Jupiter Learns to Cook

[Jupiter]

Hey, nerds, I'm back again for this challenge. Hopefully I'll be a little more present this time around. Anyway, the main goal this challenge is to learn to cook for myself. I've tried to learn in the past, but then work would go nuts (as it always does) and cooking (and pretty much any healthy foods) would fall by the wayside. I want to try to break that cycle if I can, plus I've been working on rearranging other things in my schedule so I can try to focus more on cooking. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, goals:

 

Cooking:

 

- Find/pick a recipe each week 

- Get the ingredients

- Cook once a week (Sunday will be my main cooking day for right now)

 

And that's really it for the main goals. Seems simple enough, but again, we'll see. And I'll still keep track of my other goals too, cooking is just the main focus this challenge. Other goals: 

 

- Workout 15-20 minutes per day

- Write 30 minutes per day

- Research 30 minutes per day

- Revise 1 hour per day

- Read 30 minutes per day

- Clean 1 thing per day

- Do something social once a week

 

I think that's it. Happy challenge, nerds.  

[Happienumber]

Nice!! Can't wait to see what you make!

 

Also, whatcha reading?

[Jupiter]

2 minutes ago, Happienumber said:

Nice!! Can't wait to see what you make!

 

Also, whatcha reading?

 

Thanks!  I'm reading "The Devil You Know" by Kit Rocha. It's pretty good. 

[Happienumber]

OK I'm sorry AAAAAAAAAAGG

I JUST GOOGLED THE BOOK

MERCENARY LIBRARIANS?????

I'm sorry I need read no more, I already know I have to read this series. 

[Jupiter]

8 minutes ago, Happienumber said:

OK I'm sorry AAAAAAAAAAGG

I JUST GOOGLED THE BOOK

MERCENARY LIBRARIANS?????

I'm sorry I need read no more, I already know I have to read this series. 

 

LOL!  

[Happienumber]

1 hour ago, Jupiter said:

Write 30 minutes per day

- Research 30 minutes per day

- Revise 1 hour per day

 

I somehow glossed over these and would also like to know the topic 

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Happienumber said:

 

MERCENARY LIBRARIANS?????

I'm sorry I need read no more, I already know I have to read this series. 

 

For one short, horrifying moment, I had visions of a certain movie series starring Nicholas Cage. Yikes.

[WhiteGhost]

2 hours ago, Jupiter said:

learn to cook

I am 100% here for this.  I learned how to cook the exact same way (make a NF challenge about it and started small).  You can do this.

[Harriet]

A most excellent challenge. Cooking is always a skill in demand. Good luck!

[Novaurora]

Here to follow!  Good luck with cooking, research, and revision!!

[Defining]

Always happy to chat, celebrate, an commiserate over cooking/baking! Looks like a fun challenge.

[Jupiter]

On 9/5/2021 at 6:41 PM, Happienumber said:

OK I'm sorry AAAAAAAAAAGG

I JUST GOOGLED THE BOOK

MERCENARY LIBRARIANS?????

I'm sorry I need read no more, I already know I have to read this series. 

 

Finished the book today. It was really good! I think you'll like the series, it's fun.  

 

On 9/5/2021 at 7:26 PM, Happienumber said:

 

I somehow glossed over these and would also like to know the topic 

 

LOL, no worries!  I'm working on 3 different things. Doing some research for a novel, writing a short story and revising another. All in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. 

 

23 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

For one short, horrifying moment, I had visions of a certain movie series starring Nicholas Cage. Yikes.

 

Hey, I liked that movie.  (We're talking about National Treasure, right?)

 

22 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I am 100% here for this.  I learned how to cook the exact same way (make a NF challenge about it and started small).  You can do this.

 

Thanks!  

 

16 hours ago, Harriet said:

A most excellent challenge. Cooking is always a skill in demand. Good luck!

 

Thanks!  Hopefully I can make it stick this time.   

 

12 hours ago, Novaurora said:

Here to follow!  Good luck with cooking, research, and revision!!

 

Thanks, glad to have you here!  

 

4 hours ago, Defining said:

Always happy to chat, celebrate, an commiserate over cooking/baking! Looks like a fun challenge.

 

I may take you up on that LOL. Thanks!  

