My favorite summer snack...

...is chips and salsa.

Chips and salsa is especially fitting for summer because it requires no cooking, and if you're really creative, no dishes. Of course you eat the chips from the bag, no problem there. The creativity comes when eating the salsa out of the jar. There is an art form to this, that to this day I have not quite mastered. There are a few guidelines though that I have learned to follow.

1. Choose the size and shape of the chip carefully. Ideally it will be long enough to reach into the jar, but sturdy enough not to break inside the jar.

2. Tilt the jar just so. Not too far that the juices drip out, but far enough to give you room to leverage the salsa out of the jar.

3a. Utensils can be used only when there is less than 1/2 inch of salsa left in the bottom. Spooning the salsa out onto the chip is acceptable. OR 3b. Leave the end of the salsa in the jar for someone else to deal with! --Ha, my mom hated when we did that!

When I eat this snack I am always reminded of the hot summer days my sister and I used to spend together sitting by the pool in our backyard. My sister was, and probably still is, an expert chips and salsa eater. I owe everything I know to her :) We weren't able to cook, and really weren't on a regular schedule for eating. So, when we would feel like a snack we would go inside and fix ourselves food. Chips and salsa, in most cases, was our 'food' of choice. (We also had Ramen Noodles, but that's another story.) We would argue over who took the most salsa, and many times the jar of salsa wouldn't last more than a day, maybe two. We would usually eat in the sun on the deck of the pool, deciding what to do next. How much time did we have before our parents would get home? What chores did we still need to do before then? We had a lot of fun during the summer together!

Chips and salsa is a good snack year-round, don't get me wrong, but eating it during the summer just feels right! What's your favorite summertime snack?

So what!?!

I've drafted posts commenting on the debate on education reform and merit pay for teachers, trying to find a balance of raw emotion and rationality that lends one's point of view credibility. I haven't been happy with the ways I have articulated these issues, but have continued to form my arguments and had intended to add to these drafts and post them when I felt they were ready.

Well, all of that went out the window today when I was listening to the Diane Rhem Show. The topic of today's show was the protests in Wisconsin over collective bargaining rights and how they are bankrupting our States and Country. She featured Gov. Daniels at the beginning of the show and from there my blood pressure continued to rise. After listening for most of the hour, I finally shouted, "So what!?!"

All politicians talk about is how teachers are overpaid, benefit hoarding free loaders who have cushy jobs that allow them to do the bare minimum without retribution which means a crappy education for our kids. We are then required to repudiate these statements and prove that we are underpaid employees whose benefits are not cost controlled by our Districts; employees who spend our own money to furnish our classrooms with engaging materials and take work home nightly with no extra benefit; who work tirelessly for our students, learning new ways of reaching struggling learners and enhancing education for all students.

This causes me to ask, "So what?!?" I don't want to have to prove politicians wrong anymore. Even though their assessment of teacher compensation is completely bogus, I'll go along with it for the sake of making my point, "So what?!?"

So what if we get great benefits and job security? So what if our salaries reflect the work of an entire year when we are only in school for 9 months? So what if we are able to collectively stand up for our profession and negotiate terms of our contract to protect ourselves from unfair labor practices? So what!?!

Teachers should have these benefits and much more. If, as a Country, we really value the education of our children, we should value the position of a teacher enough to put things in place that attract the best of the best to teach our students. Teachers should have great benefits and high salaries considering the future of our Country rests on their shoulders. Instead, teachers are forced to apologize for the compensation we get for doing an incredibly hard job, in which, daily, we are accused of being selfish and free-loading off tax payers.

As a highly educated, articulate professional I am unable to move up in my profession. Once a teacher has a few years of experience and/or an advanced degree, we are priced out of the job market. There are few opportunities within my District to move up and going to another District is out of the question. No one has the money to pay me. Experience and higher education make teachers undesirable. In any other profession, you can barely get your foot in the door without an advanced degree and at least 5 years experience. In education you are stuck.

All I can say is, "So what!?!" Well, I have an answer to that question. The quality of those in the education profession will continue to decline. Who wants to be a punching bag when things go wrong and ignored when things are going well? Being blamed for the poor choices of others is a position no one wants to be in. Maybe, eventually, our society will realize that a strong economy and civilization lies within those who teach. Until then...

Mitch, if you want to fuck me you better buy me dinner.

Pogue's Run Grocer

Three things have come together to make me want to drive 25 minutes in city traffic to the east side of Indy to do my grocery shopping: 1. supporting local farmers and artisans, 2. making healthy foods available to low-income neighborhoods, and 3. decreasing childhood obesity. Pogue's Run Grocer is at 10th Street and Rural, which isn't where one would normally expect to find an organic, local grocer. In fact, aside from the Marathon station down the street, there really isn't any kind of grocer in the community.

I first heard of Pogue's as a dream some local foodies had for Indianapolis through the Indy Backyard Growers Network on Facebook. They talked about opining a coop grocery store in a low income area to provide healthy food options along with a community center for healthy living. Fortunately, they were able to bring together volunteers and enough loans to open a small grocery. The store is about 1000 square feet, with local and/or organic produce and groceries. Pogue's has a limited selection compared to other grocers, but you can tell that they have made a commitment to stock their shelves with local foods, and fill in the gaps with commercial brands. Last weekend I was looking to buy some local honey and met the beekeeper whose honey I was purchasing. Pretty cool, huh?

