Of crafting and life

Of yummy vegetarian recipes

Joyce — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:49:40 +0000

It’s definitely chili season and I wanted a meatless chili that did not use faux meat product of any kind. I’ve had a bag of dried red lentils laying around and after some web surfing, decided I could use those in place of meat in a chili. Here’s the recipe with the nutritional information (cals, fat, sodium, fiber, protein).

Let me know if you make it

1 1/2 c. red lentils
1 c. carrot juice (I juiced my own but you don’t NEED it)
2 c. water
Half an onion
Garlic (to your taste, I used three cloves)
2 1/2 c. cooked Dried Great Northern beans
1 1/2 c cooked dried black beans
Stewed tomatoes (I used my own, but a large can of diced, stewed, whatever would work)
Seasonings below (I used to taste)
Chili powder
Red pepper flakes
McCormick roasted pepper and garlic seasoning
Pepper
Curry powder (if desired)
Ground cumin
Cinnamon
Paprika
Pinch of cocoa powder

I water sauteed the chopped onion and garlic, then added the lentils to toast them a bit. Add the carrot juice and water and seasonings, not a lot because you’ll want to taste when it’s all together and adjust. Let cook covered on medium until most of the liquid is absorbed, add tomatoes and beans. Cover pot and put on medium heat. It’s still cooking right now, but since everything but the lentils are cooked you really just want the lentils to cook and the flavors to marry.

I’ve guesstimated that it will yield 6, 2-cup servings and entered it into My Fitness Pal and here are the numbers

Calories 266
Carbs 48
Fat 3
Protein 16
Fiber 14
Sodium 246

Of clicking

Joyce — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:32:51 +0000

I wrote this post for another, private blog I’ve started and thought it was safe enough to cross post. If you’re interested in reading the private blog, let me know by emailing me at jamcreations2010@gmail.com and I’ll send you an invite. Without further a-do, my post “On clicking.”

We all talk about “clicking” – that magic moment when everything lines up just right and “clicks” together.

That click, in weight loss, can take an adulthood, if not a lifetime, to achieve.

I think I’ve found my click. I began this all again, in earnest, with reintroducing exercise before the New Year (I did NOT want to jinx it by making it a resolution) and on Jan. 3, I began tracking my food and weight at My Fitness Pal. In that 2 1/2 weeks, I’m down 4 pounds. And, as proud I am of that, I am trying really hard to not be a slave to the scale.

Two years ago when I began “in earnest” I bought the two-book set “Eat for Health” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and it made sense to me. Pack in the high nutrient foods, forget about calories.

Well, I didn’t get far in the book and didn’t use them for long, but I think I’m ready to now. I’m eating a ton of salad and fruits and veggies and it may now be my time to “click” with the Eat for Health/Eat to Live way.

And, let me just say, one of the main things I love about this way of life is that he’s not pushing products. Yes, he has a membership club you can join, yes he has flavored vinegars you can buy. But, with the exception of the books and club, his ideas are something you can replicate. Heck, right now, I have strawberry vinegar brewing in my cupboard at home that I hope to use as salad dressing. It’s more expensive to eat this way, fruits and veggies aren’t cheap (see my rant on that here), but in the long run, if it reduces my weight, my cholesterol and my blood pressure then it’s worth it.

Oh, and I found a woman from Fort Wayne who has written extensively about her transformation after becoming what Fuhrman calls a Nutritarian. It’s compelling stuff and I’m willing to give it a-go.

Of happy endings

Joyce — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:18:36 +0000

I wrote the following on Facebook as a note three years ago today:

Cody the day I brought him home.

Today, I became responsible for another life besides my own and I think I might be as overwhelmed by that as I am excited by it. Today, I adopted a shelter dog from Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control.

This was not an easy decision and it was not an impulsive decision. This came after months of exposure to a dog of the same breed, to whom I discovered I’m not allergic – a Shih Tzu.

In the last two months, I visited the shelter once before Thursday to no avail and had inquired about one dog at a rescue in the northern Indiana area, but it was cost-prohibitive. On Wednesday night, I received an email for the breed request I put in with FWACC. I’ve received several of these emails over the last few weeks, but there hasn’t been a Shih Tzu in any of them. I opened and deleted the email and as it was going into the trash folder, there was the picture: Cody, 4 years old.

