Hiatus

Obviously it's been a while since I've updated this bad boy. Life has been super busy and my priorities have shifted, which has definitely led to it's neglect. Oops!

This blog is basically on indefinite hiatus for the foreseeable future. BUT! If you miss me too much... you can check out my new blog here:

http://shipuptoboston.blogspot.com

Thanks for sticking with this thing and inspiring me to come back!

--Becca

Food, Inc. and Sante

Last Saturday night Matt and I headed out for our first "date night" in a while - mostly with the intention of seeing Food, Inc. and relaxing after a long day of work. We ended up having quite the local experience from dinner to the theater seats we sat in. These are some reflections:

Image from Food, Inc. movie website.

There's no shortage of print media about the perils of factory farming and Big Agriculture these days. There is, however, a drastic shortage of video - we don't see much about issues of Agriculture on the news or on the big screen. Food, Inc. is the movie equivalent of all those books (well, more specifically, the movie equivalent of The Omnivore's Dilemma). Basically, I learned a few new things from this movie - i.e. more details about the way seed patents influence farming techniques - but most of the info is contained in the most popular written works on this subject. However, I would still recommend going to see this movie, because the images that are presented along with the well-known information are really powerful. I also applaud the makers of this movie for bringing faces and images to the population of people that are just never going to read a full book about the importance of eating seasonally and locally. It's sad that we live in an age where many people don't take the time to read a well-written article, but we do, and it takes people like the producers of Food, Inc. to get important messages out to the public.

At the same time, don't expect Food, Inc. to be an objective view of the state of agriculture in America today. The intent of the movie is clear from the start, and the voice of BigAg is basically non-existent in the movie. However, the facts presented are well researched and sourced, and make logical sense - so don't write the whole thing off as just propaganda!

Basically, is Food, Inc. worth your time to go see when it comes to your area? Absolutely. It'll make you value your local farmers' market so much more! Go check it out. But as with everything, take your thinking cap and do your own follow-up research if you haven't already.

Image from The Inlander.

Another part of our local evening was the venue. The Magic Lantern is one of the few (if not the only) theaters that show independent movies in Spokane. Unfortunately for us Spokanites, it had been closed for quite a while. BUT, it was reopened recently, and we got to experience the awesomeness that is a small, independently-run theater in the heart of downtown. And, to top it off, all tickets are only $5 - so cheap for a movie these days! If you're in Spokane and looking for a movie to see, be sure to check out The Magic Lantern (and you can read more about the reopening from The Inlander, here).

The final part of our evening was dinner at Sante's restaurant in downtown Spokane. I have no pictures of our food, but trust me when I say - delicious! It's a little pricey for Spokane - the meal with a drink for each of us, an entree for each of us, and dessert came to about $75 - but I think it's a great *really* special occasion restaurant. My two favorite parts of dining there? A complete vegetarian menu (diners are presented with both a vegetarian menu and a "regular" menu upon seating), and an amuse-bouche! I'd never received an amuse-bouche at a restaurant before - even though I've heard about them tons on shows like Top Chef - so it was pretty awesome to finally go to a classy place that serves them! Also, super fun fact that really fit with the evening - Sante's lists all of the farmers that they get their food from right on the menu.

So that was our date night in Spokane last Saturday. A good movie, a good venue, and delicious food. Can't ask for anything better!

Project 18: Fail Sauce

Ugh, epic fail. A month ago, I wrote about wanting to change my morning routine. I wanted to get up earlier, get more out of the morning hours before work, and do a better job of getting to work "on time" (or before 8:30). Honestly, the first day of the project went well. The rest of the month? Not. So. Much.

It's hard to drastically change a routine that I've become so used to, even though it's detrimental to my life in so many ways! I really needed to exert the effort to make this a consistent habit for a few weeks, in hopes that it would stick, but I just couldn't do it. I could blame all the craziness going on and time off in Portland that I took, but it really is my own fault for not making this a priority.

Instead, I'm going to give it another shot. Except I'm going to wait until September, because I'm taking a trip to the East Coast for 9-ish days before the end of the month - and that's not going to help cement any sort of "getting up early" project into habit. Come September, I will succeed in making myself a morning person! It just seems like such a waste of perfectly good hours in the day to not take advantage of these beautiful summer mornings.

I really don't mean for this blog to turn into a bunch of whining...

