So in this part of the saga, I will relate the story of renewing that prequal letter from our bank. It is a story with twists and turns with emotional ups and downs. Our troubles that began here may yet haunt us later, but as there is nothing we can do about it, not sure what we can do to mitigate it. Anyways, we begin the story with us contacting the bank to renew our prequal letter.
Our bank guy is a very nice man and when hubby called him to tell him we've found a place we would like to make a bid on but our prequal letter has just expired, he set forth to expediently send us a renewed prequal letter. It should be no big deal, in our minds, because we were able get one just 3 months earlier. Boy were we wrong!
I get home and hubby calls me to tell me that we can't get a prequal letter because they can't get his credit score. Not that the score was low or anything, just that they can't find it or get it. We came home and tried to obtain it ourselves, but it wasn't available for us either. Hubby tried calling the credit agencies, who were nothing but nasty and unhelpful saying things like, "I can see your score, it's right here in front of me. If you can't get to it, that's not our problem." He called a mortgage broker who advised putting him on my credit cards and going shopping. We got some advice from a credit repair person that our bank guy happened to know, but we didn't need credit repair.
We were very confused and got no real answers, just speculation and things to try. At this point, we figured there was no way we were getting the house. Now, our first priority was getting the credit stuff fixed. As per the mortgage broker's advice, I put my hubby on all my cards and when they came, we went shopping. After a big day of shopping, we came home and found a prequal letter from the bank sitting in our mailbox. Now, we were thoroughly confused.
Hubby calls the bank and the guy we were dealing with was also confused. He says he tried to run our numbers through the program a few times to get us a prequal letter but there was no indication to him that any of them went through but apparently one attempt did. In any case, he didn't say we couldn't use it. Before sending this unexpected letter to the listing agent, hubby goes online to check for his score. Maybe the shopping worked?
It did! There it was, sitting on the screen! Still, we had no idea what happened to make it go away or if the shopping was what brought it back. Still nervous that this could happen again when we apply for a loan, we sent the prequal letter to the agent and contacted our real estate lawyer.
The sellers agreed to sell us the house at our bid price and sent over the bid contract for our lawyer to fill out. The lawyer told us we needed to get the house inspection done before we can move forward. Hubby's boss recommended an inspector and an appointment was made. Thus ends the prequal letter chapter and begins the house inspection chapter!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
iPad 2
When the first iPad came out, my hubby was excited. He wanted one, and for a whole year we joked about getting him one but never did. It was too expensive and we had enough electronics to keep us occupied. Still, I must admit that it had definite appeal. We didn't get one because I just couldn't justify buying something so expensive when we really didn't need it. As far as I could tell, it would have been mostly a toy. I never considered getting one myself because I figured I'm pretty happy without one and really don't need one. So, as we were still in recovery from wedding and Christmas expenses, we never seriously considered getting an iPad.
Then the iPad 2 came out. Again my hubby was drooling and dreaming. Our finances were looking healthier, but it was still too expensive. My attitude had not changed towards it either. It was still nothing more than a really, super expensive toy. I just could not justify spending this much money all at once on something that seemed so frivolous to me.
Then my coworker caved and bought an iPad 2. He brought it to work and every so often, would run over to me and our boss and excitedly show us something it could do. That was when I really fell in love with it. Financial conservatism be damned! I want one! I really, really wanted one!
After checking our accounts and calculating that hubby and I could, indeed afford one each if we remained frugal for the rest of the year, I decided to take the plunge. I went to hubby and said, "Let's go get them!" Hubby first looked at me a bit incredulously. After all, I'd been saying no to a lot of frivolous spending for a good loooong time. He didn't hesitate long, however, before looking up the locations of Apple stores we can check out.
So we went to the Apple store that day and made our purchase. For a few days, I was embarrassed that we had caved and tried to hide the device or refrain from telling anyone what we had done. It was like a dirty secret and I was ashamed. Eventually, I realized it was silly to be acting this way and hid it no longer. What a wonderful feeling it was to be able to talk about the iPad with other iPad owners! We haven't been iPad 2 owners for long, but here are my impressions so far:
- They're purty!
