Personally, I find it difficult to disassociate the beautiful autumn weather & fun fall activities from the hell that is midterm season. I resent that though, because fall is my favourite of all the seasons! It’s electric, full of excitement and crunch and unadulterated joy.
One thing that makes fall easier to appreciate, for me, is making delicious fall-like food and consuming it. I do this a lot.
I think my favourite comfort food right now is a big hearty bowl of my mom’s chili with some sour cream and green onions and some biscuits on the side. Mmmm. It’s the perfect food really: easy, healthy, sharable, delicious, keeps for a long time in the fridge :)
So, my fine people, I share with you the deliciousness that is chili in the fall. Enjoy!
Mom’s Chili
Makes about 6 servings, depending on how hungry you are.. :)
1. Chop up 1 onions, 2 stalks celery, 3 garlic, 2 carrots very small
2. Cover ½ cup of barley (or bulgor wheat!) with 2 cups of water; simmer until barley/bulgor is cooked
3. Meanwhile, sauté the veggies in olive oil until tender crisp
4. Add finely chopped pepper and zucchini to the sautéed veggies, sauté until soft (I add diced mushrooms and neglect the zucchini)
5. Add spices: cinnamon, chili powder, cumin, basil, shake of salt, little pepper, any other spices you might like..
6. Add a large tin of diced tomatoes
7. Add some red wine (few tbsp)
8. Simmer it a while, add drained barley and a rinsed can of kidney beans
9. Taste! Add salt. Add a little sugar, a bit more cinnamon. Add some ketchup. Taste & repeat if necessary!
10. Simmer on low heat for as long as possible.
11. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some green onions – YUM!
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Easiest Scones Ever
Follow this link to find the easiest scones of all time..yummo!
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Bon apetit!
Let me know how the recipe turns out, if you try it!
Since it’s midterm season, I tend to have long days and early nights with very little fun in between. Depressing, ain’t it?? Food, food blogs, cooking, eating: these have all been my moments of fun and delight in amongst the exhaustion. I love being able to surf the internet looking for delicious recipes and then replicating them as best as I can in my own kitchen. I’ve made so many delicious things lately! Chili, hot & sour soup, caramelized onion pizza, chocolate chip cookies, and more. But my favourite thing I’ve made lately? This pie.
Dubbed ‘Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie‘ by the oh-so-fabulous Joy the Baker, I can tell you right now that it is not a misnomer. It’s a foolproof recipe, and easily the simplest pie I’ve ever made.
Speaking of simple, did you know that you don’t have to roll out pie crust? Oh my gosh. This information was literally life changing. For a girl as obsessed with pie as I am, I could not be happier that the path to pie has gotten shorter and less complicated. I am eternally grateful!
And did I mention the best part? This pie tastes like autumn. Not a joke. It really does. You bite into it and immediately get transported back to your days of jumping in leaves and picking apples (even if you’re like me and those days happened last weekend). I made it for a lovely dinner I was having with my floor fellow from last year and two great friends. We all (myself included) adored it to bits. I have been hoarding the last slice in my fridge for days..muahahaha!
Alrightie. Now you can get the recipe from here, but I’m going to outline some of the steps with photos, for my own amusement. :)
Get your hands on 2 good sized sweet potatoes. This is a photo from after I boiled them and am about to peel away the skin and mash them all up into amazingness.
Note their beautiful texture and colour!
This is once most of the ingredients have been added: cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, evaporated milk. Please note also that I had to go back to the store to get evaporated milk since instead I bought condensed? What it wrong with me? Don’t yell and scream, I had just been walked home by a decently attractive member of the opposite sex. Maybe I was distracted. Maybe I had other things on my mind.. ;)
Om nom nom nom. Beautiful. When my friends came over on the way to dinner, I invited them all to try the filling. And they did. And it was delicious. Salmonella be damned!
I’ll let Joy take you through the wonders of this pie crust, but let me reiterate: it is so amazing. It is so simple. My life is so great.
Perfect. Puffy. Yummy.
Ay caramba!!
Do yourself a huge favour and make this pie. Then eat it. Lots of it. Three slices. I won’t judge you. No really. :)
So you’re going off to University. You must be terrified. Holy moly! Even as I was packing my bags this year, I was remembering my sheer terror as I packed them last year. Luckily, for me that has passed, but maybe you’re still feeling that way? All I can say is: it’s going to be okay! And read this if you want more encouragement. :)
As my last post in my very fun-to-write back to school series, I’m talking about what to bring.
Dorm Room Necessities
My dorm room!
Besides the obvious – school supplies, bedding, books and knicknacks – there are tons of things that fill the average dorm room. Food, snacks, and beer abound, along with dirty laundry and stacks of paper. Depending on the size of your room, it could be neater (small space = higher organization!), but nonetheless, most dorm rooms are crammed full of lots of goodies. Now, I know you’ve been scouring the articles online about what else you might need, and you’ve probably heard it all. In case you haven’t though, here are a few awesome lists of what to bring: very comprehensive!
But maybe you’ve read it all before, and want my personal opinion on the subject. The verdict: for rez, you don’t need that much stuff!! I know how exciting it is to be moving away, and I know you want to take everything with you (I sure did..). But remember, you’ll be moving home for the summer most likely, so pack light! I had way, way too much stuff when I moved home! So besides the absolute essentials and a few homey touches, here are my picks for enjoyable dorm living:
Journal
Image by midnightglory via Flickr
For me, one of the most indispensable items to have in your toolkit. Even if you can’t manage to journal every day about your crazy adventures, it’s still incredibly useful for when you feel sad or scared or just plain frustrated! I swear by my journal, and always pick ones that are bright and happy. You could also use a sombre Moleskine to record all your seriously serious thoughts.. :)
Plate, cup and cutlery
Because who knows when you’ll be munching on some real Thanksgiving dinner or lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce or a full Hanukkah feast? (Yes, all of which occurred my first year, along with countless brownies, cookies, muffins and other munchies.) Always be prepared! Who knows when the opportunity for food will come along?
