Self-Isolation Day 6: Waste Not, Want Not

I made chili twice today. I bought ground turkey last week. The expiration date was March 23, so I had plenty of time to cook it I thought. I cut into the plastic wrap and raised the meat to my nose. This is something I do out of habit. I am not even sure what it is supposed to smell like. It always smells like shades of rotting carcass to me and the right shade is not always apparent.

I have a track record of letting meat get dangerously close to its expiration date. On the final day I’ll take it out of the fridge, smell it, decide it isn’t good anymore and throw it out. I know how that sounds. It sounds wasteful, because it is wasteful. It frustrates Heath and I understand why.

These are different times. Meat isn’t exactly easy to come by right now and given I’m never sure if the meat is good or bad I decided to roll the dice. I browned the turkey, added the chili spices, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans and corn. As the chili cooked it smelled off to me. Heath had our infuser going, so I couldn’t tell if the peppermint oil was impacting my sense of smell.

“Can you smell this?” I asked Heath. “It smells off to me.”

“It smells ok.” He replied after leaning in and smelling the pot.

I let the chili cook down for a while longer. I took a spoonful to test it and it tasted off to me.

“Can you taste this?” I asked Heath.

He took a big spoonful and then he replied, “I think it is fine.”

It pained me to waste the pot of ingredients, but not enough to risk making my family sick. I disposed of the pot of chili and started over, this time with beef. Round two was a success.

I vow to not let this happen again. And if it does happen again, I will make the same vow one more time.

Observations Day 5

1. I asked Heath today if I need to learn to sew my own clothes.

“No, you don’t.” He replied.

“But what if fashion changes dramatically while we are in isolation, what will we do then?” I asked.

There was no response.

2. Workin’ on my Fitness

Balloon Squats 🎈

I used a green balloon, but you could use a red or blue or yellow balloon depending on how strong you are feeling. If you’re feeling particularly strong you could even try a purple one. 🙌

Wall sit with snowball while practicing social distancing from the people.

3. My Ressurection Eggs arrived in the mail today. Amazon is speedy.

As you’ll recall we’re not religious. Back in the day however I spent a solid 14 years of my life as an active Catholic. Heck, I was an alter server and I do not understand the eggs other then to say each egg likely represents a significant event from Jesus’ life. There is a whip in there. A piece of cloth. A small rock. The white egg was empty because Christ had risen I’m guessing. What kid wants an empty egg? 🤷‍♀️ Fear not, Amazon also delivers chocolate. Fortunately it looks like the Easter Bunny will make an appearance after all.

4. I hoard scrunchies.

5. This just in…I don’t know, I’d say with Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Crave and Disney+ we’ve got things covered, Hallmark. Disney+ is basically raising my children right now. I don’t feel bad about it either. Solid content.

Stay healthy and at home, folks!

Kate