Also, I don't know how to rotate these pictures. I don't know what's been going on with Blogger, but their uploading features and general posting features are really lacking now. I can't even use bulleted lists anymore. Jerks.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
#23: Baked ziti
So I got this recipe off my friend's blog (the same one who I got the chicken pot pie recipe from) and I also made two this time. One of them is still in the freezer, but I'll probably heat that one up sometime soon. It was good, but not like what I'd get in a restaurant. It was more just a casserole than anything else. And there were too many onions in it. I'll know better for next time. I also feel like it needs some ricotta cheese to make it tastier. Man, I'm a big fan of stuffed pastas and ricotta cheese. (Incidentally, there was ricotta cheese on the pizza our lab ordered at Lilly's pizza last night. Auh-mazing.)
Also, I don't know how to rotate these pictures. I don't know what's been going on with Blogger, but their uploading features and general posting features are really lacking now. I can't even use bulleted lists anymore. Jerks.
Also, I don't know how to rotate these pictures. I don't know what's been going on with Blogger, but their uploading features and general posting features are really lacking now. I can't even use bulleted lists anymore. Jerks.
#22: Chicken quesadillas
The only new about this recipe were the ingredients I used. I shredded all the cheese on my own and I decided to put some green peppers in there. I also seasoned come grilled chicken myself, just picking out some random Mexican/chipotle flavors and mixing them all together in a bag before adding them to the quesadillas. They turned out really well though!
#21: Grilled chicken ravioli
I didn't take too many pictures of this meal, but it was very tasty. I'd never had ravioli with olive oil sauce but it was really tasty :-) Sorry I don't have too much to say about these recipes, but I made them a while ago and I don't remember them all that well...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Distressing news!!
So I've been looking at the syllabus for the synthesis of polymers class at UNC to try to figure out what all I'll be learning. Based on their schedule from last year, there will be 3 exams and a final, and the last of the regular semester exams will be on the Friday before Thanksgiving break. Now, for those of you who know me and my love for Harry Potter, the first part of the Deathly Hallows is going to be released that Friday also (oh the horrors!!). I've been committed to seeing the midnight show for this movie since the dawn of time, so I'll BE THERE. I guess I'm just going to be really tired at my exam. Not very responsible, huh? Maybe Warner Brothers will decide to release the movie on that Wednesday instead, to boost their "weekend" sales. Fingers crossed! I'll be at HP no matter when the exam is, but I'd prefer to have some recovery time in there...
Also, the new students have made appearances in the lab and I even though I've known we were going to have two new students for like 3 months, I was still not prepared for the realization that there are now 4 students in the lab that are more junior than me. How did that happen?! Maybe I'll just find solace in the fact that 3 of them are born the same year as me and one of them is 2 years older than me. That, and there are still 2 grad students (and a post doc) that are more senior than me. I think I might cry when Matt leaves though, and I'm the lone senior grad student. Of course I also like Matt, so I won't only miss him because then I'll be the oldest.
Nothing else new to report really, life is good, lab is busy, and I lost 3 pounds in those 2 weeks when I was looking at what just modifying my eating habits would do to my weight. Looks like it helps a bit but I think it will take some time to see how it really affects me :-)
Also, the new students have made appearances in the lab and I even though I've known we were going to have two new students for like 3 months, I was still not prepared for the realization that there are now 4 students in the lab that are more junior than me. How did that happen?! Maybe I'll just find solace in the fact that 3 of them are born the same year as me and one of them is 2 years older than me. That, and there are still 2 grad students (and a post doc) that are more senior than me. I think I might cry when Matt leaves though, and I'm the lone senior grad student. Of course I also like Matt, so I won't only miss him because then I'll be the oldest.
Nothing else new to report really, life is good, lab is busy, and I lost 3 pounds in those 2 weeks when I was looking at what just modifying my eating habits would do to my weight. Looks like it helps a bit but I think it will take some time to see how it really affects me :-)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Couponing
This will be a boring post.
