Tag Archives: Yoga

Will the Real Bootcamp Please Stand Up?

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

FOOD

So first of all, the raw granola bars turned out amazingly.  I really have to make a big batch of these before all my spring and summer travels start (hell0…they start in less than 3 days!).  Besides, my oldest keeps taking them all and I’m almost out…

Breakfast Sunday morning was a cup of coffee and a green juice.  Celery, apple, lemon, parsley, and kale.  Lunch was a BAS from Whole Foods that I picked up after yoga (sorry, no picture of either!).  Dinner is a raw pizza!  The crust is a zucchini/buckwheat/oat recipe (slightly modified) from Chef Amber Shea.  The sauce is a raw marinara, and topped with onion, pineapple, garlic, fresh basil (that I’m growing!), and bell pepper.  After starting the crust in the dehydrator around 10am, I flipped it, dried it a few more hours, then topped with my toppings and put back in for an hour to warm up a bit.  Very, very yummy!

after making the dough in the Vitamix (a combo of fresh made oat flour - also in the Vita, zucchini, spices, and buckwheat among a few ingredients)...I spread out a large crust on the dehydrator and popped that sucker in.

after making the dough in the Vitamix (a combo of fresh made oat flour – also in the Vita, zucchini, spices, and buckwheat among a few ingredients)…I spread out a large crust on the dehydrator and popped that sucker in.

fresh tomato marinara ingredients going into the Vitamix to make my pizza sauce

fresh tomato marinara ingredients going into the Vitamix to make my pizza sauce

bell pepper, onion, pineapple, and fresh basil for my pizza toppings!

bell pepper, onion, pineapple, and fresh basil for my pizza toppings!

not the prettiest, but for my first attempt at a raw pizza, it was very good and I'll definitely make it again.

not the prettiest, but for my first attempt at a raw pizza, it was very good and I’ll definitely make it again.

I also made some sweet potato hummus and a few salads to keep for the week.

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This morning was a green juice for breakfast (I actually made this one instead of buying it!), and a snack of Suzie’s quinoa cakes topped with the sweet potato hummus and pickles!

romaine, collard leaves, apples, lemon, cucumber, and ginger

romaine, collard leaves, apples, lemon, cucumber, and ginger

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FITNESS

I actually slept in yesterday (930 am!), so I really missed any opportunity to hit up a Bikram yoga class.  After checking out local yoga and YMCA classes, I decided to go to a Hot Vinyasa yoga class.

It’s been awhile since I’ve worn a HR monitor to one of those, but since I want to compare it to Bikram, I did.

I want to start off by saying this was a tough class.  It was 60 minutes, but for those who don’t know what vinyasa is, it’s a constant flow from one posture to another.  I had a few moments where I felt I was pushing past my comfort zone, and struggled for about 5 minutes where I took a few child’s pose breaks.

I was shocked (and disappointed) to see my HR monitor only register 247 calories in an hour.  I really felt I worked even harder than I did at the Bikram class, but just a portion of the burn.  Wow.  I did take the watch off for a bit, but put it next to my mat, so I’m guessing the monitor around my chest was still transmitting.

hot vinyasa class. I think I got robbed on this....

hot vinyasa class. I think I got robbed on this….

This morning I hit up a Boot Camp class at the Y.  I figure I have this membership, right…may as well use it to check out group classes other than spin.

I will say that, having been in the military personally, my idea of boot camp is FAR different from the suburbanites I was in class with.  Quite frankly, it wasn’t my thing.  I was disappointed in the class, and while I got a pretty good burn (368 cal in 45 min), I didn’t feel very “worked out” by the end.  I’ll check out a few others with different instructors to see if I take to them any better.

sorry for the dark pic....it was still sort of dark-ish and overcast out

sorry for the dark pic….it was still sort of dark-ish and overcast out

LIFE

Life was quiet this past weekend.  D was feeling a bit under the weather, so we really all stayed home.  A had volunteering Saturday and Sunday and worked Saturday night, so other than that, it was grocery shopping, farmer’s market hopping, laundry, and kitchen fun.

R swam with her new perspective team again tonight, and it’s so very different.  She seems to like it more, so we’ll see if she tries out and makes the switch!

T minus 2 1/2 days to Portland and Vida Vegan Con 2013!!!

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I Have a Hippie Box (or three….), and One Extra Adult in the House

Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

FOOD

I am relegated to the garage.  Sort of.  You see, I am 1/5 of a family, and while the rest of them are pretty good at eating well, none of them eat like me…..vegan, lots of raw, and food I wouldn’t have recognized as a kid growing up in the Midwest (we’re not exactly known for our tempeh in Wisconsin!).

We have one fridge, which I mostly dominate with fruits and veggies, a deep freezer which is mostly bulk soups, and a pantry that is mostly canned goods, teas, flours, breads, tortillas, etc.  However, I have a lot of “other food”…we’re talking bulk dried beans, rice paper rolls, Ener-G egg replacement for baking, a plethora of rices, etc…that don’t fit in the house.  So…I have hippie boxes in the attached garage (it’s what we’ve taken to calling “mom’s food”).  I started with one, and now have three.  One is exclusively for spices (I’m a spice snob).  One of these days, I’ll get to have all my food live in the house.  Someday :)

hippie boxes, plus boxes of bulk channa dahl and soy beans (for homemade soymilk), and buckwheat groats

hippie boxes, plus boxes of bulk channa dahl and soy beans (for homemade soymilk), and buckwheat groats

Yesterday I had a raw wrap for breakfast (typical collard leaf stuffed with tons of veggies, guacamole, and pickles), some pineapple for a snack, miso soup and sushi with D for lunch, and some quinoa puffed cakes (like rice cakes) with guacamole and pickles for dinner.

sweet potato, avocado, and broccoli rolls

sweet potato, avocado, and broccoli rolls

Suzie's cakes with guac and pickles! I love that combo...

Suzie’s cakes with guac and pickles! I love that combo…

Today was a Whole Foods salad and a green juice for breakfast, some Post Punk Kitchen red Thai curry rice and kale soup for lunch, and popcorn for dinner (no I’m not proud of that one, but it is what it is).  Snacked on watermelon, grapes, and pineapple as snacks.

garlicky kale, spinach, tomato and onion salad, and some roasted spuds

garlicky kale, spinach, tomato and onion salad, and some roasted spuds

green juice

green juice

first stage of the soup. Only change I made from the recipe was to use short-grain brown rice and red kale

first stage of the soup. Only change I made from the recipe was to use short-grain brown rice and red kale

a BIG bowl!

a BIG bowl!

I have a batch of granola bars from Practically Raw Desserts going in the dehydrator (based on the batter, these are going to be awesome….), and I have a ton more planned (raw breads, kale chips, more desserty things) throughout the weekend.  I’ve been moving more and more towards higher raw eating, and always love finding new ways to make it fun and interesting.

