...
But ..I work in a very small museum. I have to do a lot of things I don't want to do... like answer the phone and take messages and be in charge of membership. After September 25th (a big gala that I am also working on) I am going to try to work on the skills I want to use in the future. I just bought a book called " Registration Methods for the Small Museum" I am going to memorize it..and put it to use. October should be more fulfilling than this week... and I am looking forward to it.

Highway Living.

As you may or may not know the museum where I work closed it's doors to the public back in April. After lots of packing and about 12 trips with the movers we are warehoused until we find a new location / identity. I am happy to still have a job. I am happy that i can keep adding things to my resume. I am not happy I have to drive to work. I could take a bus but it would be 2 hours of my day taken up by commuting. Which sounds terrible. So I drive. about 25 minutes each way. I work on highway 99. The warehouse is an old Pendleton woolen mill. So at the very least there is some interesting architecture. The wooden floors sweat oil from years of machines and looms being oiled down. We all have to share the oldest toilet in the world. There are 6 but only one functions. There is a special rule. If the bathroom door is closed... I am in there. If I leave it open I am "taking my chances." There is a Pendleton store attached with some of the most beautiful blankets I have seen. We are next to train tracks and a vacant lot and across the highway from a strip joint called the Acropolis. It is painted blue and white like the Greek flag... it's classy. There are ferral cats that eat off our loading dock. and Lots of birds (who also eat the cat food). The loading dock looks like a Pollock painted with poop. I try not to think about it when I go to and from my car. The Pendleton warehouse worker has Sugar Magnolia as his ring tone.
I have to put up an exhibit at the Oregon Historical Museum by August 15. It is a nightmare. I have so little time and so much to do. It feels pretty good to actually be doing work again.
For times like this one needs a sanctuary. Besides catching last night daily show and colbert report during lunch. I wander over to the wild black berry bushes. Hmm brings back childhood memories of 965. The berries are hot from being in the sun all day. hmm so good. I am positive by the time I get back to work on Tuesday there will be enough for pie making.

Kill the Queen

Ants. I hate them. I have never really hated them before.I have never seen so many in my life as I do in our current apartment. We are clean but they still come. Lots of time it is alice's 'fault' because she eats on the ground. For a while a whole colony was living off our spit in the bathroom sink.
I dream about ants almost every night.
Today while I was drinking my tea I found an ant crawling on my arm. Now I can't shake the feeling that they are every where. I assume every itch I have is an ant.
We have tried to kill them. We have killed at least 5 colonies so far. If the the Combat people aren't lying to us.
They just keep reappearing.
Sometimes... secretly... I wish it was winter just for a day so we could start over.. ant free.

hmmm joint cherry pie.

The Cherry Tree
Our Harvest
Taking a break from pitting
Making my first ever crust
The Pie


The End

Moody Blues

I just had to do my least favorite thing in the whole world. Call people on the phone. Is it weird that I am essentially a secretary ...prolly. I had to call 6 High School children and tell them they just got 2000 dollars. Should be fun right? Nope. They were not as excited as I would have expected. I think 2 grand is a lot of money. Maybe someday they will too. They all seemed reluctant to come to our induction ceremony. They get recogniziton, to be on TV, and a free dinner for them and two family members. all in all not a bad deal... but no. I had to talk to a mother. I just gave your kid money! why are you a bitch! I didn't want to talk to you anyway you didn't win anything! I hope someday soon I can go back to having a job where I don't have to talk to customers or donors or patrons. I would be a much happier girl writing little tiny numbers on things than explaining to someone for the 15'000th time that no we don't sell baseball cards.... we are a museum. Okokok.. I think im done.
Not that I am taking my job for granted. Lots of people would be jealous of my job. I get paid 12 dollars an hour to surf the web. Currently I am at work writing this. Here is a rundown of things I have done today. 8-930 did some work for Joe (my boyfriend not my boss). 9:30-12 read all my comics, the news, the eagle, the Oregonian. 12-1 lunch .. I watch the cobert report during lunch. 1- 2 I called the high school kids. Now I have til 4 to waste. Definitely more news on the horizon for me. It's not like I am the only one that does this.. If I turn around I can see one of my bosses playing tetras. Ahh nonprofit jobs.
It's times like this where I dream of getting a new job. or perhaps winning the lottery. even my old job would be better. At least there were people I could talk to and there was a mission.
Maybe Paul Allen will call me soon and offer me that job.

