Ending July on a Good Note

After our yard work extravaganza, I picked the first batch of tomatillos. The plants are still covered with fruit and will be ready for another picking soon. What to do with tomatillos?  Make salsa verde!

I started by grilling the tomatillos, peppers (I had a mix of poblano, serrano, jalapeno and anaheim) and onions.

After they were all a little charred and softened, they were ready for use. Don't worry I did scrape off a bit of the extra char - sorry peppers!

Everything went into the food processor with lime juice, cilantro and a few spices.

This batch made enough for a big jar to use now, a tub to give away and a packet to put in the freezer for later. This is my first attempt to freeze it, so fingers crossed it does well. I will probably use the frozen for cooking so I am not concerned about the texture.

Yesterday I had to go to our main office in the county administration building. Since it is right next to the courthouse and Wednesday is a busy court day, I parked a couple blocks away and walked down main street. On the way back to my car, I ducked into a couple shops. I feel in love with a shop that sells decor and toys for children. Seriously, I think I loved 90% of the merchandise. I wanted to treat myself to this embroidered pillow, but $165!

This may be the cutest little narwhal I have every seen. I wonder if there is anyway he will show up in my Christmas stocking (hopefully my husband is reading!)

So many precious books. I would have loved to pull up one of their cozy chairs and stay all afternoon.

Do you need a baby to have a mobile? Surely not.

This guy was made with different papers and a bit of paint. I wonder if I could create something as cute. It would be perfect in my craft room...or living room?

I stopped at a little meat market that has been in business since 1947. It still has that old-time look inside - down to the manual pencil sharpener just like the one that hung in my grandparents basement stairway. I actually mentioned it to the guy and he said that is were his grandparents kept theirs too.  I found an interesting article in our local paper. I had heard of meat lockers but really didn't know what they were. This excerpt explains:

In all those decades, much has stayed the same. The original locker keys and giant old-fashioned wooden desk remain in the small office. They still use a rotary phone to communicate from the front counter to the back rooms. And the lockers themselves are still there, going back to a time when most homes did not have freezers. So how do you store a whole cow or pig without most of it rotting before you can eat it? You rented a locker, just like Jeff Merkel’s family. He remembers going to Edwardsville Frozen Foods every week with his mother and helping her retrieve a week’s worth of meat from their rented freezer locker. Those lockers are still available, even with the advent of freezer compartments or chest freezers in basements. A quarter cow renders about 200 pounds of meat, which would take quite a large freezer at home. Instead, some 80 or 90 families still rent a locker for $70 a year to store large quantities of meat.

Read more here: https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article143602814.html#storylink=cpy

 
I chose a couple of kabobs for dinner- one pork and one chicken. Both were good, but honestly I can make them at home for a fraction of the price, right? I enjoyed my grilled romaine again and corn is always a grilling staple in our house.

While I was grilling dinner I tossed a couple chicken thighs on the grill for a future meal. I seasoned the chicken thighs with cayenne pepper and garlic-ginger paste. What is going to happen with this plate of goodness?  Stay tuned...

I love poking around new places. I suppose you could call it a bit of mental health care to go with my physical health focus.

I didn't get started until the middle of the month, but July has still been a good month for me. Since my "new year's day" I have tracked my food - not perfectly, but pretty well. I have definitely been more mindful of what I am eating - both quantity and quality.  I am trying to not get hyper-focused on how much I lose or don't lose each week. I think I might do monthly reports. That being said, I lost 8.4 pounds in July :)

That brings us to August. My plan is to keep doing what I am doing and add in some walking. I might even try hopping in the pool again. I wonder if they remember me at the gym.

What are your August plans?