Last night after I made that delicious casserole, I was still hungry. I’m not sure why as I ate really healthy yesterday and filled up with delicious foods. Maybe it was hormones or just boredom. Anyway, I decided to make a single serving of mug cake. It’s an easy recipe with just four ingredients. You mix it all up in a mug, and cook it in the microwave.
I got everything ready. The main ingredients are flour, sugar, baking soda and milk. I poured everything into my little bowl which is just easier for mixing. Went to pop it in the microwave when I felt my spoon hit something hard. I thought maybe some of the flour had gone bad. Or something fell into the bowl. Oh, how wrong I was.
It was a freaking BONE! A bone was in my bowl.
It was a small bone but had ridges which made me think it may have been a spine or neck bone. From what animal? I had no idea. But I had all these visions of rats and mice crawling into my food and I panicked.
I tossed out ALL of my baking ingredients. The flour, which had been newly ordered from Walmart. The milk which I had just drank that morning with my breakfast. I thought it tasted funny. And the baking soda. I had no idea where the bone came from.
I’m not worried about a rodent being in my home as there are no droppings or signs anywhere. I had cleaned out the flour bin before even dumping the flour into it. And the baking soda I knew was clean – but I was just so grossed out. I’m so mad still. I tried to forget that I found the bone but I couldn’t. Everything went into the garbage.
I just hopped onto Instant Cart because I had great plans to bake this week. The weather is supposed to be cool all week – lots of rain – so I thought it would be a good project to do around the condo. But my god. I was seriously grossed out and freaked out. Such a waste of baking products.
I took my complaint to Walmart on Twitter but they haven’t responded. No pictures, I just tossed everything straight into the garbage. I’m so glad I found the bone before actually eating it. Could you imagine? Ugh. I’m traumatized.
No Frills is now delivering
I got an order ready last night for the City Market in my area and hit the “order” button just now so I could restock my baking ingredients. And of course, City Market does not deliver in my area.
I’m annoyed as I had just received my biweekly grocery order yesterday from Walmart. After that, I decided nope. Hell, no. I’m not ordering in food from Walmart for a very long time. I know the problem likely came from either Rogers or Dairyland – where the products were made. But what if?? I don’t want to think about it.
Anyway.
I use Instant Cart for all my shopping needs these days. I was surprised to see that No Frills and Superstore have been added in my area. I can’t use PC Express which is usually my preferred service. So, I just ordered $70 worth of baking ingredients to replace what I tossed out. I’m so mad still. What a waste of food.
I’m wondering what could have possibly happened here. I know that there is a certain amount of bugs and fecal matter that slips into our food in the factories. But most of the time we don’t notice this. I mean, this was an all out BONE from some kind of small animal.
Ugh.
The good news is No Frills is decently priced for baking items. The price of meat however is crazy. I added some chicken thighs and shake and bake as I want to cook up some chicken this week. I’m also going to share my meal plan for the next two weeks for you. I’m still working on the post.
I’m in a nesting phase
I’m not sure if it’s because it’s fall, or the weather is chillier, or that Thanksgiving is coming fast, but I’m in a total nesting phase. I’ve been home for so long now that I am comfortable being at home. The thought of going out and being social is exhausting to me. I have to go to a family event next weekend and I’m dreading it already.
I have some medical testing coming up in the next couple of weeks. I need to get some xrays done and labwork. Fun times.
Now that my living room has been finished and is looking great – I’m focusing on DIY home projects. I’m going to hold off on decorating my bedroom until Christmas time. I have been shopping around for a vintage tv cabinet to match my furniture but I’m not finding anything I like. Online shopping is a fun thing to do while binge watching funny shows like Parks and Rec. I also started watching Gilmore Girls again last night.
The room is coming together. I need to find some affordable and budget friendly canvas art – and a few accents. I’m thinking maybe an area rug too. But we’ll see. I’m also in love with my new couch. And the slipcovers for the chairs look pretty good too.
Kitchen organization
I spent a long time decluttering and organizing my kitchen cabinets yesterday. I’ve ordered too much for a single person. My goal is to waste less food and use up any ingredients that are close to expiration date. So, I ordered in a few cheap Sterlite organizers and my cabinets are starting to look really good. I’m shopping around for good mason jars so that I can store some of my baking items like oats and cereal properly.
I was tired of not being able to find anything when I needed it. I need to get a smaller tray as this one was too long for the shelf. But at least now I can easily grab stuff without having everything fall over. The shelf above this is full of oats, vinegar, oils. This is a work in progress.
A couple of years ago, out of sheer frustration, I bought a stand up pantry shelf from Facebook. It was a second hand Ikea pantry and that’s where I store most of my dried goods like pasta, rice, etc. The great thing about my kitchen is the amount of storage I have. I just have to find a system that works.
My next step is to organize and find a home for all my art supplies. Everything is just sitting on top of my kitchen table. If I want to have company over for dinner, that’s not going to work. I’ll need to get on that this week. I also want to reorganize my storage room and music room. That’s going to happen by decluttering. It’s a good winter project I think. Maybe take a while.
Healthy meal planning
I’ve spent a lot of time on YouTube and TikTok sifting through recipe ideas for fall. There are a lot of recipes I want to try. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with for the next couple of weeks based on what I have in my pantry.
- Roasted chicken thighs, with a side of mashed sweet potatoes
- Mini tarts filled with chicken or beef filling like my mom used to make
- Zucchini muffins or loaf
- Butternut squash and apple crumble – yummy!
- Something with bell peppers – I accidentally ordered these
- Spinach wraps – for daily lunches, maybe a soup too
I have a problem where I ordered too much for myself. But — I’m down to ordering twice a month for groceries. Today’s order was only to replace the baking items I had to toss out. At least they will last a long time.
So, stay tuned. I’ll be sharing a lot of recipes over the next while. And I’ll be going through some older recipes and revamping them. I posted a casserole recipe earlier this morning. It was just OK. I still have some ham left I need to use up.
So, that’s life in a nutshell right now. Focusing on healthy eating, cooking, exercising, getting some fresh air. Stocking up my pantry and freezer with healthy meals to eat over the next couple of months.
I’ve also been feeling nostalgic for older home design shows. Remember the days of early TLC shows like Trading Spaces and Divine Design? I’m also missing Anna and Kristina’s Shopping bag which was a fun show. I learned a lot about cooking and shopping habits from that show.
For now, I’ll leave you with this episode of one of my favorite design shows – Color Confidential.
Is this midlife? Am I having a midlife crisis? Or is this just a natural phase of life? Whatever it is – I’m loving it. And excited to share my creations with you.
Charmed Reflections 