Sarah's Key

I just finished another book, Sarah's Key. It would have to be a mixed review for me. On the bright side, I couldn't put the book down. It was a quick, intense read. It is about the French police force's role in the holocaust and one specific day in July of 1942 when they rounded up many of Paris' Jewish residents and sent them off to concentration camps. Most of these Parisian Jews were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed.

The book follows 2 women- one, a present-day journalist whose assignment is to write an article for the anniversary of the Vel d' Hiv roundup. The other is a young girl, Sarah, who is torn out of her home by the french policemen, and goes through unspeakable tragedy. The storyline bounces back and forth between these two women and between their respective time periods and experiences.

Good points- very interesting, held my attention, very informative about a topic I had known nothing about

Bad points- made me cry (I hate books that do that!), somewhat depressing, and ended with an unnecessary love interest

So there you have my take on it. :) I've been reading a lot lately. I like that.

Getting things done

Ok, so now it's time for my dissertation.. which I promised to post on Monday.. about getting things done. I had a breakthrough moment on Sunday, while I was taking a walk and this is the basic gist of it.
I am tired of systems and schedules. They just don't work for me. Ever. Period. They make me annoyed at myself and the system. Just like most everyone (I think??!) there are lots of things that I feel guilty about- that I don't get enough vegetables, or exercise, or that I don't spend enough time on planning my classes, I don't read my Bible enough, I don't know my students well enough, I don't save enough money, and on and on and on. In the past, whenever I get overly annoyed with one thing or another, I sit down and I decide on how I will forever change this aspect of my life.
For instance, Sunday was a beautiful day. It made me want to go outside and walk. Then I started thinking about how little I exercise. And suddenly I had this urge to sit down and write out a detailed walking schedule for myself. And within 2 seconds of that thought, I had already given up on my theoretical schedule because I knew I wouldn't stick with it.
So then I started thinking- maybe, for me at least, it isn't about changing forever. Maybe it's about making a somewhat better choice right now, in the moment. So on Sunday, when it was nice, I chose to go for a walk. Did I accomplish the American Heart Association's recommendation of "30 minutes of moderate intensity activity five days of the week"? No. But I did one day, and that's better than nothing.
Instead of trying to find time to sit down to grade a whole week's worth of student work and tests, I will sit down and grade one or two papers while dinner is cooking, or during homeroom.
That is why I decided to do Veggie week. I am not going to try to get 3-5 servings of vegetables or whatever. Instead, I will start with one a day.
It's all about making a somewhat better choice each time I have the opportunity to do so. Maybe this is just another version of the old 'baby steps'. Maybe not. But it makes sense for me.

Veggie Week- Wednesday

Wednesday's vegetable: zucchini, tomatoes

Cooking method: stir fry

I call this my italian stir fry and it's one of the very few ways that I can get Keith to eat tomatoes. I start with a red onion, cut it in thin strips and stir fry it over a low flame with some olive oil. Then I cut up the zucchini in strips, like so:

I'm obsessed with fresh garlic at the moment, so I got some out for this dish. Check out the size of this garlic clove! I only ended up using maybe a third of it and that was PLENTY!

Anyway, when the onions got soft, I added the garlic and stirred for just a few minutes. Then I added the zucchini and let them stir fry for a little while.

While this was cooking, I started cutting the tomatoes. I use all different kinds of tomatoes, just whatever I have on hand. Today, it was

I cut them into quarters. I also cut up some fresh rosemary. As you can see, today's meal was a 2 knife ordeal.

Then I threw it all together, added some dry italian spices and a little ground pepper.

And this, my friends, turns a boring meal like tortellini..

into this..

Veggie Week- Tuesday

Tuesday's vegetable: red cabbage, carrots

Cooking method: none

I didn't have much time on Tuesday, so I opted for making coleslaw. Here are the ingredients I started with:

I cut about half of this half of a red cabbage in very thin strips. Then I peeled and grated the carrot. Then I attempted to grate the green apple. Unfortunately, grating apples only results in very chunky applesauce. So I had to resort to the knife and made very thin slices. Is this called julienne? I toasted the almonds, which were raw when started. I threw it all together, added some craisins, and here was the result:

Delicious!

Veggie Week- Monday

Monday's vegetable: Acorn Squash

Cooking Method: baking

First, I washed the acorn squash and cut it in half. Then, I scooped out the seeds with a large spoon.
Next, I put the halves in a bread pan with an inch or less of water. I always poke vent holes in the top like you would with a baked potato. I don't know why I do this..
Then I baked for 45+ minutes in a 375 degree oven. It might have been a little too long.

Today I ate the squash just plain. Usually I add brown sugar, but my stomach decided it was a good day for bland food.

I hope that this is as uninspired as my posts will get and that hopefully they will be uphill from here. :) We'll see.