This Week...Beyond Money 10/10 - 10/16

For me, a life beyond money is making choices so that you can live the best possible life, regardless of your income level. Obviously, you have to make a living, but there are many ways to improve your quality of life without increasing your income levels and correspondingly your expenses. This regular post will be some of the ways that we improve our quality of life beyond just trying to make more money.

Sorry for the late and short post this week. It has been a crazy, busy week.

Gardening:

* I've been harvesting lots (for my garden) of peppers from the indoor and outdoor plants. I usually pick the peppers off of the plants immediately upon taking them indoors, but for this batch I'm letting them grow to size. I will pick off flowers before they produce.
* I harvested a basket full of herbs.

Cooking/Groceries:
* Trucker fried up a family-pack of chicken. We had fried chicken with salad and cheesy cauliflower for lunch one day. We saved the rest to use in other meals.
* We used some of the chicken to make tacos. I added peppers and onions to the meat mix, then topped the tacos with fresh tomato, lettuce, and more peppers, along with sour cream and homemade hot sauce. All of the produce came from the farm.
* A couple times I made pasta with sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic and arugula in a mornay sauce. Simple and oh so good.

Food Preservation:
* I froze leeks.
* I dehydrated two dehydrators worth of eggplant, sliced, to use in place of some of the pasta in my lasagna.
* I dehydrated celery and peppers.
* I dehydrated oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage and basil.

Nature:
* We enjoyed a 2.5 mile hike at a park near us. The leaves were beautiful. We enjoyed going to the nature center to watch birds and look at the snacks, frogs and fish in aquariums and the scat, bone and feather displays.

House and Home:
* I got a Dalian melting clock! I've always wanted one, but they are kinda pricey, considering they are not a necessity. This one was at a thrift store for $2.

Work:
* I worked a little overtime.
* I took home some seconds: peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, beets, acorn squash, leeks, lettuce, scallions and some arugula.

Future:
* I went over to a friends house to talk with her husband about a new career idea. She made a fried chicken dinner with cornbread and mashed potatoes. We brought a bottle of her favorite wine and dessert. Cheap price to pay for all the fantastic information I got. I'm excited to explore further.
* I took a couple aptitude tests on a college website and got a solid score. I'm now taking a free course online.
* I worked a lot on Etsy since I've been making more sales. Holidays!

Health:
* I got my first eyeglasses. My near-vision is still 20-20, but my far-vision needed a  a weak prescription. I considered not getting them, but I'm glad I did. Now that I have them, I realize how pixelated my far-vision was. Now it feels like high-def. I'm so ready to do a commercial. haha
* I bought a hard glasses case for $.50 at a thrift store. I knew if I used the soft case they have me I'd break them.

How was your week?