Showing posts with label goals 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals 2015. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Year End 2015

Hello friends,

It is almost Christmas and I hope you've been enjoying yourself so far.

This will be my last post until after Christmas as I will be spending the intervening days with family and friends.

As I close out the year and reflect back on things, I realize I didn't get to do many of the things that were on my 'to do' list.  This year was also the first year in some time that I did not write out my goals for the year and post them on my blog. I  posted my goals for several straight years and then reviewed them in a post at the end of each year.  But last year I felt I wanted to have a more leisurely year.   I did have a leisurely year in the sense that I did not pressure myself to "perform" but my goodness the year was absolutely non-stop busy and I had some "hits" and "misses" in terms of progress.

Probably the biggest thing I did not get around to doing this year was to travel to Kenya.  There are a number of good reasons for  delaying my trip which I won't go into. I still hope that I will travel there soonest but am not quite sure when. The delays were out of my control but I believe there is a reason and a season for everything and I am certain that when I do get to Kenya I will enjoy my trip immensely.

Since I did not get a chance to travel to Kenya it was a highlight for me to host the Kenyan Boys Choir to dinner one Autumn night while they were on tour in Canada. Meeting these fine young men gave me a chance to learn about their hopes and dreams and their achievements thus far.  It gave me such a thrill to know that Kenya's future is in very good hands with such fine young men as these.  They had a long tour in North America and returned home in middle of this month. Right at this moment they are at Diani beach on Kenyan's beautiful coast. They will be giving their final performance of the year on December 24th, 2015 before returning to Nairobi to spend the rest of their holidays with family and friends.

Beyond not travelling to Kenya, I didn't get to undertake a number of personal tasks (unnamed) and I did not get a number of craft projects done or books read.  All of this is okay as they items are really targets to keep me moving forward rather than firm goals that must be accomplished.  In terms of reading, I've manged to complete 35 of  the 45 books I planned to read. I'm currently on my 36th book called Girl in the Woods but doubt I will read another 9 books before the end of the year.

In terms of craft work, I still haven't finished my African hexagon flower crochet blanket.  But I did manage to get some sewing done for my mother (2 dresses, 2 tops, 2 skirts 3 full length slips) and finish 20 knitted dishcloths.  The dishcloths I've been using are getting rather old and it was time for some new ones. The dishcloths are also great little gifts at Christmas and for birthdays.  One new craft or hobby I learned this year was  making bar soap.  This was a long standing wish which was finally achieved even though it wasn't planned.  After taking my workshop 3 weeks ago, I was finally able to pick up my 2 bars of soap yesterday. I look forward to using them in the New Year.
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In the Spring and Summer I managed to put in the garden once again.  I hosted my niece for her annual visit and celebrated my nephew's graduation from the Bachelor of Arts Program before seeing him off for his much anticipated European vacation.

In the heat of the summer I was a tourist in my city and attended the Bloedel Conservatory and the Van Dusen Gardens which was a real delight.  The end of summer saw me preparing a small birthday dinner for my mother.  Of course visiting my mom several times throughout the year is always on my agenda and it takes considerable time, effort and energy to prepare for each trip.  There is always sewing and multiple shopping expeditions in advance to make sure she has everything she requires until the next time I can pay her a visit. Christmas holidays and sometimes her birthday,  are the times of year when spend an extra day or two visiting her rather than making a day trip.  On these special occasions we can have a nicer visit.

In the Autumn I had the pleasure of enjoying several cultural events after a long period of hiatus from attending any. I got to a performance of contemporary ballet and a couple events with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  I will round out the year by attending my first (and likely only) performance of "The Nutcracker".  This year I enrolled in a short class in Spanish which I enjoyed very much.   I hope to continue with the language lessons when I have more time on my hands.