FITNESS

I’m a big fan of hot yoga, as any regular reader knows.  For some reason, we don’t have many non-hot studios around here, so I think I got into hot yoga out of necessity more than desire, but I do enjoy it.  Especially now that I’m not running, I appreciate more the harder workout that hot yoga is for me.

That said, when I travel, finding regular hot yoga studios is more difficult.  Hot yoga is essentially “regular” hatha or ashtanga (or other style normally done in a non-heated environment) yoga done in a heated room.  The more popular version of hot yoga is Bikram yoga, which is a more popular/trendy style of 26 specific postures done over 90 minutes in a 105 degree/40% humidity room.  After years of doing yoga in my area, Bikram has come to town.  I checked it out yesterday….

So here’s my take on it.  Bikram style is a very specific sequence; it’s always the same 26 postures done twice each.  The room is always lit brightly, carpeted, and there is no music.  It’s sort of military-meets-yoga style to me (as a survivor of real military boot camp, I feel I can say this!).

Other hot yoga classes I usually go to are in dimly lit rooms, heated from 95-105 degrees, never carpeted, though floors vary, and the sequences vary as widely as the whims of the instructors.  Sometimes I love them, other times I don’t.  There’s always music – some traditional yoga music, and some upbeat modern (those are my favorite), and they vary in length from 60-75-90 minutes.

The jury is still out in how I feel about one vs. the other.  I certainly was a hot sweaty mess when I left the Bikram class, but I’m not sure (based on my HR monitor) that I actually burned any more calories than normal.  I got a little light-headed in the last 10 minutes, and didn’t like that water breaks were prescribed vs taking them when you need in my other classes.  That said, I liked the instructor and her explanations of everything we were doing.  None of the poses were new to me, so I think that helped.  I was also warned that the first class isn’t pleasant, and to give it a few.  I’m thinking about sticking to this style for a month to see if I notice anything different – especially if I get stronger due to always doing the same pose sequence.  I’ll keep ya posted on that.

my Bikram burn

my Bikram burn

LIFE

Well, the most notable thing for me is that yesterday I woke up the mother of 3 kids, and went to sleep the mother of 2 kids and 1 adult.  Yep…my oldest turned 18.  I was fine about it all until I went to bed (which was close to 1 am since I was waiting up for her to get home from her night out!) and started thinking about A being 18.  It’s cool…though she’s still a kid with a lot to learn.  She doesn’t always think she has anything left to learn, but I was no different at her age.

Other than that, I went to Whole Foods and made the rounds at some farmer’s market’s and U-Pick Strawberry fields.  I live in SE Virginia, which is largely tobacco and cotton areas.  Finding a big farmer’s market around here isn’t easy (though you can’t tell people around here that the Virginia Beach farmer’s market is small and a little sad….).  I grew up in WI where farmer’s markets were as big as a small mall.  *sigh

Anyway, I made the trek to a few in North Carolina (I live pretty close to the state line), and came home with a trunk full of fun.  Fruits, veggies, spicy pickles (yes…I love pickles), and juices.  All in all, a really good haul!

one of the farmer's markets had these little wheel barrow shopping carts!

one of the farmer’s markets had these little wheel barrow shopping carts!

D isn’t feeling so hot, so while he took a nap, I finally watched Tron with my youngest R.  We made popcorn and enjoyed the movie very much.  The rest of the weekend will be wash and prepping foods for the coming busy week!  Oh…and I leave for Portland Thursday!!!

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Nothing But a Circus Around Here

Posted on May 16, 2013 | 4 Comments

FOOD

Okay, so I’ll have the obligatory pictures of yummy eats in a second, but today I want to talk about the lessons I’ve learned from food in the past month or so.

First of all, my joint pain is all but gone the past two weeks.  I had some soreness in my right hand when I had to do a bit of handwriting one day (laptop battery died and I forgot my iPad, so I was forced to go the old-fashioned way – pen and paper!).  But that said – it was only very mildly sore, and nothing like the locked up and unable to move and severe pain that I’d been having.  Aside from that one episode, my joints have been great.

What does this say to me?  It confirms my very strong belief that food is the ultimate medicine.  You can harm or heal your body through food.  You can eat yourself to death and disease, or to health.  I will put the caveat that there are circumstances where food has little to nothing to do with disease, but I don’t think a good clean diet can ever HURT you the way a bad diet will always hurt you.  Take me for instance.  My autoimmune condition is genetic, yet my food choices are helping me manage it drug-free.

The hives are still hit or miss.  It’s nowhere near as bad as it was back in January/February, but I still get boughts of them that are extremely itchy and uncomfortable.  Here is what I’ve learned about that…

Hives, first of all, are a histamine reaction and we’re not exactly sure why I’m having them.  Could it be related to the joint fun?  Maybe.  Is it allergies to foods or environment?  Possibly.  Does anyone feel confident they know why I’m getting them?  Hell no.

I’ve had days where I don’t get any.  When looking at my food journals, those are the days I ate the cleanest with mostly or all raw foods, limited caffeine, etc.  If I slip up and have something with gluten (like today), I will get some intense hives.  I can’t make a positive correlation yet, but I think there’s a connection to foods causing my hives.  I’ll keep watching it.

Oh, and ice packs are the best thing I’ve found for the hives.  Showers and any heat make them worse, creams don’t help (they make it worse by trapping in body heat).  So for your future reference if you ever find yourself with a back full of hives – ice it.  Trust me.

Okay.  Pic time.

raw wrap

raw wrap

new juice line being made by my Whole Foods

new juice line being made by my Whole Foods

blueberry and coconut smoothie

blueberry and coconut smoothie

this week's favorite. It's a green smoothie with banana, strawberry, pineapple, flax, and romaine.

this week’s favorite. It’s a green smoothie with banana, strawberry, pineapple, flax, and romaine.

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BAS with romaine, arugula, cuc, carrot, cauliflower, red onion, cherry tomatoes, a spicy tahini dressing, and some grilled artichoke.

BAS with romaine, arugula, cuc, carrot, cauliflower, red onion, cherry tomatoes, a spicy tahini dressing, and some grilled artichoke.

today's lunch bento stack! Raw collard wrap, chopped veggie snack, and some fruit (Muscat grapes and pineapple).

today’s lunch bento stack! Raw collard wrap, chopped veggie snack, and some fruit (Muscat grapes and pineapple).

FITNESS

It’s been a very hectic week, so getting in my workouts has been an experiment in time management.  Early morning yoga at home with one of my Yoga Today videos and Zumba on the Xbox have been the order of the week.

