Eek, I sort of “missed” the end of February and the whole Leap Year fun. I don’t feel like I exactly rounded out February in a nice, neat way, either. Oh well.
I still have some lingering tasks from my Monthly list but maybe I can tackle those this weekend. (Specifically, I want to review last month’s photos and add any future Christmas Card 2024 contenders to my card album, though we didn’t do anything too exciting in February. Not looking likely that February is going to make a Christmas Card appearance, anyway. Also, I didn’t get my van washed in February…).
Everything has felt fairly mediocre in February, which I suppose isn’t the greatest since we’re only 2 months into the year. Again… OH WELL. Ha. That’s becoming my new life motto. 😅
On the plus side, I’ve been pretty solid on the protein intake this week. Helps that my grocery bill last weekend was sky high and I have felt dedicated to eating things up! I’ve also had Greek yogurt twice and generally enjoyed it. (But only with Cool Whip mixed in.)
I made two protein-heavy dinners this week. One, our family-favorite Mexican inspired guisado of ground beef, potatoes, and pinto beans simmered in salsa verde. We could eat this every week. And two, chicken tinga tostadas.
Ivan made a salsa verde/ guacamole combo to top the tostadas with and it was insane. SO good.
I put the chicken breasts on the stove to simmer while I was working one afternoon, and had to put this reminder on my computer:
I’ve learned my lesson the hard way by almost burning down my house before…. I seem to have trouble remembering that I have something simmering on the stove sometimes. Once, I put eggs in water to hard boil and ended up forgetting about them until all the water had evaporated and the eggs started popping and crackling in the dry saucepan. YIKES.
In a similar vein, I sometimes go outside on a work break, open the hot tub, put chlorine in, leave it open to circulate for 10-15 minutes… go back to work and then forget about it for like 2 hours. lol. Eventually I go upstairs and will be like Oh $h!T, the hot tub is still open!! 😅
(*I really do not typically leave things unattended in the kitchen very often!! Hopefully this doesn’t make me sound irresponsible. But occasionally when something needs to simmer for a long time, it feels safe enough to step away for a bit, if the heat is on low and you check on it frequently. Except, errr…. I guess I don’t always check on it. Maybe I don’t recommend this. hehe. (Hence my reminder sign.))
My to-do list feels just as long now at the beginning of March as it did a month ago, so I’m not sure exactly what I do all the time. Okay, that’s not being fair to myself- I did accomplish a lot this month. I think new things just cycle in.
This morning I heard something on this topic that literally made me laugh out loud, on the Organize 365 podcast (this episode titled “The Physical Weight of the Cognitive Load“‘). She was talking about to do lists and how endless they are, and she said, “The list is not going to end until we die. And even when you die, somebody has to settle your estate.”
HAHA. 🤣 I know she meant it to be funny, but it’s also totally true! That concept actually takes the pressure off a little bit. I mean, come on. We’re never going to be “done”, so let’s all just relax, do some of what we can, and not stress about the rest. Right?
On another plus side, we have some more spring-like weather moving in. Charlie welcomed March with a big smile this morning:
He was intrigued by the geese that have returned to our pond. I had to break the news to him that they do not want to be his friends. Sorry bud. (He was wagging his tail at them from across the park, and I was like, Mmmm, nope. They will hiss at you and attack you if you get too close….)
Asher and I are heading out shortly for my parents’ house for the State swim meet. Asher’s swimming Saturday and Sunday mornings. I’m looking forward to watching him and also having some downtime at my parents’ house in between! Hoping to do a little travel planning and just generally not the usual weekend/ household stuff I’d have to do at home.
I haven’t sketched out any official goals for March. I probably really won’t, I don’t think. Off the top of my head, I already know I want to continue upping my protein intake and continue aiming for 4x/ week strength training. Walk outside most days. Sprinkle in some cardio. Finalize stuff for our Smokies/ Asheville spring break coming up this month. Also need to finalize travel details for summer trip. Need to get some remaining details picked for the bathroom remodel. Read when I can (completed 1.5 books in February… impressive? No. But at least I’m still reading most days/ frequently, and that’s enough.) I feel like I don’t need to reinvent the “goals wheel” here, because I already have a pretty clear idea of what is upcoming. Anything extraneous that I would add would probably not get accomplished, anyway!
Happy March! I’m excited because even though March usually = still cold in Wisconsin, in my mind it’s a “spring month”. (December, January, February= winter. March, April, May= spring.) The days are getting longer…the birds seem more active already… it’s on the horizon. 🙂
Quote of the Day (from James Clear’s newsletter this week):
“In theory, consistency is about being disciplined, determined and unwavering.
In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don’t have much time? Scale it down. Don’t have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day.”
I LOVE THIS. ⬆⬆⬆ So, so good. I can be so guilty of the all or nothing mindset. I can’t go to the gym? I could walk a bit longer at least. Or do a home workout. Can’t read for 20 minutes? Read for 5. No time to cook a healthy dinner? Can grab a healthy snack. Scrolled my phone too much all day? I can still put it away for the evening. Etc. Just love that concept!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for podcasts. Totally a repeat gratitude entry, but I really, really love listening to podcasts!
GRATEFUL KAE 
I leave unattended cooking more than once…. I know.. I think good that we usually have someone else at work to turn the stove off when I’m doing something else. we have electric stove so nothing will burn but still, it would be quite a mess.