I've always been a frugal person. When grocery shopping I usually rely on MVP/VIC savings to save money on our food/household stuff, but lately I've been trying more to pair these sales with coupons. I've always clipped coupons but I don't always use them effectively (ex: they expire before I think to use them, I forget to take them to the store, etc).
Today I went to both Food Lion and Harris Teeter, to make the most of the sales and coupon combos I had. Since they're only about 3 miles apart, it's not really that inconvenient for me to go to both stores. Here are some of my more impressive deals this week:
- 6 jars of Ragu pasta sauce: regular price 3/$5.98, on sale 3/$4 with two coupons for $1.25 off on 3 (final cost $0.91/jar compared to $2/jar usually)
- 2.5 pounds of green seedless grapes: regular price $1.88/lb, on sale for $0.99/lb
- 5.7 pounds of boneless chicken breast: regular price $3.99/lb, on sale for $1.97/lb
I bought several other things at Food Lion, but those were the highlights. I spent $50.47 and saved $31.22 for a savings of 38.2%.
Now this week Harris Teeter is having a crazy sale on Kellog's brand items. They're all 50%+ off and if you buy 10 Kellog's items you receive a $10 coupon off your next order. On Thursday we bought a bunch of cereal so we were able to get one of these coupons. A few of my exciting deals:
- 2 boxes of Special K cereal: regular price $3.49/box, on sale for $1.75/box with a coupon for $1 off on two boxes (final cost $1.25/box)
- 6 boxes of Fiber Plus cereal: regular price $3.99/box, on sale for $2/box with two coupons for $1 off on three boxes (final cost $1.66/box)
- 4 Dannon Greek yogurts: regular price $1.39/container, with 2 coupons for $0.75 off on two yogurts, but HT multiplies all coupons with a value of less than $1 (final cost $1.01/container)
- 2 boxes of NutriGrain bars: regular price $3.55/box, on sale for $1.77/box with two coupons for $0.75 off on one box, then multiplied by HT (final cost $0.27/box!!)
- $10 coupon from previous visit to HT
I spent $15.10 and saved $40.19 for a savings of 72.7%
My total grocery tally this weekend: I spent $65.57 and saved $71.41 for 52.1% savings. My goal for the year was to save a month's rent by smart shopping. After this week I'm almost there!
I've always been a frugal person. When grocery shopping I usually rely on MVP/VIC savings to save money on our food/household stuff, but lately I've been trying more to pair these sales with coupons. I've always clipped coupons but I don't always use them effectively (ex: they expire before I think to use them, I forget to take them to the store, etc).
Today I went to both Food Lion and Harris Teeter, to make the most of the sales and coupon combos I had. Since they're only about 3 miles apart, it's not really that inconvenient for me to go to both stores. Here are some of my more impressive deals this week:
- 6 jars of Ragu pasta sauce: regular price 3/$5.98, on sale 3/$4 with two coupons for $1.25 off on 3 (final cost $0.91/jar compared to $2/jar usually)
- 2.5 pounds of green seedless grapes: regular price $1.88/lb, on sale for $0.99/lb
- 5.7 pounds of boneless chicken breast: regular price $3.99/lb, on sale for $1.97/lb
I bought several other things at Food Lion, but those were the highlights. I spent $50.47 and saved $31.22 for a savings of 38.2%.
Now this week Harris Teeter is having a crazy sale on Kellog's brand items. They're all 50%+ off and if you buy 10 Kellog's items you receive a $10 coupon off your next order. On Thursday we bought a bunch of cereal so we were able to get one of these coupons. A few of my exciting deals:
- 2 boxes of Special K cereal: regular price $3.49/box, on sale for $1.75/box with a coupon for $1 off on two boxes (final cost $1.25/box)
- 6 boxes of Fiber Plus cereal: regular price $3.99/box, on sale for $2/box with two coupons for $1 off on three boxes (final cost $1.66/box)
- 4 Dannon Greek yogurts: regular price $1.39/container, with 2 coupons for $0.75 off on two yogurts, but HT multiplies all coupons with a value of less than $1 (final cost $1.01/container)
- 2 boxes of NutriGrain bars: regular price $3.55/box, on sale for $1.77/box with two coupons for $0.75 off on one box, then multiplied by HT (final cost $0.27/box!!)