I did make it to a spin class with AZ this evening after work.  It was ok….I wasn’t the sweat ball I normally am, and my calorie burn was only 300 for 45 minutes, compared to the 500+ of the past few.  If my butt and leg muscles are sore tomorrow, I’ll feel like it was a good lower-body strength session more than any cardio….oh well.

I see my trainer tomorrow morning.

LIFE

The big life stuff the past few days have been about my oldest daughter.  First of all, she’s turning 18 tomorrow, but that’s a whole other post!

I’ve mentioned before that she’s an artist – her specific medium being fashion.  She had her Senior Show this past week, and quite frankly, all of my energies have been there.  Everything came together in the end, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that it would all fall apart!

The show was inspired by the circus, and all of the outfits represent different circus things – there’s an elephant, lion tamer, ring leader, big tent, acrobat, poodle, clown, and a mime.

She had eight models (friends) and three “helpers” during the show.  She produced all the art work and outfits, choreographed everything, selected the music, etc.  The rest of the family helped do everything else!  Catering, moving walls, communicating with parents, hosting a “fitting party”, helping find a photographer and videographer, and basically keep her on track (yes…we made a color coded project plan).  It was insane and amazing, and I’m incredibly proud of her.

Believe it or not – we took VERY few pictures.  There was a photographer and videographer documenting the whole thing (local community college students – keeping in theme that this was a student show), so we were mingling and keeping everything together.  Here are a few, but they don’t come close to capturing the show.  Perhaps I’ll post more when we get the files from the show.

we had to rent a Uhaul and pick up 5 false walls so A could create a runway and have walls to hang her art. And then take them back. All in the same day. And they're heavy.

we had to rent a U-Haul and pick up 5 false walls so A could create a runway and have walls to hang her art. And then take them back. All in the same day. And they’re heavy.

the space that the museum donated for the show

the space that the museum donated for the show

the awesome Chihuly glass centerpiece of the room

the awesome Chihuly glass centerpiece of the room

the entrance to the runway

the entrance to the runway

drawings (4 are of outfits in the show)

drawings (4 are of outfits in the show)

more drawings (and the top 4 are the other outfits in the show)

more drawings (and the top 4 are the other outfits in the show)

dress rehearsal

dress rehearsal

a few of the girls (including A) doing set up before the show

a few of the girls (including A) doing set up before the show

the models in their circus-themed creations!

the models in their circus-themed creations!  My daughter would be the one on the end in the blue dress – which she made too.

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Other than that, sleep and relaxing are the goals for the next few days before life gets hectic for other reasons (like traveling, graduation, more traveling, and the whole “shipping a kid off to college” thing…..).

 

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Call Me Elwood

Posted on May 3, 2013 | 6 Comments

FOOD

This week on the elimination diet has been going well.  I get this sense of clarity and purpose by avoiding foods.  It sounds strange, but it’s been easy to forgo the crackers and wine because I’m on a mission.  It’s like I’m Elwood in The Blues Brothers…..”They’re not gonna catch us….we’re on a mission from God”.  Granted, my mission was given to me by a nutritionist, but still….I feel like Elwood.

Anyway, I’m not hungry very often, and when I am, after a handful of berries or veggies, I’m good to go.

I've had many green smoothies, and most with some brown rice protein powder added to make up for the lack of tofu in my diet.

I’ve had many green smoothies, and most with some brown rice protein powder added to make up for the lack of tofu in my diet.

craved some oatmeal one day. This has about a 1/2 cup of blueberries, a mashed banana, and a ton of cinnamon added too. It was amazing...like dessert.

craved some oatmeal one day. This has about a 1/2 cup of blueberries, a mashed banana, and a ton of cinnamon added too. It was amazing…like dessert.

I took half a head of cauliflower and coated it in coconut white balsamic vinegar and cinnamon and threw it in the dehydrator for about 12 hours. I was hoping they'd be crunchy, but there were good and satisfied that occasional sweet tooth.

I took half a head of cauliflower and coated it in coconut white balsamic vinegar and cinnamon and threw it in the dehydrator for about 12 hours. I was hoping they’d be crunchy, but there were good and satisfied that occasional sweet tooth.

common snack....wild rice cakes, guacamole, and tomato. I was sad I was out of pickles, because that would have MADE this.

common snack….wild rice cakes, guacamole, and tomato. I was sad I was out of pickles, because that would have MADE this.

I had this BAS twice this week. Chopped lettuce, chickpeas, peas, beets, onion, tomato, peppercini, and avocado.

I had this BAS twice this week. Chopped lettuce, chickpeas, peas, beets, onion, tomato, peppercini, and avocado.

not for me, but made cookies for the fam. They're vegan oatmeal raisin, but with choc ships instead of raisins.

not for me, but made cookies for the fam. They’re vegan oatmeal raisin, but with choc ships instead of raisins.

FITNESS

Yesterday was a hot yoga class with a little funk thrown in.  I down dogged to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foster the People, XX, and a few others.  The hour was up before I knew it, which just means the class was that good.

Tomorrow I have a spin date with a friend at 830 am, and time permitting, may take R on a guided hike at a local state park at 3.  We’ll have to play that one by ear though.

LIFE

It’s been a nice week for the most part, at least in terms of work and home life.

I had lunch with R at her school today, which was really nice.  She wants to make it a regular thing, which if I can work it in, would love to do.  D was going to meet her for lunch on Wednesday, but he got that nasty stomach virus M had.

M curled up on the floor, feeling icky, and snuggling with his pups.

M curled up on the floor, feeling icky, and snuggling with his pups.

Tomorrow I will have a gaggle of teenaged girls (17-18 yrs. old) over for a “Fitting Party”.  She has a fashion show in a little less than two weeks, and in an effort to get all her models in one place to do final fittings, we’re (read – I’m) hosting a party.  It’s going to be utter chaos.

Oh, and I’m getting a new dishwasher installed tomorrow too.  Hence why I’m not sure if I’ll make it to the hike.  D may kill me if I leave him home alone with that many kids running about.

Sunday I’m going to a vegan meet-up at a local festival, and am looking forward to that too.  Hopefully it’ll be a nice and peaceful weekend…well…at least Sunday should be :)

 

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The Pains of Opening Day

Posted on April 29, 2013 | 2 Comments

FOOD

So, we broke another coffee pot.  Seriously, I’ve gone through 3 in just a few years.  Aren’t these things supposed to last a long time?  It’s not like I abuse them or anything, and only one of them was a K-Mart special.  Anyway, we went with the Keurig Vue.  It doesn’t use the K-Cups, but the newer Vue cups.  Everyone loves it.  And I got a new appliance.

