Chelle's Zone

Is This Thing Still On?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 15:33:00 +0000

For some reason, Today I wondered... "Does Blogger still exist?"

And it does. My old blog is still here.

I clicked something to try to get here, and they emailed me a list of 11 blogs that I had created. Hilarious! That's me.

I was hoping they'd have some nicer themes here in 2022, but I guess not. I switched to something really simple, though, anyway.

I wish they had an integration with Unsplash for photos like Notion.

Anyway, I'm just playing around, procrastinating, wishing more people who I follow on Twitter had blogs like this, so I could stay in touch with them. The newsletters are nice, but I'm not sure if there's an opportunity to talk to them and comment on comments.

Somebody Build This

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 17:04:00 +0000

Photo from Flickr by Cowley.Dave1

...or tell me where I can sign up for this service.

This is the problem
When you have a side gig or multiple side gigs, you create multiple email accounts, multiple twitter account, etc. If you don't have an appropriate, effective system in place, you will miss important messages that need immediate action. You will. I have. And I'm watching others do the same as I request services for my own business development. This is a problem.

A few quick fixes
Because of this, just yesterday, I found a tutorial online so that I can make sure that I get notifications on my phone when I receive emails from certain people. Several of them are close friends and relatives, but one of them is someone whose consulting services I wish to purchase. We've emailed back and forth over the course of a week or so and still haven't nailed down a day and time. I know that she batch processes her email and doesn't check it every day, so my interim fix is to reply to her as soon as she sends me a message so that hopefully, we can nail down a date/time within a week.

I have all of my emails forwarded to my primary gmail account and am using labels + filters to try to catch possible important messages. Because, again, it's happened to me. I started a new project last spring and didn't do much with it other than set up an autoresponder. Well, since I'm not used to people actually replying to those messages, I wasn't checking that account. Then, I had to apologize for taking months to respond to an email which is completely unacceptable and unprofessional.

But I need a better solution
And other people do too. Some type of dashboard that catches defined important stuff and possible important stuff. This stuff includes

Emails from prospective clients
Tweets from potential partners
Emails from business leads
Emails related to current projects

For now I'm still going to do the best I can with Gmail's filters and labels, but I'm looking for something better. I don't want to see the junk and there's a lot of junk. I'm working on updating settings in social media accounts to get rid of that and adding more filters to send it to the trash. In the meantime, if you know someone who builds stuff like this, ask him/her to build this. If it already exists, please tell me about it. Thank you in advance :)

My First Udemy Course

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 04:14:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. I've been busy doing stuff but not documenting much of it.

Vegan Cooking with Love

I've been consistently posting 1 YouTube video a week to my vegan cooking channel, Vegan Cooking with Love, since September or October of 2012. It's the only thing I've ever done consistently in my life and that taught me a lot about myself. My community has really made it easy. They encourage me each and every week through their comments. Knowing your efforts are appreciated makes all of the difference in the world. I currently have over 6,000 subscribers and over 151,000 vides. That kind of blows my mind.

Getting Better

So, when I decided to get serious about making my cooking videos, I spend at lot of time deconstructing videos and learning all that I can. It was quite frustrating because there's no help out there for cooking video creators. As I learned, I always thought it would be a good idea to put something together to help others who are trying to produce cooking videos that don't look so homemade.

Teaching Others

So, just last week, I actually finished that process - well, part 1 anyway and my course, "How to Make Cooking Videos: The Basics," was approved on Udemy and listed in their marketplace.

Planning the Course

I actually started writing my outline early last year (2013). It's a shame that I started so long ago and just finished, but that's another blog post.

Initial Work Process

Here are the steps I took to create the content for the course, which had to be 60% video.

Wrote my initial outline
Fleshed out the outline, making sure I had sections for everything I could think of and wanted to include
Wrote the actual scripts for each section of the outline (this took awhile and I didn't work on it consistently. Each section of the outline, in most cases, would be 1 video. In some cases, the sections were short enough that I combined them into 1 video.
Created a custom branded template theme in Keynote. I learned about doing this from Marty with ComboCasting.com.

Video Production Process

For the majority of my course, you just hear my voice and see slides. That was the easiest way to get the videos done. I did record 2 talking head videos for the course as well - one for the promo video and one for the conclusion video.

For each video, here's what I did for all of the videos except those that were software demonstrations:

Created the Keynote presentation. I made custom graphics and used relevant animation, thanks to Miguel's "How to create an awesome demo video in Keynote" Udemy Course. I would have no idea how to use Keynote if it wasn't for his course.
Recorded the audio using Audacity and exported it as a wav file. I literally read the script that I wrote. I paused for several seconds before I started speaking to leave space for the next step.
Opened the wav file and I already had the Keynote file open
Opened Screenflow and started recording the screen
Started playing the wav file
Played the Keynote presentation
Clicked through the Keynote presentation while the audio was playing
Stopped recording in Screenflow once I was done
Edited the Screenflow file
Exported the Screenflow file using custom settings. I'll have to take screenshots of those later.

I originally thought I would create all of the Keynote presentations first, but I'm glad I didn't. By recording the screen shortly after designing the slides, I remembered the animations that I had just created and was able to click at the appropriate times to advance the slides or trigger the animation.