It seems that you cook more Mexican food at home than American? super interesting. We cook more chinese than anything else, but when I host, I like to cook non-chinese food as chinese food needs to be served hot all at the same time and that’s pretty much impossible at home.
I love podcasts too…. I discovered few new ones in February and get super excited to have an archive to go through.
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Let me know of new podcasts you’re loving! Always looking for other good ones.
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That quote is so true. Consistency > perfection. And being adaptable is such a great skill in every life situation!
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Yes to leaving stuff on/open/simmering/filling and then forgetting. I want to say “I do it all the time,” but that’s probably not accurate. And yet I can think of an (recent-ish) instance of each of those!
I love that quote. It’s a really great insight, one that I can see the accuracy of immediately in the “habits” I never let fall by the wayside. Like when I hurt my knee and was immediately googling seated workouts. When it’s really important to you, you just make it work! Even if it’s not perfect, you get a version of it done. I love that.
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Yes, it’s such a good quote! I NEED to remember it though! I thought of it this weekend and my son’s swim meet.. I often complain that it’s so much just sitting around. Well, on my way in I saw some other moms out walking or running- they didn’t just go sit in the bleachers and instead used the swim warmup time to get some steps in. Seems like an obvious idea, but something I don’t think of often enough. Maybe not a full gym workout, but better than just sitting there!
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Well, there was the time I actually STARTED A FIRE in my oven (I thought I was turning it off but actually put it on “broil” and then walked away.) I was able to put it out, but we had to get a new oven. At least you haven’t done that!
Yes, I would say my March goals are “more of the same.” I didn’t even sit down specifically to think about goals for the new month. Maybe I will this weekend, but there won’t be anything too dramatically different.
Good luck to Asher!!!!!
I love that quote. It’s true, consistency requires flexibility. Oh, I can’t do this? Then I’ll do that. Being flexible and persistent like that is what pays off in the long run.
Hee hee! I love the “happy Charlie” photo.
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OMG a real fire?! That’s my worst nightmare- seems like it would be so scary! I remember once when I was young- maybe older teen- and had very little cooking experience, I dropped a pot holder in the oven and I freaked out!! It didn’t burst into flames but I was convinced it was going to and it took me a minute to figure out how to safely get it out of there without burning myself OR leaving it long enough to start on fire!
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Bye February! It’s a blerg month.
I’ve definitely had some epic memory lapses in the kitchen. Lately I’ve had a few close calls thanks to puppy distractions. It’s always something.
Here’s to spring!
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I looked back on another post I wrote last year at the beginning of March and seems I had similar kind of blah attitude about last February! ha. Must be a “thing”.
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I set so many alarms on my phone when I work from home for kitchen/food prep, school pickups, etc! It’s impossible to remember, so I feel your post-it!
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YES – alarms are really the way to go. I have been better about alarm setting now that I have an apple watch and I can use Siri to set them for me.
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Even though Feb contains my birthday, I still don’t love it and am happy when it’s over! It’s kind of a blah month generally. I am loving this spring weather even though I know winter can and likely will rear its head again. It’s going to be 67 today! Woo hoo! I’m ready for longer days. It helps when we can get outside after dinner but it’s hard to do that when it’s dark outside so we feel so cooped up.
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In the fall I embrace the darker evenings because they feel cozy, but then after a bit I just get so sick of it. Like you said, it feels so hard to want to go out or do anything when it’s dark out. If I need to run to the store or want to go to the gym, it’s just like… ughhh….. but 7:30 pm in the summer feels generally fine! I also really like evening walks and am looking forward to more of them with Charlie as the weather warms up and days get longer.
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I always use a timer when cooking and especially when baking – just like my mother taught me. It is so easy to get distracted. Could you share your guisado recipe please – even if I is a “loose, in your head recipe”. We spend the winter in Mexico (progreso) and this should be a meal I can access all the ingredients for!
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Ooh, you winter in Progreso? NICE! My husband and I went there a few years ago (we actually stayed in Chelem which is tiny! But we had a great time) and loved exploring Merida.
So our go-to ground beef recipe would be: Dice some golden potatoes in fairly small chunks. Saute in oil until cooked (in a rush I have boiled the potatoes, but it’s better if you saute them.). Once mostly cooked, I set them aside. Then I cook the ground beef with some onion. season (we used a Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning). Once that’s cooked, add the potatoes back in and add pinto beans (we just use a big can of them here- you could make fresh one I’m sure!).
In the meantime, while that stuff is cooking, make salsa verde on the side. Boil a few tomatillos, onion chunks, jalapenos, (and we usually add a sprinkle of dried arbol chiles too since we like really spicy). Once soft, scoop it all into blender, add some garlic and cilantro. Only add a little of the water that you boiled the tomatillos in so it doesn’t get overly watery. Once that’s blended, pour it over the ground beef, potato, pinto bean mix. Stir and simmer. It should be enough salsa that the meat/potato mix is sort of swimming in the salsa. Then we sprinkle in some Knor Suiza chicken bouillon to taste… and done! Serve in a bowl and spoon some into a tortilla. It’s delicious!!
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We have so many timers at our house because otherwise we also forget to take things out of the oven/put things away. I like to set timers on my phone for that chore.
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Yes, my phone/ Apple watch timer comes in VERY handy. It doesn’t seem like it should be so hard to remember that I have food cooking on the stove, but it’s amazing how it can just completely leave my brain sometimes!
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