I've Read Seven Books In Seven Weeks

Happy Birthday to the Hobbyist! 

It's been one year since my first post, and I'd like to say 

"thanks for reading" with this photo of a card.

Get this cute greeting card from 9thletterpress.com <--not an AD

So, speaking of reading, I LOVE to read but I don't do it as often as I'd like, because books are so expensive on my Kindle.

"Why don't you borrow books from the library?" my girl Anna asked me one day. "They're free."

She had a point...

In college the campus library was my home. It was a magical place where I could hole-up all day and eat two whole meals (brunch and dinner), 6 hours apart while studying, and also taking breaks to play the sims for way too long. 

I'm out of college now (3 freaking years!!) and the closest library is further than I like. Somehow while lamenting about how expensive books are on Amazon.com, the conversation Anna and I were having turned, and I realized that I could PROBABLY borrow books from the library to read on my kindle. Omg, why hadn't I thought of that before? What a NOVEL idea. 

See what I did there?

So in early August I paid the $65 in late fees I had been putting off since 2013, got my library card renewed (free), and started borrowing books to read on my kindle. These days I don't even bother to put them on my kindle anymore, because there's this thing called OneDrive, and it's awesome. I read on OneDrive from the browser on my phone, or on a desktop computer on my lunch break. My Mom reads her borrowed library books in OneDrive on her iPad's browser. It's just easier to teach people because it's fewer steps to borrow and return ebooks. Plus OneDrive automatically saves your pages when you exit. How convenient for us lazies, amiright?

So really, anyone* can borrow books from the library, without actually stepping foot in the library if they have two things:

• a library card (you do have to actually go into the library to get one, I believe)
• internet access

I'll tell you how to borrow books at the bottom of this post after I brag about all the awesome books I've enjoyed, and what I'm planning to read next. I am definitely open to suggestions. What books do you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

Books I've read since August:

 Death Masks: The Dresden Files Series, Book 5 - Jim Butcher

 Blood Rites: The Dresden Files Series, Book 6 - Jim Butcher

 Gathering Blue: The Giver Quartet, Book 2 - Lois Lowry

 Messenger: The Giver Quartet, Book 3 - Lois Lowry

 Bossypants - Tina Fey

 Landline - Rainbow Rowell

 Without You There Is No Us - Suki Kim

Books I started to read but stopped because I learned I don't like to read books after I've seen the movie or show:

 A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire Series, Book 1

 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The HGTTG Series, Book 1

Books that are in my library waiting for me to read them:

 Yes, Please - Amy Poehler (I have 15 days to read this)

 Son: The Giver Quartet, Book 4 - Lois Lowry (19 days to read)

 Salt Sugar Fat - Michael Moss (20 days to read)

 Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman 

                    (20 days, but maybe I won't want to read it since I've seen the show)

These are all the holds I'm waiting on to become available so I can borrow them:

 Dead Beat: The Dresden Files Series, Book 7 - Jim Butcher (I'm next in line for this one)

 Attachments - Rainbow Rowell (1 person ahead of me)

 Why Not Me? - Mindy Kaling (118 people ahead of me bc Mindy is incredible)

 Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawson (5 people ahead of us, Jimmy)

 Hungry - H. A. Swain (4 people ahead of me)

 Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (38 people ahead of me - I'm not sure if this book is out yet)

 Fan Girl - Rainbow Rowell (3 people ahead of me)

So this is how to borrow a library ebook:

• find a library that offers ebooks - OneDrive's library finder is a really good place to start. Remember, OneDrive is how you can borrow library books without owning a Kindle, a Nook, a tablet, or a smartphone, but you can still use it even if you do. It's more inclusive though. If you do have one of those devices and want to read on it, you can still use OneDrive's website to find libraries that offer ebooks. Do it.

• obtain a library card at a library that offers ebooks - go into the library and ask for a library card. You will likely need a driver's license or some other proof that you live in the area that the library services.  While you're there it might be a good idea to confirm that library's ebook lending process because they can vary. I am currently borrowing books from the Allegheny County Library Association in Pennsylvania. They service all of Allegheny County. There are many libraries in the network, but they share to offer a larger volume of books to everyone. I'll bet most libraries are like this. Click here if you want to read about how the libraries in Allegheny County are related and how they work together. It's actually kind of interesting.

