Menu for 4/22 - 4/27

Sunday - Gluten Free Pizza (Pesto, goat cheese & roasted peppers and sausage & olive)
Monday - Gluten Free Lasagna (Brown rice noodles, zucchini, spinach, sausage, ground beef, tomato sauce, mozzarella)
Tuesday - Tapas at Wine Affairs (Celebrating Evan's birthday!)
Wednesday - I have class late, so we'll each forge the kitchen for our own dinner
Thursday - Quinoa Pasta and Brussels Sprouts
Friday - Greek Chicken Burgers

eat less CRAP and eat more FOOD

I just saw this and thought it was pretty clever. (I have no idea who made it up, but it wasn't me).

Eat less CRAP:
C- carbonated drinks
R - refined sugar
A - artificial sweeteners and colors
P - processed food

Eat more FOOD:
F- fruits and vegetables
O- organic lean proteins
O- omega 3 fatty acids
D- drink water


Sure it doesn't cover all the bases, but it's still catchy.

Quinoa Almond Banana Bread Muffins

Since I've stopped eating gluten my stomach aches have almost completely gone away! It has been difficult to steer away from something so delicious, but it has also been fun to figure out how to cook normal things gluten-free. I started feeling adventurous last weekend, and I am glad I did! After reading many different recipes and studying gluten-free baking, I came up with a sample recipe for banana bread. I am mildy *cough, cough* obsessed with quinoa, so incorporating it into the bread naturally felt like a good starting point to me. Tonight I made carrot cake (with quinoa of course) and can't wait to see if it turns out!

Quinoa-Almond Banana Muffins

1/2 cup quinoa flour or quinoa flakes

1/2 cup almond meal

2 VERY ripe bananas (the more ripe they are the less sugar or no sugar needs to be added)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs (or for vegan use 1/c cup applesauce)

1/2 cup butter (optional)

2 table spoons brown sugar or 3 teaspoons honey (optional)

1/2 cup almonds, walnuts, etc... (optional)

Mix everything together. Using cupcake liners, fill the muffin tin 1/2 - 3/4 full. This recipe makes 12 muffins. Bake 20 minutes at 350˚

The first batch:

- mildly ripe bananas

- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

- 2 eggs

- no butter

- no nuts

The verdict: They were delicious right out of the oven.

The second batch: (this is actually vegan)

- I made my own applesauce from 2 apples that were going bad (I don't like mushy apples). I didn't add anything to them, just chopped them up and cooked them down. 

- no eggs (I used the applesauce instead which is common for vegan baked goods) 

- no butter

- riper bananas

- half cup sliced almonds

The verdict: These were not as good right out of the oven and they fell apart and crumbled easily. 

I froze majority of both batches and have been heating 2 in the microwave each morning. After freezing them they both taste great, even the second batch. For some reason after freezing and reheating the second batch they seem to not fall apart and the flavor is delightful.

They're a delicious low/no sugar protein way to start the day!

Accountability & Budgets

Sticking to a budget is hard for me. I can always justify buying whatever else it is that I suddenly need. I usually end up feeling guilty later or wishing I had stuck to my budget. For E and I it has become even more important to stick to our budgets for several reasons: 1) I don't have a job since I'm focusing on finishing up school 2) we want to buy a house and 3) we want to have a kick-ass wedding (in budget of course).

Saving money for us has become kind of tricky since I don't have an income. We have been relying on E's paycheck for our daily needs which has been super helpful for me. I'm trying to keep my savings in tact to help pay for rent and school. We usually try to stick to a budget for food, but we always end up blowing it. This month though, we've decided to keep track exactly how much we spend on food so we can see where we need to cut. In order to do this though, we needed to come up with weekly meal plans (again) and stick to a once/twice a week shopping trip.

So far we've been doing great for April. We've been able to clear out a lot of the items we've had in the freezer and plan our meals accordingly which has helped keep us within budget.

Now for the accountability. Keeping a log helps us keep on track. Even if we're the only ones who ever read the log, it still keeps us accountable.

