Holidays means potlucks. And you sometimes get folks that are vegan or vegetarian or lactose intolerant or glucose intolerant or I don't know what.
So I found this recipe. I like acorn squash because they are one of our native vegetables. And they're TASTY!
I thought this recipe covered all my bases but I guess not. Apparently even if you substitute margarine for butter, it depends on the kind of margarine whether it's fully vegan or glucose-free. Anyway, it was still pretty tasty and easy and not cost-intensive, and it was well-received amongst my peers, so I thought I'd share it.
(from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Acorn-Squash-Slices)
Ingredients
2 medium acorn squash (about 1-1/2 pounds each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup chopped pecans, optional
Directions
Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds and membrane. Cut each half widthwise into 1/2-in. slices; discard ends.
Place slices in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Combine syrup and butter; pour over squash. Sprinkle with pecans if desired.
Cover and bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until tender. Yield: 6 servings.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Christmas makes you spend time differently.
Realizing that the Christmastime season isn't a good time to do my time audit, but I have a super-cool spreadsheet to put things in now. (I designed it myself because I'm nerdy like that.) Plus, it's good to do a little dry run so that I can figure out how it's going to work. For example, some of the time I spent doing errands yesterday was technically spent driving, but I didn't count it that way, so I need to figure out how and why I want to do that bit.
The chart automatically adjusts when I put numbers in ^^
If anything, this exercise is just helping me to be more aware of things like, when I'm on the computer and not working on the mile-long list of Stuff I Gotta Get Done Today.
I would like to add that I don't ordinarily ever sleep this good. Data is definitely being skewed by something or other.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
TIme audit
I began an experiment today.
I'm auditing my time. I'm tracking how much time I spend doing what during the day.
Time is valuable. You track finances. Time is easily equally important. I realize if I feel crunched for time, the best thing to do is to try to get an honest look at where it's going.
Today's revelation:
WORK: 6.25 hours (41%)
HANGOUT/JAM: 4 hours (26%)
SOCIAL MEDIA: 2 hours (12 %)
DRIVING: 1 hour (6%)
PREPARING FOR THINGS: 1 hour (6%)
MEETINGS: 1 hour (6%)
LESSON: 1/2 hour (3%)
Oddly, my two income sources are sandwiched, there. The one I spend the least amount of time on earns me my best hourly wage.
Hmmmmmm.
I can DEFINITELY cut back on social media. (What was I really doing on facebook for two hours that was *SO* important???)
I'm auditing my time. I'm tracking how much time I spend doing what during the day.
Time is valuable. You track finances. Time is easily equally important. I realize if I feel crunched for time, the best thing to do is to try to get an honest look at where it's going.
Today's revelation:
WORK: 6.25 hours (41%)
HANGOUT/JAM: 4 hours (26%)
SOCIAL MEDIA: 2 hours (12 %)
DRIVING: 1 hour (6%)
PREPARING FOR THINGS: 1 hour (6%)
MEETINGS: 1 hour (6%)
LESSON: 1/2 hour (3%)
Oddly, my two income sources are sandwiched, there. The one I spend the least amount of time on earns me my best hourly wage.
Hmmmmmm.
I can DEFINITELY cut back on social media. (What was I really doing on facebook for two hours that was *SO* important???)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Stream of Consciousness/BUSY
A few things I'm dealing with going into the Christmas season.
I'm a victim, again, of being BUSY. BUSY is an acronym. BUSY means "Bound Under Satan's Yoke." A friend and mentor shared that with me, and frankly, I love it.
God's plan was not for me to be so burdened with obligations. That was the plan of my squirrelly little mind. We can get caught so easily in the trap of thinking that our minds are superior to all other aspects of our selves. Someone kindly reminded me today that this isn't so. Mind is subject to the spirit. You know things in spirit that the mind doesn't understand. I know it's important to be kind to other people, and my mind can generate several good and logical reasons to be kind to people. But the mind does not understand love as simply and purely as the spirit does.
In my mind, I often think to myself how grand it is to keep on keepin' on. Get things done. Do good things. Make people happy. Then, feelings of responsibility seep in. Then, you can tie your own failure to the notion of letting people down. Then, you get caught up in a sneaky spiral of self-hatred.
Because it's good to do good things, but ultimately, God's got things under control. There's no need to stretch myself so thin that I snap. There never was.