It was ridiculous, my reaction. I couldn’t sleep, finally drifting off closer to the 5 a.m. hour than I would’ve liked. I had resolved, I’d get to the shelter AT noon, when it opened. I had printed off the shelter’s adoption form and filled it out. I. WAS. READY.

One of my super good friends went with me. And, when I told them I wanted to see Cody, my hopes were slightly dashed. Cody had a hold on him already, but “definitely put a second hold on him” I was told.

So, I met with Jamie, the adoption counselor. And, then, I met Cody. He came right to me. Was sweet as could be and wanted little, to nothing to do with my friend – I good sign, I thought. So, a second hold it was.

I left, excited. Went about my day and, on my way to work, got the call. The first hold didn’t pan out, he was mine if I wanted and boy did I.

I picked Cody up on Jan. 16, let’s call it his re-birthday. I knew he had some issues. He had to be shaved when he was surrendered because he had poo matted in his coat. I didn’t know how bad his issues were and I still don’t, but we had quite the afternoon.

I had been told that his file said he could get out of a wire crate. That didn’t make sense to me AT ALL. So, I bought a wire crate. About a half-hour before I had to leave for work, I put him in it with toys and a bed and I covered it with his blankets. Then, the show began. I wish I would’ve video’d it because I wouldn’t have believed it. I think this little guy COULD have gotten out of that crate. He was certainly determined to.

As I watched from the doorway, he was pawing at the blankets and rattling the heck out of that cage. I finally took the blankets off and he went at the crate’s door with his teeth. He locked his jaw around it and tugged. He stuck his head, or tried to, through the slats. He was hating that cage. I took him out. I couldn’t leave him like that for a 9-hour day.

I left to buy a plastic air-travel crate. When I got home, the loose-in-my-apartment Cody had piddled on the floor. When I saw it and bent down to further investigate, he freaked out a bit and ran, looking for someplace to hide. I tried to reassure him, and I got the cleaner out to deal with the little puddle. Then, I put the new crate together and put his bed in it. He walked right in. Didn’t seem to faze him to be in it. I gave him treats, threw in a toy and covered it with the blanket and left for work.

All that drama had overtaken me and I forgot to do something. So, I had to turn around and go back in my apartment. I tried to enter quietly and, while I was there, tried to observe what he was up to. The little guy was quiet when I last left him around 4 p.m., I hope he stayed that way. I won’t be home for another couple hours and I’m concerned, but I think it’ll all be all right in the end and I may even find the added responsibility isn’t such a bad thing.

That little guy has brought me a ridiculous amount of happiness. So much so that I got a second dog last April from friends who had a Shih-Tzu puppy they loved but couldn’t keep. Together the two of them bring me tons of happiness.

Today, I talked a lot to my friend Rebecca about a possible replacement for the great dog she had to put to sleep last week. Tonight, she’s at another friend’s meeting a possible new puppy. I hope it works out. I do know that whatever is meant to be will be.

My boys today

Of true friendship

Joyce — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:14:12 +0000

A friend of mine today made a decision that I know animal lovers struggle with often. She decided, after contemplation and mourning, to put down her 12-year-old golden retriever Sunshine.

Sunshine hiding from a storm in Cody's crate

Sunshine had been deteriorating lately, getting sick, having seizures or strokes. Oh what we don’t know our puppies go through when we aren’t there to witness it. On Wednesday night, Rebecca came home to a dog she thought she was going to have to put down at an emergency vet clinic. Thankfully she didn’t have to and was able to get Sunny through the night. We prayed and hoped that if it was her time, she’d go on her own. But, the indefatigable Miss Sunshine rallied and on Thursday morning, she was awake, alert and, though unable to walk or stand, seemingly coming around.

Sunshine about 2 1/2 years ago chasing my Cody, the instigator

Nevertheless, we hauled her to the vet and when I say hauled her, I mean HAULED her. She had to be carried out of the house using towels as slings. And, when we got to the vet, she had to be carried in — and, she was frustrated by her condition, you could tell. I thought it was going to happen then, that she’d get the shot and go to the eternal puppy park. But, she rallied further and STOOD UP ON HER OWN at the vet. So, she was left overnight and we went to work and I worried. I worried that my friend, despite insistence in the past that she wouldn’t do it, would waver. Then, last night, came this blog post.

