Heathy Food Fail

I try to eat healthy. I try to make my own meals with ingredients from scratch, or mostly so. I pin those great sites I find on Pinterest that tell me how I can eat unprocessed food for 100 days and live a richer, happier, and healthier life.

It was on one of those sites that I found a recipe for homemade cheese crackers. You have to understand that Goldfish (whole grain, of course) and Cheeze-Its are a staple in our house. There will be times we are out butter, have expired milk, but do have at least one type of cheesy cracker in the cupboard. They are important to our well being.

So when I saw the recipe I thought it would be great if I could get us away from the processed crackers and make my own. Especially because the reviews were fabulous. Everyone raved about how AMAZING the crackers were, their favorites ever, better than store bought, and on and on and on.

I either screwed up massively or these people haven't eaten a decent cracker in a decade and are fooling themselves into beliving these things actaully taste good. Or my household is addicted to processed cheese crackers. Or maybe all 3?

I planned to post these pictures victoriously when I told you all about the amazing new crackers that I make for my family...

I know there is quite a bit of chedder cheese and wheat flour in the recipe, and in the picture looks kinda like a sausage.

Well I made those lovley crackers about 3 weeks ago and here they still are...

I'm pretty sure we've gone through about 4 boxes of Cheez-Its since then. Like an addiction group for Target, is there an addiction group for cheesy crackers?

If you want to try these crackers, I will send them to you. They might be stale, but that probably didn't change them much. If you want the recipe, just let me know. Maybe you'll have better luck :)

Can you be Addicted to Cities?

Best store ever!

This last weekend I made my monthly jaunt up to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. I haven't really been to the main part of any of these cities but I have been to important places like Nordstrom Rack, REI, and Trader Joes.

I noticed something while I was up there. More than once my pulse started racing, I got a goofy smile on my face, and I instantly felt...jubilant.

First it was seeing a beautiful highway with 4 lanes in each direction spanning out in front of me.  Odd...yes. It reminded me of last time I was in Denver and I actually got a little excited for traffic on I-25 because it proved that people lived around me and had important, fun, fashionable places to be.

Fayetteville traffic consists of people waiting in line to get on base, or crazy amounts of solders trying to eat at the chain restaurants on Skibo Road on a weekend night. Parking lots of Chili's, Texas Road House, and Ruby Tuesdays are out of control.

A second time over the weekend that I felt euphoric was when I walked into DSW. I don't even really like shoes, I'm not that kind of girl, but it was DSW. I didn't know it was there, so it was a little happy surprise of a life past when I could buy a cute pair of shoes at a reasonable price whenever I needed them. (Without the hour and a half drive).

I have grown to love cities. I love the sights, smells, people, weirdness, and now the malls/shopping too.  Yes I also love mountains, trees, trails, and open space. I need both. In talking about where we will settle down someday, I have lots of wishes--mountains, hiking access, big yard, sunny, etc. I have only one real requirement...I must be within 10 minutes of Target.

Yes this may be an addiction. Support group anyone?

Rant of the Week

Beware, most of this post is a rant and probably not politically correct...maybe I'm a bit hormonal but things have been BUGGING me over this last week. These are the top 3.

1. Zumba 

I admit, I have not been to a Zumba class but after I have sweated my ass off in Spinning I see the last few minutes and I just don't get it. There's some dancing and some shaking.

Now there are many work outs that are not for me, but I still appreciate them. Take Yoga--it is not my style but I see fit women leaving these classes, so it must work. I personally need something that involves more sweat, but that's just my gym hangup. Crossfit--looks daunting and I wish I was cool enough to do but really deep down don't think I am. But the women that come out of there are freaking tough and can probably bench press me.

Zumba class on the other hand, does not spill tough or fit or athletic women out when it ends. This may just be my gym, but 90% of the class is on the larger side and doesn't move nearly fast enough to keep up with the instructor, much less work up too much of a sweat. If no one coming out of the class has a body I would want, why would I take the class?

It may also piss me off that they allow about 50 participants, who take up all the parking in the minuscule parking lot, which in turn makes me late for my spin class...just maybe.

2. Gym Talkers

The other day a woman on a treadmill in front of me set the speed to a moderate walk and pulled out her cell phone. I am not sure if she'd never heard it was rude to talk while in the gym, or if she simply thought that because she was speaking a different language it was okay.

I just wanted to shout, "Just because I can't understand you, doesn't mean I can't hear you!" Maybe she had the same line of thinking that kids do--If I can't see you, you can't see me--kind of thing going. 