Software Demonstration Workflow

Although I created 3 of these types of videos for my course, I'm not quite sure if I've nailed down the workflow yet. Here's what I'm thinking right now.

Finalize outline
Write introductory sections of scripts and any narration that I know I want to include
Research and write steps for each video
Record the screen with Screenflow while I take the steps
Edit the Screenflow file
Record the audio narration in Audacity while playing the Screenflow file
Add the audio file to Screenflow
Edit as necessary
Export using custom settings

The reason why I have to research the steps for this course is that there are a lot of things that I did once that I don't ever have to do again - like

Creating my template in iMovie
Creating my animated logo video
Adding custom fonts to the menu

So, I'll need to go and find those videos that taught me how to do these things. Once, I complete 3 or so more videos for my second course, I'll hopefully have the workflow nailed down and will document it here.

Let me know what's not clear or what else you'd like to know in the comments and I'll update the post. Thanks!

Who Says That? Vegetables

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 12:38:00 +0000

Roasted Broccoli, Source: Dana Treat

This woman I work with said, "I don't like vegetables. My kids don't like vegetables." Who says that? Even if you really feel that way, that is not something you should really say aloud as a grown ass adult. Really? Grow the f@#% up.

But the reality is…what she said is probably not even true. If I was a person who bets, I would bet money that this woman eats mashed potatoes, potato salad, corn on the cob, probably collard greens, sweet potato pie, zucchini bread, spaghetti sauce, french fries and probably a ton of other vegetables prepared in traditional soul food and American fashion.

Someone might respond by saying, "Well, that's probably not what she meant." Well, that's what she said and I think you should say what the hell you mean and mean what you say. Words are too powerful to use them any old way. Choose your words carefully. They reflect your thoughts and beliefs and guide your actions.

My other problem with this is she's a mother. If she has this attitude toward the only food group beside fruit that provides antioxidants and critical vitamins and minerals…how in the hell is she going to raise healthy kids? That's a problem…to me. And it's really mostly an attitude problem.

When someone thinks this way, they aren't going to experiment in the kitchen and search for different ways to prepare vegetables. They don't even consider the possibility that preparation makes a world of difference in the final outcome. If you boil broccoli and feed it to your kids, you shouldn't blame them for not liking it. It's not them, it's you. Roast it and sprinkle it with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Put some marinara sauce on the side so they can dip it in something that's not fat laden. Feed it to them raw. You might be surprised.

You have to experiment with food, particularly vegetables, because it's highly likely that your parents didn't and therefore you didn't learn how to cook/prepare vegetables. Don't do the same disservice to your kids and yourself. Don't do it. It's not right and it's not fair to the children. Be an adult and make responsible decisions and pay attention to the words you say. Be a positive role model. It's important.

*Rant Over*

Someone is going to slap me one of these days

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:58:00 +0000

And it's going to happen because I can not keep my mouth shut when someone talks about weight loss. You see, I'm not technically overweight. Well, I guess I'm not overweight at all, but I am very close to the high end of my normal BMI, my pants are so tight they leave creases in my stomach and there are a few that I can't even wear. In all honesty, I refuse to get on the scale and could actually be on the low end of overweight for my BMI. All because of my issue with potato chips and recently vanilla oreos at work.

So, I keep jumping in with my 2 cents about how I need to lose about 10/13 pounds while someone is looking at me who clearly needs to lose significantly more. I'm going to stop before I get smacked.

But you know, I feel so compelled...see I told you I have a problem...can't stop talking about this. Because this is the point, which I've never said to anyone who's looking at me cross-eyed. Anyone who is honest with themselves knows that you don't gain 20, 30, 50 pounds overnight. It starts with 5 or 10. It always starts with 5 or 10. 10 turns to 20, then 30...So my point is that I have to stop at this 10/15 because if I don't it will turn into 20, 30... It absolutely will. It's true. I've done this before. I know.

And just because I'm relatively small does not mean I don't have fat on my body. I see myself naked people. And what would they say makes up these extra 10-15 pounds? It's sure as hell not muscle. Extra weight is fat. There's no way around it. And that's all I'm going to say. And I'm going to stop chiming in during these conversations with other people.

Lots on My Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:30:00 +0000

That picture right there is the exact opposite of where I've been mentally over the last few weeks. My mind has been racing. I've been fighting negative thoughts and energy about my house--which I'm still planning to put on the market just as soon as I cross off about 4 things from my repair/touch up list. I've been fighting negative thoughts about my level of personal responsibility. Instead of sharing and seeking comfort or reassurance, I decided to sit with and live with all that's been going on in my mind alone without interference, without external noise or assistance. I did contemplate hiring a coach last week, but settled on a membership to GTD Connect, which I'll probably cancel in a few months once I get on track.

I expect a lot from myself and lately I have not been delivering at a level I'm comfortable with. I have several projects that I'm juggling at work and an influx of good ideas for more projects. I've also been trying to harness my creative ideas and develop a plan and some focus. I feel like I've spent more time encouraging others and sharing ideas with them than I have spent nurturing my own ideas and creative pursuits. I give a lot away and maybe in some ways it's left me empty. I've enjoyed my self-imposed solitude, more than I expected. I've been consuming a lot of information that reminded me of some things that I already knew and helped me focus a little.