I tie this into the environmental cause because so much destruction is caused by basic behavior patterns. We are trained to be so busy that we need fast food just to get through the day, and then we sit around in a stupor watching TV at the end of the day. When we slow down, let God be in control, and only take on obligations prayerfully and carefully. God will sometimes tell me to do a thing I wouldn't ordinarily think about, or tell me NOT to do a thing I was really excited about. There has usually never been a negative repercussion for disobeying; I just don't get really blessed, or I don't feel God's presence about whatever it is I'm doing. Which is so key to my existence.
Being so busy has caused me to falter in basic things like praying and reading my Bible. (And other things, like laundry and having food available for consumption). In my mind, these things are time-consuming and getting in the way of MY achieving. Darnit. In passing these things aside, my spirit starves, I don't hear from God as frequently, I don't feel His presence, I'm not calm, I'm not assured in myself. The word "frenetic" comes to mind. Frenetic is fun for about five seconds. Then it feels like an eternal caffeine overdose.
So, I'm trying to lay aside the notion that I'm responsible for things, put them in God's hands, and ask Him to come and cut out some of the craziness I've gotten myself into. It's always so easy to take things on and harder to wriggle out of them... but if my relationship with God comes first, and it does, I'll ask Him to help with it, and He will.
I'm a victim, again, of being BUSY. BUSY is an acronym. BUSY means "Bound Under Satan's Yoke." A friend and mentor shared that with me, and frankly, I love it.
God's plan was not for me to be so burdened with obligations. That was the plan of my squirrelly little mind. We can get caught so easily in the trap of thinking that our minds are superior to all other aspects of our selves. Someone kindly reminded me today that this isn't so. Mind is subject to the spirit. You know things in spirit that the mind doesn't understand. I know it's important to be kind to other people, and my mind can generate several good and logical reasons to be kind to people. But the mind does not understand love as simply and purely as the spirit does.
In my mind, I often think to myself how grand it is to keep on keepin' on. Get things done. Do good things. Make people happy. Then, feelings of responsibility seep in. Then, you can tie your own failure to the notion of letting people down. Then, you get caught up in a sneaky spiral of self-hatred.
Because it's good to do good things, but ultimately, God's got things under control. There's no need to stretch myself so thin that I snap. There never was.
I tie this into the environmental cause because so much destruction is caused by basic behavior patterns. We are trained to be so busy that we need fast food just to get through the day, and then we sit around in a stupor watching TV at the end of the day. When we slow down, let God be in control, and only take on obligations prayerfully and carefully. God will sometimes tell me to do a thing I wouldn't ordinarily think about, or tell me NOT to do a thing I was really excited about. There has usually never been a negative repercussion for disobeying; I just don't get really blessed, or I don't feel God's presence about whatever it is I'm doing. Which is so key to my existence.
Being so busy has caused me to falter in basic things like praying and reading my Bible. (And other things, like laundry and having food available for consumption). In my mind, these things are time-consuming and getting in the way of MY achieving. Darnit. In passing these things aside, my spirit starves, I don't hear from God as frequently, I don't feel His presence, I'm not calm, I'm not assured in myself. The word "frenetic" comes to mind. Frenetic is fun for about five seconds. Then it feels like an eternal caffeine overdose.
So, I'm trying to lay aside the notion that I'm responsible for things, put them in God's hands, and ask Him to come and cut out some of the craziness I've gotten myself into. It's always so easy to take things on and harder to wriggle out of them... but if my relationship with God comes first, and it does, I'll ask Him to help with it, and He will.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Food Fight: Co-op versus Farmers Market
I finally did it. I made it back to the Newark Farmer's Market.
I keep going back to Acme, Safeway, etc. whatever's on the way home from work. Monday, though, I don't know what got into me, but... I've recently been having this notion hammered into me. Faith without works is dead. Talk is cheap. Say whatever you want, it's actions that make up who you are and what you stand for. Go support your locally owned produce market, if you believe in it so much.
And I do.
And I do it because... well, essentially, local is better. Corporations are too big, have too much influence, and their main priority is to produce sustainable legal income. Some corporations do care about the environment, but when you look at the structure: their PRIORITY is to make money. Period. I don't trust something that operates that way. Aside from that, I think "love thy neighbor" sums it up. I am loving the people in my community by supporting what I think is a well-run local business. I am putting my money in their hands instead of in the hands of corporations. I just like it bettah that way.
