My Rule of Life

A week or so ago I updated the menu bar across the top of this blog to include a page titled "My Rule of Life." This is something that I've been thinking about and praying about for a year or two, but I've never blogged about it before. I don't know where my interest originated. It may have started when I first began reading Saint John of the Cross and other Carmelite authors. I think that's when my interest and curiosity in religious orders began. I began to research the different types of religious orders and what their lives are like. What do they do to devote themselves to God? What vows do they take? Why? How does this affect their daily lives? 

Obviously I don't intend to take vows and join a religious order, because I live very much "in the world" with a husband and a family to care for. But that doesn't mean that I can't follow their example in the way I live my life. So that's when my search began, the search to find a Rule of Life that I felt I could really live. There were many elements to choose from. Poverty. Charity. Celibacy. Silence. Ceaseless prayer. Fasting. There are so many more and they are so many expressions of these. But I just couldn't find the right combination. None of them spoke to me. None of them called out to me. So after giving it a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to write my own, personal Rule. And here it is. Love God. Love Others. Love yourself. 

There is a phrase out there that says you should live in JOY (Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last). And while this is an okay sentiment, to me it implies that I would have to put myself last. In a world where my obligations often leave me stretched completely thin and exhausted, I can't afford to put myself last. I can't take care of other people if I'm not taking care of myself. I have to love myself and take care of myself in order to keep myself physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy. But I still want my focus to be on serving God and serving others. 

I'm still working on refining the details of my Rule, but I think I'm off to a good start.

And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Let's Go Krogering!

James and I just went to Kroger and bought the following items: Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Tropicana OJ, Ragu, Oscar Mayer hot dogs, Oscar Mayer deli meat, two cans of Pillsbury Grands biscuits, and two boxes of Banquet turkey sausage. And we only paid $5.29 for a total savings of 83%.
 

 

What's our secret? Well, there's a few. The first is that we are avid shoppers of the Kroger circular. You can pick up a paper circular from the front of the store, get one in the mail, or check it out online. This week they're running a special that give you $3 off your entire purchase if you buy ten participating items (like General Mills cereal, Ragu, and Tropicana OJ). We had a few printable manufacturer's coupons that we got from Coupons.com and CouponNetwork.com, we have a few Kroger eCoupons loaded on to our Kroger Plus Card, and we got a $3 off your next purchase coupon and $2 off your next purchase coupon at the register last time we went to Kroger. But here's the two best secrets: you can combine eCoupons and manufacturer's coupons; Pillsbury is offering $5 off your next purchase when you submit a recipe to their website. For details on the Pillsbury offer, click here.

For the past few weeks, I've been using SouthernSavers.com as my guide to couponing. The author lays everything out for you, depending on which store you prefer to use. She also has great couponing tutorials and links to tons of printable coupons. If you're interested in saving a lot of money, I highly encourage you to check out her site. It only takes a few minutes of careful planning to save a lot of money on your weekly grocery bill. Since we've started using coupons, our overall savings has been 34%. We're working toward an average of at least 45%.

And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Apple and Pecan Cinnamon-Swirl Muffins

This recipe is a bit of an experiment. I've been craving sweets especially intensely for the past few weeks, fueled primarily by my new obsession: the cupcake shop downtown. This bakery puts out some of the most delicious cupcakes I have ever tasted in my life. They make eight hundred gazillion flavors, but so far I've only tried five. I go in at least once a week to try something new.

But I digress! So I have the day off from class and I've been studying the muscular system for tomorrow's anatomy and physiology exam all day. Studying always makes me crave sweets. I'm pretty sure it's all psychological, but I see no reason not to indulge today.

I found a box mix of "cinnamon swirl quick bread" and suddenly became inspired. What if instead of quick bread, I made muffins? Simple enough. What if instead of using vegetable oil, I used applesauce? How healthy! What if I chopped up a Granny Smith apple, added it to the batter, and topped it all off with some roasted pecans? Yummy!

The Ingredients - As it turns out, our applesauce had mold in it. So I ended up using vegetable oil after all. Oh well!

The Process
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or 325 if you have a convection oven like me) and grease/flour the pan, per the instructions on the box.

Slice and core a Granny Smith apple, then chop slices to desired size.

Combine quick bread mix, water, applesauce, and eggs per the instructions on the box. Fold in chopped apples.

Fill muffin cups to 1/3 with batter, top with cinnamon mix, and carefully swirl with a knife.