I had planned to write a post about hatred toward 9-5 jobs, but I probably won't. I suppose the bottom line is that it bothers me that the overriding message is quit your job and do something you love. I happen to really enjoy my job and have enjoyed the 6-10 that I've had before this one. I don't love getting up every day and having to go, but I love the experiences that I've had and skills that I've developed while being employed by other people. Without my 9-5 jobs over the years, there is so much I would not have learned and so many skills and competencies that I would have not developed. You can't engineer that type of learning. I always create opportunities for myself in each position. I create opportunities to develop something that I can leave behind as a legacy. I create opportunities to learn something new and apply it to the organization. That's what I do and I love it. I also know that I need some level of accountability to perform and I need a stable income. I took 2 weeks off during the winter holidays and my brain turned to mush. That was a sign for me. It took me forever to get back into the swing of things and get on top of my work.

That being said, I know that I need to use my skills, abilities and knowledge to make extra money for myself and contribute to the world. I feel a personal responsibility to do so. And today, I feel like I've had a breakthrough. All of the information I've consumed during the past few weeks has come together and I believe I have a vision and a plan. I'm extremely excited and am looking forward to doing the work to make it happen. I will be taking my time and planning extensively to do what I think is necessary for me to do this right. You'll be the first to know when I really get going.

If you've read this rambling post all the way to the end. Thank you :)

YouTube - Learn Anything

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:18:00 +0000

That might be a slight stretch, but really...you can learn so much on YouTube.

I was talking to a colleague this morning about some of my "business ideas" and she said, "You know what I want to learn?" She proceeded to tell me that she wanted to learn how to get her photos from her camera onto her computer, how to make them black and white and how to create calendars with them. I told her, "You should search on YouTube." She said, "Really?" Yes, really. Now the truth is Google would help her just as much, but I suggested YouTube because she gave me a spiel about how she need to touch and see...and all that...to learn.

A colleague and I gave a brown bag lunch talk a few months ago about how you can learn for free online by reading blogs, newsletters, participating in webinars, searching YouTube, etc. As we were preparing, we tried to order the topics from the most familiar to the least familiar. My colleague told me that she'd never searched for anything educational on YouTube and my boss told me the same thing.

These moments make me feel crazy and remind me how "abnormal" I am. I honestly think a part of me thinks other people are crazy when they say, "I want to learn..." or "I need to take training to..." I know, it's insensitive of me to think that and probably a little rude. But, the thing is...the moment an idea pops into my head about something I'm interested in learning...I go to Google. [sidebar: You know we have a special relationship :) I love Google and Google loves me.] I mean...anything you want to know is at your fingertips. And over the years, Google makes sure that any videos that are available on the topic you search show in your results. It's crazy, exciting and awesome!

The only trick is you have to know what you want to learn. You have to type the right question. Usually, after searching enough about something I don't know much about, I can figure out the right terms/key words/industry language to use in my question. I told my dad yesterday that I believe that people who say those things don't really want to learn. They aren't committed to it. They aren't serious about it. Otherwise, they would Google it and find out. I have never been the type of person to wait for someone to teach me something or give me the tools I need to do something. I learn what I need to learn to do what I want or need to do and I buy what I need to do it. I think my mother made me this way. Let's blame her.

I say all of this to say, if there's something you want to learn how to do, search for it on YouTube. You might just find a great tutorial. Oh and when you do, tell someone about it so they can learn more too!

Staying on Track

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:44:00 +0000

I am a very inconsistent blogger and in 2012 I have not resolved to do better in this area...Real talk (as they say). I'm sure I'll have times when I write more, but keep your expectations low :)

I do want to update anyone who read my previous decluttering/minimizing posts. I am still on track to put my 3 bedroom (1300 sq ft) cape cod on the market in March. I hoped to be done with all of my projects by the end of 2011, but I didn't maintain enough momentum to do that.

I've sold, freecycled and donated quite a bit and used the money that I made to make some minor improvements. I'm dipping into my emergency account to make the last few improvements, which include replacing my kitchen countertop, installing a closet door, repairing my porch ceiling and repairing my fence. I have a few small projects that I can complete as well. My goal is to complete everything by the middle of February. I will post pictures when I'm done, hopefully with someone's wide angle lens since my rooms are small.

Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:30:00 +0000

This is the third year that I've prepared a vegan Thanksgiving dinner for my mother's side of the family. They have been so accepting of this change and always rave about how good everything is. I sure hope they aren't just saying that :) As a side note, I choose to cook everything so I can eat everything, not because I am that generous.

There are only 4 of us and I always prepare too much food but it's nice to have leftovers. This year, I delegated 2 dishes since I was bringing everything to my grandmother's.

Pardon the quality of the photos. I used my camera phone and it doesn't do well with low light.

This year, we ate:

BBQ Tofu
Marinated Portobello Mushrooms
Cranberry Sauce
Marinated Vegetables
Collards
Mac and Cheeze
Sweet Potato Soufflé
Rolls
Pound Cake

BBQ Tofu
I used the press, dry fry, marinate and bake method that never fails me and bottled BBQ sauce. No one ate seconds of the tofu, but everyone tried it. I don't think it's their favorite item on the menu, but I like having it. My only problem was that I purchased firm and extra firm tofu and I could definitely tell the difference between the 2 textures. From now on, if one store doesn't have extra firm, I'll keep shopping until I find it. I'm not a fan of soft tofu. I prefer a chewy texture.