I recognized it for what it was, an acknowledgement the end was near. The post put me at ease but I still didn’t know what to expect today. Then she called, after a two hour murder sentencing hearing, and told me “I want to go to lunch and then I’m putting Sunshine down, I want you to go with me.”

Fun in the leaves

Fortunately we have ever-patient bosses who recognize the importance of something like this. In the past, folks have taken entire days off for it. Not Rebecca. She’d reasoned it out. Mourned it. Cried over it. And, finally decided. She was resolute in her decision and at peace. I was proud. To me, that seems so silly to say. But I truly was. That was reinforced when another friend told Rebecca that she was impressed with her emotional maturity over the whole thing.

Rebecca promised herself and her puppy that she’d make the right decision when the time was right. And, she did. I’m kind of in awe about it. I mean, I don’t consider myself one of those crazy dog lover people (some friends would disagree) but I don’t know whether I’d have the same emotional maturity about it. I KNOW I’d be a bigger mess over it.

So, we did it. We went, she gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to the first dog that made me want to have a forever friend. She wasn’t the same dog. I left the room, leaving Rebecca alone to say goodbye and, within moments, Sunshine was gone.

And, we went back to work. And Rebecca wrote her murder sentencing story. And, Rebecca finished up a weekend piece that she wrote despite the incredibly stressful and emotional 36 hours she’d had.

And, I want her, and you, to know that I’m incredibly proud of her and I’m so happy to have a friend like her. (And, I know she’s humble enough that this post may make her uncomfortable, but I just can’t help myself, sorry Bec.)

R.I.P. Sunny girl. Your Cody buddy down here will surely miss you, but watch over him like he did you when you hid from the thunderstorms at my house.

Cody standing sentry for Sunshine during a storm

Of healthy eating and wasted food

Joyce — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:04:01 +0000

I DVR’d the Food Network’s “The Big Waste,” which aired Sunday night. And, because I have a baby blanket to finish ASAP, I watched it last night as I sat crocheting.

And, it made me mad.

The concept: Chefs Bobby Flay and Michael Symon team up against Chefs Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli to scour New York and find food that is destined for the trash heap to cook a gourmet meal for 100 people. Two teams, four courses, all made from stuff that was rejected by grocers. But mostly, rejected by consumers.

It turns out, as consumers, we’ve been trained to believe that the slightest blemish on something means it is no good (there’s probably further commentary in there about how this affects how we treat people). That it’s not consumable. I can’t remember all the numbers presented in the show, but what I took away from it was we waste as much as we buy. In many instances, the food can’t be given to charitable organizations/food banks because of standards they also have.

Here is why it made me mad. We are a country with an obesity problem in the midst of tough economic times where people have to choose between food and medicine and shelter.

I know that I can go to a grocery store and spend about $70 on produce alone (and that for a single person) when I’m eating super healthfully.

How great would it be to be able to buy some of that rejected food for half-off?

I have friends who want to eat more healthfully but it is expensive, sometimes too expensive, for them to do so. So, they find themselves turning to processed foods that can be stretched a little further and bought significantly cheaper.

But, what if consumers and grocers could come together and agree that those slightly blemished fruits and veggies can go on the shelf and be sold at a deep discount? Then, perhaps more of us could afford to eat better and not have to make tough choices.

I hope something comes of the show, that there is follow up.

If you’re interested in watching it, it airs again Jan. 14 at 4 p.m. and Jan. 15 at 5 p.m.

Of finding balance

Joyce — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:29:35 +0000

I don’t know about you but I struggle with balance. I work full time. I have two dogs. I have friends, a special guy, and family. I knit. I crochet. I make jewelry and I want to scrapbook. I, in the perfect world, work out once a day at least five days a week. I need to relax, which a lot of times is where the workouts and crafting come in. And, I love to read. Oh, and then there’s the everyday household chores. It’s never ending. It’s aggravating. To do one thing is to neglect another. Sometimes I find myself working on one thing to exclusivity of all others. I mean, I go to work, daily, without fail. And the dogs get taken care of, but what of the housekeeping, the hobbies, the reading. I find myself doing one of those things and letting the others fall by the wayside.

