06.29.10
Posted in General at 6:17 pm by Janet
There is one thing Dale and I disagree on. Breakfast cereal. He continues to extol the virtues of a big bowl of muesli every morning. I answer back that my bowl of oatmeal is tastier and far healthier, at least for me.
One of the things our mission taught us is that Europeans have a superior brand of muesli mix, and European yoghurts are better than American style yoghurt. Oatmeal is oatmeal where ever you go. After a year and a half of living in Germany and eating muesli virtually every morning we came back to the USA. We brought back a bag of muesli mix mostly so we could make our own mix from stuff we could get here. We have a very nice grocery coop where they have every kind of rolled grain imaginable. But they didn’t have all we needed. We had to travel to Utah to a Honeyville Farms store to find a big bag of a cereal that is very similar to the German kind. He doctors it up with added sunflower and other seeds. We buy it in 50 pound bags and haul it back to Washington in the car.
Dale mixes up his muesli the night before using the mix adding his special blend of seeds and nuts and then stirring in lots of yoghurt. The next morning he adds fresh fruit and a palmful of almonds to this concoction. I know all of you out there are salivating at the thought, but I can guarantee that it doesn’t taste as good as it sounds. On top of that it looks like something that somebody already ate and then threw up into a bowl.
So how does it go over in the family? There opinions are divided between the true Swiss and the one who married into Swissdom. Most of the kids love the stuff, it is almost a craving with Leslie. Kurt can take it or leave it. I can’t stand the stuff, I detest it! I would only eat it if there was nothing but road kill for breakfast (and only after thinking about it for a while). So we decided that you have to be true Swiss in order to enjoy muesli. But then I could be wrong, I don’t think either of Dale’s sisters would eat muesli. They are as Swiss as their brother, one-half.
Why do I dislike muesli? Two simple reasons. I don’t like raw grains or flour, hence, I don’t eat raw dough, or batter of any kind. Also, I am not a fan of yoghurt, at least American style. German yoghurt is okay, probably because of a higher fat content, which I don’t need. Mix the two together and what do you get? Nasty raw grains with slimy yoghurt. Blech.
For now I will eat my delicious cooked steel-cut oats for breakfast every day. This week I am adding a teaspoon of real maple sugar for a change. Next week maybe toasted walnuts.
Permalink
06.26.10
Posted in General at 11:41 am by Janet
This week my daughter Carolyn (the original “greener” in our family) asked me to participate in the 20 dollar organic challenge. I should buy 20 dollars worth of organic groceries each week.
Dale and I try to use organic foods, but sometimes it is tricky to balance our tightwad tendencies with organic eating. Things got a lot easier when organic became more mainstream and after watching the documentary “Food Inc”.
Since the Olympia Farmers Market opened in April we have had another option for buying organic foods. The downside of that is the Farmers Market is an expensive option. Much better and open year round is the Olympia Food Coop.
We had some errands to run on Friday. I needed more steel cut oats, Dale needed yoghurt for his muesli (I need to write a post about muesli). We both wanted some sweet cherries to munch on. We went to Fred Meyers for those items, but noted the cherries that were on sale and marked as organic looked old and a bit wrinkled. We decided to go to the Farmers Market and the Coop.
At the Coop we discovered that their steel cut oats were cheaper than Freddys (both were organic). They also had apples that were reasonable at $1.35 a pound, organic of course. I also picked up some maple sugar for my oatmeal and we bought a very small amount of organic chocolate covered dried cherries and coconut. The coconut was heavenly tasting a lot like the best Mounds bar you have ever eaten. I am not sure, but I think all the food at the Coop is organic.
At the Farmer’s Market we noticed that all the cherries were organic, big, plump, red and juicy. We tried several samples and ended up buying a pound of Rainiers and a big bag of the deep dark red ones. Oh my. We also bought some apricots and asparagus. I love the Farmer’s Market. Buying from the farmer makes me happy.
What foods should you always buy organic? I have a list.
Grapes, cherries, apples, celery, potatoes, peach/nectarines, pears, bell peppers, spinach, raspberries and strawberries. These are known as the dirty dozen. We should always buy them organic because they harbor more pesticides than other produce.
Low pesticide foods are:
Eggplant, corn, peas, avocado, broccoli, bananas, tomato, pineapple, asparagus, papaya, onion, kiwi, mango, cabbage, watermelon and sweet potato.
We want to avoid pesticides because they damage the environment in ways we can’t fully understand or predict. Pesticides kill insects by targeting their nervous systems. We don’t want those same pesticides targeting our nervous systems as well. Some studies have shown there is a marked increase in ADHD in children who have a high level of pesticides in their bodies. Those are all good reasons for eating organic produce.
The 20 dollar challenge may be a small thing, but if everyone bought 20 dollars worth of produce that is organic that equates to fewer chemicals entering our biosphere and more people purging chemicals out of their systems.
