The Fix or Replace Daily: Internet Edition



Last weekend our modem was on the fritz. We did all the typical rebooting and it worked for a few days, puttered out mid-week, repeated rebooting and started looking into getting it replaced. Mind you, over the past month our oven went out and we were discussing whether to fix it or replace it. We could fix it for about $40 but the whole thing new was somewhere around $200.  We have a counter top convection oven that has assisted nicely while we thought about what would be our best decision. A couple weeks prior our upstairs furnace stopped working. This, we knew, could be fixed for about $50 rather than being replaced for hundreds of dollars. Then, shortly after the modem-spasms started, the 30-ish year old dishwasher lost its oomph. With all the home cooking we do, 2 days without a dishwasher meant every single nook in the kitchen was piled high with dirty dishes. The dishwasher had to be replaced.


Let's recap our list of broken electronics: Modem, Furnace, Oven, Dishwasher.

Charlie put in a call to Windstream and they told him we'd have to pay $75 for a new modem. Well, we paid about $85 a month for a land line and Internet, so an extra $75 to waste time was a hefty price knowing we had another big purchase to make. Plus, without the Internet, our bill would go down to $25 a month.

C and I sort of already resented ourselves for how much TV we watched (thanks to Netflix...another $10 a month), and neither of us relies on the Internet for work. We have access at work and on our phones, so it wasn't entirely nuts for us to discuss the option of getting rid of the Internet at home.  That, plus the money-saving math, plus the series I'd just read for adults on Project-Based Homeschooling (no, I don't homeschool, I just think Lori has an incredibly smart outlook on leading a purposeful family life, yes, I do realize the irony that I had to read something on the Internet to push me towards this) made the decision fairly easy to nix the 'net.

There you have it: no home Internet and a new phase of home life that I hope will lead to deep investigation, creativity, and finding self-purpose. I'm not sure what will happen, but I'm sure it will end up here!


Breakfast: Kickstarting my brain with grain


Hmmm, seems I'm talking about tasty stuff a lot these days, let's keep the trend going! I'm not doing a great job with the detox, but the beauty of this one is how forgiving it is. I feel like I can keep going and do the food aspect of it to create healthy habits and redirect my taste buds. Afterward, I can go back and integrate the yoga. In the meantime, I'm trying to remember to do all of it, just not beating myself up if I don't remember/can't find the time to do the morning routine of meditation and yoga.

Sorry for the pitiful picture...all I had on-hand was my cell phone.

This is pretty much what breakfast has looked like for the past week: baked apple quinoa (keen-wah) with a liver-cleansing beverage. Last week I started each day with a lemon drink that I grew pretty fond of: Juice from half a lemon, dash of cayenne, 2 ounces apple cider vinegar and a spoon of honey in 8 ounces of warm water. This week I'm supposed to replace the lemon drink with a detoxifying tea, but I had my lemon drink this morning anyway.  I don't know if it's that my tastes are changing, but I really enjoy starting my day with it!

I've used quinoa a handful of times in the past, but always as something of a rice substitution. Because it's protein-packed and full of fiber, it makes a perfect morning meal. I first tried this version which called for chopped apples, a few other ingredients, and dry grain all mixed together and baked.  It was good, but for texture's sake with the next batch I decided to partially cook the grains before mixing them up and baking them. I went with Gabby's Gluten Free Cinnamon Breakfast Bake, but instead of soy milk used apple sauce, didn't use quite as much maple syrup, and threw in a handful of chopped dates.

Warding off the sugar monster



Tired of my turmeric tea talk? When @ShaynaLaGrace  (aka La La Grace) asked twitters to join her in a 30 day detox, I jumped right on in. The detox, Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life by Tiffany Cruikshank,  reflects the changes I was already making, but having it written solidified my resolve. It also works well as my Wellness Prescription. For week 1 you scale back on caffeine, sugar and alcohol and add a series of yoga sun salutations. I've been doing a yoga work out lately that consists mainly of sun salutations, so that part seemed easy enough. I rarely drink so that's another easy one, but caffeine and sugar have my by the jowls. I'm not sure that's even a saying, but let's pretend it is.

One way to scale back on the sugar is to nix the Starbucks Chai which has 47 g of sugar (in a grande soy).  The only ingredients I found online were for the Chai Concentrate, which I'm not entirely convinced is the same concentrate they use to make the drink behind the bar. The concentrate ingredients are:
WATER, BLACK TEA, BLACK PEPPER, GINGER, CARDAMOM, CINNAMON, CLOVES, STAR ANISE, NATURAL FLAVORS, CANE SUGAR, HONEY, GINGER JUICE, NATURAL FLAVORS, VANILLA EXTRACT, CITRIC ACID
 I think the in-store version must have sugar and honey higher up on the ingredient list.Anyway, to cut back on sugar, I made my own concentrate to make and take with me to work. Basically I used 12 chai tea bags simmered in 4 cups of water for 6 minutes. The spices weren't apparent enough, so I added extra ginger, black pepper, turmeric, and a dash of pumpkin pie spices (mainly to enhance the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom). I then sweetened it with honey and a bit of agave syrup. Serve it up with coconut milk and it's pretty good, but still not spot on. When I get it just right I'll share the exact recipe.

Do you make your own chai concentrate? What's your recipe? Are you a slave to the sugar monster? How do you (or do you even) ward him off?