Another NaNoWriMo topic only this time, it's the summer addition. Also known as Camp NaNo, there are usually 2 challenges each summer. For 2014 there was a camp in April and July, same as last year but the year before the months were different.
I like the idea. November can be a tricky month with the holidays, family obligations, crazy work schedules and/or classes. So, having an option to write during summer is handy. And one month a year just isn't enough.
Camp NaNo also has an extra bonus, though. It doesn't require 50,000 words as the goal. People pick the number of words they want to write during the month. And it doesn't have to be a new novel, so someone could take their 50,000 words if it isn't done yet and add an extra 30,000 during Camp NaNo and that would be okay.
I haven't had much luck in the past with Camp, however. I tried back in 2012 but forgot about it each time. Or the one I did some writing in, I only got a few thousand words. This year, however, has proven different. I made a goal of 30,000 words for the month and I reached my goal a few days ago. The novel was over 30,000 words when July started, so I brought my YA novel up to over 60,000 words and I'm getting closer to finally having a finished first draft on the one I started back in like 2011. This year, it was Yay for Camp NaNo.
Though I will admit, while Camp is fun... it still can't compete with November. I can't wait for NaNoWriMo 2014 and for the first time, I already know what I'm working on. A redo of 2010 where I wrote 50k in 15 days but didn't finish the novel. I'm reattempting the Epic Fantasy with the multiple viewpoints and elves. Woot!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Meal Planning
Speaking of planning, since last post had to do with my summer novel plans, now might be a good time to talk about food.
I have been thinking about this for a while. Okay, by while I mean nearly all year long off and on. It's something that I think is a good idea, but haven't taken the time needed in order to execute said plan. That is: I want to plan my meals in advance. I have been trying to eat healthier but those many days where for a meal, I'm sitting around going "what should I eat" make it difficult because it's usually times where I'm tired or limited on time so don't wanna make the effort to cook then clean, plus my food supplies are on the minimal side at this time. The last minute need food can be difficult on the healthy eating cause there aren't always good options present and so much tasty not so healthy foods are quick.
Thus the idea that I should plan meals out in advance. While I like sometimes to have the option to mix things up, in the long run, it seems like having a plan would help.
I have been eating a little better this month, even though the scale hasn't changed. Drink water every day now, even though still drink a small soda most days. But I drink a few bottles of water each day, so that's good. Also, consuming more fruit and veggies than before. I would eat some veggies, that wasn't too bad, but I didn't really get much fruit. Earlier in the year, it was more like 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a month. So, that's a good increase, though I still eat a little too much candy and cheap, fast items that require just the microwave. But I'm working on it, so that's good. Hoping that if I keep going then some good results will show.
Anyways, back to the planning topic. I would like to plan ahead more but each time I say that, then I do nothing. I have notebooks, calendars and even a dry erase calendar. Plus, I would probably be able to budge better with a pre-planned set of meals. It's something I think I'm going to work on for the rest of summer, putting together plans ahead of time and just eating what is planned. It will take some determination and restraint, but that's the plan for now.
Do you plan meals ahead of time?
I have been thinking about this for a while. Okay, by while I mean nearly all year long off and on. It's something that I think is a good idea, but haven't taken the time needed in order to execute said plan. That is: I want to plan my meals in advance. I have been trying to eat healthier but those many days where for a meal, I'm sitting around going "what should I eat" make it difficult because it's usually times where I'm tired or limited on time so don't wanna make the effort to cook then clean, plus my food supplies are on the minimal side at this time. The last minute need food can be difficult on the healthy eating cause there aren't always good options present and so much tasty not so healthy foods are quick.
Thus the idea that I should plan meals out in advance. While I like sometimes to have the option to mix things up, in the long run, it seems like having a plan would help.
I have been eating a little better this month, even though the scale hasn't changed. Drink water every day now, even though still drink a small soda most days. But I drink a few bottles of water each day, so that's good. Also, consuming more fruit and veggies than before. I would eat some veggies, that wasn't too bad, but I didn't really get much fruit. Earlier in the year, it was more like 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a month. So, that's a good increase, though I still eat a little too much candy and cheap, fast items that require just the microwave. But I'm working on it, so that's good. Hoping that if I keep going then some good results will show.
