Category Food

Nala shenanigans and meal planning

Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

For those who enjoy Nala’s shenanigans… She insisted on trying to steal my coffee. See her here: Coffee thief.

And we do still have the cats. Including big, dumb Oz.

Periodically I put her back in my room, but she kept calling me due to her fear of the budgies. So Nala watched me unload & reload the dishwasher, have breakfast and make extra parfaits, do two loads of wash, hang wash, let the roomba vacuum the kitchen and then I washed the kitchen floor.

As for meals this week, the menu includes:

  • A nice chunk of ham I got at the grocery outlet for $1. Probably with boxed Mac and cheese.
  • Veggie burgers or regular burgers
  • Spaghetti, either that black bean spaghetti I got at Marshall’s or Green Giant lentil rotini I got on sale at Target
  • A prepared salmon and vegetable salad I also got cheap at Grocery Outlet
  • And “Greek night” with a lentil salad and a white bean salad from Lidl and some mighty fine looking mixed olives I got at Grocery Outlet for 77 cents.

And this little naughty cockatoo refuses to vacate the drying rack, probably because it’s heated.

Now my daughter and I are off to bake cookies.

Sunday morning babbling

Angel Ackerman 3 Comments

Nala is chattering away on my chest as I recline in bed with a cup of coffee at 7:30 a.m. The wind howls and rain patters sporadically. It’s freakishly warm for an East Coast winter morning. The budgies fly and play freely as Saturday and Sunday are free bird days.

We got up at 6:30. Nala once again plucked a feather and squealed when I didn’t come get her as soon as I woke. I don’t know if it’s out of fear, hearing a rustle in the dark and not knowing if it is me, a cat or an unknown predator or if she’s a brat and wants my immediate attention.

Life with birds. Speaking of life with birds, I notice that people with larger birds often have a bird room and bedtime rituals so the birds can sleep undisturbed. I wonder if I will eventually move Nala so she can get her rest undisturbed. I need to start putting her to bed around 6:30 since I’m an early riser. My evening routines need to change.

This morning, I had planned on opening Nala’s cage and going down to make coffee and feed the cats. Nala jumped on my hand and decided to come for the ride. I didn’t even offer.

But she’s a moody little Goffin and refused to do anything but sit on my shoulder and bite at me if I tried to move her. (I was offering her her morning tea which she wanted, but she wanted to drink it from my shoulder. I tried to ignore her, and leave her on my shoulder but then she would fly off my shoulder and stand in front of the cat. Luckily, she did this with Oz who has no idea what she is and merely sees her as something over which he displays jealousy versus Opie who clearly sees her as dinner.)

I was trying to be patient but then she starting picking apart the shoulder seam of one of my favorite work-appropriate dresses so I put her back in her cage. She didn’t like that. I have tiny bloody beak nips on my fingers now, but once she saw I was putting her in her cage she settled.

Five minutes later I came back to my room with my coffee and fresh romaine and fruit for everyone. I opened Nala’s cage door, put her fruit in, and let her hang out on her cage while I gave the budgies their romaine.

Then she rejoined me. Much less moody now. And she said two more phrases this morning. One almost sounded like a greeting and another that seemed like “hi, Nala.” She said it when I slipped out of the room to use the bathroom. If my attempt at reading the context is correct, it seemed like she was requesting to come with me.

Nala met some new people yesterday. She met my neighbor, mother of the Maltese/Yorky mix who visits here and spends her vacations with me. Nala didn’t know what to make of such a strange dog but she did like my neighbor’s very pretty nails and jewelry. I hope Nala learns to trust my neighbor as she is one potential caretaker should Nala need a sitter.

Then Nala met my dad and stepmom. Nala jumped right on my dad’s shoulder. Immediate connection. She refused to come down. My stepmom reached out and asked Nala to step up but Nala wasn’t interested. My stepmom had a cockatoo thirty years ago so I wondered how she would react to them. I have never seen an animal or a person not take to my dad.

I also bought Nala a new toy and treats. She liked neither.

On a personal level, I did a five-minute workout yesterday three sets of 10, shoulder press, with a 15-pound dumbbell on each arm. I’m still lazy but at least I did something.

My weight though is up three pounds but I know that is because my only meal was at Applebee’s. I invited my dad and his wife to join the teenager and I at Applebee’s because I received this email:

I love food. I love real food. I love fancy food. I love plain food. But I also love junk food. And for some reason I kept dreaming of boneless wings all week. And the teenager loves shrimp.