The holidays make it worse. I’ve decided to knit sweaters for all my family members (four). I’m done with 1 1/4 of those projects. I have blankets that need to be finished in crochet. I have scrapbooking plans. Beads and charms ready to be made into jewelry and a reading list that is far longer than I can deal with.

And, then, there are those days when you just say “screw it all” and vegge out in front of the TV or computer. It makes me crazy. I can’t relax through my hobbies without thinking of all the things I should be doing. And I HAVE to work.

How do you balance it all?

I just can’t take it anymore

Joyce — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:51:22 +0000

There’s a new meme circulating on Facebook. This one purporting to be a letter-to-the-editor written by a 21-year-old woman who “gets it” and shows “how she feels about the social welfare big government state that she’s being forced to live in!” (BTW, no one is ACTUALLY forced to live in the U.S., that’s just as voluntary as anything.)

The meme goes on with her supposed “solutions” to the problems she perceives exist in this country.

The letter is real, it was written by a retired Army 1st sergeant and it ran in a newspaper in Texas.

Without giving this non-sense anymore exposure than it already has gotten, I have to get a couple things off my chest regarding this guy’s solutions.

If you want to read it in it’s entirety, go here, but please take the time to also read the comments posted there.

The Facebook meme calls these solutions “common sense” so let’s review some of them shall we?

The writer, who wants to be “put in charge” says of Medicaid that the first thing he would do would be to force birth control upon people. Um, Eugenics anyone? If the facts of Eugenics don’t drive home the impact of his proposal enough, read THIS story. (ETA: It should be noted many states and countries abandoned Eugenics after World War II, during which the Army this letter writer retired from, and other armies, fought against a nation and philosophy that called for ethnic cleansing.)

Next, the original letter writer proposes doing away with food stamps/EBT cards and providing the poor with rice, beans, cheese and “all the powdered milk you can haul away.” And, you’ll be surprised to hear, that the government has and does provide this. It’s supplemental food, not designed to serve as sole nutrition. You can read about it here. I’d like to note that while that food does help those who can’t or won’t work, it also was designed to provide GOVERNMENTAL subsidies to farmers, but I guess that’s ok, since they’re farming (i.e. working).

To be fair, and this is MY blog, I must say that I have chosen not to address each and every one of the proposed solutions. I however would also like to say this, for those of you who wander over to the site posted above and read the letter in it’s entirety: These so-called solutions to “big government” actually would create an entire new layer to add to government.

I typically don’t like to get political here, but I’ve kinda been rolling this one over in my head since it showed up on Facebook and just had to post.

Of holidays and traditions

Joyce — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:31:34 +0000

Thanksgiving is nearly over for those of us in the Midwest. Meals have been consumed, good meals, and we’ll all be moving on to whatever tomorrow: Work, shopping, hosting families for Thanksgiving Redux.

I am very fortunate that, for this one-day holiday, I have somewhere to spend it. A place to pull up a chair and share good food and good times with truly good people. But, as I sat in my friend’s kitchen talking as she prepared a few dishes for today, I was reminded how much tradition is a part of these holidays.

As a 40-year-old orphan who is single, sometimes these sorts of holidays just don’t seem important. I could’ve done like another friend and kicked back with some Chinese food and it woulda just been a day off in the middle of the week. But, there are those pesky traditions. You are supposed to hang out at a house teeming with people and eat turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes. When you are doing that with someone else’s family, it is their traditions in which you partake.

For the last several years, I’ve been trying to establish my own traditions. The direct end result has been me bouncing back and forth like a pinball between my family in Ohio and my family of friends in Indiana. So, as I reflected with my friend today and Wednesday about traditions, I realized: I can’t remember what our Thanksgiving traditions were. Christmas I remember like you can’t believe. But Thanksgiving is lost on me. Did we eat at home? Did we go to my mother’s sister’s home? Heck, I can remember our Easter traditions better.