Anyways, back to the planning topic. I would like to plan ahead more but each time I say that, then I do nothing. I have notebooks, calendars and even a dry erase calendar. Plus, I would probably be able to budge better with a pre-planned set of meals. It's something I think I'm going to work on for the rest of summer, putting together plans ahead of time and just eating what is planned. It will take some determination and restraint, but that's the plan for now.
Do you plan meals ahead of time?
Friday, June 13, 2014
Summer Plans
I haven't done a goal or update post for a little while. Since it's June and I'm doing a focus on novels for summer, it seems like a good time to do a post about my plans for the three months.
Since at the beginning of the year I focused on writing short stories, submitting and trying to write on a regular basis, I decided that summer was a good time to focus on novels. After summer there is enough of a break to rest a little before NaNoWriMo. Plus, I have plenty of novels that need work done. So, most of my writing and editing is going to novels for June, July and August.
Summer Novel Plans
Edit Tattle Tell (goal is to finish edits by August)
Finish writing Lighting the Wall (it's at 25k so far)
Finish writing Angel/Demon (it's at over 32k so far)
Write In the Horizon He Saw Rain (rewrite from short story version)
Write List 13 (rewrite from novelette version)
I haven’t forgotten about the health side. No worries. I only dropped about 3 lbs last month, going from 216 to 213. It's a hard range that I buoy in often, so still trying to get lower. Won't be anything special loss wise till I get down under 200. Either way, hoping to keep it going in that direction. I’m consuming more vegetables and fruit, which I think is helping. Then again, I’m going from barely eating maybe a serving or two a day or less to more so it’s easy to increase that amount. Also, cutting down on the buying of candy though I’m also practicing cake decorating and cupcake, so that is a new challenge.
Next, I need to up the physical activity. I do a lot of walking around, standing and even lift heavy things at work, but at home more sitting is involved. I have plenty of dvds and a little space in front of the small tv I never use. I just have to make sure I exercise at a time where stomping is okay cause I’m pretty sure if I start doing work out dvds, the people below me won’t appreciate if it’s at a sleep time. Either way, as I up the healthy foods, I can up the physical activity (or well, as I work on cakes I should up the exercise cause I don’t eat much of it, but I do taste a little and those calories count too).
So, that is my summer plans. Work, novel, eat healthier and exercise. Maybe I can get down to 205 by my birthday. The big 3-0 is approaching. I’ll bury my head in novels till it gets here.
Do you have summer plans?
What are your writing, reading, editing or health plans for June, July, August?
Since at the beginning of the year I focused on writing short stories, submitting and trying to write on a regular basis, I decided that summer was a good time to focus on novels. After summer there is enough of a break to rest a little before NaNoWriMo. Plus, I have plenty of novels that need work done. So, most of my writing and editing is going to novels for June, July and August.
Summer Novel Plans
Edit Tattle Tell (goal is to finish edits by August)
Finish writing Lighting the Wall (it's at 25k so far)
Finish writing Angel/Demon (it's at over 32k so far)
Write In the Horizon He Saw Rain (rewrite from short story version)
Write List 13 (rewrite from novelette version)
I haven’t forgotten about the health side. No worries. I only dropped about 3 lbs last month, going from 216 to 213. It's a hard range that I buoy in often, so still trying to get lower. Won't be anything special loss wise till I get down under 200. Either way, hoping to keep it going in that direction. I’m consuming more vegetables and fruit, which I think is helping. Then again, I’m going from barely eating maybe a serving or two a day or less to more so it’s easy to increase that amount. Also, cutting down on the buying of candy though I’m also practicing cake decorating and cupcake, so that is a new challenge.
Next, I need to up the physical activity. I do a lot of walking around, standing and even lift heavy things at work, but at home more sitting is involved. I have plenty of dvds and a little space in front of the small tv I never use. I just have to make sure I exercise at a time where stomping is okay cause I’m pretty sure if I start doing work out dvds, the people below me won’t appreciate if it’s at a sleep time. Either way, as I up the healthy foods, I can up the physical activity (or well, as I work on cakes I should up the exercise cause I don’t eat much of it, but I do taste a little and those calories count too).
