Getting My House in Order:Bathroom Drawer

We have lived in our house almost two and half years now, and so, of course, we're facing the classic American problem: too much stuff. Right now we're embarking on a mission to amp up the storage around here and to pare down on the over-abundance. I plan to go through every drawer and closet in the house, and leave it looking like something out of a Martha Stewart magazine. Okay, probably not nearly that prettified, but hopefully by the end of the year (or sooner) we will have a place for everything and everything in its place.  I'd like our home to be as pleasant as we can make it, and I want to make sure clutter and confusion are not wasting our time and draining our energy.

So, last week I attacked my bathroom drawer. There is only the one in the master bathroom, and I'm the one who uses it. (James gets the medicine cabinet.) Here's the scary before--I know how inspirational a good before and after is. This is what my drawer actually looked like. It really was organized at some point, but clearly that system had long since stopped working for me.

Before:

Hopefully, everyone knows what comes next. I pulled everything out of the drawer and sorted it.

Most of the empty containers were recycled. I saved a couple for re-use with a project I have planned. I put the things that don't belong in the bathroom in their proper places. I got rid of old make-up items. I stowed extra stuff that I don't use on a day-to-day basis under the sink. I'm going to overhaul that cabinet soon, too. Then I cleaned every single item that was going back in the drawer: removed the general make-up gunk, cleaned the lint out of the vents in the hair-dryer, washed the make-up brushes, and cleaned out the hairbrush. I also wiped out the drawer, though that may have been after I took the next picture.

When I told James about this project, he suggested I might like to use this extra utensil organizer we had from a former kitchen. I was skeptical, but he was right. It works great! I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

After:

I put the make-up that I most frequently use in a small make-up bag that I also already had. I don't generally wear it, so I put it in the back of the drawer, but it's handy when I want it and conveniently corralled so I can grab it for trips. I put the soaps in the back of the drawer, since they fit neatly there, but they may not stay once I reorganize under the sink. I love how all my day-to-day stuff is neatly stowed in the utensil holder, with plenty of room for the hair-dryer. It's amazing what a joy it is to bring order to small areas of chaos in my life.  I feel a little giddy every time I open the drawer and see everything neatly arrayed.

What I Cooked

Long time, no see. Obviously I took a break from blogging. I decided I miss it, so I'm back. I'm not going to belabor why I stopped or why I'm starting again. I'm just going to dive right back in. I thought it might be fun to do a weekly recap of dinners. I figure I can use it as reference for meal-planning. I'd like to use it help me recognize when we get into ruts, as a reminder of what we ate at different times of year, favorites, and things we didn't like as much. Plus whenever I ask James for ideas when I plan meals, he's stumped, so hopefully it will be a good reference for him, too. I always enjoy seeing this kind of things in other people's blogs, so perhaps it will be interesting to others as well.

Sunday: Chili Cheese Fries--homemade oven fries, topped with leftover homemade three-bean chili, and colby-jack cheese. Easy, yummy comfort food.

Monday: Potato soup, old school pea salad, beer bread. I think I've found my new favorite potato soup recipe. For future reference--from Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cooking, Jalapeno Potato chowder, substituted canned green chiles for the jalapenos, celery for the bell pepper, upped the potatoes to ~4 cups and upped the milk to 3 cups. Creamy and good--added cheese not necessary.

Tuesday:  I had an evening meeting, so it was fend for yourself sandwiches or leftovers.

Wednesday: On Wednesday nights we have prayer, dinner and adult study at church, so I usually don't have to cook.

Thursday: I worked late, so we had a fallback quick pantry dinner. Organic boxed max and cheese jazzed up with some crumbled black bean burger from the freezer and diced canned tomatoes.

Friday: Baked tempeh, rice pilaf, roasted cauliflower.

Saturday: We had a Cheesecake Factory gift card, and we went out to dinner...so it was kind of light week for cooking this week.

The Dormition of the Theotokos

Blessed Feast to you! My husband and I married before we converted to the Orthodox Faith, and our wedding anniversary falls during Dormition fast, on August 9th. This year we are celebrating 7 years of marriage. On our fourth anniversary, my grandfather departed this life, so on that day we also remember him--Memory Eternal!  It happens that I was born on my grandparent's wedding anniversary, which I think forms an interesting circle. This morning during Divine Liturgy, I was struck by the Troparion of the Feast and how it similarly juxtaposes birth and death.

To non-Christians, and perhaps even to those Christians who do not celebrate the lives of the saints, it may seem odd that we would celebrate the departure from life of the Mother of God as a Great Feast. It may seem backward or callous that we celebrate someone on the day of their "death."  In secular life we celebrate birthdays, even for people we are remembering.  We honor the Presidents in February because two of our great Presidents, Washington and Lincoln had birthdays in this month. We honor Martin Luther King Jr. in January for his birthday, rather than in April when he was assassinated.  And we do celebrate births in the church, most notably of course, the birth of Christ, but also that of the Theotokos and St. John the Forerunner. In fact, we even commemorate the conception of these Saints. However, for most saints, the date of their repose is the primary date on which the they are honored.