- Love the multitasking feature!
- Lotsa games look great on them and some are free
- I downloaded a free finance app and have been tracking our expenses there. So far, it's been good to have
- It's also an e-reader, which is great because getting new books doesn't take up actual space in our apartment!
- Unlike the iPhone, you can actually type on the touch keyboard, which is perfect for emailing
- Google Maps is a hundred times better on the iPad than on my very old iPhone
- It has made me impatient and frustrated when using my out-dated iPhone
- My recipe application is so much easier to read off the iPad. No more squinting at my iPhone to find out what the next step or ingredient is in a recipe
- Web browsing on the iPad is better than it ever was on my iPhone
- Did I mention the games?
- Am thinking of getting a stylus to use with a sketch/note-taking app so I can draw/write directly onto my iPad. Saves paper!
- You can actually remote into a desktop PC and do work while away from work, which is only handy if you're a workaholic
- You can show people your photos and they'll look nice on the screen!
That's all I have so far. There's lots more that can be done. It's all about downloading/using the right app. So really, yes it's a toy, but it's not just a toy. It can be a personal organizer, a video blogging device, an e-reader, note-taker, task manager, GPS, research tool, music player, video player and so more all at once. Cool, right?
Then the iPad 2 came out. Again my hubby was drooling and dreaming. Our finances were looking healthier, but it was still too expensive. My attitude had not changed towards it either. It was still nothing more than a really, super expensive toy. I just could not justify spending this much money all at once on something that seemed so frivolous to me.
Then my coworker caved and bought an iPad 2. He brought it to work and every so often, would run over to me and our boss and excitedly show us something it could do. That was when I really fell in love with it. Financial conservatism be damned! I want one! I really, really wanted one!
After checking our accounts and calculating that hubby and I could, indeed afford one each if we remained frugal for the rest of the year, I decided to take the plunge. I went to hubby and said, "Let's go get them!" Hubby first looked at me a bit incredulously. After all, I'd been saying no to a lot of frivolous spending for a good loooong time. He didn't hesitate long, however, before looking up the locations of Apple stores we can check out.
So we went to the Apple store that day and made our purchase. For a few days, I was embarrassed that we had caved and tried to hide the device or refrain from telling anyone what we had done. It was like a dirty secret and I was ashamed. Eventually, I realized it was silly to be acting this way and hid it no longer. What a wonderful feeling it was to be able to talk about the iPad with other iPad owners! We haven't been iPad 2 owners for long, but here are my impressions so far:
- They're purty!
- Love the multitasking feature!
- Lotsa games look great on them and some are free
- I downloaded a free finance app and have been tracking our expenses there. So far, it's been good to have
- It's also an e-reader, which is great because getting new books doesn't take up actual space in our apartment!
- Unlike the iPhone, you can actually type on the touch keyboard, which is perfect for emailing
- Google Maps is a hundred times better on the iPad than on my very old iPhone
- It has made me impatient and frustrated when using my out-dated iPhone
- My recipe application is so much easier to read off the iPad. No more squinting at my iPhone to find out what the next step or ingredient is in a recipe
- Web browsing on the iPad is better than it ever was on my iPhone
- Did I mention the games?
- Am thinking of getting a stylus to use with a sketch/note-taking app so I can draw/write directly onto my iPad. Saves paper!
- You can actually remote into a desktop PC and do work while away from work, which is only handy if you're a workaholic
- You can show people your photos and they'll look nice on the screen!
That's all I have so far. There's lots more that can be done. It's all about downloading/using the right app. So really, yes it's a toy, but it's not just a toy. It can be a personal organizer, a video blogging device, an e-reader, note-taker, task manager, GPS, research tool, music player, video player and so more all at once. Cool, right?
