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Books for Fall

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Fall is upon us, my friends!! Time for hoodies, hot toddies, and good books.

Are you a reader? I sure am.

I am fortunate to have a job where I can listen to audiobooks and podcasts pretty much the whole day. So I can churn through the books.

Here are ten books that I am the most excited about reading this fall.

Books for Fall | cassierauk.com

City of Girls

Like every other woman in the world, I read Eat Pray Love. Ever since then, I have found Elizabeth Gilbert fascinating. (Hello, Big Magic!) It was when I read The Signature of All Things a few years ago I became obsessed. I was excited to hear she had a new book coming out. That excitement grew when I found out that it was another sprawling epic story about a fascinating woman.

The Testaments

I am both excited and terrified of this book. Excited because I have been mulling over the events of The Handmaid’s Tale since a read it years ago. Terrified, because what if Offred’s story should have been left a mystery. Either way, I am going to check it out.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota

A book about Minnesota families and making beer. What is not to love?

Everything is Figureoutable

I love Marie Forleo. So, of course, I am going to read her book. I preordered it that day it was announced.

The Nickel Boys

After reading The Underground Railroad a few years back, I have been on a mission to read everything that Colson Whitehead has ever written. His newest book which is about a horrific Florida reform school during the 1960s is sure to be another compelling read.

Sissy

Sissy is a memoir written by Jacob Tobia, and I am so excited to read it. It has everything. Snark! Gender-fluidity! Glitter! Trans-inclusive Feminism! Old Lady Costume Jewelry! Dick Jokes!

The Wedding Party

I never thought of myself as a person that reads romance books. I was pretty stuck up about it, actually. It dawned on me (slowly) that I love a good RomCom, so what I needed was a RomCom novel. I found that last year with The Wedding Date and have been reading everything Jasmine has written ever since.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

This book has been on my list for years now. There has a been an influx of True Crime these days. We seem to have a fascination with the most depraved people that this world has to offer. I am not much different. I suppose, but Michelle’s utter determination to bring this man to justice is impressive.

White Fragility

This is another book that I have meant to read for a while. It “examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.”

Save Me the Plums

I have been a fan of Ruth Reichl for years and was excited to learn that she was writing a memoir of her time at the helm of Gourmet magazine. And like every other book of Ruth’s, it is sure to be chock full of recipes.

Now I want to hear from you. What books are you excited to read this fall?

5 Reasons why you should meal plan

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Meal planning is a boring topic. It makes me think of structured suburban moms with their full calendars that have to ‘put their face on’ before going to the store.

Not the hip woman without kids that I am. (LOL, I am so far from hip, I could barely type that).

When I started meal planning a few years ago, I noticed how it made my life so much easier. I sit down with a pad of paper, take a look at what is leftover in my cabinets and fridge, and start planning.

It has freed up so much brain space for me. And it can work for you too.

5 Reasons why you should meal plan | cassierauk.com

It will save you time at the grocery store.

I don’t wander around the grocery store looking for what tickles my fancy when grocery shopping. I get in, get my stuff, and get out. When you know precisely what you are cooking for the week and have it all written down, it makes trips to the store so much faster.

You might be one of those people that likes to walk up and down the produce section looking for the perfect carrot. I would much rather spend my time reading.

You will stop wasting so much food.

There is nothing worse than buying a bunch of fruit and veggies only to have it rotting away before you get to use it. I grew up pretty scrappy, and there was nothing my mom hated more than wasting food. Every time I need to throw something out (or compost) something just because of my lack of planning, I can feel my mom’s disapproving gaze.

When I started planning out my meals, I was pretty simply able to use up leftover food. I can make a roast chicken on Monday and use the leftover chicken in burrito bowls later on in the week. I also make veggies as sides and eat them twice.

You will save money.

With a bit of forethought and planning, you can choose meals for the week that the ingredients are on sale. It may just be saving you a few bucks on your grocery list, but over months and years it can add up.

