Meal planning check in: week ending 2/5

This week is a bit tough because right now my kids + husband are sick, so I need to think of sick-friendly foods.  Obviously, chicken soup is at the top of the list.  I'm planning on making butternut squash soup tonight because I picked up a butternut squash at the market, and I also need to get some tofu and maybe try the noodles + tofu with peanut sauce left in the comments from the earlier meal planning post.  In general, I want to take inventory of my pantry/freezer and try to use up what we have.

Easier said than done?  I hope not.

Please drop me a note in the comment box with your favorite food to eat while you're sick.  Help me feed my family!

Welcome Jewish Herald-Voice readers!

Welcome to all readers who come here via the Jewish Herald-Voice!!  I am honored to be one of the featured bloggers on the paper's website so I hope you enjoy what you read here.

I have to admit - I look forward to reading the paper each week.  It's my Friday night post-clean up, post-kids are in bed activity.  I've read this paper since I was a kid growing up here...when I travel I pick up the local Jewish paper and while they are good, I have yet to see one that is as comprehensive as the JH-V is (outside of New York).

So, please add your comments to any of my posts and you can always drop me a line at HoustonIma AT rocketmail DOT com.  You can also follow me on Twitter via the button on the left.

Shabbat shalom!

We will never forget

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, held on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, January 27, 1945.

We will never forget.

72 members of my mother's family were killed in the Holocaust.

I'll never forget.

My mom used to walk to school on roads made with Jewish tombstones.

We'll never forget.

My grandmother and my aunt, as an infant, fled their town in a train when the Nazis advanced to where they lived, a bomb dropped on the train, and my grandmother and aunt escaped and managed to survive in the forest.  By themselves, because my grandfather was in the front as a combat medic.

My children will never forget.

My father and family evacuated from Moscow during the war.

We will never forget.

We will never forget, but we will move on and we will be stronger.  Check out photos here and click here for more information about today.

Today's theme song - The Partisan Song (in Yiddish w/ English translation):
Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letsten veg,
Khotsh himlen blayene farsthtelen bloye teg.
[Never say you are walking your final road,
Though leaden skies conceal the days of blue.]
Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sha'ah,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot mir zaynen do!
[The hour that we have longed for will appear,
Our steps will beat out like drums: We are here!]
Fun grinem palmenland biz vaysen land fun shney,
Mir kumen on mit undzer payn, mit undzer vey.
[From the green lands of palm trees to lands white with snow,
We are coming with our all pain and all our woe.]
Un vu gefalen s'iz a shpritz fun undzer blut,
Shprotzen vet dort undzer gevurah, undzer mut.
[Wherever a spurt of our blood has fallen to the ground,
There our might and our courage will sprout again.]
S'vet di morgenzum bagilden undz dem haynt,
Un der nekhten vet farshvinden miten faynd.
[The morning sun will shine on us one day,
Our enemy will vanish and fade away.]
Nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in dem kayor,
Vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor.
[But if the sun and dawn come too late for us,
From generation to generation let them be singing this song.]
Dos lid geshriben iz mit blut un nit mit blay,
S'iz nit keyn lidel fun a foygel oyf der fray,
[This song is written in blood not in pencil-lead.
It is not sung by the free-flying birds overhead,]
Dos hot a folk tsvishen falendike vent,
Dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent!
[But a people stood among collapsing walls,
And sang this song with pistols in their hands!]

List of Stupid Money Spent

Check out this list from a fellow Houston blogger; it's a rather unique list.

I cannot compile such a list for myself, mostly because it will be painful and traumatic and much longer.

Food waste should definitely be included in this list.  There are so many times I buy food with plans of using ingredients in a specific recipe, only to not make said recipe, and then the food is wasted, and so goes my money.  Shabbat leftovers are a big part of that - making so much food and then wasting it if it doesn't reheat well, or loses its luster after Shabbat.  I am definitely trying to do better in the food waste area, so hopefully this food waste proportion will go down over time...

Clothing is also an issue for me.  I intensely dislike trying on clothes in a store, so I tend to make my purchase with the plan of returning the item if it doesn't work out.  Get this - apparently some stores DO have a return policy where they only accept returns within a specific time period!  Or, even better: Loehmann's near my house closed, so now for sure I will never be able to return a skirt I purchased there (um, I have a brand new knee-length black skirt, if anyone's interested...)

Then there are various late fees, penalties to pay (hello Massachusetts - why do I need to pay a penalty on tax I didn't know I owe until April 15?), and so on.

But like I said, it's painful to think about.  All those donations - I call them donations to make myself feel better - when I really couldn't afford them, but I had 100% control over preventing them.

What would be included on your list of stupid money spent, and what are you going to do differently this year?  Add your comment in the comment box.

Meal planning check-in: week ending 1/29

I suppose since I started the conversation about meal planning, I should update you on my progress.

Remember, this was my first week, so be forgiving.

This week I planned on making:
super salmon veggie patties (really, they ARE super)
shepherd's pie with leftover Shabbat chicken (frugal, right??)

I think that's as far as I got.

So far I made:
hamburgers (husband had a craving)
chili (made by husband with leftover hamburgers while I was Zumba-ing)
mushroom barley soup (made with leftover cooked barley from Shabbat)

So....can't say that I stuck to the meal plan...but I can say that all of the meals were possible because we had the ingredients on hand...

Now on Twitter!

Houston Ima is now on Twitter and is open to followers!  Catch up with all of Houston Ima's latest news and views at @HoustonIma2.  (Yes, apparently @HoustonIma was already taken...as was ImaHouston...sad, I know...)  You can also catch Houston Ima on Twitter via the widget on the left-hand side of this page - click on the Twitter link to take you directly to my profile.

Looking forward to interacting with you in 140 characters or less!

My secret confession

Ok it's time to come clean.  I've been Zumba-ing on the sly here.  Let me tell you, it's like a whole other person is out there doing this Zumba thing.  You wouldn't recognize me (and this time around, I'm not wearing hot pink pants).

You probably wouldn't recognize me as I helplessly flail my arms around, trying to follow the instructor.  You probably won't recognize me as I try to keep the rhythm with my feet, discovering that it's so easy to trip over my own foot, and look at that, apparently my left leg refuses to lift as frequently as the instructor's leg lifts.  Thank goodness no one recognizes me in the class, actually.

I am a professional working mom by day, Zumba impersonator by night (on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

The really neat thing about Zumba is that you can make it as challenging as you want it to be.  You can move fast or slow, and actually all of the movements are fairly optional, leaving you to work out at a comfortable pace, or you can challenge yourself with increased difficulty.  It's an egalitarian workout that doesn't punish you at the end, but makes you smile as you realize that everyone is having fun and no one cares how anyone else looks.

No doubt, the next time I attend a wedding, there will be some Zumba moves to be had...

(just kidding)