New Things: Week 10

Most of my new things for this week are small, and most of them took place in the kitchen. For starters, I made another loaf of homemade bread this weekend (to accompany minestrone soup. . . yum). This is a good thing not only because the bread was delicious, but also because it means I've repeated one of my new things, hopefully slowly making it a new habit. It was also quite fun because I finally got to use the bread bag that Dan bought me on Etsy for Christmas!


Along the lines of making my own bread, this week I also finally (after intending to do so for years) made my own salad dressing. Again, I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this. . . you take a few ingredients and stir them up in a jar. . . but for some reason I just kept picking up bottles at the store. This now seems crazy because what we made at home was so much tastier, healthier, and cheaper! I can't say I'll never pick up a bottle of Garlic Expressions again (man, is that dressing good!) but I see few (if any) salad dressing bottles in my fridge's future.

I've also been hoping to create more healthy, homemade snacks. I love granola bars and Larabars, but the former always have some sort of sugar or dairy or other additive I don't want, and the latter are healthy and taste yummy but I sometimes feel bad about the waste from the package wrappers. Last week, I made my own version of Larabars using this recipe from Vegetarian Times with dates, chia seeds, almonds, and cocoa. I've read a lot about the health benefits of chia seeds and have been wanting to incorporate more into my diet, and these bars had the advantage of being somewhat like brownies in their richness (but without any sugar, dairy, or eggs). They were super easy and so good!

My last new thing for the week actually happened at work. Among other things, my department provides free income tax preparation to low and moderate-income individuals through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. I've always been really nervous about doing this because the thought of me helping someone with their taxes seemed almost laughable. But after passing the VITA test and becoming certified by the IRS to prepare taxes at both the beginner and intermediate levels, I prepared my first tax return on Friday! The preparation was for a nice couple with a new (2 week old and adorable!) baby, and their refund was over $1000, which I know will make a big difference to them, especially given their income level and growing family. It was nice to be a part of that, and also to gain the confidence boost that comes from doing something as complex as filing taxes! It was a good reminder to me that moving outside of our comfort zones is good, and also that we are capable of much more than we often believe ourselves to be.