The Something New Project

Unfortunately, technology conspired to not allow me to post yesterday. However, I do still have new things!

Day #19:
Saturday was grocery day and I have to say I'm not picky, I know that most of the stuff that's an "off-brand" is probably prepared in the same factories to the same specifications as the name brands. And, what I particularly like about the discount grocery store, is that I can go a little crazy and it won't break my budget. Case in point, I ended up walking out not just with the bread, yogurt, and lettuce I went for. I also got these amazing chocolate chip toffee cookies (three boxes, two went directly into the freezer), two different kinds of chocolate (for the emergency stash at work), grape tomatoes to go with my salads, two containers each of both feta and asiago cheese, frozen french bread pizzas, three bags of beef jerky, chips, chocolate frozen yogurt bars, and some other stuff I'm not remembering. For less than $40. I couldn't have gotten half of that at Kroger for $40.

Oh, and a package of instant mocha. Yeah. I know. The coffee purists are cringing. But it was on clearance for a dollar and I was curious. I've never had instant mocha that wasn't the stuff you get at the gas station. (Which I lived on as an undergrad.)

It's not the best stuff in the world, obviously not as good as the Starbucks mochas I can get at the cafe at work. But some sweetener helps. And that I have nine more packets means there are nine days coming up in the next two weeks that I can have one of those instead of running to the cafe to spend $3.50 on one. (And, trust me, I'm going to need them (and the chocolate). The search committee I'm on starts interviewing next week. Ten interviews in two weeks. Ouch.)

Day #20:
As just mentioned, next week - heck, the next two weeks - is going to be a little crazy. And, as also just mentioned, I bought salad fixings yesterday. I usually purchase these little side salads at work for lunch. It's just over a dollar and I get some lettuce, with decorative carrots and cabbage, and a grape tomato. Oh, and a dressing packet. I also mentioned that it's impossible to make the same for myself for five bucks a week.

Which is right, when you're looking at Kroger's prices for salad stuff. But I've been grabbing the occasional bag of lettuce at the discount grocery and realized yesterday that I could make a comparable salad of my own for less. $2.70 yesterday got me two bags of lettuce (with carrot shreds) and a small container of grape tomatoes. That made five salads. Larger salads than I'd usually purchase. With at least five grape tomatoes each.

And I know this because I premade my lunches for the entire week tonight. I've never done that before, let me tell you. I'm lucky to premake a single lunch once every two weeks. But this coming week is going to be hectic and stressful, which means I'm not going to sleep well and will need every minute available when I get up in the morning. So having my lunches for the week all lined up in the refrigerator is going to be a blessing.

Making the salads was followed by shredding the last of the chicken from two weeks ago (don't worry, it was in the freezer until this weekend) to go with the salads. It got divided into five baggies, though all but tomorrow's went back into the freezer. I like to try to mix things up a bit, so I don't over do it on the same thing every day. So I'll have beans with my salad a day or two this week, and may cut some deli sliced turkey I have for sandwiches for a day as well. I also set my yogurt out - one with each salad, and put a cookie with each as well. The only thing I couldn't plan for the entire week for was salad dressing - I only have two small tupperware containers, so I've got dressing for tomorrow and Tuesday, I just need to remember to wash and refill them for the rest of the week. (If not, it's 50-cents a packet at the cafe, which would put me about on budget for the salads if I bought three.)

The top shelf of my refrigerator looks like an organized person lives here.

In my job I'm often called upon to teach classes on different things. Today was one of those days. Today also marked a passing, or sorts. My former boss was promoted to a new position as a part of our reorganization. And as a result he no longer had time to be the guru for one of our databases. That got passed on to me.

Which meant that today I got to teach the intensive everything-you-need-to-know class for this particular database. I've taught it before, but usually as a part of a larger class, where only a portion of our time was spent on this database. Never a full 50-minute class dedicated to the ends and outs of this particular one. Never in the capacity of the guru for that particular one.

It went well, only two people didn't show up for the class and there weren't any awful questions I couldn't answer. Which means that next time won't be quite as scary. (Though that likely means next time I won't have an excuse to get sushi...)

Today I got rid of my cable.

Okay, so canceling cable isn't necessarily new in and of itself. I've canceled cable before. When moving to a new place, usually involving a cross-country trek.

Canceling cable 'just because' is new. With 'just because' meaning - I just realized I've turned the TV on once since December. Suddenly it seemed silly to have the digital cable and DVR. I'm not using them. Most of the time when I watch a TV episode it is through Netflix/Hulu/etc. Or I just wait for it to come out on DVD.

I haven't cut ties with my cable provider entirely. I'm still getting internet through them and that's one thing I refuse to cancel.

A colleague mentioned recently that she was trying Hansen's soda (or pop as we call it around here) and that she really liked it. Which turned into a conversation about pop and flavors and so forth. And how pop using cane sugar taste better than those with high fructose corn syrup. My addiction, weakness, favorite, whatever you want to call it, is vanilla flavoring in my pop. Or, more specifically, Vanilla Coke Zero. (Note: I grew up in a household with a diabetic family member. We only kept diet pop on hand and as a result, non-diet pop tastes like cough syrup to me. I think it's the HFCS.)