Friday, April 22, 2011
Watering your plants
I have a black thumb. Every plant I have ever tried to keep alive has somehow died at my hands. Currently, I am struggling to keep alive two little moss terrariums at my desk and a little mini bamboo stalk at home.
One of the big mistakes I repeatedly make is either over-watering or forgetting to water my plants. I over-watered my moss terrariums and they've started turning yellow. I forgot to water my bamboo and the leaves started to dry up and fall off. Going forward, I can either shore up my memory buckets and find a better way figure out my watering schedule per plant, or set up reminders somewhere.
The other option is to set up a kind of hands-off irrigation operation. I found some really cool ways to water your plants without having to remember to check on them every day:
http://tipnut.com/garden-irrigation/
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/07/how_to_create_a_simple_housepl.html
http://radmegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/coke-bottle-watering-globes.html
The buried clay pot method outlined in the first link seems good for outdoor gardens and the other two sound like they would be good for houseplants. Currently, I don't have an outdoor garden nor do I have any glass bottles I can use as a watering globe. The cotton wicking method is appealing to me though. I could definitely try that with my bamboo.
One of the big mistakes I repeatedly make is either over-watering or forgetting to water my plants. I over-watered my moss terrariums and they've started turning yellow. I forgot to water my bamboo and the leaves started to dry up and fall off. Going forward, I can either shore up my memory buckets and find a better way figure out my watering schedule per plant, or set up reminders somewhere.
The other option is to set up a kind of hands-off irrigation operation. I found some really cool ways to water your plants without having to remember to check on them every day:
http://tipnut.com/garden-irrigation/
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/07/how_to_create_a_simple_housepl.html
http://radmegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/coke-bottle-watering-globes.html
The buried clay pot method outlined in the first link seems good for outdoor gardens and the other two sound like they would be good for houseplants. Currently, I don't have an outdoor garden nor do I have any glass bottles I can use as a watering globe. The cotton wicking method is appealing to me though. I could definitely try that with my bamboo.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
DOT issues new rules to airlines
Sometimes, you read the news and you think this world sucks and is going down the drain. Then there are times when a sliver of light shines through and makes you go, "Yes!" Today, I saw a sliver of light in this article:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/04/20/passenger.rights/?hpt=Sbin
Air travel has become, in many ways, a punishing experience with little or no sympathy offered from the airlines or their staff. I understand that grumpy, grouchy people are difficult to deal with, but people are grumpy and grouchy because the airlines are trying to treat them like farm animals on a factory farm. Where's the human kindness, the empathy and compassion? How can airlines pretend to be non-evil if they think it's okay to leave passengers on a tarmac for over 2 hours without food, water, working bathrooms or medical attention? The fact that an official regulation is needed to force airlines to treat us with basic human decency is pretty outrageous.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/04/20/passenger.rights/?hpt=Sbin
Air travel has become, in many ways, a punishing experience with little or no sympathy offered from the airlines or their staff. I understand that grumpy, grouchy people are difficult to deal with, but people are grumpy and grouchy because the airlines are trying to treat them like farm animals on a factory farm. Where's the human kindness, the empathy and compassion? How can airlines pretend to be non-evil if they think it's okay to leave passengers on a tarmac for over 2 hours without food, water, working bathrooms or medical attention? The fact that an official regulation is needed to force airlines to treat us with basic human decency is pretty outrageous.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Hunting for a home, part 1
So late last year, my hubby and I started house-hunting. We really didn't know what we were doing and got lots of advice from different people, many of which conflicted. The running theme of everyone's experiences was that buying real estate in NYC sucks.
We started hunting late last year and then stopped because the market was totally dead during the winter. Throughout the fall and winter we were hoping to buy a condo next door that had gone up for sale. The couple that owned the condo was getting a divorce and supposedly, selling the condo was part of their settlement. The condo was big enough for a family just starting out and it was sunny. In the end, I think a big reason we both really liked it was because we didn't want to leave the neighborhood we already lived in. Moving next door would mean we stay in our comfort zone and the move itself would be more convenient.