Marinated Portobello Mushrooms
These were so flavorful and I really enjoy the meaty texture of the mushrooms. I used Colleen Patrick Goudreau's Marinated Portobello Mushroom Steaks recipe from The 30 Day Vegan Challenge book.

Marinade Ingredients:
1/2 cup each - balsamic vinegar, tamari soy sauce, water
1 teaspoon each - dried rosemary, thyme, marjoram/oregano
Black pepper

I purchased sliced portobello mushrooms instead of whole mushrooms to decrease my prep time since I had a lot to cook. I bought 2 packages and could have easily bought 3-4. I loved them.

Cranberry Sauce
I delegated this dish to my aunt. We used Vegan Yum Yum's Jellied Cranberry Sauce recipe.

Marinated Vegetables
This is a dish that my mother used to prepare for family gatherings. For the longest time, I wouldn't even taste it even though everyone loved it. I used to be a pretty picky eater. Once I finally tasted it, I realized what all the noise was about. It's one of my favorite dishes now. It requires a bit of chopping but it's worth it.

I delegated it to my grandmother this year. I am not sure of the origin of this recipe; however, I am pretty sure that my mother didn't create it.

1/2 cup cooking oil (I used 1/4 the last time I made it)
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 can tiny green peas (le Sueur Very Young Small Early Peas)
1 can tiny/midget butter beans (Baby Lima Beans, Food Lion)
1 can white shoepeg corn
1 can french style green beans
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 cup diced celery

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients

2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 7 minutes

3. Allow to cool

4. Drain vegetables and pour cooled mixture over

5. Refrigerate overnight

Notes: Use 15/16 ounce cans of vegetables and tweak the vinegar and sugar to taste in the morning.

Collard Greens
These greens are courtesy of my uncle's garden. Crazy! Right? I know!

My grandmother did the prep (removing the stems, washing and chopping) for me...bless her heart! Here's my collard green cooking method. I can't really call it a recipe.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.

2. Add the greens and boil for 7 minutes.

3. Drain the greens.

4. Add a bit of oil to a pan and add the greens.

5. Saute and season with seasoned salt, cayenne pepper and a bit of liquid smoke to taste. If the greens are bitter, I add a touch of agave nectar.

My grandmother asked me how long I cooked them and I honestly can't say but it's not long. I just keep sauteeing and seasoning until they taste the way I like them. It probably isn't more than 15 minutes.

I am not a fan of overcooked, mushy vegetables as is the tradition in most black families.

Mac and Cheeze
My grandmother really likes this recipe so I always make it. It's the Vegan Macaroni and Cheese recipe from VegWeb. I love the flavor, although it tastes nothing like cheese :)

Sweet Potato Souffle
This was a first. I didn't even test it prior to Thanksgiving so I was really lucky that it turned out okay. It's actually so sweet that it should really be a sweet potato pie. I got this recipe from Food.com. The reviews were good so I thought it should work and it did!

Rolls
I am new to bread-making and let me just say-I have a lot to learn. I received my culinary education from the Food Network and I learned nothing about making bread. I attempted sweet rolls twice in the past few weeks: the first batch using Vegan Dad's Pumpkin Pull-Apart Rolls, the second batch using a Sweet Vegan Dinner Rolls recipe from VegWeb. I ended up taking Vegan Dad's rolls with me on Thanksgiving because they were less of a disaster than the VegWeb recipe.

Lessons Learned:
Measure the dern yeast. Vegan Dad's recipe called for 1 tablespoon of yeast. Did I measure? No. Why? I haven't the slightest clue. I used the envelopes/packets and maybe my brain froze and refused to do the calculations to convert ounces to tablespoons, so I used one envelope. Google has since informed me that One package = 2 1/4 teaspoons = 1/4 ounce. Since there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon, I would have needed to open 2 envelopes/packets/packages and measure properly and probably waste whatever was leftover.

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately like I normally do when baking. My dough was pretty lumpy. I should have blended the milk and pumpkin well first.

Make balls a lot smaller. This was the main problem with the sweet dinner rolls disaster. Although I didn't think these rolls were sweet enough either.

Watch some YouTube videos on roll-making to learn technique and unwritten rules.

Needless to say, I still have a lot to learn about making dinner rolls but I'm not completely disappointed. I will try again. I haven't eaten rolls since I became vegan 2 years ago and I miss them.

Here's a photo of my Vegan Dad recipe before going into the oven.

Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze
This is delicious! I have taken it to work and fed it to several ominvores in the past and it's always a hit. I used Betsy DiJulio's adaptation of Tracy's pound cake recipe. I made the glaze using the recipe from the Vegetarian Times. Note: The Vegetarian Times pound cake recipe is not as good as the Betsy/Tracy version. I took Soy Delicious Creamy vanilla non-dairy frozen dessert. I take every opportunity to expose people to vegan food!