Have meals planned out and a list in hand will also help you from buying things at the store that you don’t need.

You will be more intentional about the food that you eat.

If you are following a special diet or trying to lose weight, meal planning is critical. Without a plan, you can easily be stuck doing a Whole 30 with only carbs in your cabinet.

I was able to lose almost 30 pounds by planning out my meals, so I didn’t stress eat a whole pizza because I had nothing else in the house to eat.

5 Reasons you should Meal Plan | cassierauk.com

Meal planning doesn’t have to be a drag. Sitting down one evening with a pad of paper, and your Pinterest boards can be an easy way to simplify your week. Try it for a week or two.

It can save you time, money, and food waste!

How to Create a Morning Routine

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Every morning I do the same seven things.  I wake up, and the whole process goes on autopilot.  It is my morning routine.

We are creatures of habit.  And a routine doesn’t have to be a four-letter word.  A daily routine or ritual provides comfort during times of change and transition.  There have been times when the whole day falls apart, but I was able to spend a quiet moment with coffee at my table.  That gives me a bit of comfort on those days.

We all already do this naturally.  With a few tweaks, you can quickly start your day off more mindfully and focused.  Trust me.  Or don’t, but try it for a few weeks and see what you think.

How do you create a morning routine?

Take a look at your natural rhythms in the morning.  You are probably 75% of the way there.  Now add a few simple things that bring you peace and help you focus — things like a walk, meditation, prayer, or daily devotion.

I also recommend taking a quiet moment to plan out your top three tasks of the day and loosely plan out your schedule.  You can always choose more to do and be more structured about your program, but try to give yourself a break.  Things happen and only have three things on your to-do list will help you feel accomplished at the end of the day.

smiling woman with sunglasses

Curious about my morning routine?

Here it is!  I do this every morning, even weekends and days off from the day job.  It is more structured and fast during the week because I have a time constraint (my boss does not like tardiness), but on the weekend I may sleep in and go through the flow slowly.

Wake up early.

During the week, I get up at 4:30.  I know, that is crazy, but I start the day job at 7, and I have found out over the years that if I do certain things right away in the morning, it makes the rest of my day that much smoother.

On days I am not working, and the weekends I let my body wake itself up (unless I have a breakfast date), so I may wake up at 4:30 naturally or I may get up at 6:30.  Usually, it is around 6.

Drink a large glass of water.

Drinking water is the newest addition to the morning routine.  We ended up with cases of water after my dad passed, and they were taking up precious beer space in our garage fridge. So I started to keep a handful upstairs to drink in the mornings.  I read somewhere that drinking water first thing was useful for you, so I thought I would give it a try.

So now I walk, in a zombie fashion, to the upstairs bathroom and grab the glass of water I put out the night before and start to drink while sitting and probably not thinking about anything important.  I used to spend this time scrolling vacantly through Instagram, but drinking water and staring into space seems like a better use of my time.

Shower/Get ready

Getting ready for the day is pretty self-explanatory and doesn’t take long for me, as I work in a warehouse.  Makeup is simple, and hair is natural (I don’t own a curling iron and the only time I use a hairdryer to put plastic on the upstairs windows before the cold air sets in the fall).

I also set out my clothes the night before, so there is no staring at the closet trying to decide what to wear.

Make Coffee

Another self-explanatory item.  Coffee is essential to me, more as a habit than a need for caffeine.

10 minute tidy

While I am waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, putter around the downstairs of the house, cleaning up.  I unpack and repack the dishwasher, wipe down the counters and table, clean up any glasses or other dishes from the living room, fluff the pillow, wipe down the bathroom sink. . . .

You get the idea.

Spending 10 or so minutes do this in the morning helps keep the house clean and makes it a much lovely place to come home to.

Mediate/Walk the Dog

I have played around with meditation on and off for years.  Since I focused on creating a daily meditation habit, I have been calmer and more focused.  10-minute meditation practice also fits easily into the day and I, for one, like to start my day with a bit of quiet.