Sleeping Bag
Image via Wikipedia
Very useful! Bring with you when you visit friends, or when they visit you! Also can be used for extra warmth if you live somewhere ridiculously cold.
Earplugs
Image by wmbreedveld via Flickr
So important! Who knows when the guy directly above you will blast Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin until two in the morning, while bouncing a tennis ball against his wall. Oh wait, I know when he’ll do that! Every stinking night. Avoid the drama and use earplugs. Use them when an ultimate frisbee tournament goes on for a month, every night, until midnight. Use them when you’re at the library for total peace. Love earplugs. Totally a necessity.
Flat plastic storage boxes
Image by Ulleskelf via Flickr
These are perfect when you have a small space. They fit so neatly under any dorm bed and can act as your little pantry/pharmacy for the year. I kept extra kleenex boxes, contact solution, extra lightbulbs, and way more tucked into those handy little spaces. Great use of space, especially when you don’t have much!
Extra floor lamp
Image by Matzelchen via Flickr
Ooh. So indispensable for me first year. When it gets dark at 5 in the winter, I get thoroughly depressed, especially if all the lighting I have is an overhead light and a desk lamp. Not feeling it. I favour tall floor lamps, cheap at Ikea that can stand in one corner of your room and cast a loving glow over the whole space. Lovely. :)
Rug
Image via Wikipedia
My rugs kept my feet warm, my room colourful and my floors cleaner. Love rugs. Yay rugs!
Your musical instrument
Image by Mikey G Ottawa via Flickr
I found that playing my guitar was a huge stress-reliever last year. anytime I felt overwhelmed, I could just reach into the corner of my room and strum away. I also play the piano, and nearer to the end of the year I started playing the pianos downstairs in our rez. If you don’t play an instrument, sorry! But I really recommend bringing yours if you do have one.
Isn’t it fabulous to move into a new place and start making it your own?! I love that feeling of settling in somewhere so much, of laying all your things our and getting organized and making everything look absolutely gorgeous! I’m moving into my very first apartment tomorrow, and I couldn’t be more excited to make it wonderfully mine. I’ll keep you posted on that front!
What do you think about my picks for comfy dorm living? What changed your life when you were living in a tiny room? Let me know!
What a scary word! Whenever I hear the word ‘budget’ I immediately feel sort of overwhelmed. This is because I hate thinking about money. I can’t stand it! I’ve never liked money (not that I’ve ever had any debt or problems with it) and I probably never will enjoy it! It just makes me uncomfortable. Sure, I enjoy making it, and spending it, but my immediate reaction when I’m forced to actually think about it is a strange sense of discomfort. Don’t ask me why this happens to me, but I’m sure others can relate – maybe you feel tense when it comes to money? I think most people do, for any number of reasons.
One of the things that does help with my (unnecessary) anxiety is creating a solid budget. Why?
Reasons I Love Budgets
I always feel like money is slipping through my fingers towards unknown sources, which is stressful! By using a budget and by tracking everything I buy, I’m able to get everything out into the open. I’m not constantly trying to remember what I’ve been buying lately, it’s suddenly dead simple to see that I’m bleeding money because of going out to eat. Suddenly, my finances aren’t so mysterious, they’re manageable.
By looking clearly at my personal finances, I’m able to start controlling them. I can set myself limits, which end up saving me money!
I end up having more money for the things I’d really enjoy having in my life, by cutting out the unnecessary expenses I always forget about. I don’t end up throwing away money on things I don’t love, by staring my finances straight in the face.
I can start freeing up money for things I love: setting aside some money each month for travel, future plans, shopping trips.. :)
I’ll be able to avoid going into any serious debt by way of tracking my purchases, and not just blindly swiping credit cards. Key word there: blindly. Budgets don’t let me hide from the truth!
Budgets take the scary out!
Alright, I hope I sold you on budgets (no pun intended!) because I really feel they’re like the coolest thing going. Take control of your life! (Have I mentioned lately that I’m a huge nerd? K, good.)
But now you’re all: “But I don’t know how to make a budget or use Excel!”, “What if I get all crazy when I go to the mall and I throw my budget out the window??”, “I have no idea how to live frugally!”..etc.
Luckily for you, I have compiled a lovely list of resources for your perfect budget, how to actually stick to it, and maybe even love it!
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Budgeting Links
Image via roblee
The budget I have recently adopted is Jenny’s simple 4 Step Budget from Life After College. It’s so simple to use, especially if you have a Google account. If you don’t, you could easily reproduce her idea with an Excel or Word document, or even a very well organized paper system. If you’re looking for a simple, easy to use system, I recommend this one.
If you’re looking for more variety, or perhaps a more complex budget, check out this list of budget templates from Budgets are $exy. Actually, if you have the chance check out his whole website. It’s a fantastic resource for people with big long-term financial goals (he’s trying to become a millionaire!).
If neither of the above works for you, I suggest looking through the other, numerous budget template options listed in Google Docs or checking out the ones in your word processing/spreadsheet program already on your computer.
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Frugal Living Links
Image via electrofantastic
Gala’s Guide to Sane Spending is a down-to-earth view of some budgeting lessons we all tend to forget every once in a while..
With a little planning and dedication, I believe that you’ll find that “you’re richer than you think!”. Budgeting can be fast & straightforward, yet save you lots of money! To spend on things you really love! Who’s with me?
What are your strategies for keeping your finances in line? How do you save money? Let me know, I’m always learning!
10. Simmer on low heat for as long as possible.
