[Harriet]

12 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

I am very cranky, because I'm not getting a satisfying amount of work done. This is likely partly sleep deficit. Also I'm hungry, probably. And hate everything? I think I hate everything. That's a problem, because I means I don't want to start anything, because I hate it. But I hate everything because it's not done.

 

Can you do the sleep?

I like to imagine that during sleep, your dream self does battle with your enemies: mood, attention and energy killing demons.

[sarakingdom]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

Well done on doing a thing. And on getting yourself some food - I saw a wise person say recently that if you hate everything, you're probably hungry

 

Grumble grumble stupid wise people.

 

I also am still in a red alert zone for sleep, which will take me a few days to significantly reverse, and it turns out I miscounted my water intake, because I'm yet again having dehydration headaches this week, which is rare for me.  Those things can't be helping, either. I think my goals today will just be managing to sleep, eat, and hydrate correctly.

 

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

What kind of things do you save for stock? We never bother to make stock, but freezing leftovers to make it make a lot of sense.

 

Bones are the main thing, obviously, which, come to think of it, may make this a suitable Hogswatch activity. Any leftover bones and cartilage and bits of skin go in the freezer bag. (You can mix and match if no one keeps kosher/halal, but I'd avoid ham bones unless you know you want a ham flavored soup, like for bean soups. Ditto fish bones and shrimp shells - you can make fish stock for seafood soup, but it's a special case.)

 

Then any veggie/herb scraps and offcuts from things that, in their best lives, taste roughly suitable for soup - the onion skins and base, garlic skins and any dried out cloves, the heads and tips of carrots and any peels, stems of parsley or thyme or rosemary, the dry ends trimmed off the celery, cabbage cores and wilty outer leaves, courgette or tomato, mushroom, peppers, probably potato peels are fine. Even the odd lemon peel is very nice, though I personally prefer organic on those, since they're hard to wash well. Anything soup-adjacent, but being discarded for reasons of aesthetics, wilt, or toughness - not where you're cutting out an actual bad bit. (Coriander and ginger are very, very good in a stock, especially together, but are subtly detectable flavors in the finished stock, so be aware if that's an issue for your soup plans. I avoid asparagus because the flavor is so strong. Beets I'd avoid so your soup doesn't look like a murder. There are people who add rinsed egg shells for extra calcium, which I've done when I remembered to bother, but my current house is new to the ways of stock, so one step at a time. Not a Stock 101 move.)

 

Then cover with water and pressure cook the crap out of it for 60-90 minutes, or simmer for, I dunno, at least two or three hours? Not sure what the unpressurized boiling time is. I like to get eeeeeeverything out of the bones, so they're kinda soft and crumbly when done. The best stock is gelatinous when it cools, because you've cooked all that out of the bones. (Though you can of course do a veggie soup broth without any bones for vegetarians the same way, with less time.) I also tend to reduce it a bit to concentrate it when I make soup, though it's fine as is. It will be a very dark, rich stock, like dark beef broth, thanks mostly to color from the onion skins. With some salt, it'll be pretty palatable on its own. Also good for stews and chilis and things. For cream soups of something delicately colored, it might be too dark, so I'd do an all-bone (or bone and green veg/herbs) version if I were making an aesthetically pleasing cream soup of something pale green.

 

The treadmill part is when you peel more onions to make the soup, and suddenly start filling up the bag again.

[sarakingdom]

9 hours ago, Everstorm said:

I applaud successful doing of the thing in spite of the feels and the hunger.  Well done!

 

All part of rewarding imperfect performance around here!

 

25 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Can you do the sleep?

I like to imagine that during sleep, your dream self does battle with your enemies: mood, attention and energy killing demons.

 

Sleep is not coming too easily this week, I confess. Four hour chunks seems to be my max. Usually I can immediately get a second one if that happens, but that's been an issue lately.

[Snarkyfishguts]

I thought I was following you! Your naughty and nice list is really fun but I caution again being too hard on yourself. 
 

I love the cozy baking/cooking/potions you are making!!

 

I hope you get some sleep soon! Insomnia sucks.

[Jarric]

1 hour ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Grumble grumble stupid wise people.

 

I also am still in a red alert zone for sleep, which will take me a few days to significantly reverse, and it turns out I miscounted my water intake, because I'm yet again having dehydration headaches this week, which is rare for me.  Those things can't be helping, either. I think my goals today will just be managing to sleep, eat, and hydrate correctly.