It was a lot of work but it was definitely a labor of love. My family probably won't eat vegan dishes like this any time of the year so I really enjoy giving them this treat and squashing their preconceived notions about vegan food.

I'm already thinking about next year. I am planning to...

Experiment with a few more mac and cheese recipes
Test vegan corn casserole recipes (my mother used to make this one, but it will need to be veganized; Vegansaurus's adapation might work)
Perfect a sweet roll recipe
Test a few flavorful tempeh/grain combination recipes - I think stuffed bell peppers would be amazing

Follow Friday: Meg from The Snarky Chickpea

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:48:00 +0000

The Snarky Chickpea's Chickpea Ballz Pasta

I haven't been following Meg, like I've followed my other Follow Friday Vegan Rockstars but let me tell you...she has just been added to my Google Reader. Another blogger participating in VeganMoFo made Meg's Chickpea Ballz and I followed the link. I absolutely loved reading her recipe! I love that she called these "Ballz" - Yes, I'm a bit immature and that cracks me up :) She also said things like...

I'm full of awesomeness!
I mashed mined down in the bowl. I don't know why, I'm just giving the facts!
See!!! It is so easy a child could do it. Well, not really that easy, but you get the picture.

I love love love down to earth people and The Snarky Chickpea fits the bill. I can't wait to try her recipes and enjoy more of her "snarky" talk :)

Thursday Thoughts: What a Plate Should Look Like

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Today I'm borrowing again from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's 30 Day Vegan Challenge (page 63). She says everything I want to say but so much better than I ever could...

Some of our blocks about veganism aren't simply about the food itself but are also about how we plate our food. In our meat-centric culture, we're accustomed to having a piece of meat at the center of our plate, surrounded by some token vegetables (most likely covered in dairy-based butter and cream sauces). Many people perceive a vegan meal as lacking because they imagine that piece of meat being removed, leaving the plate with only side dishes. I think this is one of the reasons people think vegans eat "only sides" or "only salads."

But the way we plate our food is a cultural construct-what we've been taught in our families and in our society. If you think about cuisines all around the world and how the food is plated, you'll remember that it can look very different from a Western meal. Think of Indian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, or Ethiopian cuisines. These plates are made up of what we in the West would call "side dishes." And yet these are the most healthful and flavorful dishes, based on vegetables, grains, lentils, beans and greens. So we need to rethink what a plate of food "should" actually look like as well as embrace the notion of having a plate of what would would call "side dishes."

What? They Have That? Wednesday - Vegan Margarine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:14:00 +0000

Earth Balance is the "go to" margarine for most vegans. You use it just like you would any other butter or buttery spread and it tastes delicious. No one will know that you didn't use butter.

Downsizing: Round 5 - The File Cabinet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:51:00 +0000

I must say, I am really surprising myself. Every time I tackle a space, I think..."This is going to be hard!" and then I power through and make it happen. I'm not even procrastinating like I expected. Go me!

So, I emptied the remaining 2.5 drawers in my 4-drawer file cabinet over the course of 2 days.

The first drawer I tackled resulted in this mess. There was some method to my madness though. All of the folders in the foreground are going to be freecyled. The paper in the hidden purple container is recycling. Everything else strewn across the floor needs to be shredded. I did think to get a basket (in the back) for the paper that I need to scan so the space wouldn't be too crazy. Many times during my organization binges...there is chaos before order. I just thought I would share this...

Process, Day 1

All recycling

Everything else

Some of the items in the keep file are for the next home owner and some may end up being shredded once I take the time and go through everything again.

Oh! And I'm really excited because a shredding company (Shred-It) that has "Community Events" will be near me on Saturday, October 29 so I can take 2 boxes to be shredded for free! How awesome is that?!

So...I went from a completely full 4-drawer file cabinet in March to an empty file cabinet today. I responded to a query on Freecycle yesterday for the file cabinet, but am still waiting to find out if the woman is going to pick up the cabinet. If not, I'll post it next weekend.

For the remaining stack, once I go through it at least one more time, if not twice, I'm considering buying 1 of these Stockholm file boxes from the Container Store. I originally thought I wanted to purchase a 2 drawer file cabinet but since I am seriously considering moving into a studio apartment, I think it would be smarter to select a storage solution that is smaller and more portable.

I leave you with a quote from Thom Chambers (said in a very serious tone)...

"Limitations help you focus on what's important and decide what's not."

Trying New Foods Tuesday: Jicama

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:17:00 +0000

I admit, this not a pretty root vegetable. Jicama is pronounced "HEE-ka-ma." I've also heard people call it a Mexican Potato.

One cup of jicama has about 6 grams of fiber, around 1 gram of protein, and contains less than 50 calories. Jicama is also an excellent source of Vitamin C and potassium.

It is very simple to prepare; you just peel it like a potato. You can then slice, dice, julienne or mash it.

I first had jicama in a slaw at a restaurant. Since then, I wanted to prepare it for myself. Finally, last fall, I made Emeril's Jicama and Apple Slaw. It was very refreshing! I tasted the jicama before tossing it into the ingredients and I can't say that it has a distinct flavor. Some say that it has a slight sweetness. I don't remember that, but that doesn't mean much. The texture is similar to a firm pear.