It's not really a farmer's market, per se. When I think "Farmer's Market," I think about a spot where you can buy foods from the farmers what grew 'em. That's not the case with this place, but I like it for what it is.
It's inside of an old department store. (I remember when it was still Best. I remember that there was a phone shaped as a football that was entrancing enough to write about in my journal later.) I suppose it's renovated, but when you go in it still has that "rough around the edges" feeling. Which is a feeling I kinda like. It makes things feel like, "yeah, we're a store, and we're real people running a real store, WHAT. Were you expecting something nicer than a concrete floor? Go to Wal-Mart for all I care."
I still have a tough time buying food around here. I got spoiled in Takoma Park. Best place I ever lived for eating. And dancing. And aikido. (Remind me why I left, again??) Their farmers markets, you knew you were buying local. Their co-op was the bomb for prices. Comparatively, I'm less than thrilled here.
I do shop the co-op for bulk foods. They have organic brown rice (need to buy organic for brown rice because the hulls really cling to any pesticides). They have nature burger, and they finally got that refried bean mix. Glorious. But when I'm at the co-op, looking at the produce... aside from a few tags in PA, MD, and DE, a lot of the stuff is still coming in from California.
I can't figure what the difference is between shopping at the co-op and shopping at the farmer's market. Both are small local groceries, which is what I want, to stop voting for the existence of corporations with my money. Both get their produce from just about as far away, which is to say, probably some local but not all. The Farmers Market has a HUGE selection, though, and they have cheese made in New York, and you can get out of the store without damaging your wallet.
Shrug. If I wanted to be super-good, I'd get on a CSA. To be honest, CSA's scare me. I've never done it before. I do like stepping out of my comfort zone, but I don't do it all the time. There are times to try new things and take new steps. Anyway, I'm afraid of a few things. I'm afraid that I'll end up investing a lot of money (don't have a ton of extra cash lying around) in too much food (buying for 1 person = many things go bad before you can eat them) that I don't know how to cook (I've tried the whole "buy this and figure out how to make it" method, it ends up getting ignored and rotting in the fridge).
I think it's in the future, it's just a not-now kind of step. Meh.
I keep going back to Acme, Safeway, etc. whatever's on the way home from work. Monday, though, I don't know what got into me, but... I've recently been having this notion hammered into me. Faith without works is dead. Talk is cheap. Say whatever you want, it's actions that make up who you are and what you stand for. Go support your locally owned produce market, if you believe in it so much.
And I do.
And I do it because... well, essentially, local is better. Corporations are too big, have too much influence, and their main priority is to produce sustainable legal income. Some corporations do care about the environment, but when you look at the structure: their PRIORITY is to make money. Period. I don't trust something that operates that way. Aside from that, I think "love thy neighbor" sums it up. I am loving the people in my community by supporting what I think is a well-run local business. I am putting my money in their hands instead of in the hands of corporations. I just like it bettah that way.
It's not really a farmer's market, per se. When I think "Farmer's Market," I think about a spot where you can buy foods from the farmers what grew 'em. That's not the case with this place, but I like it for what it is.
It's inside of an old department store. (I remember when it was still Best. I remember that there was a phone shaped as a football that was entrancing enough to write about in my journal later.) I suppose it's renovated, but when you go in it still has that "rough around the edges" feeling. Which is a feeling I kinda like. It makes things feel like, "yeah, we're a store, and we're real people running a real store, WHAT. Were you expecting something nicer than a concrete floor? Go to Wal-Mart for all I care."
I still have a tough time buying food around here. I got spoiled in Takoma Park. Best place I ever lived for eating. And dancing. And aikido. (Remind me why I left, again??) Their farmers markets, you knew you were buying local. Their co-op was the bomb for prices. Comparatively, I'm less than thrilled here.
I do shop the co-op for bulk foods. They have organic brown rice (need to buy organic for brown rice because the hulls really cling to any pesticides). They have nature burger, and they finally got that refried bean mix. Glorious. But when I'm at the co-op, looking at the produce... aside from a few tags in PA, MD, and DE, a lot of the stuff is still coming in from California.
I can't figure what the difference is between shopping at the co-op and shopping at the farmer's market. Both are small local groceries, which is what I want, to stop voting for the existence of corporations with my money. Both get their produce from just about as far away, which is to say, probably some local but not all. The Farmers Market has a HUGE selection, though, and they have cheese made in New York, and you can get out of the store without damaging your wallet.
