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What’s up with THAT??
Saturday Junk Hunting
Brought the manchild, but he was less than thrilled
As we were leaving Victorias Station bakery and cafe, I noticed half the town had their pink boxes in hand.
Testing testing….
Nancy of a Rural Journal made me a new signature…. isn’t she awesome? Now let’s see if it works…because I’m not so awesome in the configuring department.
Me and my Big Mouth
rocks
Connecticut has lots of them. Take a walk in the woods almost anywhere in the state and you will find remnants of the old stone walls, when Connecticut was mostly farmland and the rocks found abundantly in the soil were used as fencing for livestock.
This Old House has many walls surrounding the fields and along the road. Mike is Type A squared, if you know what I mean… and so the crumbling old walls drive him nutz. It’s important to me that we don’t ever sterilize this place, as I am much more bohemian than he… so I have fought against rebuilding them all. However, with the expertise of Steve, (who long time readers of this blog will remember as the guy who rebuilt all our fireplaces and chimneys and foundation and porch floor)… the stone walls surrounding the fields are getting put back together the way they were 100 years ago… and that’s OK by me as long as we’re keeping it authentic.
This morning after a winter hiatus, Steve returned with his side-kick, Cooper… and will finish the front roadside wall. This is a section already completed by Steve a few years back…
It was a portion of wall that someone had re-done in the past forty years or so,
but not in keeping with everything else.
I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours – Part 2
I showed you my refrigerator the other day, and I spoke of making some changes to my diet for better health. I also admitted there has been plenty of junk food consumption over the years…we are equal opportunity eaters, if you will. Slowly I am making changes to my diet and that of my family so that we are eating less processed foods, more whole foods, swapping poor diet choices for healthier alternatives. Doing this post was not meant to critique what we all have in our refrigerators. It was a fun way to look at our perks and quirks in the fridge.
I did not say, we don’t eat any junk ever. I am not a fanatic. I am a realist. I have a teenager and a young adult living in this house and a husband who loves his meat and potatoes, butter, bread, condiments, etc. We are not all going to convert to whole-organic-pure food only. This is a process, steps taken toward better living, better health.
Last night I read a comment from Anonymous. Why is it that whenever someone wants to critique, they cloak themselves under Anonymous? It’s not really a question, I already know the answer.
Dear Anonymous… I appreciate your comment, actually… it’s useful information. Being a critic without putting your name to it, though… is off-putting. Just saying.
Anonymous said… “Your food choices are bewildering. On the one hand there is organic whole milk, eggs, clementines, and raw probiotics but that’s as far as the real food goes. Then you have chocolate milk, processed juice, cream cheese (which is not real), rolls of some kind under-pressure, and condiments with sugar/salt galore. Your body must be so confused and inflamed. BTW that earth balance isn’t real food either, better to use real butter sparingly. Sorry for the critique but you opened up your frig, brave woman. “
That being said…. I thank you all for participating. I love this post, you have all braved exposing what is definitely a personal item in our homes. I love hearing that you have a two pepsi a day habit, even tho you are a thin, health conscious runner! And that I see just as many condiments in your fridges as I do mine. One of you has a frig dedicated to sausage making from various meats and you relish it! (literally!) …. and I like hearing what you are doing to fuel your body with healthy stuff too. It gives me ideas, and it makes us all realize how much more alike we are than our differences. Commeradery, there it is.
We have our vices too!! LOL!!!
It usually involves a sweet treat at night or sometimes a glass of wine (for me) LOL!!!
That’s how we’re rolling in 2012!!!
