Another February Gone By…

March 1, 2010 in Kitchen by melissa | No comments

I have to say that March 1 is one of my favorite days of the year. Not only will Spring be here soon (ya hear that ya meddlin’ snow!), but it mainly means that February is over.

We’ve made it through another $56 in February with…drumroll…$2.90 to spare! Well, at least according to my calculations, which, this year, did not count oil, because I was lazy. Or spices, because I never count spices during this thing (one little jar lasts all year!). So, I suppose if we counted the oil or the spices, we were probably actually over budget by a few dollars. I, however, don’t care. We made it, and once again, were viscerally reminded of the difference between want and need.

I certainly want that chocolate bar during some stressful times. But I absolutely do not need it. I went through my most stressful week at Halfaker during the first half of February, and there was no comfort food, no stress relieving candy, no cookie breaks. I still got the job done, and well, without the instantly gratifying reward of whatever I happened to be craving at the time (chocolate!)

A couple of shout outs to the food that got us by this month: 2 roasted chickens at $0.89/lb turned into somewhere around 30 meals (soups, stews, and chicken pies). No knead bread is always a winner a $0.07 per wonderful ‘artisan’ loaf. The wonderful snickerdoodle is a lifesaver at $0.04 per 2 inch cookie. Finally, the most important thing we ate all month, and my lifesaver when it came to making sure dinner was on the table on those weekday nights when no one had any time to cook: the empanada. Wonderfully flaky and stuffed with nutritious and delicious chicken, black bean, and spicy tomato chickpea fillings, the empanada kept us sane, and kept my evenings free of the stress of planning a cheap meals. All that and just $0.33 cents each. Fantastic.

Health-wise we’re all good. Chad lost 7 lbs and I lost 6. Hopefully we’ll get some of that back in muscle since Chad can start running again, and daylight savings quickly approaches. Sunlit evenings mean I can start biking to work again in a few weeks. I’m very excited, poor Adelaide hangs forlornly in the garage, waiting for me to take her out again. Soon!

Maybe next year, depending on what we’re doing, I’ll improve my blogging frequency during February and write more about it. We’ll see, that’s a whole ‘bother 11 months away, and I’ve got other things to do between then and now.

Halfway through February

February 15, 2010 in Kitchen by melissa | 1 comment

We’re heading downhill on our $56 in February, and I just wanted to check in and give a report. As of right now, we’ve eaten $27 worth of food (exactly!) versus a budget of $30, to be under budget by $3. A typical weekday meal starts with oatmeal, followed by a chicken stew of some sort for lunch. Dinner is an empanada and we finish off the day with a cookie (snickerdoodle!).

I think that this third year is definitely the easiest, for three reasons. One is all of the lessons learned from previous years. I’m much better prepared and equipped to plan and make nutritionally dense foods that will keep us going the entire day. The second is that it had been a while since Chad and I last ate until we were too full, and this has helped us from feeling as hungry as we did that first year – our stomachs are just smaller than they have been in the past. The third and most delicious reason is empanadas. At the end of January I spent way too many hours making 41 empanadas with 3 different fillings (black bean, spicy chickpea, and chicken). However, that investment of time made this month’s dinners a breeze. All we have to do is bake them in the toaster oven for 30 minutes and we end up with a tasty, nutritious, satisfying meal. One of these days I’ll remember to take a picture.

There isn’t much of a point to this post besides checking in with the world and musing a bit about just how much time goes into making an activity like this work. And since this is my blog, I think I’ll just keep going.

My apartment smells very strongly of chicken. This afternoon I roasted the second of the two roasted chicken I bought at Costco last month, and now the bones are simmering in the stock pot with the leftover aromatics from the ‘ends’ freezer bag. That freezer bag is/was full of onion ends, carrot peels, mushroom stems and the leftovers of herbs and things. In a couple of hours, I’ll have the stock necessary to make the kale, potato and chicken soup we’ll be eating for lunch next week. The chicken for the stew comes from half of the roasted chicken, the other half got mixed with some parsley for this weeks roast chicken, pita and hummus sandwiches lunch. Total cost for 10 days of weekday lunches for the two of us: $10.88.

Total time is another matter. Yesterday I made the pita and hummus, I suppose the total time for that was about an hour active cooking time. The roast chicken was probably 45 minutes active time – mainly because it takes a while to completely carve and cube a roast chicken. I’m guessing that the soup will take about 30 more minutes active time, mainly for chopping onions and kale, then also for watching it to make sure it doesn’t over cook. Finally, I’ll probably make at least two loaves of bread this week to go with the soup, which will be about another 15 minutes active time. Total active time for 10 meals: 2.5 hours active time.