They also have a lunch counter where they serve sandwiches, soups, salads, and drinks. Their sandwiches are big and fresh and their soups and salads are made from scratch daily. Their food is reasonably priced, if not cheap. $5.00 for a sandwich. Add soup and drink for $1.00 more. They are sensitive to vegetarian and vegan eaters, which puts the cherry on top!

In addition to the lunch counter, they are holding classes for the community around healthy living. Next week they are offering a class on how to nurture plants from seeds and they plan to do some canning classes once fruits and vegetables are in season. What a great way to give the community the tools to eat more healthfully.

Since it is a coop, you can pay for a membership that allows you to be a decision making voice for the store. I haven't decided to become a member, so I can't elaborate on the details a membership to this coop would allow you. Most coops have meetings where issues are discussed and voted on, along with the opportunity to volunteer your time for discounts on groceries. You don't have to become a member, though. Anyone can shop their store, eat at the lunch counter and take classes.

Their prices for groceries are 'at cost', so they aren't making a profit on their groceries and the classes are all free. They are working to get not-for-profit status, but the IRS is giving them a hard time. As far as I know, they are still working on changing their tax status. This is one reason why they have had to take out loans, rather than getting grants. Once their status changes, they expect funding to come more easily.

It light of the recent conversations around the updated USDA Nutritional Guidelines, the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act, and the increased emphasis on decreasing childhood obesity, it will be important to see how Pogue's changes the east side community around their store. Federal and State funding is being cut to community outreach programs, which will make it harder for groups like Pogue's to be able to fulfill their mission. For low income families, it doesn't matter how many Guidelines are presented, if they don't have access to affordable, whole foods, they aren't going to be able to feed their families healthfully. Grocery stores move out of low income communities because they aren't profitable, and it leaves these families without choices. This is a void that can filled by local food producers and not-for-profit grocers. I'm excited that Indianapolis is working to create more healthful communities by increasing the availability of healthy food to low income neighborhoods, with a commitment to local food producers. I'm even more excited that I get to be a part of it :)

Things husbands are good for...

1. warming up cold feet. Where are the warm legs when I'm trying to warm up my toes at night?

2. shoveling driveways. Aren't we setting some kind of record for snow in January!?

3. having someone to laugh with. Chico and Sophie playing with the laser pointer just isn't as funny when I'm the only one laughing.

4. answering the door. A single woman can't be too cautious. It might be a serial killer. Darn you Criminal Minds!

5. picking up milk on the way home. I always forget until I'm home, even with reminders.

6. carrying heavy things. I want to buy cat litter in bulk, but I can't get the bag upstairs without giving myself a hernia.

7. making things better after a bad day. Sometimes I just need to be told that it will all be OK.

8. zipping up dresses. Those back zippers are very challenging with only one pair of hands.

9. driving. I'm definitely a rider, always have been.

10. putting air in tires. Do I need new tires? I don't know. I can't even get the right oil change.

I can do these things on my own, but having to do them without Sky, endears him to me even more. Can't wait for him to come home :)

Resolutions

It seems like on most of the blogs I am following, the first post of 2011 starts out, "Sorry it has been so long. I've been so busy!" To this I reply, don't worry, I haven't opened my Google Reader account the last couple months anyway. No posts and no readers. It's OK. We'll just call it even. So, I won't apologize for not posting the last few months due to my busy schedule. You've probably not been around to read anyway ;)

A lot of bloggers have been sharing their New Year's Resolutions for 2011. I haven't been one to make resolutions in the past, but this year, after hearing the resolutions of a few people, I have decided to make my own.

It was interesting when I sat down to think about what I want to accomplish this coming year. There were so many things to consider; I felt like I needed a game plan. I could approach the process by thinking about areas of my life: food, housekeeping, sewing, exercise... This seemed logical, but then I realized that I couldn't just set a goal for the year, it had to be broken down into smaller time frames: weekly, monthly, seasonally...

If you set a weekly goal, you are meeting it, or not, 52 times a year. Monthly goals would be met, or not, 12 times per year...and seasonal items 4 times. It can be overwhelming to think that I would be assessed for success 52 times. So, I thought of approaching it as a sports team would their season. I figured, if, at the end of the year, I have a winning record, I will have successfully completed my resolutions. Seems logical that I will have some "losing" weeks, but if overall, I have more "winning" weeks than "losing" weeks, I can be proud of myself and consider my resolution accomplished.

Having chosen a strategy for making the goal (choosing an area and then a time frame) I had to decide what I really wanted to hold myself accountable for. I don't want to say that I will exercise 5 times per week, because I won't. A more interesting take on exercise would be: add a new activity to my routine. Exercising 5 times seems like a hard thing to do, but adding something new sounds like fun! It's all in the way you word it! So, one of my resolutions is to join a Pilates class once a week :) Exercise...DONE!

I completed this process with a few other areas of my life and feel like I have a plan for 2011. (I'm a planner, so this is very exciting to me!) I have a new notebook in which I have written my resolutions and plan to record my stats.

Bring it on 2011!!!