I eat pretty much whatever I want, but when possible I buy light versions (sour cream, cream cheese, milk). I try to limit the amount of processed foods we use, but I won’t lie – we do use them. You’ll note that the veggie drawer has celery, carrots, grapes and broccoli which are all staples in our house. A large assortment of cheeses in the cheese/meat drawer. We only buy organic milk (it’s the only food I’m a real stickler about for organic). The eggs are actually all from our hens – they have started laying again so we have a surplus! In fact, the big bowl you see on the top shelf is full of hard boiled eggs, which we eat as snacks a lot. The boys love them. You’ll see lots of tupperwares in our fridge at all times, because I cook full dinners. One of the tupperwares is full of barbecue chicken – from one of our chickens that I cooked last week. The other is full of homemade mac and cheese. And Pierce’s lunch is prepped and in his lunch box to the left (behind which are some of our home canned pickles and salsa). And to the bottom right – our grass fed organic beef cow arrived yesterday – we got 56 pounds! So I’m defrosting the first batch and toying with the idea of a casserole involving tomatoes, beef, cheese, green peppers and corn chips crumbled on top. The blue pitcher in the back just has ice cold water.
We also have a Soda Stream and make some of our own sodas – lately I’ve been liking their green tea.
You may also note my vice…..Diet Pepsi/Diet Coke. I can’t quite break the habit of 2 a day. Nobody’s perfect! Especially not me!
Ok, so what I’ve noticed…. We all seem to try to balance the good with the mediocre food stuff with the evil. I see lots of fruits and veggies, we all have condiment issues, I’d say we’re all doing a decent job with the balancing act. Are we fanatics? Hell no. Is that necessary? Everything in moderation sounds reasonable. We each have individual needs, deficiencies, health concerns and goals. Our refrigerators reflect that, don’t ya think?
Over-exposed?
If you’re a health nut and have some tips, share them.
If you want to make some changes, tell us about them.
If you’re already making dietary changes, big or small,
let us know about them by including them with your pic.
Let’s inspire each other here….I think it’s important.
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours….
Eating healthier has gotten more expensive,
Both are not easily digested and I’m giving my digestive tract some relief.
I heeded the warning, and I’m feeling better already.
Doesn’t have to be health conscious… if you’re a milk, butter,
beer, bratwurst kinda person, that’s OK too!
2 4-lb. whole chickens, each cut into 6 pieces (4 breasts with rib bones, 4 leg-thigh pieces, 4 wings)
4 large lemons
2 large oranges
8 medium cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano (or 1 Tbs. dried, crumbled)
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. honey
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pour the olive oil into a heavy-duty nonreactive roasting pan large enough to accommodate the chicken pieces in one layer. Arrange the chicken in the pan with the breasts in the center and the legs and wings around the edge.
Cut 1 of the lemons into 6 wedges. Finely grate the zest from another lemon to yield 1 tsp. and then squeeze the remaining lemons to yield 2/3 cup juice; transfer the zest and juice to a small bowl. Cut 1 of the oranges into 8 wedges. Finely grate the zest from the remaining orange to yield 1 tsp., and then squeeze the orange to yield 1/2 cup juice; add to the bowl with the lemon juice and zest. Scatter the lemon and orange wedges around the chicken pieces, but don’t put them on top of the chicken or they’ll interfere with browning.
Stir the garlic, oregano, soy sauce, honey, and pepper flakes into the citrus juice. Pour the marinade evenly over the chicken. Cover with plastic and refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 6 hours and up to 12 hours.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F.
Turn the chicken so all the pieces are skin side up. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 375°F and continue to roast until the chicken is golden-brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the chicken and the lemon and orange wedges to a platter. Pour the pan juice into a fat separator and let sit until the fat rises to the top. Discard the excess fat and pour the juice into a 10-inch skillet. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 1-1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
Serve the chicken with the citrus wedges, passing the reduced pan juice at the table.
…Really?
Bobby Brown leaves the funeral of his ex wife and mother of his child because his “entourage” of nine is asked to move to seating not reserved for family. Instead of complying and showing some level of respect for his dead ex, who it is said he introduced to the world of drugs and in fact the family still harbors resentment for his early starring role in her drug habit….. instead… he leaves the funeral ..and his daughter.. behind. Ofcourse, the media grabbed on to that little nugget right after the services and ran with it.
Bobby, this time, pal… you shoulda sucked it up. At the very least, your “entourage” should have insisted you stay and waited politely for you back at the ranch. Just sayin.