Chickpea / Sweet Potato Casserole

Chickpea / Sweet Potato Casserole
A few people have been asking for this so here it is.
It is my new comfort food.

1 cup dried chickpeas cooked for two hours. or 1 can
2 medium sweet potatoes (yams also work)
1 small onion (diced)
1/2 Jar Salsa
1 red pepper (diced)
1/2 tsp chili powder
8 corn tortillas (taco sized)
dash of cayanne pepper
salt and pepper
oil


Sauce
1 1/2 cup Milk
3 or 4 Tbs flour
1 1/2 cups of grated cheese

Cooking
-- Chickpeas. If you are using dried (which tastes better but is slightly more work) soak the beans in water (in a bowl or container with a couple of inches covering the beans all day or overnight) Drain and rinse the beans. Put the beans in a sauce pan with a few inches of water covering them. Bring to a boil then simmer for 2 hours.
-- Sweet potatoes. peal the tato and dice into cubes, toss with oil and salt and pepper and bake for about 40 minutes. or grate and pan fry in a few tablespoons of butter for ten minutes or boil and mash.
(I usually do those first two steps the night before while I am cooking that nights dinner. then the rest doesn't take that long.)

-- In a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and cooked till tender (about 5-10 minutes).
Add the salsa, potatoes, Chickpeas, seasonings, salsa. Heat through.
-- Meanwhile. Heat 1 and 1/4 of the milk over meduim heat. Mix the remaining 1/4 with the flour. When the milk is warm whisk in the flour. Whisk for about a minute. Slowly add and whisk in the grated cheese. The sauce will be thick.
-- Cut the tortillas in half and layer the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 baking dish with 1/2 the torts. Add the filling. Layer the top with remaining torts. Pour on milk sauce. Sprinkle a little more cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.
-- serve with sour cream (optional)

Last time I made this it was enough food for Joe and I to eat dinner and two lunches.

So Tired.

We have been busy. We went to Seattle to visit and see the Sox. Dave came for a few days. I feel like I haven't slept in in ages. I don't see that happening til mid-June. Ouch. This weekend is the Rose Festival. So we may head out to the Grand Parade that goes through downtown. I doubt we will get to see much of it because they allow you to camp on the route the night before.. and we are totally not doing that. I am sure it will be the biggest parade I have ever seen in person. I think somewhere around 300,000 people pack into downtown to see the parade. Sunday is my first day of volunteering at my neighborhood farmers market! I took the early morning shift so joe and I could still have the day to do weekend things. I am super excited about the market. Soon joe and I will be eating vegetables grown on a sustainable farm just 1.5 miles from our house! Recently I have been reading a lot of foodie books. So now I dream about owning a farm.. not really all the work just the benefits of yummy veggies and grass fed meat. I bought a powerball ticket this week. so we shall see.

How to get things done.