I want to consume food that is organic and locally produced. I want it to be reasonably priced, I can’t expect cheap for food that is carefully grown. In our community that is something more easily done than in other places. I also want everyone to start being more thoughtful in what they chose to put in their mouths. Could the crisis of obesity have it’s roots in not only how much we eat, but how what we eat is produced?
Something to think about.
Permalink
06.17.10
Posted in General at 9:22 am by Janet
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and in the Abersold house
Not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse;
As Dale surfed over the web with great care,
In hopes that a vacation soon would be there;
The children were nestled in homes far away,
At least until Kurt comes back in late May;
Janet could settle for a long winter’ nap,
But Dale was restless to cover more map;
Now Priceline! Now Orbitz! Now Expedia.com
On Bestfares! On Travelocity-don’t let me down!
To the top of the world! No price is too small!
Show me vacations! Show me them all!
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
The Abersolds have traveled on land, sea and sky,
To Germany, Hawaii and Phoenix they flew
And cruised both the sea and food buffets, too.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And sorted the offerings; then stopped with a jerk,
And waking poor Janet, from slumber she rose,
Then giving a nod, she approved what he chose.
They sprang to the airprt, to McQueen gave a whistle,
And away they flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he flew out of sight,
The next trip must be planned-I can start it tonight!!
Permalink
06.13.10
Posted in General at 7:58 pm by Janet
I often write emails that I never send and blogs that I never post. Why would I do this?
For me writing is cathartic. I write when I am angry at someone and feel like I need them to hear my point of view. I write when I am upset at the world, usually for no particular reason. I also sometimes write when my heart is breaking over a family member.
I always censor myself. The emails and blogs get changed into something more acceptable or else just deleted altogether.
After I write and censor I always feel better. It’s almost like having my own psychologist just to listen to me go on about my problems.
It may seem pointless and silly, but sometimes I feel like I’m teetering on the brink and writing gets me back to safety.
Not to go into too much detail but I feel an email coming on. You can be sure I will delete it before anyone sees it.
Am I the only person who does this?
Permalink
06.03.10
Posted in General at 5:48 pm by Janet
I haven’t blogged in a while and I’m sure no one has missed me. It seems like I’m only on the computer for a few minutes each day and don’t take the time to write anything. These days I have so much on my mind that I really have a hard time figuring out what I should blog about. I really don’t want to get political. Thinking about current world events is disheartening and sad. My day to day life is boring, not complaining just stating the facts. I like boring. Sometimes I blog about something and look at it later and decide it was pretty dumb.
We just got back from our trip to Yellowstone and other places. We had a fun time in spite of the cold and rainy weather. Dale got a bad cold while we were there. I had one prior to leaving which was very mild. His kept getting worse and worse. Today we decided to drive home from Pendleton and skip the touring things we wanted to do. He just didn’t feel well enough to go hiking. It was good to get away and good to get back. The first thing we did after unloading the car was walk around the house and check out the garden.
I will try to find something more interesting to blog about in the near future.
Permalink
05.10.10
Posted in General at 3:01 pm by Janet
May is gifting season at our house. We have three birthdays, an anniversary, and Mother’s Day. Three of those days involve me, and since we are all busy, and poor I don’t expect lots of money or time spent on gifts for me.
Another problem is one of those days sometimes falls on Mother’s Day, Marks birthday, and this year even though his birthday is tomorrow we celebrated his birthday with a combined birthday/Mother’s Day dinner. It felt like it was all about me yesterday, and that is sad. Mark was born on Mother’s Day thirty years ago. I often tell people that Mark was the best Mother’s Day gift I have ever received. Those of you who have been in the last month of pregnancy understand exactly what I’m talking about. He didn’t receive any gifts yesterday probably due to the fact that he is fairly wealthy for a young single adult and people know that he can buy whatever he wants, nobody knows what he wants and needs because he doesn’t broadcast that and people were more concerned about what to get mom for Mother’s Day (I don’t need anything people, I just want you all to be happy and secure in life, so get there!).
To make things easier for my wonderful children and grandchildren I started a new tradition last year. I asked everyone to learn a poem for my birthday and then recite it to me at a family gathering. I had read about this tradition somewhere and really liked the idea. My birthday is coming up again and I have been hearing hints that the preparations are going along nicely. Memorizing is a double gift, I get to enjoy it and the person who memorizes something is gifted as well. I have entertained myself before by recalling things I had memorized when I was growing up (it seems like a dying art to me).
Gifts of the heart are the things we do for those we love. They don’t have to be expensive. Gifts of the heart involve two hearts, that of the receiver and that of the giver.
Permalink
05.06.10
Posted in General at 9:18 am by Janet
We flew back from our cruise on Monday morning. Since we’d been gone for 10 days we were glad to get back. We sort of expected the weather here would have gotten warmer while we were away, but no, ’twas not the case. In fact when we flew in it was so windy that the captain had everyone in their seats early. It was a rough ride, though not the worst I have ever been on.