Pour remaining batter into muffin cups until 2/3 full each, sprinkle with cinnamon mix, and top with pecans.

Bake for about 24 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes and enjoy!

And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Willow House!

A very dear friend of mine, Barbie, has started her own business as a Willow House consultant. Barbie is amazing and the Willow House product lines are amazing. You can check out the stand-alone page here on my blog or you can go directly to Barbie's Willow House site.


And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Easy Ways to Go Green

We've been in our new house for almost two months now and we're really starting to make a lot of progress on our household projects. One of the changes James and I agreed to make with this move was to really put an effort into running a "greener" household. The primary reason, of course, is to be better stewards of our environment. God created this beautiful world and then put it in our care, so it is the responsibility of ALL people to do their part in keeping it as beautiful as we found it. I will also point out that going green can SAVE you green by reducing monthly energy costs, which is especially important to us because the new house is so much bigger than the old one. So, all that being said, here are some of the easy, inexpensive changes we have made for the betterment of our environment and our wallets.

CLIMATE CONTROL
The single easiest way to cut down on your energy bill is to simply use less energy. That means turning the thermostat up during the summer and down during the winter. We're lucky in that our new house has a ceiling fan in every single room except the kitchen and the bathrooms. We've been able to comfortably keep the temperature inside set to about 78 degrees this summer. With the ceiling fans on, it feels very comfortable. On really hot, sunny days I often pulled the curtains/shades to cover the windows. It made the house a little bit dimmer, but it really made a big difference in the temperature.

I don't know how low we'll put the thermostat once it gets to be winter. Typically we'll set it to about 68 degrees, but we may have to do things a little differently now that we're in a two-story house.  We have a separate thermostat controlling the temperature upstairs, but I'm not sure how much of the downstairs heat will rise. We also have a propane fireplace, but I don't know what the energy costs for running it are going to be. We may end up heating some portion of the downstairs with the fireplace. 

RECYCLING
This may seem like a "duh" suggestion for anyone blessed enough to have curbside recycling pick-up at their home, but it has been a challenge for us. Since we don't technically live inside the city limits (Again! Argh!), we don't get city trash service and that means no recycling service either. But there are several convenient recycling locations between our house and the base, so we're learning to just drop things of ourselves.

But it's more than simply taking the recyclable materials to the drop-off stations. We've made a serious effort to buy products that come in completely recyclable packaging (or as close as we can get). That sometimes means we can't buy things in individual packaging (like oatmeal) the way we're used to. Instead, we have air-tight glass containers (which are totally adorable, I might add) that we use to store foods in the pantry. So instead of buying a box of oatmeal packets (which can't be recycled because they have a waxy/plastic material inside the paper packets), we buy a box of plain oatmeal and keep the oats stored in the jars. The downside is we can't get flavored oatmeal anymore (they apparently only come in packets), but the upside is that my homemade brown-sugar-and-cinnamon oatmeal is all natural.

Grilled Chicken and Pasta with Red Peppers and Kalamata Olives

I debated whether or not to even write this post, as the recipe didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped. But if I can learn from my mistakes, then you can learn from my mistakes, too. First lesson, cooking in someone else's kitchen is much hardern than cooking in your own kitchen. We're house and puppy sitting for some friends on vacation. And while I am extremely grateful that they're allowing us to live in their house for free, I'm also quite frustrated that I don't know where anything is. On top of that, I have never cooked on a gas range before. I really like the control I have over the cooking temperature, but it's taking time for me to get used to.

Second lesson, never ever EVER let the pasta get mushy. It's just not good. It doesn't taste any different, but the texture is just... well, mushy. Bleh. So here's what I did, with some notes as to what I did wrong and how I'll do things differently next time.

This recipe is an adaptation of one I found online at BonAppetit.com this afternoon. I added the grilled chicken and the baby spinach.

Grilled Chicken and Pasta with Red Peppers and Kalamata Olives

Part one: the chicken

Take some chicken breasts, season them on one side while still in the package (I used salt, pepper, basil, and rosemary). Then place them in a hot skillet with the seasoned side down. Season the other side and place a heavy iron press on top. I think theirs is a bacon press. Usually I would do this in the George Foreman grill because it's super fast and easy. I found one in the pantry, but I was too lazy to get it down, so I used a pan on the stove instead and it worked just fine. Turn over after a few minutes and cook until done.