This year I had a huge project which occupied much of my time. I helped a friend build a house and do it on a budget. Actually the project wasn't to build a house from scratch but to renovate it, adding a bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen.  I would say this project met with some success but the house isn't quite complete. There are still closets to be built in the bedrooms and the kitchen cupboards need to be finished as well.  My part in the matter was helping find materials and suggesting things such as indoor and outdoor paints, tiles, bathroom fixtures and faucets. My advice was only partially accepted.  I guess that is understandable since the house is not mine! I hope my friend enjoys the house for years to come.  I found it fun to be involved in the project and it was all a learning experience for me.

Autumn arrived & I thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful weather & photo opportunities.


Autumn of 2015 also saw me spending a bit of time enjoying our beautiful Autumn foliage and taking a lot of photos.  I also got around to cleaning out some clutter and trying to find ways to better contain my "stuff".  I purchased a few helpful aids like these trolleys on wheels (in the photo).   I admit that I didn't get the bathroom sorted yet.  I got distracted with other things.  This will be a carryover project to the new year.

The rest of the year  was busy with trying to keep on top of my health challenges and get some much needed dental work done.  I had plenty of  to-ing and fro-ing to the laboratory for tests, various eye specialist appointments, some much needed dental work (which continues) and my first colonoscopy. I continue to spend a lot of time trying to eat right and get healthier. It is a never ending task with some setbacks and a few  successes.  I don't want to dwell on any of it right now as this post is already too long.  I just want to say am grateful for the small successes I have had and hope to have more in the year to come.

For those of you who read me on a regular basis, you will know that my heart is in missions work in Kenya.  There is always tremendous opportunity to help others and I've been heavily invested in ministry to communities there as well as to individuals.

There were several missions to feed the hungry in the Pokot territories in Kenya. I've written about those initiatives on this blog from time to time.  Some of the photos below are from my earlier posts about these missions trips.



Opportunities to minister to individuals were also very present in 2015.  There was one young man who had TB and diabetes was near death.  We got him into a hospital where he received good care and convalesced for several weeks.  He had to be quarantined due to the TB but since he has been out he has  been rehabilitated to the point where he now has a job. He is also on medication to control his diabetes. This is very costly for a villager.  But I am hoping that the cost will be significantly reduced in the New Year due to a Kenyan government health initiative to make medicines more affordable for the poor.

I assisted one young man to get out of jail and get some medical helps. Even though he had a job he started abusing substances and was in great  need of intervention.  This is a very sad story because the young man is very bright but has issues stemming from childhood traumas which he has yet to deal with and accept.  His single mother works so hard to support the family.  It is hard to say what will become of him.  I am hopeful that the medical help and counseling he received will go some way toward helping him change his direction in life and get on a good path.

Then there were the two women who required hospitalization when they were about to give birth.  In a very sad turn of events, one of the women lost her child and ended up in hospital for a long time because we did not have the funds to clear her bill.  Some of my readers were able to assist with the hospital bill but in the end the family had to sell their cow in order to fully clear the bill and be released.

Another of the women was from west Pokot area needed urgent medical attention due to fistula (complications from female genital mutilation). We were able to get the woman the help she needed and back home again despite several twists and turns which including the highway to her home being washed away due to El Niño rains. Both of these woman are now home in their respective villages and doing as well as can be expected.

Who could forget baby Fidelis and her need to get to Canada for surgery?  Baby Fidelis and her mother had a rocky start getting to Canada due to a man who allegedly misappropriated money raised for the baby's travel needs.  Fortunately, the President of the nation and several high level government officials heard of the baby's plight and intervened. The baby underwent successful surgery last month after months of preparation at the children's hospital in Toronto. Baby Fidelis and her mom will be returning to Kenya very soon.  If I am able to get some new photos showing what she looks like after healing, I will share them in a future post.

