What's Cooking at Pear Tree Cottage

In my ideal world, menu plans always happen. In the real, nitty gritty of life they do not. Yet I'm learning for my survival and my sanity, they are becoming a must.

Usually when I go to the grocery store without a menu plan, I come home with key ingredients missing for certain recipes. Cooking then becomes a frustrating experience as I stand in front the fridge--often hungry and tired--wishing that something yummy would make an appearance if I just stand there long enough.

Early this year, when I started the allergy-free diet, the only way I survived those first weeks successfully was by setting up a six-week menu plan of dinners. It gave me some sense of relief that I could actually come up with meals that I could eat when it seemed like there were so many food items that caused me problems.

I guess after six weeks, I reverted to less planning and more intuition (or might I call it desperation?). This made for several weeks of hunger as a result of my poor planning and once again I was back in my routine of standing in front of the fridge and wishing something delicious would magically appear.

So, I'm back on the planning wagon again. I like to do a six-week menu planner of meals at once because then I only have to gather recipes and make decisions once every few weeks. Below I am listing the plan for this week.

Most of the recipes are linked and most of them come from some of my favorite food bloggers. Some of them are new and some are old favorites. The recipes are fast, healthy and delicious. Also, I have listed my modifications next to each recipe just for your information.

M-Veggie Tacos (modifications: brown rice tortillas, almond mozarella cheese, goat feta cheese)

T-Turkey and Macaroni (modifications: ground turkey instead of the hamburger, brown rice noodles)

W-Lentil Soup

Th-Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers (modifications: substitute part of the honey with agave nectar and bread the chicken with almond flour rather than crushed cornflakes; may also use an egg wash before breading the chicken)

F-Pan-Seared Salmon with Avocado Remoulade Sauce

S-Tuscan Baked Eggs (modifications: either goat cheese feta instead of parmesan cheese or shredded almond mozzarella)

I'd love to hear how you plan meals and prep your kitchen each week. I need all the insight I can get.

Planning My Life Away

via journalingarts.wordpress.com

I bought this planner a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to track my life. I used to be a Franklin fanatic but I found I was making too many modifications to the planner to make it work the way I wanted, so I quit using Franklin and moved everything online--calendars, to-do lists, etc. And that solution was very good for my work life where I sit at a desk all day, but it didn't work well for my home life where I am running errands and making shopping lists and adding to-do items on the go.

I don't want a planner that is big and cumbersome, just neat and small. I like to see a week at a glance so I can track appointments. I have a daily to-do list, shopping lists, meal plans, gift ideas and financial notes. I found that the digital world doesn't translate as well for my personal life because I am a notetaker and listmaker and I like to write. It helps me organize my brain to have my calendar and to-do lists laid out for me.

When I don't have a working planner, I still make copious notes and daily to-do lists and they end up strewn all over my house which causes me anxiety and wastes my time as I never seem to have all those to-do lists in one place.

I bought the Moleksine because it gave me a week-at-a-glance, was a nice compact size, and the pages are nice and thick and lovely to write on. And it seems for me like I am carrying a journal around rather than a planner. What amazes me is how utterly, completely happy I have been for the past several days since I purchased it. Its like a constant party in my pocketbook. I know where all invitations, appointments, to-do lists, goals, ideas, and future plans go! I think I open it about a hundred times a day and check my lists, write new items, plan future appointments, and essentially organize my head in blue ink right on the page in front of me.

It has brought calm and order and sanctuary to my life. And brings me no end of bliss and pleasure to boot. I would go so far as to say, I think I may have found a replacement for chocolate.

It is that good, my friends.

18 Things I Wish I'd Known before I Went to College

For Cassie's 18th birthday, I wrote a list of things I wish I had known before I went to college. Cassie actually starts college this summer so I thought I could share a few points of insight with her. Good or bad these are things I learned through trial and error and offered to share with her. I'm sure I've missed some great insights, so what would you add to this list? What would have made a difference for you when you first left home and started college? What do you wish you had taken advantage of as a freshman? Or what habit made a great difference for you in college? 

I'd love for you to add to my list and give Cassie a smattering of our collected wisdom. 

1.     Never, never, never take a 7AM class. You will never wake up for it and you will hate yourself all semester long for signing up for it. For that matter, I wouldn’t even take an 8AM class but some people are just gluttons for punishment. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you.


2.     Watch the class load your first semester. Don’t exceed more than 12 hours your first semester. It takes a while to adjust to the demands and rigors of college and you will only do yourself a favor if you keep the class load manageable your first year. Juggling school, work, social life, homework, church responsibilities, life skills, and family time takes a gigantic learning curve so cut yourself a bit of slack in the education department your first time around.


