Eastside Hippie

I just posted the breakdown of today’s cooking on Seattle Metblogs (direct link) but wanted to expand a bit more on the personal level here on my blog. On United Way’s blog, they quote Eric Rivera take on how he is conducting this challenge. It’s similar to what we are doing: eating similar to how we normally eat and how it’s not the point to go out and buy frozen pizzas, Top Ramen, and eat off the value menu at McDonald’s. The point, in which I am in agreement, is to eat a healthy and varied diet.

Today, we did fairly well, but definitely did not eat as many vegetables as we should/could have, and no fruit at all. I have spent just a smidge over half our food budget for the week (which is $60) and we can afford, at this stage, to add some fresh vegetables to our diet. Eric also points out that it really helps to know your way around the kitchen in order to create healthy meals. This morning’s example is perfect to demonstrate what I mean by this. I woke up early, panicking about how we didn’t have lunch to take to work/school. In about 30 minutes, I had cooked up a batch of simple lentil soup. If I haven’t had experience in trying out different types of lentil soups, I may not have been able to sleepily grab what was on hand (as allowed by the Hunger Challenge) and put this together. Healthy cooking is for those who have the time and enthusiasm to learn it, there is no doubt about this.

All in all, the hardest part has been not just grabbing any old thing out of the fridge to snack on when I got home from school. I have some leftover brioche (that may very well go bad before the week is up) that looked mighty tempting, but there is no way I could afford to spare enough money in the food budget to make this now. Brioche requires 2 sticks of butter, and I’d rather save our money to perhaps splurge on splitting 22oz beer on Friday instead. Tempted to make cookies? The ingredient list adds up. PB&J? Jam is fairly expensive, at least the jam that isn’t packed full of sugar and preservatives. Cream for our coffee? Forget it! While 1/2 and 1/2 is still cheaper than those liquid margarine knockoffs Coffee Mate and other non-dairy creamers, it’s still expensive. Chicken? The price of chicken on Capitol Hill runs almost $8lb at most of the nearby stores. It’s ridiculous. I can make it stretch for a long time by using it sparingly and for flavor, but still!

I better go make dinner now.

The research, led by psychologist Dr Daniel Freeman, and funded by the Wellcome Trust, demonstrates that suspicious or paranoid thoughts are much more common in the general population than was previously thought and that they are almost as common as anxiety and depression.

Today, personality researchers almost uniformly agree that the things that make you the way you are consist of a combination of your genes, your peers and the idiosyncratic, chance experiences that befall you in childhood and adulthood. Your parents influence your relationship with them – loving or contentious, conflicted or close – but not your “personality”, that package of traits we label extroverted or shy, bitter or friendly, hostile or warm, gloomy or optimistic. Your genes, not your parents, are the reason you think that parachuting out of planes is fun, or, conversely, that you feel sick to the stomach at the mere idea of doing such a crazy thing voluntarily. You can’t do much about your personality, though you can tweak it a bit with cognitive therapy.

Research suggests that more than 40 percent of freshmen at four-year institutions do not graduate in six years. Colleges trumpet the statistic that, over their lifetimes, college graduates earn more than nongraduates, but that’s terribly misleading. You could lock the collegebound in a closet for four years, and they’d still go on to earn more than the pool of non-collegebound — they’re brighter, more motivated, and have better family connections.

Practical investing guide for beginners

And one last bonus link: Cast iron dutch ovens for 60% off. (Larger size) Carl and I are likely picking up the first one tonight. We’ve been looking for a cast iron dutch oven for a few months now but haven’t wanted to spend $100 on one. (If you look through the site, you’ll find them in blue too)

Too many tabs open. Must clear….

Monsanto doesn’t want consumers to know the truth about the milk they’re drinking. The corporation’s monopoly is at stake.

The cost of food is growing. “Everyone wants to eat like an American on this globe,” said Daniel Basse of AgResource, a Chicago consultancy. “But if they do, we’re going to need another two or three globes to grow it all.”

Projections show that by next year or the year after, the annual number of high-school graduates in the United States will peak at about 2.9 million after a 15-year climb. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and less selectivity, with most students likely finding it easier to get into college.

Overwhelmingly white, the green movement is reaching for the rainbow.

Mr. Atheist goes to church.

His cup runneth over: a warrior’s thanks. (Via Carl, this is a truly great story.)