Part two: the pasta

Ingredients:
Red bell pepper
Kalamata olives
Baby spinach
Thin spaghetti (I should have used linguine but I didn't have any and the box of spaghetti was open)
Aged parmesan cheese
Balsamic vinegar
Red pepper flakes
Basil
Rosemary

Cook the pasta in salted water until done. Dice the pepper. Sautee the bell pepper, olives, and red pepper flakes until tender. Add the spinach and cook until only slightly wilted (I actually did this last, which makes no sense at all. I don't know why I did that. I'm just retarded today). Add the cooked pasta, balsamic vinegar to taste, basil, rosemary, and parmesan, tossing to coat the pasta.

Serve pasta with chicken on top, sprinkling with parmesan to taste.

This didn't turn out especially pretty, but it tasted amazing. I will definitely make it again, but in the proper order next time. James even really liked the spinach. Yay!

Chicken Scaloppine with Garlic Sauteed Spinach and Roasted Red Potatoes

Another cooking adventure without James! This is yet another creation from the depths of my mad mind! Chicken scaloppine, baby spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil and topped with a little feta cheese, and roasted red potatoes in a chive butter sauce.

Part One: the chicken

Ingredients:
boneless chicken breasts
plain bread crumbs
seasoning blend
pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine bread crumbs, seasoning blend, and pepper in a shallow dish. Don't ask me how much because I just guess and smell it until it looks pretty good. Dredge chicken breasts in crumbs, coating both sides well. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Get the oil too hot and it'll smoke. My range temperatures are "Lo", "2-8", and "Hi." I set my burner to "5." Cook the chicken for three minutes on each side, then transfer skillet into the oven for 25 minutes. Garnish with a slice of lemon (optional - I actually didn't do this because I didn't remember to get the lemon until I was already in the check-out at Food Lion and I was next in line).

***NOTE*** My pans have metal handles and are made to go into the oven (Calphalon Contemporary Stainless). If yours can't do that, then you will have to transfer the chicken breasts into a shallow baking dish, probably coated in cooking spray.

Part two: the spinach

Ingredients:
baby spinach
olive oil
minced garlic
pepper
feta cheese

Heat one or two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (setting "5" and then down to "Lo" to keep warm). Saute one teaspoon of minced garlic until golden. Add entire bag of baby spinach and saute. Don't worry, it will reduce down. Pepper to taste and garnish with feta cheese (optional).

Part three: the potatoes

Ingredients:
Bird's Eye Steamfresh Roasted Red Potatoes with Chive Butter Sauce

Take bag of potatoes out of freezer and microwave for 5-6 minutes. Is it cheating? Yes. Was it delicious anyway? Yes. Will I do it again? YES! (Just don't tell Beth!)

Put it all together and enjoy with a glass of wine. I had a pinot grigio and it was quite good. Bon appetit!

Total time: 35-40 minutes

The Vacuum Experiment

So anyone who's friends with me on Facebook is probably quite familiar with my vacuum dilemma. The one that we have is great except that it only runs for five to ten minutes at a time before the roller/brushes shut off. Then you have to turn the vacuum off and let it rest for a while before it will start to work again. It's a pain, but it still vacuums really well. The only problem is that now it takes me several hours to vacuum the whole house because I can only work for a few minutes before I have to stop. Buyers don't always give you a lot of lead time before they drop in to see the house. I've had as much as 24 hours to get ready, and as little as two minutes (ie, the Realtor called to request a showing FROM HER CAR PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY). So it's important that I be able to vacuum the house quickly and at a moment's notice. After all, we do have a dog and two cats.

So after much deliberation, I finally convinced James to let me get a new vacuum cleaner. I really wanted to wait until after the move so we could leave the old one here and pick up a new one after getting into the new house, but things just didn't work out that way (nothing new). I'd seen an infomercial for a Shark Navigator (manufactured by Euro-Pro) and was quite impressed. It boasts a cyclonic-no-loss-of-suction capability that allegedly rivals a Dyson. Now I know that I'm a sucker for a good infomercial (especially the ones I watch early in the morning before the coffee has finished brewing), but I confess that the demonstrations I saw really were remarkable. The best part? The Shark Navigator can be bought at Walmart for $160 while the Dyson will cost you $400-$600. Yikes!

So I bought the Shark Navigator (I already have the cordless stick vac and LOVE it), went home, and decided to do a little experiment to compare the two side-by-side.