The one thing I do know is that, as the better cook in the family, it was my mom who always cooked and I was always right there at her side as she did. I remember her stuffing (yep, we stuffed it in the bird) recipe off the top of the my head. I remember each pie she made (and there were several). And, it has been more than 15 years since I had a holiday the way my mom would’ve done it.

All that rambling to say this: Hold on to those traditions you cherish now, remember them. If you must, take photos and notes and scrapbook them. Then, maybe, you won’t find yourself in the same position as me, wondering what Thanksgiving was like for you 20 years earlier.

What are some of your favorite traditions?

This life I chose really chose me

Joyce — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:21:36 +0000

I’ve been reflecting on this an awful lot lately…trying to figure out how to explain the unexplainable to people who just don’t get it, don’t understand why I don’t look for other work when I complain about work.

I’m a journalist. I’ve endured abusive editors (in the past), had my life threatened (more than once) and live paycheck to paycheck (barely).

And, when I talk about work at times, there’s anger bubbling under the surface, threatening to erupt quite often and mostly presenting itself as tears of frustration. And the single most common reaction I get to it is “So, find another job” or “Well, sounds like it’s time to start looking.”

Here’s the thing: It’s not as easy as all that. I do not make widgets. I cannot go from making widgets for brand x to making them for brand y.

I am in a career that doesn’t pay well and often leaves me feeling used and disrespected. But I didn’t choose it. It chose me.

We journalists (the good ones at least) are a passionate sort. We.Love.What.We.Do. We feel passionately about what we do. We truly believe in what we do.

In many, many ways it’s like that lover who leaves you blissful and spent in the moment but in the long run leaves you miserable and hating yourself for what you did.

I have the fortune (or misfortune, depending upon your perspective) of having discovered this is my passion at a young age. A promise to my mother on her death bed found me working public/community relations for a hospital. It was a far worse relationship because it left me unfulfilled in a different way. I simply cannot do it.

Like many of my co-workers, it’s not fear that I don’t have any other skill sets with which to seek other employment (I do), it’s that there isn’t any other way I’d rather apply my skills. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.

So, the next time you hear a journalist bitching about their day, don’t suggest they find a new job. Acknowledge their frustration and extend your understanding. Or, shut the hell up and just listen like you mean it. And buy ‘em a drink.

Of breakfast food and dog treats

Joyce — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:27:08 +0000

As fall has settled in, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and not just for myself, but for the dogs too (ok, not a lot for the dogs, but some).

In the last week I hit upon two huge hits, one for myself for breakfast and one for the dogs for treats.

First, my breakfast. I do not like breakfast. I find it difficult to be motivated to cook for breakfast every morning but the one breakfast food I’ve always wished I enjoyed was oatmeal. I don’t, however. But, I have some barley I bought at a local Amish market and I know barley is a healthful food and I knew it could be turned into a breakfast cereal. So, I Googled it and gave it a try. I made two different kinds recently, an apple-cranberry barley and a banana-peanut butter barley. And, I love it. Here’s what I did.

Ingredients
4 cups of liquid (I used two cups of water and two cups of unsweetened almond milk)
1/2 c. barley
An apple or two
1/4 c. dried cranberries
cinnamon
honey
raw sugar
vanilla

I put the liquid on to boil and once it did, added the barley, cinnamon, honey (about 2 Tbsp), raw sugar (1/8 of a cup, which was too much) and a teaspoon of vanilla. Let that cook on low, covered, for 45 minutes. Add the apples and cook another 30 minutes, then add the cranberries and let it cook another 15 to 20 minutes. Once it’s done and it cools it thickens. I ate it cold with vanilla Greek yogurt.

For the banana-peanut butter barley I used 3 c. liquid, 1/4 c. barley, 4 bananas that I had in the freezer and a 1/2 c. peanut butter. I cooked it in much the same way, waiting until the last five minutes to add the peanut butter. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Now, for the dog treats. I had a beef roast I had made and didn’t want to throw out when I was done with it, so I sliced it into 1/16 inch slices, placed those on a cookie sheet and baked them at 300 until they were, well, dried out, flipping them once. The dogs love ‘em enough that I’m contemplating doing it again, and maybe with chicken.