The help required in Kenya isn't always medical and food related. though food and medical needs are my personal priorities especially where widows and orphans are concerned.  A close runner up is education and training because that can enable people to become self-sufficient.  Two young men needed assistance this year:  one to get vocal training lessons to further his already popular career as a singer. Finding a vocal coach isn't as straight forward as it sounds. First there is the high cost involved.  Then there are the issues of  time and distance issues so technology is a huge factor in enabling lessons to be taken from afar.  This poses cost and access issues for the student in Kenya.  I did manage to find one Los Angeles option which we are now trying for several months to evaluate effectiveness. What the young man needs is professional feedback and he should be able to get some through a process of video exchange.  Another young man is a student in his final year at a university in Nairobi. Once he finishes his Bachelor's degree he hopes to continue his studies in Canada.

Japheth (Left) at his recent ordination.
Last, but not least, there is the woman who lost her husband about 2 weeks ago and left totally adrift both financially and emotionally. With limited resources, we managed to build her a house and buy seeds for a garden, take the family of mother and 3 children to the big city of Nakuru for medical check up, get medicine for the baby who had tonsillitis, buy maize, beans and flour for the family to have food until the mother can make a few shillings.

The poor child baby was crying a lot due to a lot of swelling in the neck. He also had difficult to talk and needed soft food so we bought some milk and bread for the baby to eat while recovering from tonsillitis with medicine.  Thankfully one pastor friend, named Japheth, provided my friend, and this family a place to lodge when they unexpectedly had to stay overnight in the city while waiting for the doctor to examine the baby. .  Japheth may also have contributed to the doctor bill because the overnight stay in hospital was not expected and would have meant a much higher bill.  Last, but not least, the mother and her 3 children moved into their new home on Monday about 10 kilometres from where they were living in a rented home.  We needed to hire transportation to move them and their few belongings.
 
Here is a long shot of the house. The corn field to the left  of the house belongs to neighbours.

We didn't have enough funds to purchase any chickens for eggs, material for a chicken coop or goats.  The mother would have preferred goats to chickens so her baby and 2 other children could have fresh milk to drink.  It would also have been nice to buy some blankets and a few mattress or two so the family doesn't have to sleep on the dirt floor.   It has been cold and raining in many parts of Kenya due El Niño.  It is difficult to keep warm when there is no heating in the homes. See here for some photos of what it looks like when it rains.

In the end we built the family a wooden home instead of a tin home because a tin home can be quite cold when it rains.  The wood is treated to prevent rot and termite destruction (they get a lot of termites in Kenya) and sits on concrete (not a basement) perimeter.  I though the builders did a good job of building this modest house.



Close up of the house. We bought a lock to safeguard the premises.

You can see that the area where the new house is situated has a lot of forest and is on a hillside.  You can also see some of the trees in the front and back of the house which have been cut down to make way for the building.  To the far right of the photo you will see the newly turned garden.
 

There may be others of you who would like a chance to help this mother as she isn't quite set up yet. 
Outstanding needs include:

-  more beans, maize, cooking oil, flour, drinking water
-  1-2 goats 
-  2-4 chickens
-  materials for chicken coop
-  feed for chickens
-  mattresses & blankets
-  school needs (uniforms, shoes, books) 
-  paraffin or solar lamp (light source).  