When I have the time, and the weather is beautiful, I grab my dog and do a walking meditation.  When I have more time, I do meditation and a walk separately.

Plan for the Day

My very last task is to pour a cup of coffee and sit at my kitchen table with my planner, and figure out what is on my plate for the day.  I set 3 need-to-do goals and a handful of other to-do items.  The way the planner is structured, you set three goals for the week and then the idea is that your daily tasks should move you toward meeting those goals.

Leaning into your natural rhythms and putting your morning on autopilot is a beautiful way to start your morning with intention and focus.

Do you have a morning routine?

Yes, Mediation is Weird. But it is so worth it.

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

dandelion fluff blowing the breeze

I knew that mindfulness had hit the peak of pop culture when I got an email at the day job from Corporate about their newest mediation program.

When mindfulness moves from Startup to Fortune 500, that means shit got real.

I am not a bandwagon jumper.  Out of sheer stubbornness, I will do the exact opposite or will knuckle under and refuse to try something out if everyone else likes it.  (Example:  I have never seen and refuse to watch A Christmas Story.)

But there was something about meditation that spoke to me.  While my middle school friends were planning their future wedding and naming their children, I was thinking about moving into a cabin in the woods and not talking to people for months at a time.

So sitting quietly with my thoughts is something I could get behind.  But I was surprised at how much I struggled with it at the beginning (and still do, sometimes).

It can be hard but mediation is so very worth it.

There is so much going on all of the time: family, friends, hobbies, errands, work.  And we all know how easy it is to get sucked into the social media comparison ring of doom.  Taking 10 minutes to sit quietly and breathe has helped with lower my stress, made me more content and helped with my productivity.

via GIPHY

As LaVar says, don’t take my word for it. You need to try it your own damn self.  Here is how to get started:

Read: 10% Happier and Mediation for Fidgety Skeptics both by Dan Harris.  Dan Harris goes through a whole journey in 10% Happier from being a stressed out, drug-doing journalist to, well, 10% Happier.  I think it was more than that, but that would ruin the title. His book on meditation is more of a practical guide, but they are great companion books.

Download:  Headspace or Calm.  I have tried both and ended up settling on Calm.  It is one of the thing saving my life right now. I love it so much that this winter during a holiday sale, I bought lifetime access.  They both have free trials and hand-holding guided sessions to get you started.

I know what you are thinking, this whole thing might seem kind whoo-whoo and a little ridiculous what do you have to lose?  It just takes 10 minutes a day to get all of the benefits and that is doable for everyone.

Especially since mediation can help you manage daily stress, help you stay focused, and might make you more compassionate.

Yes, meditation is weird. But it is so worth it. #selfcare #mediation #mindfulness

Don’t Let a Summer Bucket List Run Your Life.

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Don't Let a Summer Bucket List Run Your Life | CassieRauk.com

Right around Memorial Day weekend, my blog reader and Instagram feed fill up with beautiful pictures of picnics at the beach and glamping trips in the woods. The images are beautiful, and the people in them are gorgeous, and they all focus on making this the ‘best summer ever!’

These posts end with a call to create a summer bucket list (and many of them have a cute printable). The idea is so that you can put down all of the fun things that you would like to do this summer to make sure you take advantage of the fleeting days of summer.

I am a list maker and planner by nature so summer bucket lists should be right up my alley, but dear Lord do they ever create an impending source of doom and a considerable amount of FOMO.

I hate that shit.

For the majority of us, the summer does not change our work schedule. Summers, at my day job, do not consist of Taco Truck Tuesdays and Early-Out-Fridays. We slow down a bit, but a Wednesday in July and Wednesday in February are usually pretty similar.

Gang, I want you to have the best summer ever, but if you are running around desperate to check things off your summer bucket list, you are not going to enjoy any of it.

