Maintainers Weekly Chat Jan 28 - Feb 3

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  • The kale I've had has been rather bitter. I'll stick with spinach. I like spinach in a number of dishes as well as raw in salads.
  • My kale chip method is similar to Ishbel's. I wash and tear up the kale in a big bowl (or buy the pre-washed, pre-torn kind). I add about 1/2 to 1 T olive oil, and about 1 t lemon juice. I like the tang the lemon juice adds. Toss it all together and massage a little bit. You want all the leaves to be covered with olive oil, but not dripping (less is more). I spread it out on a parchment covered cookie sheet (Ishbel is right - parchment is key! silpat mats might work here, too) in a THIN layer. Don't multi-layer. For some reason I add my seasonings here, not in the bowl. I spring salt and cayenne pepper, but you could really add what you like. If you're feeling decadent, a few sprinkles of parmesan are delicious. 325 for about 14-15 minutes, but check often after 11 minutes.

    I don't really regard kale chips as a potato chip substitute, but they are delicious, tangy, salty, and crunchy. I love to saute it with a little EVOO, garlic, salt, pepper too. Kale is rather earthy, but I love it. A true sign my BF is my soulmate: he likes "earthy" things like this too, and I actually have to hide my kale salads from him if I want leftovers. He will mow one over. We were meant to be.

    The fitnessista blog has recipes for dehydrator kale chips, and other dehydrator items too, but the recipe page isn't well organized to find them by method. I know I've seen other dehydrator things on her site, though. I seem to remember using my mom's dehydrator once many years ago and figuring out that if you don't open the vents, the moisture will stay in and ruin whatever you're dehydrating.

    I've started buying toe nail polish in different colors to appease my emotional shopper. Polish always "fits" no matter your weight that day.

    Chris, congrats on the 4 lb loss!

    Jessica, are you not working out bc of doctor's advice, or your own feelings? I missed that. I'm not encouraging you to disregard your doctor's advice, but I read a lot of blogs and found Cassandra Forsythe's blog about her own fit pregnancy and interviews with others to be very interesting. Cassandra is very well-educated and has a lot of impressive credentials, so I give what she writes consideration. Food for thought, anyway. It is a big change for you!

    Saef, I'm so sorry about your friend's loss. She is lucky to have your support.

    I thought I typed a whole post yesterday at work, but it doesn't seem to be here. Gotta get moving, but back later. Happy Saturday all.
  • I have never eaten kale. Just thought I'd put that out there.

    saef, I agree with you that it's probably best to consider stress a constant factor in our lives rather than as something unusual. The latter way of thinking often leads to me using it as an excuse to eat too much or indulge in other self-defeating behaviors. But I do hope your life settles down a bit, as you've had quite a few difficult challenges lately.

    Jessica, I agree with those who have said that your husband will probably be a welcome addition to the mostly-moms parenting groups. A SAH dad with twin girls - I can hear the squees from here.

    I too am an emotional shopper. I just spent way too much on some new craft projects - a couple of punch needle things that look like fun (I've never done it) and a gorgeous needlepoint kit based on an original painting. I love needlepoint but the hand-painted canvasses are crazy expensive ($100 and up). And then there's the framing - ack. I need to find cheaper hobbies.
  • I'm having difficulty downshifting today. I don't think my to-do list today is very long, but nevertheless, it's leaving me feel stressed. I'd rather do nothing, drink hazelnut coffee and read the Times. I'm intimidated by my plans though they're very ordinary: My appointment for a haircut, which is usually a time for relaxing, then grocery shopping and preparing the cashew chili that I usually make for myself on Super Bowl weekend. Since, in themselves, these are not difficult errands, this means there's something else sitting in the back of my mind, and that's probably all my new management duties, which will start on Monday, as I start the new job then, and all my expectations of myself. And of course that dark feeling over my friend's mother's death. From where I sit, it all looks like ceaseless striving and then death.

    Something fun better happen on Sunday to get me out of this mood.
  • I'm going to try the kale chips tomorrow, thanks for the info! I have some really great tinted balsamic vinegar which I think I'll toss in also. And, I bought parchment paper over Christmas so I'm set! And bargoo, I have enough kale to make soup on Monday as well.
  • I have a great trick for kale chips, which I make and eat regularly. I bought a Misto olive oil sprayer (you can get them at Amazon, among other places) and use an ordinary 8 oz. water spray-bottle for the vinegar. That way, I coat the leaves very evenly and it only takes a minute instead of multiple minutes of "smooshing around" and making an icky mess of my hands. I don't use parchment - straight onto stainless steel cookie sheets (the kind with 1" sides all around, not just flat, because the kale sometimes slides around when I try to put it in the oven), and I agree that the key is to make a monolayer, even if that means using 2-3 cookie sheets for a single bag (or bunch) of kale. I also de-stem it, even the pre-chopped stuff, because the stems are the bitter part, and also become very tough when dried. Spicing, besides the oil-and-vinegar combo, is up to you: all kinds of seasoning mixtures work well, it just depends on what you like.

    Megan, it's different with twins. Way less safe to keep exercising after the first trimester, as the extra strain on the cervix from 2 fetuses really ups the risk of pre-term labor. Jessica is doing the right thing even though it must be super-frustrating.
  • What a productive day! I started my grocery shopping Friday after work, so that part was pretty minimal. I got home from that and DH announced he needed to go shoe shopping. What? A guy shoe shopping alone? Unheard of! So off to DSW we went. He got a pair of dress shoes to replace his pair that were falling apart, I got nothing although I tried on a couple pair. Then off to Best Buy where he bought a Bose sound dock for our bathroom!?!? Prior to this he had a set of speakers, which at the time I said was dumb as it didn't also charge the ipod. I guess I won this argument! Then to Target to pick up some garbage bags and some new kitchen glasses to replace those that are all chipped.

    Then to pick up the dog's medicine and lunch at Rubio's (fish taco's!) and then to golf. We had a nice light dinner with my in-laws and now we're home for the night. Just wish this stupid cold would go away. A new symptom every day and some are starting to linger. Ugh.
  • Saef good luck with your rough mood. "Striving then death" is a big existential issue. Great philosophers struggle with it as much as we do, and we are haunted by the fact that we know on some level there is that real danger of allowing our lives to blindly follow this dark path, and us obsessive perfectionist types have to face it sometimes. I have the dubious honor of performing funerals for all kinds of people, and this issue arises for families and friends all the time. Nothing wrong with our striving, but I find I need to ask, "If I get what I'm striving for, will it give me what I really want?" In my life what I really want is peace, love, all the things that require no effort at all. When after striving I lose weight or maintain an ideal weight I do feel relief and a certain satisfaction course, but my successes and strivings are not really where I find true happiness! So I hope something nice, like watching a mindless football game with friends or family, comes along today for all of us, where we all can just enjoy this moment. You have my full support because believe me I've been there again and again.
  • Quote: Megan, it's different with twins. Way less safe to keep exercising after the first trimester, as the extra strain on the cervix from 2 fetuses really ups the risk of pre-term labor. Jessica is doing the right thing even though it must be super-frustrating.
    OH. Thanks for educating me.