AH, but it’s the INACTIVE time that adds up. Chickpeas for the hummus had to soak overnight. I use the No Knead Bread method recently popularized by Mark Bittman, which take a full day and a half to rise and rest before baking. Chicken roasts, then rests, for a total of 2 hours and stock simmers for 3 to 4 hours. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not watching that pot boil, I’m writing this blog post from the comfort of my couch. It’s the inactive time is what makes the month possible (and delicious).

For example, a 1 pound bag of chickpeas is $1.69, whereas a 16 ounce can is say…$0.99 (give or take). A pound of dry chickpeas, once cooked, can fill at least four of those cans, at a savings of $2.27. It’s not a whole lot of money any other month, but that’s over a days worth of food for Chad and myself. Pennies add up quickly when you’re counting every one of them. Also, personally, I think that food that that takes a long time to cook often ends up tasting better – but that could just be me.

So! To finish up this meandering post, $11+2.5 hours active cooking+a couple of days inactive cooking=10 days of delicious lunches for me and Chad.

SNOW!

February 6, 2010 in Alexandria by melissa | No comments

Until this year, I don’t think I had ever heard the term Thundersnow (which I still haven’t witnessed). I’m also pretty sure that ’snowpacolype’ just recently joined the local lexicon. I know that the amount of snow we’re getting right now happens in a lot of part of the world I’d really rather not live in, and I think it’s pretty, and means there will be plenty of water later one. We’re lucky for that. But the Commonwealth of Virginia (at least some parts of it – I don’t know if us Northerners count), is still part of “The South.” “The South” should not get 30 inches of snow (or whatever it will be when the cold pretty white stuff stops falling from the sky).

And, of course, since it’s a rare and unnatural occurrence, we took some SNOW pictures.

Update! Chad and I walked over to the Masonic memorial on Sunday to watch the people sled, ski and snowboard. There are pictures of that in the snow album too!


Melissa and Chad in the snow!

Looking to February

January 28, 2010 in Kitchen by melissa | 2 comments

February starts on Monday, and so does another $56 in February. As of right now, we’re going to try for year three.

So what am I talking about? For those of you who come here for Foreign Service related information, the next month might be a bit of a departure from the norm. As the URL, pictures, and other blog posts suggest, this website is about the VonHinkens, that means me, my husband Chad, and whatever might be going on in our lives that we like to write about. In February, that means we talk about extremely frugal eating. This will be the third year Chad and I embark on an experience/experiment that involves us spending $56 on food for the month of February. If you want, you can read about $56 in February 2009.

Whenever we bring up this tradition (does three times make it a tradition?), people say at least one of the following three things: ‘that’s not possible,’ ‘how?,’ and ‘why?’ Let me give you the short responses:

“That’s not possible!” To this I say HA! Back in 2007, when we did this the first time, I wanted to do it primarily to find out if I could. I can, and I can even come in under budget. So yeah, there is a little bit of pride, and a little testing to see if I can still pull it off.

“How?” It takes a lot of planning. A LOT. Coming in on (or under) budget is an extreme logistical project for me. Chad is very supportive, but he’s not the one cooking everything from scratch. And I mean it when I say from scratch. Beans come from dry, I make my own stock (if I’m going to use it), sometimes I’ll make yogurt, cottage cheese, and breads (including pita – it really is very easy). This takes a lot of time and frankly, I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do it this year. This year I’m working for a company that keeps me pretty busy, and there’s the faint possibility of travel for work during the month, but we’re going to try anyway. We’ll see what happens.

“Why?” This is most complicated and least tangible answer. There are a lot of reasons that might not make sense to anyone outside of our little family of two. At first it was to see if we could. Then the money saving aspect, especially when we were trying to pay off our credit cards, was really attractive. However, our reasons have grown more philosophical as we continue – it has become an exercise in mindfulness.

During February, we are much more aware of what we eat, what goes into our food, and what we put in our bodies than we are in any other month. We are also more cognizant of how much we consume, and this is not limited to food. While Chad and I are already pretty light eaters, February reminds us of what it’s like to be hungry. The annual reminder makes us hate waste of all kinds, and since we don’t want to hoard anything, we don’t acquire more than we need.

I won’t be blogging quite so often about this year’s $56 in February, I’m not going to have the time. Also, it’ll probably be a big repeat of last year, and that can get boring. But I’ll post now and then about how we’re doing. Here’s a quick spoiler: we’ll be eating a LOT of empanda-pasty-samosa-pie type of food. Cheap and delicious!