Joe and I are heading to Seattle for the weekend for a mix of the two best things, family and the Red Sox. It is our first time away from Portland together since Thanksgiving. (I actually left for a night once with Eric while he was visiting) It feels like we are going on vacation. Joe's work friend is going to check in on Alice. Joe doesn't have to work til Wednesday and I am taking till Tuesday afternoon off. I am so excited. That makes my Friday very busy. We use the weekend usually to do errands. I grocery shop, do the laundry, clean (sometimes). So I have to smush it all into Friday instead of spread out over three days. Luckily I only work til 1pm on Fridays so I have a good portion of the day to work with. I have to make a list of things I need to do or they never get done. A list is very important. For the past week or two my dresser has been broken. The top drawer became separated. I can open it but everything stays put. I can't complain because we got the dresser from the side of the road. It is on my list now. So tonight I will take out the duck tape and fix that puppy up so I can actually see what socks I will be wearing instead of just getting what I get. I made our weekly dinner list last night. On Thursday I sit and looks though cook books and figure out what food we are going to eat for the next week. I make a list of possible dinners (I try to pick out 8 meals so I don't have to stick to the list exactly) The list also includes a rundown of ingredients so I can make my grocery list based on it. It sounds complicated but it works. This week we are going to have Bouangerie Beans and Potatoes. (hmm totally the best meal that is so easy and inexpensive). Tempeh Chili with black beans, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad, Corn Pancakes Thai Style, and Pasta with a sauce cooked in my new slow cooker. ( I know that is only 5 but we will be away this week) Bonnie and Holly got the slow cooker for me. I have made Tuscan Rosemary Beans (which kind of turned into a soup but was still delicious.)and today I am slow cooking beets all day. I can't wait.Joe has really turned me on to beets. It is going to be awesome to get home and have the whole house smell so earthy! I wish I could leave work now so I could get all this stuff done. I really want to get to the best part of the evening which will be a couple glasses of Absinthe and a Red Sox game that starts at 7pm instead of 4!

Rally

I don't know if you can tell from the photo but way in distance there is a little flag. That is how far away we were from Obama. We stood in a line that snaked around a good 13 or 14 city blocks. There ended up being about 75,000 people. Pretty Crazy.

Imagine.

Could you imagine Kerry or Kennedy standing in Park Square, waving, trying to get your vote? Prolly not. Well today I saw Steve Novick waving at a busy intersection right outside of downtown. He is the current front runner for senator. I am pretty happy I voted for him. He is an interesting guy. He has a hook for a hand. (part of his campaigning was a beer called Left Hook Lager.) I am taller than he his if you can imagine me being taller than anyone. oh an I pretty much (but not totally but more so than I did with other candidates) agree with him politically too.
Speaking of politics Joe and I are going to see Obama on Sunday! Should be pretty interesting since neither of us have ever been to a political rally before. More on that to come.

Other Blogs

I was just reading over Joe's blog when I read this.



"I got home to a house full of wonderful smells and Lauren doing some serious cooking. ...
homemade pan fried seitan lentil loaf, braised carrots and a broiled asparagus casserole with homemade bread crumbs and local extra sharp cheddar aged 3 years. On top of it all was a delicious mushroom nutritional yeast gravy."

And I thought damn I became crunchy.. remember when I used to eat rare burgers?



For those of you who don't know what seitan is (I didn't either till I had a corned seitan sandwich at a Vegan resturant) It is made out of wheat gluten. Wiki says "It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as a gummy mass, which is subject to further processing." I purchased mine as you would with flour. I made mine by putting 3/4 of a cup into the food processor and then adding 1/3 of a cup of dried lentils. Mix it for a minute or two with 3/4 of a cup of water and presto you have a nice sticky gummy dough. You let the dough sit for 20 minutes under a towel and then boil it for about 1 hour. (I boiled mine in 6 cups of water mixed with 1/3 of a cup of soy sauce. ) and thats it.. It turns into about a 1.5 pound loaf. That kinda looked like the one below if that one were to have lentils in it. I may try straight out seitan next time.
Nutritional yeast too might also make you wonder. Nutritional yeast is grown on mineral enriched molasses and used as a food supplement. At the end of the growth period, the culture is pasteurized to kill the yeast. Nutritional yeast contains 18 amino acids (forming the complete protein) and 15 minerals. Being rich in the B-complex vitamins, it is vital in many ways and particularly good for stress reduction. The B-complex vitamins help make nutritional yeast such a valuable supplement, especially to the vegetarian. It fortified with B12, a nutrient generally found only in animal food sources. One element of yeast is the trace mineral chromium, also known as the Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF). This is necessary to regulate blood sugar and is important for diabetics and people with a tendency toward low blood sugar.
Hmm yummy... I know you are thinking that.

