Wednesday 02.02.11 Ground Hog Day

How was your Ground Hog Day? I hope yours wasn’t like Bill Murray’s in the movie. My Ground Hog Day was good and fairly low key. I was able to get back into my normal routine for the most part. It was nice to spend the majority of my day at home.

The day started with breakfast and we both had oatmeal today. Dan’s included mixed frozen berries, cinnamon, powdered ginger, freshly ground flaxseeds, a pinch of stevia and chopped walnuts. I wanted to include pictures of his breakfast sometimes so that you can all see the difference. My goal with Dan’s meals is to get more calories into him. I do that by increasing his portion sizes and adding extra high calorie items like nuts and seeds.

Like usual I exercised once Dan has left for work and then had my breakfast. I had a bowl of savory oatmeal with nutritional yeast, cumin, chili powder, fresh spinach, chickpeas (that I pressure cooked previously), salsa, and walnut parmesan.

After breakfast I pressure cooked a pound of red kidney beans. To cook these I added 1 pound of dried red kidney beans (which I rinsed and sorted), 9 cups of filtered water, 2 bay leaves, 6 cloves of peeled and smashed garlic and a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. I cooked these on high pressure for 32 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally.

Once the beans were cooked and cooled I decided to start writing the long post I put up yesterday. This is a picture I took to send to my husband. Just overlook the lack of makeup please. ;-) Binky the cat really shouldn’t let anyone take his picture until his face is made up. Joking I was talking about myself of course, LOL! When I say I am covered in cats I mean literally covered in cats. The picture above is Binky practically up my nose. A few minutes after I took this he laid his head down and took a nap. *rolls eyes* Who is in charge in this house? Oh yeah, it is the cats. ;-)

I was hesitant to include a picture of myself without makeup but I also realize that this is who I am. Given than I will be 48 in a couple of months I can say that things could be much worse. I guess on some level I think it is important to embrace who we are, wrinkles, grey hair and all.  I am posting this to prove to myself that I hae embraced my age which is really tough for me.  But it looks like I finally got there.  No one is more shocked than I am.  ;-)

Once Binky “let me get up” I made myself some lunch. This time I was in the mood for quinoa with baby spinach, chickpeas, salsa, walnut parmesan and dehydrated leeks which I now make plain.. I was hungry about an hour after I ate this so I had second bowl.

My afternoon snack was my usual navel orange and two Brazil nuts (for the selenium).

By the time dinner came around I had no idea what I wanted to cook. This happens much more often than it should. I ended up making a simple salad for dinner. This one included a mixture of veggies which I marinated in red wine vinegar with some dried Italian seasoning. The marinated veggies included: cucumber, yellow bell pepper, carrot, artichokes, and cherry tomatoes. Just before serving I tossed in baby spinach and fresh parsley that I minced. I topped the salad with the red kidney beans which I pressure cooked earlier in the day, a dollop of salsa and a few raw pumpkin seeds. I realize this doesn’t sound like enough food but it was a huge salad for both of us.

Not one to miss an opportunity for dessert Dan was certain that he hadn’t had enough calories and wanted me to make him a batch of strawberry banana soft serve. I swear he needs a soft serve intervention. LOL

I forgot to post this dinner from earlier in the week. It was completely made in my new little halogen oven. The tofu slices were coated in a mixture of miso, apple cider vinegar, grated garlic, and a pinch of stevia. The potatoes were baked and then tossed in Meyer lemon juice and zest. Then I tossed the lemony potatoes in zatar and sumac. The green beans were coated in a mixture of miso which I thinned with a little fresh apple cider I frozen in ice cube trays to have when it wasn’t in season. I added sliced dried apricots and almonds to the green beans. This was a very simple meal but it came together very quickly since I used the halogen oven. I am enjoying that purchase and find myself using it almost daily now.

Happy Thoughts:

Wednesday was a good day and here is what I am thankful for today:

• I am very proud of myself for owning my age if you know what I mean. It is easy to show yourself dressed and made up but posting a picture after exercising and without makeup was something I thought I would never do. *pats self on back* ;-) I guess I am finally growing up. Nah!

• It was great to have a day at home and I am thankful that I can focus on caring for my family (Dan and the fur babies)

• There was time for me to meditate and I always find that enjoyable. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. I always feel like a weight has been lifted from the shoulders when I am finished.

Signing out:

Time for me to turn in for the evening. My knee is doing great which means I want to hit the gym tomorrow morning. I can honestly say I miss going to the gym at 6am. Who said that? LOL

Talk to you all again tomorrow.