New Things: Week 7

I am pretty consistent about taking canvas shopping bags into stores--so much so that I sometimes have to purposefully leave them in the car because we are out of plastic bags for kitty litter. On my list of things to do has been to buy reusable produce bags. I try to avoid the clear plastic ones altogether and just throw loose items into my cart, but for some items, like greens, they seem necessary. I have had these reusable ones on my wish list for a while but hadn't gotten around to ordering them, and then I saw the ones below newly stocked in my local natural foods store! I love that they come with a cute little apple pouch that they can all be stored in. One more small step toward a greener life.

The next new thing for this week? Making oatmeal instead of buying it in smaller packets. As convenient as the latter are for mornings at work, they create so much waste, and I've known that making oatmeal at home would be healthier. I bought this bulk bag of oats several months ago--and instead of just making some freaking oatmeal with it, I kept buying packets and left the bag of oats sitting in my pantry (I think my new things are probably just succeeding in showing you all how lazy I can be).

Saturday morning, I cooked up some oatmeal with a cut-up apple and some lemon juice, topped it with maple syrup and toasted pecans, and had a healthy, hearty breakfast. I made extra to put in the fridge to take and reheat at work. Yum yum.

The last new thing of the week. . . salsa dancing! Some friends invited Dan and I to join them for salsa lessons after they put together an event and auctioned off spots for our church fundraiser. I never thought Dan would go, but he almost immediately took a "why not?" attitude. Yes, that's right, friends. . . DAN danced both the salsa and the merengue on Friday night! He did quite well, and it was a fun new thing for us to do together. Just the fact that he did it makes me love him even more (I swear he is just the cutest). On a side note, I have also now danced both the salsa and the merengue with my minister . . . now that definitely falls under the category of "something new!"