Not only was she talking, for at least the last 15 minutes of my workout, but she was also loud. I could here her over LMFAO shuffling in my ears. Rude (and maybe a little crazy)!

3. Stupid Questions/People

While out walking CJ, my very chill and well behaved dog, we started to approach a woman getting cleaning supplies out of the back of a car. She motioned for me to take out my headphones (more LMFAO) and when I did asked,

"Should I get back in my car?" 

I said, "Excuse me?" and when she repeated it I gathered she meant, was I going to let my huge, scary dog off leash to attack her on the spot.

He looks like a killer, right?

I smiled in a good natured way and explained that CJ was very friendly as we crossed to the other side of the street to avoid her. She then decided that he wasn't scary and started talking to him, causing him to pull toward her. When I reprimanded him she was all honey and said how she LOVED dogs and of course he could come see her and could she pet him and how sweet he was and what a nice coat he had and on and on.

So why the hell were you scared of him 3 minutes ago when we were walking along, minding our own business, ignoring you and I was jamming out happy as a clam? HUH?

Okay, Rant over. I feel a bit better. Funny how some things just bug the bajesus out of you and you can't wrap you mind around them and let them go until they have been shared. What bugged you this week?

The Weird Sisters

I started and finished The Weird Sisters so quickly but now it has taken me weeks to write about it...typical, right! The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown was sent to me by my lovely aunt who works at Tattered Cover Book Store (the absolutely most fabulous book store in the world, located in Denver).

It is about a family deeply entrenched in Shakespeare, enough so that each daughter is named after a Shakespearean lovely and, at times, takes on the traits of the character. Roselind, Cordelia and Bianca have very little in common--having no sisters myself I always see those of my friends who do have sisters as having a built in best friend, but these girls are not nearly so close. Anyway, the story is well told with each character growing, changing, and becoming better in the end.

Being the geeky English major who has at least one huge Anthology of Shakespeare on my bookshelf, I loved the connection to his plays, but that it wasn't overdone. (Well maybe a little at the beginning, but as the story goes on the characters take over the action). Brown gave enough background that if you hadn't read Shakespeare you could still enjoy the story completely, but if you happen to be a Shakespeare buff you will probably really love her book.

Eleanor Brown has an easy to read voice and a unique style. The story was told by a narrator that was a kind of omniscient combo spirit of all three girls. It was all told in 3rd person but at times would say things like, "If only we'd been there to talk to her, to sooth those fears, to tell her that no, we could not have done it without her all those years..."She was able to jump into each woman's fears, thoughts, and joys but still make you feel like the story was told by all three in unison. Neat work!

I think my favorite part was that each woman was struggling with a character flaw and in trying to overcome it, they each slide backward. It wasn't like, "Oh hey, I have learned that am a crazy control freak. Ok I won't do that anymore! Viola, all better!" Each woman comes to see what they need to change about themselves and in the end does a pretty good job of it, but not without backsliding, regret, confusion, and some necessary self-loathing. It made them all very real and easy to relate to.

I would recommend you check it out. I would lend you my copy but it is Autographed by the author thanks again to my lovely aunt, so paws off, get your own copy! Curl up with a cuppa tea and enjoy the story and voice of this delightful book.

The Bread Monster

For anyone who has known me long, or has tried to give me a plant, you know I am absolutely horrible at keeping things alive. It is truly amazing that I have 2 dogs that live and thrive. Possibly because they are very clear when they want food, water, a walk, etc. If plants could do a little whining or scratching at the sink, they would probably live longer in my household.

I am now proud to say I have kept something else alive for over 2 months--it is a bread monster. Now, if you are like me, you might not know that some breads need "starter." This starter is yeast but not the handy stuff that comes in a packet that is always in my cupboard but never used. This starter has to be fed.

Every 3-5 days.

My mother-in-law makes the most amazing Sourdough Bread and it is Honey's favorite so over the holidays she promised to give me the recipe. Overall it is pretty easy. But with it she gave me a little mason jar of 35 year old starter. Yes, 35 years old.

Someone has been feeding this bread monster for 35 years. You can imagine the pressure I felt that I keep this thing (that is older than me) alive.

Pressure.

But I can say, I have. Every few days I mix up it's food--potato flakes, sugar, water, and bread flour--and I feed the yeasty bubbly thing in my fridge.

Ok, once I went 7 days...but it still seems to live, I think, and it still makes good bread so I must be okay.

Who would have ever known!