Happy Birthday to Me!

August is my birthday month!  To celebrate, I'm donating $1 from each chair massage at the Burlington Downtown Farmers' Market  (behind Company Shops Co-op) to local charities.  Help me reach my goal of $25 donated each week by encouraging your friends, family, and co-workers to pause for a spot of massage for themselves.

• 4 Aug: Flashes of Hope
• 11 Aug: Children's Museum of Alamance County
• 18 Aug: Sylvan Ruritans
• 25 Aug: Snow Camp Outdoor Drama

I plan to have a collection jar each week so if you feel like donating further to these non-profits you can do so easily.  Live Local. Eat Local. Buy Local. Give Local.

Media Monday: iContact Archive

I finally had a moment to sit and search for the info on how to make past e-newsletters available for review.  iContact has a fabulous blog post about it that lays out easy-to-follow instructions.  Once the archive URL was generated I created a new tab in my blog menu, but instead of creating a page I had it redirect to the archive URL.  Works beautifully, and it's self-updating.  No muss, no fuss--just the way I like my technology and media!

Meal Planning: The Pantry

As mentioned previously, I tend to keep a stocked pantry that aligns with the meals we tend to utilize.  My pantry is wall-mounted adjustable shelving DH had assembled for me in 2000 and a 17cf upright freezer (manual defrost).

My pantry shelving holds modest quantities of canned and packaged foods, I shop to replenish what I use out of it.  My freezer holds freezer jams we made with last year's harvest of peaches and blackberries, this year's harvest of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and peaches.  My grains and flours, bulk meats, bulk cheese, breads, and leftovers are also in the big freezer.  The freezer that is with the fridge holds pre-cooked meats, frozen veggies, and shredded cheese.

I buy ground beef in quantity and cook it down with onion, garlic, oregano, and black pepper.  Then I package it into one-cup increments and toss into the freezer.  When I need ground beef (sloppy joes, spaghetti, etc) I toss a package in the microwave for a minute and then go on with meal prep.

When chicken breast is on sale I toss it in the crockpot with some broth and chopped green chiles to cook down.  After draining and shredding I pack it into the freezer in one-cup increments for use in makeshift pasta dishes, quasadillas, etc.  Again, a quick nuke and moving on with meal prep.

(Though, if I'm on top of my game, I defrost the pre-cooked meats in the fridge so I'm not utilizing the microwave.)

When we do bacon, any leftovers are tossed into a baggie in the freezer for use on sandwiches or served alongside breakfast dishes.  Or as a snack.  I don't reheat the bacon, I eat it frozen. 

I keep shredded cheese in the freezer.  It makes it easy for me to use it and doesn't mold.


Do you do any shortcuts in your pantry to make meal prep or meal planning easier for your household?

-JS

Meal Planning: Foundation

A childhood friend messaged me today, asking how I meal plan.  I've touched briefly on it elsewhere before, but figured it would be an interesting topic to delve into further here to tie into the Real Food Fridays that I have not been posting (innocently whistling sheepishly).  Meal planning is ever-evolving around here--we have to work around a slew of food reactions, within a budget, and still live life.  One of these days I will get back to more scratch-cooking and our microfarm will be full-tilt, but until then...

 I try to meal plan all meals and snacks, and I meal plan for the entire pay period.  DH doesn't like having similar things too close together so I can't do chicken two nights in a row, or pasta two nights in a row, etc.  I created a framework to cut down the brain power required:

• Roasts
• Soup/Salad
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Mexi/pseudo-Asian
• Rice/Pasta
• Grill
• Miscellaneous

I plan dinner first--on a good week I also plan sides--then I plan lunches, breakfasts, and snacks.  Some things we have standing each week, like animal crackers for our snack coming home from church on Sunday.  When I have an opportunity to be crafty, I want to update my menu-planning menagerie to something similar to this.  I like the idea of the primary ingredients list being on the back so you can quickly build your grocery list.  At the same token though, I keep a pantry and tend to shop to replenish the pantry rather than shopping for specific recipes.

Also, we have fail-safe meals that don't go into meal plan rotation that we fall back on during those crazy days where nothing goes according to plan.  They include:

• Spaghetti
• Alfredo (though not all of us can eat it)
• Sloppy Joes
• Rotini (a family recipe)
• Chicken and Stuffing
•  and we have a few boxes of Hamburger Helper from when it was free due to couponing

There are some options for those that do not wish to do their own meal planning, that don't involve take-out.  Fresh 20, e-Meals, and Menu-Mailer are all paid-for weekly menu plans that include shopping lists and recipes. Or, there's also the concept of Entre-Vous or Dream Dinners; better yet, if you're in the vicinity of Wilmington, Raleigh, or Chapel Hill you can take advantage of the awesomeness that is Custom Fit Meals.


How do you plan your family's meals?

-JS

Me-Care Wednesday: Hot/Cold Therapies

Aches, pains, and inflammation can often be helped by alternating hot and cold therapies.  A few are fairly easy to do at home.  Remember to alternate at 20-minute intervals...beyond that the body starts trying to self-regulate and you essentially negate your efforts.

The Rice Sock
A rice sock is easy to make--simply fill a sock or stocking with rice and tie a knot in the end.  Make two and you can keep one in the freezer and use the other in the microwave (1-2min depending on your microwave).  Nuked rice socks provide a moist heat and drape nicely around the neck and shoulders.

River Rocks
Most hot stone massages utilize smooth basalt rocks.  Personally, I find they are too hot on the surface initially, and then they cool of quicker than anticipated.  I like using river rocks because they seem to disperse their cold/heat evenly and consistently.

So what do you do after you locate some river rocks to use for hot and cold therapies?  First, give them a good scrubbing with soap, water, and a scrub brush and then allow them to dry thoroughly.  You can keep a couple of clean stones in the freezer to use for cryotherapy, and you can warm up a couple of clean stones in a crockpot of water or on the stovetop.  Always wrap your stone in a thin towel before applying to your skin, just like you would for an ice pack or a heating pad.  Place on the desired area, or lay on top of it so your body can relax over it.

Places I like to place hot or cold stones?  For a full-body treatment I like to have stones at the neck (especially the scalenes), shoulders, pecs, hands, (sometimes elbows depending on client), sacrum, lumbar region, rhomboids, (sometimes teres), inguinals, greater trochanter, both sides of the knees, foot arches, and slim pebbles between each toe.  ...Now I'm tempted to load up my crockpot with stones!

When you're done with your stones, be sure to give them another good scrubbing to keep them clean.


What are your favorite ways to apply heat or cold to your aches and pains?

-JS