This summer, I want you to try something different:

  • Take some extra time off of work (if you are able).
  • Go on a spontaneous road trip.
  • Plant something.
  • Go camping/hiking/biking at a state park near you.
  • Sit outside in the sunshine with a book or magazine.
  • Invite friends over for a super low key dinner.

Basically, I want you to make no plans. Accept invites if they sound fun, say no if they don’t.

And love it.

A Birthday Benediction

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

donut with candle, pink frosting and sprinkles

On May 26th, I turned 37 years old.

It was a quiet day.

Jesse was working so I had the house to myself.  Sometimes on Sunday morning, I like to head to the coffee shop with my laptop for a chai and a few productive hours, but today I decided to stay home.  I drug a chair outside to our new (yet to be finished) patio area with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the sunshine.

I tend to get a little navel-gazey on my birthday and this year was no exception.  This time around I decided to lean into it, instead of feeling ashamed of being self-centered.   Don’t feel ashamed about self-reflection, friends, it is the only way to grow.

So I spent the day thinking, reading and daydreaming. I also watched a fair amount of Battlestar Galactica and ate a bunch of cheese.

Do I have everything figured out?  Of course not.

I am alright with that? You bet your ass.

I want to leave you with one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems.  I hope your day is full of thinking, reading, and daydreaming.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

What is saving my life right now

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you click through a link and buy something, I get a small commission and it doesn’t cost you any extra. Awesome, right?!

pineapple

Spring means one thing in the midwest – mud.  And also dirty piles of melting snow.

So two things, spring means two things!

It is not my favorite time of year, the weather is volatile, and the cabin fever is high.  And right now, I am so close to being able to plant a few veggies, and I can taste it. So I am doing everything I can to keep my sanity.

Keeping track of the things that are saving my life throughout the year was something that I picked up as an exercise of self-reflection as an avid reader of Anne’s blog.  It is easy to remember what is driving you crazy but to pick out the little things that are saving you take a bit more thought.

Here a few of the simple, everyday things from my list.

what is saving my life right now | cassierauk.com

Kickapoo Coffee

I picked up a coffee grinder during the holiday sales and used that as an excuse to upgrade our coffee.  The world of coffee (and coffee snobbery) opens up to when you start grinding your own beans.  I have even started going down the pour-over road, but that is a discussion for another time.

Kickapoo Coffee is a Wisconson based company (and that makes it local for me) that focuses on great tasting coffee and fairness to farmers.  They are also the country’s only solar-powered roastery.

I usually pick my beans up at my local coffee shop, but you can order it online and they also have coffee subscriptions!

Grocery Pick-up

My go-to local grocer finally offers a grocery pick-up.  It has been a game changer for me.

I sit down with my notebook for meal planning, my cookbooks, and my Pinterest boards.  As I choose the recipes that I am planning on making for the upcoming week I add the ingredients to my cart on the grocery store website.  All I need to do then is choose the date and time of pickup, and check out.

They require a 4 hour lead time and charge $5 for the service.  And it is so worth it.

The Calm App

I am going to be straight with you, mediation is weird.  But it helps.  It helps so much.

I read Dan Harris’s book 10% Happier a few years ago, but it didn’t really sink in until late last fall.  I was so stressed out (because of the day job) I just wanted to cry.  After reading a couple more stress management books and some google searching I came across the Calm app.

Right out of the gate I loved the soothing tones of narrator Tamara Levitt’s voice.  I also fell in love hard with their Sleep Stories, where they have a variety of narrators tell you soothing tales for you to fall asleep to.  You can download the app and try a few of their beginning series out for free.

Toby

At any given time I have anywhere between 10 and a million tabs open.  That might be a bit of a stretch, but not by much.  Toby is a chrome (and Firefox) extension that helps you index your open browser tabs.

That might be one of the nerdiest sentences that I have ever typed.

Check out the Toby website and watch the video and you will see what I mean.

What is saving your life right now?  Let me know in the comments!