Lovely Weekend

Another weekend has passed us by... sigh. It was much to short but eventful. On Saturday we started our morning by going to the Portland Farmers Market. There we bought some kale and Oregon cheddar and a pear and an apple. As some of you may know I have so far been disappointed by Cheddar on the left coast. It is orange and not very sharp. I have tried to find some in the stores but so far I have had to get Cabot which isn't from the great state of Oregon but Vermont. This time though we have bought some raw milk white cheddar from the Willamette Valley. Yum!. I haven't had any kale yet. Last time I ate kale was in college and I thought it was gross... so we shall see. I am making it into an "autumn burger" even though it is spring. Joe then took me to the downtown library. It like most city libraries has some nice architecture. I returned my Simpson's DVD that I borrowed from a different branch. We then headed to the Hawthorne Neighborhood. We tried a new sushi place called Toney Bento. Joe had a tuna roll and a 'Philadelphia' roll (salmon, chives, and cream cheese.) I had some real Ramen. I until recently thought Ramen only came in a 10 cent package from Nissin Top Ramen. Joe and I are opposite from when we first started dating. He is now eating the fish and I am the one seeing what tofu is on the menu. We finished our evening with a walk to the top of Mount Tabor to watch the sunset over the city. Sunday we went to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a nice little picnic area with a great waterfall. It is a two tiered fall that is about 100 feet high. We went back to Hawthorne and had some awesome Mexican food from a place called Cha Cha Cha. I finally had some nachos (which I have been craving) and Joe had a huge burrito. We are finishing our night with some Chickpea Gnochi and a salad. I couldn't ask for more.

Pop Pop and Away.

Monday was the last Femderday (pronounced Fem-Der-Day)/ Romantic Movie Monday. Sigh.. Such fond memories. It all started when Joe and I moved to Portland. I had a job he didn't. When I left for work he was home. When I got home from work.. he was home.. When I had a day off.. he was home.. I think you get the picture. So when he got a job Monday became mine! Manderday or whatever was his.. but my day was better. It started in the winter. Burr Cold.. I would wake up late.. not change out of my pajama's eat popcorn (and nothing else.) and watch movies that Joe would call girly. Hmm it was wonderful. I sometimes made red sauce on monday. It evolved over time.. I would wake up late.. and go shopping.. and eat popcorn with hot sauce. or I would wake up late.. eat popcorn.. and just watch my soaps or 10 reruns of Wil and Grace. perhaps season one of Grey's Anatomy. Eventually monday became soup day. Soup takes a long time and is not best prepared after a long day at work.
But all of that is ended. I went all out this week.. I slept in. I went shopping ( bought a really cute skirt).. I made cookies and popcorn (with soy sauce, hot sauce, and nutritional yeast) for lunch. I watched the best romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally" .. I watched the last 5 minutes and the first five minutes of two soaps. I made a very yummy Baked potato soup. All in all a very good day. Now Joe and I have the same two days off. Manfemderday? Femmanderday (ohh I like the sound of that.!)

Rip City

Most of the time I forget that I live in a city. Besides hearing city buses accelerate up the large hill in front of our house our neighborhood is very quiet. Joe and I have been doing a lot of walking around the hood recently and we see things like neighbors talking to each other, kids playing together, and people working in their yards . It really doesn't feel like the city life I imagined at all. Then today on my way to work I started to compare my commute to when I worked at the Rock. My commute from Madison Ave to Stockbridge was about 25 minutes. I had to drive.. yuck!.. I passed 5 gas stations.. North street in Pittsfield... strip mall Lenox.. downtown Lenox.. then there were pretty rolling hills.. Tanglewood.. Kripalu.. and finally work. It was always rushed. I was always late. Instead of enjoying the beauty I was speeding going 50 in a 30 trying to get to my desk before my boss got to his. Now my morning has a pretty set routine of email and tea. Cleaning up the clutter in the house.. feeding Alice.. I meet my bus at 8:26am every morning. Greet the bus driver and sit in the third row of seats by the window.(if someone else is sitting there I give them a dirty look) then I have about 80 blocks of relaxation. Today I tried to remember what I pass on my way to work which takes about the same 25 minutes as my old commute. I pass three laundries.. more than 6 coffee shops.. countless restaurants. From Indian to Italian.. Balkan to Thai... breakfast joints and pub food.. to one of Portland's fanciest eateries. I passed sports bars and music bars... dive bars.. and a dance clubs. Of course there are a few banks.. a bowling ally.. a movie theater.. hippie stores.. hipster stores.. a tea shop.. at least 4 convenience stores.. 2 dentists.. plus houses, apartments.. condos and buildings under construction. oh and the county election offices. I could go on but I am sure you are already bored. So then as my bus pulled into downtown and the scene changed from building not over 3 stories to high rises and I realized that yes I do live in a city.. but no.. It's not like one I have been to before.

