Chard Chip Victory!

As we all know, kale chips are The Best. I had tried making chard chips in a similar way in the past, but to no avail. I kept ending up with tough, soggy leaves and disappointment. A couple of days ago, however, I finally achieved Chard Chip Victory! I MIGHT like them more than kale chips.

crisp and delicious.

Chard Chips: 

Wash and dry chard leaves. Remove tough center veiny things.

Chop into pieces the size of the palm of my hand. (Or fine, your own hand.) They'll cook down in size.

Roll in towels to press out all moisture.

Preheat oven to 300 F. Most chard chip recipes say 275; that's probably fine if your oven is reliable.

Dump dry chopped leaves into a bowl; toss with olive oil to coat very lightly and sprinkle spices to taste. I used Penzey's chili powder, cumin, and salt and pepper.

Lay out leaves on a foil-lined cookie sheet in a single layer, not overlapping at all.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until they turn crisp and translucent.

UNLIKE kale chips, I found it was better to slightly undercook rather than slightly overcook.

Enjoy.

Retraction

Remember a while ago when I wrote about doing the hundred push-ups program? And I said I'd be doing the same thing with slightly more advanced push-ups and also sit-ups? It turns out that was a bad idea.

I watched youtube videos about good form for sit-ups, and really didn't feel I was doing anything very strenuous. Yet, I have managed to injure myself. I sprained the ligament that goes down my spine on the right side (I had not realized this was possible), and now the right half of my upper body is in spasm. The left side doesn't feel so great either.

So now I am seeing a chiropractor three times a week until it stops hurting so much. He has given me stretches to do a couple times a day, and forbidden me to do any more push-ups or sit-ups until he says it is okay to start again. Alas.

30 minute dinner: fresh mozzarella, polenta, and eggs a la Jesse over roast asparagus

The pan on its way into the oven has enough polenta and asparagus for three dinners. Yay, leftovers!  

This isn't a real cooking blog. If it were, I would probably have titled this post "15 minute dinner" or "10 minute dinner," because the meal takes only 10-15 minutes of prep time. However,  I am more concerned with the time it takes to go from thinking "I'd like to be eating" to the time when I actually am, in fact, eating. This menu takes me 28 minutes from walking into the kitchen and turning on the oven to sitting down with a plated meal.

Ingredients:
prepared polenta in log form
fresh mozzarella
fresh tomatoes
fresh eggs
asparagus
olive oil
canola oil or butter
spices - I used salt and black pepper on the asparagus and freeze-dried shallots and lemon pepper on the eggs.

ACTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425.

Slice polenta into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Brush olive oil on the bottom. Top with a thin-mint sized chunk of mozz and some sliced tomatoes.

Wash asparagus and break at natural breaking point. Gently shake dry. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper (or other desired herbs and spices) to taste.

If oven is not hot yet, wash things while you wait. If you need to keep killing time, arrange a small bowl of pickled mushrooms to accompany your dinner.

Put asparagus and polenta rounds into oven and set timer for 10 min.

Start Eggs a la Jesse: Heat canola oil or butter (and onions or garlic, if desired) in frying pan over medium heat. When hot, break in eggs. Sprinkle with spices of your choice. Cover with well-fitting lid and turn down heat to medium low.

As soon as the whites are done, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit until the yolks have reached desired consistency.

Check oven after 10 minutes. With my oven, I turn the pan around and cook for another 5 minutes to heat evenly.

Eat dinner.

Variations on a theme: 

• Want to take this to work to eat for lunch? Hard boil the eggs instead and everything will be delicious at room temperature. 
• Made enough for leftover polenta and asparagus and want to vary your protein intake? Reheat in the toaster oven with a Boca or Morningstar patty from the freezer. Or toss white beans in a quick vinaigrette with some dried basil and oregano the night before and eat cold.
• No asparagus? Try zucchini medallions, thinly-sliced wedges of cabbage or vertically-halved broccoli or cauliflower florets instead.
• No fresh mozzarella or polenta? Try cheddar over rye bread or parmesan over sweet potato rounds. You might want to par-cook the sweet potato rounds in the microwave a bit first, depending on thickness. 