... but seriously, this weekend was LAME! My job has this tendency to give us last-minute notice of mandatory overtime, so on Friday afternoon I learned I'd be putting in a full 8-hour day on both Saturday and Sunday. Sure, they bought us lunch both days as a sort of consolation, but I was sadly out-voted and we ate Red Robin, both days. Now I'm trying to catch up on everything that was on my giant to-do list for the weekend, while wandering around with a grease-bomb in my stomach from the huge burgers and trying to make up to Matt for being gone all weekend.

But it's not all bad! I still miraculously got to a yoga class on Saturday morning (talk about a sanity saver!), and Matt and I managed to sneak out for a date night last night (which I'll probably write about tomorrow). I also made sure to decompress especially well on Friday and Sunday night, including the construction of a few birthday cards for some special ladies with birthdays this past week.

Happy birthday girls! Love you all!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy my glass of wine while folding a few loads of laundry, watching Who Wants to be a Millionare (did that carnival worker guy suck it up or what?), and reading some of my new book, Three Cups of Tea. I'm definitely not ready for the work week to start again tomorrow but I'll do my best!

Menu Plan Monday

I missed menu plan Monday last week! Oops! We got some great deals at the farmers' market this week, so our meals this week will focus on delicious fresh veggies. I love that summer gives us opportunities to incorporate such a variety of freshness into our diets. Yum! As always, check out Org Junkie's website for more plans and planners!

Monday: Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Tuesday: Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

Wednesday: Stir fry or curry of random veggies, served over jasmine rice

Thursday: Amy's canned soup and grilled cheese

Friday: Dinner out - gotta take a break from cooking sometime!

Saturday: Lasagna Rolls

Sunday: Leftovers - because no one wants to cook on Sunday!

On my time off...

...I learned a few lessons.

• Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Horrible reactions to antibiotics are just that - horrible. It's alright, my brain is back to normal size now and I'm all better.

• Trying new things in yoga will make you sore. Yoga doesn't usually make me sore. Deciding to go the extra mile with your high-hip extensions - and then doing like, 10 on each side - will literally kick you in the butt the next day.

• Getting a Costco card means you will eat your weight in Costco cookies. Immediately. And good lord those Costco cookies are delicious. We (Matt and I) joined Costco on a joint account while they were offering a bunch of specials for his company - and we got $3 off a package of cookies and a free rotisserie chicken. Thank GOD we had guests this weekend to help us eat stuff!

• Once you stop blogging, it's hard to get back into it. Basically you just have to sit down and write something to get yourself started again, regardless of how interesting that particular thing is (for reference, see this post). Hopefully this will serve as the jump-start to blogging for the rest of the week!

Lazy Bones Barbecue Restaurant

Yesterday, Matt, Rachel, and I headed up to a new barbecue joint in southern Spokane. Of course, we forgot the camera to adequately document our adventure, but it's alright, I feel like blogging about it anyway.

Lazy Bones Barbecue in Spokane, Washington

So you're probably thinking to yourself, "What? A vegetarian at a barbecue restaurant? Riiiiight..." But no! This place is the only barbecue place I've ever been to that actually has an extensive vegetarian/vegan menu, AND an extensive gluten-free menu! Seriously, check this bad-boy out. Vegan side-dishes, lots of tofu, and separate cooking surfaces to keep meats and vegan dishes from mixing. A local vegan blog and the local weekly newspaper have both declared their love - so we had to see for ourselves!

So what'd we have?

• I ordered the tofu slab sandwich (with slaw) and a side of mac-and-cheese
• Matt got Diablo burger with a side of fries
• Rachel got the pork sandwich and a side of southern greens

I really wish that I had pictures for you - both of the food and our clean plates! I think we all enjoyed our food a LOT. I don't know that I'd get the mac-and-cheese again, but I would certainly get the fries - Matt (jokingly) got mad at Rachel and I for stealing some of his, but they were good! Matt's burger also looked fabulous - full of veggies and cheese and barbecue deliciousness. It was also nice to see that all of their sauces were vegan, making it easy to pick out condiments to indulge in. And of course, beer and wine are available for purchase as well. Can't have a barbecue without the beer, right?

So vegetarians, vegans, and those that enjoy a good barbecue - if you're in south Spokane any time soon, stop by Lazy Bones to see what's up. No matter what your dietary preferences, they can grill you up something good!