3.     Life skills matter. Things like cooking meals, doing your laundry, cleaning your house, maintaining a car and tracking your finances. They are the kind of things that have to be done every day and make your life painful and unhappy if they aren’t done. Just succumb to their reality and do them every day and you will save yourself a lot of angst and worry later because you’ve already mastered the essentials.


4.     Actually learn how to make your bed—every day. This sounds insane but at some point you will leave college, enter the real world and hopefully get married and have kids. Learning to make your bed now will just lighten the load. If you learn to make your bed every day then you grow accustomed to having a neat bed. If your bed is neat, you will pick up your clothes too. If your clothes are picked up then your bedroom will be clean. And then you won’t want the bathroom to look like trash, so you will keep it picked up. Bed-making and dishwashing are two habits that begin to breed cleanliness in your life. And when you suddenly don’t have Mom the-most-amazingly-clean-woman-in-America around anymore to clean up after you, you will wish you could invent her robotic double to come and live with you permanently because cleanliness is never so easy as it is when you live within the walls of her home. And it never will be again. TRUST ME. So, do yourself a favor and start picking up the cleanliness habit.


5.     You have to earn money in order to spend it.  This was a concept I understood in theory but it took a long time to put into practice. You have to buy things like your own laundry detergent and your own toilet paper and your own ketchup. That takes some getting used to. No more is your money just spent on clothes or entertainment or fun. Now you have to buy things to make your little household run and pay tuition and buy really expensive books that you will cart around for the next ten years before you marshal the guts to toss them. It is so hard to adjust to the realities of living on your own and paying your own way and then to find that you have to buy superfluous things like milk and bread with the very little funds you have at your disposal which will make you want to weep sometimes. So, get a job. Yes, even get a job on campus. And really, really pray that this education thing will pay off because you don’t ever want to work for so little money ever again.


6.     Sleeping is not optional. The fun will be almost nonstop. Plus there will always be a big test to study for, a huge paper to write or a really deep conversation that needs to take place with someone. That is all in addition to the one million other things that need to take place each day. Sleep is almost always the first thing to go with a packed schedule. Don’t succumb though. Don’t believe that cutting yourself out of a few hours of sleep is not a big deal. It is. Sleep will make a major difference in your mood, your outlook, your intellect and your energy level. Sleep is the easiest thing to chuck when your stress level rises and your schedule is overflowing. If you hold on to sleep now, you will learn how to do stress and do a busy life while still getting enough sleep. Plus you will be perkier and happier and much more pleasant to be around. Sleep is not overrated.


7.     Learn how to pack your own lunch. It will save you money, it will save you time and it will save your health. I would have saved so much more money in college if I learned this skill earlier. Plus, I would have been healthier. If you anticipate your need for food, you will prepare healthier and better food than you can grab when you are on the go and starving. Plus, you will learn how to feed yourself and not depend on vending machines or fast food to fuel your body. They both do a terrible job at it. Learning, studying and playing take energy and with little money at your disposal packing your lunch just makes sense all around.


8.     Saying “no” is often the nicest thing you can do. The boys will be plentiful and good-looking. The big change with college is that most of them will be strangers to you. And just because they are at BYU and LDS doesn’t mean that they are great people. You will come across some stellar duds on the social scene. You may even come across some scary ones. Never say “yes” just to be nice or because someone keeps asking you out. This is where your gut and the Spirit really matter. Learn to trust how you feel. If some guy makes you feel funny—even the slightest bit—tell him “No.” The sooner he leaves the better. Learning to say “No” is really the nicest thing you can do for yourself and him.


9.     Do all the crazy freshman activities that are offered. Go tunnel singing. Hike the Y. Participate in Freshman Academy. Play an intramural sport. Go ice blocking. You will make amazing friends in college and sometimes the way you will meet them is through doing all the crazy stuff that is offered. If you start taking advantage of every opportunity as a freshman you will get in the mode of doing whatever fun things that cross your path and you will meet great people along the way. Plus, you will pick up a habit that will help you meet new people throughout the rest of your college career. Don’t hold back. Just go for it.


10.  Smile at everyone, just don’t talk about it in testimony meeting. A smile helps you feel warm, friendly and approachable and it helps you open your eyes to potential friends around you. Smiling will help you look up and look on the bright side too. Just don’t talk about how smiling changed your life or someone else’s in testimony meeting. Let every other freshman in your ward do that for you.


11.  Talk to your professors. They are in the business of learning and they will help guide you through the labyrinth of academic life with great insight. Learn how to make friends with your professors and visit them during office hours. They will be some of the greatest people in your corner.


12.  Do the honors program if you have the guts. The Great Works list alone in the Honors program will elevate your mind. Honors requires extra reading and research with a professor but it will put in some of the top classes on campus with some of the best and brightest minds available. This will hone your skills and your mind as you prepare for the future. It will take some work too. At least take some time to consider it. You won’t be sorry.