So, when she gave me a can of the Hansen's Natural Cane Soda in the Vanilla Cola flavor, her comment was "it isn't diet". I had to laugh, because "diet" defeats the whole purpose when you're going for something sweetened with real sugar over HFCS.

It had a very different flavor than I'm used to, I hadn't realized that even "diet" pop had a syrupy taste until I tried this. It didn't seem as "thick" as what I'm used to.

Regardless of the differences, I rather liked it. It's more expensive than I usually buy, so it isn't something I'll be getting regularly. But it is something I'll be trying again.

This is probably only going to be cool to me. But today I figured out how to extract music tracks from an application.

On Day #3 I checked out the program Ommwriter. And I mentioned that one of the things I liked about it was the ocean track that didn't have cranky seagulls in the background.

Well, as it turns out I like that ocean track. A lot. Enough that I've been running Ommwriter even when I wasn't using it, so I could have that background track going. Seemed a little silly to me. Seemed like there had to be a way to get that track out of the program to, say, load on my MP3 player. (I've got a work trip coming up and I've already been warned my roommate talks in her sleep.)

Problem was, it wasn't like I could just open the application folder to get it. As mentioned previously, I'm a Mac user. And when an application comes as a .app, it's all packaged together. No getting into the folder.

Unless you know the special hack. Which I didn't, not until I started trying to figure this out. Control-clicking (the equivalent of right-clicking) will bring up a menu with the option of opening the packages. As luck would have it, it worked. I had to do a little searching once the package was open, but I totally found my ocean sound and imported it to my MP3 player.

Today I skinned a chicken.

Seriously, I planned to do something else for my new thing today. But I was able to get a later start this morning and put a chicken in the slow cooker to cook while I was at work. This, by the way, was not new (the one other time, I'd gotten the chicken at a butcher-type shop instead of the grocery store and the chicken was already skinned).

Spending 40 minutes skinning a chicken, however, was. Because, trust me, I would have remembered if I'd done that before. Many years ago, back in my student days, I worked in a map library. Those nice big maps that are stored flat? They don't come that way, they're rolled up in a tube. So we'd have to re-roll them the opposite direction to help flatten them. A colleague liken it to wrestling an octopus. I'd have to say that skinning a chicken is similar as well.

But, I was able to get (most of) the skin off and cooked the chicken while I was at work. I could smell it coming up the back walk from the garage. It tasted wonderful. Some pieces came off and went into the fridge, the breasts went into the freezer, and some was pulled apart for mixing in stuff. Or on my salads later this week and next. (I'm seriously considering changing my meal plan to have salad tomorrow and Friday. Yum.)

Now the bones and some veggies are back in the slow cooker to become broth. My house should be smelling pretty good again come morning.

It seemed fitting to end my first week with food. And when I saw these Mini pies last week I knew that I was going to eventually make them.

But I'll tell you, when I got home from work I was anything but excited about this. Oh, I was excited when I got the ingredients last night and I was excited this morning. But when I got home from work I was tired and cold and my feet hurt and I wanted nothing more than to curl up with my computer and veg (while killing monsters in Castle Age).

Still, I had stuff to do. So I put a load of dishes in the dishwasher, put the rice on to soak, and pulled the pie crust out of the freezer to defrost while I made dinner (leftover barley with pinto beans and YUM, it was good). By the time the dishes had finished and I put the rice in the cooker I was feeling more up to tackling this.

There would be photographic evidence, but I've got a small problem. I always know where either my camera or my camera cord is. Never both at the same time. (I'm tempted to make one of my weekend "new things" tearing apart my house to find the cord so I can say I know where they both are at once.) So you are saved from my awful photography and explanations that my glass top stove is my "counter" because I have no counter space.

I don't think I've ever made pie before. I've baked cakes (lots of cakes, though there are some kinds I haven't made and I can't wait for those days), but no pie. So, I went with the easy, store-bought so I don't screw it up route. If I did this differently in the future, I'd give making my own pie crust a wack. And I'd try making my own filling. Quick note: the apple pie filling I used was made with apple slices. You'll want to cut them (I did so with the edge of my spoon as I scooped) before putting them in the jars.

Mini Pies, my way
1 package pre-made deep dish pie crusts (2 crusts per package)
1 can apple pie filling
6 half-pint canning jars

I started by cutting the pie tops from the pre-made crust using the canning jar rims. You can get three tops from the bottom of the pie crust. Then pull the crust out and smoosh (yes, that's a technical term) it into the three jars, making sure you coat the glass. Fill with the filling. I found it easier to make the venting cut after the top was on, so smoosh the top on, doing your best to get the dough to meet all the way around. Cut the vent. I attempted my grandmother's head of wheat cut. It didn't work. X's work just fine.

