A New Series and Catching Up

Just to catch you up on my life in the last several weeks, I will share five highlights:

1. Free Cone Day on April 8th at Ben and Jerry’s! I first tried Ben and Jerry’s at Davidson and fell in love with both their ice cream and the company’s purchasing principals (organic, fair trade ingredients whenever possible). Basically, Free Cone Day was my motivation while I was taking the GRE that morning. FYI, ice is always good motivation, at least for this girl.

2. Mornings made glorious. For breakfast, I have been eating a lot of these morning glory muffins that although not photogenic were quite tasty. I also have been eating a lot of a cranberry apple bake that all the women in my family make (imagine the most delicious concoction of cranberries, apples, oats, butter, and sugar that can be eaten as a side, dessert, or breakfast- YUM!).

3. Homemade bread. In the last month, I have been on a homemade bread kick, baking homemade whole wheat buns, the no-knead whole wheat bread pictured below, and whole wheat sandwich loaves. I had the idea of making a double batch of sandwich bread last time and freezing one. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before because it makes homemade bread during the middle of the week very do-able.

4. Spring flavors. Jerry and I used our citrus juicer attachment to make lemonade. I had never made homemade lemonade. It was delicious but I never knew lemonade required so many lemons! I am planning on making some Easter favorites, like challah, hot cross buns, carrot cake, and/or pineapple upside down cake in the coming week.

5. Finding joy in the little things. Lately, I have shifted my mindset from anxious because of uncertainty about a job for next year to just savoring each moment. I know it sounds cliché but it is so true. Lately, I have enjoyed taking our dog Louie for long walks, savoring “me” time, exploring the Charlotte area with Jerry (new restaurants or grocery stores, hiking, etc.), catching up with friends, volunteering for a good cause close to my heart, and reminiscing about the past while anticipating the future.

Also, I want to announce a new series that I will be doing on my blog, Going Green in the Kitchen.

I am embarking on this project in the hopes of becoming more mindful about how I consume products in the kitchen. As an environmental studies concentrator at Davidson, it always seemed easy to be active in environmental clubs and walk to the health food store or the farmer’s market, both right down the road. However, living in an apartment with someone else to feed is much harder. I can’t just buy the things I want to buy, some of which have been deemed “strange” by Jerry. Also, Healthy Home Market and the farmer’s market are not quite so close and I have to be deliberate about where I spend my money. With all of these things in mind, I am launching this series, as both a personal challenge and hopefully an inspiration to others. Disclaimer, I am not sure how long this series will run but I plan to post weekly.

Coming up soon, homemade almond butter!