Scattered Sundays

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A few weeks ago I set up our tent in the yard. The boys played in it, read in it, and like our daily hell, argued in it. Each day it was up I could hear our grass slowly dying under it.

But having a place for my pasty kids to play outside without tackling them to put on sunscreen…well, it was worth every dead blade of grass.

We set a deadline for putting the tent away (always the worst part of tents) and promised the boys we would all sleep in it one night. How bad could it be? Famous last words!

Troy and the boys got everything set up while I worked. It was 8 pm and we were ready to climb in and read books…and it decided to rain for the first time in three weeks. Naturally.

Being true Pacific Northwesters, we camped out anyway. You’ll love this video on how PNW people really camp. This was easily 75% of my camping experiences growing up.

It did stop raining eventually, but we found out that our neighbor likes to talk at an obscene volume until 11 pm and leaves her TV on all night + windows open. Between that and Troy’s snoring, I’m not sure anyone got a great night of sleep. But the boys loved it.

The next morning, Troy said if we ever had to “bug out” and head for the hills, he was going to steal someone’s RV because we would not survive without solid walls. Fact.

Thanks to the rain, the tent had just enough moisture to trap all the dust from the dead lawn on it. It was a two-day process of hosing off the outside of the tent and then hanging it on the clothesline before I finally folded it and packed it up.

This is the tent we own and have had it since 2013 and have never actually camped with it. Oy. But, it’s a fantastic tent and it makes one heck of a grass-killer. 🙂

You know what’s been in the news a lot lately? Voting! And do you know who has been voting by mail their entire life? Me! Washington State is one of a handful of states that only holds elections via mail-in ballots. You know what is amazing? Mail-in voting!

During the 2018 election, Washington State had 142 cases of suspected voter fraud. That is .004% of the 3.1 million ballots cast. (source) And a fun fact for my poli-sci nerds, Washington State has only had Republican Secretaries of State for at least 25 years.

I talk to my friends on election days and cannot believe they have to get up early and go vote before going to work. Voting in-person seems antiquated to me and a giant barrier for anyone who is employed and/or has to deal with daycare. Yeesh!

So, take it from me, a vote by mail pro/veteran, this is totally possible. Also? I’m a giant political nerd. My BA is in Criminal Justice and I was one, three-credit course away from having a minor in Political Science.

I spent my early 20’s working for the Washington House of Representatives (for both parties! Yep, both.), and read political news stories voraciously throughout the day. With those bona fides presented, let’s chat how YOU can vote safely and smartly this November!

1. Check your Secretary of State’s website to make sure your voter registration is actually correct.
2. If you’re able to sign up to vote by mail, do so!
3. If voting is required in-person in your state, AND you are young and healthy, sign up to be a poll worker. On average, poll workers are older and retired individuals. You know, those most at risk during cold/flu/pandemic season. You can get more info at Every Last Vote.
4. If voting is required in-person in your state, and your state offers early voting, vote early! There will be fewer lines and you can free up space on election day for others. But unlike current misguided AF advice…do not vote often. That is illegal.
5.  If you’re voting by mail, send in your ballot AS SOON AS YOU CAN. Many states will allow your vote to count as long as it is post-marked by the election deadline (check the rules for your state). But don’t wait that long people, send it in early!
6. Even better, if your state offers ballot drop locations, turn it in there. It’s freeeeeeeeee and you don’t have to burden the postal system with your ballot. Washington State has almost 500 secured ballot drop boxes across the state. These only showed up in the last year or so. Before that, we dropped them at our county courthouse to make sure they were received.
7. If you’re voting by mail, many states have the option that let you sign up to receive a text or email notifying you when your ballot has been received. That’s rad. Do that.
8. Do not allow the complexities of the upcoming election cycle to intimidate you to stay home. Your vote is important and democracy is not a spectator sport.
9. And to recap: Vote early. Don’t vote often. That’s illegal.

And now there will be a quick quiz and then you can all pass my voter education course. 🙂

IKEA’s way of naming things never gets old.

Jack starts school on Wednesday, and I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be. Our district is all online, but students could choose between online all year or a “flex” option. The flex option means the district will evaluate the situation after nine weeks to see if it is safe to transition some students back to in-person instruction a few days a week.

We chose the flex option because there is nothing to lose. If things magically get better (they probably won’t, cause as a country, we’re a bunch of giant selfish buttheads), Jack can go back to school a few days a week. And we can continue online if schools reopen and we still don’t feel like he should be in-person.

He had a Zoom “open house” this week and got to “meet” all his teachers. He’s super excited and bounced out of his room after each session to tell us which friends he got to see. I’m still confused as to how he’s going to do PE and woodshop remotely, but I guess we’ll all learn.

I really want to have him do some (free) online typing training during fall quarter. I took typing in eighth grade, and it was so valuable. If you watch me on a computer vs Troy (who screwed around in HIS eighth-grade typing course…), it’s clear how actual guided training is beneficial. Do you know of any great online resources?

This week I headed to IKEA to start the order for our kitchen remodel. Originally we were slated to start in mid-September, but life happened and it will be pushed back to November. #firstworldproblems.

We decided to get all the supplies that we could NOW, and my lovely inlaws are letting us store things in their basement. My thinking is if businesses shut down again in fall, we at least have most of the stuff we need to get started.

Because remodeling while being stuck in the house with kids who are homeschooling isn’t remotely a set up for needing marriage counseling 5x a week. 🙂

The IKEA website showed almost everything we needed was out of stock, but I wanted to get started anyway. Due to the low supply info from the website, I took my car instead of the truck. You can imagine my surprise when the packing people rolled out this cart.

