- What I'm Reading: Currently, I'm reading How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran for my bookclub. I like it ok so far.
- What I'm Working On: Myself. (2) I've been really loving my laceless Skechers and need more pairs; (3) I mentioned one of my goals this month is to wear more sunscreen and this one has great reviews; (4) speaking of great reviews, this phone bike mount has a lot of them so I think I'll get it, maybe; (5-affiliate link) still on the hunt for the perfect journal, but I'm leaning towards this one.
- What I'm Playing:
FoodTube: YouTube Channels for Foodies
We don't have cable or satellite TV in our household, and in talking with my friends and co-workers (at least the ones in my age range), this is very much the trend. Instead, we use the internet to watch our entertainment. Via the XBox in the living room or the Roku in the bedroom, we watch Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. YouTube has changed a lot from the days of its inception and I've been finding that it has been able to fill a void that not having cable has left in my media consumption: cooking shows. So, if you are like me and don't watch cable but love cooking shows, here are some YouTube channels you should be watching.
Nerdy Nummies
Rosanna Pansino is the Queen of YouTube food shows, in my opinion. Her show is mostly baking creations, and they are all nerd themed.
She has a great personality and is always happy and bubbly. She posts her baking videos once a week (on Tuesdays, I believe). On the weekend, she posts challenges, updates videos, and DIY quick videos.
Tasty
This BuzzFeed side channel (though they don't advertise that fact) has become a quick favorite. Their fast, recipe building videos are amazing and the recipes are in the descriptions of the videos. I just wish they'd lose the "Oh, yes!" gimmick at the end of their vids.
Everyday Food
This is part of Martha Stewart's empire and its quick informative videos are a great online cooking show fix.
My Drunk Kitchen (now MyHarto)
Hannah Hart's MDK is OG food programming on YouTube. While you may not be able to follow a recipe as she tipsily makes her way through the videos, but you will definitely find entertainment and good advice as you watch each week.
Munchies
This VICE network channel focuses on eating rather than teaching you how to cook for most of their content. They have series that they run, much like a TV station would. My favorites are Action Bronson's "Fuck That's Delicious", which follows the rapper and his friends around as they try food at the places they go on tour; and "Keep It Canada With Matty Matheson" which has this chef going around Canada and trying out different foods. Matty will also do cooking videos on the channel.
Simon and Martina (Eat Your Sushi)
Ok, this would be more like a travel show than a cooking show, but Simon and Martina have a segment called "Food Adventure Program For Awesome People" (or FAP FAP, tee hee) in which they show us delicious goodies from Korea and now Japan.
Originally they were "Eat Your Kimichi" as they shared their lives in South Korea (having moved there from Canada and lived there for over 7 years). They moved to Japan at the beginning of this year, hence the name change.
These are just a sample of what is available on YouTube. I know there are vegetarian/vegan food channels, other baking channels, and even some channels that are based on TV shows.
There are also a good range of drinks/cocktail channels, but that's a list for another post. :)
Cleaning advice from one lazy person to another (5 quick tips)
Mr. LL and I are not perfect in the cleaning department, still, but I thought I'd write this post to embrace you other lazy people out there. With three hairballs running around, and both of us having lustrous locks, our house always, ALWAYS needs sweeping and dusting (anyone else get "hair spiders" in their clean laundry or is just us?). The dishes get done when they get done and the dryer is a clothing storage compartment. However, here are a few tips that I've learned and am still learning that can make cleaning a bit easier.
1. Make your bed.
Seriously, every cleaning list/blog/piece advice tells you to do this and this post is no different. After the first Baby Steps Cleaning Challenge, I discovered the magic of making the bed. It just makes the whole room look neat-at-a-glance (don't focus too hard on the socks peaking out from under the made bed or the closet with clothes on the floor because they fell from the hangers).
2. Do the god-damn dishes.
Sigh. I wish I could just get this one down, but I'm honestly trying. If Mr. LL and I could get on the same page of doing the dishes as soon as we are done with them, then we wouldn't have to spend 30 minutes or more washing them on the weekend. It's a work in progress, and honestly I think two full time working people have to give themselves some slack every now and then. We are both tired after working all day and sometimes we just want to eat and veg out. Still, even if we just wash dishes for five minutes, WITH A TIMER, it will help out in the long run.
3. Three fluffs and you're out.
So, I've given up the fight to stop storing clean clothes in our dryer. You gotta pick your battles, and this was a losing one. However, I do have a rule that if we fluff the same set of clothes three times, then it is time for them to come out of the dryer and get put away. We usually need the dryer before it gets to that point, but weekends get lazy...lazier. We have at least gotten into the habit of putting away the clothes once out of the dryer. So, ya know, small victories.
4. 5 minute pick ups are pretty great.
During the Baby Steps Challenge, I started doing a daily 15 minute pick up, but found that most days I didn't need that much time for a pick up. So I advise just setting aside 5 minutes of your day, whenever works best for you, to just go from the front to the back of your house (or however it works for you, I live in a shotgun style house, so front to back works for me) picking up trash, things that should be somewhere else (like the socks Bigby drags out of the laundry) and just doing a general straightening up (fixing the pillows on the couch, doing a quick dry wipe of the counters, etc.). I usually make the bed at the same time, though not counting it in the 5 minutes if I'm using a timer – which I do use sometimes. When I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed, I'll use a timer to get my butt in motion to do this task; it gives you permission to stop and that is a huge stress alleviator.
5. Embrace maintenance and your future-self will thank you for it.
I've really become a convert to the "think of your future-self" mindset. It basically boils down to if you stop and think about whether or not a task will be harder for your future self than it is for your present self, then you should do it and save yourself the added struggle in the future. An example I like to use is this, will washing out the sauce pan you made dinner with now be easier to do than it would be to clean tomorrow (or, let's get real, in a few days from now) after all the food has caked on to at you have spend three times as much time and energy cleaning it?
Doing maintenance work like the tasks I've talked about above will make life easier on your future-self. I think that we lazy people are pretty selfish. I mean, I'm just calling it like I see it. I know that when I don't want to do something it is because I don't want leave the comfort of the couch to put in the effort to do it even though it needs to get done and I like the outcome of having it done. So while we may try to motivate our lazy asses with thoughts of others (spouses, kids, roommates, whatever), lazy people are selfish at their core. And I don't mean in a bad way. I'd give my right arm to make sure that no one I loved ever suffered again in their lifetimes, but I don't want to take out the trash because I'm comfortable right now and that would require me to put on pants. So if we change the motivation from outward to inward, that might be the best tactic there is for us lazy souls. What's five minutes today if that means I get an extra 30 minutes of lazy time tomorrow? See? Now THAT'S motivating.