Bus Day

I took the bus everywhere I went today.

I really hope there comes a day soon when that's not notable.

TriMet is awesome.  TriMet plus the Google Maps application on my phone makes anything possible.  I remember the days in Korea where we'd hop on a bus less than half sure of it's route or schedule.  It was fun at times, Jecheon isn't very big, but we often took cabs because the price was the same and you could guarantee (mostly) your destination.

It was nice to be out and about sans automobile.  I even got a little sunburnt.

Ian and I met up after he got off from Oasis and had dinner.  We went to Sushi Land, which turned out to be painfully average.  They did have mini red bean sesame donuts, however; you win some, you lose some.

After dinner we were walking around in the Pearl District and we passed by a very interesting Starbucks (actually, it was called Starbucks Reserve).  It had all of the normal Starbucks menu items, but it also served beer and wine along with some appetizer and lunch offerings.

Ian and I ordered the seasonal wine, which was a single origin prosecco.  It was drier than I expected, but very good.

Apparently, Starbucks is trying to make some of their neighborhood shops more idiosyncratic and diverse.  This one is one of only three that serve the (mostly local) beer and wine.  The original Starbucks Reserve is in Seattle, naturally.

I also hopped into a little artisan shop today and bought myself a couple of new pairs of earrings.  I want real feather earrings, but I can't bring myself to support the practice when I know the origins of the feathers could be (and probably are) shady.

Well, I'm working tomorrow in order to have Saturday off for Grant's sixth birthday party (!!!); good night!

Breaking Early

This month's challenge has not gone well.  Limiting our produce selection was not actually as fruitful (pun intended) as I might have thought.  It wasn't really a learning experience, I already know how food shipment and storage creates the illusion of availability year-round.

It's actually driven us to eating out and buying significantly more packaged food than usual.  In fact, I actually gained a little over a pound this month.  That's not exactly conducive to my goals.

So, I've decided to cut it short by a whole four days.  I'm going grocery shopping today.  Here's my list:

In the late summer months, I look forward to taking full advantage of the season's offerings.  We don't buy things like plums, nectarines and peaches out of season at all.  So, they are the special treat that seasonal fruit should be.

I'm making salad rolls to bring to Rob's tomorrow either tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Seasonal Food Only

It's April!  We haven't been grocery shopping yet.  We go once a week and we went right at the end of March.  But, from here until the 30th we're only to buy what's in season.  I'll be trying to stick to Oregon and Washington, but I might make an exception (but never outside of North America) or two for things like citrus.  I really don't want to miss out on the end of that season.  

I'm a little sad about bananas.  I recently rediscovered them with peanut butter.  Usually, I'm not a banana eater. You know how it is.  Now that they're off limits, well, I want them.

So, according to "eat the seasons," here's what's around in the beginning of April for North America:

Veggies

artichoke, asparagus, avocado, broccoli, broccolini, celery root, fennel, kale, mache, potatoes (maincrop), rhubarb, sunchoke, turnips

Fruit

blood oranges, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, pineapple

According to the app on my phone, here's what's in season for Oregon and Washington:

Veggies

bamboo shoots, cauliflower, green onions, herbs, leaf lettuce, mushrooms, peas, spinach, rhubarb

Fruit

winter pears

Not much agreement, right?  It looks like I'm in need of more research.  I'm not sure which sources to trust.  In Korea, it was obvious when something was in season (prices dropped to dirt cheap and it became abundant) and when something isn't (it doubled or tripled in price and became scarce).  Here, it's not easy at all.  Anyone have some good, reliable resources for seasonal food by region?

Lavilin

For chemical free March, I stopped using deodorant.  I didn't even bother with Tom's or any of the like because in the past they didn't work and a couple of them actually gave me underarm rashes.  Stinky and sore.  Totally not rad times.

My mom suggested that I try Lavilin.  It's an herbal cream.  

Snazzy box.

It's not cheap ($15.99 at Whole Foods and I haven't seen it anywhere else).  But, it claims to last up to seven days.  For best results, you're supposed to put it on before you go to bed.  Then, you shower to remove the excess.  I didn't want to wait, so I put it on after I bought it today.  

I found the excess to be pretty tough to wash of without scrubbing (I didn't want to scrub it all off).  The package recommends against using it after shaving, but I shaved before and it didn't irritate my skin.

It definitely lasted through today, so I'll just be keeping tabs throughout the week.  The real test will be a work day, as I tend to sweat from the stress during my 10 hour shifts.

We shall see.

Product Spotlight: No More Chemicals

These cloths are awesome.  Though they're basically just wash cloths, to be honest.  What's cool is that they have particles of silver (naturally antibacterial) woven into the fabric.  We bought them at HomeGoods, but I'm sure you can find them many places.  I don't think there's any difference between the "All Purpose" and "Bathroom" cloths other than the color.