[Jupiter]

Zero week is starting off pretty strong. But then again, I did have a three day weekend because of the holiday, so I was able to rest a lot too. Still, I think I'm doing pretty good so far. Anyway, tasks:

 

Cooking:

 

- Pick a recipe each week -- Done. Broccoli and pasta, which requires...broccoli and pasta. And some butter and seasoning to go with it. I think this recipe is doable. 

- Get the ingredients -- Nope. 

- Cook once a week -- Nope. 

 

Misc.:

 

- Workout 15-20 minutes per day -- Done. 

- Write 30 minutes per day -- Done. This new short story I'm writing is so fun. Honestly, it's been a very long while since I've had this much fun writing. Probably since I hit burnout two years ago.  

- Research 30 minutes per day -- Done. I was a little tired this morning so my mind wandered a bit, but I got through most of the 30 minutes. 

- Revise 1 hour per day -- Done. It's been...I think about 2 months and I'm finally a little more than halfway through. I might actually be able to finish it this month. We'll see. 

- Read 30 minutes per day -- Done. Finished "The Devil You Know" and now I'm reading "The Naturals", a YA psychological thriller. 

- Clean 1 thing per day -- Nope. 

- Do something social once a week -- Nope. 

 

Not too bad for day one.  

[Happienumber]

Not too bad? I'd say you killed it. 

[Jupiter]

15 minutes ago, Happienumber said:

Not too bad? I'd say you killed it. 

 

Thanks!  

[Rookie]

Oh yum. I love cooking challenges! Well done doing most of the things! 

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Jupiter said:

Hey, I liked that movie.  (We're talking about National Treasure, right?)

 

Yes, and if you liked all three of them, I'm afraid we will need to have words.  

 

As for the rest of your challenge: I love cooking. I can geek out about ingredients, seasonings, and techniques, for hours if you let me. I plan to follow your thread just for the cooking talk. Suggestion for your broccoli and pasta... sprinkle some garlic salt over it.  

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Write 30 minutes per day -- Done. This new short story I'm writing is so fun. Honestly, it's been a very long while since I've had this much fun writing. Probably since I hit burnout two years ago. 

 

This is fantastic! Long may it continue.

[Jupiter]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:15 PM, Rookie said:

Oh yum. I love cooking challenges! Well done doing most of the things! 

 

Thanks!  

 

On 9/6/2021 at 9:22 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

Yes, and if you liked all three of them, I'm afraid we will need to have words.  

 

As for the rest of your challenge: I love cooking. I can geek out about ingredients, seasonings, and techniques, for hours if you let me. I plan to follow your thread just for the cooking talk. Suggestion for your broccoli and pasta... sprinkle some garlic salt over it.  

 

LOL, nope, not all three of them, just the first one.  I'm currently pretending the second one doesn't exist. I can't imagine there being a third LOL.

 

LOL, fire away.   Hmm, the recipe said to use I think salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, but I wasn't sure about the last...Maybe I'll switch them out with the garlic salt instead. Thanks for the suggestion.   

 

On 9/6/2021 at 10:01 PM, Harriet said:

 

This is fantastic! Long may it continue.

 

Thanks, I sure hope it does.  

[Happienumber]

9 minutes ago, Jupiter said:

LOL, nope, not all three of them, just the first one.  I'm currently pretending the second one doesn't exist. I can't imagine there being a third LOL.

 

Wait there are three??? Where have I been lol

 

[Jupiter]

OMG, I'm so glad this week is over. Kind of a long rant about work if you want to skip:

 

Spoiler

 

For a short week it really was the longest week ever. Work was absolutely nuts, and my coworkers were so obnoxious. I got follow up emails constantly throughout the day every day this week. So many it was ridiculous. Today alone I got 6 calls and over 10 emails (I kid you not), from one person in the span of about 2 hours. I literally got an email every 5 minutes from this person. Even though I kept telling her that I was waiting on something and I would let her know when I had it. She still kept emailing. Every. Five. Minutes. And then she complained to the rest of the team working on the file that she couldn't get ahold of me. I was like, really? I just hope I don't get in trouble for this. They tend to blame me (and everyone in my position) for pretty much everything. And I already got in trouble once this week. One of my coworkers told my supervisor that she doesn't want to work with me anymore, because she doesn't like how I respond to her follow up emails. Though really I suspect it's because she's a very type A personality and likes things to be done exactly how she wants it exactly when she wants it. And that's not really feasible considering how many other people I do files for (seriously, I was assigned a file this morning and not two hours later a coworker from another department emailed me asking if I'd done it yet, even though I'd only barely been assigned it and I already had a long list of things to do). Not to mention how many times I get interrupted by those people on any given day. And another coworker got mad at me because he needed to catch me up on a conversation/issue that I was never even part of, but apparently I was just supposed to magically know about it already. Everything is a rush and they're all surprised and/or mad when their files aren't done immediately, even though they know how busy we are. 