On the normal food front, it’s been another few days of yummy and mostly raw goodness.  Allow me to demonstrate:

whipping up a small bit of guac for a wrap. 1 avocado, a thick slice of red onion, half a hot pepper, some cilantro, a clove of garlic, and a pinch of sea salt. Easy peasy.

whipping up a small bit of guac for a wrap. 1 avocado, a thick slice of red onion, half a hot pepper, some cilantro, a clove of garlic, and a pinch of sea salt. Easy peasy.

the wrap with guac smothered on it. Along with a bunch of other yummy things!

the wrap with guac smothered on it. Along with a bunch of other yummy things!

I made another crock pot batch of veggie broth.  I’m still saving all my discards like onion peels, leftover spices, any veggie that I’m not going to use in time before it spoils, etc.  Pop it in the crock, cover with water, and this time I threw a handful of peppercorns too.  Very happy with this batch!

so I realize it doesn't look very pretty here...

so I realize it doesn’t look very pretty here…

but it made 3 quarts of this gorgeousness!

but it made 3 quarts of this gorgeousness!

I made a sprouted wild rice salad.  Sprouted wild rice, a little olive oil, red onion, fresh lime juice, garlic, sea salt, cilantro, hot pepper, and red onion.

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Beets marinating in a homemade dressing with my very own growing oregano! (it was an accident – I planted it last year and nothing happened…D noticed it came in this year, so I had to use it).

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Made the best marinade yesterday too!  Balsamic vinegar, siracha, garlic, and fresh squeezed OJ.  I put tofu cubes in it all day, and then D grilled it with some pineapple.  I dumped it and a teriyaki broccoli slaw and the wild rice salad onto one monster BAS.

I ate maybe 1/4 of it, but it was amazing.

I ate maybe 1/4 of it, but it was amazing.

I put the dehydrator to work making raw tomato/pepper wraps.  They’re like fruit roll ups, but for wraps instead!

1 - put the veggies in the vitamix

1 – put the veggies in the vitamix

2 - blend

2 – blend

3 - spread onto the dehydrator tray

3 – spread onto the dehydrator tray

5 - dry overnight (flipping once after 6 hours)

4 – dry overnight (flipping once after 6 hours)

6 - put it on a plate, with a collard leaf, romaine, tomato, carrots, and some cranberry/pear white balsamic vinegar. Wrap it up and eat it (and then smile).

5 - put it on a plate, with a collard leaf, romaine, tomato, carrots, and some cranberry/pear white balsamic vinegar. Wrap it up and eat it (and then smile).

I met today with a nutritionist.  While I think I eat very healthy (most of the time – certainly not all), I do want professional advice since I’m dealing with this autoimmune crap.  We’re starting with a month of an elimination diet (though I have targets for specific macro nutrients like proteins) to see if it has an impact on my symptoms.  If it does, then we slowly add things back in, wait a day or two, and see if I still feel well.  It’s the classic dietary approach when dealing with food intolerances/allergies and I’m kind of kicking myself that I didn’t think of it!  I guess that’s why I’m seeing a professional!  Anyway, it’s gluten-free, soy-free (which will be a rough one for me), alcohol free, limited caffeine (I’m allowed my 1 cup of black java in the mornings), no chocolate, no oranges or corn, and only spices and vinegars as cold-pressed oils as condiments.  I guess we’ll see!

FITNESS

I’ve been to a couple hot yoga classes the past few days, hiked around Busch Gardens for several hours, and met today with my trainer.  He kicked my butt!

We stretched, and I like that he incorporated a lot of yoga into it.  Then did some foam roller work to loosen some tightness in my calves and lats he noticed last time.  Then it was off for crazy intervals on the elliptical, followed by weights and band work (and some crazy lunge version of twister I can’t even articulate well!).  I wore my heart rate monitor, and I burned 507 calories in the hour we worked out.  Good times.

I will say that I appreciate how much he pays attention to what I want and what I need.  With this inflammatory joint thing going on, he’s been doing research on what to do (and not do) with me.  Wants me to get the OK from my Dr before doing any kickboxing, in case it hurts my hands or wrists.  He also knows I don’t want to use weight machines, since I travel and also need to be able to work out at home.  Bands I have, and some dumbbells, so he focuses on those, body weight movements, balance ball stuff, and that I also appreciate a great deal.

LIFE

Thursday evening was some catch-up time with AC.  Max & Erma’s has $8 pitchers of sangria on Thursdays, so we thought we’d check it out.  Turns out their sangria wasn’t very good, but the company was (as always).

Friday it was gorgeous out.  Sunny, warm (but not hot), and just beautiful.  It was also the first time I could wear cute open-toed shoes to work!  I forgot how painful shoes can be sometimes, and by the end of the day my cute black, white, and red heels were killing me.  So opening day (and for that I mean opening day for Cute Shoe Season) was just a wee painful.

This past weekend we had NO PLANS.  The oldest went to a Military Ball, so D, M, R and I went to Busch Gardens.  We had a blast, as always.

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Sunday was cooking, grocery shopping, and general busy work.  It felt really, really nice to relax.

Backyard playtime :)

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And putting the new coffee pot box to good use!

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And now it’s the work week, but that’s okay too :)

 

 

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Lazy Days That Still Manage To Be Busy

Posted on February 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

FOOD

Do you ever find it funny how blueberries always dominate the color palate of anything you eat them with?  I made an uber-green smoothie Friday morning on my way to work – I’m talking about 3 cups of spinach….and just a half cup of blueberries turned the entire thing purple.  They should be called purple berries anyway.

Also on deck this weekend was a spicy stir fry.  Red onion, bell peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and pineapple.  I dry stir fried them in a non stick pan and then added tamari, red chili sauce, rice wine vinegar, and red pepper flakes.  It was really, really good.

stir fry ingredients

stir fry ingredients

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A visit to Whole Foods is never, ever complete (nor possible) without a BAS.  Even though the one by me still isn’t stellar on the vegan options outside of veggies, they are getting a bit better.

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Finally a kale BAS with a (slightly overly) lemony dressing.  And baked sweet spud.  Yum!

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kale, bell pepper, onion, tomato

kale, bell pepper, onion, tomato

FITNESS

I hit up a hot yoga class yesterday that was just what I needed.  My back has been hurting for a couple of days (think I slept funny Thursday night), so I skipped my Saturday run and did yoga instead.  Between that and a heating pad for a couple of days, it’s mostly back to normal.

Today I did my first race of the year!  It was a 5K in Williamsburg, and according to my watch and the chip timing, it was 2 minutes faster than the one I ran in December in VA Beach.  So yay!  And they had hills in WB, so that made me feel pretty good.  My butt and legs may be killing me tomorrow, but for now, I’m a happy girl.

gotta love Colonial Williamsburg! Fife and Drums lead the marathoners across the finish line at the College of William and Mary.

gotta love Colonial Williamsburg! Fife and Drums lead the marathoners across the finish line at the College of William and Mary.

post race band in the beer garden area. Very Mumford and Sons-ish. Guy on the right would go from playing the violin normally to playing it like a guitar.

post race band in the beer garden area. Very Mumford and Sons-ish. Guy on the right would go from playing the violin normally to playing it like a guitar.

