Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Apr. 04, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. (Thanks to Jo from Simply Being Mum for sponsoring FWF this week.)

This Week's Food Waste

Zer0

I saved shriveled potatoes this week by soaking them in cold water until they were plump enough to peel.  After they were cooked, they made some pretty good mashed potatoes. I also cooked a carrot that was starting to go bad. All I had to do for that save was cut a little of it off the top. However, there are several more carrots that are going to need that attention soon. I hope I am not reporting about them next week.

This Week's True Food Confessions

The Week of the Chicken

If I'm remembering it right, we had chicken every night for supper last week. It all started with a roast chicken from Costco ($4.99). We had chicken as a main meat, we had chicken in chicken fried rice, and chicken in a Shepard's pie. Another night we had Kung Pao chicken from Ward's favorite Chinese restaurant. Other times, like for lunch and snacks, we had leftovers from these chicken dishes.  It was all good.

Foodwise, it turned out to be a good week even though it was a somewhat stressful. That meant that more than once I didn't feel like I had the energy to cook. One of those nights was the night we had Chinese. The other nights were the ones when we had the chicken casserole-type dishes. The interesting thing was that, even though I didn't want to cook, it didn't feel like the heavy burden it usually does to me. I was still tired, but not incapacitated. Now if I can just figure out why and keep it up.

Until next time...
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Here's today's poem. Since it is a chicken theme today, I chose this one by Ogden Nash.

The Poultry

 Let's think of eggs.

They have no legs.

Chickens come from eggs,

But they have legs.

The plot thickens:

Eggs come from chickens

But have no legs under 'em.

What a conundurum!

A Second Look--April 2, 2014

As it should be, every week I am seeing more and more signs of spring. Plants are greening, flowers are blooming, peepers are peeping, and animals are birthing.  It's wonderful. All of this is happening despite the fact that we had more snow this week.

Here are a few things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Crocuses are popping up in various places now.

This picture of white crocus was taken at dusk.

We had a lot of rain this week which also encouraged fungus to grow.

However, some of that rain turned to snow. The cold, wet weather didn't stop this cardinal or starling from coming out.

I think the rain washed out these two bones from hiding.

Although there are no blooms yet, the daffodils are budding.

This nest has been completed, but it is still waiting for eggs.

The deer are enjoying all of the new green growth. Day lilies and azaleas are their favorites.

The most exciting thing I saw this week was this cow in labor at my back fence. The calf was stubborn, so the farmer had to go in with chains and pull it out. I chose not to watch this part.

And now for today's poem. This was written by Theo when he was about 10.

Signs of Spring

The last of winter fades away
Icicles shed their tears
Borne upon a sunlit era
Life awakens once again
In this never ending cycle

Trees grow green, grass is showing
Robins and bluebirds appear
New plants sprout, old ones awaken
New infants to all animals
A time of plenty

Rejoice! For it is Spring!

National Poetry Month

Do you like poetry? The Academy of American Poets has set aside the entire month of April to help you appreciate it more. In theory, I like poetry. I like the way it can take a few words or phrases and evoke powerful images or feelings. Or I like the way it can tell a humorous story with a careful turn of a phrase.

My understanding of poetry has evolved throughout the years. When I was little, it was a rhyming, simple verse like a Mother Goose rhyme. Later, it told a story with many stanzas such as The Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow. And today, it is often free verse--which means no rhyming or meter required such as Litany by Collins.

But do I read it regularly? No. Like many other people, it takes an effort on my part to read poetry and appreciate it. So, I don't do it very often. A few years ago, in an effort to be better educated, Ward and I read 100 Famous Poems by Cook. We took turns reading them aloud to each other and we enjoyed  the process and the discussions we had about each one. However, that effort didn't start me on the path of being an avid poetry reader.

Even though I don't read poetry often, I am always impressed by those who write it. Most of my attempts in the past to write a poem have been simplistic examples on par with Mother Goose rhymes. My great ideas never seem to sound the same on paper as they do in my head. Theo is different. Throughout his years, his has written poems of many styles. Most of them were prompted by school assignments, but sometimes he would just write them for his own personal satisfaction. And being the typical mother, I thought they were pretty good. Better than mine anyway. (And who knows what they may have been like if he had ever taken the time to do some editing.)

Anyway, during the month of April, I'm going to be posting poems on most days. Many of them will be from Theo, some will be from published works, and watch out--some may even be from my own hand.

Here's the first entry from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. We've had a lot of windy weather the last few days which brought this poem to mind.

Strange Wind

What a strange wind it was today
Whistlin' and whirlin' and scurlin' away
Like a worried old woman with so much to say
What a strange wind it was today

What a strange wind it was today
Cool and clear from a sky so grey
And my hat stayed on but my head blew away
What a strange wind it was today

A Hat Tip to Marilyn at A Place to Reside for introducing me to Billy Collins.

Rainy Weekend Fun

We had rain all weekend (except when it was snowing), so I spent most of my time inside. I took this opportunity to go back to an old hobby of mine--beading. That was motivated by the fact that I needed to clean the room where my work space was for another reason. And when I saw that I could actually sit down at my beading table, the call of the beads was more that I could resist. I was itching to take the large jumble of beads I have to see what I could do with them. I decided to make badge holders for some of my coworkers. I had to do a bit of creative design to work with just what I had on hand. It was much too yucky out to go for more supplies. However, I liked the challenge of this.

So what did I end with? I ended up with five new badge holders to add to ones that I had made before. After my intense sessions yesterday,  today I'm going to see if I can get my eyes to refocus more than five inches in front of my face. :)
Here are a few pictures of the fruits of my labor. The pictures didn't turn out so well, but I think you'll get the idea of the tedious detailed, fun weekend I had.

Is there an old hobby that you want to try again?

Thankful Sunday--March 30, 2014

I am thankful that this grinder has found its new home.

Theo bought this very large grinder for his grandfather several months ago. However, it has been living in our garage until yesterday when it was finally delivered to its new owner. His grandfather was happy to get it and we are happy that we now have a little more space to maneuver in our garage.