A lot out of a little.

Just about every time I went to the grocery store in recent memory I have gotten 'in trouble' for spending to much money. At the time we were living on easy things to make, a potato, a veggie, some protein (pre-made veggie burgers, cutlets, nuggets and the like.) After dinner and peeling ourselves off the couch we would then have to make lunch for work the next day... ugg. All in all, it was not a fun process. So I have heeded the call and made some changes to our diet and grocery bill. It started with casseroles.. they were easy ( I used a lot of fake soup) and if I made the right one we could eat it the next day for lunch. Now after yet another change of heart I no longer want to eat fake soups, fake meat products or anything processed. I actually spend less time in the kitchen now and less money at the store! It all starts with my planning. I sit down once a week and plan out every meal. I now cook like there are 4 of us leaving enough for dinner and lunch the next day ( no more making two meals at night!) So this week the menu is.
Sunday: Breakfast: Eggs/toast Lunch: Saturday market! Dinner: Carmel Tofu with veggies
Monday: (Joe fends for himself for lunch) and for dinner a split pea soup and some popovers.
Tuesday: Lunch- Split pea soup Dinner- Indian food (somosas , naan, and navratan korma) .Eric gets credit for giving me this idea.
Wednesday: Lunch- Indian .. Dinner- rice, beans and deep fried plantains
Thursday: Lunch- bean and rice leftovers in a burrito Dinner- homemade pasta with homemade sauce
Friday:Lunch- pasta Dinner- chickpea and sweet potato enchilada casserole.
Saturday: Lunch- casserole Dinner- perhaps a fishless tuna casserole.

When we were on our old diet I would spend 60-75 dollars a week at the g-store. This week will be under 50. Not only does it include all the ingredients for the above but also extras like Joe's breakfast / bananas, yogurt, nuts and my after lunch dessert /nanas, oranges and apples. Also strawberries so I can make a pie, oil so I don't run out, cat food so Alice can eat too and TP because we are in need. This is 40+ extra dollars a month we now have. We can put this money into savings, or spend it at the Saturday Market since we have our eyes on some Oregon honey and organic jam.. or maybe at the Farmers market... hmm the possibilities.... I would like to imagine that we are healthier too... well maybe minus the pie.

It's Spring!

Spring has sprung! Hopefully this time for good. In February it felt like spring because it was sunny and 60. I thought it was here to stay. March was different though with some chilly nights, rainy days and well a spot of snow. I have high hopes for April. The flowers are blooming, people are mowing their lawns, and all the trees have little leaves.. all of this must mean something good is coming. Tonight I get to watch my first Red Sox game of the season! (thanks Bonnie!) It is a west coast game so it will start here at 7. Just the right amount of time for me to go to the gym, get home, put supper on the coffee table and sink into the couch. ( the dining room is just to far away from the red sox.)
Since I have become an adult or well at least since I have had a 9-5 I have stopped watching my stories. At some point in my life I have been addicted to Days of our Lives, General Hospital, or All My Children. Last year I did not have Femderday to devote to girly things so I needed something new. The Red Sox were the answer. I had sat down and watched games in the past but not as extensively as last year. It filled my soap void very well. Just like soaps there are lots of questions to be answered. Would Dusty or Cora play? Is Manny really being Manny? Will Ortiz hit this walkoff home run? What will Remy and Don say next? Those two guys are also very funny as well as informative. I still giggle to myself every time I picture Remy playing air guitar and falling down. I just youtubed it because of the memory. It doesn’t get old. It is 2pm now and I am at work. Thinking about how GH is on and counting down the 5 hours til the Sox. I am totally going to watch Remdawg fall down again.. it will keep me entertained for the time being.