So, that is my summer plans. Work, novel, eat healthier and exercise. Maybe I can get down to 205 by my birthday. The big 3-0 is approaching. I’ll bury my head in novels till it gets here.
Do you have summer plans?
What are your writing, reading, editing or health plans for June, July, August?
Saturday, May 17, 2014
A Stall in Progress
This happens from time to time. I'll be really productive some months (crazy in others, like nanowrimo) but on the flip side of that, there will be weeks or a month where not much gets done. Everything just stalled for the past week or so. But that's okay.
Actually, part of the reason for my recent stall (no blogging, editing, writing, reading) was due to a cold. For the past week, all I've done is work, sleep, go through kleenex and now cough. That was all kinds of fun, let me tell you. *note: sarcasm* So, that is my "excuse" for not getting much done lately. I felt up to nothing, not even reading a book. My daily writing went to over a week of 0 words per day. So, May is a slack month in progress wise. But now that I'm on the mend, I hope to make the second half at least somewhat productive.
I will admit, I don't feel that bad about not getting stuff done. Sure, it's a set back from some of my goals, like the editing, but at times things happen. Okay, I did feel a little discouraged seeing all those gray zeroes on my writing worksheet. But then I reminded myself that it's okay. I can still keep going and it's not the end of the world to miss a week of writing.
Sure, if things come up all the time and you don't find a way to work around them to get writing and such done, then it might become an issue. But an occasional set back, don't let it get you down. Things happen that get in the way of progress, projects can stall.
I also bring this up because I help moderate a writing web site and now there is a forum where Monday we post our goals for the week (5 days) and Friday we post the results. It's not many days, and some people get a bit ambitious. Honestly, I wish we did 7 day goals but that's a different story. Back to my point... Some people, when posting their results get very discouraged when they "fail" at what they had wanted to achieve. The post is a "woe is me" and "I'm so awful cause I didn't do what I wanted to do" types that start to get defeatist in tone. But try not to do that. I don't make many goals and some of them, I just don't achieve. Instead of getting discouraged, I just evaluate how things went, then figure out my next set of goals and keep moving forward.
This isn't just for writing either. Health and fitness comes with setbacks. Being sick affected how I ate and such for the whole week. Colds are tricky for weight too, for me. Cause I consumed mostly chicken noodle soup, orange juice and sprite, the scale shows a 2 lb loss. Which would be good but once I got back to eating regular food, I usually just gain in back in a few days. Because I can finally eat something besides soup. And it wasn't a healthy loss to being with because it's from eating only like 1000 calories a day and over half of it being liquid form. Plus, this stalls any exercise due to the fact that I slept when I wasn't at work.
Health, fitness, fiction, it all can stall from time to time. The question is what do you do after the stall to pick yourself up and get back to a level of productiveness.
Have you stalled on a project lately?
What do you do to get back into the swing of things?
Actually, part of the reason for my recent stall (no blogging, editing, writing, reading) was due to a cold. For the past week, all I've done is work, sleep, go through kleenex and now cough. That was all kinds of fun, let me tell you. *note: sarcasm* So, that is my "excuse" for not getting much done lately. I felt up to nothing, not even reading a book. My daily writing went to over a week of 0 words per day. So, May is a slack month in progress wise. But now that I'm on the mend, I hope to make the second half at least somewhat productive.
I will admit, I don't feel that bad about not getting stuff done. Sure, it's a set back from some of my goals, like the editing, but at times things happen. Okay, I did feel a little discouraged seeing all those gray zeroes on my writing worksheet. But then I reminded myself that it's okay. I can still keep going and it's not the end of the world to miss a week of writing.
Sure, if things come up all the time and you don't find a way to work around them to get writing and such done, then it might become an issue. But an occasional set back, don't let it get you down. Things happen that get in the way of progress, projects can stall.