Everyone was glad to see us, and we were happy to see everyone. The good thing about a vacation is you forgot about the real world for a few days. When you get back you are all refreshed and ready to get back to work. We had a great time, but that is not real life and I’m sure it would get tiring after a while to have people waiting on you hand and foot all day long. Maybe not. We have thought about taking a longer cruise, we did take a 15 day cruise a few years ago that we quite enjoyed. I am talking about maybe 3 weeks.
My house needs much attention. Tuesday and Wednesday were both busy. I have my visiting teaching done for the month and have my cub scouts prepared with a gift for their moms and a skit for the next Pack meeting. Today I have errands to run and then I will clean this afternoon. We would like to get a bike ride in this afternoon as well. Dale has lost a pound already, this was the cruise gain (he only gained 3 pounds).
I will sign off for now. Since Dale kept a journal of our travels I will let him regale you with the travelogue.
Permalink
04.21.10
Posted in General at 7:17 pm by Janet
I just noticed that I haven’t posted for a while and since we are leaving for a 10 day cruise on Friday I thought I’d let everyone know that I like to be outside when the weather gets nice. Kurt and Leslie like to be outside most of the time. Leslie chooses to run in the rain. Kurt will camp in the rain, which is why I will make him some fire starters as soon as he gives me some sawdust.
But I am off the subject which is yard work.
I like yard work even though it is back breaking and gets you dirty. I love turning over clumps of weeds and finding worms wriggling around. I love pulling up weeds and planting flowers. You would think that with all that love my yard must look wonderful. It doesn’t and I will tell you why. We have no plan for the yard. We dig up stuff and plant stuff and then go somewhere else in the yard and dig and plant some more. I think I need a professional to tell me what to do.
While we are gone Kurt has promised to work on the yard. We plan on paying him for the work. The only problem is Kurt likes to work with other people around. He and I pulled out a lilac bush that was out of control and it was fun (for me anyway). He likes to chat while he is working.
The other thing about the yard is I will get an idea and then I have to talk Dale into it. Sometimes he likes what I say and other times he rolls his eyes around. I wonder what that means?
Right now we have tomatoes, lettuce and squash growing in the greenhouse and peas growing in the garden. The strawberries, raspberries and blueberries have blossoms and we have onions that are about 6 inches tall. When we get back we will plant beans and peppers and maybe some cucumbers. Oh, I have herbs growing as well. I am hoping at the end of the summer I can make salsa from my garden bounty. Besides eating peas and beans and squash.
Next year I will get an earlier start on the garden. I plan on clearing more areas and building up some raised beds…Dale is rolling his eyes again.
Permalink
03.25.10
Posted in General at 3:31 pm by Janet
Our personal history changes the way we think about things. Most of my friends are unconvinced that the federal government needs to provide so much for the citizens of this nation. I feel differently about it because of the way my life veered off when my dad died. I was only 11, I had 6 siblings 2 older and 4 younger. We ranged in age from 16 to 2 and my mother was expecting. Mother had been a teacher before she got married and started a family, however when she started teaching she only needed a two year degree. If it wasn’t for social security income I don’t know what would have happened to us. As it was we were very poor while mom went back to school and worked. I was the older daughter and suddenly had to become responsible for my younger siblings. I didn’t have a lot of clothes. I can remember starting high school with total of 4 outfits, which meant that most weeks something got worn twice. I made those outfits, or they were handed down from friends of my mom.
I wonder what would have happened if mom hadn’t received social security or any of the other money that she received from the federal government. She wasn’t being selfish in having so many kids, this was before birth control. She didn’t plan on being a drain on society. With the ss money we received, a little bit of insurance and her income from a job as a telephone operator I don’t know how we made it, but we did. I knew we were poor, but it didn’t bother me too much, what else could we do?
I was happy this week that the health care bill passed. I have read about all the controversy surrounding the social security bill in the mid thirties. I wonder if those same people who are unhappy about universal health care would be unhappy if they had had to live on social security while they were growing up. I look at the social programs as protection for our citizens. I have read some of the benefits of the bill and they are wonderful. All you who have sons who will be going on missions, be glad. When your sons get home they will be covered by your health insurance until they are 26. That should get then through college and into grad school.
We should all read the bill before we get all upset. Think about how it will affect you personally the good and the bad. Finally don’t spread rumors. Check things out that sound untrue before you spread them around via email. Thank you, I feel better now.
Permalink
03.22.10
Posted in General at 5:12 pm by Janet
This is not the biggest loser. This is just ordinary people who want to lose a little baggage, you know that stuff that sits on your hips and stomach and prevents you from leaning over and tying your shoes comfortably. Leslie and I have challenged each other to only eat healthy foods. So far we have both done really well, although tonight after our yummy Cuban black bean soup I did eat one square of German chocolate, and there is a lot more where that came from. The problem is we want fast results like Dale has experienced, but we just plod along without any change in what the scale tells us.
I hope I can sustain this long enough to do some good. I mean besides the obvious good of eating really good stuff. We like results for all this effort. My problem is I want to bake and I know if I do Dale and I will eat it. If I could just bake something to have a taste and then give it all away to someone who I don’t care about, let them abuse their bodies!
Permalink
« Previous entries · Next entries »