Cook frozen pies for about 60 minutes. Five of mine went into the freezer, the other went directly into the oven and cooked for around 40 minutes. Make sure you give it plenty of time to cool before you eat it. Nom away.

There will be a small amount of filling left in the can. I suggest vanilla ice cream to go with it.

I understand that these make great gifts. I'm not certain I'm a good enough person to be able to part with them.

Day #5 - It's another twofer! Or maybe a three-fer?

Last month I was on my "Monday morning trip to the grocery store for fresh bagels for the week" when I ended up doing some extra grocery shopping. I'd like to say that it totally wasn't my fault: the store is in the midst of renovating and it usually takes at least three laps around the place to find what I'm looking for. But the store's renovations didn't put the bag of pearled barley in my basket - I did.

A quick aside. I have slightly elevated cholesterol. It was only a few points over the suggested upper limit when I was tested, which thankfully meant it was probably something I could bring down with dietary and lifestyle changes. While I can't bring myself to give up cheese, for example, I've completely switched over to wheat pasta, brown rice, and other foods that are high in soluble fiber and low in saturate fat. Which includes working to better incorporate whole grains into my diet.

So when I saw the bag of pearled barley on sale, I realized this was an opportunity to spread my wings a bit and, well, try something new. Then I got home and realized that I had absolutely no idea what to do with barley. So it sat in my pantry.

Until earlier this week, when one of the blogs I follow posted about repurposing your rice cookers. Oh, man, I love my rice cooker. It's right up there with my slow cooker. It gets a work out every weekend making rice for the upcoming week. I had heard of repurposing rice cookers before, but I never had the nerve to try.

But, I told myself, rice is a grain. So is barley. So, in general, this wouldn't be as way out there as, say, making a chocolate cake in a rice cooker. (Which, by the way, is so going on my list of things to try.) With a little digging I was able to find a recipe from Meals For You to try.

I made a few small changes. I substituted margarine (trans fat free, low in saturated fat) for the butter. And I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, since I had some left from the last batch I made. I'll also admit to being impatient and checking it out after more than 40 minutes had passed and it wasn't finished.

I decided after the first bite that it could use something more, with that being a dash of red pepper flakes and a small sprinkling of grated asiago cheese. Without it's a bit bland for a main dish, but it would be an awesome side for chicken or fish. And this recipe is definitely going into my weekend cooking repertoire. This is exactly the kind of thing I like to make on the weekend to bring to work for lunch.

Results:
- First time I've cooked with pearled barley
- First time I've eaten pearled barley
- First time I've repurposed my rice cooker for something other than rice
- Oh, and an incredibly nom-worthy lunch.

Rice Cooker Herbed Barley
2 Tbs margarine
2 Tbs onion flakes
2 Tbs parsley flakes
1 1/2 C pearled barley
3 1/4 C vegetable stock
1/2 C water.
Non-stick cooking spray
Salt to taste

Spray rice cooker pan with non-stick cooking spray. Add ingredients and salt to taste. Cover and cook about 40 minutes or until rice cooker shuts off. Stir gently to loosen barley from the bottom of the pan. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Day #3: Ommwriter

So. Yesterday LifeHacker had an article about a distraction-free writing program for Windows. Well, as a Mac user it wasn't much for me, but the article included a link to their review of Ommwriter for the Mac.

And wow am I glad I downloaded it.

A.) When it is maximized it is full screen. There's no dock, no other programs running in the background. Just you and your file.

B.) There are several different backgrounds. I'm sticking with the default for now: a snowy, foggy hill with some bare trees.

C.) You can resize the window you're writing in. So if you didn't go with the trees, you can write across the full screen.

D.) Ambient noise tracks. I'm using #7 (the ocean waves) and I'd really love it if there was a way to get that MP3 file on my iPod because it has everything I love about my "Gentle Ocean" sleep track without the stuff I hate (noisy seagulls).

Part of me wishes I had been paying better attention back with LH first recommended Ommwriter, but I'm definitely glad that I gave it a try now.

Day #1 - Eat Dessert First.

Yes, you read that right. I think I said in the previous post that this project is about forming better habits, but it's also about expanding my world-view. Doing things I haven't done before. And sometimes those things don't fall into the "good for you" constraints that these types of projects tend to fall into.

Plus, it's hard coming up with a kick-off idea! I wanted something fun and something that didn't take a lot of work (hi recipe that I need to find a stewing chicken for) because it's my birthday and it's already a given I won't be leaving work before the sun goes down. I'm going to be tired and want to get off my feet and doing something out of the ordinary would just feel like work. I don't want this project to be work.

I don't think I've ever had my dessert first before. I've gotten dessert first before now, but I usually go ahead and eat my salad and entree like a good girl. And then barely have room for dessert because, you know, salad and entree.

Today I said "screw it" and went directly for that scrumptious piece of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate cake.

It was amazing. It was a little bit heavenly.

I need to remember to eat dessert first more often.