Twenty-one for 50 - It's a nice day to start again

Black-eyed Susans are some of the cheeriest in my garden

Cup flowers tower about a foot over my head

This morning I listened to music as I took my walk (E is golfing so I have a little time to myself which you likely know that I enjoy). One of the songs that came on was "White Wedding" by Billy Idol (Best of Rock: 1985 on Spotify) and one of the lines stuck out to me - It's a nice day to start again. Billy growled it, as he always does, and this song is not at all a wedding song, nor particularly uplifting, but I felt inspired by it. It is a nice day (albeit smoky/hazy) and I am ready to start again.

If you read my last post, and are prone to trying to diagnose people (like I am), this will not be a shock to you. I am going through a bout of depression. Irritability that got my manager's attention and made her ask me "How are you? No really - how are you?". As I cried through my one-on-one and expressed my frustration and pessimistic view of my job, my career, the very future of the entire profession, and heard her tell me to take some time to figure out what I wanted or needed to do, a little bell went off in my head. I am depressed. I've been here before, so started kicking myself for not recognizing it before. Low motivation, low energy, no joy in things I usually enjoy, tearful, irritable. Check, check, check. As they say, the first step to getting help is recognizing you need help. I am getting help and working on it. I am not yet feeling back to my normal self, but I will get there. I thought I would let you know. This is a big part of why I have not posted in over a month.

Here I am - I'm coming back and it is a nice day to start again.

Back in the beginning of June, I went on a scrapbooking retreat (see Nineteen of 50) and it was so great to spend time with my sister and other friends, to be creative, to reminisce about my senior year of high school. I completed only 8 pages but feel like I really did accomplish something.

The rest of June was not great - I finished only 1 book, tried only 1 new recipe, and blogged only twice. I did keep up with walking despite the 9000 degree heat, mostly thanks to E's encouragement. He also picked strawberries with me ("made" me go to the strawberry patch which I was later grateful for), even though he wouldn't eat a strawberry if you paid him. He did the great bulk of the work with the cabin sale (we closed on July 7th - Woohoo!) and is always there with a giant hug when I need it. I found a good one, and I intend to keep him!

July went a little better, mostly because I was aware of what was going on in my mind and was trying to get back on track. Three new recipes, five books finished and good walking time, seeing friends on the Fourth, plus we took a little trip to Wisco to visit our friends who we last saw in March 2020 on our cruise right before the world shut down. I got my wand from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Wisco friends had driven so we asked them to haul it home for us since it didn't really fit well in my suitcase) so I can now cast spells again. We had such a pleasant time with B&G in ATW and can't wait to see them again soon.

There you have it - the explanation of my struggle bus ride and how I have turned a corner and am slowly moving ahead. My upcoming posts will likely be shorter, but I plan to post more frequently. Stay tuned, my friends and fans, and remember, it's a nice day to start again.

Until we read again,

Hallie

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 27 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 25

Blog posts published– 21

Miles walked in June - 53.39

Miles walked so far in July - 52.2 (there may be one more walk yet today)

    Miles walked year-to-date –331.98

Scrap book pages completed –27

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Twenty for 50 - Riding the Struggle Bus

I'm not sure where I first heard the phrase "riding the struggle bus" but that is what has been stuck in my head for days. Lately I am riding the struggle bus what feels like daily - everything seems to be way more of a chore than it should be. Work feels like it is driving me mad. Little things are irritating as hell. I could probably accomplish more during the work day if I moved my chair to the center of the room and just spun around on it. Even books I am enjoying go so slowly. I am running behind where I would like to be in most things - trying new recipes, recording walking miles, blogging, folding laundry. Welcome to my struggle bus.

How about a few of recipes?  One was yummy, one was easy and pretty tasty, the other was, well, a bit of a hot mess.

Recipe 19 - Ground Pork Tacos

Last fall when we picked up our quarter beef at the meat locker, we picked up a few pounds of ground pork as well, just for something a little different. I found this recipe on Pinterest and had all the ingredients on hand, so it was quick and easy. Very flavorful change from the usual beef tacos and easier to whip up than E's Famous Chicken Tacos (though those are so good they have been renamed "tacooooohs"). From KevinIsCooking.com, my notes in () as usual.