***If libraries in your area don't offer ebooks, a neighboring county or library network that offers ebooks may allow you to obtain a non-resident library card for an annual fee. It might be worth the drive. My library card is good for three years. Don't give up!***

• log on to your library's ebook borrowing website - I borrow my ebooks from pittsburgh.libraryreserve.com, but some libraries might have their ebook borrowing portal right on their main site. After you've searched, found a book that wasn't already checked out, and borrowed that book, you can click the button that says "read" and this button will likely take you to OneDrive, or a comparable service that I'm not aware of.

• You can stop at the last step, but if you want to put the ebooks on your kindle - choose the "download as kindle book" or similar choice on your library's ebook site. This will take you to amazon.com where you will be promted to log in. Next click "get library book" and choose the device you want to send the book to (one of your many, luxurious kindles, or the kindle apps on your twelve smart devices). From here you will now manage books downloaded on amazon.com under "your account", "manage your content and devices" in the top right menu. I love my kindle but this option kind of sucks because now you have to manage your amazon content and the library's web site too. It's really not that hard. If I was going to be traveling I would absolutely put in the extra step to add the books to my kindle, but on a daily basis I just use OneDrive.

Too Long Didn't Read: find a library that offers ebooks using this site and use their web site or call them to find out how to borrow ebooks

Thanks again for reading the blog this year. Keep it up. And don't forget to recommend books you've enjoyed in the comments!!

Cassia's Peanut Dressing - WITH Measurements

In August I told you if I ever made Cassia's peanut dressing again that I'd write down the ingredient quantities. If you're more on the adventurous side, or already know how you like your peanut dressing, a list of ingredients without quantities might be useful for you. If you're like me, you prefer a list of suggested quantities and are open to adjusting after you taste what the author of the recipe intended.

So here it is, the exact recipe for Cassia's Peanut Dressing, so you can, once and for all, taste the dressing that I love SO MUCH.


Cassia's Peanut Dressing

• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 T EVOO
• 4 T honey
• 4 T rice vinegar
• 3 T sesame oil
• 3 T ground fresh ginger
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 T minced/chopped fresh garlic
• 2 T siracha
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Combine in a bowl and mix with a wire whisk. Add water if you want to thin it out. Best part about these quantities? When combined, they fit perfectly in a standard, 16 oz mason jar. Voilà.

Peanut Dressing makes kale taste less-bad.

I Love Me Some Fuel Perks

You might not know this about me, but I am very frugal. I am so frugal, in fact, that one time I paid for every meal out on a trip to naples with multiple bags of change I exchanged at the bank. More recently, I left my entire computer/study setup at Panera in Wexford so I could run across the street to Market District and buy a Panera gift card before buying anything to eat at Panera. If you don't believe me, check my twitter. 

I love to save money and work a
savings program. You could call it a hobby; a type A person's hobby. Let's just say, I get where extreme couponers are coming from. One way I do this is by buying gift cards at the grocery store for things I'd already buy; like restaurant gift cards for date night with Rob, a Dicks Sporting Goods gift card for a foam roller I recently got, or a Best Buy gift card for my super cool, new fitness watch that I will definitely be telling you about later.

So how am I saving money by buying gift cards? A: Fuel Perks. Basically you do your grocery shopping at Giant Eagle/Market District, and for every $50 you spend you get $0.10 off per gallon of gas on your next fill up. The maximum amount of gas you can purchase at the discounted price is 30 gallons. So for every $50 you spend at the grocery store, you get back a guaranteed $3. That's 6% back. That's more than the best grocery cashback credit card on the market (considering there's no annual fee for fuel perks). And that's not even including the occasional promotions where you can get more off on gas than the minimum $0.10.

I know it all probably sounds like a lot of juggling. That's because it is. I actually really enjoy working out the best ways to save the most money, and when it stops being fun, I will stop concerning myself with it.