Shrug. If I wanted to be super-good, I'd get on a CSA. To be honest, CSA's scare me. I've never done it before. I do like stepping out of my comfort zone, but I don't do it all the time. There are times to try new things and take new steps. Anyway, I'm afraid of a few things. I'm afraid that I'll end up investing a lot of money (don't have a ton of extra cash lying around) in too much food (buying for 1 person = many things go bad before you can eat them) that I don't know how to cook (I've tried the whole "buy this and figure out how to make it" method, it ends up getting ignored and rotting in the fridge).
I think it's in the future, it's just a not-now kind of step. Meh.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Orange Seedlings: Timelapse
You may be getting the vague impression that I'm REALLY EXCITED about my li'l orange seedlings...
You'd be right!
You'd be right!
The Hairsperiment, Following Up...
My non-hair-washing experiment went so well that I forgot I was running it.
I now wash my hair about once per month, and I'm back to a baking-soda-paste scrub, which I prefer on ecological principles. (Shampoo = many ingredients = much energy = I polluted more; Baking soda = one ingredient (which can be used for many purposes) = less energy = less impact.)
I went to get my hair cut about a month after I first began the experiment. We did the whole intro: sit down in the chair, stylist plays with your hair, you tell her what you're thinking about the hair, she tells you what she thinks about what you thought, then you go wash the hair.
Right before we got to the sink, I confided that I hadn't washed in a month. She was totally floored. (In a good way, don't worry, she was cool and wasn't grossed out at all.) She hadn't been able to tell at ALL, not from touching it, or even smelling it. Most people really can't tell. My mom hasn't said anything in these few months, and she's the olfactory queen, so either she's obliging me or she hasn't detected a thing.
Can I tell? ... I can. The only thing that gives it away is that the hair has more body, and generally lies flatter. I've got thick hair, and I usually keep it cut really, really, really short, because I just think it's a hassle. (I got things to do, okay? I made it a policy long ago that I would not be one to waste my life away in the bathroom or in front of a mirror.) But now, I've let it grow long... it's even touching my neck, now, without assistance. And I credit the length with a couple of things... Firstly, I'ma cheapskate thrifty. Secondly - because my hair has more natural oil in it - not to make this sound gross - it stays put when I brush it away. I can wake up in the morning with total bedhead, and it brushes out. And I repeat, it's NOT greasy. It's just got more oomph to it. It's like it's actually got life in it. To summarize: I find my hair is healthier-looking, healthier-feeling, and easier to manage now, as compared to when I washed it daily.
One tip, though - if you're going to do this, get a comb. A fat-toothed comb. Or a brush that cleans easily. I have a brush and it works fine, but there is some grease that accumulates over time, and I generally found it works well if you can clean it easily from your brush or comb a few times a month.
Winninnnnng
I now wash my hair about once per month, and I'm back to a baking-soda-paste scrub, which I prefer on ecological principles. (Shampoo = many ingredients = much energy = I polluted more; Baking soda = one ingredient (which can be used for many purposes) = less energy = less impact.)
I went to get my hair cut about a month after I first began the experiment. We did the whole intro: sit down in the chair, stylist plays with your hair, you tell her what you're thinking about the hair, she tells you what she thinks about what you thought, then you go wash the hair.
Right before we got to the sink, I confided that I hadn't washed in a month. She was totally floored. (In a good way, don't worry, she was cool and wasn't grossed out at all.) She hadn't been able to tell at ALL, not from touching it, or even smelling it. Most people really can't tell. My mom hasn't said anything in these few months, and she's the olfactory queen, so either she's obliging me or she hasn't detected a thing.
Can I tell? ... I can. The only thing that gives it away is that the hair has more body, and generally lies flatter. I've got thick hair, and I usually keep it cut really, really, really short, because I just think it's a hassle. (I got things to do, okay? I made it a policy long ago that I would not be one to waste my life away in the bathroom or in front of a mirror.) But now, I've let it grow long... it's even touching my neck, now, without assistance. And I credit the length with a couple of things... Firstly, I'm
One tip, though - if you're going to do this, get a comb. A fat-toothed comb. Or a brush that cleans easily. I have a brush and it works fine, but there is some grease that accumulates over time, and I generally found it works well if you can clean it easily from your brush or comb a few times a month.
Winninnnnng
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