My Statement of Interest for the Foreign Service

January 24, 2010 in Foreign Service by melissa | 2 comments

All Foreign Service Candidates bring a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the Foreign Service Oral Assessment, and it’s read by the examiners who asses the Structured Interview (at the very least – I don’t know who else reads it). No one knows for sure the guidelines for the SOI other than “Please us the space below to describe why you want to become a Foreign Service officer.” However, there are a few generally agreed upon guidelines in the Yahoo! Boards

  • The SOI should concentrate on why you want to join the Foreign Service, not about why you’ll be an awesome FSO.
  • Steer clear of “I want to travel.” This may be why you originally joined, but just wanting to travel gives the impression that you don’t completely understand the demands of the career.
  • Be succinct and follow directions. You get an electronic copy of the document to ‘use the space below.’ Don’t go over a page and make sure the document is readable. There are varying opinions on whether or not the template is required – I say play it safe.
  • Have several people read and give you feedback. My study group was essential for this. The document below is probably the fourth draft. I was very lucky to have the feedback from my group as well as from Chad, who is a wonderful editor.
  • I’ve read of people writing their SOI the night before in the hotel (or even the morning of!), either because they left theirs at home or forgot to write it. If you can work that well under a short timeline, congrats, for the rest of us, make several copies, email the document to yourself, make sure someone else who can fax it to you is available, etc, etc. Don’t show up without it.
  • Tell your own story. It doesn’t have to be something glamorous or earth shattering, but it should be about you. My SOI was very personal, and I think that made a difference.

Read my Statement of Interest after the jump!

Preparing for the Foreign Service Oral Assessment: Part II

January 15, 2010 in Foreign Service by melissa | 2 comments

In the first half of this loooooong tutorial-like string of advice, I wrote about studying as a group. The value of practicing with your group is priceless, so please make sure you do it. However, there’s plenty of preparation you can do as an individual. This post is going to focus on the Case Management Exercise, Structured Interview, and finally, some general advice that Terry Pratchett fans may recognize as ‘headology.’

Much more after the jump

Preparing for Foreign Service Oral Assessment: Part I

January 10, 2010 in Foreign Service by melissa | 1 comment

Part II will be primarily about how I prepared on my own, but this post is devoted to how my group studied and, most importantly, practiced together. A little over a year ago, I started regularly meeting in the MLK Library with my FSOA study group. An alternate title for this post would be “Hooray for my Study Group”! I know that I wouldn’t have passed the FSOA on my first try without Alex, Darin, Doreen, Lisa, Mark, Matt, Noelle, Shaqueta, and Violetta. Thanks again guys.

For my own personal experience with the FSOA, read the FSOA Recap I wrote last March.

We first came together as a group after looking for a study group on the FSOA Yahoo! Group, which is a great resource for anyone looking for study tips for the Oral Assessment. People are always looking for a study group on the Yahoo! boards, and there are groups on Skype for people who can’t make it to an in person groups. Don’t be shy about joining a group late, you (probably) won’t know anyone at the FSOA, so it’s okay to come into a group of strangers.

Read the rest after the jump

We wish you a Merry Christmas…

January 8, 2010 in Family, Travel, Updates by melissa | 1 comment

…and a Happy New Year!

Okay, so this post is a little late, but at least I’m getting pictures from Christmas and New Years up on the site. If you head on over to the 2009 Holiday Gallery, you’ll see three sets of pictures. The first is us (me, really) decorating our small, crooked, table top tree. His name was Gil and he was very cute!

The second set is from our trip to Midland, MI to see Chad’s parents (and other family) for Christmas. I would just like to share that when we left Virginia on the 23rd, there was more snow on the ground than we had landing in Michigan. And then it had to go and rain on Christmas! In Michigan! So much for my white Christmas. Ah well. For Christmas dinner, I made garlic prime rib, blue cheese mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, Yorkshire pudding, and a salad with pear and carmelized onion. Beth made a fantastic eggnog cake for dessert – all in all, it was a delicious Christmas. =)

The final set of pictures is from New Years Eve. Alin, Christina, King, Nif, Michelle, Mike, Chad and I all got gussied up and headed out to the Willard Intercontinental for a great big party and had a great time. You can also check out the professional photos here, if you’re interested (our crazy prom photo is 5131 and 5132).

Finally, since I know some people are interested, I’m currently 56 out of 63 on the Consular Register. I’ll get there one of these days!

And by the way – I’ve added some new links on the left. Check them out!

PN, QEP, and more DoS FSOT alphabet soup

December 9, 2009 in Foreign Service by melissa | 3 comments

My friend and former room mate Joel introduced me over email to a friend of his who had passed the written portion of the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), and was finalizing her Personal Narrative to send to the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP). She wanted any advice I could give her on clearing this hurdle.

Things were a little bit different when I took the FSOT – they had us fill out the PN before registration (this included a structured resume and personal narrative essays). I really think that moving the PN to after passing the written was a good call on State’s part. People are much more motivated to jump through that hoop if they’ve already cleared another one first.

