In the Blink of an Eye . . .

OK. Maybe it's not THAT bad. Breathe . . . This morning I went to visit my old blog (makemethod.vox.com). I was planning to hunt around for this great pumpkin chili recipe I posted a couple years ago. In fact, a reader had written me recently to make sure the old site would stay up so she could continue to find that specific recipe.

Rhonda wrote: I tried your pumpkin chili recipe tonight and loved it! Please make sure it doesn't get lost from your old site when it closes.

And I guess I didn't understand what she meant by "when it closes" because I hadn't logged into my old site in over a year. She really meant the whole site -- all of VOX -- was closing! I had absolutely no idea -- I mean, I was planning to keep the old site up indefinitely. So, now I have this amazing chili recipe I created and it's just . . . gone!

Gone is the blog I maintained for over a year. Gone also is what I planned to post this morning. Yikes.


Well, I do have my current favorites to share with you. Stuff I've been enjoying lately. Stuff that's been keeping me happy. Stuff that's been keeping me sane. Number one on that list is Mighty Leaf tea. Wowzah! Have you ever tried their brews?

I hadn't. But when they contacted me earlier in the month and said they wanted to send me a few sachets to sample, I couldn't resist. Their chocolate-mint tea is absolutely ahhhhh-mazing.


Just mix in a splash of milk and a dash of sweetener (I used maple syrup), and you're got the most incredible hot beverage to carry with you throughout the day.


I think I even like it better than my homemade chai recipe. Is that even possible? I'm starting to lean toward . . . definitely yes.


Honestly, even if they hadn't sent me samples, if I had come across their tea on my own, I would have fallen in love. I'm not much into coffee (that's more Stephen's thing). But give me a good herbal tea. Well, any kind of tea, really. And I'm set. We have a million varieties at home. I like fruity kinds for the summer. Spiced varieties in the fall and winter months. And since I'm usually sick a lot of the springtime, I go with the more medicinal types.


Onto number 2 on the list: Breakfast for Dinner. Two nights this week, we had eggs, English muffins, hash browns, and a side of cooked spinach for dinner. I wrote last week about how I go off and on with my love for eggs. It's ON right now. And when you're tired and cranky, cracking open some easy protein and frying it up is just what the doctor ordered. Pass the hot sauce, please!

(And, don't worry, I fully admit that the photo is AWFUL. But I snapped it in the dark. Really fast. Go ahead, laugh a little!)


Number 3: Unique Chocolate Bars. Specifically Theo's organic, fair-trade, bean-to-bar chocolate. Move over fancy peanut butters, I found these bars at the Wegmans in Corning, NY, this weekend . . . and I just can't get enough. I mean, flavors like coconut-curry and fig-fennel? TEA in chocolate? C'mon. Plus, all the pretty art on the packaging makes these bars the perfect low-cost pick-me-up gift for a friend.


Homemade Peanut Butter is number 4 on our favorites list. Ashley has helped up break free from our costly peanut butter habit. We've been able to craft our own creative concoctions, including a chocolate coconut peanut butter, a maple-cinnamon peanut butter, and we're looking forward to a Nutella-esque variety in the near future. Yum. If you want to see how it's done, just check out this post.


Number 5 on the list: Cold-Eeze. I'm a convert. A true believer. Friends and family swear this stuff works. They've told me for years, but I didn't have any idea the effect would be so dramatic. I'm now thinking about taking a Zinc supplement. Seems like I really need the extra immune support.

So, my question for you is: Have you ever LOST a recipe you absolutely love? Even though you may have made it a gazillion times, did it take you a while to figure it out again? I've lost a few recipes, but never anything like that pumpkin chili. I'm a bit upset, but also excited to see what new twist I can bring to it. We'll see! Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Gonna have some fun. Show ya how it's done . . .

TGIF! This week's been busy. So busy, in fact, that I've not have much time in the kitchen to cook or bake. I've been eating relatively poorly, at least in my opinion. (OK. Yesterday I scarfed down half a bag of chocolate covered pretzels because I forgot my lunch.) And the only way I can measure this is in how I feel: ABSOLUTELY LOUSY! We are what we eat after all. And right now I'm a hot mess of bread and chocolate.

It's not all been bad, though. Really. We did take some time the other night to modify the Tarka Dhal recipe (by using okra instead of sweet potatoes) and spoon it over some spongy bread (that I invented randomly out of desperation).


(never home)maker Spongy Bread (makes 6 flat loaves)

What you'll need . . .

• 1-1/2 cups bread flour
• 3/4 cup wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch or two of salt

Method . . .

1. Mix all ingredients together (I used my hands -- seriously!) until well combined with no lumps.
2. Heat a large pan over medium to high heat and spray or coat with olive oil.
3. Pour 1/6 of the batter onto the pan and spread out with a spoon, trying to make it as large as possible. Cook for a couple minutes, until you can flip like a pancake.
4. Once you flip, press down to get it to be as flat as possible. Keep cooking on both sides until golden brown.
5. Serve as the base for any recipe you choose -- works especially well with Indian food.

In other news, since I hurt my hand in volleyball two weeks in a row, I've not been doing any push-ups for like three weeks. Finally last night I was able to try again without my hand swelling up. And I went from being able to do maybe 75 a few weeks ago to only 40. I know. "Only" 40 isn't too bad, but this all means my negative chin-ups aren't exactly on track. I'll get back into it soon, I hope.


Speaking of getting back into it, you were all so helpful the other day when I wrote about my struggle with race burnout and marathon training. I'm happy to report that I ran my 16-miler over the weekend without feeling awful about it.

At least for now, I'm back on track! And running in my Vibrams has helped with a bit of my motivation slump.



Thank for you all your help and motivation. Some of my favorite reader suggestions include:

• "You could replace 1 or 2 of your weekly runs with a long bike ride... it will help you uphold your cardio endurance, but give you a break from running!" (Julie @ SavvyEats)
• "In training for my ultramarathon, I got a bit fatigued, so I joined the local road runners group. It's been so great because I have been able to meet new people and that has spiced up training." (Rebecca @ Yes, I Enjoy Running This Much)
• "I say take a week off from running, and cross train (or do nothing!) instead. You might find yourself feeling revived sooner than you think!" (Chrissy @ The New Me)
• "Maybe 2 rest days in a row (I know it's rough with your schedule of training), but that usually kicks me back into remembering all of the wonderful things running does for both body and mind." (Ian @ Penn Appetit)
• "Also don't forget . . . you can do it!" (Josie @ PhotoMeal)

A couple week ago, Cristina (My Tea Shelf) contacted me about her small tea company based in Seattle. She makes original herbal infusions and tea blends -- AND designs/makes all her (gorgeous) packaging at home.


What this boils down to is this: She sent me a sampler pack of her teas, and -- let me tell you -- it's absolutely fantastic. Not only are the flavors and names unique -- they taste great, too. And I think her tea would make great gifts . . . especially because it's wrapped up in such a beautiful package. My favorite so far is the Pineapple-Ginger. But my favorite name is the Good Hair Day. Just makes me smile.



Now, if I can recommend just one thing for you try out this weekend, try making the no-knead chocolate walnut bread from Monday's post. Truly.


You will just need to set aside maybe 15 minutes (actually less) to stir every together tomorrow. Then leave it all in a warm place (like inside your microwave -- while it's off, of course) overnight. Sunday, you can bake it and use it for a variety of purposes, including breakfast or even lunch or dinner.

Have a great weekend. We have some special posts in store for next week. We can't wait!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!!

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