You can reach me at kerichojoy[at]gmail[cot]com

~~~~~



Let me take this time to wish each of you a very



Merry Christmas


I pray for peace, joy and love in your life over the season and for all your loved ones too. God bless. xox

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Menu Plan

Here is another week's menu plan.  If you'd like to see my last menu plan you can see it here.

I'm leaning more toward more vegetable based dishes this week.  All vegetable dishes this week are new to me except for the Red Pepper soup which I've made before (see photo below).  I plan to look to look for a few more tasty vegetable based dishes to make which I hope to add to my repertoire. It might take awhile to find just the right vegetable based dishes.

There are so many places to find good recipes on line that it can be time consuming. Here are some links to find healthy food recipes if you too are looking to plan healthier meals. I'll be making my way through them bit by bit.


I got these links from MyFitnessPal and in the past came across several of these links looking for recipes to try.

So how did week 1 go with the meal plan?

I think it went quite well. I did find it a bit labour intensive as I had a lot of different things on the menu. For the most part I had many of the main ingredients on hand and only needed to shop once.  Frankly, I just don't eat that much for lunch and dinner so I skipped one or two lunches from my first menu plan. Though I am working on trying to eat more in the morning for health reasons it will be a challenge for me.

In my effort to make sure I eat something for breakfast other than cereal, I baked muffins twice this week.  The second time I made more of them to freeze ahead for breakfasts on days when I'm in a hurry.  Most days I will eat hot oatmeal with goji berries (for sweetener).  Sometimes I add nuts. Lunches will consist of leftovers and sometimes a new thing thrown in here and there with a salad or fruit to round things out.

The cooking routine and time for preparation and cooking should also get easier as I get used to the new routines and new recipes.  I do know how to make many dishes without a recipe however I am trying to achieve: a consistent diet, a more balanced diet and one that isn't laden with carbs. This will involve looking for new low carb recipes for breakfast that don't require me to eat a lot of meat. So far the recipes I've found require too much effort so I will keep researching.

My meal plans start on a Saturday rather than Sunday like most people. Sunday seems to be the day when most people commence their menu plans.  My choice of Saturday had more to do with when I had time to draft a plan  than anything else.  In the past my big shopping was done on Wednesdays and Thursdays before the weekly sales ended and the new ones would begin. This may change too. I'll know more as I move forward.

I will be trying to sit down with the flyers next time to plan the menu.I don't intend to post every menu on my blog only my first several attempts as I work it out and see how it is going. I'm realizing that I like the freedom that comes with not having to worry or plan what to eat every day since it is already planned out. If I don't feel like eating something, I can simply switch the menu from one day to another. Making the turkey was a good idea too. Though it was quite a skinny bird, there was more than enough left over for freezing and for making soup.


Saturday

Breakfast - Whole Wheat Pancakes or Waffles with banana
Lunch -  Red Pepper Soup
Dinner - Pot Roast & Roast Vegetables, salad 

Red Pepper Soup

Sunday

Breakfast -  Muffins or leftover waffles
Lunch - sliced beef and green salad
Dinner - Stuffed bell peppers (using brown rice & leftover roast beef)

Monday
Breakfast - Cranberry - Lemon Muffin
Lunch -Egg salad, mixed cut vegetables
Dinner - Chickpeas, Spinach, Squash Gnocci 

Tuesday

Breakfast - Hot cereal with goji berry
Lunch - Salmon Chowder, cut veggies
Dinner - Eggplant & Chickpea Stew

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cranberry Muffin
Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner -Spaghetti & Meatballs, romaine salad

Thursday

Breakfast - Hot cereal with goji berry
Lunch - Greek salad?
Dinner - Chili, cornbread or cornmeal muffins


Friday

Breakfast - Cranberry Muffin
Lunch - Green smoothie, salmon or tuna salad
Dinner - Curried Lentil Soup, home made dinner rolls

Snacks * yogurt, fruit, green smoothies, crackers/cheese

Saturday, January 10, 2015

What is in a Plan?


Hi friends,

I mentioned the other day that I was going to try meal planning. Here is my first attempt.