Put it away.

Being tidy involves putting things away. And I have found that putting things away is actually a two-step process:

Step one: Determine a good place to store your thing.

Step two: Whenever you are done using the thing, put the thing in that place.

Corollary to step one: When you purchase or otherwise obtain a thing, think about where it will be kept before you bring it home.

Corollaries to step two: (1) Inform your family and roommates of where that place is. Otherwise, the people you live with will believe you are just hiding the thing. They will not be pleased. (2) If you find that there's a better place to keep the thing, start keeping it there.*

These are the steps that work for me! Do you have storage strategies that work for you?


* We keep the spare tabletop behind the bedroom door. I know someone else who keeps theirs under the bed. Wherever works, dude. Wherever works.

More on Money

Last month, I blogged about a system for tracking expenses and my friends Sasha and Emily* mentioned some great ideas in the comments. I decided that I would list here some of the shifts I've made to be more mindful of my spending. I am also still really interested in any of your tips and tricks!

Changes in Mindset: 

• Consider cooking and mending to be hobbies. They are free and rewarding AND save money. 
• Avoid rushed decisions. "Let me check and get back to you!" is a totally acceptable response when invited to plans that may or may not fit into my budget. 
• Walking instead of taking the subway is good for my wallet, my health, and my love of the city. 
• Inviting friends over for an activity instead of meeting to eat a meal in a restaurant is ACTUALLY AWESOME.  For instance, I had my friends Jesse and Sarah over and we MADE CHEESE AND THEN ATE IT. 

Pictures by Sarah Brown who now seems as addicted to this collage -making app as I am. 

Changes in Habit: 

• When I'm reading online, I leave a tab open to the New York Public Library page and just add things to my holds list as they appeal to me. Novels, comics, movies, music - all available for free. 
• I still do much of my shopping online, but I am building the habit of checking sites like www.retailmenot.com for online coupons and discount codes before making any purchases. 
• I am also trying to plan ahead for purchases more successfully. For instance, after this week I'll know what books I will teach in the fall semester. I should order desk copies in April to avoid paying for the books at the last minute because I forget to order desk copies in time.
• Relatedly, I really need to keep better track of my travel budget at work because once that is exhausted I don't get reimbursed for conference expenses. Perhaps I'll devote a page in my long-term planning notebook to this. 

* You can tell the difference between that Emily and me because that Emily is tall and blonde and has a law degree and has run a 5k. 

Reading list

Here are a few of the blog posts I've really enjoyed reading recently - and I'm always on the lookout for more reading recommendations, too:

• Sasha of A Sasha Party wrote a post about a party I threw! If you would like to read a very complimentary account of this one time I had a lot of fun, here is a place where you can do that. 
• Ali of Tag Sale Style wrote a post about her company's system for early arrivals to sales. It is far from any system I might need in my daily life and therefore fascinating. 
• Get Rich Slowly has a post about developing criteria for when to spend money on things that are not strictly necessary. I'm not sure I'll use this system, but I find it interesting. 
• A reader submitted a LOVELY to-do list to UnF*** Your Habitat recently. It's inspirational. 

Filing for the classes I teach - Work in progress.

Ladies and gentlemen, the system I am about to discuss is TOTALLY a work in progress. I welcome thoughts and suggestions.

I used to make three files for each class every semester (I'll use 101 as an example) - 101 Spring 2012 extras and originals, 101 Spring 2012 student work and 101 Spring 2012 notes.

This semester I have changed my system. NOW I keep one folder per course that is semester-specific: 101 Spring 2012 student work and extra copies of handouts; and one folder per course that is a perennial: 101- notes, teaching copies and originals of handouts. That way I can store the student work and recycle the extra copies easily at the end of each semester while keeping easy access to the handouts and teaching copies and notes I reuse semester after semester.

BUT IS THIS THE BEST WAY? I welcome your thoughts.