I also bring this up because I help moderate a writing web site and now there is a forum where Monday we post our goals for the week (5 days) and Friday we post the results. It's not many days, and some people get a bit ambitious. Honestly, I wish we did 7 day goals but that's a different story. Back to my point... Some people, when posting their results get very discouraged when they "fail" at what they had wanted to achieve. The post is a "woe is me" and "I'm so awful cause I didn't do what I wanted to do" types that start to get defeatist in tone. But try not to do that. I don't make many goals and some of them, I just don't achieve. Instead of getting discouraged, I just evaluate how things went, then figure out my next set of goals and keep moving forward.
This isn't just for writing either. Health and fitness comes with setbacks. Being sick affected how I ate and such for the whole week. Colds are tricky for weight too, for me. Cause I consumed mostly chicken noodle soup, orange juice and sprite, the scale shows a 2 lb loss. Which would be good but once I got back to eating regular food, I usually just gain in back in a few days. Because I can finally eat something besides soup. And it wasn't a healthy loss to being with because it's from eating only like 1000 calories a day and over half of it being liquid form. Plus, this stalls any exercise due to the fact that I slept when I wasn't at work.
Health, fitness, fiction, it all can stall from time to time. The question is what do you do after the stall to pick yourself up and get back to a level of productiveness.
Have you stalled on a project lately?
What do you do to get back into the swing of things?
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Reading Rehash
Yay reading. I mean, hi.
I was quiet here on this blog because I took part in the A to Z blog challenge like last year, except instead of this blog or Dawn Embers blog, I used the book review blog. Which meant I had to read. Yay! Well, I had some awesome help from three others who did reviews, one of whom did 10 of them for me and is joining the blog as a regular reviewer. So, that blog is doing great but now it's time to get back to having all the blogs getting posts on a regular basis. Like this one.
It was great in that it really helped get me back to reading. Last year I only read 10 books for the whole year. Last month, I read 8 books. Along with a little nonfiction book I finished yesterday, that makes my total so far this year already at 11. My goal was 15, but I'm probably going to try for 25 books this year since I'm already at 73%. I will try to read 2-3 books a month from this point, though if I get more great cause we know during November with NaNoWriMo I probably won't read anything then.
I do like reading though I didn't get much writing done in April. Between work and everything, I got the blog and reading done, but not a lot else. Hoping to get things fixed but I'm happy to be reading again either way. There are so many great books out there. I can't wait.
Books I've read so far this year:
HIVE (Higher Institute for Villainous Education) by Mark Walden
Ash by Malinda Lo
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Beneath My Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar
The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Revolt, She Said by Julia Kristeva
March on Earth vol 1 by Mikase Hayashi
Touch of a Thief by Mia Marlowe
The Secret Societies Handbook by Michael Bradley
May Reading Plans:
I plan to finish reading The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier. I also have picked a few other books to read and we'll see how it goes from there. If I finish a couple of them early I might find a book from the library too. The ones picked are: First Test by Tamora Pierce, The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau and the book "and Falling, Fly" by Skyler White. Need to pick next nonfiction book too but I'll do that later. Either way, the plan is to keep reading.
That is what I've been doing. What about you?
What book are you reading?
I was quiet here on this blog because I took part in the A to Z blog challenge like last year, except instead of this blog or Dawn Embers blog, I used the book review blog. Which meant I had to read. Yay! Well, I had some awesome help from three others who did reviews, one of whom did 10 of them for me and is joining the blog as a regular reviewer. So, that blog is doing great but now it's time to get back to having all the blogs getting posts on a regular basis. Like this one.
It was great in that it really helped get me back to reading. Last year I only read 10 books for the whole year. Last month, I read 8 books. Along with a little nonfiction book I finished yesterday, that makes my total so far this year already at 11. My goal was 15, but I'm probably going to try for 25 books this year since I'm already at 73%. I will try to read 2-3 books a month from this point, though if I get more great cause we know during November with NaNoWriMo I probably won't read anything then.
I do like reading though I didn't get much writing done in April. Between work and everything, I got the blog and reading done, but not a lot else. Hoping to get things fixed but I'm happy to be reading again either way. There are so many great books out there. I can't wait.