 

 

Bones are the main thing, obviously, which, come to think of it, may make this a suitable Hogswatch activity. Any leftover bones and cartilage and bits of skin go in the freezer bag. (You can mix and match if no one keeps kosher/halal, but I'd avoid ham bones unless you know you want a ham flavored soup, like for bean soups. Ditto fish bones and shrimp shells - you can make fish stock for seafood soup, but it's a special case.)

 

Then any veggie/herb scraps and offcuts from things that, in their best lives, taste roughly suitable for soup - the onion skins and base, garlic skins and any dried out cloves, the heads and tips of carrots and any peels, stems of parsley or thyme or rosemary, the dry ends trimmed off the celery, cabbage cores and wilty outer leaves, courgette or tomato, mushroom, peppers, probably potato peels are fine. Even the odd lemon peel is very nice, though I personally prefer organic on those, since they're hard to wash well. Anything soup-adjacent, but being discarded for reasons of aesthetics, wilt, or toughness - not where you're cutting out an actual bad bit. (Coriander and ginger are very, very good in a stock, especially together, but are subtly detectable flavors in the finished stock, so be aware if that's an issue for your soup plans. I avoid asparagus because the flavor is so strong. Beets I'd avoid so your soup doesn't look like a murder. There are people who add rinsed egg shells for extra calcium, which I've done when I remembered to bother, but my current house is new to the ways of stock, so one step at a time. Not a Stock 101 move.)

 

Then cover with water and pressure cook the crap out of it for 60-90 minutes, or simmer for, I dunno, at least two or three hours? Not sure what the unpressurized boiling time is. I like to get eeeeeeverything out of the bones, so they're kinda soft and crumbly when done. The best stock is gelatinous when it cools, because you've cooked all that out of the bones. (Though you can of course do a veggie soup broth without any bones for vegetarians the same way, with less time.) I also tend to reduce it a bit to concentrate it when I make soup, though it's fine as is. It will be a very dark, rich stock, like dark beef broth, thanks mostly to color from the onion skins. With some salt, it'll be pretty palatable on its own. Also good for stews and chilis and things. For cream soups of something delicately colored, it might be too dark, so I'd do an all-bone (or bone and green veg/herbs) version if I were making an aesthetically pleasing cream soup of something pale green.

 

The treadmill part is when you peel more onions to make the soup, and suddenly start filling up the bag again.

 

That's brilliant, thank you. In January, when my freezer is no longer full of party food, I'm gonna give this a go.

[Mistr]

4 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

Then cover with water and pressure cook the crap out of it for 60-90 minutes, or simmer for, I dunno, at least two or three hours? Not sure what the unpressurized boiling time is. I like to get eeeeeeverything out of the bones, so they're kinda soft and crumbly when done. The best stock is gelatinous when it cools, because you've cooked all that out of the bones. (Though you can of course do a veggie soup broth without any bones for vegetarians the same way, with less time.) I also tend to reduce it a bit to concentrate it when I make soup, though it's fine as is. It will be a very dark, rich stock, like dark beef broth, thanks mostly to color from the onion skins. With some salt, it'll be pretty palatable on its own. Also good for stews and chilis and things. For cream soups of something delicately colored, it might be too dark, so I'd do an all-bone (or bone and green veg/herbs) version if I were making an aesthetically pleasing cream soup of something pale green.

 

I learned to make stock as described above, but add a bay leaf, some salt and a glug of vinegar to help draw the calcium out of the bones. You can pick the vinegar to match the intended soup flavor profile. Apple cider vinegar is good for a lot of things. Balsamic vinegar is good for Mediteranean style soups. Plain white vinegar works fine and does not add extra flavor.

 

Taste the soup after you have mixed the stock with the other ingredients. If it is too sour, add a little baking soda to neutralize the vinegar. This adds salt, so adjust the acidity before adding more salt.

[MaeradCase]

On 12/5/2022 at 11:39 PM, sarakingdom said:

 

...fermented spiced apples. All the taste of spiced apple chutney, but lower in sugar. I have missed slices of apple with cheese. I'm gonna need to hustle on emptying the pickle jars.

My dad pickles foods, and I love his picked pears. 😍

 

16 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

I did a thing. One whole thing. I am the greatest, no one has ever accomplished anything this hard. Now I will attempt to feed myself. I think an effort this herculean calls for Christmas jazz.

Man, this is so relatable, and I'm so proud of you and your accomplishments.

