Friday thoughts 9/21/2018

*yawn* It's Friday! *yawn*

*yawn*

Busy week around here. I haven't had a ton of time to spend online, either, so this is one of those light weeks. As I write this, it's 6:14 am, it's still dark out, and I'm sitting in the living room with my coffee, desperately wishing I could go back to sleep. But my daughter will be up soon and there's no sleep involved when she's awake, so let's get this started!


*Food Storage and Disaster Preparedness in Alaska (An Import's Perspective)*

I'll admit to a fascination with Alaska. It seems so different than living in the lower 48 and has a history all its own (if you enjoy really long historical fiction, James Michener's Alaska is phenomenal, as is Hawaii. Don't let the brick-like sizes of these books put you off, because they're amazing. I've loved everything I've ever read from him, and I have two or three more of his books waiting for me on my own shelves). I'm a sucker for reading things that show me a different perspective on life, for things that open up new worlds and new ways of going about things, and that's why Erika's post over at The Make Do Homemaker fascinated me so much.

This is a great blog in general, one that really inspired me to start blogging. She meets her challenges with grace and optimism, and she's always got a ton of projects going. This particular post is about the difficulties of putting together a well-stocked pantry while living in Alaska. High prices, poor quality produce, the animals that want to eat and/or trample your garden, shipping challenges... There's a LOT that Erika has to consider, and I found this glimpse into her life really interesting. And if you don't already follow her, you should; she's inspiring and I adore her blog. :)


*The Power of Custard*

This is a really lovely blog post from Emma over at A Simple Living Journey about a seemingly inconsequential recipe for custard that changed her whole life.

Which seems kind of funny, when you think about it, but we all have those moments. A random stroll through the library or bookstore where a book that changes everything catches our eye. A conversation with a stranger that starts us thinking, and years later we've made major changes to our lives based on that. An offhand remark by a friend or family member that turns us into a completely different person. I've had many of those moments; one was a thoughtful email from a friend which included the line, "You deserve better," that made me think that yes, maybe I did; another was a doctor's appointment five years ago, when the nurse practitioner frowned at my bloodwork and informed me that my cholesterol was dangerously high (which felt like a failure to me. How had I let that happen? I started cooking much, much healthier, and exercising, and it dropped 80 points in three months, but because I was cooking all the things, like Emma, I started wondering what else I could make for myself as well, and suddenly I was making all my own cleaning supplies, I had a cleaning schedule, I started sewing clothing and aprons, etc).

This post really resonated with me, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



*Instant Pot Is Launching A Vitamix Blender Competitor*

This caught my eye immediately the other day.

I've mentioned using my Instant Pot many times around here (and I'll be using it tonight as well!). It's worth it alone for how much it saves on cooking dry beans (versus using canned). It's so nice to be able to throw food in there and walk away, to not have to watch or stir or keep track of when I have to do something else to it. Just dump, set the controls, put the lid on, and run away to work on some other project. My only regret is that I didn't know about the Instant Pot sooner; this would have saved me so much grief and stress when my daughter was little and basically spent all of my cooking time destroying the kitchen and hunting for ways to destroy herself (like when I turned around and she was standing on top of the kitchen table!).

And I've long coveted a Vitamix. Husband and I came across a demonstration of the product at Whole Foods years ago, where the seller served us the creamiest of smoothies and hot soup prepared right in the blender. I was fascinated. And after following so many food bloggers who raved about the usefulness and versatility of the Vitamix (and eating so much homemade hummus that could definitely have stood to be creamier, but my food processor just isn't up to the task), the Vitamix went on my usually vacant 'Stuff I Want to Own' list.

But that price.

Oof.

So the fact that Instant Pot is making a high powered blender intrigued me. The price- $99- is much lower than the several hundred dollar price tag the Vitamix usually sports. I've always wanted to try making my own nut/oat milks, and this Instant Pot blender can do that. It heats- with a heating element, though, and not with friction like the Vitamix- so you can make soup and purees things with the apparent power of the Vitamix. I'm intrigued. Very much so.

I'm looking forward to reading some blogger reviews on this gagdet. The reviews on Walmart.com (it'll be available exclusively at Walmart, apparently) are unanimously positive, so I'm going to be keeping an eye out on this. If you have one and love it, I'd LOVE to hear your experiences with it, so I know exactly how much to want one. ;)



And that's all I have this week! Like I said, not much time to sit around and browse the internet. Yesterday was kind of a bad day pain-wise, and I'm pretty sore so far this morning. I don't know if it's just my back being a jerk, or if it's because of the weather. Yesterday was 90 degrees here; today, the high is 73, and I've had overwhelming confirmation in the past that massive changes in both temperature and pressure are bad, bad, bad for my back. I'd like to be able to take it easy, but I've got SO much that needs to get done, so I'll just be thankful that the Celebrex I took last night seems to be helping at least a little.

What's been on your mind this week?






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