In any case, we made our first bid 10 percent below asking price. According to the selling agent, it was a terribly lowball bid and the sellers were very unhappy and wanted to throw our offer away and wait for another one. The agent claims that she talked them into making a counteroffer by explaining to them that we're negotiating and this is how it's done. So they moved their price lower by almost nothing percentage-wise, which in turn irritated us. Hubby really wanted to move quickly and buy the place. He was willing to offer them the asking price if need be. I originally was very excited, but as time passed, I became less enthusiastic about the place and after each interaction with the selling agent, the less I wanted to negotiate with them. Anyways, so our next number was much higher to show that we were willing to move. They moved almost nothing again. Seeing as they have no had any other bids, I convinced hubby to wait a month before making our next bid. If there was no competition, they either had to sell to us at the price we're offering or not sell at all. I thought it was unreasonable of them to expect that someone would just walk in and immediately buy the place at their asking price. The selling agent conveyed that despite the fact that the couple had only moved their number lower by almost nothing, percentage-wise, they were pissed because they felt like we were trying to get them to sell for "way below market value." It seemed to me that they were pissed all the time and were pissed at us a lot because they had no other offer and didn't like ours. Anyways, we made our last and final bid and our number was again much higher than the previous number. We don't hear a reply for a long time and when the selling agent finally called us back, it turns out that they decided not to sell it.
The story, as far as we can glean from the selling agent, was that the husband wanted to sell it but the wife didn't. So despite all the fighting between me and my hubby on the negotiation process, it was possible the wife put it on the market to please the husband, but never intended to follow through with a sale. The selling agent hinted at them fighting a great deal throughout the process and often mentioned how the husband would be angry at how low our number was no matter how high we moved it. This made me angry because I felt like if they wanted the asking price, they should have just said from the start, "no negotiation" or something to that effect instead of throwing a temper tantrum every time we gave a new number that wasn't their asking price. I was unhappy with the couple because I really felt like they jerked us around and that we really had no chance of getting the place.
Meanwhile, the condo upstairs also went on sale for a much higher price, which was immediately reduced a week later by a sizable amount. We considered briefly buying the upstairs one, but the charm of possibly living in the building next door has been mostly lost. The one we bid on was pulled from the market, probably because the wife was more than happy to keep the place, and the one above is still trying to sell, even at the reduced price.
So then I found a small house a little farther away from Manhattan. Yes, the commute would have been longer, but the neighborhood, I think, is nicer and the schools are better. Plus, it's a small house! It's not a condo where you have to worry about how your exercise routine might irritate the neighbors downstairs. You don't have to worry about your building-mates messing up the common areas or have stuff on their terrace overhang and block the view on your terrace. Of course, having a house also means you have to do your own snow removal and all the maintenance. Still, it would be nice to have a house.
So anyways, we went to see this house and although I rather liked it, my hubby was only okay with it. He said there was too little living room and too much dining room. Also, there was no back yard, which I didn't really like. The good thing was that it came with a much-coveted garage. Parking is a real pain in NYC. Overall, it was a pretty nice house. The agent that showed us around sounded like she thought we'd be in pretty decent standing since I mentioned we were already prequalified. She said that the owner had previously accepted an offer but it fell through when the buyer could not secure a loan. In the end, we decided not to bid on this house.
A few days later, another house came on the market. This house had everything we were looking for. Apparently, it appealed to many others as well because when we went to see it 4 days after it was listed, 3 or 4 other prospective buyers had already seen it and there were more viewings scheduled after us. There was definitely a lot of excitement around this house! After checking out the place, we fell in love with it. It had a back yard, a garage, a front porch and a furnished basement. It's a small, modest house, only 2 blocks away from the subway station and a block way from a decently sized supermarket. The schools are good and the area is quiet.
