toast. and other thursday thoughts

(oops. its friday already. yay!)

To toast, or not to toast. That is the question.

Jonny likes to toast things. Everything. Almost anything that goes in his mouth should be warm, and a little bit golden on top. Me? Not so much.

His thing about toast:

Why would you eat anything cold and plain when you can have it warm, melty, ooey-gooey goodness? Or Perfectly crispy crunchy?

My thing about toast:

Why would you take a good, fresh, soft piece of food and practically vaporize it?! Or at the very least, make it taste dried out and scratchy?

What do you think? Are you a toaster?

(note: we recently acquired a 'vintage' toaster oven from Katie's generous parents. it just may change my mind about toasting.)

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Other thoughts:

After much thought, personal reflection, and meditation on the matter, I have come to this conclusion: I think too much.

At any given point, I have a at least a handful of ideas bopping around in my head. And lately, I've been thinking, about thinking. Multitasking is not as efficient as one might think. Listen to this, or this if you are interested.

Because I'm essentially studying about human behavior and how to change it...what is genetically 'hard wired' and what is caused by 'outside' factors, what is automatic and what is chosen, what can be learned and what degenerates, etc...I think about thinking. And what the brain does. And how it makes us who we are. And how amazing it is. (note: How could we not have a divine Creator? How could something that complex just have appeared from a cloud of smoke and dust? Impossible, if you ask me.)

I want to learn to slow my brain down. To have better focus. I wonder if I need to pick up and move to a remote, tropical island to do this? Or completely change my lifestyle? Or perhaps just be better about including relaxation in my life (for mind and body).

Also, I tell you about my thoughts. That helps, I think.

Is life meant to be a giant balancing act? You can ask anyone you know (or don't know, for that matter), how many things they have to keep track of on a daily basis. Their list is probably just as long as yours. Why? Why is life so fast and crowded? Why can't we just say 'no' to one more activity, one more responsibility? A professor at Harvard, Tal Ben-Shahar, who teaches Positive Psychology says this:

"Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much."

Can you tell I'm on an NPR kick? Read one of these articles about leisure time, if you have a minute. ;) Interesting.

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One last thought. Its about Money.

I hate money. I'm fighting a battle with it. I'm not sure who is winning. I wish there was some other way to buy and trade and for everyone to have the things they need. Such is the pain of living in a free capitalist society, I suppose.

Anyway, yesterday I had an enlightening experience. A rare occurrence. Rare, at least, for me. You see, I usually grocery shop once a week or once every 2 weeks...we buy a bunch of food and try to make it last as long as possible. However, this week I did something I never do. As a result of a last minute dinner party scheduling, I actually went to the grocery store and left with 1 brown paper bag full of food for just one dinner.

This gave me the unique opportunity to compare it directly to the cost of a single meal 'eating out'.

For all the veggies for a big salad, breadsticks, pasta, sauce, ground beef, and icecream bars for dessert, I paid $14.47. That's awesome. A three course meal, for 4 people.

(and we had leftovers of everything! we can easily make another salad, and i'll be having spaghetti for lunch for 2 days. there are still 8 icecream bars in the freezer. :)

Think about 4 people eating out at a restaurant. I'm not even talking about fine dining. Try T.G.I. Fridays, or Chilis, or even McDonalds, or even....dun dun dun..Taco Bell (the cheap master). I bet you can't do it.

I bet you can't get 4 people completely stuffed full and satisfied (plus dessert!) with $13.47. (and DON'T forget to leave a tip! I'm obviously a stickler about that.)

For 4 people, I bet Chilis would cost about 40$ (that's a conservative estimate), then you add the 20% tip and it is about $48.00.

48.00-14.47= $33.53 WOW!

(I know spaghetti is cheap, and buying 4 steaks might even out this difference...but still.)

30 dollars?

• You could buy a new pair of shoes! Or a framed art print for your wall, or (less excitingly) a whole tank of gas, or 2 big bags of dog food.
• Do this twice and you could buy a nice leather purse or a bench for your patio.
• Do this three times and you could almost buy a longboard, or that new acoustic guitar you've been eyeballing.
• Do this for a year and think about how much money you'd have in the bank! (cut out 'eating out' once a week: 30 x 52=$1560!) You could book that cruise, pay off a chunk of your loans, or walk away with a new flatscreen!

Looking at the opportunity cost always helps me gain perspective. Keeping big goals in mind (a family trip, a college savings, a downpayment for a house...what ever is important to you), can really keep frivolous daily spending at bay.

Ok, I'll stop, I'm starting to sound like Suze Orman. But you get the idea.

We don't go out to eat very often. But we could do better. I LOVE going out to eat as much as the next person, don't get me wrong. But with this unexpected experiment, I am even more convinced by how much money we are wasting by paying a restaurant for greasy expensive food.

Here's to cooking at home more often.