Yesterday was a busy one

Breakfast was “on the go version” since I was rushing around and needed to have breakfast in the car. Honestly I hate doing that but it is better than skipping breakfast so I do it when I don’t have another option. These French market glasses with a lid come in handy for times like this. I got mine at Crate and Barrel if you are looking for them.

My smoothie included: 3 tablespoons oatmeal (grind into flour first is not using a Vitamix), 1 tablespoon white chia seeds, 1 pitted peach, 1 cup frozen cherries, 1 frozen banana, 2 shredded kale leaves, 1 ¼ cups water and ice, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger. Add stevia if you think it needs to be sweeter. I made this before I got dressed and put my make up on. It sat patiently in the freezer waiting for me to leave the house. Placing it in the freezer does double duty of keeping it cold and slowing the nutritional deterioration.

I had far too much to do and had to drive to get it done. Driving is something I do out of necessity but I would much rather walk where I need to go. Sadly that isn’t always practical. :-p

While I was out I decided to swing by the health food store and grab a few things. We were getting low on raw pumpkin seeds (which I include in Dan’s trail mix). We also needed cumin, fennel and coriander seed for cooking and broccoli seeds to sprout.

I also had to stop at the library to take back Eat Clean Recharged. While I had no intention of getting any addition books since I renewed the other four from the last trip I still came out with five more items. *shakes head* Good thing I have plenty of appointments coming up which will mean a lot of waiting and therefore opportunities to read. This time I picked up:

three books:

• “This Crazy Vegan Life” by Christina Pirello
• “You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan” by Sher and Doughtery
• “Babycakes” by Erin McKenna

and two DVDs:

• “Mayo Clinic Wellness Solutions for Menopause” (for obvious reasons)
• “Bollywood Boogie Workout” by Hemalayaa

Why I picked up the “Babycakes” book I have no idea since I gave up baking for health reasons. However, everyone raves about the products they make so I was curious and it was on the shelf. Sometimes I make little sense. ;-)

One of the ladies who has been emailing me recently is a certified trainer and mentioned the Bollywood workouts and possibly getting certified to teach it. Since I haven’t tried it yet I thought it could be fun. I enjoy belly dancing and expect it to be similar. We will see if I am right. Dan is looking forward to “the show” as he calls it. I have a beautiful jewel colored sari but that would be ridiculous to work out in, LOL. Husbands! *rolls eyes*

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Christina Pirello’s health crisis hers is both an interesting and optimistic story. She was diagnosed with a terminal form of leukemia over 25 years ago and was sent home to die in a few months. She cured herself with vegan macrobiotic food. Her story gives hope to anyone battling cancer. Food and lifestyle can have a huge impact if you are willing to make some drastic changes.

After the library I was off to Wegman’s because they always have what I am looking for and that is a tall order as my hubby will attest. I picked up many of the usual subjects, organic tofu, organic tempeh, fenugreek, golden raisins, raw organic sunflower seeds, organic lemons, and avocados.

When I was leaving I went through the center of the store where they have ceramics and glassware. I found the cutest plates that weren’t made it China, yay! I was so happy they were made in France I couldn’t get them into the cart fast enough. I bought the little ones they call salad plates which I will use for entrees, and the large ones they call dinner plates that I will use for salad. It is amazing how something so simple can put a huge smile on my face. Little things like this just make my day, LOL.

One of the things I noticed while I was out running errands is that everyone fights to park close to the door. Why is that important? I intentionally park far away to get extra steps in and it is easier to park, plus no door dings. I only took note of this because two people wanted the same space near the door and there was plenty of beeping, dirty looks and fist shaking from these “ladies” in expensive automobiles that I thought was completely unnecessary not to mention undignified. *shakes head* Do you ever wonder how things in the world got so messed up? I wonder about this all the time.

I was very proud of myself I remembered to take snacks with me in case I got hungry. Yay me for remembering to take food with me since I am horrible at this, LOL. I had an apple and 2 tablespoons of almonds with me to hold me over until I got home since I had no idea how long I would be out. Since I was prepared I know that is why I didn’t get hungry. *rolls eyes* At least my snack had a nice road trip today. ;-) Do you take snacks with you when you are going to be out of the house? If yes, what are some of your favorite portable foods? I am always looking for ideas on this one.

When I got home I was famished and made myself an enormous salad (in a serving bowl no less) which included: 1 head of shredded romaine, 3 Roma tomatoes, ½ cucumber, ½ avocado and a little bit of cold leftover tomato sauce with artichokes from the other night. After eating my huge salad I wasn’t hungry for hours. I wonder why? *rolls eyes*

My afternoon snack was 2 cups of edamame and 2 sliced Roma tomatoes. I had my snack on one of the cute plates I picked up today at Wegman’s. ;-) I felt as though I hadn’t had enough calories so far which is one of the reasons I opted for edamame since they are relatively calorie dense. Also I skipped my dry roasted edamame with my green tea so I wanted to get some whole soy into my diet.

No surprise that Dan worked entirely too late again. He called at 8pm and told me to have dinner since most of the office was still working. *sigh* I will be so happy when these projects go out the door. Rumor has it there are only a few days of these long hours left. Sadly I will believe it when I see it.

Since I was having dinner alone I had an appetizer plate of the leftover brown rice topped with artichoke tomato sauce which I topped with pine nuts.

Once I knew I had a little TV time I popped in the Mayo Clinic Menopause DVD I picked up at the library today. It was a nice primer for the things that may or may not happen as we got through perimenopause. Sadly they said the same thing about it could last anywhere from 2 to 10 years. This was not exactly the answer I was looking for but I suppose it is good to know.

The DVD focused on potential symptoms and treatments (depending on the severity). I liked that the talked about self help measures as well as the traditional medical interventions. There was a brief discussion about HRT (hormone replacement therapy) versus bio-identical hormones. I want to chat with my pharmacist friend about this before I talk much about this to make certain I completely understand the issue. Overall I am glad I got the DVD at the library. If you are interested in the topic and just beginning to research it I think this covers the basics.

I had to take this picture of Masi watching the meditation segment of the menopause DVD with me. Could he look more relaxed? Sorry for the quality of the pic I only had my phone nearby and wanted to get the shot before he moved.

When Dan finally got home he wanted a half serving of his usual strawberry banana soft serve (no oats because he wants to drop 2 or 3 pounds at the moment).

When your hubby gets home at 10:45pm you find yourself cleaning up the kitchen quite late in the evening. By the time I had everything finished here it was too late to post last night. Sorry.

Today:

It is going to be another busy one here but at least I will be home more than yesterday. I hope to get a little time in the kitchen today. I actually missed cooking yesterday.   Cooking is something that I find very relaxing and creative.  I am going to do my best to spend some time in the kitchen today. ;-)

I will talk to you again soon. Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!