LIFE

Friday was work and then a hair cut.  It’s funny – I go over 2 years without a haircut on a regular basis, but once I cut it off, I keep going!  I do wonder how long it’ll be before I give up on the required maintenance of haircuts and let it grow again.  I have curly hair, and I’ve had more bad cuts than I can articulate.  Every time I’ve had a cut I didn’t love, I refuse to get it cut for a long time.  I will say, that I finally found someone I really like (she has curly hair too – it’s the only way to go), so I’m sticking with the short locks for a bit.  Besides – it’s ridiculously easy to “do” my hair now.  Basically, I don’t do anything.

Friday night we watched Skyfall and read in bed.

hubby and R snuggled up Friday night.

hubby and R snuggled up Friday night.

Saturday was supposed to be at R’s swim meet, but she had to miss it (major head cold).  We took the day to mostly relax.  I went to Whole Foods after my yoga class, then showered and was in jammies by 130.  It was nice!

I was up early Saturday morning, and as soon as I got up, Bumble moved over to snuggle D. It was too cute to not snap a quick pic (and put all over Facebook and Twitter of course)

I was up early Saturday morning, and as soon as I got up, Bumble moved over to snuggle D. It was too cute to not snap a quick pic (and put all over Facebook and Twitter of course)

Today I dropped M off at a friend’s house on my way to the race.  After some shopping, racing, and general fun, I made my way home.  I was intending to have a very simple dinner, but M brought his friends over and I ended up making a 4 course meal.  Can’t have his friend’s thinking we only eat soup and crackers!

This week will be pretty crazy since I leave town Friday for a week.  I’m very much looking forward to it though.

 

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Missing Luggage, Restocking, and Hot Shoes

Posted on August 31, 2011 | 6 Comments

Back to our regularly scheduled format!

FOOD

Can you believe that my first day home, I ate an Amy’s bean burrito for breakfast??  After a week of feasting on ridiculously cool vegan food, I made a microwave burrito.  I will say that not only was I ridiculously hungry when I woke up, but there was also nothing in the house for me to eat!  D doesn’t exactly do a stellar job of keeping fresh fruits and veggies in the house when I’m not home.

For lunch, I had a bowl of veggie Pho from my favorite little stand in Virginia Beach.  Tons of tofu, cabbage, broccoli, and rice noodles.  Add some siracha, and I was in heaven!

I munched on a banana while reading some new cookbooks I picked up today.  I had to or I’d have been baking (and eating) a ton of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes!

My dinner was a BAS full of lettuce, cabbage, avocado, tomatoes, and lemon juice.  Exactly what I needed and craved today!

After dinner, R and I got to making the brownies!  I let her use the KitchenAid.  Which is miraculous…it’s sort of like giving the keys to my BMW to a newly licensed teenager.  No I don’t actually have a BMW, but you get the idea…

FITNESS

I failed to mention on my last post that I hit up a local yoga studio when I was on the West Coast for a class on Monday.  It was a really nice class and I had fun telling the studio owner that I was visiting from the distant East Coast in order to attend the first ever vegan bloggers conference.  She gave me half off on the class. WOO HOO.

And speaking of fitness…I miss running.  I miss it so much it’s starting to piss me off.  I know I had sworn that I’d wait until after the holidays…when I can pretty much bet my back is fully healed…before I run again, but I think I spoke to soon when I said that.

I want to start running again, but I know I can’t push it too hard.  I also want to start running without headphones.  Aside from being a potentially dangerous distraction, I realized while I was hiking around on my own last week how much fun I was having just thinking and observing without an iPod, etc.  So I now have a NEW plan!  I’m going to re-do (yet again) the Couch to 5K program.  Sans headphones.  I figure it would be a good way to ease back into running without accidentally overdoing it and hurting my back, and it will build up my tolerance to running without audio books.  Sounds good in theory.  We’ll see.  I can’t swim for a few weeks until the new tattoo is healed, so that means back to running and Zumba sooner than I anticipated!

LIFE

I arrived finally last night…with half of my luggage.  The bag the TSA agent got crappy with me about ended up not making it.  Ugh.  I was annoyed since it was the bag with all of the conference swag and the gifts I had bought D and the kids while away.  At least they knew it was still in Atlanta and was delivering it to my house today.  Small favors.

Bumble missed my suitcase more than me! She has a bizarre obsession with lying on suitcases...a fair warning in case you ever come to my house.

We finally got home last night and after all 5 of us (and the cat) lying on my bed chatting, it was finally time for bed.  Which was a good thing because I was exhausted!  I fell asleep right away…and then sat bolt upright at 1230 am unable to sleep.  Ugh.  I tossed around the rest of the night getting increasingly annoyed that I was awake, checked my email, put in some earplugs (D was snoring), and fell asleep soundly in just enough time for my alarm to go off.  Joy.

Let me preface the next part of my story by mentioning how badly D injured his back while I was away.  He has two very big things wrong with his back – one is a birth defect (that I can’t come close to pronouncing) and one is the result of an injury when in the Navy.  Both cause him constant pain, and when he’s hurt…it’s bad.  Unfortunately while preparing for Hurricane Irene, he hurt himself to the point where he can barely move.  So while he was snoring away, I didn’t have the heart to push him over – hence the earplugs.

I knew I’d have to take him to either our doctor, the Urgent Care, or the ED this morning.  When I woke, I texted my boss (BBE) to ask if we could reschedule our meeting at 9.  She was awesome as always and said yes.  D had his appt at 11, was prescribed prednisone, vicodin, and a referral to see my chiropractor.  He can’t take motrin due to the Crohn’s and Tylenol just wasn’t cutting it.  And he’s not allowed to return to work or pretty much move until next Tuesday.  Poor thing.

Oh, and my suitcase was delivered this morning as promised.  Without A’s tube of henna paste (stupid TSA agent probably threw it away and didn’t tell me), and with one of my new bento boxes broken (I found a cool Japanese store while away that had an entire row of bento).  However, a very sweet snarkyvegan has some she doesn’t want, and is going to ship them to me!  In return, I’m thinking I need to send her vegan cookies.

Wall O Bento!

Anyway, after loading all my pics onto the main computer at home (while M sat in the room with me snuggling both Bumble and Sammie), and D was relaxing his back, A and I took off for a little shopping.  I had to replenish my supplies of fresh foods.