Considering all the interest in the house, we were worried about getting into a bidding war, but decided that we'll try for it and if we don't get there, there is bound to be another house in NYC for us. When hubby called the agent to make a bid, it turns out that there was already a bid on the house. Hubby made a competing bid for slightly higher, promising at least 20% down payment and mentioned we were prequalified. Apparently, the agent said that puts us in better standing because the other bid wasn't going to put as much down and did not have a prequal letter. He asked us to send him our prequal letter, but unfortunately for us, it had just expired.
So we sent in our old one and started the process of renewing it. This led us to a great deal of misery, excitement and confusion. I think I'll leave that part of the saga for my next post on hunting for a home.
We started hunting late last year and then stopped because the market was totally dead during the winter. Throughout the fall and winter we were hoping to buy a condo next door that had gone up for sale. The couple that owned the condo was getting a divorce and supposedly, selling the condo was part of their settlement. The condo was big enough for a family just starting out and it was sunny. In the end, I think a big reason we both really liked it was because we didn't want to leave the neighborhood we already lived in. Moving next door would mean we stay in our comfort zone and the move itself would be more convenient.
In any case, we made our first bid 10 percent below asking price. According to the selling agent, it was a terribly lowball bid and the sellers were very unhappy and wanted to throw our offer away and wait for another one. The agent claims that she talked them into making a counteroffer by explaining to them that we're negotiating and this is how it's done. So they moved their price lower by almost nothing percentage-wise, which in turn irritated us. Hubby really wanted to move quickly and buy the place. He was willing to offer them the asking price if need be. I originally was very excited, but as time passed, I became less enthusiastic about the place and after each interaction with the selling agent, the less I wanted to negotiate with them. Anyways, so our next number was much higher to show that we were willing to move. They moved almost nothing again. Seeing as they have no had any other bids, I convinced hubby to wait a month before making our next bid. If there was no competition, they either had to sell to us at the price we're offering or not sell at all. I thought it was unreasonable of them to expect that someone would just walk in and immediately buy the place at their asking price. The selling agent conveyed that despite the fact that the couple had only moved their number lower by almost nothing, percentage-wise, they were pissed because they felt like we were trying to get them to sell for "way below market value." It seemed to me that they were pissed all the time and were pissed at us a lot because they had no other offer and didn't like ours. Anyways, we made our last and final bid and our number was again much higher than the previous number. We don't hear a reply for a long time and when the selling agent finally called us back, it turns out that they decided not to sell it.
The story, as far as we can glean from the selling agent, was that the husband wanted to sell it but the wife didn't. So despite all the fighting between me and my hubby on the negotiation process, it was possible the wife put it on the market to please the husband, but never intended to follow through with a sale. The selling agent hinted at them fighting a great deal throughout the process and often mentioned how the husband would be angry at how low our number was no matter how high we moved it. This made me angry because I felt like if they wanted the asking price, they should have just said from the start, "no negotiation" or something to that effect instead of throwing a temper tantrum every time we gave a new number that wasn't their asking price. I was unhappy with the couple because I really felt like they jerked us around and that we really had no chance of getting the place.
Meanwhile, the condo upstairs also went on sale for a much higher price, which was immediately reduced a week later by a sizable amount. We considered briefly buying the upstairs one, but the charm of possibly living in the building next door has been mostly lost. The one we bid on was pulled from the market, probably because the wife was more than happy to keep the place, and the one above is still trying to sell, even at the reduced price.
So then I found a small house a little farther away from Manhattan. Yes, the commute would have been longer, but the neighborhood, I think, is nicer and the schools are better. Plus, it's a small house! It's not a condo where you have to worry about how your exercise routine might irritate the neighbors downstairs. You don't have to worry about your building-mates messing up the common areas or have stuff on their terrace overhang and block the view on your terrace. Of course, having a house also means you have to do your own snow removal and all the maintenance. Still, it would be nice to have a house.