13.  Grades do matter. You don’t know what the future holds for you. You may be perfectly happy with your major and the direction you choose now but ten years down the road you may decide to go to graduate school and suddenly that transcript from college is going to look awfully important.


14.  Invest in a really good backpack. You will be carrying a lot of heavy books around campus for the next few years. A good backpack will save you as you walk hundreds of miles each week across campus. Then wear both straps on your shoulders. It will save you many a backache.


15.  Ask questions. Remember there is no such thing as a stupid question (although I can’t promise that you won’t feel stupid asking some questions). Just get over it now. The only way to get anywhere in life is to learn how to ask great questions and the only way to do that is to learn how to ask some really bad questions in the process. Questions open up your mind and heart to truth. Are you ready for it?


16.  Expand your cultural horizons. Spend a night at the BYU Planetarium. Go to every free exhibit at the Museum of Art. Attend free recitals and concerts. Go to International Cinema. Go on study abroad. Learn another language. You will never have so many free and discounted cultural activities right at your fingertips as you do in college. Take advantage. Listen the Men’s Chorus in person. Watch a ballroom dance competition. Soak up any horizon-expanding experience you can. 


17.  Call your parents. They love you and want to know what is happening in your life. They are also a wealth of information, common sense and life experience. You will start to see how truly wise they really are as they help you navigate these first years of adulthood. Just remember to say “I love you” every time and don’t forget to thank them often. They won’t ever tire of hearing it.


18.  Write it down. These experiences will never come again and you will be able to relive them if you write it down. Even if it is one sentence a day, it will help. A journal can hold your secrets, listen to your heart and help you find your voice. Write it all down. You will be amazed at the life you lived when you look back over it one day. 

Tagged: Joys and Fears in My Life

I've been racking my brain for a few days for some worthy writing material. And nothing has come to mind. I think these are the days that I'm supposed to write anyway and really, truly pay for my craft with some serious, intensive, bone-crushing work.

I'm not much of a bone crusher.

So, thanks to Christine I've been tagged and I'm ready to play along simply to get out of my current writing slump. Hold on to your hats because it looks like another day of self-revelation. (With me lurching wildly from the oh-so-serious to the oh-so-NOT-serious.)

How to play this game.
Post these rules on your blog: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 joys

• Family, friends, gospel: I'm going to combine these all in one because my life as I know it would not be the same without any of these people or this belief system. These are my center, my core, my happiness and my truest joys.
  
  
• Nature: sunrise peeeking through my windows in the early-morning hours, watching the sunset over the lake nearby, hiking up a mountain trail, swimming in a cold, clear creek on a hot July day, watching the storm clouds move in, the first snowfall of the season. Nature inspires and refreshes me continually.
  
  
• Really using my gifts, my talents, my strengths to make the world a little brighter and a little happier; no joy seems to match the joy of using the best parts of myself in a way that is needed or wanted

3 fears

• That I may never wear a bikini (on a private beach, people, for just one viewer) and look smokin' hot.
  
  
• That some day I will actually wet my pants in public when I'm laughing too hard. (Oh, you think that is funny? Try having poor bladder control, terrible skill at remembering to empty said bladder and wickedly funny people surrounding you and see how long it takes before this same fear overwhelms you.)
  
  
• That people will not believe me when I say "STOP tickling me." I watched a cousin get tackled, pinned down, and tickled mercilessly once by her fiance and I swore in that moment that if I ever got engaged and my fiance ever did that to me, I would break the engagement immediately. (Not that engagements have been wildly numerous in my life). This fear relates directly to fear #2. Because if some one does have me pinned down and is tickling me then I can guarantee you the outcome will NOT be pretty. And I will have realized two fears at once.

3 goals

• To some day overcome my lose-my-breath-and want-to-die reaction to being tickled (I have a friend who claims it is all in mind control. All I can say is you come live in my body for one day and we will talk about mind control. pfffffftt!) Note to anyone who comes near me: This does not mean that I welcome any attempts to assist me in overcoming this reaction.
  
  
• To one day be prepared for any event--a trip, a party, a visit from a friend, a class I'm teaching--before ten seconds to the zero hour. Yes, I'd like to throw off the procrastination/avoiding technique that I've become quite adept at. Maybe I can start working on it tomorrow.
  
  
• To really turn in the rebate for my iPod Touch so it is free, free, free.

3 obsessions/collections

• I have a thing for bags, I guess. I'm still not sure I believe it, but it has been pointed out to me a lot recently. I've never had an obsession with shoes or clothes, but I certainly like to find a good bag and hold on to it. I'm lately enamored with Butler bags. This woman is a kindred spirit. She has figured out a way for a customer to store a lot of things in one bag and be able to find all of those items. This is my one great search for any bag: compartments. I detest searching and searching through a bag for the one item I need: my pen, my bank card, some change or whatever. And I end up doing it all the time. I think it is because I have yet to find the perfect bag. I love the idea of a compartment for everything. My perfect bag would be small and carry all of my cards, money, receipts, pens, notebook, cell phone, iPod, make-up, food, and a book to read. And that would just be everyday bag. Then there is my work bag, my church bag, my play bag, my traveling bag. etc. etc. ad nauseum. Okay, so I like bags.
  