- $10 coupon from previous visit to HT
I spent $15.10 and saved $40.19 for a savings of 72.7%
My total grocery tally this weekend: I spent $65.57 and saved $71.41 for 52.1% savings. My goal for the year was to save a month's rent by smart shopping. After this week I'm almost there!
August pleasure reading, part 2
Since the Duke library was taking its sweet time bringing me Ender's Game, I was able to borrow it from one of my friends (thanks Emily!). I finished it in 4 days -- I really liked it!
It's hard to explain exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but just the whole concept was really interesting to me. I was also surprised to find that some of the story took place in good ole NC. It seems like this story was a bit ahead of its time, writing about alien invasions and everything and I wonder what time this story was supposed to take place.
Reading about how the kids were trained from such a young age makes me think about how kids learn now. With more and more students trying to get in to the best schools, the pressure seems to be placed on them at younger and younger ages. I don't remember any of the stress in elementary school that I see kids dealing with today; I didn't even really care about applying to the super schools or anything. I knew what I wanted to study, and what my family could afford to pay for my schooling, and that's what I worked with. But now kids are thinking about colleges when they're 10 and 12 years old, majors, and jobs, and how to get ahead in the world. Parents send their kids to high schools far from where they live to get them access to all the available AP classes, and kids will take 8 AP classes each year. Does that really help kids at all? I don't think so, because students do not have interest in all those AP areas, they just take the classes to boost their GPAs. Why take AP Psychology if you have no interest in it? Why take AP Calculus if you want to study something in college that has no math requirements? I mean, it pushes kids to do well (or it pushes them to go beyond what they're actually capable of), but how much is it really helping them to fill up the advanced classes with students who have no genuine interest? And really, I know a lot of kids who took the all-AP route or went to schools like NCSSM (by choice, not because they were from rural counties) who are frankly not that smart. I am bothered by parents (and students) with elitist attitudes about where they (or their kids) went to school and treat other students like they're idiots for going to public schools. I went to public high school and a state college and I think I turned out alright.
I believe there are other books in the Ender's Game series, but I'm not sure if they're as good as the original or if they're just sort of afterthoughts. Maybe I'll look in to reading those also...
It's hard to explain exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but just the whole concept was really interesting to me. I was also surprised to find that some of the story took place in good ole NC. It seems like this story was a bit ahead of its time, writing about alien invasions and everything and I wonder what time this story was supposed to take place.
Reading about how the kids were trained from such a young age makes me think about how kids learn now. With more and more students trying to get in to the best schools, the pressure seems to be placed on them at younger and younger ages. I don't remember any of the stress in elementary school that I see kids dealing with today; I didn't even really care about applying to the super schools or anything. I knew what I wanted to study, and what my family could afford to pay for my schooling, and that's what I worked with. But now kids are thinking about colleges when they're 10 and 12 years old, majors, and jobs, and how to get ahead in the world. Parents send their kids to high schools far from where they live to get them access to all the available AP classes, and kids will take 8 AP classes each year. Does that really help kids at all? I don't think so, because students do not have interest in all those AP areas, they just take the classes to boost their GPAs. Why take AP Psychology if you have no interest in it? Why take AP Calculus if you want to study something in college that has no math requirements? I mean, it pushes kids to do well (or it pushes them to go beyond what they're actually capable of), but how much is it really helping them to fill up the advanced classes with students who have no genuine interest? And really, I know a lot of kids who took the all-AP route or went to schools like NCSSM (by choice, not because they were from rural counties) who are frankly not that smart. I am bothered by parents (and students) with elitist attitudes about where they (or their kids) went to school and treat other students like they're idiots for going to public schools. I went to public high school and a state college and I think I turned out alright.
I believe there are other books in the Ender's Game series, but I'm not sure if they're as good as the original or if they're just sort of afterthoughts. Maybe I'll look in to reading those also...
Friday, August 6, 2010
August pleasure reading
This month I read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad I chose to read it first out of the giant book of Jane Austen novels I checked out of the library. I think next I will read Persuasion.