Bumble, Sammie, and M snuggling on the Green Room couch

We went first to the mall to pick up a new video game that D and M wanted – and a few new cookbooks for me!

very excited to finally get the Happy Herbivore's book...and to find a book specific to D's Crohn's. Never seen anything like that before.

Then it was off to the Asian grocery where we tried to figure out what we were looking at…since pretty much nothing was in English.

Afterwards, it was a trip to the sad little Virginia Beach farmers market.  Aside from growing up near a HUGE one and having just visited Pike’s Market in Seattle – arguably the coolest farmers market I’ve ever seen – due to Irene, many of the little stands were closed.  The little organic grocery was open though, and we stopped in there for a few items.

The following are all of Pike’s Market in Seattle:

LOVE this sign on the avocados!

At least we have a little local grocer trying to do the right thing and offer our community something!

When we got home, there was a box on the porch.  A new pair of shoes I ordered a little over a week ago arrived!  They are so cute…vegan…and TALL.  Can’t wait to wear them!

they're like extreme penny loafers!

I’m so happy to be home and life is starting to return to normal.  I made a ton of new friends, feel energized, and can’t wait to take what I’ve learned this past week at Vida Vegan Con and start applying it!

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I Got to Be a Pigeon Today!

Posted on August 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

FOOD

I was up earlier than everyone else (as usual), so I had a couple of cups of coffee while first reading some more blog posts, and then while watching the last recorded episode of Hell’s Kitchen.  It was perfect timing when R came downstairs as the show ended, she could watch cartoons, and I could start making breakfast.

First up today was a smoothie.  My latest favorite of watermelon, banana, and frozen strawberries.  My bananas are turning fast, and so right now they’re only good for smoothies or baking – and barely for smoothies.

smoothie!!!

A half hour later, I had a mini bagel with tofutti cream cheese.  I wanted something a little more substantial than just the smoothie, since I was going to be gone for a few hours.

For lunch I made a creamy butternut squash soup.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, only knowing that I had some cubed up butternut squash I picked up on sale at the grocery yesterday, and wanted to do something with that.  I’ve made a few apple and butternut squash soups in the past, but I really wanted to go for something creamier.  I decided on a butternut squash/coconut milk concoction.  It came out very tasty and I was pleased with it.  I made up a batch of savory quinoa (using vegetable broth instead of water), and put about 1/3 cup in the bottom of my bowl to make the soup a hearty meal.

squash in my micro steamer heading for the microwave

onion, garlic, and the quinoa before I rinsed it

I rarely have straight broth on hand, so I use some Penzy's vegetable base mixed with water.

my whole wheat flour

spices!

my lunch, with a little extra cinnamon on top

I’ve started using Living Cookbook 2011 to build my personal recipes (and capture the ones I read online that I love!), so now I can include nutritional calculations too!

Crissie’s Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Eat plain, or serve over quinoa or rice for a heartier dish.  I like to use the So Delicious Vanilla flavored coconut milk if I have it on hand.  Regular coconut milk would work great too.

3 cups butternut squash chunks
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 small onion — chopped
3 cloves garlic — finely chopped
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Steam butternut squash in the microwave for 7 minutes to soften.  Could also be roasted at 450 for 20 minutes if coated lightly in olive oil first.

2. Sauté onion and garlic on medium heat in a non-stick pan or one slightly sprayed with oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

VITAMIX/HIGHPOWERED BLENDER DIRECTIONS

1. Place broth and flour in vitamix and blend, starting on low, and then on high for about 4 minutes.  This will heat up the broth.

2. Add onion mixture and squash.  Blend until smooth, about 15-30 seconds.

3. Add spices and coconut milk, blend for another 15 seconds.

STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS

1. After the onion mixture is completed, add the flour to the pan and stir to combine.

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and slowly add the broth, stirring constantly.

3. Add the coconut milk, and stir until thick, about one minute.  Turn the heat up if you need to.  My gas stove gets touchy, and I often have to put it to high when making a white gravy – which this essentially is.

4. Add butternut squash and either blend with a hand blender, or put in batches (carefully, as it will be very hot) into a normal blender.

5. Add spices, and stir.

Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving
Calories 152.05
Total Fat 4.53g
Total Carbohydrates 26.44g
Fiber 3.72g
Sugar 3.08g
Protein 3.7g

I wasn’t very hungry for a while, and snaked on some pita chips with avocado hummus around 630pm.  I suppose that ended up being my dinner!

FITNESS

I went to the best yoga class today!  I wanted to go to a hot or warm class, as it tends to be more challenging, and I felt the heat would be great for my muscles and especially penetrate my back.

So I went to a 315pm class at my local hot yoga studio, Chesapeake Hot Yoga.  I went to their Light & Warm class – I didn’t want to push it TOO hard after all!

I spoke to the instructor just before hand and let her know about my back injury.  She asked several questions about where the pain is, what caused it, what treatments have I had, and wanted to be sure I saw a doctor.  The owner was there along with another instructor.  She gave me some tips before class started, mostly about listening to my body, not going into camel pose or anything with a deep back bend, going to child’s pose whenever I felt my back was being taxed too much, etc.  Common sense things.

Anyway, I went into the room at about 310.  I usually like to be 10-15 minutes early for a hot or warm class so I can lie down and get accustomed to the heat.

There was only one other girl in the class (hot yoga decreases in popularity around here when the temps get hot – I asked!), and she told us this was her first ever yoga class!  How cool.

Anyway, the instructor came in about 5 minutes late, but had a piece of paper with her.  As soon as class started, I knew that she had conferred with the owner and the other instructor about poses that would be good specifically for me.  The entire class was perfect.  The poses she had us doing were challenging, but none were stressful on my back.  They were mostly hip opening poses and back stretching.  Not once during that hour of class did I feel any pain whatsoever – at least not from my back.  I struggled though the balance poses – especially Warrior 3 – but I ALWAYS struggle with those!  I’ve always hated Warrior 3….

We did do my favorite ever pose though – pigeon.  It was towards the end of class when I was very warmed up and feeling limber, and I was able to get deep into it, so it felt great.

After class was over, Melanie (the instructor) went through a few poses she thought would be good for me to do at home once or twice a day.  Namely, Rabbit pose, which I’d never done before.  We also talked about injuries in general and her past history with them.  She also had injuries and found she couldn’t go back to running, though she’s currently in the best shape of her life.  She could see that I’m struggling with not running, and could relate, though I refuse to think my running days are over.  I can admit they are “suspended”, but I can’t imagine giving it up permanently.  I’m sort of in running Lent right now.  I’m giving it up for awhile in order to heal.  And to deepen my intense appreciation of having a body that CAN be physical.  It’s just acting cranky and self-absorbed right now.

LIFE

I had a mixed bag with sleep again last night.  D wasn’t feeling so well (not Crohn’s pains…just regular malaise feelings), so he went to bed around 9.  I was in the middle of a blog post (which takes me nearly an hour!) plus reading all my new ones, so I wasn’t ready quite yet.