And while Applebee’s is not fine dining… I wanted company and I hadn’t seen my dad since Christmas. We all got the all-you-can-eat. Here’s the part I didn’t know; it’s mix-and-match. So you can get either boneless wings OR double crunch shrimp OR riblets AND get a different one every time.

I ate two plates of wings. So there’s soooooooooooo much sodium in my body right now.

I’ve spent an hour drafting this. I need to sort out laundry, wash the floors and hopefully get to the gym today. I did some grocery shopping last night. Spent $40 at the Grocery Outlet and hope to do my meal plan for this week.

It’s going to be another stressful one.

Our Animal-ventures: Finding Dogs and Nala

Angel Ackerman 2 Comments

My daughter is still obsessive-compulsive about the new Cats movie. Since she lost a field mouse in her room last night, I suggested maybe she clean today.

Somehow I told her that if she got her room clean I would gladly take her to Cats again. Even though I would rather go to the dentist.

But that’s how much I want her room clean.

And so far she’s done five or six loads of laundry, found a pile of dishes and probably emptied the vacuum cleaner more times than she can count.

And she’s filled two 30 gallon trash bags.

I may be spending tomorrow at Cats.

My morning

I spent my morning picking up a little, hanging out with the budgies and watching the roomba vacuum.

Then I spent about 90 minutes working on my budget through April and paying bills.

I have been contemplating buying a computer so I can work from home this winter when it snows.

But it’s just so hard with the price of Apple products on the rise. I need to research some refurbs.

I thought maybe it would be fun to visit a bird store. So I googled that. Bird Mania on Emmaus Avenue.

Double Click Computers

Our first stop was Double Click Computers between Bethlehem and Nazareth. They were once the only Apple service people in the Lehigh Valley. Then the Apple Store moved in at the Lehigh Valley Mall.

My first computer was a PowerBook 165 in 1994. I’ve never owned anything but Macs. I’ve had the first Mac Mini prone to overheating. I had a Performa. I had iBooks, MacBooks, and MacBook Airs. Even the one shaped like a toilet seat. I had a G4. I had a tower with a built-in Zip drive.

I feel like I’ve had all the Mac products. I had the first Time Capsule, which also overheated. Though I never had an iMac. Or did I? I might have had a hand-me-down.

So it was fun to consider buying the new MacBook Pro. But the $1400 price tag scared me.

But they had dogs. 3 dogs.

They were a lot of fun and apparently they keep children from banging on the computer keyboards.

Next, the birds.

Bird Mania

Most of the birds we saw were sold or boarding.

There was a boarding macaw that was very adamant about screaming. And an African Grey that talked quietly. Another bird that said “whatever.” Several that shook. I don’t know whether it was anxiety or fear. A lot of singing and a lot of squawking.

I saw a green bird named Beetle and an African Grey named Dorian and thought “wait a minute.” I was at Three Birds Coffee House and Beetle and Dorian were on vacation.

“Excuse me,” I asked the staff, “are these birds from Easton?”

Sure enough, I had found where the birds were vacationing. Maybe next time the owners can let me watch them.

I wanted to see cockatiels.

But a cockatoo made a move on me.

Nala

Her name is Nala. Her feathers were a tad matted, and she had plucked herself in some spots. She kept reaching through the cage.

So the teen wanted to see if we could handle her. As in pet her.

The staff warned me that she always seemed pleasant but she wouldn’t “step up” and she bites.

But she agreed to let us try.

Nala came out and sat on her cage door and kept trying to bite me and wouldn’t “step up.” But she let me pet her and play with her. And scratch her head and under her wings.

But she kept biting me.

The teenager refused to touch her.

I noticed she had lovely orange cheeks and orange under her crown feathers.

But I had to say goodbye.

The staff person said they had a boy who was a bird whisperer and he couldn’t get anywhere with her. I took that as my solace and my consolation. Then the staff member added, “but she really seems to like you.”

Wow.

My family had a cockatoo, probably 30 years ago. So I know how demanding and needy they are. And expensive. So I asked, “how much are cockatoos going for these days?”

“Because she’s older and bites, she’s $600.”

Sorry, Nala. I’m a single mom.

The staff member gets a towel to corner her. They start this dance around all the cages. I feel terrible. I step close. Nala now will “step up.” And she perches on my shoulder.

Look at her.

So I pet her more and try to kneel by her cage. She gets on the door. Refuses to go in. And plucks out one of her white and orange chest feathers as if to say, “you can’t leave me.”

Heartbroken.

Dinner at Taco Bell

We ended up at Taco Bell. And the teenager made this funky but delicious concoction of two parts Diet Pepsi and one part Mango iced tea.