So anyways, we went to see this house and although I rather liked it, my hubby was only okay with it. He said there was too little living room and too much dining room. Also, there was no back yard, which I didn't really like. The good thing was that it came with a much-coveted garage. Parking is a real pain in NYC. Overall, it was a pretty nice house. The agent that showed us around sounded like she thought we'd be in pretty decent standing since I mentioned we were already prequalified. She said that the owner had previously accepted an offer but it fell through when the buyer could not secure a loan. In the end, we decided not to bid on this house.
A few days later, another house came on the market. This house had everything we were looking for. Apparently, it appealed to many others as well because when we went to see it 4 days after it was listed, 3 or 4 other prospective buyers had already seen it and there were more viewings scheduled after us. There was definitely a lot of excitement around this house! After checking out the place, we fell in love with it. It had a back yard, a garage, a front porch and a furnished basement. It's a small, modest house, only 2 blocks away from the subway station and a block way from a decently sized supermarket. The schools are good and the area is quiet.
Considering all the interest in the house, we were worried about getting into a bidding war, but decided that we'll try for it and if we don't get there, there is bound to be another house in NYC for us. When hubby called the agent to make a bid, it turns out that there was already a bid on the house. Hubby made a competing bid for slightly higher, promising at least 20% down payment and mentioned we were prequalified. Apparently, the agent said that puts us in better standing because the other bid wasn't going to put as much down and did not have a prequal letter. He asked us to send him our prequal letter, but unfortunately for us, it had just expired.
So we sent in our old one and started the process of renewing it. This led us to a great deal of misery, excitement and confusion. I think I'll leave that part of the saga for my next post on hunting for a home.
Friday, April 15, 2011
The slow road towards change in diet
I do believe that certain things are bad for you to eat. Things like processed food, fast food and frozen food, for instance, are known to have lots of sugar, salt, preservatives and things that just aren't good for your health. Over the years, I have made a conscious effort to eat healthier. Many of my efforts didn't last but there are a few things that have stuck.
One of the things that stuck is giving up soda. Soda no longer has any hold on me. I never crave it, even if it is sitting in front of me in a vain effort to tempt me. I'll drink it if it's there and there is nothing else to drink, but I don't generally enjoy soda. So even after a taste of its fizzy sweetness, reminding me of how I loved savoring its cold, bursting bubbles on my tongue as a child, I don't have the urge to have more. I just don't miss it and when I do have it, I don't enjoy it all that much.
The same goes for candy. I don't mean chocolate because I consider chocolate to be its own food group. I mean gum, hard candy, gummy candies, licorice candies and the like. We have some in the house, but I almost never indulge. If I do pop one in the mouth, it's usually not because I really wanted it or craved it. I can't even say, when I do have one in my mouth, that I really enjoy it anymore either. I loved candy as a child and I still generally like candy, but I don't really care to have it. I might pop a lemonhead for the sake of nostalgia, but to buy a box would be a waste because I would never finish it.
Fast food was a bit more difficult to give up. I remember when I stopped going to McDonald's and really didn't miss it until 3 months later. At the 3 month mark, I had serious cravings for McDonald's food. I tried to resist but eventually did give in and bought a Big Mac. After the very first bite, I realized that McDonald's will never be able to satisfy my burger cravings ever again. For you see I had, by then, experienced some really awesome, juicy, heavy, flavorful burgers partnered with fresh vegetables and homemade buns. Fast food burgers just taste like flavorless cardboard after that. I still liked the "special sauce" but it was no longer worth it to me to buy a burger just for the sauce. The fries, on the other hand, are a different story.
Yes, I still eat lots of fries. I don't eat much fast food fries since I pretty much never go to fast food restaurants anymore, but I still love fries at restaurants. I know they're really bad for you. I console myself by saying that I don't eat them every day, but I sure do love 'em!