I went to bed around 1030 and read my latest book for a bit.  I was asleep by 11.  I was smart enough to put ear plugs in as soon as I started reading so at least snoring wouldn’t wake me.  Alas…I was up by 130 anyway and tossed and turned most of the rest of the night.  I didn’t lie awake for a long time like I did the other night.  Last night I would fall right back to sleep, but I woke every 20-30 minutes, even if only for a minute.  I’ve felt okay today though, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.  Not sleeping well seems much more catastrophic at the time!

D was clearly not feeling well today.  He’s been running a low-grade fever and feeling horrible.  Again – not Crohn’s related – but if he isn’t careful about eating and taking his meds, being sick can bring on a flare up.  Thank goodness he has me to nag the crap out of him to remind him to take his meds.

D and Bumble spent most of the day on the couch (though Bumble doesn't look like she could possibly be comfortable)

speaking of Bumble...she puts her toys in her food dish. And then roots around them to get to her food. Silly kitty. And pay no heed to the bad banana - its destined for some bread tomorrow.

After breakfast, I took R to gymnastics, and then we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond in search of a doughnut pan.  I didn’t find them.  My original intent was to make an upside down dinner tonight (when we have breakfast for dinner) replete with vegan doughnuts (Oh She Glows kept writing about them, and now I need some).  The biggest reason I didn’t is because D loves those big breakfast meals so much – and he’s too sick to enjoy them.  So it’s going to wait until tomorrow.

she's the one crouched down just getting on the beam. They practiced walking backwards and sideways and my normally silly girl was oh so serious

I brought my laptop to gymnastics so I could finally catch up on the blog reading.  It was D’s idea and absolutely brilliant.

The afternoon was spent making soup, and then getting some work done.  Then it was off to yoga and then to the Apple store!  I am now the proud owner of an iPad 2!!!  D and I were talking today about what a pain in the butt it would be to drag my laptop to the vegan bloggers conference next week, and discussed what a brilliant idea an iPad would be.  So…I got my birthday gift 2 months early.  And it’s cool.  I’m still playing with it, but it seems (as by evidenced by my last mini-post), that I can use it for all my blogging adventures while away next week.  It’s also fully integrated at work, so that’s a huge bonus for me.

After I got home it was really all about playing with the new toy…which is probably why I didn’t actually make myself any dinner :)

And now…I’m going to go play some more!

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The Enemy Has a Name, and Thy Name is Food (at least today)

Posted on August 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

FOOD

I hate traveling sometimes.  Eating on the road for me is always SUCH a challenge.  I either hardly eat – which makes me feel like crap – or my choices are so limited, that it’s hard to eat anything balanced.  After 2 days, I couldn’t wait to get back home to the BAS’s, juices, and tofu.

Wednesday morning was coffee.  Just coffee.  The hotel didn’t have anything I could eat (ran out of apples and bananas I guess), so I ended up having to wait until a VERY late lunch to eat.  I was feeling really crappy by then.  I don’t do well when meals are spaced out so long. and once my belly feels out of whack, it tends to stay there.  Temperamental thing that it is.

So, my first meal of Wednesday was a very late lunch at the Smithsonian Atrium Cafe at the Natural History Museum.  The tomato and onion salad was surprisingly good.  The veggie burger was cold and hard, and I shouldn’t have indulged in the fries – but I did.  They were pretty good too.

For dinner, I had a small side salad with a vinaigrette that wasn’t bad.  I couldn’t stomach the idea of anything else.  By the time I went to bed, I had a ridiculous belly ache.  Still do.

This morning was 2 cups of coffee, though I don’t think there’s enough caffeine on earth that would make me perky today.  I also made a watermelon, banana, strawberry smoothie.  A friend suggested one of my power-energy juices, which I would have preferred, but I’m in dire need of grocery shopping and have nothing to juice!  The smoothie was great though, and held me off for several hours.

Lunch was a bowl of reheated bean chili.  I probably should have had a salad instead because my stomach is still pissed off, but it’s what I had that I could eat quickly.  That was about 3pm, and I have a serious feeling that dinner will be nothing but going to bed early.

FITNESS

I did a short 15 minute yoga segment this morning when I woke up.  Nothing much, but it felt good.  I am going to stick to yoga and swimming until I’m fully healed – and quite possibly until the end of the year.  I’m upset more than I can say about the running and I miss the bike terribly.  But with that said, I’m excited about focusing on really improving my swim.  I have a lot of room for improvement there, and I can still get in a killer whole-body workout while my back fully heals.  The challenge will be rebuilding my running base after so much time away from it.  Oh well, will cross that bridge when the time comes….

LIFE

It’s been very busy, but a nice couple of days.  After a few hours of work yesterday, M and I went to a couple of Smithsonian museums.  We got great parking by the castle, then walked up to the Air and Space museum.  He was giddy pretty much the entire time, running from one exhibit to another.  I have to say it was pretty amazing.

the 'castle'

a random bush FULL of little birds...

tons of jets hanging from the ceiling at the museum

a hot air balloon concept from the 1800's. That little black spot on the top..that's a person. This is built to scale...supposed to be a floating city!

M trying out airplane controls

flight simulator

After that we went very briefly to the Natural History museum.  It’s the one we’ve spent the most time in on our various trips up there over the years, so he wasn’t overly interested once we got there.  We talked about walking the monuments or hitting up one of the other museums, but he was getting tired and wanted to head out, so we did.

The drive was pretty easy-going, and ended up doing a last-minute hour-long meeting while on the road.  Thank goodness for headsets!

Right after we got home, the kids ran off with the new Clue Secrets & Spies game and played.  They loved it, and it was cute watching them as I puttered around in the kitchen.

I was exhausted last night, as was D, so we went to bed early.  915pm is really early for us.  Too bad it’s not actually when I fell asleep.  D was out pretty quickly, but not me.  The elusive Sandman wouldn’t visit, and no matter how much I tried, it was almost 3 before I fell asleep.  I was reading, would turn everything off and try to sleep, fail miserably, and then read some more.  I was pretty much a basket case when I got up this morning.

I took a shower, and then worked all day.  I tend to really focus when I’m working and don’t always realize how tired I am.  That got me through most of today, though there were moments I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed.

I was so tired today that I wore my glasses – something I rarely do.  My hair is pretty long and curly, and I didn’t do anything with it except pin it behind my ears to keep it from getting in my eyes.  I saw my CIO this afternoon who told me I looked very “scholarly” today.  So I think I must have looked like an old school teacher or something.