When we celebrate the Saints' lives on the date when they departed from this life, we are celebrating their whole lives, here on Earth, and the Heavenly lives to which they depart. The Feast of the Dormition illustrates for us why this is so. When we refer to the Theotokos as the Mother of Life, as we do in the Troparion of the Feast, we refer to the fact that she gave birth to the One who is Life, and who conquered death.  The name of the Feast is another clue about why we celebrate the date that Saints depart from this life.  The word Dormition means "falling asleep."  When we refer to Christians as falling asleep or as departing this life, and to death as repose, we are not speaking euphemistically. We are not trying to soften death for the living or to avoid thinking of death.  We take this language from the Bible, and by speaking this way we are affirming that those who die in Christ do not die.

Like the Theotokos, when we depart this life, we do not forsake the world.  When Christians repose, we enter into the eternal Life of the Kingdom of Heaven, that same Life that we participate in during the Divine Liturgy. So while it is difficult and painful when our friends and family depart this life, at the same time we celebrate Christ's victory over death, knowing that because He is risen, so are our loved ones.  While they depart this life, they do not forsake us, and we ever ask them to intercede for us. Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

Fast Food Friday: Sushi

During Great Lent, James and I made our first attempt at making our own sushi, and last weekend we enjoyed making it with friends. We've definitely got room to improve as far as making beautiful rolls, but we've had a lot of fun making it. We think it's pretty delicious. In fact, we like our homemade as much as restaurant sushi. During Lent we really enjoyed it with a pot of jasmine tea, but now we're finding one of the things we like about it is it's so cool and refreshing.

It's certainly far more economical to make it than buy it now that we've got some supplies, too. We bought a mat to roll the sushi, nori sheets, wasabi powder, pickled ginger, some black sesame seeds, and sushi rice. The condiments will last a long time, and even the nori and rice are enough for a few meals. For fillings we've tried carrots, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, steamed asparagus, mushrooms marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, as well as shrimp and smoked salmon for the seafood eaters. I'm enjoying trying different combinations of fillings. I especially like asparagus and mushroom.

It's really pretty easy to do, and it makes a quick to prepare, almost no-cook dinner. It's a nice addition to our rotation of fasting meals. You cook the sushi rice, then spread it out on a plate, and sprinkle it with rice vinegar to cool and season it. Then you spread rice very thinly on the nori, add your fillings in a line, roll it up and slice it. I'm sure you can find a million tutorials and videos on how to make sushi, with much better advice than a novice like me can give, so give it a try.

Fast Food Friday (belated): Tostadas

OK, so I know it's Saturday, but here we are in the midst of the Apostle's Fast, so I thought I'd do a few fast food Friday posts. We had these for dinner last night, and this morning I realized they'd be a great food to write about. I thought about saving this for next Friday, but then I thought, why wait? Tostadas are one of my favorite summertime fasting dinners. We really enjoy these during the Dormition Fast when we have all those great summer vegetables, and we often eat them on Fridays throughout the summer.  They are super easy to make, and they are a great way to take advantage of bounty from the garden and farmer's market.

This is not so much a recipe as a process and list of suggestions. First, you need the shells. I make the tostada shells by baking corn tortillas. Lay as many as will fit on a baking sheet, bake for about 7 minutes in a 400 degree oven until they are good and crispy but not browned. You could do a few baking sheets worth at a time for a big family. I've done that before for company, but generally I do 5 or 6 for James and me.  If you want them to be pretty flat, you can flip them over halfway through. Do NOT forget you have them in the oven, and keep an eye on them because they burn easily if left too long. I've burnt many a tortilla by getting distracted! If I'm just making tostadas for one, I will stick two tortillas in the toaster oven. You can buy tostada shells, but they are more expensive than corn tortillas, and they are fried. If you make your own tortillas, go for it and do the whole thing from scratch. I mean to try that some time, but I've only ever made flour tortillas.

So, once you have your tostada shells, you need toppings. Here are my suggestions:

Beans: you can do refried, mashed, or just cooked or canned. We usually use pintos or black, sometimes refried, sometimes not.

Salsas: Whatever you like. In tomato season, we like homemade pico de gallo. We also like corn salsa. I prefer a chunky salsa for this, but I generally just use what I've got.

Grilled or roasted veggies: This is one of my favorite parts. We grill or roast squash, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tossed with some oil, lime juice, chile powder and cumin. Yum. You could do whatever vegetables you like, but that is my favorite combination. Cherry or grape tomatoes are good, too.

Other chopped vegetables: fresh tomato, corn off the cob, bell pepper, canned or fresh hot peppers/chiles of some kind (if you want some heat), lettuce, onion (green, red, sweet), olives, avocado

Guacamole

Seafood (if you are a fish eater): Grilled fish or shrimp, quality canned tuna

If it's not a fasting day, or you're not Orthodox: Shredded cheese, sour cream

And if you're not a vegetarian like me: shredded chicken or pork, grilled strips of beef

The tostadas pictured here are topped with refried pintos, shredded lettuce, corn salsa, and guacamole. These are from my lunch. Last night I had roasted veggies to top them, but we ate those all up! I think this is pretty kid-friendly, since you can put out a whole bunch of toppings and people can pick what they like. They are also good for eating outside, because they are messy!