[MaeradCase]

4 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Grumble grumble stupid wise people.

 

I also am still in a red alert zone for sleep, which will take me a few days to significantly reverse, and it turns out I miscounted my water intake, because I'm yet again having dehydration headaches this week, which is rare for me.  Those things can't be helping, either. I think my goals today will just be managing to sleep, eat, and hydrate correctly.

 

 

Bones are the main thing, obviously, which, come to think of it, may make this a suitable Hogswatch activity. Any leftover bones and cartilage and bits of skin go in the freezer bag. (You can mix and match if no one keeps kosher/halal, but I'd avoid ham bones unless you know you want a ham flavored soup, like for bean soups. Ditto fish bones and shrimp shells - you can make fish stock for seafood soup, but it's a special case.)

 

Then any veggie/herb scraps and offcuts from things that, in their best lives, taste roughly suitable for soup - the onion skins and base, garlic skins and any dried out cloves, the heads and tips of carrots and any peels, stems of parsley or thyme or rosemary, the dry ends trimmed off the celery, cabbage cores and wilty outer leaves, courgette or tomato, mushroom, peppers, probably potato peels are fine. Even the odd lemon peel is very nice, though I personally prefer organic on those, since they're hard to wash well. Anything soup-adjacent, but being discarded for reasons of aesthetics, wilt, or toughness - not where you're cutting out an actual bad bit. (Coriander and ginger are very, very good in a stock, especially together, but are subtly detectable flavors in the finished stock, so be aware if that's an issue for your soup plans. I avoid asparagus because the flavor is so strong. Beets I'd avoid so your soup doesn't look like a murder. There are people who add rinsed egg shells for extra calcium, which I've done when I remembered to bother, but my current house is new to the ways of stock, so one step at a time. Not a Stock 101 move.)

 

Then cover with water and pressure cook the crap out of it for 60-90 minutes, or simmer for, I dunno, at least two or three hours? Not sure what the unpressurized boiling time is. I like to get eeeeeeverything out of the bones, so they're kinda soft and crumbly when done. The best stock is gelatinous when it cools, because you've cooked all that out of the bones. (Though you can of course do a veggie soup broth without any bones for vegetarians the same way, with less time.) I also tend to reduce it a bit to concentrate it when I make soup, though it's fine as is. It will be a very dark, rich stock, like dark beef broth, thanks mostly to color from the onion skins. With some salt, it'll be pretty palatable on its own. Also good for stews and chilis and things. For cream soups of something delicately colored, it might be too dark, so I'd do an all-bone (or bone and green veg/herbs) version if I were making an aesthetically pleasing cream soup of something pale green.

 

The treadmill part is when you peel more onions to make the soup, and suddenly start filling up the bag again.

This sounds like an elaborate use of what would go in my parents' compost pile, except now boiled in addition to bones. I am intrigued, but the effort of making broth for LanZhou noodles was enough to make me reluctant to make that kind of effort more than once a year.

[sarakingdom]

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

I learned to make stock as described above, but add a bay leaf, some salt and a glug of vinegar to help draw the calcium out of the bones.

 

I initially learned the acid hint, too, but then read that was a myth, and gave it up because of how hard it was getting the flavor right. May or may not be the case, because it has the sound of science to it, but I can confirm that you can get so much calcium out of the bones that they crumble to powder in your hands without an acid. Salt and bay are good additions. I tend not to salt or season at this stage because at least half of what's in the pot gets discarded, but it definitely doesn't taste like much until the salt is added.

 

2 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

My dad pickles foods, and I love his picked pears. 😍

 

Good confirmation. I did find two apples left behind by someone who traveled for Christmas, so I might be doing this experiment.

 

2 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

This sounds like an elaborate use of what would go in my parents' compost pile, except now boiled in addition to bones. I am intrigued, but the effort of making broth for LanZhou noodles was enough to make me reluctant to make that kind of effort more than once a year.

 

Yeah, I started doing this regularly when I lived in a building with  no compost, to feel better about not composting it. It does make great soup, though.

 

I'd say it was probably easier than making broth to a recipe, because there's no gathering and measuring ingredients. What's saved for the bag is what's saved in the bag. You just dump it in, then you walk away from it for a few hours, and just need to strain it into something to store it in till you make soup.

[sarakingdom]

Week 1 Day 3

 

I'm sick-daying my sleep to get it under control, because a 20 hour deficit is no bueno. So today is just slow and steady.