Now here are three considerations:

1) Market District's prices are higher than other grocery stores. (If you're going for the lowest grocery prices, Aldi is the place to be.) I have accepted this. I buy for one and regularly shop sales to keep grocery prices low.

2) In the last 5 months I've spent an average of $120 a month on groceries, which won't get you a lot in the way of fuelperks. This is where the gift card spending comes in!

3) I drive a Prius with a 9 gallon gas tank, so I will never use 30 gallons at a time. This is why I made the decision to invest in gas cans.

My Beautiful Fleet

I was hesitant to purchase gas cans at first because they can be surprisingly pricey. I started thinking about buying gas cans for a few months before I actually did because of their cost. Eventually I found 6 gallon cans for $13.95 apiece plus shipping. Trust me. This is a great price.

Hypothetical Savings

Then I wanted to know approximately how long it would take me to make up for the cost of the gas cans with my savings. As you can see above in my hypothetical table, it would take me a little over two fill ups before I actually saved money on gas. Then once the cost of the cans is covered, the savings really starts to add up.

A few other considerations:

1) The weight of 1 gallon of gas is approximately 6 lbs. This means that one can can hold up to 36 lbs. When combined with the weight of one can (3.1 lbs) this is a potential weight of 39 lbs per can. I can definitely lift one up into my car, and I can carry two at a time with my arms at my sides. Thanks CrossFit.

2) 5 gallon cans would have been cutting it close. That's why I was sooo happy that the 6 gallon cans I found were cheaper than any 5 gallon ones I saw. Also, this way I don't have to wait until my car is all the way on "E" to go for a fill up.

3) I used data from my budgeting history to figure out approximately how often I was filling up my tank. 30 gallons is a little over three full fillups for my car so I took my average time between fillups (13.8 days) and multiplied by 3 to figure out how long each fill up would last (approximately 6 weeks).

4) Fuelperks expire 2-3 months after they're earned so considering I will need to fill up approximately every 5-6 weeks, I shouldn't need to worry about them expiring before I can use them.

Actual Savings

It's been 6 weeks since I started using my gas cans at GetGo. This is the same table updated with data from my GetGo visits on July 31st and September 9th. I'm actually saving at a better rate than originally predicted. So far I am $2.75 away from covering the cost of the cans. I also used gas at a faster rate this week because Rob and I had a lot going on in his neck of the woods and I also started going to CrossFit at a gym that is a little out of the way.

On the left is the pump from my July 31st fill up and on the right is my fill up from this Saturday. I made one mistake and hung up the pump before I was done, so I lost .5 gallons of cheap gas. I will get over it one day.

So that's fuelperks. I am not affiliated with Giant Eagle, Market District, or GetGo in any way. I am not receiving any type of compensation for writing this post. I just love to save money!

I'm a Beast

Do you remember this photo? It's from back in January when I tried and failed at my first week of the 21 day fix, and then when I tried the 21 day fix again and got a little better at exercising regularly, and then when I managed to exercise everyday for an entire week straight and it was a big effing deal, and lastly when I nearly got through 21 days of exercise in a row, but decided that 95% adherence was better than nothing.

To catch you up, each day with a star is a day I worked out. I was using the 21 Day Fix program from Beach Body and I was doing okay, then I did better, etc.

Then in March I tried another fix (marked in yellow) and got one day of exercise in. Go me. I tried again (in pink) and got five days of exercising in. Then in April I did nothing, and as the end of the month neared, I must have realized that I was about to get through a whole month without exercising. As you can see I got two days of working out in, which I'm assuming was some kind of running. That also reminds me, I signed up for a ten mile race and blew it off. Not a good exercise month for me.

May wasn't much different. I don't remember, but I'm assuming the workout days in May were some combination of running or workout DVDs. Then clearly, in June, something changed. Do you see the stars that month? Hurry, check out July and August.

Look at me, consistently exercising, for three months straight. Are you wondering what happened? ME TOO.

Just kidding. I know exactly what happened. I got into CrossFit.