During my research at the time, I found that a lot of raw foodists use jicama to make french fries. It's nice and sturdy and would be great with hummus or another dip.

Jícama should be stored dry, between 12°C and 16°C (53°F and 60°F). Colder temperatures will damage the root; do not refrigerate it. A fresh jicama stored at this temperature will keep for a month or two.

This raw Jicama Cheese Fries with Catsup recipe looks interesting. The "cheese" is actually nutritional yeast.

"Single Efficient Lady" Meal Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:10:00 +0000

I've been reading a lot in the blogosphere about meal planning and I always think...Am I the only one who cooks like this? Some of this doubt comes from the fact that most of the bloggers who talk about meal planning have families and I'm a single lady. Not only am I a single lady, but I am also a certified productivity and efficiency nerd. In my opinion, cooking something different each night of the week is an inefficient approach to meal planning for one person. Because I'm not cooking different dishes, it takes me the same amount of time to cook for 5 days as it would to cook for 1. I choose to spend that time cooking on 1 day.

Earlier this month, I read a post on Happy Herbivore, "Minimalist Monday: How to Cook Without a Kitchen" that featured Genevieve and she cooks the way I do:

“I live alone so it's easy for me. I also simplify it more because I eat the same thing for lunch and dinner for a week at a time. I cook for the week on Sundays.”

I'm not alone :-) Yaaaay!

This is how I meal plan. Each Saturday I select 2 dishes (which technically may include more than one dish): one for lunch the following week and one for dinner. I go to the store to purchase what I need to cook and on Sunday I cook for the week. As I recently commented in Katy, The Non-Consumer Advocate's blog post, "What's Your Style of Meal Planning?" -- I eat the same thing for breakfast, every day of every month...Oatmeal. I may switch it up every now and then...raw oatmeal soaked and blended, cooked oatmeal...but the final result is still oatmeal.

Most people crave more variety and I do get variety from week to week, just not day to day.

So onto the real point of this post...Decreasing My Food Budget. Ever since I read Katy, The Non-Consumer Advocate's Food Stamp Challenge posts, I've been thinking that I should be able to decrease my food budget from $200 to $100 a month.

Friday, I revisited my meal cards, started making lists and playing with numbers and that turned into making a spreadsheet (surprise!). Here's a snapshot of what that looks like. As a note, I'm experimenting with Melody from Melomeal's Nutritional Yeast Sauce base, referred to in the spreadsheet as "Nooch Sauce."

Click the image to enlarge

When I initially created my meal cards, I also created a price book (another tab on in the workbook), which I updated over the weekend.

I figured roughly, not exactly, that my lunches (which are more complex than my dinners, because...

1] I enjoy eating a real meal at lunch

2] I like giving my coworkers a visual lesson on what delicious vegan food looks like)

...should be around $12, preferably less, since my weekly budget is $25.

Additional Notes:

I also decided that I'm reverting to eating breakfast food for dinner just to simplify things a bit more (this week, it's granola and a banana).
I have a different meal for lunch during the weekends since most of my recipes won't stretch 7 days unless I double them and then I'd have too much.
I'm also experimenting with making my own raw applesauce to use as a sweetener in my oatmeal instead of agave nectar. This is definitely not cheaper than buying applesauce in a jar, but I'm hoping to get more fresh fruit in my diet this way.

This is the receipt from Saturday's shopping trip, total before tax $20.44. Yes, I shop at Walmart. Don't judge. If you knew where I lived you wouldn't fault me...

3 of the items are not food (2 cards and vitamins). I also splurged on apples since they are in season. I treated myself to 2 honey crisp apples this week and bought all loose apples instead of bagged since they are local (not shipped from Chile).

I anticipate being over budget next week because I realized that I'm out of vanilla extract and flax meal and low on nutritional yeast. These are some of my pantry staples. I'll probably go the bagged apple route next week just for a price comparison. I found that I need 6 apples for my applesauce and I prefer to purchase loose apples since they are larger.

I'll try to be consistent with my updates for this experiment and post them on Sundays.

Making it Easy Monday: Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:32:00 +0000

A pizza without cheese is vegan (as long as the crust doesn't contain milk or eggs). If you're not vegan, I bet you never considered that, right? And don't think that just because there's no cheese, that it doesn't taste good. With an amazing sauce and lots of fresh veggies, a cheeseless pizza is amazing!

Small-Big Caveat: If you go out or buy your own crust, you'll need to check their website and make sure that the crust is vegan (no eggs or milk). Then, order pizza with no cheese...They may look at you strangely, but assure them that's what you want.

If you don't want to make your own dough from scratch, Trader Joe's carries a pizza dough that's vegan. You can also make personal pizzas at home with pita bread.