  • She had normal tacos but I ordered all my items from the value menu. I started with the spicy potato taco ($1) because it sounded intriguing, then the Frito and beef burrito ($1) because that just sounded weird, and a bean and cheese and rice burrito ($1) for protein.
  • Fritos in my burrito.
  • The spicy potato taco was really tasty. I bet it would be amazing with eggs.

    • The Friti burrito gave the soft taco just the right amount of crunch.

    After Christmas

    Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

    During the last two days I read most of the grant archive at work.

    At lunch time, I received a text from my daughter that she shouldn’t be left home alone. She saved a field mouse from our cats and built it an enclosure.

    I suggested she find one of the lids. Well, honestly I told her to put the damn thing outside but… she doesn’t listen.

    After work, I met my neighbor at Three Birds Coffee House but I was disappointed the birds were on vacation. The lemon verbena tea was delicious.

    And I came home to a house still in the throes of the Christmas Bomb, disaster from one end to the other. I picked up a bit, opened a beer and let my new roomba vacuum the kitchen.

    Gayle came for supper and we all shared a candy apple.

    Our candy apple review

    After dessert, the teen and Gayle colored the giant cardboard submarine.

    And then the teen discovered the mouse had escaped.

    Never a dull moment.

    Tree Trimming Party

    Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

    Once we got our tree together we had a small gaggle or friends over to decorate.

    We ended up with three trees: the real tree, the mini tree of the teenager’s special ornament selection, and the “Who” tree, our artificial tree decorated like a tree from Whoville.

    The wines I reviewed earlier:

    Wines from the Tree Trimming Party

    We even invited some neighborhood dogs, Buddy and Sobaka.

    Highlights:

    • The teen’s childhood Christmas compilations including the ones where she sings are still adorable.
    • We lost some of the tree lights and couldn’t find them until the tree was lit.
    • Dark chocolate hummus is very tasty on raspberries.
    • My big dumb cat Oz is always a party favorite.
    • It’s fun to have mismatched wine glasses
    • One second you have plenty of brownies and macaroons and the next they are gone.

    And no Christmas tree is complete without a spectacle of putting up the star:

    The Debut of the Disco Star

    Wines from the Tree Trimming Party

    Angel Ackerman 1 Comment

    Wine number one:

    Apothic Sparkling Red. Very light. Not too sweet or rich. Very celebratory and delightful with fresh raspberries in the glass.

    Wine number two:

    Ribshack. A wine from Western Cape, South Africa. Reminiscent of a hearty French red. Described as a wine to accompany meat, whether venison or other red meat as you braai. As the bottle says, this is a good wine for a dinner party though I see it as a winter wine to complement a thick beef stew.

    Wine number three:

    Franklin Hills Cake. Is it wrong to buy a wine because the bottle and graphic design is intriguing? This wine was very sweet, certainly smelled like cake, even made the room fragrant. It was like burning scented candles. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t taste like white wine. More like liquid candy with the tang of wine.

    Trimming the tree (and soft debut of our living room)

    Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

    I think I’ve stunned my friend Gayle, whose known me for more than 20 years.

    My new burst of holiday spirit is of concern to her.

    The teenager and I worked really hard this week to prepare the house for our tree-trimming party last night, an informal tradition meant to counterbalance my anti-Christmas energy.

    We really needed a few more days to finish the painting and what not. But life doesn’t always accommodate. When you plan a gathering, especially at the holidays, you can’t shift the date because you only got one coat of paint on the walls.

    The featured photo in this post is my neurotic habit of dissembling the taps and soaking them in hydrogen peroxide before a party and scrubbing the caulk with an old toothbrush before a party.

    This is going to be a mini-blog entry. An introduction. Because I’m behind on blogging.

    Last week I attended the Hess’s nostalgia day and toured the Hollywood costume exhibit at Allentown Art Museum. I would love to tell you about that.

    And then show you how the living room is shaping up.

    And then tree trimming.

    So stay tuned. My goal for today is to do several loads of laundry, update my budget book after getting my nails done yesterday, buying wine, and purchasing a tree. That reminds me! Add wine review to that list.

      Allentown Art Museum
      Living Room
      Tree Trimming
      Wine review from party: Apothic Sparkling Red, Rib Back (from Western Cape South Africa) and Franklin Hills Cake

    First 36 hours thinking about committing to Whole30

    Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

    September 14: Reading the book I bought about Whole30 and trying to get the teenager into it. I really think it will help the fluid levels in her head.

    She’s miserable with her ear infection— now that she’s taking Augmentin, the ear gunk, as I like to call it, is pouring down her nose and throat and making her cough. She went to rehearsal for marching band before today’s home game and she was stumbling and off balance.