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I skipped the oil because I was not going to add the onion)

1 medium onion diced (skipped because I wanted E to actually eat the meal)

3 garlic cloves minced

salt

3 tbsp Taco Seasoning (I used Penzey's, of course)

1 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup orange juice

8 corn tortillas 6 inch round (I think 6" across, not around - at least that is what I used)

In a large skillet over medium high heat add the oil. When hot, add onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir, cook 30 seconds more. Season with pinch of kosher salt. (I skipped this whole step and just browned the garlic and put in a pinch of salt - it didn't take much time to do that so be prepared to add everything else in next step).

Stir in the taco seasoning, brown sugar and tomato paste, simmer on low for 2 minutes (note that if you skipped the onions like I did, there is nothing here to really simmer, so move on to next part, which I am re-writing to be what is in video on Kevin's site and also what I did). 

Add the ground pork, breaking it up with a spoon and stirring in the seasonings until pork is cooked through. Add water and orange juice.  Stir and reduce for 10 minutes.

Over a hot flame on the stovetop or on a grill, char the fresh, soft corn tortillas on both sides. (I just used them uncharred.)

Fill each taco shell with pork filling, pico de gallo or salsa verde, lettuce and pickled onions. Optional: drizzle with Mexican Crema. (We used shredded cheddar and lettuce - use what you usually do to top your tacos but the flavors of the meat really came through with simple toppings.)

Recipe 20 - Cheesy Chicken

This picture doesn't capture the mess it truly was

Using a cookbook I have had for nearly 20 years that has never let me down (Taste of Home's 2002 Quick Cooking), I made this recipe thinking it sounded quick and easy. It was a hot mess - I had trouble with coating the chicken and then it took about twice as long to cook as the recipe said. The coating which looked from cookbook like it would be crunchy was soggy.  Edible but I will not be making this one again.  It could have been that my breasts were a lot larger than what the recipe called for (I have never before in my life uttered the phrase "my breasts were a lot larger than..." Also, in fairness to me, the recipe does not say what size breasts it is expecting.)  Here it is - maybe it will work better for you. I don't remember what we served it with - they suggest rice pilaf, I think I had some sort of potatoes?

5 Tbsp butter or margerine, melted, divided 

1 C crushed cheese-flavored snack crackers (I used Goldfish crackers - the snack that smiles back while you are crushing it to little tiny bits)

1/4 tsp pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 C sour cream

Place 1T. butter in 11"x7"x2" microwave safe dish; set aside. Combine cracker crumbs and pepper. Dip chicken in remaining melted butter, then spread with sour cream. Roll in the crumb mixture (can you see where I got extremely messy???). Place in prepared dish. Cover loosely and microwave on high for 6-7 minutes or until chicken juices run clear (if you have exceptionally large breasts like me, it will take about twice this long). Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Recipe 21 - Easy Korean Beef

A recipe that actually was quick and easy, plus good flavor. This one is from TableForTwoBlog.com and now that I look at it again see that she jazzed it up with some sesame seeds and sliced green onions. When we had it for leftovers, we topped with a sprinkling of crispy chow mein noodles for crunch. If you wanted a more "authentic" Korean beef, you could use some other cut instead of ground beef.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 yellow onion, diced (I did not use)

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used about half the amount, afraid it would be too hot with this and the ginger - next time I would use the full amount)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes together.

In a skillet, on medium high, cook your ground beef with the sesame oil until well done.

Pour in the soy sauce mixture over the meat and combine together. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over white rice. (We used brown rice - Trader Joe's from the freezer section - 1 package in microwave for 3 minutes = perfect rice quickly)

Hopefully I will be off this bus ride soon and will let you know about the scrap book retreat, update the walking mileage and have another book report or 2 for you.

Until we breathe again,

Hallie

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 22 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 21

Blog posts published– 20

Miles walked in June - 8.09 (as of 6/6)

    Miles walked year-to-date –234.48 (as of 6/6)

Scrap book pages completed –27

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0