Cassia's Peanut Dressing

I'm friends with a lot of smart and talented ladies. We share a lot - secrets, ideas, inside jokes, memories, RECIPES... Today I'm going to share with you a recipe that was passed to me by my friend Cassia.

Once when Cassia and I were attempting to regularly lunch-share at work she brought in a kale salad in peanut dressing. That peanut dressing was soooo good I asked for the recipe and over a year later I'm making it.

A few things about Cassia (Cah-See-Ya):

How we met: Cassia and I met when she was interviewing at the company I work at. I don't remember who else we interviewed for the summer job but we hired Cassia and the rest is history.

Why we're friends: In one phrase: power-clashing. Cassia has a very IDGAF attitude that drew me to her when we met. I wanted to be like her in that way. I thinks it's rubbed off a bit! Now we love each other. I'm wearing her pants at this very moment.

Our favorite activities: Like hands down, eating and drinking. We love to try new things especially if they taste good. We also like to discuss politics and social issues in a very sensitive and compassionate way.


Cassia's recipe is more of a to-taste concoction. She was inspired by this recipe for kale salad with peanut dressing but has since made some adjustments to the recipe.

Here are the ingredients:

From  left to right: honey, siracha, soy sauce, creamy peanut butter, fresh ginger, rice vinegar, olive oil, fresh garlic, and lemon juice. Toasted sesame oil (not pictured).

I had everything I needed for the recipe except for fresh ginger and toasted sesame oil. I found this sesame oil at Market District for a relatively good price. Cassia said not to waste my time on regular sesame oil. It needs to be toasted in order to be worth my (or your) time. This oil doesn't say "toasted" on the front of the bottle, but the description on the side says "toasted" and when you turn the bottle on it's side, you can see that the oil is brown and the bottle is clear. Sounds like brown oil is more likely to be the toasted kind. Get the toasted kind!

Cassia's recipe doesn't come with exact measurements but you can basically assume that the peanut butter, vinegar, and oils are going to be your largest, about equal portions. Then as you go down the list you can add a little less of each ingredient. Another option is to use the recipe linked above (and listed below) to get a better idea on quantities.

I used the linked recipe to know to start with 3 TBSP of peanut butter and to understand how much fresh ginger was appropriate - that's one tsp ground.

Here's my sauce before mixing. I will say I probably started with too much sriracha. That is about a tablespoon there. Start with less! After mixing this all up it was pretty thick and very spicy/vinegary. Not good. So I added another squeeze of honey, and a little more of both the olive oil and sesame oil. Then things started to taste much better. I also added some more garlic because I LOVE garlic.

This peanut sauce is seriously SO delicious. I would put it on chicken, salad, noodles, pretty much anything. For this first instance of making the sauce I decided to put it over zoodles. Zoodles are when you cut zucchini using a special cutter called a "vegetti" (yep). It makes some pretty good noodles I hear. My zucchini was a little too large for the vegetti and I had to cut it into quarters. This ended up in some less than ideal zoodles, but lets be real here, the shape is just a novelty.

Here's my zucchini.

Here's my quartered zucchini in the vegetti, and my resulting zoodles. Good enough.

Zoodles should be sauteed for a better texture.

And here are my sauteed zoodles with the peanut dressing on top. Doesn't necessarily look great, but it was seriously DELICIOUS. I ate an entire half of a zucchini and didn't even realize I was eating a veggie. I'm not really the type who needs to be tricked into eating vegetables, but still. So good.

Because this sauce is from my interpretation of Cassia's interpretation of a published recipe, I've included her notes she sent me word-for-word so you can have ALL the same info I had to make this sauce.

I will definitely be making this sauce again, and when I do, I will work out the official measurements and share them with you.

Ca-see-ya later!