Fries are not my only weakness and I have given up on eating other foods that are considered bad for you. Today, I try to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle, which has been hard at times. The truth is, it's been a long road to get to this point. My relationship to food is partly tied to my relationship to my body image. It is also a psychological relationship. When I am stressed or unhappy, I often crave "naughty" foods because it makes me feel like I'm being decadent. I guess in order to consistently choose the healthier or principled option, I have to keep reminding myself why I should choose to eat the way I do. Every time we are faced with a choice to eat this or that is a juncture in the road. At the moment, one choice does not make much of a difference, but if you look at the long view, you see that all those choices add up to a very distinct direction. For me, vegetarianism feels right and I plan to continue down that path.
One of the things that stuck is giving up soda. Soda no longer has any hold on me. I never crave it, even if it is sitting in front of me in a vain effort to tempt me. I'll drink it if it's there and there is nothing else to drink, but I don't generally enjoy soda. So even after a taste of its fizzy sweetness, reminding me of how I loved savoring its cold, bursting bubbles on my tongue as a child, I don't have the urge to have more. I just don't miss it and when I do have it, I don't enjoy it all that much.
The same goes for candy. I don't mean chocolate because I consider chocolate to be its own food group. I mean gum, hard candy, gummy candies, licorice candies and the like. We have some in the house, but I almost never indulge. If I do pop one in the mouth, it's usually not because I really wanted it or craved it. I can't even say, when I do have one in my mouth, that I really enjoy it anymore either. I loved candy as a child and I still generally like candy, but I don't really care to have it. I might pop a lemonhead for the sake of nostalgia, but to buy a box would be a waste because I would never finish it.
Fast food was a bit more difficult to give up. I remember when I stopped going to McDonald's and really didn't miss it until 3 months later. At the 3 month mark, I had serious cravings for McDonald's food. I tried to resist but eventually did give in and bought a Big Mac. After the very first bite, I realized that McDonald's will never be able to satisfy my burger cravings ever again. For you see I had, by then, experienced some really awesome, juicy, heavy, flavorful burgers partnered with fresh vegetables and homemade buns. Fast food burgers just taste like flavorless cardboard after that. I still liked the "special sauce" but it was no longer worth it to me to buy a burger just for the sauce. The fries, on the other hand, are a different story.
Yes, I still eat lots of fries. I don't eat much fast food fries since I pretty much never go to fast food restaurants anymore, but I still love fries at restaurants. I know they're really bad for you. I console myself by saying that I don't eat them every day, but I sure do love 'em!
Fries are not my only weakness and I have given up on eating other foods that are considered bad for you. Today, I try to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle, which has been hard at times. The truth is, it's been a long road to get to this point. My relationship to food is partly tied to my relationship to my body image. It is also a psychological relationship. When I am stressed or unhappy, I often crave "naughty" foods because it makes me feel like I'm being decadent. I guess in order to consistently choose the healthier or principled option, I have to keep reminding myself why I should choose to eat the way I do. Every time we are faced with a choice to eat this or that is a juncture in the road. At the moment, one choice does not make much of a difference, but if you look at the long view, you see that all those choices add up to a very distinct direction. For me, vegetarianism feels right and I plan to continue down that path.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Buttermilk with juice
I recently discovered that I like drinking cultured buttermilk. The rich, tangy flavor will often hit a spot that no other drink can hit. However, it's a rather thick drink and I can't have more than a few sips at a time. Sometimes, I also want to jazz it up a bit.
Enter fruit juice! I may have mentioned before that, but before, I only added just a little bit of juice. Last night, I mixed 1/3 Welch's white grape juice (very sweet stuff!) to 2/3 culture buttermilk, and it was delicious! The grape juice is super sweet and the buttermilk is thick and tangy. Mixing them together yields a sweet and tangy, gulp-able substance to delight in. I love it!