First, the incumbent: the Bissell Lift-Off Revolution Pet (purchased circa 2007?)

The Challenger: the Shark Navigator (purchased circa two hours ago)

The first difference I notice about the two is that the Bissell is much bigger and heavier. I'm too lazy to get out the scales and weigh the two for direct comparison, but suffice it to say that it takes two hands and significant effort to lift the Bissell while the Shark can be easily picked up with just one.

The second thing I notice is that the Bissell is much wider than the Shark (14" versus 11"). Obviously the wider the vacuum, the fewer passes it takes to clean a room. But that also makes the Bissell slightly harder to maneuver and limits the number of places it can be stored.

Next I noticed that the Bissell can be leaned back completely flat, making it easier to vacuum under my coffee and end tables. The Shark, however, only goes almost all the way back. I can fit it about halfway underneath my coffee table, so I'd have to vacuum under there from both ends. Not a huge problem, but a small annoyance.

Turning them both on, the Shark is definitely MUCH quieter than the Bissell and has a lower pitched sound. As someone who's hoping very much to bring a baby home soon, that's a pretty big deal.

So now for the fun part, the field test! The last time I vacuumed was two days ago. I selected the large open space in the middle of our living room as my testing area. I vacuumed one half of the area with the Bissell and one half with the Shark. The results are below:

Bissell

Shark

The initial results look pretty similar. If I were working in a lab, I would have carefully weighed the debris from each dust cup. But I'm not, so I'll have to use anecdotal observations. The main difference I noticed was that the Shark picked up a lot more super fine dust than the Bissell did (hello allergens!). My mother-in-law is allergic to our two cats, so this is a big plus. And since no vacuum is perfect, the next thing I did was to let each vacuum check the other's work. So I used the Bissell to go over where the Shark had been and used the Shark to go over where the Bissell had been. Here's where you can really tell a difference in performance (in my opinion).

Bissell checking the Shark

Shark checking the Bissell

Look at the difference! And, again, the Shark picked up a lot more of the super fine dust that's buried deep in the fibers of the carpet. Gross! I'll admit that I'm mildly horrified that this was just two days after I vacuumed last. Ew.. and oops.

So the final conclusion is that, although the Shark is not perfect (ie, narrower rollers and does not fold back flat) it still does a much better job of vacuuming than the Bissell. Keep in mind, though, that my Bissell has been through a lot and has not been especially well cared for. We replaced the filter for the FIRST time just a few short weeks ago (oops). So these results may be more a reflection of age and wear-and-tear than inferior engineering and performance. Plus, I'm a little reluctant to give it up entirely because the new filter we bought for the Bissell is infused with Fabreze scent and makes the whole house smell great by the time I'm finished. That's pretty cool. But the big thing is that the Shark will allow me to clean the whole house all at one time. I need to be able to do that as long as we're showing the house, but I will especially need that once I'm back in school and we've got a little one to take care of. Who the heck can waste eight hours trying to vacuum??! Not me.

Single Woman Food!

Ok, well not really. But there are a lot of recipes and experimental food combinations that I've wanted to try that I KNOW James would never eat. Since he's gone and I'm here by myself, I thought I'd try a few things out. If they're any good, then I'll keep the recipes and try them on James once our move is complete. If they're terrible, then no one ever has to know!

This "recipe" was an inspired concoction from my head. I had leftover green beans (1/2 cup) from a previous meal and one serving of Land O'Frost Applewood Smoked Ham (4 thin slices), which really isn't enough for a decent sandwich. So I cooked some penne pasta (3/4 cup dry), microwaved the beans and the ham, and tossed it all in extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp) and a sun dried tomato and basil seasoning blend (it's actually an bread dipping blend, but it's good to season food too).

I didn't decide to take pictures of the dish until after I'd assembled it, otherwise I would have made it look MUCH prettier. I'll have to do a better job of that next time. This was actually pretty good. The seasoning blend was a touch on the salty side, but the flavors worked well together. I love smoked ham and green beans. Maybe that's just the Southerner in me showing herself off. The only thing I would do differently might be to top it with Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Calories: 414
Carbohydrates: 48 grams
Protein: 17 grams
Fat: 17.5 grams (use less olive oil to cut back on the fat content)
Fiber: 3 grams
Sodium: 560 mg + whatever was in the seasoning

Applewood Smoked Ham and Green Beans Over Penne