(no subject)
Fall is in full swing, and I... have been doing a lot of the following:
- baking
- buying things
Ok. Over the course of the past week, I bought:
- a sweater from H&M. My office has been FREEZING cold the past while because they turned off the heat for maintenance. I raided my closet and found that I did not have an adequate, non-wool cardigan to tide me over until wearing wool sweaters in general is acceptable (I'm thinking late October, I'm going to be in denial about winter being around the corner for as long as possible). Result: slouchy, cotton-knit boyfriend sweater for $40. Has neat detailing (bell sleeves!) but the buttons look cheap, I think I'll eventually replace them with some nice brass ones that I have sitting around the house from my cosplay days. Result: felt a little bad about breaking the no-buy, but I've worn this sweater 3 times already... I'm in love.
- a jersey-ish knit long shirt/dress from Aritzia. A total "I didn't need this at all" purchase, but damn it, the second I laid eyes on this smoky violet number, I knew I had to have it. I can't wait to wear this with leggings or skinny jeans. Result: total splurge purchase at $50. Really, this was my only "thing that I didn't really need". But still! Oh well.
- a huge bottle of morning face wash from Sephora. By huge, I mean this will last me a good 6 months, if not more. It was up there ($48), but hot damn, my skin already looks way better than it did before. Sorry LUSH, I'm going back to Philosophy for my skin. The bad news is that I'm running out of my night time face wash (yes, I use 2 kinds... the night time one takes off makeup), so I'll have to buy another bottle of that soon.
- Groceries/misc: $40
- Household things! I got a bundt cake pan (SOO excited to make bundt cake, haha), a bread pan (!!!), a cocktail shaker (eh, I needed one), and a can opener (again, needed one since my old one is busted). Result: $48, but so excited and happy I got this stuff *_*
So... not a good week. Not only did I break my no-buy, I went over budget. Waaaay over budget. Which means I really WILL have to stick to my no-buy for the rest of September in order to make up for my misgivings this past week.
Anyways, since I bought a bread pan, you know I had to try it out. Yes, I was just dying to use a piece of rectangular metal. I made bread using a basic white recipe, except I substituted whole wheat flour for half of the white bread flour. I also rolled the dough in a mixture of oats, sunflower seeds and flax seeds before I baked it. Result: a scrumptious loaf, HOWEVER! My loaf didn't rise as nicely as I would have liked. It sure is tasty, but it's quite dense and doesn't have that light, airy feel that most sandwich bread does. A little sleuthing online brought me to a page that discussed the fact that whole wheat bread dough needs more water than white dough, and you may need to knead it a bit longer. My dough was a bit dry, so I will add more liquid next time. I'll also let the dough rest for a bit after it first comes together and before I start kneading it, as this apparently helps it rise better. I also wonder if I need to make some more high-altitude baking adjustments, as I'm up pretty high (1,048 M above sea level)
I do want to start baking bread instead of buying it, though. Loaves are getting expensive and, although it initially costs a bit to buy your flour and yeast (the rest of the ingredients are usually things you have sitting around anyways), in the long run it's more cost-effective. Which means I can buy stuff like, say, clothes I don't need since I'm saving money on bread. Hah hah.
Will post pictures & a recipe next time I bake!
I should also mention that it's federal election time for Canadians as well. Not as excited about this election as I was for the previous one, but I'll still vote. In fact, I'm doing more than I've ever done for an election before. I joined my political party, and I put down my name to volunteer for whatever. I probably won't canvas or anything (I hate cold calling/doing door-to-door work), but I will deliver fliers/etc. Should be interesting.
All this being said, I prefer NOT to disclose which party I am a part of (I'm assuming those who know me well could guess; it's certainly one of two parties, as the other two parties in question I am not a fan of at all) or debate politics on LJ. So I guess this will be my one and only entry on the election.
- baking
- buying things
Ok. Over the course of the past week, I bought:
- a sweater from H&M. My office has been FREEZING cold the past while because they turned off the heat for maintenance. I raided my closet and found that I did not have an adequate, non-wool cardigan to tide me over until wearing wool sweaters in general is acceptable (I'm thinking late October, I'm going to be in denial about winter being around the corner for as long as possible). Result: slouchy, cotton-knit boyfriend sweater for $40. Has neat detailing (bell sleeves!) but the buttons look cheap, I think I'll eventually replace them with some nice brass ones that I have sitting around the house from my cosplay days. Result: felt a little bad about breaking the no-buy, but I've worn this sweater 3 times already... I'm in love.
- a jersey-ish knit long shirt/dress from Aritzia. A total "I didn't need this at all" purchase, but damn it, the second I laid eyes on this smoky violet number, I knew I had to have it. I can't wait to wear this with leggings or skinny jeans. Result: total splurge purchase at $50. Really, this was my only "thing that I didn't really need". But still! Oh well.
- a huge bottle of morning face wash from Sephora. By huge, I mean this will last me a good 6 months, if not more. It was up there ($48), but hot damn, my skin already looks way better than it did before. Sorry LUSH, I'm going back to Philosophy for my skin. The bad news is that I'm running out of my night time face wash (yes, I use 2 kinds... the night time one takes off makeup), so I'll have to buy another bottle of that soon.
- Groceries/misc: $40
- Household things! I got a bundt cake pan (SOO excited to make bundt cake, haha), a bread pan (!!!), a cocktail shaker (eh, I needed one), and a can opener (again, needed one since my old one is busted). Result: $48, but so excited and happy I got this stuff *_*
So... not a good week. Not only did I break my no-buy, I went over budget. Waaaay over budget. Which means I really WILL have to stick to my no-buy for the rest of September in order to make up for my misgivings this past week.
Anyways, since I bought a bread pan, you know I had to try it out. Yes, I was just dying to use a piece of rectangular metal. I made bread using a basic white recipe, except I substituted whole wheat flour for half of the white bread flour. I also rolled the dough in a mixture of oats, sunflower seeds and flax seeds before I baked it. Result: a scrumptious loaf, HOWEVER! My loaf didn't rise as nicely as I would have liked. It sure is tasty, but it's quite dense and doesn't have that light, airy feel that most sandwich bread does. A little sleuthing online brought me to a page that discussed the fact that whole wheat bread dough needs more water than white dough, and you may need to knead it a bit longer. My dough was a bit dry, so I will add more liquid next time. I'll also let the dough rest for a bit after it first comes together and before I start kneading it, as this apparently helps it rise better. I also wonder if I need to make some more high-altitude baking adjustments, as I'm up pretty high (1,048 M above sea level)
I do want to start baking bread instead of buying it, though. Loaves are getting expensive and, although it initially costs a bit to buy your flour and yeast (the rest of the ingredients are usually things you have sitting around anyways), in the long run it's more cost-effective. Which means I can buy stuff like, say, clothes I don't need since I'm saving money on bread. Hah hah.
Will post pictures & a recipe next time I bake!
I should also mention that it's federal election time for Canadians as well. Not as excited about this election as I was for the previous one, but I'll still vote. In fact, I'm doing more than I've ever done for an election before. I joined my political party, and I put down my name to volunteer for whatever. I probably won't canvas or anything (I hate cold calling/doing door-to-door work), but I will deliver fliers/etc. Should be interesting.
All this being said, I prefer NOT to disclose which party I am a part of (I'm assuming those who know me well could guess; it's certainly one of two parties, as the other two parties in question I am not a fan of at all) or debate politics on LJ. So I guess this will be my one and only entry on the election.