How Blue Apron got me out of my cooking rut

Written by Cassie · · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

How Blue Apron got me out of a cooking rut || cassierauk.com

In May of last year, I gave myself a birthday present.  I gifted myself a subscription to Blue Apron.

I went through a phase a few years back where I was going to make all meals from scratch.  No short cuts.  I am an adult with no children but I still have a demanding job, a home to take care of, hobbies, friends and a husband.  There is never enough time and I burned myself out.  Hard.

I came home from a really, really long and stressful work day and the meal that was on deck for that night would have taken more effort that I was prepared to give.  I think I ended up talking my dad into buying me a cheeseburger that night. There were tears.

Later on, I reassessed and gave myself some grace on the 100% home-cooked front. (This is why I keep a small stack of pizzas in the deep freeze at all times.)

Even with that grace, I was in food a rut.  I hated everything that I had been making and was ready to try something new.  So I figured why not give one of those new-fangled meal kit delivery services a try.   It was either that or burning my kitchen to the ground, so I patted myself for being a grownup about things for a change.

Over the next few months, I made delicious things like Beef Shwarma Bowls, Koren-style Beef, Sheet Pan Miso Salmon, and The Gouda Wife Burger.

Even the meals that I got that were not amazing were still good.  Not a pooper in the bunch.

My Blue Apron recipes taught me about new ingredients (hello, capers!), new techniques (fish in parchment), made me realize the deliciousness of simplicity (roasted broccoli with olive oil, salt, and pepper is my jam).

A few months in, I remembered that simple ingredients, when prepared correctly, are amazing.

How Blue Apron got me out of a cooking rut || cassierauk.com

images by Blue Apron

If you are considering giving Blue Apron, or any meal kit delivery service, a try here are a few things you should know:

The limited options help with analysis paralysis.

The worst part of meal planning is trying to figure out what you are going to make for a week.  The Signature 2-person plan has eight choices.  The 4-person and Weight Watchers plan have fewer.  For the most part, that is plenty and if none of them sound good, you can skip a week.  No muss, no fuss.

Recipes are balanced, healthy, and low calorie.

The meals are designed by chefs so they are healthy meals with lots of veggies.  The calories of most of the meals that I got were less than 700 calories.  There were a few of the grain bowls that were around 450, while still being very satisfying.  It was super easy for me to control portions while working toward losing weight.

It is super, super convent.

All you need to do is log on to the website or use the app, choose your meals, and they show up on your doorstep.  If you forget to make selections, Blue Apron conveniently (or not) chooses for you.  Is an epic snowstorm slowing down your shipment? They let you know.  Is a holiday going to mess up your delivery date? They reschedule it for you.   It is just that simple.

The service is not perfect, however.

The cost is not necessarily cheaper than meal planning and purchasing your own groceries.  Whether or not Blue Apron is cheaper depends on where you get your groceries and how often you eat out.  I live in Minnesota and purchase my groceries at a fairly standard midlevel grocery.  We also have a freezer full of meat, so Blue Apron was not cheaper per meal on a purely cost basis.

When you add the time spent meal planning and my much shorter and less frequent trips to the grocery store on top of the cost of buying less food, it might very well be cheaper.  I didn’t do the math, but my time is very valuable.  Because I am amazing (wink!).

Also – there is so much packaging.  For one meal you may have chicken, rice, and vegetables all in separate baggies, then another baggie full of condiments, vinegar, butter, and cheeses all wrapped up in their own plastic cocoons.  And that is not counting the box, insulated liner, and gel ice packs.  They do have detailed instructions on how to recycle everything, but it is still a lot of waste.

Are you in a cooking rut or need someone to do the heavy lifting?  Maybe you should give a meal kit service a try!

PS. I want to be completely candid with you – I canceled my Blue Apron plan early this year.  Nothing against the company or the service.  Jesse and I were looking for ways to cut costs and I canceled most of my subscriptions.

Also, I am not an affiliate for Blue Apron.  I just loved the shit out of it.