 

Ugh. This is the crap I deal with. Every. Single. Day. 

 

 

Okay, rant over now. 

 

Anyway, I did things. Here are the things (not counting today):

 

Cooking:

 

- Pick a recipe each week -- Already done. 

- Get the ingredients -- Sort of. I got some of them, but the grocery store didn't have everything (for instance, I wanted rolls so I could make sub sandwiches to alternate meals with the pasta/broccoli), so I have to go to another store. My store has been scarce with the ingredients lately. Also, my friend and I are going to make breakfast burritos when she comes over next week, so I need to get stuff for that. She said to get tortillas, eggs, cheese, bacon, and potatoes. I have half, I just need the other half. 

- Cook once a week -- Nope, not yet. 

 

Misc.:

 

- Workout 15-20 minutes per day -- Done. 5/7 days so far, if I count Sunday. 

- Write 30 minutes per day -- Done. Only 3/7 days though. 😕 

- Research 30 minutes per day -- Done. 4/7 days.  

- Revise 1 hour per day -- Done. Did 2 half days and one full day, so really 2/7 days so far.  

- Read 30 minutes per day -- Done. Finished "The Naturals" and "The Fixer", both by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Quick, easy reads.  

- Clean 1 thing per day -- Done. 3/7 days. 

- Do something social once a week -- Done. Two days instead of one. 

 

I feel like I didn't do well this week. I mean, overall I did quite a bit, all things considered, but still. 😕 

 

 

[Jupiter]

39 minutes ago, Happienumber said:

 

Wait there are three??? Where have I been lol

 

 

LOL, right?  

[Happienumber]

I want to physically come to your work and have strong words with everyone there. 

Just saying. 

That is absurd. 

 

20 minutes ago, Jupiter said:

I feel like I didn't do well this week. I mean, overall I did quite a bit, all things considered, but still. 😕 

 

I think you're doing very well, especially with the extra stress! As you said, those overall stats are looking decent! And it's only zero week. You've got this.

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Jupiter said:

OMG, I'm so glad this week is over. Kind of a long rant about work if you want to skip:

 

  Hide contents

 

For a short week it really was the longest week ever. Work was absolutely nuts, and my coworkers were so obnoxious. I got follow up emails constantly throughout the day every day this week. So many it was ridiculous. Today alone I got 6 calls and over 10 emails (I kid you not), from one person in the span of about 2 hours. I literally got an email every 5 minutes from this person. Even though I kept telling her that I was waiting on something and I would let her know when I had it. She still kept emailing. Every. Five. Minutes. And then she complained to the rest of the team working on the file that she couldn't get ahold of me. I was like, really? I just hope I don't get in trouble for this. They tend to blame me (and everyone in my position) for pretty much everything. And I already got in trouble once this week. One of my coworkers told my supervisor that she doesn't want to work with me anymore, because she doesn't like how I respond to her follow up emails. Though really I suspect it's because she's a very type A personality and likes things to be done exactly how she wants it exactly when she wants it. And that's not really feasible considering how many other people I do files for (seriously, I was assigned a file this morning and not two hours later a coworker from another department emailed me asking if I'd done it yet, even though I'd only barely been assigned it and I already had a long list of things to do). Not to mention how many times I get interrupted by those people on any given day. And another coworker got mad at me because he needed to catch me up on a conversation/issue that I was never even part of, but apparently I was just supposed to magically know about it already. Everything is a rush and they're all surprised and/or mad when their files aren't done immediately, even though they know how busy we are. 

 

Ugh. This is the crap I deal with. Every. Single. Day. 

 

 

Okay, rant over now. 

 

That sounds really exhausting and terrible and pointless ☹️

 

3 hours ago, Jupiter said:

I feel like I didn't do well this week. I mean, overall I did quite a bit, all things considered, but still. 😕

 

You did some things! And you can do some more things next week. All is well.

[WhiteGhost]

4 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Kind of a long rant about work

You have one of the most toxic workplace environments I have ever heard of and it must be horrible for your metal health.  I feel awful for your whole department.