I think Sense and Sensibility had the same level of "scandalousness" as Pride and Prejudice (especially considering they were written by a woman in the early 1800s) but it also had the same (relatively) happy ending. It irritates me to read a story that ends badly (ex: Lord of the Flies) because I feel like I wasted my time. I know not all stories have happy endings, and it would be really boring to read only happy stories, but if I'm going to pick my way through all that period writing, there damn well better be a happy ending. Plus there's a difference between good endings and happy ones. But it was a good book and I read through it in a week, which is pretty quick considering it was at school the whole time. I mainly read it while doing all the various training that required waiting for vacuums to pump down for 45-90 minutes at a time. I also read some on the weekend when I was here for those 6 hours stretches letting stuff stir/dissolve. I finished it today in the chem lab while I was watching my polymer distill (that sounds as thrilling as it was).
I'm also currently reading Ender's Game; I read about 100 pages the first night I had it at home, but I haven't been able to read much of it since then. It's pretty likely I will finish that this weekend though :-) I'm also currently reading the British edition of HP and the Order of the Phoenix (but I don't even bother to count HP books in my monthly readings).
I think Sense and Sensibility had the same level of "scandalousness" as Pride and Prejudice (especially considering they were written by a woman in the early 1800s) but it also had the same (relatively) happy ending. It irritates me to read a story that ends badly (ex: Lord of the Flies) because I feel like I wasted my time. I know not all stories have happy endings, and it would be really boring to read only happy stories, but if I'm going to pick my way through all that period writing, there damn well better be a happy ending. Plus there's a difference between good endings and happy ones. But it was a good book and I read through it in a week, which is pretty quick considering it was at school the whole time. I mainly read it while doing all the various training that required waiting for vacuums to pump down for 45-90 minutes at a time. I also read some on the weekend when I was here for those 6 hours stretches letting stuff stir/dissolve. I finished it today in the chem lab while I was watching my polymer distill (that sounds as thrilling as it was).
I'm also currently reading Ender's Game; I read about 100 pages the first night I had it at home, but I haven't been able to read much of it since then. It's pretty likely I will finish that this weekend though :-) I'm also currently reading the British edition of HP and the Order of the Phoenix (but I don't even bother to count HP books in my monthly readings).
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Baby mania
It seems like all of the newly-married (and not-so newly-married) couples I know are having babies. While I am so happy and excited for them all, and I am really looking forward to having a family as well, I also wonder why they rush in to having kids. One of my friends from high school was engaged in February 2009, married in October 2009, and his wife had a baby about a week ago. I just don't understand the hurry to go from a two person family to a three, four, five, etc person family. Don't you want to spend any time getting to know your new spouse? How can you create a good family environment if you really had no time to be a family before the kids come along? You wouldn't even know each other as two people, because if you get pregnant right away you're not really ever only two people, you'll always be thinking about the baby + wife instead of just your wife. You're parents from day one. Also, how do you even afford kids when you've only been married for 9 or 10 months?
Keegan and I would still like to be young parents, but maybe after 2.5-3 years of marriage rather than right now. And even being married for that amount of time may still seem like we jumped in to having kids; we'd like to have our first child while I'm in grad school, since we'd like to have a big family but I don't want to be 35, 40 and still having kids. And the hours are a lot more flexible. Maybe I'll be like one of my other friends and have many kids in a short time span (3 in 3 years)... only try space them ~2 years apart or something. Who knows.
So anyway, kids are wonderful, but what's the hurry?
Keegan and I would still like to be young parents, but maybe after 2.5-3 years of marriage rather than right now. And even being married for that amount of time may still seem like we jumped in to having kids; we'd like to have our first child while I'm in grad school, since we'd like to have a big family but I don't want to be 35, 40 and still having kids. And the hours are a lot more flexible. Maybe I'll be like one of my other friends and have many kids in a short time span (3 in 3 years)... only try space them ~2 years apart or something. Who knows.
So anyway, kids are wonderful, but what's the hurry?
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