Speaking of exhaustion…

About 4 years ago I convinced D that he needed to start taking a multivitamin.  He was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s, and constantly tired.  He’d take naps almost every evening, and was always run down.  I surmised that his disease was already making nutrient absorption difficult, and combined with his less than stellar diet, he really needed the vitamin supplements.  He agreed to try it, and after a month, his chronic tiredness disappeared.  Today he mentioned to me that he’s been having exhaustion problems for the past 5-6 days, and thinks it’s because he ran out of his multi a little over a week ago.  So glad he converted his way of thinking!  Now I just need to order him some new ones.

I had a chiropractor appointment this afternoon.  We talked about my increased pain the past 2 weeks since I’d seen him last, and I’m going to continue with him for a bit.  He agrees with my plan to swim (as long as I only do “sissy” turns) and yoga until I’m feeling 100% for a while.  We’re going to work on some specific exercises too next week.  I also have my yearly physical with my PCP in early Sept, so I’ll be talking to her about this too.

This evening is “fend for yourself Thursday”, so the older kids ate leftovers, D is taking R out for dinner after gymnastics, and I’m going to curl up with a glass of wine and a little Hell’s Kitchen before bed :)

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Muffin and Beet Madness. Not Necessarily In That Order

Posted on August 14, 2011 | 2 Comments

FOOD

Saturday morning breakfast was a quick and easy meal of Grapenuts and vanilla coconut milk.  And coffee of course.  I was up early enough before having to leave, but while drinking my coffee and catching up on blog reading, my morning really got away from me.  Before I knew it, I was making breakfast for R and I so we could head out the door.

I wasn’t really hungry for lunch, so I ended up eating popcorn.  While I realize on the outside that this isn’t a great meal…I’ve always considered popcorn more or less a food group unto itself, so while possibly not nutritionally well-rounded, it was still awesome.

I did end up making a BAS (big-ass-salad) mid-afternoon because my body was wildly craving something fresh.  It was just romaine, onion, and tomato with my homemade dressing of happiness.

Dinner was great though (if I do say so myself).  I made a 4-bean vegan chili with TVP and veggies.  Well…it’s normally 4-bean, but I wasn’t feeling like making black beans two days in a row, so it really ended up being 3 bean (navy, pinto, and lentil).  It’s one of those that the whole family loves.  Mainly because they can eat it with tortilla chips.  I serve it atop some spanish rice and put Daiya, Tofutti Better then Sour Cream, and hot sauce on top!  Then…open the big family sized back of tortilla chips and go to town.  I think D ate 3 bowls :)

SO not pretty, I know...but really very tasty

I was up really early this morning.  If you ask my Dad, it was likely due to Michelle Bachman nightmares.  Alas.  I made a coconut milk latte and read some blog posts.  Then made up a random juice of juicable things I had lying around.  I used a beet again (only one though, as it’s all I had left).  I’m finding I’m not the biggest fan of juiced grapefruits…but with enough apples, you don’t taste anything else anyway.

lettuce, grapefruit, apple, beet, celery

24 ounces of "leftover" juice!

and I drank it ALL in a pirate glass. Because I'm a rebel.

I also baked a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  They were done by the time everyone else woke up this morning, so great timing on my part today!

heading into the oven at 7am!

you should all want to live with me. I make yummy muffins for breakfast! Yes...and strange beet juices...but you learn to live with that because of MUFFINS

Lunch was leftover chili and again a mid-afternoon salad.  Dinner was the most fun though – we did homemade pizza night!  D was cute as he diced up the tons of veggies.  I ended up skipping the Daiya today.  I just wasn’t feeling like a cheezy-type pizza.  Mine was simply tomato sauce, spices, broccoli, trio of bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion.  I ate almost all of it, it was so yummy!

pizza dough, ready to go

R rolling out her dough...in her Tigger jammies!

A rolling out hers...

so yummy!

FITNESS

Saturday was a good hour+ of intense yard work.  I hacked the crap out of a wisteria bush (those things are insidious and nasty), and it took me forever.  Followed by some raking and hedge trimming.

From there, I did an hour-long yoga class from Yoga Today especially for low back pain.  It was a slow class that was all lying down (either back or belly), but it’s focus was on stretching and strengthening the low back.  There were high repetitions and while not a typically class, I found it still challenging and pushing to the outer edges of comfort with my back.

Today I hurt so much I wasn’t sure what I should do.  I just did some stretching poses and took it easy.

LIFE

As predicted, it’s been a pretty low-key weekend.  While I was at gymnastics with R, the older kids cleaned out the attached garage yesterday (and did a great job).  Then we all did yard work.  D went a little crazy with the weed whacker and ax, but the front yard alone was in dire need of it.  It’s been either too hot or too wet to really get out there the past several weeks.  I really want to live somewhere with little to no yard…we all suck at yard work.  That, or I’ll have to hire someone to deal with it.

I spent most of the afternoon working, knowing I’m going to be in DC for a couple of days made me nervous about not getting much done while there.  I’m sure it’ll be okay, but there were a few things I really wanted to be sure were done.  Most of tomorrow morning is tied up in interviews (hiring a contract project manager for a new IT system project of mine), and then will be hitting the road for the 3 1/2-4 hr drive around 2.

I went to the grocery around 1 to get things for pizza night, and then came home to start prepping.  Between the kitchen, work, laundry, and packing, it’s been a long day.  But an enjoyable one since the house and yard are so nice looking!

I took a picture of the dumb people who can’t park in VA.  I’ve noticed this as a regular affliction here that I didn’t really see (or pay attention to) in other states that I’ve lived/worked (California, Washington, Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois specifically).  I know I’ve complained about this before, but people here often pull forward in their parking spaces.  IN ANGLE PARKING!  I get it if it’s straight pull in parking.  I do that all the time.  But angle parking?  What the heck is the point??  All you end up doing is facing the wrong way and screwing up everyone else.  I’ve thought about stopping one of the morons who do this and ask them why they think it’s a good idea, but I don’t want to get beat up.  Instead, I’ll go to THIS website and print out the notices that they “park like an a**hole to place on their windshields.  As long as their not looking….

and it's not like it's one car...it's MOST of them! Ugh...

I also finished my latest book and started on my next one :)

D and I had planned on going to a 430 movie of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but we’re both just so sore.  I can’t sit for too long without needing to walk around.  Sitting for 2-3 hrs doesn’t sound like a fun idea.

At one point as I was finishing up making pizza, D went up to check on R and found this!  Sort of wrapped up the day, really!

little monkey in a basket

I’ve spent the rest of the evening commiserating with my Dad on the sad state of affairs of American politics and catching up on the billion posts on the Vida Vegan Con website!  I can’t believe that the first ever vegan bloggers conference is a little over a week away, and I’M GOING.  I can’t WAIT to meet everyone, learn a ton, and have a great vegan time!

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