Sell your books to Powells! I’m trying to cut back on the books on my shelves and this was super easy. Enter the ISBN number and if they accept it, pack in a box, print the shipping label, and drop off at the post office. I am shipping 28 books and getting $34 in store credit. I have another 33 books ready to take to Half Price and Twice Sold Tales.

Breaking the argument cycle.

20 qualities for a successful life.

One simple principle to live by: Purity.

Stop distracting me, I’m trying to procrastinate!

Many people will make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and/or eat better for 2008. Even though we think we eat pretty well, Carl and I plan to focus further on this in the coming months and I wanted to share some of the information sources that we will use.

There are ups and downs to each of these links. Use common sense.

My Pyramid: funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, this site recommends a bit more meat and dairy than I think is necessary, but has some good tips for varying the diet, what constitutes a portion size, and ways to include whole grains without turning into too much of a hippie.

What To Eat: Marion Nestle’s blog. A great source for breaking down what is in our food, where it comes from, who is funding the advertising, and how the government helps promote foods that are not that good for you.

Eating Well: Healthy recipes, healthy eating, healthy cooking. I use this site for wholesome, simple meals on an almost weekly basis.

What Does 200 Calories Look Like: photos of what 200 calories of a certain food looks like. Great visual representation.

Vegetarian Times: a great source for recipes. It’s easy enough to add in some meat if you can’t live without it.

We did our personal Christmas a few days early. Carl gave me Marion Nestle’s Food Politics and What To Eat. I cannot wait to devour these books. Be on the lookout for “soapbox” posts. Marion Nestle is the writer who prompted me to give up on artificially flavored coffee creamers (Coffee Mate) by comparing it to liquid margarine. I haven’t touched the stuff since.

I gave Carl a clock for Christmas.

Advice and tips for first time home buyers.

6 reasons to slow down while eating.

Why Self Actualization Requires Exercise.

Identify and Kill Your Food Cravings.

1. Coffee. (We limit our lattes to 1-2 a week, while brewing our own at home the rest of the time.)
2. Cigarettes. (Nope.)
3. Alcohol. (We usually drink decently priced wine or beer at home. Cheaper than going out, but still an area that we can work on.)
4. Bottled water. (Only on rare occasions do we buy bottled water. We usually just refill our Nalgene knockoffs with filtered or tap water.)
5. Manicures. (LOL.)
6. Car washes. (LOL!)
7. Weekday lunches out. (We do really well with using leftovers.)
8. Vending machine snacks. (Rarely, if ever.)
9. Interest charges on credit cards. (Carefully monitored.)
10. Unused memberships. (We only have Kung Fu and the gym, and we use both multiple times a week.)

Link to article.

Anything made by McDonald’s tastes better, preschoolers said in a study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children.Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids if it was wrapped in the familiar packaging of the Golden Arches.

The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald’s foods in name-brand or unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test.

Full article.

I suspect that this also applies to adults. Many prefer popular brands vs store-labels.

I skipped all forms of homework tonight in order to enjoy a few hours of relaxation. Starting tomorrow, I’m hitting the books, hoping to figure out the parts of Chemistry that I missed the first time around. I have a test on Monday, then the final on Thursday. Meh. All in all though, the evening was nice. I had a few beers, made tostadas for dinner, and helped Carl pack for his trip to Denver. It’s his grandmother’s 85 birthday this weekend, so he’s going to represent us. Irony prevails: I’m having lunch with Carl’s mother and his other grandmother tomorrow while he’s in Denver.
To clear up my browser, here are a few links.

Planning A Wedding Is No Big Deal

Sex, lies and prostitution redux

Jumper leads deep into brain revive man after six years

6) Buy Lots and Lots of “Comfort Items” Without Considering The Cost.You need your latte. You need your new shoes. You need Madden 08. You need a blu-ray player. You need cable. You need an iPhone. You need more DVDs. You need to buy a book instead of going to the library. You need to play a MMORPG . You need 150 shades of lipstick. You need to see every movie that comes out, then buy the poster and an action figure. You need to go to every concert. You need to buy the T-shirt. You need lots of brand new clothes every month.

You need these things to be happy. If you don’t have each and every single one of them you will be so depressed that you may actually die. Don’t take the risk.

Full list at Consumerist.