Week long food preparation

So the most common problem I have had as a working person was that so much food went to waste in my refrigerator. Kevin and I remarked when we got up to Elizabethtown that we had never eaten so many meals at home in a row. (Partly that was due to busyness and partly it was due to the fact that Athens had so many great restaurants. We are now not nearly as busy--especially me) and have no where near the good restaurant options).

If I am honest, my problem is two-fold. I come from a long line of stuffed fridges and freezers. I have purposefully not gotten a deep freezer because I knew I would freeze it. Unlike my mother and grandmother though, who know just about everything they have in their cooling containers, I am very much out of site, out of mind. Knowing that, I am trying to figure out the best strategy for planning a weekly menu.

I want to do this so that I don't waste food primarily. There are too many good and fresh foods up here. But I don't want to load up my freezer and then not use items either. But there are health reasons too--if I plan ahead, I won't be persuaded to make a pimento-cheese sandwich every day of the week because it is easy or I am craving it. Having a plan will force me to use the groceries I have and use them well.

So today, because I had bought an abundance of spinach (thinking the in-laws were staying an extra day), I decided to make a spinach salad for 1 day. Day 2, pasta, spinach, smoked sausage and low-fat mozzarella mix (so easy and so good). Tomorrow, spinach stuffed and pecan-crusted pork chops(and that should finish me off if I have a spinach salad for lunch. Each of these leave the spinach with a different enough taste to eat it every day.

So now, what to do for Wed-Friday. And pre-planning for Labor Day weekend.

I bought some apples to make applesauce today, as well as some eggplant and sweet corn (PA has some of the best corn I have ever tasted! It's fabulous--and possibly the only thing I would consider freezing other than blueberries). I don't feel as though I have enough room to start canning things; half of my pantry has to disappear out for that (plus I need a bigger kitchen). So the journey begins of trying to figure out what to do, what to buy and how (and when) to use it.

New York, New York

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in New York City. I got to travel there with my in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday and go see some Broadway shows. I had never really had a desire to go to New York at all until now--partly because I am incredibly close and partly because I didn't have to drive to get there. We took the train instead, which was fabulous.

Taking the trip (perhaps, having something to look forward to?) really gave me a lot of energy. I actually woke up this morning (late as it was) with a lot of motivation to meet the day. It dwindled midway through, partly because I couldnt' get my internet to work and I wanted to blog earlier today. It is difficult when no one is there for me to keep myself on task (that's the way I chose to explain my extroverted nature tonight to my husband). I just do better with other people around--I am more disciplined. I am more energetic. I don't have to be talking to someone, I just want him/her/them to be there.

So needless to say, with two other people this weekend, I was full of energy. I wanted to walk all over town (very few taxi's for me!). New York felt a little like Europe in that it was such a walkable place. And of course, with so many people bustling about, I was intrigued to know where they were going and what they were doing.

We took in the Museum of Modern Art (which I learned is free on Friday nights from 4-8pm) and Mamma Mia on Friday. Saturday, we went for a very efficient and informative tour of the City itself, from Central Park to Ground Zero to a quick boat trip by Ellis Island and Brooklyn, seeing from the outside the residences of Bono, Yoko Ono, Donald Trump, Steve Martin, among others. That night, we went to see the Broadway musical, Billy Elliot. It contained by far, the most amazing dancing I have seen in a long time.

And of course, we had fantastic meals every night. My favorite was at a restaurant called Marsailles (French with a Moroccan flair). Best dessert (dark chocolate pot de creme), amazing tomato and goat cheese tart and a gorgeous fish with fresh tomatoes (they were having a tomato-fest). I had a taste of a wonderful spring risotto and lamb couscous as well.

Now, I am trying to meal plan and diet from all the calories I took in this weekend. Must exercise! :)

Sleep

Ever since we moved up to Pennsylvania, I have taken on a new sleep habit. This is odd for me for two reasons. I used to be a morning person. Even in high school, I would wake up the earliest in my family of anyone no later than 7 am, but usually a lot earlier. Throughout college, I was never able to sleep super late. I was the unusual student who was always in bed by midnight, and up for breakfast before my 8AM classes (I loved having the afternoon off!).

