2020: Week 10

mayfaringtoo, ,

March 2, 2020 – March 8, 2020

Bucket List Items Accomplished

  • Sit in seiza for 30 minutes
  • Go for afternoon tea at the Empress
  • Make lasagna
  • Make cheese (lactose free ricotta)

Things I Enjoyed this Week

  • I continued my SNAP/Food Stamps Challenge for Week 2 of 4. Week 1 went fairly well. I am already used to meal prepping and eating the same thing for many days in a row. It was getting a little dire on the weekend when I was out of apples and my prepped meals. I was down to pretty much just eggs and rice. I made large enough batches this week to save and freeze some for the weekend.
  • I bought the following groceries for a total of $28.53.
    • Lasagna noodles, $2.50
    • Stewed tomatoes, $1.99
    • Two cans of sliced mushrooms, $2.78
    • Tomato and basil pasta sauce, $1.25
    • Lactose free milk, $5.49
    • Two lemons, $2.08
    • Garlic, $1.69
    • Two onions, $0.84
    • Lean ground beef (Two ~500g packages for the price of one), $6.55
    • Half of a green cabbage, $1.17
    • Kalamata olives, $2.19
  • I used the following from my pantry and fridge, but accounted for very approximate costs ($11). Similar to last week, I did not want to purchase anything new for my pantry.
    • All purpose flour, $5
    • Frozen spinach, $1.50
    • Olive oil, $1
    • Dried oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, $2
    • Beef broth (I love Better than Bouillon), $1
    • Instant yeast, $0.50
    • Two eggs (leftover from last week)
  • My total was $39.53 (CAD). This week is looking pretty dire for fruit and snacks. I was hoping to have enough budget for some bananas or something, but alas. I finally got some flour in there though, so I can make sourdough pancakes or extra olive sourdough bread or something else if I’m running out of food by the end of the week.
  • I broke my SNAP challenge on Saturday, but it was for a special occasion. I treated my mom to afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. I received a good tax return this year, and have had this afternoon tea on my bucket list for ages and ages. It was a wonderful experience. It was a delight being able to treat one of my favourite people to something very nice and spend the day together. I’ll make it up for the SNAP challenge by doing an extra day on week 4.
  • We went to a vintage clothing fair after tea put on by Vintage Fair Victoria. I bought a beautiful 50s boat neck dress with peacock green and blue tones. It fits like a glove.
  • I taught myself a few constellations. Skymaps is a wonderful resource for monthly star charts. They list interesting celestial phenomena that will happen throughout the month, and which stars and constellations are visible. Wikipedia has good breakdowns of the features and mythology of each constellation. I want to learn more constellations as part of my bucket list. I also want to learn more about Greek mythology. It is a perfect match. Maybe one day I’ll know all 48 of Ptolemy’s traditional Greek/Western constellations, or maybe even all 88 of the currently recognized constellations.
    • Leo looks just like a reposed lion. To the ancient Greeks, it represented the Nimean lion killed by Heracles. It’s golden fur made it impervious to blades and arrows. Heracles strangled it with his bare hands to complete his first labour. The star at the bottom front is Regulus, or “little king.” The moon was very bright and right near Leo on the little bit of clear night sky I caught this week, so I couldn’t see it.
    • Cancer, of the zodiac constellations, is rather faint. It contains the Beehive Cluster, which Ptolemy described as “the nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer.”
    • Gemini, with the bright stars Castor and Pollux representing the heads of the twins. In Greek mythology, Leda was seduced by Zeus, who sired Pollux. Castor was sired on the same night by King Tyndareus of Sparta, Leda’s husband. When grown, both brothers accompanied Jason as Argonauts. When Castor perished in battle, Zeus granted Pollux’s wish to make his brother immortal by uniting them forevermore in the heavens.
See Skymaps for a download link for this month

Meal Prep and New Recipes Tried

Here’s what I made over the weekend for the upcoming week.

  • King Arthur Flour’s Rustic Olive Sourdough Bread came out so beautifully soft and flavorful. I am so excited to eat this throughout the week. The brininess of the olives really complements the slight tang of the bread. The use of instant yeast also cuts way down on the time required, so this is a great recipe for a week night or whenever you don’t have a full day to devote to sourdough bread baking.
  • Madie’s Kitchen put out this great recipe for Lactose Free Ricotta Cheese. The process to make this was unbelievably easy. Anyone can make this fresh cheese with just milk and lemon juice.
  • I used the homemade ricotta as part of a very delicious Beef, Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna from Two Thirds Cup. I didn’t have quite enough sauce for two 9×9 pans of lasagna.
  • I also made a big batch of BudgetByte’s Beef and Cabbage Soup. This came together quickly and easily. It was great doing this at the same time as the lasagna, as the onions and garlic could be prepped at the same time.

Updates

  • I finished week one of the C25K (Couch to 5 km) running program. Once I got out and started each time, it went by fairly quickly. So far it feels worth it. Week one was one minute of running, followed by one and a half minutes of walking, repeated seven times, plus warm up and cool down.
  • I sat for 30 minutes in seiza. I’m so happy I did it. My feet went entirely numb in the process. I’m going to continue sitting this way for a short time each day to stay in practice.
  • I’m happily continuing my reduction of added sugar in my diet.

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