Here's Some Quick Research Done Just for You

California Pizza Kitchen - No vegan pizzas (Food Allergens and Sensitivities)
Chuck E. Cheese's - No vegan pizzas (Food Allergy Information)
Domino's - Thin Crust dough is vegan (Allergen Info)
Little Caesar's - All dough is vegan, "Little Caesars' pizza crust is made with a quality, high-protein flour and contains no animal products or by-products." (Vegetarian Diet Webpage) - This is pretty smart of them in my opinion.
Papa John's - Original hand tossed dough is vegan (Allergen Guide)
Pizza Hut - Thin 'N Crispy and P'Zone dough is not made with eggs or milk; however, it is prepared in common equipment and therefore may contain allergen (Allergen and Sensitivities Guide)

Downsizing: Round 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:33:00 +0000

I tackled the memorabilia. Earlier this week I had visions of dumping the containers blindly into the recycling bin, but luckily I didn't do that. Buried in all of that paper were several documents that contained social security numbers. I tried to move through the containers as quickly as possible and not linger too long on any one thing.

Before

During/After

I realized as I added captions to this photo that my safe deposit box is not large enough for those items. I suppose they will be shredded instead.

The upstairs hall closet is a work in progress. I did photograph all of the barbies that I need to sell. I need to spend some time listing them. I want to try Craigslist first.

I think I might hold a African-American Children's Book Sale for 3 of these boxes of books.

Today's trip to Goodwill included....all of this...

I containerized and bagged a lot of it before I took it there.

I suppose besides selling some things, the next area I need to tackle is my filing cabinet...I'm not looking forward to this, even with my handy dandy ScanSnap scanner. Ideally, I'd like to eliminate it completely, not just downsize. We'll see how it goes.

Follow Friday: Melody Polakow of MELOMEALS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:37:00 +0000

Melody's Smoked Cheesy Potato Soup

I've mentioned Melody and MELOMEALS a few times this week.

Melody is a Vegetarian Chef and Photographer with over 20 experience in the food industry. She is in the process of losing over 100 lbs so most of her recipes focus on lower calorie, whole foods with very little sugar.

Melody started her MELOMEALS ™ blog in 2006. At that time, she was married and her children were 12 and 14. In the beginning, she focused on big batch frugal cooking for her family. When she was laid off from her job as a Vegan and Raw Food Chef in 2008, she had a very strict budget of $100 a month which works out to $3.33 a day.

Her life has changed since then and once again she is living on a strict budget while she builds her business and writes a cookbook on Eating for $3.33 a Day...which I definitely plan to purchase!

I thoroughly enjoy the depth of flavor that Melody's recipes have. Check out MELOMEALS! You won't be disappointed.

Thursday Thoughts: Eating Affordably

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:16:00 +0000

PCRM Power Plate

Today's post is courtesy of Colleen Patrick Goudreau's book, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge.

Excerpts from Day 2: Eating Healthfully Affordably

Cost Comparison

Animal proteins are generally more expensive than plant proteins. The cheapest cuts of beef average $3 per pound; canned tuna is $2 per pound.
Dried beans and lentils cost less than $1 per pound.
Rice is well below $1 per pound.
Tofu is usually under $2 per pound.

Challenge Your Thinking:
Convenience foods--vegan or non-vegan--simply cost more than whole foods.

Change Your Behavior
In order to make the most healthful and affordable choices, make whole plant foods the foundation of your diet.

My Thoughts

In my opinion, eating a whole food plant based diet is not expensive. Granted, I'm only feeding myself, but Melody Polakow made it happen. She fed a family of 4 on $3.33 per day when she started her blog, MELOMEALS. Brown Vegan stays on a budget as well and feeds a family of 5.

I think people automatically think "vegan" food is expensive, but that just reveals how little they know about the word. I always say, "It's just beans, fruits, vegetables and grains." Nothing fancy. You don't have to eat seitan, tofu or tempeh. Keep it simple and it's completely doable on a budget.

What? They Have That? Wednesday - Field Roast Vegan Sausage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:37:00 +0000

These sausages are the best vegan sausages that I've ever tasted...simply delicious! The texture isn't weird either like other vegan sausages that I've tasted.

Here are the descriptions from the company website:

Italian - traditionally seasoned with fresh eggplant, zesty red wine, pungent fresh garlic and plenty of fennel.

Mexican Chipotle - a spicy hot blend of smoked Chipotle peppers, Chili de Arbol peppers, fresh chopped garlic, sweet onions seasoned with cumin seeds and oregano.

Smoked Apple Sage - a unique combination of sweet granny smith apples, savoy Yukon Gold potatoes and pungent rubbed sage and ginger.

You cannot honestly tell me that you don't want to go out and buy one of these right this minute!

You can cook with these sausages just like you would any others. Check out this food porn...all made with Field Roast Sausage.

Quarry Girl's Field Roast, Potatoes and Hot Sauce

Vegan Purgatory Pizza, Courtesy of Quarry Girl

Brown Rice Salad with Field Roast Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Vegan Spicy Sausage Pappardelle Pasta

Red Bell Pepper Sauce with Vegan Apple Sage Sausages

Trying New Foods Tuesdays: Quinoa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Source

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) looks like a grain, but it is actually more closely related to beets and spinach. I should eat it more than I do because quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse. It is a good source of protein (about 8 grams 1/2 cup cooked quinoa), fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Quinoa is also gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it a nice alternative to white rice or couscous. To prepare quinoa, rinse it until the water runs clear. Some boxed varieties may be pre-rinsed. Read the label to determine if you need to rinse it.

Cook it like you would rice. Add 2 cups of water/broth for every 1 cup of quinoa to a pot. Bring it to a boil, simmer for 3 minutes, put the lid on it and turn the heat down as low as it will go. It should be ready in 20 minutes.