Some people seem to have a knack for meal planning but I'm not one of them. I will see how it goes this week with the plan. One thing that I can see will be a benefit of  a plan is that the grocery shopping list will come together more quickly in the sense of you know what you will need to buy. What I'm not sure about is how much I can take advantage of sales.  The other benefit to a plan is though you need some time to prepare it, you don't have to do much thinking during the rest of the week as your plan will guide you.

If I continue with meal planning I will need to synch my plan with sales flyers in future. I'm not sure how this will work in terms of timing and scheduling to 1) shop the flyers 2) make the meal plan and 3) draft a list of things to buy. All this is something I will need to learn as I go. Sounds silly after shopping, planning and cooking on the fly all these years.

Really what I'm attempting to do is streamline things but I am not the type that likes to write everything down every day. I guess the beauty of a weekly plan is you create it once a week and after awhile you have a repertoire that you simply repeat and shift around. Also, within the plan you can switch the menu between days as long as you have your ingredients on hand.  But this approach is vastly different from my usual approach which is to shop the sales and create meals around that. I just find this approach isn't working quite as well as it used to because a lot of things that used to be on sale are much more expensive now. A different approach is needed. Also when I see meals for a few days or a week ahead, I can try to balance things out a bit more in terms of getting good nutrition.

In the past (and hopefully into the future) I purchase a roast or two and try and portion it out for different meals in a given week.  I don't necessarily have a lot of left overs as I might cut the roast in two or three parts and use some for a roast, for a stew and for stir fry, etc.  All this is probably old news to those of you who already do meal planning.

Right now I don't have any roasts in my small freezer but I do have a turkey so that features in several meals this week. It's a smallish turkey so it may not stretch quite as far but I'll find out. My freezer size and space limitations also mean I cannot stock pile meat when it is on sale like many people seem to do. For that matter, I can't make meals ahead and freeze them.

Meal Plan  

Thursday
Breakfast – Whole Wheat Toast, 1 slice plain + 1 slice w/jam; coffee
Lunch –n/a  
Dinner – Roast Chicken Thighs/Legs; Baked Brown Rice with Celery & Onion

Snacks – Mixed nuts, 2 chocolate pieces

Friday
Breakfast – Lemon-Cranberry Muffin, Coffee
Lunch –n/a
Dinner – Stir Fry of Kohlbassa Sausage/Apple/Savoy Cabbage; Baked Barley w/Onion Soup Mix, Kale/Carrot/Raisin salad
Late snack - sandwich with left over meat

Saturday Breakfast – Lemon-Cranberry Muffin
Lunch at friend’s – surprise meal but likely vegetarian
Dinner – Baked Lamb w/mushrooms, onion, small potatoes, braised green beans, romaine lettuce/tomato/feta salad
Snacks – yogurt w/banana

Sunday
Breakfast – Hot Cereal with nuts & goji berries, coffee
Snack (My contribution to Church Fellowship) – Smoked Black Bean Dip w/tortilla chips and/or baked pita chips
Lunch – 2 Boiled Eggs; tossed green salad
Dinner - Roast Turkey & Stuffing; Green Salad, Sweet potatoe

Monday
Breakfast – 2 poached eggs, few spoons of yogurt w/flax, coffee
Lunch – Turkey Salad Sandwich (cold), tossed salad
Dinner – Penne Pasta with stir fry vegetables (onion, garlic, carrots, mixed peppers, eggplant)

Tuesday
Breakfast – Muffins (cranberry & Nut), coffee
Lunch – Potato Leek Soup, pears
Dinner – Turkey Salad or Hot Turkey Sandwich & Sweet Potato, tomatoes/English cucumber

Wednesday Breakfast – Hot cereal with nuts/goji berry, apple, coffee
Lunch – Leftover soup/s, carrot & celery sticks with peanut butter
Dinner - Quinoa casserole

Thursday
Breakfast – Hot cereal with nuts/goji berry, apple, coffee
Lunch – Tuna salad with fruit or Corn Chowder
Dinner – Grilled Steak, mushrooms, brown rice with green beans

Friday
Breakfast – Hot cereal with nuts/goji berry, fruit, coffee
Lunch – Veggie soup or soup made with leftovers, fruit, yogurt
Dinner – Basa Fish Fillets, mixed vegetables steamed, apple crumble ?

Snacks – apples, bananas, smoothies, muffins, nuts, yogurt

Notes:  After I sit back and see my plan I can see I have too many carbs. This is my usual issue. I will either turn my sandwiches into salads only, substitute a lettuce leaf for a slice of bread or use sandwich filling on one slice of bread only. Goji berries are a wonderful berry that has many health benefits and help with strength and longevity.  But you need to be careful as with all things natural there are potential side effects. If you take blood thinners, have dangerously low blood sugar readings or have blood sugar issues you should do more research and speak to your health care provider before using goji berries.




Bon Appetit!

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