  
• Papers. I wrote about my love of papers a while back and that love endures. Papers are a passion for me because they are the genesis of books, ideas and thoughts. I keep articles I read and like for future fodder for my own writing on that topic. I keep cards and letters sent to me that have special meaning. I keep my writings and journal entries. I keep talks that inspire and educate me. All of this paper has to be organized and accessible if it is going to be really useful. And it has to be organized or I would drown in paper.
  
  
• Teaching people how to park correctly. I don't know what it is but I seem to attract the parking-challenged wherever I go. My favorite thing is to approach my car and find someone parked so close to me that I have to enter my car from the passenger side and climb over everything just to get to the driver's seat. I keep sticky notes and a pen in my car just so I can write loving and thoughtful notes to these parking neophytes and instruct them on the appropriate way to park a 2-ton vehicle when it is next to my car. I'm not sure my campaign is really working. Or that my notes are as lovingly received as they are intended.

3 random surprising facts

• I always forget to go to the bathroom. (Which is one of the reasons I so hate to be tickled. I can guarantee I'm almost never in a state of preparation for it.) I know this sounds insane but people who are around me a lot will start nodding their heads in affirmation. I will have this intense urge to go now! and then get so absorbed in whatever I'm doing that I don't realize I'm rocking back and forth chronically for the next three hours. It is just an awareness that takes a very long time for me to register and respond to on most days. And because I'm so forgetful, it drives me nuts when someone notices my nervous tic of insistent rocking back and forth before I do and gently asks, "What is wrong with you?" 
  
  
• I had no idea I had naturally curly hair until I moved back East in my twenties. In junior high, I just thought it took an awfully long time for me to grow out a perm. (Yes, perms. Remember when it was ultra-cool to perm your hair?) I was always surprised that two years later my perm was still hanging around. Then when I moved back East to humidity central, my hair frizzed out daily and it slowly dawned on me that no, this was not my latest perm from six years ago coming back to haunt me and that yes, my hair was naturally curly (or more correctly, naturally wavy). I learned to love just putting some gel in my hair, scrunching it a bit, and letting it dry. Fast and easy hair was such a bonus to discover.
  
  
• I'm easily startled. This has something to do with my ability to get quickly absorbed by whatever is in front of me. Please never, never walk up behind me (or beside me, or really, even in front of me) without sounding some kind of alarm or notice or warning. Fog horns work best. If you do walk up without warning me, be prepared to defend yourself. I've been known to utter a shriek so high-pitched your ear drums will split. Then I will begin to flail wildly in your direction and I take no prisoners. (Think Jackie Chan meets Baloo the Bear and you will have the right idea of what a terrifying spectacle you will behold). I nearly took my boss out a few months ago when he approached my desk suddenly and with a booming voice. The black eye was with him for about three weeks.

If you really want to be permanently removed from my "inner circle" list then just try one day to startle and tickle me in a public venue. It will be your funeral, my friend, your funeral. Did I mention PERMANENT removal from my inner circle?

Let's just never go there.

You are it
Now you know far too much about me and so to return the favor, if any of my lovely and loyal readers would like to respond with their own posts, then tag, you are it. Just let me know in the comments section so I can come and read right away.

Otherwise, here are a few people that might want a bit of nudge for a new post: Meg, Julie, Cissy (what a great way to get your blog going), Rus and Michelle (a post for each of you!).

Paper Pansy

Absolutely loving a website I just discovered called www.unclutterer.com. It does my heart good just to look at it. I especially love their section on paper clutter. Yep, that is me, a desperate little paper clutterer if there ever was one.

My mother raised eight children in an super-orderly home (she's got a touch of OCD). She was ruthless about divesting her surroundings of junk (or semi-junk, or things that may be loved by a child but considered junk by an adult) and would regularly do things like go through my closet and trash anything and everything but my absolute favorite toys and clothes. I think I developed a rather hardy nature as a result and don't feel a lot of attachment to things (at least I would like to continue to believe this about myself, so don't try to dissuade me).

But paper? Well, paper and I have a love affair.

Give me a large desk space with a computer, printer (very important piece of equipment) and nary a paper on it and within 4.3 seconds flat, I can have towering paper piles the likes of which would dwarf the leaning-loving inhabitants of Pisa.

Yes, I'm a treasure. And my heart is given to paper.

The digital world may be my one great escape from this increasingly overwhelming habit. At least that is what this post is leading me to believe.

Oh, I believe! I believe!