Enter fruit juice! I may have mentioned before that, but before, I only added just a little bit of juice. Last night, I mixed 1/3 Welch's white grape juice (very sweet stuff!) to 2/3 culture buttermilk, and it was delicious! The grape juice is super sweet and the buttermilk is thick and tangy. Mixing them together yields a sweet and tangy, gulp-able substance to delight in. I love it!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Spice rack
In our household, we have a lot of spices. They're a great way to add flavor to anything without adding tons of salt and butter. I use them extensively in my leftover veggies soups and I love making my own chai. Recently, I bought a small jar of a spice blend by Sugar Mountain Herbs in Sugarloaf, upstate NY. It was called butter herbs because the recommended use was to mix it with butter to make the butter more flavorful without adding salt. It was heavenly! I enjoy using it in cream cheese, soups, omelets and a whole variety of savory foods. Anyways, with all the cooking and baking projects, we have a lot of spices.
Storing spices in a way that keeps them out of the way, yet easily reachable has been a bit of a dilemma. I have never been a fan of those turntable shelves and I am too lazy to spend time and effort to install a magnetic spice organizer. I just want to be able to buy a spice and put it somewhere.
That's why I was very happy to see the Spice Stack Rack:
http://www.stacksandstacks.com/super-spicestack?id=175&sku=18558
If you look closely at the picture, you can even label what spices are in each drawer. I actually really like this organizer but it looks like it's made of plastic, which makes me wonder about its durability. Anyways, we have no need for it now. We're hoping to move soon and I am keeping an eye out for things we could use to better organize our new home.
Storing spices in a way that keeps them out of the way, yet easily reachable has been a bit of a dilemma. I have never been a fan of those turntable shelves and I am too lazy to spend time and effort to install a magnetic spice organizer. I just want to be able to buy a spice and put it somewhere.
That's why I was very happy to see the Spice Stack Rack:
http://www.stacksandstacks.com/super-spicestack?id=175&sku=18558
If you look closely at the picture, you can even label what spices are in each drawer. I actually really like this organizer but it looks like it's made of plastic, which makes me wonder about its durability. Anyways, we have no need for it now. We're hoping to move soon and I am keeping an eye out for things we could use to better organize our new home.
Friday, April 8, 2011
What a week of food costs
I found a neat link that showcases families around the world with how much they pay for a week's worth of food and how much food they get. Each family is shown in a photo with their week's worth of groceries displayed in front.
http://www.ireallylikefood.com/744873689/culture-shock-the-rising-cost-of-food/?ref=xn
http://www.ireallylikefood.com/744873689/culture-shock-the-rising-cost-of-food/?ref=xn
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Rising price of food
This year, food prices are going up. You may have already noticed that you are getting less food for the same money. The cheapest foods are still the most unhealthy, such as soda, chips and Spam. That continues to leave the lowest income earners with fewer healthy choices. It's not a pretty picture and there appears to be no sign that food prices will be going back down anytime soon.
The truth is, as much as I hate to see rising food prices, I think this is actually good for me personally. I eat too much and have gained quite a bit of weight these past few years. If food prices go up and I end up eating less, then I'll end up losing some this excess weight. Not necessarily a bad thing since I'm not starving, just dieting. Lol!
Aside from that, rising food prices are bad. It's particularly bleak for people who are barely able to afford food in the first place. As the situation worsens, food riots will occur. Until extreme weather stops destroying our food crops all over the world, I'm not seeing food prices going back down. Like I said before, it's not a pretty picture.
The truth is, as much as I hate to see rising food prices, I think this is actually good for me personally. I eat too much and have gained quite a bit of weight these past few years. If food prices go up and I end up eating less, then I'll end up losing some this excess weight. Not necessarily a bad thing since I'm not starving, just dieting. Lol!
Aside from that, rising food prices are bad. It's particularly bleak for people who are barely able to afford food in the first place. As the situation worsens, food riots will occur. Until extreme weather stops destroying our food crops all over the world, I'm not seeing food prices going back down. Like I said before, it's not a pretty picture.
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