Second, I really thought that the reason I was sleeping until 7 every morning (even if I went to bed earlier to try to change the habit) was because of how tired I'd become from work. I never felt as though I really caught up. My husband is the early riser now, and I don't see him at all before he's off to class (or this week, orientation). In fact, I've been mostly missing him a whole hour because I am sleeping 9+hours a night.

I have not been able to get out of bed before 8AM since moving here. I blamed it for awhile on the stress of the move. I told myself I was tired. I am beginning to think there is more to it than tiredness. I need to do something.

That's why I started this blog right?

I am going to take a trip over to the Elizabethtown College gym today to check it out. I had a dream about it last night, so I am going to see how it measures up. I have been walking lately, but not nearly enough to make a significant difference. I need to challenge myself, and I think I may only be able to do that without my dog.

I was also going to check out a small town nearby, but it's supposed to be a rainy day today, so I might read and research some of the things to do in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. I am also going to research the Amtrack--my key to getting places without having to fight traffic!

So wish me luck! At least, if I sleep till 8 with this plan, I will still feel as though I accomplished something.

Southern Itch and Groff's

So the "itching to do things" is, to me, a distinctive southern term. I have picked up some southern phrases and at times a strong southern twang (though it was difficult to get the word "ya'll" to come across my lips, as any of the youth group members of my previous church would tell you). This phrase was not one I necessarily picked up, nor heard often but always found to be humorous.

So today, I discovered Groff''s Meats. My husband said that he was at the nearby coffee shop the other day and actually watched live pigs walk into the back of their processing plant, which is adjacent to the store itself. "That's about as fresh as you can get," we agreed. Just as I was thinking I could be a vegetarian, there I stood in front of 4 different kinds of sausage, fresh bacon (breakfast meats are always my weakness), and a full deli that just looked incredibly delicious. It wasn't just meat, but cheeses, salads, and other items that made this butcher a stand out location.

I am most excited because I had recently had a discussion with a man from New Zealand about how the idea of local business was going out of fashion, or it was extremely overpriced. I found here in E-town that the opposite is true from my experience in Athens. This local shop (granted, it is very well known, and provides to many local restaurants as well as individual patrons), had better prices than our huge (aptly named, GIANT) grocery store. We found the same to be true of the farmer's markets. I found huge carrots priced for $.79 a lb at a local market here, when at our Athens farmer's market it was $4 for a few, very small carrots. I know the season, availability, and location makes a huge difference. Truly, that Athens-area farmers are able to grow the types of food they DO grow in that soil still amazes me. But if the cost of living in a space is higher here, the cost of eating in a space is a lot lower.

Still, I can't wait to start growing my own. Soon, I tell myself, soon enough.

New steps, new blog

Two weeks ago, I made a drive up I-81 for the first time on my own. Actually, I have driven I-81 many times (four years to college from home), but I think this was the first time I had ever gone past mile marker 150 on my own. I had driven it once with some college friends right after graduation. Sitting alone in my car, it felt very different, like some unexplored territory I had never been before. I was seeing it for the first time. I had always driven south on my own, but north was more than a new direction for me.

I have moved to my first location on the account of my husband getting his dream job, teaching college and mentoring/observing students. I left behind a ministry job that was hard, but I genuinely loved. I said goodbye to the many relationships that had taught me about myself, the people I cared about so much. And I said hello to a new world, for me.

Right now, I am taking some time to settle a new apartment, to clean, to purge, to restore, to renew. I am treating it somewhat like a sabbatical--or at least, I think I will. Last night, I had admitted to my husband that I feel a sense of guilt not having the house completely together first, but he's always gracious and wants me to have time for me. So that is what I am going to do. I am going to clean out half the day, retreat the other half. I am curious to see if this blog will help.

I've never been much of a blogger--I usually delete what I post. But my title is what got me thinking about it--I may find the itch to do something by actually trying it. I think writing about other small adventures will help me keep blogging. I am interested in so many things (if you know me, you know I am a 7 on the enneagram--I can't help myself), but here are some things I am going to try to post: cooking and food adventures, farmer's markets, simplicity and forgiveness studies, learning about different churches and religious backgrounds, generosity, books and culture.

Ok, so I am going to do something I have never done before...I'm going to hit "Publish."