    She didn’t really have the lung capacity to play, and the clogged ears make blowing hard so she came home and slept through the game.

    I bought some eggs at the farm, organic raisins and ginger crystal drink at one natural food store, and ginger chews, liquid smoke and Whole30 approved coffee creamer at another.

    The ginger is for the girl’s throat.

    I came home and cooked three chicken breasts— some to top my garden salad for lunch and the rest to make a chicken broccoli cold salad for lunches early in the week.

    For dinner, we had chicken and some spaghetti squash served like spaghetti and sprinkled with bacon cheddar cheese.

    I’m making an effort to plan meals that are Whole30 compliant and testing the waters with individual meals. But I’m also not buying anything not compliant, so by the time we are ready to commit we have the house ready.

    September 15:

    She had ice cream last night, claiming its necessity due to her throat. I had a “Philadelphia cream cheese cheesecake cup.”

    I woke hungry, but I also slept in until 7:30. I also had a headache. Read about the part of Whole30 where you can’t have coffee until after breakfast. I wake very bumbling. And I usually get hungry around 9– even if I have breakfast at 6 or 7 I get hungry around 9.

    I had some herbal tea, unsweetened, and it fixed my headache. Tried Whole30’s method of poaching eggs in the skillet— I think I liked mine better. I made a slice of Dave’s Killer Organic Seeded Bread as toast. I know two emotional assumptions about eggs I will have to break if I commit to Whole30: poached eggs go with toast (they suggest salmon, I can do that) and omelettes need cheese. That I will need to overcome.

    So I ate my farm fresh poached eggs, about to have a golden kiwi for dessert.

    And then finally coffee.

    Not so Whole30

    Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

    It’s hard to believe that in two more weeks I will be celebrating my six-month anniversary in my new job in the development office at ProJeCt of Easton.

    Three months in, my husband and I separated. Four months in my boss gave notice. Almost five months in, I received a promotion. Last week, I asked my agency to hire an old acquaintance as a temporary event planner. Our signature fundraiser is six weeks away!

    This summer I have written four grants, worked on two collaborative grants, and wrote a letter of interest for a grant. I have three more grants due in the next three weeks.

    But in the midst of everything, I’ve had some amazing work adventures but I’ve noticed my natural energy and trips to the gym and being replaced by doughnuts and coffee.

    It’s also Marching Band Season with my teenager in her third year in low brass. She’s struggling with a hectic schedule, her fitness waning and her old ear infections coming back. She has a raging one now according to the doctor at Patient First.

    She has an appointment with her ENT practice on Thursday. I think she needs tubes. She had them about eight years ago. She needs them again.

    My daughter and I both love carbohydrates. I have been weight training now for almost six years consistently and the only thing that keeps me from looking like a totally ripped badass is my weakness for sugar.

    I consider myself a lazy bodybuilding princess. I don’t have the hard core discipline to work out daily, but I like to lift. I like results. I like to be strong. But I also like to be lazy.

    So food plays into that too.

    When my daughter was little, I heavily restricted her dairy hoping it would help clear her head of fluid.

    Maybe I need to do that again.

    My friend Bill Prystauk (of Crash Palace Productions, author of Bloodletting and Punishment) recommended the Whole30 for my daughter.

    I can’t stop thinking about it so I bought the book.

    But can we do it?

    More to come…

    Her week of vegetarianism

    Angel Ackerman 1 Comment

    My daughter is a lifelong carnivore. Recently, she’s shown an interest in going vegetarian for a week. She wants to see if she can do it.

    Of course she can do it.

    Especially since I was a vegetarian for eight years before she was born.

    We started with lunch today.

    I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with carrots. Not only vegetarian but vegan, too.

    Dinner was a stir-fry. I made a sauce of Chinese cooking wine, low sodium soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, fresh lemon juice and tahini.

    I toasted some sesame seeds in my cast iron skillet.

    Cooked some potatoes and Brussel sprouts in the sauce and then added grated radish, carrot and cabbage.

    Served with saffron rice.

    It was tasty. She enjoyed it.

    So we’ll see how the week goes.

    I’m already meal planning in my head:

    1. Ravioli
    2. Baked beans and corn muffins
    3. Vegetarian burgers
    4. Breakfast for dinner
    5. Scalloped potatoes and vegetable casserole
    6. Falafel
    7. Homemade pizza
    8. Zucchini cakes
    9. Mexican
    10. African chick pea stew
    11. Salad

    Better honed ideas when I get to the kitchen.