Cassia's Notes:

http://food52.com/recipes/18080-lacinato-kale-and-mint-salad-with-spicy-peanut-dressing

i love this salad!  this is where i got the inspiration for my peanut dressing :)

their dressing recipe is below.  

mine is more like this:

smooth PB

rice vinegar (if you don't have any GET SOME cuz its great with asian food)

olive oil

toasted sesame oil (comes in a little bottle from trader joe's - worth it!!)

soy sauce

fresh ginger

fresh garlic

sriracha OR red curry paste (also amazing to own if you don't have it)

honey

lemon juice (just a lil bit)

i don't use measurements... but your biggest portions should be PB, rice vinegar, then oils and soy sauce, then everything else to taste.  

you can also skip some ingredients if u dont have, like ginger, although i love to add it if i have it.

this is great over "zoodles" and stir fry which i made last night!

Spicy Peanut Dressing

• 3tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
• 3tablespoons warm water
• 3tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• 1tablespoon soy sauce
• 1teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
• 2teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1teaspoon sesame oil
• 1teaspoon dried red chili flakes

You Are Fine and Good

I spent 11 hours in the car with my boyfriend on Sunday. Not a terrible thing, bc look at this babe. <3

 

But, I spent a lot of the drive thinking about food and what my next meal would be. Namely, I was thinking about how many kinds of pop-tarts I could eat, and where I could get a greasy cheeseburger with mayonnaise and buttery bread. 

It all started because I was thinking about how much work it was/is going to be to get back to eating clean after the free-for-all-eating I did all week on vacation. And then, I started to bargain with myself about possibly letting the chaotic eating continue for "just a week", and then cutting it off. 

I already knew the flavor of the day at my favorite frozen custard place was dirty turtle, and I even chose the most convenient location to carry out my master plan on the ride home from Rob's. The next stop, once I got off the turnpike, would be Five Guys where I would get a double bacon cheeseburger with mayo, cooked onions, mushrooms, etc. Then at home I could lay in bed, and watch a movie with the pop-tarts I would buy at my last stop, the grocery store.

The thoughts continued like this for a while, and even while having them I knew these were the unhealthy thoughts of a food addict. I still couldn't control them. I decided that these thoughts were "what I get" for eating poorly on vacation. I decided that I had lost my previously found control, and I was doomed to an uphill battle riddled with processed food wrappers and sick stomachs for the next few weeks, or however long until I could get my sugar addiction back under control... If I ever got my sugar addiction back under control.

Then I had dinner.

AND I WAS MOSTLY FINE.

I left Rob's with the food plans I had made earlier on my mind. I was going to do them. And then after a few minutes of driving and digesting my dinner, I realized in order to acquire and eat all of this crazy food I would also be skipping my Over Eaters Anonymous meeting (oops, said it - not supposed to). Skipping OA to gorge on junk food. Great plan Tor.

So anyway, somehow I talked myself out of it and was feeling pretty good. Then my car broke down, but we're not even going to talk about that. The point is, I talked myself off of the biggest binge-cliff possible, and I think this is the first time that's ever happened.

Yesterday I ate clean all day without a problem.

AND I AM MORE THAN FINE.

The Voice

Writing to you while looking at the Atlantic Ocean, and hoping nobody gets bitten by a shark because I'm in South Carolina.

I've been having a tough time finding my voice for the last few weeks. True, I did a photo post of my trip to Naples in June and of the Cleveland trip from the end of May, but photo album posts are the easiest kind. Fun for me, probably fun for you, but not cathartic for either of us, IMO.

The last time I wrote any ideas down was back on June 2nd when I told you I was growing my hair out. That's still happening. 

A LOT of other things have been happening too. And like a true blogger, I have started writing about all of them... many times. You'll get the details eventually, but I thought I'd share some of the things I've been having a tough time getting down into words. Spoiler alert.

In the last month or two I have:

Started learning to play guitar
Become a Crossfit addict
Gone to two 12 step program meetings (can't say the name technically... Has to do with compulsive overeating)
Made and photographed three recipes that I haven't told you about (two of them were pies)
Test driven the apple watch


I owe you a lot of posts too. The following is a list of things I have promised you, but not delivered on, YET:

I said I would tell you how my anti aging research has gone - it's on pause, but I have a routine down.
I owe you a lot of pie-making experiences.
I said I would tell you how growing my hair out was going - it's still going.


So now I'm going to go back to getting a tan and eating my weight in carbs every day.