 

I'm also putting big breakfasts firmly back on the radar, cuz I seem to be reacting to food shortages, which may be partly lack of reserves from adequate sleep. (I was going to start IF again, but I think this is not the time. At least a few more days of enough food and rest.)

 

So I've also had a lot of food and a lot of hydration. Have done some things. Not sweating the formal list too hard today, just doing things. (Am currently out of food. Not a fan. I'll need to do some baking.)

[sarakingdom]

Week 1 Day 3 & 4 & 5

 

	Plans	Hogswatch Cheer	🎁
M5	Done	Done
T6	Done	Done
W7	Done	Done
Th8	Plan time scarcity week Fix upstairs Christmas lights Start yule logs Plan evening zendo time Plan morning walks Index cards to leave jobs in relevant rooms	Yule log
F9	Finish project Seasonal baking
S10	Get out Hogswatch lights Swap winter clothes Shop my closet for new outfits
Su11	Seasonal baking
			⛄

 

	Naughty	Nice	💀
M5	No workout An off plan meal	Meditate Bonus zendo attendance Took a needed nap Holiday chocolate (planned) Got back on the food plan	🎁🎁🎁
T6	Didn't quite hit the mark on sleep Not a productive day No meditation No exercise	Made eggnog Got back on the tracking horse Yule log Had a needed nap Christmas music	🎁
W7	No evening routine Not a productive day Did not stick to the list No zendo	Went for a walk Ate probably enough Hydrated Slept basically enough Read a seasonal book Meditated	🎁🎁
Th8	Not a productive day Made some unnecessary bad sleep choices	Yule log Meditated Zendo progress Many hours of brain work Took hibernation seriously Made soup stock
F9		Hit my sleep goal for yesterday
S10
Su11

 

I think I ate enough today, or at least came kinda close. I feel like I was eating all day, and I suspect I'm still several hundred calories short, but it's in the ball park. I have also slept enough to get to bed on time and also recognize that I am tired.

 

I'm making slow progress on my sleep deficit. It's under 20 hours. I'm officially "sick" until it gets down to 10 hours. Still working and stuff, just going full sick day protocol of rest and fluids and so on, till it's down to something more manageable. (Which is, of course, the basic idea of hibernating. This is the job. I am a sleepy bear, stuff me with deer and berries and put me to bed.)

 

Thursday is a managerial day. I need to do some project management. I will make some tea and sit in front of the virtual fireplace and do project management.

[Harriet]

Good work on the food and sleep. Also, moths are nice and high in calories and fat.

[sarakingdom]

22 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Your naughty and nice list is really fun but I caution again being too hard on yourself. 

 

The naughty/nice list is the biggest damn cheat of a challenge ever, especially since I made the dubious decision to permit holiday cheer on the "nice" list. I'm actually concerned it's too trivial to tip the net balance to "nice" even on very bad days. I almost literally cannot produce a naughty day, and a challenge that can't be failed is not quite a challenge.

 

My only justification is that it aims to generate mindfulness of my choices, so that the bad ones are noticed (and hopefully chosen deliberately, or at least give an opportunity to find a pattern or cause), and the good ones have an opportunity to be noticed and celebrated. I miiiiight be able to generate some sort of fixed versus growth mindset reasoning, if I think about it.

[sarakingdom]

47 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Good work on the food and sleep.

 

3.5 hours last night. This is absolutely unacceptable. I want to go maul some unsuspecting forest creature.

[Harriet]

7 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

 

3.5 hours last night. This is absolutely unacceptable. I want to go maul some unsuspecting forest creature.

 

Bad work on the sleep. Don't maul me though. I'm more of a suspicious forest creature.

[sarakingdom]

27 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Bad work on the sleep. Don't maul me though. I'm more of a suspicious forest creature.

 

[sarakingdom]

1 hour ago, sarakingdom said:

3.5 hours last night. This is absolutely unacceptable. I want to go maul some unsuspecting forest creature.

 

Snack. Hydration. Moisturised. Took work back to bed. Just like a bear. (Bears take work into the cave, right?) I said I was gonna sick-day this, and I'm gonna. This is Hogswatch Hibernation, dammit. I will learn to rest if it kills me.

[Mistr]

Hibernate! Hibernate! Hibernate!