The texture is great.  Super effective.

"Chemical free" month is going pretty well.  I've found myself using the rubbing alcohol in bathroom cleaning when I'm not thinking, but, other than that, it's pretty easy.  Borax and vinegar get our clothes super clean and I like how cost effective and good for the environment that particular switch is.

No Artificial Ingredients --> Chemical Free

IT'S MARCH!

The "No Artificial Ingredients" challenge for February went well.  We're definitely more aware of how many ingredients are in something, why they're there, exactly what they are and where they come from.  I intend to stick to as few indulgences in junk food and chemical food as possible, but I do have guilty pleasures.  Ian and I shared Dots at the movie last night and I woke up with a pretty solid gut ache.  It'll definitely be kept to a bare minimum and I'm definitely keeping everyday foods to the strict standards that last month gave me.

Now we're in "Chemical Free Household."  We bought borax and white vinegar for our laundry.  And I've stopped wearing deodorant.  Yep.  I didn't wear deodorant in Korea, so I don't really feel weird about it.  I've been meaning to stop again anyway.  When it warms up, I'll probably pick up some Lavilin at Whole Foods or something.

I need a new conditioner.  The one that I have is full of crap.  I've been preparing for this month, so all of our other bath products are good.  We also clean the apartment with soap, water and rubbing alcohol (which is, literally, a chemical, so it'll be switched out for the vinegar).

Here's to another month of awareness!

Failures

...Or missteps if you're being nice about it.

I got sick with a crappy chest bug on Tuesday.  It became an actual issue for me on Thursday and I had to call out from two days of work.  Huge bummer.

Well, with being ill and feeling low I had a couple of failures with the challenge.  I said I'd admit to them if any happened, so here they are.  I won't call them mistakes or accidents, because I actually knew that it was against my goals, but I continued anyway.

1. Nyquil

Why is it a failure?  It contains high fructose corn syrup.

Why did I take it?  I couldn't breathe and therefore couldn't sleep.  It's the only cold medicine we've got.  I hate the stuff.  I'll be soon looking into a better option.

     2. Blue Bunny Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Why is it a failure?  It contains two or three chemical preservatives.

Why did I eat it?  I wanted ice cream and it was the only brand available at the closest store (read: lazy).

     3. Oreo Cookies

Why is it a failure?  They contain high fructose corn syrup and artificial vanilla flavor.

Why did I eat them?  They were the only cookies Pacific Market (an Asian shop) had.  I had been asking Ian for cookies.

I wouldn't have an appetite all day and then I just craved junk at night.  Good news, things are getting back on track.  I'm human and I have some really bad habits that are super easy to fall back into.  But, honesty is far better than perfection.

A Walk and a Concession

The weather was beautiful today.  See that?  That's the sun washing out that picture of our neighborhood.

When Ian and I awoke to find that it was sunny for the second winter day in a row, we decided to celebrate with a walk.  Our destination was the New Deal Cafe over on Halsey Street.  It's not very far.  It was chilly, but it felt so nice to use our feet for transportation again that we didn't care (we walked almost everywhere in Korea).  Plus, it's a whole heck of a lot colder over there, so (for the sake of our buddies Ben and Amy) we'll keep the temperature complaining to a minimum.

The cafe is a simple place with a simple menu.  We ordered the vegetarian biscuits and gravy.  It comes with eggs, but I ordered fruit instead.

Housemade biscuits, mushroom gravy, breakfast-style russet potatoes and "seasonal" fruit in the background. Apples and oranges, sure, but bananas and kiwi?  In February?  Who are we kidding, there is no "banana season" in the US.

Ian's cage free eggs.  The yolk is a pretty good color, but nothing beats Mom and Bruce's chickens' orange-yolked eggs.  Those are so healthy it's just silly.

Overall, I was really impressed with this place.  I'm into simple foods.  One thing bothered me a lot, however.  In the mushroom gravy, there seemed to be a minuscule amount of soy sausage.  I don't eat processed soy products, especially this month.  They have weird things in them, like "soy protein isolate/concentrate."  I wished it had listed that ingredient on the menu.  It was too much gravy for me anyway, so I scraped it off and avoided the soy-sauge bits.

That brings me to our concession.  Eating out during this challenge needs to be extremely limited in order to reduce the chance of making a mistake and becoming entirely frustrated.  It's all too unpredictable.  It took me 15 minutes to buy soy milk at Trader Joe's today and I could see the ingredients.

So, if and when we're eating out, online menus will be perused before hand and we'll mostly be sticking to soups and salads.  Luckily, natural and handmade food is big here.  But, honestly, Ian and I need to limit our eating out on our weekends.  It's a vice of ours.  If we're firm on this it will be good for our bank account balance and our eating habits.

On a lighter note, my coffee mug had a coffee mug on it at the cafe.