Books I've read so far this year:
HIVE (Higher Institute for Villainous Education) by Mark Walden
Ash by Malinda Lo
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Beneath My Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar
The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Revolt, She Said by Julia Kristeva
March on Earth vol 1 by Mikase Hayashi
Touch of a Thief by Mia Marlowe
The Secret Societies Handbook by Michael Bradley
May Reading Plans:
I plan to finish reading The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier. I also have picked a few other books to read and we'll see how it goes from there. If I finish a couple of them early I might find a book from the library too. The ones picked are: First Test by Tamora Pierce, The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau and the book "and Falling, Fly" by Skyler White. Need to pick next nonfiction book too but I'll do that later. Either way, the plan is to keep reading.
That is what I've been doing. What about you?
What book are you reading?
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
April and May
Here is to the rain that will bring the flowers. Also known as, goal updates, new goals, talks of April challenges and plans for spring for my life and writing. Fun times indeed.
April is many things. One is the A to Z blogfest challenge. The last two years I took part in the challenge using this blog, with the most recent (2013) being one where I was crazy and used both Fiction and Fitness (It's in the Book was the title then) along with my Dawn Embers blog. This year I went with a different kind of crazy. I am taking part in the challenge. Just not this blog or Dawn Embers. Even though I've been slacking on reading and don't have active co-bloggers at this time, I took the leap and put in Reading at Dawn. I found an awesome reader who is doing a good portion of the reviews, so it's not just me, and my sister has a couple days. It's crazy but I'm hoping it gives the book review blog a boost and I can push it forward from there. Check out the other blogs taking part (over 1700 of them) over at A to Z Challenge. And check out my posts at Reading at Dawn.
February and March were pretty busy. Here are my past goals and how I did on them:
February Goals
Submit 4 stories to publications. - I sent out 3 in February
Write chapter in AF. - Failed. I've still got a couple chapters left to write overall.
Finish reading HIVE - This one I did accomplish and there is a review posted on Reading at Dawn.
Post 5 blog entries overall. Managed but barely, over all the blogs.
Apply to one job a week. Ish. I was doing good in Feburary, since then not so much.
Batch cook on day off from work. Nope. Still working on planning and cooking.
March Goals
Edit TT. - Fail. Didn't edit at all with all the other things I had to do on WDC this month.
Finish reading 1 book. - I finished Ash on the very last day.
Keep submitting items if they get rejections. Stalled but then I sent out 7 stories on 1 day so I'm doing better again with this one.
Apply to one job a week. Fail. Got distracted.
Eat 3 servings of veggies a day - not quite but I'm slowly adding more veggies though I need to maybe try and eat more than 2 times a day.
Weight loss didn't happen lately but I haven't put much focus on it either. I haven't really gained either though, so that's good despite needing to buy less candy. I'm at 215 so need to make a goal for April and May to try and get down some as I start cooking and using more veggies.
April Goals
Edit 5 or more chapters in TT.
Read books and keep up with A to Z challenge.
Write 250+ words a day.
Submit 2 stories.
Start doing recipe changes by adding more vegetables.
Lose 3 lbs.
Post at least one post in my other blogs.
May Goals
Write 250+ words a day.
Edit chapters in TT. (amount pends how well April goes)
Start rewriting query letter.
Send out 2 stories.
Get activity ready for summer novel writing.
Post at least 4 blog posts overall.
I have been writing every single day. Some days it's only 250 words but other days it's 1000 or 2000. I'm at over 70,000 words written so far this month and even though I've never been the write every day type. I'm actually liking it and the challenge. Rest of my time is taken up by work but I keep going. And I sleep sometimes too.
But I'm ready for April and May. Always more to do.
How are you?
Did February go well?
What are your goals for April or May?
