Spotlight Photo of the Week

Everyone knows a “Karen,” right? This laugh evoking sign is located at local eatery, Taco Street.

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Quote of the Week

“Happiness isn’t about getting what you want all the time. It’s about loving what you have and being grateful for it.”

– Asher Roth

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Mira’s Photo of the Week

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Word of the Day

Will you find it?

As a fun challenge each week, Rachel visits Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day when she sits down to write the weekly story. Whatever the word of the day might be, she must find a way to fit it into her story. Will you find it?

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Rachel Recommends

Rachel recommends taking the next 13 minutes and 31 seconds to view this link, the entire story. This is a story from October 23, 2021, that will bring tears to your eyes, the good kind. It is an incredibly uplifting story, and an appropriate recommendation in honor of National Cancer Awareness Day. Rachel hopes you are as touched as she was when this was shared with her for the first time.

Star of the story, and Seattle Kraken fan Nadia Popovici.

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Coming Soon to My Monday Memo…

Rachel has a few exciting changes coming in the My Monday Memo world. She plans to publish her 23 for 2023 Happier Project Goals the first week of December. The most exciting of these goals is that the My Monday Memo newsletter will become a blog as of 2023. That’s right, Rachel is trying her hand at learning something new. During this last quarter of 2022, Rachel has been learning WordPress and creating her blog. This will be a work in progress but she hopes to have things figured out by the time she goes live. Her cousin Jimmy is assisting her in this process by reviewing the blog as she makes entries.

The blog will allow Rachel more space to write, and the ability to showcase photos at a higher quality for your viewing pleasure. The current sections will remain the same, with some additions along the way.

For now, this blog will be private, which means that only visitors approved by Rachel will have access to view the blog. This will keep strangers from coming across the blog and viewing. She is aware that the current version of the My Monday Memo is shared, and this can continue, and is encouraged. Rachel will simply need the email address of the person that would like access and they can be added.

As of the January 2, 2023 issue, issue #136, the PDF email will be no more. If you wish to be included as a viewer on the new blog, please let Rachel know and she will be sure you are added at the first of the year. Once added, you will receive an email from WordPress any time Rachel publishes a post. The My Monday Memo will continue to be published every Monday morning.

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Story of the Week

Chili Con Carne, Circa 1979

This yummy batch of Chili Con Carne, or rather Chili Con meatless Pollo, was cooked up last week.

As the weather has taken a turn in the past week, Rachel felt the need for chili. Up in the Pacific Northwest, the weather seemed to go from hot to cold with no happy fall weather medium. She has turned on the heat in her apartment nearly six weeks earlier than any year prior. Chili would be a perfect meal prep for the week.

Rachel went deep into the archives and pulled out a cookbook from her childhood, the New Junior Cook Book by Better Homes and Gardens. This cookbook was published in 1979. Rachel likely have become the proud owner of this cookbook a couple of years later. She enjoyed baking even at a young age with this cookbook giving her the opportunity to try out kid-friendly recipes. This Chili Con Carne (Chili with Meat) recipe was a favorite.

Now that Rachel is not a consumer of meat products (for the most part; meat cheat days are a must), she opted to use a plant-based protein for the recipe. Instead of the meat, she used Quorn Meatless Chiqin. She was impressed by the quality of taste this product provided. This option not only provided a tasty alternative to ground beef, but is also a much lower calorie, and high protein option.

Using this cookbook brought back fond memories of time spent in the kitchen cooking with abandon. Cooking never did became a love for Rachel, while baking desserts certainly did. One of her favorite recipes, and most utilized, was the Snickerdoodle recipe. Rachel made this recipe countless times well into adulthood. It has been some time since she made this recipe. She is excited to revisit it this holiday season.

A few of her other favorites included the Personal Pizzas, French Toast, and Yellow Cake with Butter Frosting recipes. The cake recipe was fun to decorate as a kid because the toppings purchased to create the balloon décor were far more than used on the cake, which left plenty to be consumed for fun.

This trip down memory lane was a nice addition to the week and kept Rachel’s belly and heart warm on the cold fall days. Until next time, be well.