Whats4dinner?

Day Off

v1ct0r1a — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:25:43 +0000

Why is it my day off really screwed up my day? I had the chance to sleep in so I took it instead of getting up and walking. I ended up feeling sluggish and waspish all day. Also could have used a nap in the early afternoon, but no dice. I know I have complained about this before…that I HAVE TO HAVE MY WALK every day in order to feel good. Lesson learned, for the 57th time.

In other news, sweet potatoes in a spinach smoothie are so tasty! Creamy! Sweet! Yummy! I would take a picture, but it pretty much looks like every other green smoothie I make. Here’s to several more weeks of great health. Here’s me in the apron I sewed all by myself.

Homemade Cream of Potato Soup

v1ct0r1a — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:10:08 +0000

Saute celery and onions in a little oil or butter or margarine. Add potato dices. Start a roux, pour in with veggies and add a couple cups of water with two chicken bouillon cubes. Serve with plenty of salt and pepper. Etherealanna and myself made this one day for lunch!

For Inspiration Purposes Only

v1ct0r1a — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:27:50 +0000

I was sick as a dog yesterday, and in spite of that, I walked on the treadmill for ten minutes. Granted, I had to take a couple minutes break for reasons that I will not name here, but I got back on and finished my sentence. I record this because I thought maybe one out of the seven of you that read this blog may use it to inspire yourself in your own personal goals.

Today’s walk/run felt much much better. I am contemplating a new recipe for a smoothie; bear me out on this. I had a canned good with no wrapper. I shook it, and was hopeful that maybe it was some leftover cranberry sauce so I cracked it open. Oops. Sweet potatoes. What am I going to do with sweet potatoes? Canned sweet potatoes? The smell kind of turns me off, but I know how nutritious they are. I started thinking, what if I put a whole banana, spinach (of course) and like, one section of a sweet potato. I’m going to try it and I’ll let you know how it turns out. I’m hoping the banana cloaks the cloying flavor, and I’m also hoping that it will be an awesome texture. Out.

Will Someone Please Remind Me

v1ct0r1a — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:30:41 +0000

to clean up my mp3 player. It has a bunch of corrupted files on it, and an entire album that just doesn’t lend itself well to walking/running…so I end up skipping a bunch of songs. The album is Dosage, which is a truly fine album and has lots of great songs on it. But none of them are songs that I want to listen to while walking and occasionally running. That is all.

Shoveling Don’t Count

v1ct0r1a — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:41:11 +0000

For the record, I shoveled yesterday and cleaned off both cars and tried counting that as my exercise. Sorry, it just didn’t do the trick like it was supposed to, and by the end of the day, I was an emotional lump. I could feel a chemical depression starting to settle into my chest. Sometimes I get angry that my body does this to me, but in the end, having this weakness is going to make me a better person. Just thinking about how I discovered a way to combat it on a daily basis makes me feel better. All of us have weaknesses. If we can find the solution to those weaknesses and make ourselves stronger, then we will have at least partially figured out the whole point of our lives on earth. I would be mistaken if I left out the Creator from this equation though. He gives us our weaknesses so that He can make weak things become strong for us.

Clean

v1ct0r1a — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:09:11 +0000

In case you were wondering, I did walk/run this morning, even though the mattress monster tried to get me, and partially succeeded for over an hour. But that is not what I’m writing about tonight. No, tonight I want to commend a little boy who has a sense of cleanliness. My Farley, who is growing up so fast, loves to put his folded clothes away. One of his Christmas presents was a little electronic sweeper that picks up great. (thanks, Aldi!) He loves to sweep the floor with it, and is very thorough. My tidy little boy, whose spot under the table always looks like the floor of a chicken coop, asked me tonight after dinner: “Is this plate clean?” He pulled a large glass plate out of the dishwasher, and yes, it was sparkling clean. “Yes.” I said, slightly amused. He proceeded to place it on the floor, fill it with popcorn from the giant tin (thanks Husband’s employer!) and eat off of it like a dog.

Snow Days in South Bend

v1ct0r1a — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:36:37 +0000

Basically, the road conditions are listed as treacherous. Which is why our local community school corporation is not closed. What? Whatever. Helped ‘Dale’ clean off the car in my robe and boots with no socks on. This kind of situation brings to mind the sacrifices of the pioneers who crossed the plains with rags on their feet. How did they do that? I came in hopping on each foot while the pain from a little snow penetrated the skin on my ankles. Panting, grunting…I was outside for like, ten minutes. Clearly, I would have been one of those left behind in a shallow grave. I am thankful for those who have gone before, pioneers of all kinds, who paved the way for my life. I love my life. Out.

The Morning

v1ct0r1a — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:26:02 +0000

I am grateful for mornings where there are no hitches in my getalong. It will be a much better day today. Out.

The Kitchen Spa

v1ct0r1a — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:52:48 +0000

Let’s talk about extreme irritation, days not going well, a sprinkling of emotional eating, and why you don’t have to pay a lot of money to have a spa day.

Car breaks down first thing in the morning, yes, even before walking on the treadmill. Solution: walk to and from the car a few times and also push said car facing forward and using legs while pushing backward with your back. Workout!

Call assorted car places and insurance companies instead of drinking a green smoothie. Solution: Use best polite voice infusing sugar and sweetness. Energy lift!

Didn’t get shower because of no workout/no smoothie/phone calls. Solution: wear hoodie with drawstring ties tied tightly under chin.

Didn’t wash face because of other morning interruptions. Solution: open dishwasher twenty minutes before end of cycle for instant steam facial. Breathe in, breathe out. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Didn’t have lunch at regularly scheduled time because child with Autism had meltdowns at school so had to pick her up. Solution: snack on celery left out the night before from the hot wings/celery meal.

Um, how did I pick up the child without the car? Solution: a great friend who loves me.

Autistic child has meltdown in the kitchen. Solution: leave the kitchen.

Neurotypical child has meltdown in the kitchen. Solution: blog.

By the way, while the kitchen spa is free, the car repairs are $475.10. Some spa day. I retract all of the above. Out.

Economic Collapse and Other Fun Facts

v1ct0r1a — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:37:46 +0000

Look, everyone I talk to about this agrees without blinking an eye. “Oh yes, we’re definitely headed for economic collapse.”

So my question is, what are you doing about it?

I frequently look at the food calculators I can find online, and try to compare what I currently have with what our large family will need. What else is there to do? We can try to elect officials that represent the values I have, but at this point, it’s too little too late. So again I ask, what are you doing to prepare?

I don’t think people in our current society can fathom what an economic collapse is going to look like. Even if you have depression-era grandparents, like I did before they passed on, I don’t think we can comprehend what our lives are going to look like. For example, Grandpa reused his trash sacks. You know, the plastic trash bags? Even in the 80s he couldn’t bring himself to throw the whole thing out, so he would throw the trash into the rubbish bin in the back, and reuse that stinky plastic bag. Why would he do this? Was it because there was a time when a new clean trash bag was hard to come by? What sorts of things do you take for granted in your house that could become scarce? A blog I like to follow talks about our dependence on foreign oil. He reminded readers that pretty much everything in our house is also dependent on this oil. Either oil was required to transport your stuff to you, or it is made from petroleum….think of all of your packaging, particularly food packaging. Thing electronics with plastic coated wires and the like. Probably we should start paring down what we purchase, and try living without or living below our means in addition to gathering food storage.

Not to mention, we may need to step up our own recycling programs. Maybe we should clean and hang on to things that could become difficult to acquire. Certainly we should learn to mend and fix what we have. Well, on that cheerful not, I’m going to go enjoy streaming hot water while I have the chance. Out.