Hello, week № 3. Nothing like a new year to help me find little things to improve to make our home life nicer. I don’t make resolutions exactly, but I do like finding new things to enjoy, or make time for old things. This week I want to talk about foodstuffs, earstuffs, and sheets that DO NOT collect dog fur.
Specifically we’re talking about homemade chicken broth, a shareable cucumber salad, my current audiobook rotation, tightly woven bed linens, and pillowcases that enable sliding.
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Here are my five favorites this week:
- Baby broth
- Cucumber salad
- Audible.com
- Sateen sheets
- Silky pillowcases
— BABY BROTH
For the sake of clarification I am talking about broth FOR babies…ahem.
The simple story here is that I have a toddler in the house, and I figured “why give babies water when broth is more nutritious?” So I started pressure cooking broth for the babe. I essentially use the same broth recipe I fall back on:
- 2lbs chicken drumsticks
- 2 liters water
- carrots, chopped
- onion, chopped
- celery, chopped
- Splash of vinegar
- 1-2 bay leaves
- Salt & pepper
- Combine all ingredients in Instant Pot
- Cook 40 minutes on manual high pressure
- Natural pressure release
- Discard veggies
- Separate chicken meat from bones, discard bones and skin
- Strain and refrigerate broth
This particular recipe lasts almost two weeks – Baby Jupiter drinks 4oz broth in the afternoons, and I like cooking with it. Also it keeps a steady amount of fresh chicken in the house that I can easily add to soups, or use to make a fast dinner. Spices can easily be added to suit your tastes – I like this basic broth because it’s versatile.
So making broth for baby is fast and easy, plus it helps me cook for the week. All while providing Baby Jup’s little self with all of the immune boosting, gut healthy, and hydrating liquid powers of chicken broth. As expected, the broth is only as good as the chicken; this is not the time to buy cheap industrial birds. Find the best quality in your area, you won’t be disappointed. Organic pasture-raised is my favorite.
— CUCUMBER SALAD
This was a recent discovery, and one that I am not going to let fade away – especially during potluck season.
A few months ago I was cooking for a potluck, and I ended up being the fourth person to bring a chili (the others didn’t share what they were bringing until the day of the event!). When I learned that the potluck was going to be 80% chili and 15% cookies – I knew that someone had to bring a vegetable, and it might as well be me.
☞ Related: How to Manage Meal Sharing
Casual Pinterest browsing got me in the direction I wanted, and I finally found a cucumber salad recipe that wasn’t mayonnaise-based and was kind of plain. I made the recipe as-is and it was a hit! At home I scaled it down, so this is our personal cucumber salad recipe – if you’re taking it to a potluck, double this recipe. Enjoy!
- 2 cucumbers, roughly peeled, seeded, and diced to 1/2″ chunks
- 1 shallot, minced
- 4oz sour cream
- 1oz white vinegar
- 1Tbsp white sugar
- 2tsp dill (dried or fresh)
- Salt & pepper
- Place diced cucumber and minced shallot into your serving bowl, apply salt and pepper.
- In separate bowl whisk the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, and dill to make the dressing.
- Pour dressing on cucumber mixture, stir well to coat.
- Refrigerate until time to serve.
- Enjoy chilled.
Note – when doubled I like to mince down a small white onion instead of two shallots. And if you can’t access shallots – substitute 1/4 – 1/2 white onion for each shallot.
— AUDIBLE.COM
I love audiobooks. I listen on long drives, while I fold the laundry, and sometimes in the grocery store. I’m sure I have time to read books, but the time to listen seems more plentiful.
So here are my favorite titles this week:
- Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens
- The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
- Deep Nutrition by Cate Shanahan M.D.
So I don’t just cook a lot – I love learning about nutrition and how our bodies work. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise then that I also fast every day and absolutely love it. It’s not a diet, it’s a way of simplifying life via eating and it’s wonderful for the body.
☞ Related: Intermittent Fasting for Autophagy and Designer Denim
Listen to these books if you want to see food the way I do. And if you don’t like them – Audible lets users trade in titles that have been purchased within 12 months. It’s great when you buy a book that you don’t love, or you can’t stand the narrator.
— SATEEN SHEETS
A few weeks ago I was in bed, pulled the flat sheet over me, and got dog fur all over my freshly-moisturized face. Another time we spent 20 minutes brushing fur off of the clean sheets because they were covered before we even used them. Sigh. We needed sheets with a tighter weave – something that wouldn’t attract fur in the first place.
Searching led me to these sateen sheets. The price was the real winner, because nice king-size sheet sets under $100 are always a good deal. These sheets fit the bill perfectly! Not only are the sheets themselves bright and soft (I chose white), but the weave really does NOT attract dog fur. Now my good boys can sleep on my pillow, and I can easily brush any fur off by hand. No lint roller needed.
Is there a patron saint of textiles? Let me know so I can thank them for these sheets.
— SILKY PILLOWCASES
Who buys new sheets without new pillowcases too? The above set came with two pillowcases, but we have a three-pillow bed, thus needed more pillowcases.
I decided to bring home these silky navy pillowcases to contrast the crisp white, and I love them. They are simple and smooth. They don’t frizz up my hair, and most importantly they don’t attract dog fur. Again, worth every penny if you’ve had it with animal fur in your face in your bed.
Looking for something specific? Scan the Picks of the Week, Index.
Otherwise, here are more picks if you’re feeling clicky:
Lady Jupiter 