April is many things. One is the A to Z blogfest challenge. The last two years I took part in the challenge using this blog, with the most recent (2013) being one where I was crazy and used both Fiction and Fitness (It's in the Book was the title then) along with my Dawn Embers blog. This year I went with a different kind of crazy. I am taking part in the challenge. Just not this blog or Dawn Embers. Even though I've been slacking on reading and don't have active co-bloggers at this time, I took the leap and put in Reading at Dawn. I found an awesome reader who is doing a good portion of the reviews, so it's not just me, and my sister has a couple days. It's crazy but I'm hoping it gives the book review blog a boost and I can push it forward from there. Check out the other blogs taking part (over 1700 of them) over at A to Z Challenge. And check out my posts at Reading at Dawn.
February and March were pretty busy. Here are my past goals and how I did on them:
February Goals
Submit 4 stories to publications. - I sent out 3 in February
Write chapter in AF. - Failed. I've still got a couple chapters left to write overall.
Finish reading HIVE - This one I did accomplish and there is a review posted on Reading at Dawn.
Post 5 blog entries overall. Managed but barely, over all the blogs.
Apply to one job a week. Ish. I was doing good in Feburary, since then not so much.
Batch cook on day off from work. Nope. Still working on planning and cooking.
March Goals
Edit TT. - Fail. Didn't edit at all with all the other things I had to do on WDC this month.
Finish reading 1 book. - I finished Ash on the very last day.
Keep submitting items if they get rejections. Stalled but then I sent out 7 stories on 1 day so I'm doing better again with this one.
Apply to one job a week. Fail. Got distracted.
Eat 3 servings of veggies a day - not quite but I'm slowly adding more veggies though I need to maybe try and eat more than 2 times a day.
Weight loss didn't happen lately but I haven't put much focus on it either. I haven't really gained either though, so that's good despite needing to buy less candy. I'm at 215 so need to make a goal for April and May to try and get down some as I start cooking and using more veggies.
April Goals
Edit 5 or more chapters in TT.
Read books and keep up with A to Z challenge.
Write 250+ words a day.
Submit 2 stories.
Start doing recipe changes by adding more vegetables.
Lose 3 lbs.
Post at least one post in my other blogs.
May Goals
Write 250+ words a day.
Edit chapters in TT. (amount pends how well April goes)
Start rewriting query letter.
Send out 2 stories.
Get activity ready for summer novel writing.
Post at least 4 blog posts overall.
I have been writing every single day. Some days it's only 250 words but other days it's 1000 or 2000. I'm at over 70,000 words written so far this month and even though I've never been the write every day type. I'm actually liking it and the challenge. Rest of my time is taken up by work but I keep going. And I sleep sometimes too.
But I'm ready for April and May. Always more to do.
How are you?
Did February go well?
What are your goals for April or May?
Monday, February 24, 2014
Vegetable Options
See, I promised something not writing and here it is. Vegetables!
Okay, really this is partly cause I had some veggies in freezer, not well kept and didn't notice and got a tad sick from eating it... So, first thing is first. Take care of your vegetables properly. And just because they are frozen doesn't mean they last forever. Especially if bag is opened and not closed well while in the freezer for months.
But on to the rest of the topic. There are three main options when it comes to vegetables: fresh, frozen, canned. All three work in different ways and have different results to varying degrees, pending the vegetable. And my preference varies depending on said vegetable.
Fresh
The big one. Fresh, as you can imagine, is awesome and useable in so many ways. Can be eaten raw, barely cooked, cooked in many different methods, so much possible with this. However, you don't want to overbuy because you might end up wasting cause they don't last forever as shelf life varies. There are also some I just don't like in the uncooked form in general, while a few others I quite like raw or prefer to start off fresh before cooking. Brussel sprouts, while I have frozen bag in freezer, I prefer to start from raw and cook them. Broccolini is great when bought fresh. Also enjoy carrots, spinach, on rare occasion lettuce, and many other veggies when purchased fresh. And of course squash, mmmm squash. However, I am not the best at cooking right away nor do I grocery shop often in part to having very little money for food. So, I really like buying fresh but it doesn't always work out well at this time.