Graduation... so close, yet so far.

There has been a slight change to my graduation date. Sadly, I won't be graduating this year (which also means that I won't be completing all my goals this year). It's bittersweet, and here is why:

California has once again suspended applications for spring admissions. This was my plan. I was going to graduate in December with my BS, and start the Teacher's Credential program in January. The spring admission suspension effects all parts of the school, including graduate students.
Luckily, the person in the Elementary Education department was super nice and helpful. She told me about the Elementary Education minor, which allows a student to take four credential classes as an undergraduate, which later obviously count toward the credential. Since I didn't want to waste the spring semester doing nothing, I knew this was the best opportunity. I talked to the head of the Elementary Education department and she accepted me into the minor program. I then had to pay the school $10 to change my graduation date (don't even get me started on this!).

So now, I'll be graduating in May with a degree in Liberal Studies Multiple Subject Preparation for Teachers and a minor in Elementary Education. I'll be hopefully starting the credential program in the summer. In summer of 2014 I will  finally be done with all schooling and will be able to become a teacher!

I. Can't. Wait.

Toss it? Fix it? Keep it?

How do you know when to get rid of something? I mean sure, some things are easy... but others, not so much.
I can't seem to find the balance between simplifying and saving. I feel wasteful getting rid of things that just maybe needed a little love or things I never really used. At the same time, I feel cluttered keeping everything. I get angry with myself when I see something sitting unused taking up space, but I can't seem to bring myself to deal with stuff.

1. Clothing - When do you deem a piece of clothing 'used beyond repair'? I have some jeans with some holes, do I keep them as yard work clothes? Do I really need 4 pairs of work pants? Do I keep that jacket that I've been meaning to hem for the past 4 years? What about those pajama pants that have a hole in the crotch? What's being wasteful and what's being thirfty?

2. Technology - I feel bad getting rid of technology. I mean, it's expensive stuff! Well, it was expensive. Now it's worthless, yet I feel guilty getting rid of it. Most of it won't even be able to be used by someone less fortunate. Like my ZipDrive. That thing cost a fortune when it first came out! Now, the measly 100MB disks are a complete joke! You can't even store a photograph. Plus, with cloud storage, there is hardly any need for any external physical storage anymore... Also, do I really need two printers? Those were expensive too. Or what about a scanner from the early 2000s? The image quality is probably so bad that it's useless. Regardless of the fact that I haven't used it in five or so years...

3. Shoes - I have some shoes that I wear a lot. Like holes-in-the-toes-worn-down-ripped shoes. I feel like the second I get rid of those I'll need to wear them for something. But I can't be classy and look professional if my shoes are ripped. Then there are the other shoes. The shoes I bought because they were on sale. The shoes that were so cute for that one outfit that I never wore. I can't seem to part with those either. I see some people with tons and tons of shoes and I think, "Well, at least I don't have that many!" But then, I see people who have just a few pairs. Perfect, adorable, nice pairs. And I want to be like them. I want to be a simple-fun-cute shoe wearing girl.

4. Bathroom supplies - Lotions, shampoos, makeup, nail polish, cremes, washes... you name it, I probably have a sample of it. I've been doing better about getting ride of the old products, and using up the mostly empty products. Yet somehow my stash never looks smaller.

5. School supplies - I think I could open a small campus bookstore. I have so many books from classes that cost me a fortune to buy. I'm not done with school yet, so I am afraid to get rid of any of them. I've tried selling them back in the past, but they're not worth anything anymore. (Don't even get me into my rant about textbook companies!) And office supplies! How many pencils, pens, erasers, staplers, stickies, notecards, rulers does a person need? Apparently a gazillion... I can't seem to part with them because I know I'll need them eventually but really, my collection is getting quite ridiculous.

volunteer

Student: "You're a volunteer? That means you don't get paid."

Me: "Yep. I'm still in school, so I'm just a volunteer."

Student: "You need to finish school so you can get paid and stop helping with my homework for free."


Thanks kid... thanks for reminding me. I'm working on it.