To be or not to be.

When I first starting dating Joe I ate meat and he didn’t. I did not have a say in his starting to eat meat again.. contrary to popular belief. I was 3000 miles away on a ferry in Seattle when he caught and ate his famed trout. This was about 3 months into our relationship. It is now about 1 year and a few months later and neither of us eat mammals. We don’t eat chickens or cows or baby cows or lambs, pigs, or things that come from processing them if we can help it. We do eat tuna fish and shrimp and a small variety of other sea creatures. The question that has been hounding me lately is should I go all the way? To me all the way is giving up fish, not bovine nipple drippings (“copyright Joe,”.. some people call them milk) coagulated bovine nipple drippings (cheese) , or unfertilized chicken embryos ( I think you get the idea) . I don’t think I could become a full vegetarian because I love cheese and butter… a lot. Giving up eggs would also be hard. They are an easy breakfast and are the glue that holds my cakes together. I have tried Vegan desserts and they just don’t do it for me. It will be hard to give up the ease of a tuna sandwich for lunch or one of my current favorites, a veggie risotto with a topping of broiled shrimp. I am going to take some more time. Currently it feels almost like I am quitting smoking knowing I have 5 cigarettes left in my pack. In our stock of food and we have 3 or four cans of tuna and more than a half a pound of frozen shrimp. I keep thinking well I don’t want to waste food so I will stop eating fishies after they are gone. Then tuna goes on sale at the store…. Hmmmm

The Table

All three sisters in the Cancilla family have sent me presents. All three sisters have given be presents that go on my dining room table. (Not to mention the actual table itself.) Starting at zero I now have salt and pepper shakers, three pairs of candle sticks ranging from pewter to crystal, and countless tablecloths, placemats, and napkins. Are they saying I don’t know how to dress a table? No. They are just helping me start my own traditions.
Sunday dinner was a tradition at 965 North Street. Grandma would generally be the cook unless pizza or chicken soup was on the menu where she was a part of a team. We ate pasta with whole-made sauce, chicken a-la king (Yes Janie she did make this frequently), and spoon roast. My favorite was a chicken and broccoli quiche dish...hmm…. maybe it was ham. Sunday usually meant we ate in the dining room. I was in charge of setting the table. First I got to choose the tablecloth (handmade especially for that table of course.) After that I would put down the plates from the piesafe then move on to napkins and silverware. I frequently got in trouble for handing out dessert forks instead of dinner forks and perhaps even forgetting what side the fork went on. That is until I learned you ‘eats to the left and drinks to the right’. Not the best grammar but helpful for remembering where the wine glasses go. Sunday also meant the table got candles. Candles, in general, were not allowed on 415 Dalton Ave. They were a fire hazards that would surly burn the whole house down. Even though I no longer live there I know that there is only one candle and it is primarily lit on Sunday to get rid of the smell of bacon. At Grandmas they were not a fire hazard. My mother was always playing with the wax. We would eat dinner.. perhaps dessert and then all the beautiful table settings would go away. The table cloth was shook outside to get rid of crumbs ..if it was clean enough it would go back into the drawer. If it got candle wax on it Grandma knew the trick and it was put in the basement. The plates and silverware were sent to the kitchen. There even though there was a dishwasher my memories are of a Grandpawasher. His sleeves would be rolled up and his arm hair wet and slicked down up to his elbows while he was washing the dishes.. Dinner was followed by May-I but I will talk about my future gambling addiction at a different time
I don’t remember cooking or even eating when Joe and I lived together in Pittsfield. I remember a few fancy meals that we cooked for each other but I didn’t think about my diet on a regular basis. Now that we are in Portland big chunks of my day consist of thinking about what we are going to have for dinner. The table stays set with placemats and napkins so it is not a daily chore or a special Sunday thing. ..it’s more in the middle. I think because the table is set, every meal becomes something slightly more special.