Frozen
This can be a good and often times affordable option. There are some small bags of frozen veggies available for under 1$ where I shop. They can be added to soups, casseroles and many other dishes too and last much longer than most fresh veggies will. If spending a bit more, like a few dollars, there are ones with sauces or recipe inspired available nowadays in many stores. Some taste better than others. I haven't had the best luck with frozen spinach. However, frozen broccoli, corn and such have been easy additions to use. Frozen green beans are okay but I prefer canned or fresh. Carrots are okay frozen, for stew and such but eh, I'm not big on reheat and eat from frozen but they are okay. But frozen is a great option minus my small amount of freezer space and keeps for longer, which is good. Next need to find other uses for them, sneak veggies in anything I can so I eat more.
Canned
Canned is another often affordable option. These can also be found in some places and sizes under 1 dollar and they have a rather long shelf life. They add well to soups and casseroles but can also be heated up and consumed on their own. Some work out better than others. I'm more of a fan of canned green beans (french style cut in particular) than say eating a can of peas, but they are okay. I haven't tried all the canned ones. I see asparagus but it's usually more than the other veggies and I like fresh more anyways. Canned corn is okay but I'm not big on creamed corn. Carrots are okay but almost too soft yet I like starting fresh and getting them soft... I dunno. I have canned baby carrots, instead of slices. That will be interesting. So, in general I do kind like canned or jarred (don't see much jarring but if I had pickle stuff I'd try to make it like my great grandma's.
So there are a few options in the way of vegetation.
Do you have a preference?
Okay, really this is partly cause I had some veggies in freezer, not well kept and didn't notice and got a tad sick from eating it... So, first thing is first. Take care of your vegetables properly. And just because they are frozen doesn't mean they last forever. Especially if bag is opened and not closed well while in the freezer for months.
But on to the rest of the topic. There are three main options when it comes to vegetables: fresh, frozen, canned. All three work in different ways and have different results to varying degrees, pending the vegetable. And my preference varies depending on said vegetable.
Fresh
The big one. Fresh, as you can imagine, is awesome and useable in so many ways. Can be eaten raw, barely cooked, cooked in many different methods, so much possible with this. However, you don't want to overbuy because you might end up wasting cause they don't last forever as shelf life varies. There are also some I just don't like in the uncooked form in general, while a few others I quite like raw or prefer to start off fresh before cooking. Brussel sprouts, while I have frozen bag in freezer, I prefer to start from raw and cook them. Broccolini is great when bought fresh. Also enjoy carrots, spinach, on rare occasion lettuce, and many other veggies when purchased fresh. And of course squash, mmmm squash. However, I am not the best at cooking right away nor do I grocery shop often in part to having very little money for food. So, I really like buying fresh but it doesn't always work out well at this time.
Frozen
This can be a good and often times affordable option. There are some small bags of frozen veggies available for under 1$ where I shop. They can be added to soups, casseroles and many other dishes too and last much longer than most fresh veggies will. If spending a bit more, like a few dollars, there are ones with sauces or recipe inspired available nowadays in many stores. Some taste better than others. I haven't had the best luck with frozen spinach. However, frozen broccoli, corn and such have been easy additions to use. Frozen green beans are okay but I prefer canned or fresh. Carrots are okay frozen, for stew and such but eh, I'm not big on reheat and eat from frozen but they are okay. But frozen is a great option minus my small amount of freezer space and keeps for longer, which is good. Next need to find other uses for them, sneak veggies in anything I can so I eat more.
Canned
Canned is another often affordable option. These can also be found in some places and sizes under 1 dollar and they have a rather long shelf life. They add well to soups and casseroles but can also be heated up and consumed on their own. Some work out better than others. I'm more of a fan of canned green beans (french style cut in particular) than say eating a can of peas, but they are okay. I haven't tried all the canned ones. I see asparagus but it's usually more than the other veggies and I like fresh more anyways. Canned corn is okay but I'm not big on creamed corn. Carrots are okay but almost too soft yet I like starting fresh and getting them soft... I dunno. I have canned baby carrots, instead of slices. That will be interesting. So, in general I do kind like canned or jarred (don't see much jarring but if I had pickle stuff I'd try to make it like my great grandma's.
So there are a few options in the way of vegetation.
Do you have a preference?
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