 

 

 

21 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

I initially learned the acid hint, too, but then read that was a myth, and gave it up because of how hard it was getting the flavor right. May or may not be the case, because it has the sound of science to it, but I can confirm that you can get so much calcium out of the bones that they crumble to powder in your hands without an acid. Salt and bay are good additions. I tend not to salt or season at this stage because at least half of what's in the pot gets discarded, but it definitely doesn't taste like much until the salt is added.

 

I have plenty of evidence (aside from my biochem background) that acid helps dissolve calcium salts. We use vinegar to dissolve the mineral deposits in the tea kettle and coffee pot from hard water. Works like a charm. 

 

If you have soft water, you probably get good mineral extraction without acid. I have hard water, and adding vinegar helps.

 

19 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

I'm sick-daying my sleep to get it under control, because a 20 hour deficit is no bueno. So today is just slow and steady.

 

I'm also putting big breakfasts firmly back on the radar, cuz I seem to be reacting to food shortages, which may be partly lack of reserves from adequate sleep. (I was going to start IF again, but I think this is not the time. At least a few more days of enough food and rest.)

 

So I've also had a lot of food and a lot of hydration. Have done some things. Not sweating the formal list too hard today, just doing things. (Am currently out of food. Not a fan. I'll need to do some baking.)

 

You are doing all the right things. I hope you get to see benefits from it soon.

[sarakingdom]

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

I have plenty of evidence (aside from my biochem background) that acid helps dissolve calcium salts. We use vinegar to dissolve the mineral deposits in the tea kettle and coffee pot from hard water. Works like a charm. 

 

Yes, a minute's more thought would have confirmed it is indeed science. If nothing else, that's the "tooth in cola" experiment.

 

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

If you have soft water, you probably get good mineral extraction without acid. I have hard water, and adding vinegar helps.

 

I have been on city water for some time, which may well be very filtered of mineral content. I don't have good data on whether enough heat and time (and possibly pressure) accomplishes the same thing, or on whether all the vegetable matter I toss in subtly affects the acidity of the pot, versus bones on their own. Those aren't highly acidic veg, but there's gonna be some ascorbic acid and so on.

 

If I weren't getting bones I could crumble, I suspect I'd choose lemon juice over vinegar for my acid; I'm sometimes very sensitive to the chemical flavor of commercial vinegar, and also to the flavor of baking soda - I get the aluminum taste from very small amounts, I've had to stop baking with it. Lemon is a bit lighter in flavor, and I'd even substitute pure citric acid if I had it on hand. Acidity in soup is very nice, but the flavors it carries with it, not always so much.

 

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

You are doing all the right things. I hope you get to see benefits from it soon.

 

SLEEP IS THE WORST IT IS SO HARD.

 

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

Hibernate! Hibernate! Hibernate!

 

 

A role model! An aspirational lifestyle image for me to emulate. This is me.

[Scaly Freak]

11 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Snack. Hydration. Moisturised. Took work back to bed. Just like a bear. (Bears take work into the cave, right?) I said I was gonna sick-day this, and I'm gonna. This is Hogswatch Hibernation, dammit. I will learn to rest if it kills me.

 

No, bears do not actually do that. However, as humans, we have a lot more options because we like makings things more complicated.

[sarakingdom]

13 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

No, bears do not actually do that. However, as humans, we have a lot more options because we like makings things more complicated.

 

Do bears at least take a couple of good books? A cozy novel?

[Scaly Freak]

13 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Do bears at least take a couple of good books? A cozy novel?

 

In the form of audiobooks, yes. How else would they fall asleep?

[sarakingdom]

1 hour ago, Scaly Freak said:

In the form of audiobooks, yes. How else would they fall asleep?

 

Oh, phew. It would be a very long winter otherwise. I knew bears were civilised.

[sarakingdom]

Week 1 Day 5

 

I got quite a bit of work done yesterday. Not all the projects I meant to hit, I went off course a little, but I stayed focused for quite a while, so that's good. Sleep, food, and water, who knew.

 

Speaking of water, my dehydration symptoms are starting to lessen. I need to keep on it pretty hard.

 

I hit my full 8 hours of sleep yesterday! First time in well over a week, maybe two.

 

I made some soup stock last night when I made dinner. The freezer bag was too full, so I'm committed to more soup later on.

 

I'm not mixing work mindset and rest mindset too well. I need to work on that, or, if nothing else works, schedule a rest day.

 

Now it is time for a wizardly feast.

[Snarkyfishguts]

44 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

hit my full 8 hours of sleep yesterday! First time in well over a week, maybe two.

YAY!!!!!