This Quinoa With Pan-Fried Corn and Jerk-Spiced Portobello Steaks recipe from StarChefs.com sounds delicious.

Ingredients

Quinoa
1 ½ cups quinoa
3 cups vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
3 scallions, minced
1 Tablespoon orange zest

Portobello Steaks
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
4 large Portobello mushroom caps
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

Quinoa

Rinse the quinoa well to remove the bitter white coating.
Drain and set aside.
Bring the stock to a simmer in a large saucepan.
Stir in the quinoa. Cover and simmer over low heat until all the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the corn and the scallions and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
Add the corn and scallions, along with the oil from the skillet into the quinoa.
Stir in the orange zest and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Set aside for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle.

Portobello Steaks

In a shallow bowl, combine the sugar, cumin, allspice, oregano, paprika, salt, cayenne, and nutmeg.
Coat the mushroom caps with 2 Tablespoons of the oil, then coat with the spice mixture.
Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, turning once, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
To serve cut the caps into 1/4-inch slices and fan out slightly overlapping onto the quinoa.

Downsizing: Round 3 - Purging Product Manuals

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:07:00 +0000

The time that I spent creating this flow chart would have been better spent actually purging the container full of user manuals. I clearly have issues...

Click the image to see a larger version

This is the type of thing that happens during my 750 words. I start rambling about what I'm working on and what's on my mind. As things pop into my mind, I stop writing and begin searching for answers. I come back, write some more. I mention that I need to do something, I stop writing and go do it. It's a mess but I'm sure it's therapeutic :)

So, it all started when I began writing a list of questions that I need to consider when I tackle this box of manuals. Then I decided to make this flowchart for myself, which was actually a good exercise because my original list of questions did not include the second decision point, "Is there any significant chance that I'll need to look at this manual? Have I ever referenced it?" Those are important questions to ask. Those questions get to the heart of the matter and force me to be honest and real with myself.

Okay, so here's what I started with...

And here's what's left

There were maybe 6 manuals/guides that I scanned and 1 that I downloaded.

Great progress - one step at a time!

Making It Easy Monday: Spaghetti

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Source

It doesn't get any easier than spaghetti with marinara sauce. It's already vegan. The only caveat is that you want to select dried pasta from the grocery store, not fresh. Fresh pasta is made with eggs. If you're dining out, ask them if their pasta has eggs in it. I know that unfortunately Olive Garden's pasta does contain eggs.

However, if you're cooking at home, this is super easy. Add more veggies to add more of a nutritional boost. I'm a lazy cook sometimes and I just buy jarred sauce, but feel free to make your own. It's probably one of the simpler things to cook from scratch.

Here's a Simple Marinara recipe from Melody at Melomeals that looks delicious. I may try it next time I have a taste for spaghetti.

Downsizing: Round 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:29:00 +0000

I tackled the boxes that sat on the floor! It was much easier than I thought it would be. It baffles me how I've accumulated all of this stuff. Random projects are partly to blame. Now I need to relabel my boxes. Against my type A tendencies, I combined several categories of items and now I don't know where things are. I may be able to consolidate further once I examine everything a little closer.

I have 2 boxes of unorganized photos. I'm considering (maybe) shipping those to a place like ScanMyPhotos. I'll have to decide what my time and space is worth. I'd love to digitize the huge container of photo albums that I have too. It's definitely something to consider.

Before

During

After

I still wonder where this stuff will be stored when I move, but I'll worry about that when the time comes and when I see my new space. Maybe I'll have huge closets :) Maybe I'll have another piece of furniture or ottomans where they can hide.

Here's what I'm taking to the local elementary school tomorrow.

Here's the area dedicated to Freecyling and posting on Craigslist.

Downsizing: Round 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:25:00 +0000

Yesterday, after assessing the situation, I tackled the low hanging fruit and started on my office supplies.

Linen Closet
A few items that weren't originally in the closet were moved there since they were evicted from spaces they didn't belong. I think this is good for now. It probably won't need much more work.

Note: It would have been helpful to take the pictures from the same perspective; hopefully you can see my progress.

Before

After

Before

After

Kitchen Cabinet. This was easy.

Before

After

Cedar Chest. Another easy one.

Before

After

Bottom of Closet. Easy peasy.

Before

After

The TV stand is also empty and so is the extra toolbox. It's going to Goodwill.

Office Supplies. I just worked on the boxes on the shelves. I'll need to make more hard decisions and get to the containers on the floor, but I started. That's what's most important.

Before

During

Books. I feel good about this. It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. I guess I've developed a tough skin. I've also been keeping a list of books, that I give away, that I may want to purchase again in Evernote.

This is all I have left. I think these could comfortably fit on a small bookshelf. In case you're wondering, I organize my books by topic so they are stacked accordingly.

Here's what's going to Goodwill today. I also have a Freecycle and Elementary School stack that I'll move once I finish.

69 books, some are small pamphlet-size

Although I'm off tomorrow, I think I'm done for this weekend. I may tackle the closet in my rec room tomorrow, but most likely I won't. I'll come back to this project next weekend. I just needed to gain momentum.