Since my experience differs from the current process, please keep in mind that this (like most things to do with the entire exam), is guesswork on my part. I have some idea of what I’m talking about, but don’t base your decisions on my opinion alone. Do your research, use your brain, and get a second opinion. For example, State has a pretty thorough guideline for what the QEP looks for. If you haven’t already, go read through it, because I’m not here to repeat their guidelines (at least not today).

Smart people will follow those guidelines and build their total PN around those six precepts State identifies: Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Communication Skills (written and oral), Management Skills, Intellectual Skills, and Substantive Knowledge. The twenty people who read this blog will recognize those precepts because most of them come straight out of State’s Thirteen Dimensions, which I wrote about earlier in the week.

Here is my logic, let me know what you think about it, and remember that all of the numbers are completely made up. Let’s say State had 1000 candidates pass the written, but only has 500 slots for the Oral Assessment. 750 candidates submit beautifully crafted PN’s that include wonderfully written demonstrations of their Substantive Knowledge, Leadership, Interpersonal, Communication, Management, and Intellectual Skills. How does the QEP weed out the remaining 250 candidates?

I really don’t know. I’m not part of BEX and I’m not privy to the inner workings of the QEP – but I can make a pretty good guess. So my guess is that they look for the candidates who were also able to demonstrate composure, cultural adaptability, experience and motivation, judgment, integrity, organizational skills and resourcefulness – or, the remaining dimensions not specified in their six precepts. I think that these are the differentiators for the QEP (when they’re needed). What do you think?

The Thirteen Dimensions of a Foreign Service Officer

December 3, 2009 in Foreign Service by melissa | 3 comments

When I first heard about the Foreign Service, I thought: “Wow! I can get paid in dollars to live abroad and have an adventure!” Yes, yes, service to country, helping people, etc, that’s all important too (and one of these day’s I’ll post my “Statement of Interest,” but if I’m honest with myself (you be honest too!), the job just sounds so cool.

The more I found out about being an FSO and the types of things I could end up doing, the more excited I got about the work. However, it wasn’t until I started studying for the Oral Assessment that I started to look forward to the people I would be working with. A big part of that is because I had such a great group of future FSO’s (hooray for Alex, Darin, Doreen, Kerry, Lisa, Mark, Matt, Noelle and Shaqueta!). But it was really studying State’s Thirteen Dimensions, and discovering the best way to demonstrate them in myself that made me look forward to working with my future colleagues. At some point during their testing process, all FSO’s have had to prove that they exhibit these qualities. I’ll write a bit more about how I went about doing that (hopefully not too much) later on, but I wanted to share their definitions here first. I am really looking forward to working with people who possess the below dimensions.

State describes the thirteen dimensions as “reflect[ing] the skills, abilities, and personal qualities deemed essential to the work of the Foreign Service.” These come straight from State (link to PDF):

Composure To stay calm, poised, and effective in stressful or difficult situations; to think on one’s feet, adjusting quickly to changing situations; to maintain self-control.

Cultural Adaptability To work and communicate effectively and harmoniously with persons of other cultures, value systems, political beliefs, and economic circumstances; to recognize and respect differences in new and different cultural environments.

Experience and Motivation To demonstrate knowledge, skills or other attributes gained from previous experience of relevance to the Foreign Service; to articulate appropriate motivation for joining the Foreign Service.

Information Integration and Analysis To absorb and retain complex information drawn from a variety of sources; to draw reasoned conclusions from analysis and synthesis of available information; to evaluate the importance, reliability, and usefulness of information; to remember details of a meeting or event without the benefit of notes.

Initiative and Leadership To recognize and assume responsibility for work that needs to be done; to persist in the completion of a task; to influence significantly a group’s activity, direction, or opinion; to motivate others to participate in the activity one is leading.

Judgment To discern what is appropriate, practical, and realistic in a given situation; to weigh relative merits of competing demands.

Objectivity and Integrity To be fair and honest; to avoid deceit, favoritism, and discrimination; to present issues frankly and fully, without injecting subjective bias; to work without letting personal bias prejudice actions.

Oral Communication To speak fluently in a concise, grammatically correct, organized, precise, and persuasive manner; to convey nuances of meaning accurately; to use appropriate styles of communication to fit the audience and purpose.

Planning and Organizing To prioritize and order tasks effectively, to employ a systematic approach to achieving objectives, to make appropriate use of limited resources.

Quantitative Analysis To identify, compile, analyze, and draw correct conclusions from pertinent data; to recognize patterns or trends in numerical data; to perform simple mathematical operations.

Resourcefulness To formulate creative alternatives or solutions to resolve problems, to show flexibility in response to unanticipated circumstances.

Working With Others To interact in a constructive, cooperative, and harmonious manner; to work effectively as a team player; to establish positive relationships and gain the confidence of others; to use humor as appropriate.

Written Communication To write concise, well organized, grammatically correct, effective and persuasive English in a limited amount of time.

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