I sent the photo to Troy and he told me I could always return anything that didn’t fit in the car. Being stubborn, that was NOT an option for me. It was all going to fit because there had to be SOME winning in 2020.

I wish my mom were still alive so I could tell her that spending my tween years playing Tetris endlessly WAS actually a life skill I needed. 🙂 There was a guy on his phone in the loading zone the entire time I was packing the car. When I finally shut the trunk, I turned around and yelled “you better put down your phone and clap for me”. And he did. And I freaking earned it.

Side note for remote woodshop. Could someone get credit for putting together kitchen cabinets? Asking for a friend.

I was chatting with a reader over on Instagram and she mentioned that she couldn’t wait to follow along with the kitchen remodel process. Can I be honest with you? I really want to share it, but I feel 78 layers of conflict about it.

On the one hand, we’ve been preparing for this for nine years. And our “new” countertops were actually salvaged (for free) from a teardown kitchen project.

But on the other hand, I’m worried that posting renovation info will come across as tone-deaf during a time when people are losing their jobs and homes. I’ll never forget during our peak of “brokeness” during the Great Recession, a friend was talking about a new awesome yogurt she loved.

And then I saw it was $1.19 and just couldn’t justify the cost. That feeling of despair has always stuck with me and guided how and what I share online. So, things are weird and I’m not sure what to do.

In the Garden This Week

Same same – tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, herbs, cucumbers, and squash. The greens I put in last week are looking great, but with 10 days in the ’80s in the forecast, I feel like I need to put a shade cover over them.

We picked our last batch of free roadside blackberries for the freezer. Till next year!

I finally got the second truckload of topsoil for our third raised bed, and planted carrots, beets, and more greens. It’s always an experiment to see what will grow in the fall.

I had big plans to can a ton of tomatoes in September, and honestly, I just don’t want to. I’m going to freeze a ton and then plan to can later in the fall. You know, when the kitchen is torn to shreds and we are putting together cabinets. Because that’s how I roll.

Housekeeping

The lovely folks at Naked Bacon are offering my readers the chance to win a Nice to Meat You bundle. Naked Bacon is free of sugar, nitrates, nitrites, chemical solutions, celery, phosphates, or water.

To enter, visit this page and follow the instructions. This giveaway is open until 11:59 pm PT on Wednesday, September 9^th. Open to US residents only.

Can’t wait for the giveaway to be over? You can head over to Naked Bacon and try their amazing products for yourself! You can use coupon code “sustainablecooks10” to get 10% off any order.

What I’m Reading This Week

I finished The Guardians (it was fine. Like a fast food version of a book) and started Station Eleven. I had no idea what this book was about, but it was available at the library for download.

Turns out it is about a pandemic that changes the world, so…I’m going to say terrible timing on my part. That being said, the book is really well written, and hey, maybe I’ll learn something to prepare me. Yeesh.

On Sustainable Cooks This Week

Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup – A big bowl of Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup is pure delicious comfort food. This soup has an amazing and flavorful creamy broth paired with veggies and delicious tender chicken. No pressure cooker? No problem! You’ll also find directions to make this soup on the stovetop. {Pin this recipe}

Crispy Butternut Squash: Learn how to cook the best Crispy Butternut Squash you’ve ever eaten! This baked and healthy side dish is paleo, Whole30 compliant, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian. {Pin this recipe}

Canning Potatoes: Follow this step by step tutorial to learn how simple Canning Potatoes can be. Having canned potatoes on hand means your favorite soups, stews, side dishes, and roasts can be ready in a flash. {Pin this tutorial}

The Five Most Popular Posts This Week

That attention hog, mojito mocktail is actually #3 (oh, how the mighty have fallen), but let’s focus on the other top recipes. 

1. Canning Peaches – because everyone wants to can something that looks like a tiny fuzzy butt. {Pin this tutorial}
2. How to Can Pears – my nephew used to call these “candy pears” even though I use an ultra-light syrup. {Pin this tutorial}
3. Canning Tomato Soup Base – Think healthy Campbell’s without 50 days worth of sodium. {Pin this tutorial}
4. Canning Whole Tomatoes – One of the easiest canning projects for newbies and pro canners.  {Pin this tutorial}
5. Whole30 Pot Roast – this post blew up in some Facebook groups this week.  {Pin this recipe}

Meal Plan

Troy and I are started our “Whole30 Lite” on Saturday, so you’ll see that reflected in all our meals. It’s also really hard to find compliant meals for takeout, so I have reduced it to once per week. We have been getting takeout 2x per week to support local small restaurants, but we’re just not able to keep that going for a few weeks.

Monday:: Chef salads, with bread on the side for the boys.

Tuesday:: BLTA zoodles, with leftover bread on the side for the boys.

Wednesday:: Green Beans in Tomato Sauce with some sausage thrown in for protein. I’ll be missing the parm on this one! Boys will have a homemade frozen pizza to celebrate the first day of school. Even though it will be 1 billion degrees.

Thursday:: Takeout to support a local small business.

Friday:: Popcorn and leftovers for the boys, and grilled kebabs and salad for us.

Saturday:: Chicken tacos over salad. I’m making a bunch of chicken at once and using leftovers for Whole30 Chicken Salad.

Sunday:: Burger bowls (burgers over salad) with a side of roasted potato wedges.

What are you having this week?

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